Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 3: Crisis Point

[Phoenix]

Thorvald's suggestion of keeping a sidearm on hand and not wandering around alone made Firmia wince. Firstly, the thought of anyone from the Riese not carrying some kind of piece on them, even a stun gun, seemed a little crazy. Surely that was standard procedure ... ... surely? As for never going anywhere alone, that one was a little trickier, but something the Alkaev was already hoping to pin down, soon. All in all, it was definitely a good idea, just one that should have been drilled into the crew from day one.

What came next was startling to say the least, and it would definitely alter Firmia's mid term plans. The ANF had acted first and secured the colony androids. Dammit! Firmia had honestly been hoping to find an opportunity to retrieve all of the androids, not split them evenly between the two ships. At least the ANF was on the ball, there. If Apotheosis had swooped in and taken the other five like Firmia feared they might, Vera wouldn't have any trouble attacking HQ on foot; she'd have five bullet resistant androids backing her up. While the Alkaev could admit that hogging all of the androids was a selfish move, she was also considering the command structure aboard the Riese. With the odds of Jessica working with Apotheosis being higher than not, any androids under her command could be easily misdirected or abused if the ship were attacked. Toss EMPs into the mix, and Firmia was tempted to write the Riese's three androids off altogether in an emergency situation. Her frustration only lasted a moment. At least two of Hannah's sisters would be sticking with them. The Avalon was small enough that just three of them could cover the vessel easily and gang up on the enemy if they breached at just a single point. The Riese on the other hand needed at least three, one for each deck, if they were going to have good coverage.

Brant's head was taking him to other places at the news of the recovered androids. He was entertaining the idea of using one of the new androids as a temporary host for Galatea. Since Firmia wanted to integrate that particular AI into the Avalon's systems and help manage everything, having a body like that could cut her response time to an internal threat down tremendously. Instead of just sealing off areas and sounding alarms, why not do that and run over and smack down intruders, herself? It was only a temporary body, at least as far as Brant was concerned. Galatea probably still wanted something small and cute like her avatar, and Brant still planned on getting on that once time allowed. Unfortunately, he recalled, he already had multiple opportunities. With some help from the Riese's mechanics, he could have had most if not the entire body constructed by now. Instead, he had three rings--two on his person--and nothing to do with them. If nothing else, a little autonomy would make for a good apology.

Brant made his way over to the table, leaning close enough to relay his idea to Firmia. He was as quiet as he possibly could be, but knowing Hannah, she would pick up on every word if she wanted to. "Galatea was designed to work with androids, wasn't she? What if we let her control one of them? I'm still going to build her a body of her own, but for now it would give her some freedom to move around without Hannah or Sasha carrying her."

Firmia hadn't even considered the idea, so she took a moment to consider it. Just how far could she take this with a program like Galatea? She somewhat understood that Hannah was unique, but just the same, she didn't want to treat her less gifted sisters purely as hardware. A strategic weakness on her part, yes, but she could still make it work if she was careful. In the end, she decided to take it up with a committee. "We'll look into it when we get back."

Edited July 16, 2018 by Phoenix

[Balcerzak]

Abigail had been doing her best to stay out of the way, not draw any attention to herself, not chime in with anything during the meeting. It was boring, it was aggravating--especially so with members of high command right there, the fuckers who were planning on nuking the colony, maybe even. But what could she realistically do about it? Rocking onto the back legs of her chair a little, up and down, keeping moving, was helping... somewhat. At least, up and until a certain slide flashed across the screen.

It was a miracle Abby didn't spill out of the chair entirely, things very easily could have ended with her in an uncomfortable heap on the floor, or with it going skittering off in some direction. That would've been just what she'd needed... Fortunately, she managed to catch hold of the edge of the table, though that came with a bit of an audible thump. It only took a few more moments to recenter her gravity, and get all four back on the floor. Hopefully everybody else was too distracted by the bullshit possibilities of 5 more amazing murder machines to pay any attention to little old her. Raid on the ship or no, retreating to Megumi's domain sounded damn appealing right now.

 

Change of clothes, change of heart?

 

"Ah... it's... not a big deal. Just some... bad memories, that's all. Vera showing up... didn't help any." Kim replied, shaking her head rather unconvincingly, thought it was interrupted by the incoming hug from Christina. Reaching her hand up onto the blonde's head, Kim gently began to stroke her hair, leaning back into the locker to support their combined weight more easily.

"Yeah... you're right. We'll help each other... get through this. And it's okay... I think anyone would be scared... if someone like Vera warped in and out like that... out of nowhere."

 

There was something refreshing about shaking a head of wet hair. Abigail could really understand why dogs seemed to get such enjoyment from making a huge mess of things after getting out of the water. But after indulging just a bit of fun, it was time to put the old beach towel to use and get a little bit drier before she'd have to pull a shirt on over. Walking into the changing room with the fluffy fabric wrapped around her head, she made her way over to the locker where she'd left her things beforehand, trying not to pay attention to anyone else. Trying pretty successfully, until she heard a certain name drop.

Vera.

The Apotheosis agent in charge of the team of their members she'd been assigned by her contact for their 'cooperative' mission on the colony. The agent who'd stood aside without lifting her hand, waiting, watching, probably laughing, as Abigail's men had fallen one after another to the killer android. The one-woman army who could've easily prevented any of that. The cold-hearted bitch, who cared just as little for the cause as the twisted tool who'd set her and her company up to be puppets in the first place.

And she'd shown up here at the beach? Throwing her towel against the door of the locker--it landing with a hard, damp smack, before slightly squeaking as it slid down to the floor, powerless to resist the weight of gravity--she wheeled on her heel, intending to demand more answers from the speaker. Intending to demand to know what all she'd missed, but words drying up when she noticed. It should have been obvious to begin with, the uniquely shaky way her sentences formed, and the accent that only seemed to disappear when she sang. But eager to tune everything out and stew over the small spat from earlier in her own little world, it had been all too easy to overlook the abundant cues.

Now that she'd given up the act, stopped pretending she was just gonna quick in and out and be on her way, Abby had two choices: snub the Korean, turn away, and return to the business of changing; or confront her about this, other fallout be damned.

"Vera what?" She finally managed to ask, still glossing over the previous bit of trouble between her and Kim for the moment.

 

"I know I was, but... If it's behind a robot we have a chance, so--" The slap of a towel was rather shocking, considering the recent circumstances, Christina turning to see who... "Oh, Abby. You scared me... Vera, uhm... Sh-She showed up to the volleyball game. Handed one of her, subordinates over. Didn't really do much else, just... Intimidated us, and... Well, actually..." Christina took a small step away from Kim, grabbing at her hands, as they slipped behind her back.

"It... Kinda felt like she was apologizing? I was really scared, but... Thinking back on it, there was a lot of weird things she mentioned. I don't really know why she mentioned half of it... But she did. Maybe she was trying to get us to feel bad for her? ... I don't, really. Even if she's got hard circumstances, it doesn't change how many people she's... She's slaughtered." At this point, they were all killers... But Vera's rather savage cleanups of facilities left an unforgivable mark. Even if she was being ordered to do it, it was beyond acceptable, especially involving the innocent.

Taken out of her explanation to Christina by the sound of a towel impacting metal, Kim looked over to the source, just in time to have Abigail's inquiry shouted at her, causing the Lieutenant to visibly flinch. Shaking slightly, Kim shook her head after a moment... no time for this, not right now.

"Like Christina said... Vera showed up... a-at the volleyball court. Apparently, a... Park... Louise Park, was also there, and spoke to the XO and... F-Firmia. Brant and... T-Tonya came to get Jessica, but... by the time we arrived... Park was gone. Vera followed soon after... some sort of teleportation. Left her subordinate behind as a prisoner." Kim explained, voice shakier than one might expect, though for two thirds of the people there, the reason why was rather obvious. Looking away from Abigail with a timid expression, Kim awaited anything else.

The explanations were straightforward and forthcoming, but didn't really make sense. Why would she show up here, now, and for that? To... apologize and hand over a comrade into custody? What? Abigail plastered her palm across her face, and slowly shook her head side to side. And how does something like that even happen? On the upside, they hadn't come face to face. Hell, maybe Vera even still thinks she's dead? If so, that would only make the revenge she was planning to serve her even sweeter, when it came to pass, however far down the line that may be.

"Just perfect," Abby groaned aloud, with an obvious tone of sarcasm. And Jess had missed everything, caught up in her little game, its glorious implosion, and the frustrating aftermath. Not that she could have known, but it was just another fuck up to add to the pile.

Speaking of... what the hell was wrong with the lieutenant now? She was acting more like a beaten dog, afraid that every raised hand was just waiting to deliver another blow, than her usual strong, assertive self. It didn't fit her at all. Sure it turns out she was a freak, but she'd always been a competent freak before. To see her reduced to this... was a little pathetic. Telepathy would always be kind of spooky, no two ways around it, but seeing that this was what she was currently scared of? Well that felt like it reflected badly on Abigail herself.

"Guess we're in for a lotta bullshit, huh." It was little more than the bare minimum of smalltalk, Abby wanted nothing more than to finish getting changed and clear out of the room at this point. But it was a little awkward doing that after she'd gone and engaged the conversation like that. What else was there really to say though? She couldn't tell them not to be scared of Vera. That was both healthy and natural. Abigail feared the woman herself, even though she also wanted to settle the score.

"Thanks for the heads up, I guess." It certainly wasn't an apology, and far from the most gracious display of gratitude. But it was probably what one should expect, from someone as rough around the edges as she was.

Well... That was certainly something. Christina could pick up Kim's change immediately, and then listening to her, even looking over to see her looking away... That wasn't fear, was it? Worry? It was weird, definitely awkward... "... Did something happen between you two? Kim feels really off... And it's not the sort of off I'd expect from running into Vera. Did you have an argument, or something...? You don't feel that great either... I'd have chalked it up to the situation, but Kim got worse after you walked in."

 

"It's... you don't need to worry about it." Kim squeaked out, as Christina picked up on her discomfort. Well, that had been inevitable, hadn't it? Wrapping an arm around her own stomach defensively, and tightly squeezing down on the opposite limb, the Lieutenant shuffled nervously, biting her lip. It surely wasn't helping, but it was instinctive, and Abigail's judgmental leer in her direction certainly wasn't helping.

Did something happen? Was it that obvious? Abby supposed it kind of was. With how Kim was acting, certainly her copilot--having spent enough time with her to be pretty fine-tuned to those sort of things--would be able to pick up on it. Christina's choice of words was a little odd, but then given her old boss had showed up, she probably was quite off her game as well.

With a shrug, Abigail tried to brush it off, much as the lieutenant did in her own way. "I guess you could say I found out about her secret, and wasn't exactly a fan. Shouldn't have been as big a deal as she--or Jess--are making it, but fuck if I know. I'm sure it'll pass soon enough, and we have bigger fish to fry."

 

"...Secret? What secret?" Christina looked at Kim, she seemed really worried about this. "No, seriously, what's going on? Kim doesn't have any secrets... And if she does, she'd have told me before anyone else. What's this about?" Wasn't exactly a fan? What was that supposed to mean, on top of all of this?

 

"Okay, so secret was the probably wrong word," Abby scowled. "Everyone but me seemed to have been in on it, taken it for granted. Just give it a rest," she sighed, "I don't need another person jumping on my case over this."

Abigail kind of wanted to turn and punch the locker, but knew that would just add fuel to the fire. Instead she just started pulling out her street clothes, trying to focus on finishing up, leaving, and finding somewhere she could be alone to stew over this until the inevitable all hands meeting.

 

Secret? No, it hadn't been a secret, Abigail just didn't know. Though the wording didn't really matter so much... and then the confrontation with Jessica came up. The Captain had been quick to defend her, which had been welcome, but wouldn't that sour their relationship? Was Abigail's disdain comprised of ignorance, or something more sinister? It was hard to say, really...

"About that... I wanted to... apologize. It's... a reaction that I've gotten before, so I guess I just... froze from the memories. I wanted to try to stop Jessica but she... got angry too quickly for me to do much. I don't know what your past experiences are, but... I hope we can still get along, despite this..." Kim replied, still shaking somewhat. It was this, always this... people who she had gotten along with swimmingly turning away as soon as they found out what she was. Did Abigail hate her because she was telekinetic? Or was she simply scared of something she was unfamiliar with? If it was the former, there was little to be done, but the latter was potentially salvageable... was she really going to lose another potential friend so quickly to this, again? Before anything else though, she supposed she had to fill Chrissy in. Best to be gentle about it though, I think the last thing anyone needed was for another fight to spark.

"Abigail was... unaware that I'm telekinetic, and I had an unfortunate flashback from her reaction... the Captain took it badly and fought with her over it. That's all." Kim noted, her eyes pleading with Christina not to do anything rash, as she squeezed the girl's hand.

 

So that's what it was. Well, great... "Stop apologizing, Kim. You don't owe her one. What's wrong with you?" Christina couldn't help herself, this was actually ridiculous. "Did some TK steal your lunch money in school, or something? You're gonna be mad at her for something she was born with? You wanna be mad over a TK, be mad over me. I was actually made in a lab. Kim's done nothing wrong..." How... Frustrating. She didn't have all the details of the exchange, but with how mad Abby was, and how scared Kim was, it couldn't have been pretty.

"And if you can't stop yourself, then don't say anything. Leave my girlfriend alone."

"The fuck!? Who said I was mad at her? Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?" Enough was enough, Abigail actually slammed shut the locker and shouted. "The ensign let slip she was an esper, she musta caught on to my confusion and surprise and asked if it was okay, and I couldn't manage to say anything but 'I don't know'. That's the end of the world now? This is why everyone's burning me at the stake? No. Fuck you. You don't have the right to pull this bullshit. I don't care if she's your girlfriend or not." Actually... what? She could have sworn Christina had been straight? And she was another fucking mutant too? Dodged that bullet by pure accident then.

"Goddamn leaping to conclusions. And you freaks wonder why people are afraid of you? Can't trust you?" Rolling her eyes, Abby didn't hold anything back. "That's real rich. Go play holier than thou somewhere else. I'm done taking this shit sitting down." At this point she had half a mind to just say 'fuck it' to getting changed and just storm back out in her swimsuit, catch the shuttle back to base as is. She doubted she'd be the only one in that boat.

"Fuck you!" Abby could say whatever she wanted about her, Christina was used to this, even if it was from a different avenue, but Kim? Christina didn't bother hesitating as she got up in Abby's face, scowling her down. "You call her a freak one more time, and we're gonna have problems. It isn't 'holier than thou', you intolerant cunt. This isn't taking shit, this is me telling you to treat her like a normal person, and you getting so upset about it-- you fucking calling us freaks, because I told you to treat her better? Yeah, that paints your colors pretty well, doesn't it. How would you like it if someone cared that you were with the captain just because you're both girls? The rest of the world got over this nonsense decades ago, catch up!"

Despite her fury, Christina was trembling, and expecting to get hit at this point. But that didn't matter, she had to stand up for Kim, didn't she? She was almost like a scared animal, how could she let someone do this to her? It didn't matter if it was Abby! She'd take a punch for this.

"B-both of you, stop it. Everyone is just taking this w-worse than it was..." Kim managed, things had done exactly what she hadn't wanted to happen, which was escalating. Both girls were getting into one another's faces, tensions were getting higher and higher and seemed about to boil over.

Everything the angry blonde said to the angry blonde went in one ear and out the other. The invasion of her personal space said more than enough. Shoving back at Christina, pushing hard against her chest with both hands, Abigail put some distance back between them.

"Looks like we're already having problems, bitch. But I'm gonna piss off and try to cool down and I suggest you do the same. I'm already in deep enough with Jess, don't want to have to deal with the additional fallout that'd come from beating senseless a crewmate who couldn't leave well enough alone."

Swiping up her clothes in one hand, she wheeled around and made towards the door, the poor damp towel laying forgotten behind her.

 

"Oof!" Christina had been expecting a punch, not a shove, tumbling backwards towards Kim. "Y-Yeah, you better run! Fuck you! Come back and see who beats who senseless, you coward-- ah!" Whoops, there went the legs, her bravado not matching up with her body at all. Too scared to even stand? Jesus, Christina, you really went too far this time...

"S... Sorry, Kim..."

 

As Christina fell backwards from the shove, the part of Seung-Min's mind that had been focused on trying to keep things calm receded to the back of her head, as did the part that cared about Abigail's future thoughts about her. As the mercenary grabbed her towel and turned towards the door, the Lieutenant caught up to her, grabbing onto the blonde's wrist, her grip immediately tightening to a vice as she tugged backwards on Abigail's arm, bringing her right arm around in a rage to slug her face with full force, her grip releasing as the blonde fell to the floor.

"I don't care what you think about me. About us. Do NOT!" Kim paused, a guttural growl escaping her lips.

"Touch her. I will break you, like a mother fucking ragdoll!"

Given the Asian's pleas for peace and calm, Abigail really hadn't seen her attack coming. The grab, twist, and smash catching her fully off guard, it sent her staggering to the ground, catching herself just enough to stay upright on her knees with one hand braced against the tiles.

Choking a little, as a stream of liquid from her nose streamed down the back of her throat, Abigail turned her head and spat out a sticky mess of blood and mucus onto the floor of the changing room. Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth before raising it to her injured nose, she cleared away most of what had remained, but some still coated her lips, giving them a very shiny appearance.

"Ah'll gibe you that wan free," Abby made out, talking past the hand she was pinching her nose with. "But you swing ahgayn..." she trailed off, glaring up at the lieutenant, her eyes almost twinkling.

"Kim!" Christina had no chance to get up in time to stop the impact, only getting there after, grabbing the girl's arm to try and hold her back. "You don't have to do this! We... We don't have time for this, anyway. We have to get changed and go, just..." It was almost satisfying to see Abby bleeding like that after how pompous and pigheaded she'd been, but over all, Christina just felt bad that it went this far.

"Just leave, Abigail. You can't beat her in a fight anyway. We're 'freaks', remember? She can see your every move coming... And while you could still give me the run around, Kim's as professionally trained as they come... I'm sorry it went this far. But I'm not sorry about what I said to you."

 

"Neber  know 'less yah try," Abby rebutted, almost grinning. "Ahp tah her, now. 'N Ah had been about tah leave, 'membah?"

Luckily for everyone involved, Abigail not swinging back gave Seung-Min enough time to come down from her anger high, accompanied by Christina moving to stop her from continuing. Letting out a sigh, Kim let her fist be pulled back, looking over the fallen blonde just in case Christina's words had riled her further.

"Don't... provoke her, Christina. I'm not... going to hit you again, unless you give me a reason to."

 

"Real good look fah both of ya. Ah'm convinced. Enlightened. Heh," Abigail chuckled, coughed, and spat again. "Next tahm you wahnna piece, leabe da Chihuahua at home, doe." While her closing was directed to Kim, after she'd finished, Abby turned to face Christina and flipped her the bird specifically. Then pushing herself to her feet, she once again turned to leave.

It was odd. Despite how much the punch had hurt, she almost felt better about things now. Like it had burned away uncertainty, left her clearheaded and refreshed. Drained of frustration and anger without even having to lift a finger herself. For now at least.

"... Never mind, I'm not sorry." What did Jess see in her? How awful... "I'm sorry you had to suffer all that, Kim. Let's, just get changed, and get back to base. Put this behind us."

"Are you okay, Chrissy?" Kim asked, turning towards the remaining blonde as Abigail made her exit. She didn't seem any worse for wear... enough cushioning to not take a minor fall like that too hard, it seemed. What a disaster this had been...

"Huh? I'm fine... She didn't shove me over, I... Just, crumbled out of my own fear. I'm not good for much other than words."

"I'm sorry... I didn't... want things to go like this. I should have tried harder... not to get you involved." Kim replied, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing in frustration. Her knuckles stung a bit from the impact, but that wasn't worth worrying about right now.

"It's fine... Either she realizes she's got her prejudices, or we stay away from her. Hitting her like that was... Definitely overboard, though. I'm not that flimsy, y'know? I can take a hit, so... Especially if its our own people, try to keep somewhat calm. O-Okay?" She didn't want to see like she was lecturing Kim, even if it was kind of hard not to.

 

"Yeah... sorry. I just... lost it, for a moment. Everything went too fast..." Kim replied, a further sigh escaping her lips. What a mess, what a mess.

"If you hadn't hit the ground like that I wouldn't have gone so hard though. Next time at least brace yourself if you're gonna do that." She finally managed to tease out after a few moments.

"That is not my fault... Anyway, just... Let's get changed and to the bus." Christina heaved out a sigh and went back to her locker, trying to forget about things.

The wheels on the bus

 

Abigail had quick popped back to the water's edge to rinse her hand clean, and by then the flow of blood from her nose had slowed to a trickle, so that was just going to have to do for now. The brief glimmer of reflection she caught, before the surface was too disturbed to make anything out, showed her looking pretty ugly right now, and only liable to get worse as time went on and the swelling kicked in, but, well, that's pretty much expected after a hit like that.

Climbing onto the bus, Abby found she wasn't the first aboard, but she still was far from last. Russian princess and her posse had laid claim to the rear of the bus; Roxanna was about midway back on the left, looking like she didn't want to be disturbed; and Brant and the broken clone were somwhat between those two groups on the right hand side. Jess was the only other passenger present, pretty far forward, having plopped herself down near a window on the driver's side. As much as she wasn't thrilled by the prospect of another lecture from her lover, Abigail felt her prospects were a lot worse with anyone else already present, and simply sitting by herself was a gamble on the future she didn't feel like taking either. Sidling into the seat beside the captain, she sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead against the seat in front of her.

"Abby?" Jess had expected to sit alone, after being so abrasive to Abigail. Her sitting there either meant she was fine with how things had turned out, or this was her best option... Jess was weighing heavily on the latter. At least when she'd got on the bus, she was pleased to see Brant sitting so close to Chris... When had they gotten that close? Well, it was fine, either way. It meant not having to worry about that anymore, hopefully. She still wanted to be friends with him, but... Having to dodge around anything related to relationships, if he tried to bring it up, that didn't sound like fun.

"So... What's... Wh-What happened to your nose?" Her face was pretty well hidden in the shadow of the seat, but not enough to tell something had happened. "You... Got into a fight... With who? ... Kim?"

"Wasn't a fight, I didn't hit nobody," Abby replied reflexively. "Though, if she'd tried throwing another, I would have, so I'm not trying to paint myself a saint or anything." She didn't bother confirming or denying the guess explicitly, that would just be wasted breath, really. Then again... "And who else? Not expecting me to say it was Vera, are you? Couldn't believe it when I heard she showed up. The balls on that woman..."

"I... I see... How'd that happen?" Jess was pretty sure Kim wasn't about to start swinging without a good reason to. Hopefully. "Either way I'll reprimand her, as much as I can without hurting our fighting strength. While you're in the wrong with how you're acting, you don't deserve that, and even if you did deserve it, striking a fellow pilot outside of self defense is entirely out of the question. So just... You didn't do anything to make her want to hit you, did you?"

 

Abigail bit her lip and thought back. It was a little hazy, it had gotten pretty heated pretty fast, which tends to cloud things. "It was a bit of a surprise to me too, to be honest. She seemed to have been pretty chill, trying to call off her girlfriend, who had gone into attack mode. Was being a real bitch about the whole thing: jumping to assumptions, getting up in my grill, you name it. From how it was going, you woulda figured it'da been Christina throwing that punch, even if she really couldn't deliver it anywhere near as well as the lieutenant. But she just kinda folded like a paper fan when I pushed her away and turned to leave, tryina clear out before things got any worse. Apparently, I waited just a little too late on that count," Abby finished wryly, finally sitting back up in her seat and turning to face Jess. "It was like she had her mind made up about me before I even walked into that changing room or something, I don't know why really... she didn't even try to listen."

"And look... don't bother with reprimands. It's not really that bad, I've had worse," Abby would've snorted a little, had her nose been operable at that point, but since it wasn't she just made a lopsided grin. It wasn't really that though, it was more that she didn't feel it would be right. Too close to getting special treatment; people would talk. "You sounded like you were thinking about slapping me earlier too, so..." she trailed off, shrugging a little.

 

Jess sighed. So Abby had put her hands on Christina... Not quite as violently, but regulations didn't really care. Don't bother with reprimands, though? "Don't I already look like enough of a useless captain? If I can't even keep my own people in line..." Another sigh, Jess sat back, trying to think on how to respond to that last bit.

"I mean... Yeah. You told me about your life. You should know what being disliked for existing feels like. And to do that to Kim... I know it wasn't a big reaction on your part, but the girl froze up pretty badly. Knowing how mad you get, if Christina was getting in your face, I can't imagine you avoided shouting back. If you tell me I'm wrong, I'll believe you, but... I just, don't get how it's a big deal. It's not like they're reading your thoughts... And it's not like they can turn it off. They have to live with it just the same. I can't imagine feeling other people's emotions all the time... It just, sounds so uncomfortable."

 

"If you're a useless captain, what does that say about me? I lost to you, badly. And the Riese was just parked outside the colony that time too, so don't give me any bullshit about how it was the ship putting in all the work. Yeah, maybe there've been a few kinks over the course of your command, but expecting everything to run like clockwork all of the time just doesn't take the human element into account. This didn't happen on duty, it was an off day, a vacation. If it was otherwise, I could see your hands being tied, needing to follow through, but I mean. Just..." Whatever. That was as far as Abigail cared to fight it. If Kim ended up getting slapped on the wrists over it, that's just how it was going to have to be. Especially because here came the lecture.

"Do we have to fight about this here, now? I was spooked; it was pretty sudden. Was I supposed to just hug her, pat her, tell it was all gonna be alright? I don't know if it is gonna be. And now, given how things went down in there, I don't know if she even wants it to be anymore, either. And yeah, there was yelling. On both sides. Like I said, Christina seemed to think I was angry at Kim, when that's not what I was mad about at all. And well, since she started pushing buttons, you know I ended up pushing a few right back. She said some other pretty wild things too, that I didn't really have the time to think about properly," Abby added, doing a little wondering on the matters. Christina was made that way, not born with it? Is it catching, then? Or just like... brain plastic surgery or something? What's really behind the whole esper mess anyway. It was all a big unknown. Jess was trying to explain some of the basics, but it wasn't really helping as much as she probably hoped it would be.

 

"I... No, we don't have to fight. I'm just trying to talk, that's all. I'm sorry for getting so mad on the beach, you didn't deserve that." Jess sighed, what a mess... "I've only known Kim and Christina for a week, not much longer than you, so... I can't say what she'll say if you try to talk to her again. I could try and talk to them with you? Or... They might think I'm just trying to get people to play nice, as the captain. What a bother..." Leaning back against the seat, Jess wasn't quite sure what to do. On the one hand, having their getting along ruined because Abby was spooked, well that just wasn't right. Neither was Abby getting spooked, was she sincerely so secluded from others that she'd never met another TK? Enough to have proper conversations with them? It seemed unlikely... So if she was intentionally avoiding them, that was something she needed to work on.

"What do you want to do? Do you still want to be friends with Kim? You don't have an obligation to, and while I'd rather you not be so scared of TKs, technically speaking it's not my business... So what do you want?" Abby was smart enough-- hopefully --to make her own decisions, and to make them good ones.

 

It was reassuring, that Jess was actually listening, hearing her out. Abigail could feel herself relaxing in response. That's not to say there weren't still some hard questions she'd have to find the answers to, but, it was a lot less stressful when you weren't surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Sinking backwards into her seat, Abby sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Would it help if the captain tagged along, or was this something she needed to do for herself, alone? Did she even want to try to mend the fence? There was something perversely appealing in playing the kicked cur that only growled at those who'd wronged it.

"Do I want to...? I had wanted to, thought she'd maybe wanted to, be on a little better terms than comrades in arms. Now though?" She gingerly reached up and touched her battered nose, wincing as she did. "For all your talk about it being harmless, and no big deal, that's just... a big pill to swallow. Maybe it's because this is my first time dealing with espers but, it really feels like things would've gone differently in there if Christina wasn't a mentalist as well. Tapping into my anger, deciding what it meant all on her own, feeding off it, whatever actually happened back there, I don't know. That's dangerous. I'm not sure I can find the right words for what I'm thinking..." she paused, frowned, and then continued on regardless of whether it was a good idea or not.

"And can you believe she said someone turned her into one, she didn't just grow into it on her own? So maybe it's just a problem with her and not with the lieutenant or any others? But I doubt it. Any of them new to the sensations, the readings, the whatevers--they're bound to screw up, get it wrong. Maybe they need to be like, kept apart... or something, until they get it under control? But, like, that might not even work... everyone being different, feeling different, reacting different. I don't even know anymore. My head hurts."

"I think it just escalated poorly. If I had to guess, Kim's probably got some trauma over being treated differently for this. And... They're both young. Christina overreacted, Kim got overprotective at you touching her... Which is a bit surprising, I didn't know they were that close, but... I wouldn't be surprised if Kim or Christina tried to say sorry after cooling down, some." Jess was being optimistic, it was still shocking to hear Kim got so aggressive over so little. Maybe they were feeding off of it...? She hadn't been there, it was hard to say.

As for Christina being turned into one... "From what I've been able to look into, her case is... Unique. Her powers are probably still adjusting to things, but... Her father is the head of the TCI. Telekinetic Colonial Institute. She said she was used to test T-Links as they were made, as she was growing up... So something must have either snapped, or she grew into it faster than she was supposed to. Whereas Kim, according to her files, is a natural born TK. Her powers showed up when she was a child, and they've been growing since. And keeping them separate... I can't really condone something like that." Jess sighed, gently putting a hand on Abby's leg.

"I'm sorry for all this. Are you going to be okay? I can't really do much for your nose until we get back, but..."

 

"You're right, that last bit was a silly idea, forget I brought it up," Abigail conceded. It had been mostly stream of conscious rambling rather than principled reasoning, so she certainly wasn't married to the off-hand suggestion.

As for Jess's optimistic view of things, "Heh, I'm not holding my breath. Christina already rescinded a half-assed non-apology, but maybe the lieutenant will be better? Wait and see, I guess. Hard though, I'm feeling pretty jaded and bitter. Probably too much so, because I know this is stupid, but the devil on my shoulder keeps whispering that the only reason you eased back so much is because I took a nasty lump, and you saw the pendulum swinging too far the other way. That's not fair of me, I know, but sometimes you can't help but feel things. How you act on what you feel though, that's important. So thanks... for not starting back up with the third degree. For caring--about me, yeah, but also about everyone involved. And for finally filling in some of the missing pieces for me here."

Abby reached a hand down to her thigh, resting it on top of the one Jess had placed there. Her lips slipped back into an easy, simple smile, and she gave a light squeeze. "Yeah, I'll deal. Don't worry too much, not about this, you've got more important things on your plate. Think about those instead while the bus carries us along." Twisting herself back face forward, instead of turned toward the captain, she leaned back in her seat again. Musing wistfully, she added, almost under her breath, "I'll probably have to be a little more careful kissing you until it's fully healed, though..."

"If Kim comes around, Christina probably will... I'm just hoping she doesn't mention this to Chris. Then you'd be in, uh... I don't want to think about it. You can hide in my room if you need to." It was a half joke, Chris was Christina, but angry, and actually strong. Jess didn't want to think about what Abby's face would look like if they got into a proper fight...

At least she was taking this well. "I was going to apologize either way... It's making it easier to do so, seeing you receptive. It's... I got too worried, you don't really see people confused about TKs anymore. But I really handled things horribly, so you deserve the apology, nose or not. And as for that... Well, Megumi works fast, but for tonight," Jess leaned up and gave Abby a quick kiss on the cheek. "I guess I'll just have to kiss you elsewhere. I'm sure you'll appreciate the attention, either way." If Abby was interested, anyway... Jess knew she could use the stress relief. This situation had gone from eight to eleven in an instant.

"I'd be surprised if that one would even care. She self-identifies as 'broken' to begin with," Abigail wasn't all that shaken by the prospect of the clone finding out what went down. Though, wait a... if Christina was a mind reader, then her clone too...? But hadn't she tested that earlier? Well, maybe that part hadn't taken, didn't make the transfer, since it wasn't something she'd had from the start... or maybe the broken bits of Chris had kept her from reacting the way Abby would have expected her to.

Hearing that nearly nobody these days got worked up over having to live with, interact with spooks was quite a bit of a surprise. Was the difference due to living on the colony, opposed to back here on Earth? Or was it just chance and accident that had kept her insulated. Possible. Life as a mercenary certainly steered her down quite a different path than most normal people took. And if nobody in the crew had been... or had admitted to having been... then even contemplating the matter would have been just wasted worry.

Abigail was still chewing over the matter, giving it some extra thought, when the kiss on her cheek put a quick stop to that. Jess probably felt the pulse quicken through Abby's palm, in response not only to that, but also to the captain's intimations for the future. "Assuming nothing else gets in the way," Abigail tried to temper her enthusiasm, "I certainly wouldn't say 'no' to that proposal." Oh no. Just thinking about it was going to make the intervening hours hell to wait through, wasn't it. She closed her eyes and squeezed Jess's hand a little harder.

"Broken? Oh... She means her emotions. Something with the cloning process went wrong, so apparently she can't recognize any of her own emotions past anger. But she can still pick up other people? I'm not sure, really... I haven't spoken to her about it, I should probably do that." There were a lot of people that Jess had to get in touch with. How unfortunate... Abby would have to wait even longer.

Jess could already feel Abby's frustration with her eyes closing and her quick squeezing of the captain's now taken hand. "Sorry. It'll be a long ride, and then probable meetings after that. Then I need to see to the plans, and making sure everything's in order... Shouldn't be teasing you like that. I know it might be hard, and do forgive me, but I'll be there this evening. Okay? You can do whatever you want... And I'll do whatever you'd like." Hopefully that was a good enough compromise. "I'm getting better at it, so I shouldn't be as put out in the morning as I was last time. Promise." That was followed by a bit of a giggle, though she did regret finding the situation that amusing. It was a lot more dire than making it to breakfast on time...

Edited July 16, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Shin]

Extra security was likely to provide some sort of deterent to Apotheosis, especially after they had essentially waltzed into the beach area to taunt the crew. Whether or not it would matter depended on the incoming assault - extra guards meant very little against a full scale mobile unit attack. Vance talked of Hannah's sisters as if they were tools, equipment to be used and discarded if they failed in their duties. If the technology had been there, it could have just as easily been copies of himself assigned to act as disposable troops. Brant and Firmia were muttering about something, no doubt Firmia was going to continue her own agenda - from what he'd heard she was getting a ship to command.

If Tarquin did come face to face with Vera, it was likely going to be the end of him. His body just wasn't strong enough to pose a threat to the terrorist, the most he could do would be a kamikaze strike and try to take Vera down with himself. Knowing more about Louise and her motivations to attack meant little to Tarquin, she was simply an enemy he needed to face, the same likely applied for the reverse too. Vance probably didn't care about any of them outside of their usefulness, they'd probably write off the base as they'd planned for the colonies if things went sour. Would a victory really mean anything beyond repelling another attack? There had been multiple clashes and they'd come no closer to stopping the group.

He glanced across slyly at Abby, she'd made enough noise to catch his attention. It wasn't clear what had prompted it but they'd received more than enough information for at least something to startle her. Her own allegiance to the group was rather surprising, her obligations were minimal - although perhaps better compared to a prison sentence.
 

[Ether]

While the additional androids would be a welcome addition to their security, the rest of the responses were... far from ideal. Seung-Min could feel the unique cocktail of emotions coming from Firmia that mirrored her own thoughts on the matter... why were they not doing at least that much already as standard procedure? Still, the issue being acknowledged was better than nothing, she supposed. Pursing her lips somewhat, Kim looked over at the projector again, before turning her gaze to Vance.

"Well, I suppose that will... increase security, at the least. I still worry about our overall situation though... even in pairs and actually armed... I can't say I'm... enamoured, at our chances in a melee situation." Kim noted... the Commander could certainly expect to see some more thorough requisition forms on his desk later that day... Seung-Min could only hope he would follow through with them as swiftly and discreetly as possible, for everyone's sakes.

[Xinnidy]

Our Story

As Vance let slip a comment on Doctor Amparo, Alphonse noticeably stiffened for a moment, but shrugged it off quite quickly. It seemed that no further comment would be made on that topic, which made sense. Vance had already confirmed she had been authorized, there was no further point of discussion there. Instead, furrowing his brows, Alphonse's expression sombered. "...Louise has made her decision. This information would normally be classified as sensitive. However, as she is a confirmed threat to the federation, there is no protocol keeping me from disclosing it. I suppose, if it helps..."

A silent sigh. A thinking hand supporting his chin, "Five years ago, Louise Park was stationed in Fort Snow Owl, Montana. At that time, that base was under my command... of course, back then, rebellious groups weren't as bold and organized as Apotheosis, but they were a problem regardless. Not many people see us eye-to-eye when if comes to how we treat the colonies... others simply want to incite and take that away." He'd caught himself derailing some, blinking and forcing himself to stop. There was at least one person this subject matter was important to in the group, but now was hardly the time. "I'll skip the politics here, that region was a major suspect for weaponized rebellious groups. We sent out scouts regularly around the perimeter."

"We were right on the money, and that base caught the ire of a heavily weaponized colonial separatist group. Some of you might have heard about that, the Montana incident --It was on the news for a few days, though we tried to keep it hushed. The reason that base still stands, however, is directly connected to how Sergeant Park... doesn't." A poor choice of words, perhaps, "They attacked us head on, that day. With the base surrounded, our best option was to keep all forces on hand to defend, however there was a small group of our forces outside, sent on an untimely scouting mission. That was Sergeant Park's. During the siege we received an S.O.S. call from them --they had been ambushed, situation dire, but our situation in the base was still uncertain."

A brief pause. Alphonse had his sights scan the room again, until he stopped at Jessica once more, "I had a decision to make then. To rescue them, I would need to send our remaining forces and punch our way through an enemy formation, but it was uncertain whether the fort' automated defenses would hold out. It wasn't likely enough... but if I stayed, then these stranded forces would be dead for certain." It was a bit grim, defending a physical location, costly as it may have been to lose it, or human lives. "I chose the base, as you might have guessed. We repelled the attack, the base held, but at the cost of many soldier's lives. When we searched to confirm deaths, we were surprised to find Sergeant Park alive at all. Her Velite had taken a direct hit, beam weaponry, but it just barely missed her... which meant she was trapped in a smoldering coffin for who knows how long. Reports said her legs had melded with the cockpit's metal; She was fading in and out of consciousness from the pain." These weapons never had a good ending.

"In the end, I was lauded a great commander for my efforts in defending the base. Louise was too damaged by the incident to be treated. Her nerves were too damaged, lower body reconstruction was impractical. Thus, she was honorably discharged." Despite the positive connotations of a honorable discharge from service, the situation had deeply soured it. "Despite a soldier's training and acceptance of the risks, these situations leave deep scars. Her frail mental situation on top of my praise as a hero certainly pushed Park over the edge." That was the end of the story. Alphonse relaxed a little.

"...I reckon you had a similar event happen recently with a pilot. Even if he recovers, I'd advise not sending him to the battlefield anymore. I can't discharge him, as he wasn't part of the army to begin with." Alphonse seemed to figure no intention of fielding Nikolai was held, but it seemed almost obligation to voice his opinion as Admiral. "His mental state, however... that depends on those who are close to him, and the Riese's psychiatrist."

Edited July 17, 2018 by Xinnidy

[Phoenix]

Alphonse's guilt was understandable, but Brant ... just couldn't do it, anymore. He couldn't find any sympathy for Louise, not after everything she'd done. "So that's why?" He asked, his tone low and furious, "That's why she turned on everyone?" As he curled his fingers into fists, Brant thought back to his own training, and all the scars, both physical and mental. Every time he was shot down he knew he might burn to death before anyone could reach him. Every time he was put in an escape scenario, he knew he might drown or succumb to the fumes. Everything he went through growing up reaffirmed his status as an Alkaev tool. Dima never gave him a choice; it was simply expected of him. If he died or was irreparably maimed, the old man would have viewed it as merely the loss of an asset. Even so, Brant could never even consider hurting everyone else in the company along with him. Alphonse was a completely different kind of person from Dima, someone who was going to carry the weight of his hardest decisions to his grave. He was not the kind of person that warranted so much death and destruction.

Brant smiled bitterly. "I was almost worried, Admiral ... that maybe you were just a little too detached from your people ... like you didn't care about them enough to weigh a decision like that. Instead, all I'm sensing is guilt. It's so messed up. She thinks this is revenge, but Louise hasn't killed a single person that ever wanted to see her in that wheelchair, and there's no shortage of people in the ANF that could have helped her through that. Instead of looking to them for support, she's busy vaporizing them all so Apotheosis can take over. I can't stand people like her. You feel for them and want the best for them, but all they want is payback. I'm sure she didn't get all the support she needed back then, but there's no excuse for this. It's completely unforgivable.

"I'm going to kill her, tomorrow. ... unless someone has any better ideas, we need to put her down for good this time. That's probably the best thing for everyone at this point. Especially her."

Firmia grinned faintly, glad to see Brant losing his reservations toward Apotheosis. Gone were the days of warning enemy pilots to eject over the radio. She didn't know about the Riese group, but for Firmia, sparing Louise was never an option. She had a hunch that they couldn't force any useful information out of the psychopath through interrogation, and that was the only reason the Alkaev could think of for keeping her alive. Firmia supposed that was why Brant had left the door open, to see if anyone else could think of anything, but honestly, Firmia had been planning to pull the trigger herself if no one else would. It seemed like she wouldn't have to worry about that, anymore. "I think setting up a formal execution would be too risky with the technology they use, so we shouldn't even try to capture her," Firmia pointed out, eyeing the Commander and Admiral. She was hoping to nip that option in the bud if she could. Whether escape was actually feasible or not didn't concern her at this point. She and Brant were simply in agreement on this one.

[scorri]

The reveal that Alphonse was the reason behind Louise's situation was mildly surprising, but nothing shocking. What was perhaps more uncomfortable was how similar their motivations were to hers. Fighting for revenge and only revenge, the only goal. Brant's response wasn't surprising, but it didn't seem right either. It wasn't just Alphonse that had caused the situation. He would have been expected to sacrifice humans for the base. The base was more important overall. It was the same decision that had been made when their friend's squad had ended up dead. And it made sense, right?

"It's not that simple though." They'd spoken up before they realized it, but continued on anyways. "Sometimes talking to people about things doesn't fix it. You act like something needs to be intentional or the wrong decision to cause the desire for revenge or like talking through things can fix everything. Sometimes... Sometimes feelings need to be acted out to be satisfied. Shoving them down, talking about them, sometimes it doesn't work. I-" They stopped, realizing what they were saying. "I mean, I don't think we should try and save her, obviously. But you act like her actions make no sense and because of that, it's messed up? How often do humans make sense? We're always doing things that make no sense. This makes more sense than a lot of what people do every day." Right? It has to. It has to make sense. Otherwise everything I've done... No. It makes sense. It does.

[Phoenix]

Brant found himself scowling at Astin, but internally, he was paying careful attention to his fellow pilot's emotions. There had to be something more personal involved here, not that it would change his opinion on any of this. "I wouldn't expect having people close to her would have fixed anything, but things get a lot worse when people suffer alone." He knew that from personal experience. He understood some of the anger and bitterness that came with that suffering, too. There was a clear difference though.

It was a little strange arguing with Astin about this, and Brant still wasn't quite sure what was driving things from their end. What exactly were they concerned with? If the point was to make sense of Louise's mental state, they were preaching to the choir. Brant knew what it was like to want to lash out at people that didn't deserve it. There was simply nothing on earth Alphonse could have possibly done to make Louise's response any less despicable. That was why Brant had reacted the way he had on the beach, and that was why he was ready to put that lunatic down for good at the earliest opportunity. She was just plain evil. Maybe that needed zeroing in on ...?

"Astin ... how much would you personally have to go through in this war before you're ready to murder all of us with a big smile on your face?" Since it was mostly rhetorical, Brant continued, "It's a choice people can make, and she made it ... and whether or not it makes sense isn't important. I was making a huge understatement before. It's not just messed up. It's pure evil. Firmia's grandfather's a saint compared to her."

Tonya mouthed the word 'ouch' with the Dima comparison, and it prompted Firmia to actually do a real hard comparison between the two in her head.

[Nanami Touko]

Motives

"Now look," Vance began, voice louder to catch attention and quiet this argument, which he found just a tad silly. "The point is not why she's become a homicidal maniac, it's that she has. And now, she's one in the front seat of what's likely the most dangerous machine we've ever run into. She'll be gunning for Alphonse, and all we were aiming for with explaining this, is setting that up. I want you all to do your best to make sure he survives. Don't sacrifice yourselves, you're all important too, but gods be damned, we can't afford another loss this high up. Chain of command's already shaky on the outskirts as it is, moral needs to stay as high as we can keep it here." Hopefully that made sense to enough people, Vance clearing his throat after.

"Now, I don't mind if you all wanna continue this conversation when we're done here, but for now, you're all dismissed. Doesn't seem anyone has any questions left... And Aliza an' Thorvald need to attend to their new machines. Captains Gefalschst and Alkaev, the androids have already been delivered to your ships. You can go about setting them up and stationing them where necessary. I suggest, once your duties and needs are all taken care of, you get plenty of rest. Stressful situation, but the last thing anyone of us need is falling asleep in front of incoming fire. Don't rely on your adrenaline to do all the work for you."

Jess sighed. What a heavy topic... Louise wasn't right in what she was doing, but did it make sense? She was a soldier, she should've known the risks of enlisting, yet she did anyway. How could she hold that against Alphonse, so heavily? Either there was something they were missing, or Louise was a much pettier woman than Jess had imagined. "Sir yes sir." Jess saluted, and got up to make her way out. They had way too much to prepare for, and she apparently had androids to assign... The Riese had 3 floors, one for each? That was likely a good idea. But, where to put Hannah, then? Well... She's human enough to make her own decisions. Hopefully the rest wouldn't be. With all that Hannah had gone through developing a personality, it would be difficult to adjust to so many of them doing the same, especially right now.

Christina didn't have anything to say to all of this, she was just ready to do her best. "I just have to help keep Kim safe." She'd whispered it to herself, and it was what she was going to focus on.

But Chris, oh, she was more than fired up, now. "Petty revenge is all that's driving her ass? It's gonna get shot down, mark my words. Firmia, are we heading back?" If there was nothing else she needed to discuss, then it was high time to go. Hannah was also interested in the answer, but remained silent, waiting for it, instead of asking the same question again.

[Balcerzak]

The additional robots would definitely be a big relief, Thorvald nodded. It was likely to come with some of the same problems they'd had when Hannah first came on board--he still wasn't entirely sure she'd finished taking to the notion of self-preservation properly--but on the whole, certainly a price paid most willingly. Hearing the story behind Alphonse and Louise wasn't especially eye-opening. It was similar to the tale Roxanna had told him, of when her command as captain had taken a turn for the worse. And much more recently, it echoed how Jess... Sergeant Barnes's situation might have turned out, had the Riese not responded in time. That the woman had spent so long grinding an axe over it... He shook his head.

Hearing Astin stick up for her... almost, sort of... was a bit surprising. He'd expected most of the crew's reactions would be aligning closer to Brant's, if not his own, but before he could step in and put the kibosh on things, Commander Vance was one step ahead. After things were shut down, and people started to file out, Thorvald walked over to get another, closer look at the diagram and relative positioning. If Alphonse was the biggest target, it would certainly behoove him to have a firm grasp of what he was piloting, and where. Then it would be off to the hangars.

[Ether]

So that was the story behind Alphonse and Louise, was it? She had been forsaken for the greater good, and felt a need for vengeance because of it. Understandable enough at a basic level, but the woman's actions had gone well beyond a somewhat reasonable point long ago. All that was left was to put her down, Kim nodding along somewhat with Brant's assessment. With that out in the air, it seemed that they were to be dismissed. Leisure time was over, and it was time to get back to action. What sort of weaponry could they muster that might be able to hold back Vera on foot? She could put in a request for anti-materiel rifles, anti-vehicle rounds, but they just didn't know the extent of what she could block with those prosthetic limbs of hers... were they made of some sort of alien metal? That seemed likely, at this point. And on top of everything else, there was the mole issue to consider... maybe best to go directly to the top on this one.

"Excuse me, Commander. Do you mind... if I asked for a word with you in private?"

[scorri]

Astin bit back a retort to Brant as the Commander spoke up and eventually dismissed them. Pushing their chair back abruptly, they stalked out of the room, frustration not quite bubbling out. 

Sure, Louise isn't right in how happy and cheerful she is about all of this. But that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. And that is important. Understanding why people do things matters, right? Ugh. A fist lightly slammed against the wall, head coming to rest next to it a few seconds later. Stupid headache. Get some rest, he said. Yeah sure. Maybe I won't have nightmares again tonight. Though after that talk... 

Pushing away from the wall, they began to head towards the Reise. Maybe some fencing practice could help. Stabbing something physical was always a good outlet for emotions. Still, they couldn't shake the feeling that things seemed to be crumbling around them and the ship. The more information the Reise crew found out about Apotheosis, the moles, everything, the more it seemed like this whole situation was one small push from completely falling apart.

[Shin]

The comparison between Louise and Nikolai wasn't exactly one that Tarquin appreciated, although both of them had suffered at the choices of their commanders - both of which had gotten away without any sort of reprimand. It was very easy for them to make decisions where their pawns were on the line, especially from a comfortable office or a well protected seat on the bridge. The extra security was a practical idea, but it did make Tarquin wonder if it would have been his own brothers and sisters in their place if the technology had permitted.  
The worst part was Brant's judgemental opinion, he'd assigned himself the moral high ground on the basis that it disagreed with his own moral values. Spending time with Nikolai had given him some insight into the plight of discarded soldiers - the desire for revenge was something that was tempting him too. It wasn't a line of judgement that Tarquin would have followed himself, but it was one that Louise had chosen. Whether or not it was right or wrong was irrelevant, if she were an enemy on the battlefield she was one that needing taking down. She was a problem that Admiral Martison's acts had created, and now he was left with a situation that needed to be dealt with.

"It makes enough sense to Park for her to have chosen her path." Tarquin replied, standing up from his seat and looking at Brant. It would be interesting to see if his tune would change if Firmia's decision-making left him short two legs. "Deciding to fight against world powers within a terrorist organisation isn't a decision that is made overnight. She is the enemy, further categorisation is not required."

[Phoenix]

It took Brant a second to realize that Tarquin was criticizing him for making a moral judgment against Louise. The younger pilot didn't see the need to categorize enemy combatants that way, which honestly came as a surprise to Brant. He was hoping Tarquin meant there was no need to categorize Louise in particular, due to the severity of her actions, but that would just be the same judgment he'd made with a different coat of paint. "It makes sense to me, too ... but you don't think we should make any distinctions here?" Bran't expression had completely softened by that point. He was close to an apologetic smile but not quite. "If you're right about that, Tarquin, then we should definitely let her live, just like everyone else we took in. There's no need to fix what isn't broken, even if she is the enemy." Someone he cared deeply for was an enemy pilot not too long ago, so he had to make the distinction, moral or otherwise. There was no other choice.

"It's definitely broken," Firmia countered stiffly, standing up and glancing at her people. She was totally against capturing anymore of Apotheosis' pilots, especially such a deranged, high ranking one. It was too risky, and terrible for what little unit cohesion they did have. "Let's just get back to the ship." She stopped just as she was starting for the door. "By the way. Jessica. If for some reason you do decide to capture her, let us know in advance. We have to stay coordinated or there might be friendly fire." Hopefully she wouldn't get it in her head to try another mercy mission this time. If so, things would be more tense than ever in the post mission debrief. At least Firmia and company would only be tuning in from their side.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Disband and Relocate

"I believe I made it clear," Vance began, louder this time, "to take your personal discussions elsewhere. This meeting is over, thank you. Give me a few moments, Lieutenant, and yes, you may. As long as it's pertinent to the battle, and not your take on the situation." A mostly reserved huff, and Vance set about removing the information he'd placed on the board. Hopefully this crew was ready for this...

"Of course... Though, I don't have any plans for that. If, by some miracle, it becomes a possibility without casualties, then sure... But... I don't see that being feasible with how dead set she is on killing Alphonse. First orders for everyone are to kill on sight." Louise had done more than enough to deserve that.

---

The Last Free Time

Jess immediately went to her room to seek a change of clothes. Having been stuck in that meeting in just her swimwear had been embarrassing and uncomfortable... She hadn't been the only one, but, still, it wasn't an exciting prospect. Finding a fresh uniform in her closet, she went about donning it, and... "Now what?" There was too much to do in such a short amount of time. This not being a surprise attack, much as that worked against Apotheosis, meant plenty for them in terms of preparing. Still, what to do? How best to prepare? Keep talking to all the pilots and see how they're doing? Oversee the maintenance on the new machines in the hangar? Maybe. A few of them would be down there, anyway...

"I suppose I'll do that. And maybe I can get a front row seat for these androids." Jess fixed her hat back onto her head, and took a deep breath. "Time to play captain as best as you can."

Practice Makes Practice

Christina had only one thing on her mind when they got back onto the ship, and that was to try and make herself more helpful. Luckily, she ran into just the person that could help her do that. It seemed like he'd had the same idea as her. "Makoto!" she called over, jogging a moment to catch up to him. "Hey! Uh... Are you heading to the simulators too? I was wondering if you couldn't mind going up against me... I'm not the Artemis' main pilot, but... Well, I, kind of feel like just an extra T-Link when I'm in there. Like, if Kim ever got hurt..." the thought made her take pause, gulping past it, "then I wouldn't be able to do anything to keep us from getting shot down. So... I-If you don't mind, can we?" Hopefully it wouldn't be a bother... Makoto had been hit pretty hard with what Vera had said on the beach, so perhaps he wasn't up for company. Still...

Make Those Machines Work

Avery had been tasked with the Odin and the Sagittae as soon as she'd gotten on board. Apparently, Buck had agreed to work on the Avalon for a bit, to facilitate the remaking of one of their machines? She hadn't gotten the full details, but it was what it was. Luckily, the two 'super robots', as they had been labeled, weren't in need of serious attention. In fact, they were fairly immaculate. Whoever had designed them had spent a lot of time making sure everything was in place to make them work. Even the transformations were working without hitch... And the Sagittae had one too? "God, damn, Vance... Yer workin' outta yer fuckin' league." All Avery had to do was meet up with the pilots and make sure the controls were working... Hopefully Aliza and Thorvald were on the ball about that.

Fun Over

With their little date soured as soon as they got back, Cheryl sighed into her office chair. "Don't smoke, don't smoke, don't smoke..." It was so tempting, the threat of destruction looming putting her on edge. She'd been on the ship during the previous fights, but having some of the masterminds show up on your door step and threaten you personally? Horrifying. At least her office was cozy... "Just... Gotta relax. Maybe there's something on TV."

We Gather Here Today

 

Firmia was glad she didn't have to wait long for Brant and Tonya to catch up. She'd been particularly worried about the former, given the way his priorities worked. Now they just needed to make sense of what had just happened and get back to the ships.

"Firmia," Brant winced faintly at her, "was there any point in coming out here ahead of everyone else if we're just going to be standing right next to the building? If they start shooting, we're still dead ..." Not to mention they all came here on the same bus. What were they going to do, take it and leave everyone else behind? Hitch a ride back to the base?

Firmia crossed her arms and scowled at the ground. "At this point, all Apotheosis has to do is make one logical decision and we're dead. I just don't want to be stuck in that building while trying to figure out what just happened." Admittedly she also wanted any excuse to get back to her new ship; even only being a few dozen meters closer felt better than not.

Chris ran up behind Brant, much less angry than before, but still radiating the emotion to an uncomfortable level. It would take some time, and some proper catharsis, to break out of this one... And maybe some hugs from Brant. "He's got a good point, you know. Much as you might hate Jess, I'm not about to take the only ride big enough to hold all of us and leave them here waiting in fear. That's just not right."

Hannah ran up after her, though she was still wearing her swimsuit, not quite caring about what she was wearing in the current situation. "Firmia! The enemy battleship is beginning to retreat. I'm not picking up any rounds, missiles, or beams coming from their direction. It appears their words held true, at least for the moment. What's your plan, now?"

"I never said anything about driving off," Firmia hissed, "We just need to be out of there and I'm not waiting for her. And no, it's not hate ... not exactly ..."

Brant's eyes narrowed at her, wondering why Firmia even cared if Chris was distinguishing between hate and ... however Firmia really felt about Jessica.

"As for the plan, now ..." Firmia really didn't want to say what she was about to say, but ... "Now we head to the bus and go over what just happened while we wait for the others to catch up."

"So we're waiting either way," Tonya nearly chuckled.

"Well... Let's go then." Chris didn't wait, stuffing her hands into her sweater's pockets, and head over and onto the bus. She pulled herself all the way to the back, wanting to stay away from the rest of the group when they arrived.

"It appears that we are waiting. Shall we, then?" Hannah waited for Firmia to lead. She was calming down with the ship disappearing off her radar.

Firmia sighed and started off with the rest of the group in tow. "So it's confirmed," she muttered as they reached the bus, "Apotheosis can move people around and not just their machines. If I'm right, and they're trying to capture the Riese in tact, then they just need to get Vera inside, and if not her then a team of androids would work."

Tonya grimaced at that. "Didn't Hannah here hold off half a battalion by herself? Isn't that pretty much game over if a boarding party shows up? Well, at least they have to build them, first ..."

"I've been thinking they could have had a whole team built by now, but it's hard to be sure. Louise said Hannah was just a prototype, and they do have Gaertner, so I can't imagine they haven't built at least one more android ... and even just one fighting for them is extremely dangerous. They could also head back to Colony One and get Hannah's sisters if they just need the endurance and the firepower ..."

"I do not think that would work," Hannah chimed in. "My sisters were disabled, rather heavily. I was already active, which is why I was moving about during the attack. I do understand what Louise said, but... I can't imagine that Apotheosis has managed to get Tabitha working for them. All information I can find on her has shown that she is a supporter of the ANF and their research efforts. Perhaps it's just my hoping, since she's my creator... But if she made me, as a prototype for colony defense, I don't want to think she would help them so readily. I just... Don't know why Louise would mention her. It feels like an attempt to rile me up, but what would that accomplish? Maybe she was simply trying to get me to attack Vera after she left..." Hannah sighed, folding her arms. How vexing.

"Well," Firmia's eyes drifted away from the group, "maybe they don't have a team of androids, but that ... that ... it wasn't nothing. She mentioned that for a reason, and I don't think it was just to rile you up." Either way, Firmia wanted Hannah's sisters on their side. It was a shame they probably couldn't make a quick trip back up to Colony One to try and pick them up. Even if this was a good window--which it likely wasn't--a Megalodon II was extremely vulnerable flying around on its own in the middle of a war like this.

"So," Brant winced, "you think Apotheosis is going to take the ship directly ... not shoot it down and salvage it?"

"They can teleport all over the place," Firmia said pointedly, "so why not use it? Then again, those two are involved. Capturing the Riese that way is probably too clever for Louise and too underhanded for Vera ..."

"Well... If they can do this, why haven't they sent Vera into central yet? Even if they just put her at the front door and let her take it her way, it feels like if they could freely do this, they'd be doing it a lot more. With that doctor, the one that was taken from Tarquin's facility... Liebenwalde! According to the security footage, she arrived in her machine. Why not just warp her in? There must be something that prevents it in... Oh. Oh, that is a fatal flaw. I understand!"

Hannah smiled, piecing together a rather solid hypothesis, or at least in her mind. "They can't warp people without clear signals. With their machines, they can connect the warping point to them through some sort of communication, like, a bungee jump. The jumper is tied to the base, and can get pulled back by the cord... So for ships and machines, sure, as long as they have that tether point, it would be easy to move them back and forth so long as they could supply the energy... But for people."

She'd placed a hand on her chin, stopping walking entirely. "It musn't be feasible to create that tether point at such a small size... So when they warp a person, they need little to no interference. There were no signals going in or out of the beach area, barely even wifi. Otherwise... Perhaps it's too dangerous to attempt warping single bodies with so many signals getting crossed. Else, maybe, someone could get stuck in a wall, or end up with an arm transported elsewhere. I... I mean I can only assume, it just doesn't make sense that they wouldn't be abusing this technology, even without Louise or Vera. They're lieutenants, right? So whoever's above them would definitely be getting some amount of soldiers to perform warp jobs if they were able. This must be it..." She'd started walking again near the end, to make sure she stayed caught up with the group.

"I had a feeling there might be something keeping them from beaming into whatever place they wanted, whenever they wanted," Firmia agreed, "but the Riese has traitors onboard, so if they get rid of whatever's interfering with that technology, then ..." ... then that was a big problem, and not even one they could really prepare for.

"You told Jess to up security," Brant noted, "so as long as no one pokes around at anything they shouldn't, that should be good enough to stop them from warping in."

Firmia groaned. "Grgh, look, I'll just be up front about this since the others haven't caught up, yet. I am one hundred percent certain that Jessica is one of the moles. Any plan that hinges on her being competent is a bad plan."

"... Her being mentioned by Louise is rather troubling. I am almost upset that you didn't take Louise up on her offer. I was recording the entire conversation, so while it isn't incriminating evidence, it would be enough to get anyone mentioned placed under investigation. I simply didn't want to mention anything, as she may have clammed up if she knew she was being recorded. But, if Jessica was the mole, they've have plenty of good chances to aid in the takeover of the ship so far. When you were all engaged in colony one, if any amount of forces had approached the ship and signaled her, they could've taken it before you all could've returned."

So much didn't make sense, Hannah sighed again, deciding to try and cheer herself up by hugging Firmia as they walked. "I don't get it. If she is, she's had so many chances. As much as I don't want to insult her, I believe her incompetency is just that. She's simply too new and naive a captain, not one actually attempting to sabotage the ship... Much as some of her decisions could be seen that way."

Brant would have chuckled at Firmia's minor flinch when Hannah suddenly hugged her, but his brain was too busy turning over the mole charge the distrustful Alkaev had slapped on Jessica. It was also a little painful to hear Hannah call her incompetent ... even if that was occasionally an accurate way of putting it. It was one more thing he couldn't stand about this whole situation. If Jessica wasn't so stubbornly avoiding him and spending all her time with Abigail, she might have a clue of what was going on around her. At this point, he couldn't be too hard on Firmia for always accusing the Captain of being too focused on leisure. Today all but proved it.

"She is a new captain," Brant concurred, "and she's straight out of the academy into a war."

"I'm not saying she's acting incompetent," Firmia frowned, "only that she's one of the moles. For all we know, Apotheosis didn't even care about the Riese at first. If they were trying to take the ship from the beginning then absolutely none of this makes sense, so I think it's a more recent plan that's coming together, thanks to this winning streak of ours."

"So you think they've just had moles put everywhere in prep for the war," Brant concluded, "and the ones on the Riese weren't necessarily put there to help capture it."

"Yes and no," Firmia cringed at her own answer, "It's all so confusing that I have to have two working theories at once, one where Apotheosis is logical but wants us to think they aren't, and one where they just plain aren't."

"The moles have been there since day one," Chris suddenly piped up, looking rather annoyed, not wanting to hear much of this conversation. "And yes, their plans have always been to take the ship... So I don't really know what they're doing. Either they can't, or they're waiting for whatever they believe is the perfect moment to do so."

"I... I see..." Hannah was a bit surprised to hear more from Chris, or maybe it was just express details that hadn't really been asked for before.

"What? No one asked."

So it was that. "Is there anything else, then?"

"Not that I can remember, if there is... It's just what we're told is the goal of engaging the ship. Take it at all costs. That costs tends to be us getting shot down..."

Firmia wasn't too miffed about the timing of the new information; it could have come much sooner, but not only was it better late than never, Hannah had also seen to the last of the details. If Chris was to be believed, then anyone that showed up after the ship's initial departure from Dry Lake Base wasn't one of the three moles she was talking about. It was just a shame Jessica had a habit of recruiting everyone they didn't kill ...

"So they're trying to take it the regular way," Tonya mused, "shoot down the mobile suits, back the Riese into a corner, and take it that way."

Firmia sighed. "We still don't have enough information."

"Do you at least have any suspects besides Jess?" Brant asked, still perplexed by that one.

"Urgh," Firmia gritted her teeth, "I can't point to any one thing to back up my suspicions besides the Captain. Maybe we should have stayed a little longer. I would have loved to see everyone's reaction to Vera. The Captain's reaction too, actually. It wouldn't change my mind with her either way, but ..."

"Why do you even suspect her, still?"

"You do not want me to get into that," Firmia warned, her voice low and serious.

"I do," Chris started, standing up and scowling down Firmia, making her way back over to the rest of them. "She's fighting her ass off same as the rest of us and you've got a death wish on her because she didn't follow through on fucking Brant?" That was far too simple and blunt of a way to put it, but Chris wasn't feeling particularly friendly right now.

"If you've got real reasons, lay them out, right now. Gettin' tired of this shit. I get being mad at Jess, I fuckin' do, but not for this."

Hannah had put herself between Firmia and Chris, just in case the latter tried to take a swing. "We shouldn't be fighting with ourselves. Chris, I understand that you're aggravated from the situation with Louise, but--"

"But what!? Do you like hearing her ache on about Jess? I sure don't! So I wanna know, right now!"

Hannah didn't really know how to respond to that... The captain had been one of the first to be disturbed by her awakening as a thinking being, but had warmed up rather quickly. Even if she was incompetent at times, she still was trying as best as anyone in her position could. Firmia's constant disparaging was... Well, it was difficult at times, but Hannah never said anything because she also understood how the Alkaev felt.

"So? Out with them."

"Don't tell me what to do," Firmia hissed. She didn't know what Jessica's efforts in battle had to do with any of this. If even one of the moles was a pilot, then they too had put on a good show for everyone. How else were they going to sell the deception? In fact ... that needed addressing, Firmia realized.

"Look, Apotheosis doesn't give a damn about their people. You of all people should know that, especially with a bunch of clones of Christina running around. It doesn't matter how many of their pilot's Jessica's personally shot down. That doesn't make her innocent."

"Yeah, but by that standard, everyone's a suspect if they were here on day one," Brant noted gloomily.

"That's espionage and sabotage for you," Tonya nodded.

"I don't even like the idea of limiting myself to three moles minimum and three maximum," Firmia continued, "but that's the information you gave us and it's all we have. It's too much to ignore, but not enough to catch anyone. Jessica's at the top of my list because everything I've seen up until now points to her. I may have a personal grudge against her for making me and two of my pilots miserable, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

Brant immediately caught Firmia's deadly serious gaze again and didn't know what to expect.

"Why is she the only officer on that ship that puts battle readiness and security below leisure time? Why is she so stupidly good with the Riese's main guns--the one thing she needs to keep that seat--and so terrible at everything else? Why did she keep recruiting enemy pilots in the most divisive way possible? Why did her stutter just disappear and never come back?  ... why ... didn't she do what she said she would do instead of leaving you to waste away like this ...?" Firmia sighed heavily and let her gaze fall. "Everything about her is out of place, and the only time she's useful is when she's killing the enemy, which is all she needs to be to convince some people ... but I'm not buying it. We are a lot weaker, divided, stressed out, and way less prepared for Apotheosis than we should be. She knows that because I freaking told her multiple times, and STILL her real priorities come first ...

"She's a good mole, though. I have to admit." Firmia's serious aura had given way to sadness in light of her realization. "No one's going to suspect a thing on the Riese until it's too late. At least with a pilot or a copilot I have options. It's out of my hands, anyway. The whole situation is ..."

"I'll tell you what to do when you're being a baseless cunt," Chris snapped back, arms folded, not taking Firmia's glares anywhere near serious. This girl couldn't do a thing to her if it came down to a fight, Chris was more fit and arguably a better TK, so she'd throw her weight around where it mattered. Luckily, Firmia opened up. Smart girl. Though, her reasoning was rather shallow.

"I don't think most of that makes her mole material. The only thing that stands out as weird to me is how good she is on the main guns. You'd think if she was a terrible captain, they'd have put someone else in charge, and left her as main gunner. That seems to make more sense... But if she was appointed by the ANF directly, that would mean there was someone deep enough in there to setup a mole. That seems farfetched, if I'm being honest. Especially on the Riese... The rest just sounds like her being a teenager far out of her element. The stutter..."

Well, that one was weird, people typically didn't just lose stutters, but... This wasn't enough for such a high level of suspicion. It was probably coupled with that hefty grudge she was still holding over what Jess had done to Brant, but Chris was already tired of hearing about that. "He doesn't need her," she said, flat out, "because he has me. I don't have anyone coming to take me. I don't have anywhere else to go... And I don't have anyone else that makes me as calm as he does. And calm... When you're stuck in a head like mine, is the greatest haven one can get. Besides, I'm his copilot now. So I've got plenty of time to work him away from Jess. As long as it takes." There was no 'sike!', no, 'gotcha!'. Chris was deadly serious about this. Brant needed someone else. Someone that wasn't about to walk away at the next best thing. Chris was dedicated to everything she threw herself at... He would be no exception.

Work him away from Jessica ... it was blunt, but Chris always seemed to be leaning that way, Brant noted. He let himself fall back against the side of a seat to lean on it, not sure what to say now that he was coming into focus, again. On the one hand, it was good to know that she was as committed to helping him as he was to her, even if they were in a strange place, right now. On the other hand, he hadn't resolved a thing with Jessica one way or the other. He'd caught Firmia's meaning, about him being left to waste away. It felt true ... and it also felt like Firmia wasn't taking Chris' rebuttal very well, internally ...

Firmia recalled Louise's awful wording and realized that she'd been more or less on the mark regarding Chris' interest in Brant. Even though she was a better option than the Captain in Firmia's view, the Alkaev still wasn't especially fond of the idea. As far as she was concerned, Brant didn't need either of them, or anyone else. He'd been fine and carefree whenever women weren't trying to start things with him. In fact, both had hinted that they needed him, Jessica for her leisure partner, and Chris for a more emotionally stable day to day. At least they could agree that the former wasn't the right fit ...

Firmia still wasn't going to let insubordination slide. She reminded herself again that things had to be different on the Avalon, and she couldn't be pushed around or insulted by people that were supposed to be working for her. Not even a little. "Now listen, I accepted your offer earlier because it was a waste to not let someone who hates Apotheosis as much as we do help out, but that doesn't mean you're home free." She crossed her arms and parted her feet to about shoulder width as she stared down Chris. "It's not up to you whether you're Brant's copilot; it's up to me, so don't tell me what to do. Period ... and don't you DARE insult me for an opinion you were demanding to hear in the first place! If you want to try to help him get over Jessica, fine; she made up her mind, anyway ... but I'm not getting talked down to by my own crew. Leave that garbage on the Riese."

"I was insulting you for not sharing your opinion, you... Hhhhh..." Chris was having a fun time fighting against herself, trying to rein in the insults. "... ... Of, course. Captain." She couldn't bite back all the vitriol, but she'd avoided more insults, at the least. She still thought Firmia was being a bitch about it, she kept bellowing about the Riese's idiot savant, but she'd never say why. That wasn't fair at all! You didn't just let someone moan without a reason, surely she understood that. Chris gripped her arms and let out a hefty sigh, sitting herself down to try and focus on Brant... He was still a mess, but at least he was familiar.

"Now that the cat's out of the bag... Is there anything else?"

Hannah sighed and let her shoulders drop some. At least Chris was trying.

Good enough, Firmia decided, the extra aggression from before evaporating in an instant. That just left the frustration with their current Apotheosis situation. "I don't want Jessica to turn out to be one of the moles, I really don't. I don't even have a counter for something like that, yet." It would come down to Roxanna and Tristan in that situation. "It would be a lot better if she was just ... herself, but there's something about the way she acts that goes beyond just being 'naive.' It's hurting the whole group one way or another, but like I said ... it's out of my hands. Tomorrow she's going to have to prove that she's really on our side."

"She is," Brant assured her. He wished he'd modulated his voice first; he sounded terrible, again.

"Mrph, well there is one more thing. Two things. I'm going to ask Buck to get the Mantle ready for tomorrow. There aren't any issues with the Excel configuration, so we'll be converting it into that version. I don't know if there's enough time, but the sooner he starts the better. If something goes wrong then you're going to have to pilot the Reign, Hannah. And Tonya, I know this is really sudden, but I want you to pilot the Avalon."

Tonya smiled nervously. "I have exactly ZERO ship experience under my belt."

"I figured that much, but I want someone I trust at the helm. Just learn as much as you can tonight and let your fighting instincts fill in the gaps. It worked with everything else you've piloted, so I don't see why it wouldn't work here."

"With everything I have seen Buck work on, including his work on me, I trust him to finish changing up the Mantle with no problems."

"... So am I still copilot in the back of the Regalia?" Chris sunk back against her seat, looking over at Brant when she'd asked, a rather pitying stare headed his way. This day had really gotten to him... How was she supposed to get him away from this hold he was in? Being forceful only seemed to have so much of an effect.

"For now, yes," Firmia nodded, hoping her deliberate wording hadn't gone unnoticed. "And that just leaves Sa--... wait, Sasha wasn't at the beach with us."

"Don't ruin his date," Tonya pleaded, "Apotheosis already pulled out, and he's got his own ride back."

Firmia grimaced and turned her tablet's screen back on. "I'm at least going to leave him a message ..."

"For now, huh..." No, Chris hadn't missed Firmia's wording, and it stung. Firmia sure enjoyed being in charge, huh... She didn't bite at it, Firmia was already in a bad enough mood. Instead, she picked herself up and sat next to Brant, finding a spot for her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and trying to focus on his maelstrom instead of her own.

"There," Firmia said, having sent her message off. With that, she switched over to A1's feed, to see if anything had changed. "I'll probably have to sit with Buck on the way back to go over the details, so you two can sit wherever you want."

"I'll sit with Hannah, I think," Tonya grinned mischievously, "I'm sure you've got the Avalon's flight controls memorized or something like that, so you can help me study on the way back." She was joking, obviously, but the longer she thought about it ... yeah, it would definitely help, given that she had a little under a day to become a competent pilot. She didn't have a knack for the technical side of piloting in general, which made things even riskier ...

The thought of Tonya piloting a ship, even a relatively small one, was a strange thing to Brant. Her usual tricks wouldn't work here, regardless of combat instincts. Fortunately, Tonya seemed well aware of that fact. It did leave the Reign effectively benched outside of an emergency, though. Brant didn't have anything to add on either front; his attention was mostly divided between Firmia's suspicions of Jessica, and the stress Chris was under.

"O-Oh... Alright. Sure, Tonya, I can go over things with you. I did download the system designs for the ship, so it shouldn't be too difficult to translate that into controls." Hannah seemed disappointed, but it was work, and it was important. Giving Firmia a wave, Hannah found an empty seat near the back. Firmia would probably want to keep things as secret as possible. Not having anyone able to see over their shoulders would help.

"... Hey, Brant?" Chris spoke up, cracking her eyes open just a bit, offering a half glance in his direction. "Am I a nuisance? Am I stepping into something I shouldn't? I meant what I said... But I don't want to, bug you with it. Get in your way, or make things painful. So just... Just, t-tell me if I need to stop. Or go away. I won't put up a fight."

Tonya was glad to know her joke wasn't just a silly aside. "Oh ... convenient. Let's actually do that, then." She really needed all the help she could get, and wasting the whole bus ride back was right up there in terms of bad ideas.

Brant meanwhile, feeling nearly dumbstruck by Chris' question, quickly put his arm around her shoulder. "I don't know how that ... whole situation's going to pan out, but you're not a nuisance, Chris. What do you think I'd be doing right now if you weren't around?" In hindsight, it was a little disappointing that he could hold his alcohol ... "And don't forget I want to help you, too. You can be as annoying as you want; that's not going to change."

"Drinking... Saying foolish things to Jess. Making mistakes. Getting a few people to hate you, probably. Things like that. I guess..." She grumbled quietly, slumping against him more, with another sigh. "Just don't know how well you take big proclamations like that. Like I'm choosing for you. Felt great in the moment. Feels stupid after..." More of a groan than a sigh, Chris tried to sit up just a bit.

"Like who am I to you to decide that? I'm barely your friend, and, just... 'He doesn't need Jess he has me'... How full of myself can I get?"

Brant couldn't help but chuckle toward the end. He was always running comparisons in his head, and so it was impossible for him to miss the more positive side of what Chris was doing, particularly what she was doing, right this moment. "I'm used to people deciding things for me. I'm almost completely numb to it ... but at least you're trying to give me a say in this. That's more than Jess or Rosa were ever going to do."

"... Why wouldn't they give you a say? Fuck's wrong with them? I'm not your keeper, I'm your friend... So what do you want, then? The more you go on about Jess, the more you seem to not be happy with her." Chris still didn't really get that, this did seem like some sort of obligation, more than a genuine interest. "If I'm fine, then... Work at that. Not at her. She doesn't deserve you."

"Isn't that how it normally works?" Brant grimaced, "Two people interested in each other run into an issue and the more assertive or aggressive one always gets the first and only say? That's my experience."

Brant wasn't sure what to say with regard to Jessica not deserving him. He was having a hard time placing his own value as a person these days, so it was difficult to even think about. Dwelling on Jessica did make Brant unhappy, though. He could admit that ... and it made perfect sense to him in hindsight. He used to be happy to see her. She used to care what was going on with him, at least enough to talk with him. Now, Brant was having physical reactions just seeing her or hearing her voice. Now, Jessica's highest priority was being with Abigail, and unless he died, Brant doubted she would realize anything was seriously wrong with him.

If he didn't know better, Brant might have even bought into Firmia's theory of Jessica being a mole, simply because the woman's priorities had shifted at just the right time to quickly dismantle him as pilot. Brant truly felt like letting Apotheosis shoot him down to numb the pain, but with Chris here, that wasn't even an option. Even if he didn't want to stick by her, she would be flying in the Regalia with him. Whatever killed him would at the very least leave her in even worse shape than Louise. "Easier said than done, but I'm trying. That's the worst part of all of this. Looking out for other people used to be easier than breathing for me ... and now it's hard to even find the time. I hate who I turned into."

"That's... Not how it works at all. I've got experience... Her experience. That's just abuse, Brant. You're supposed to work things out together, both people get a say, and the conclusion is agreed upon... Just what did Rosa do to you?" She was almost afraid to ask.

As for Jess... "Maybe she's still easy talk to? You haven't really tried... But I don't blame you, so if you never try, don't worry about it. I'm sure she cares... But who can juggle so many people? Especially if she's as bad a captain as Firmia keeps saying. But I don't know. I don't know her enough to say... But she's a bit of a bitch if she's doing those things to you. You deserve someone that's... That's not going to treat you like a thing. You're not a thing. You're Brant... A whole person... And you deserve your own choices. You've been teaching me that for a bit, now..."

Brant had a feeling his personal experience was bad. It was so bad that Chris was getting curious about Rosa. Immediately, Brant felt Firmia's mood change, along with Tonya's. The former was a lot more noticeable, and had an urgency to it. Despite that, Firmia didn't call back to them or say anything. For the moment Brant let Chris give her thoughts on Jessica.

She asked who could juggle so many people, and Brant's quiet mental answer was, 'Definitely me, before all of this crap ...' Admittedly Jessica had big responsibilities. Still, her responsibilities as a captain were near secondary to Abigail, too. That kind of affection was once being carefully doled out toward him not too long ago, but he wasn't the 'object' of Jessica's affection anymore, so Brant had a more difficult time than he expected seeing himself in a more balanced way. "I shouldn't need you to tell me that, but ... thanks. I'm glad I'm helping you figure out a few things.

"Talking to Jess, though ... I don't know. The last time I tried that, I had to beg her like a dog for five minutes," Brant noted bitterly. Firmia flinched up in her seat, just in time with a small spike in anger. Go figure. Quieting down as much as he could, Brant continued. "Even if she is willing to talk to me, I can't straighten up around her, anymore. And if Abby's around, there's no point in even trying." He'd just get furious and lose focus the moment she chimed in with her usual opinions. With the Apotheosis situation looming, it felt like there wouldn't even be a good time to talk with her. They were returning to different ships, and had about a day to prepare for the fight of their lives. It felt like time had run out the moment he last spoke to her. There was no way he was settling this issue over a video call ...

"I'm not sure you want to hear about Rosa, though. That was a long time ago, and I shouldn't have even mentioned her at all." Brant had to admit to himself it was more than that. Anyone who cared about him would be furious when hearing that story for the first time, and Brant was already in the process of pushing past it. He was trying to fix his bond with Rosa the same as Jessica, but the wounds from Jessica were too fresh for Brant, and the wounds from Rosa were too severe for everyone else.

"... I... I see. She's probably scared you'll convince her that Abigail isn't worth trying for. I wouldn't know what else to say on it, though, but if talking to Jess is that troubling for you, then... Forget doing it. It isn't worth all that pain just to fix things with one girl." Chris sighed. "Just, wish I knew more about the situation. For all I know, she's totally worth it, and I'm spouting bullshit. And don't think I can't feel you over there, Firmia! Sit further back if you can't handle your eavesdropping." Chris grumbled a bit more about that, what a girl...

"Then... Don't tell me, unless you want to. If it's someone you shouldn't have mentioned, and Firmia's getting that upset about it, I can't imagine how I'll react. I'm still... Trying to settle over Louise. Especially if it's something someone did to you... How fucking dare anyone hurt you, you're... So kind, gentle and considerate. And all this bullshit... Ugh. I'm working myself up, again..." She sighed and shut her eyes, focus on Brant, focus on Brant... "You deserve so much more..."

There was another small spike from Firmia, but she didn't actually say anything.

"Well ... of course she's worth fighting for," Brant forced a smile, but he couldn't keep it going for more than a brief second. His gaze was off into the distance after that. "I never doubted that. When I made my decision, I was ready to kill or be killed protecting her. I had to since being with her meant staying on with the ANF as a pilot. That was the most important decision I'd ever made. I made it for her and it couldn't matter less. I don't know how to 'fight' for anything without a gun in my hand, so that's why I wanted help, but ... that was a mistake. I wouldn't have even considered dragging anyone else into this if my brain still worked right ..."

Brant decided to save the Rosa story for another time. Chris was barely recovering from the Louise encounter, and she was tackling Brant's own situation at the same time. "Yeah, I'll ... save that one for ... some other time."

Brant thought back to his decision at the mall, to destroy an old part of himself. That puppet. It was harder to pin down exactly where its form started and ended now, but he knew that he wanted to think and act differently than he had been. What Chris and others liked about him, those were things he wanted to preserve in the process, but everything else, the crippling self doubt, the deliberate neglect of the people around him for the sake of one particular person, and a willingness to be destroyed in spite of everyone else, all of that he wanted to oust once and for all.

"I might have agreed with you on not deserving anything like this before joining the ANF," Brant noted, "I hadn't actually killed anyone before I came here. Call it war or self defense, I'm still taking lives almost every day, people that could have become near and dear to me if we were on the same side. I'm thankful for every person I don't have to kill. A lot of this hurts more in hindsight because of that, though. I don't want to think about what I would have been willing to do to keep Jess happy as a veteran ANF pilot, or who I would have been willing to kill when all I'm thinking about is her. I can't tell you what I deserve, Chris, but I'm no angel."

"... I'm not an angel either. It's... War. It doesn't make it right, but that's what it is... I thought I was dead that day, but the robot meant enough to one of you, so I got a lucky out. Considering you saved both Christina and me, and where we sit with the crew, I... I get the sentiment. But what are you doing to do? Get shot and die? That isn't a question I want answered, either. I know with how you are now... A part of you is probably going 'yeah, if it saves someone else, sure'. It's probably a good thing I'll be in the back seat, so you can't just throw yourself away like that."

She felt around for his hand and took it, managing something of a smile. "But you deserve wonderful and nice things. You're not a monster, killing for pleasure. You're not happy about it. If you could, you'd stop fighting, and make everyone else stop fighting too... Someone like you probably shouldn't be here; or... Shouldn't have to fight. That's more accurate. But... You do. To protect what you care about. That's what makes you great. And on top of all that, you're going through this song and dance with me? All while trying to make happy some girl who isn't giving you the time of day, and keeping Firmia and Hannah safe? Brant... Don't sell yourself short, please."

Elaine recognized the Oberon and thought they should claim it. Brant merely supported the idea, but he supposed the decision could have gone either way with enough momentum. That didn't necessarily mean Brant saved her, even indirectly, but he was glad he'd made the call, both then and in hindsight. There were very few times when he would have the option to spare anyone, after all.

"I've ... been more optimistic about surviving than I am now, yeah," Brant admitted, "It's totally irrelevant if you're going to be flying with me, though. So ... don't worry about that so much."

When Chris took his hand, Brant smiled faintly. "You know I've already got wonderful and nice things. People, circumstances ... I'm just not sure how to hold onto any of it."

<Me neither,> Firmia mused ...

"Not sure how to hold on? Come on, Brant... It's not hard." Chris only held on tighter, her smile getting that much wider. "Just don't let go."

Don't let go. A thought occurred, something about Jessica, but Brant punted it so quickly that it didn't even have a chance to take on a meaningful form. He couldn't let himself drift back there every single time. Just for once, he wanted to apply what Chris was saying solely to her and try to leave it at that. His grip on her got a bit firmer, but didn't stretch his copilot's ability to stay comfortable. "I'll try."

"... Next step," she added, still unsure of something... That something was herself. "Is that something worth holding onto? I don't mean romantically, or anything like that... I don't know if my brain will ever get to a point where a meaningful relationship is possible, but... Just... Last chance." A small shuffle, and a tiny bit of throat clearing. Apprehensive as she seemed, she pressed it out. "Am I worth holding onto?"

Brant noticed Firmia and Tonya again, and their auras had changed significantly. It was like they were watching an intense movie or something. With the bus' engine not running and virtually no ambient noise, this one conversation likely had some range. They must have still been listening in, waiting with bated breath ...

As for the question itself, Brant knew his answer already, but he also knew the implications. He wanted to choose his words carefully ... but he also didn't. Trying to answer her in some roundabout way wouldn't do either of them any good. Still, there was something about this whole situation that demanded a closer look, soul searching, or anything that would address the core of the issue. Just trying another relationship was what Jessica was doing, and whatever was at the root of that mentality was fueling at least a part of Brant's inner rage. He couldn't just take her hint; he couldn't just grab the next 'wonderful person' in his life and ignore the real problem. For right now, though, Chris needed an answer.

"Of course you are. Of course you are. Do you know what bothers me the most about all of this? I was worried that someone else might come along and lure me away from Jess before I found out about Abigail. I wanted to be careful and I didn't want to give her the wrong impression. I was ready to kill or be killed for her; the least I could do was not mess around too much with other women. That's why I was so ... off when Elaine and I came to see you. I didn't have a clue what you had been through and I didn't even give a damn because I didn't trust myself enough to stick to my decision if I got pressed too hard. That's what playing games like hers does to me, and I hate it with every fiber of my being.

"I still need to figure out a way to balance everything in my life ... but I'm not letting myself get so caught up in one relationship that I shrug off everyone else, again. It sucks just thinking about it, but if she decided I shouldn't help you finally make that connection ... because it made her uncomfortable that I'm around you so much or whatever ... that's it. I'd have to walk, even if I'd already won, somehow. I'm 'holding on' at least that much."

"...H-Heh... I was, pretty terrible, when we first met. I was... Just trying to scare you off. A defense mechanism, because I was scared, of all these strange pilots. Yeah, I knew about you. But... I didn't know you. So having you two walk into my holding cell," because that wasn't a room, "it... It was scary."

That was when his of course hit, and... It hit pretty hard, Chris flinching and curling up just a tad. It wasn't bad, if Brant was looking in, he'd feel the swathes of happiness radiating off of her, but she didn't know how to react to it. "I... Okay. Then I stay here. And we see how that works out... And most of all, I'll, s-stop asking. Because I've been doing that for a few days, now. I keep asking you if I'm worth having as a friend, so... You don't need that. I'm here."

"What do I feel like right now, Brant? I've hit that comfy empty... So I'm guessing I'm happy. And... You think the peanut gallery is enjoying things?" Chris managed a giggle, sighing. "I... Probably love you, Brant. And while I don't know, maybe... Maybe one day I can find out what that feels like."

Unfortunately that defense mechanism had nearly worked when coupled with Brant's own inner worries. Still, even Abigail had received better from him in the beginning, and that just frustrated Brant in hindsight. And knowing now that she'd actually been scared ... he might have even noticed if he'd been paying closer attention.

Chris decided then and there to stop with that line of questioning going forward, though her wording got Brant thinking a little deeper on the matter. He remembered now that he wasn't answering her question in the context of Chris being a friend specifically. It was all encompassing, really. However things resolved with Jessica, Brant wanted to keep that in mind, especially considering the effect his answer was having on her. He would have wished he had the ability to make Jessica feel that way, but such thoughts were banned, and right now his only concern was Chris.

It was so strange, even now, for her to call what she was feeling 'empty,' even if it was comparatively comfortable. At least she knew she was missing out on something special there. "You feel ... amazing. The way I want you to feel as often as possible. We're just going to have to figure out how to make that connection ..." She didn't miss the reactions from Firmia and Tonya it seemed, and Brant didn't know what to say to that. If anything they were probably worried about the two of them in the long term. Hannah too, possibly.

"Only probably?" Brant tried to lighten the mood a little, but as he continued, he knew he got serious again, not wanting to even try to figure out how to say something like this lightly. "Well, I definitely love you ... so hopefully we can figure it out soon."

Brant was half expecting anger or something close from Firmia, but it felt like pure shock. There was no hint at a positive or negative lean whatsoever. In Tonya's direction, it was so much 'quieter' that Brant wasn't even sure if she was still listening. She must have been thinking very carefully about something. Well at least Chris was happy, even if she was temporarily cut off from those feelings.

"Like I always say though, you're going to love it. It's a great feeling~"

"I do, huh..." A part of Chris wanted to plug the both of them into the same T-Link and try a direct connection, but she was worried about what sort of effect that would have on Brant... It would let her 'feel' these things she was missing, directly, if Brant managed to put them up, but what would her mind do to his? No, it wasn't worth it. She'd ride this out and see where it went, if it was someone like Brant, then maybe--

"Wh-What?" Confusion and a blush, Chris leaned back to look up at him. "L... Look, it's only b, been a few days, but... It's a lot more believable on my end; I felt worthless, you're helping me have a place... but you? Why? We just met, how can you say... That..." She didn't hate it, clearly, but it did confuse her. Brant had decided that she wasn't waste, and been an amazing pillar of support, reassurance, confidence, and care. How could she not love him? If she even did, she didn't know, but how could he say it back so casually...

"Just kiss already!"

"Wha!"

Hannah had called forward, up the bus, sticking her tongue out at the two of them as Chris poked her head back and scowled daggers at the android.

"M-Mind your own business, Hannah!"

"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss."

"Shut up!"

"Hannah?" Brant was beside himself--and Chris--at that one. It was nice to know he wouldn't have to feel guilty about his feelings, at least: He and Firmia weren't 'a thing,' he and Jessica weren't a thing, he and Tonya weren't 'a real thing,' so that just left Hannah, and, well ...

"Heh ... okay," Brant shrugged with the shoulder Chris wasn't using and raised their clasped hands up to kiss hers. It probably wasn't what Hannah had in mind. It wasn't what he had in mind either, but this wasn't the time to be acting purely on impulse.

"You shifted gears quick," Tonya whispered, "Are you a fan of dramatic love stories or something?"

Meanwhile, Brant addressed his blushing copilot. "You don't think it's believable on my end?" He brought his voice as low as he could without whispering as he continued. "My endurance, dedication, and everything else people seem to like about me ... I keep setting all of that up against easy sex and comfort and ... I keep losing. But here you are ... not ready to abandon me out of fear or whatever's going on with Jess ... or just ruin everything on a selfish fantasy. That means the world to me."

"I learn quickly," Hannah whispered back, "and there is no reason for me to be jealous of this situation. If I care about Brant, what makes him happiest is paramount. I would like to call him and Firmia my best friends, and seeing him here with Chris, it's quite clear he's enjoying himself a lot more than he ever has around Jessica. Should I not encourage that? It seems obvious, to me."

"Wha, B-Brant, don't..." Full flush in effect, Chris was stammering for a way to respond to all of this, his explanation not making it any easier. "Y-You're my friend, so, I, I want what makes you happy... And no, I wouldn't do that! You're not some toy... I... God, you're making it hard not to think about, though... But I still won't! With everything I keep hearing," she began, managing to calm down some, "if I did something like that, I'd be just like Rosa, or Jess... You get to make your own decisions. Everyone does..."

"... maybe," Tonya shrugged at Hannah. Brant's situation was somewhat unique. It was hard for Tonya to be sure exactly what to encourage or how far to take said encouragement.

Brant knew it was going to be an awkward bus ride back. Anyone who came this way in search of a seat would spot them straight away. That was fine, though. Brant was tired of taking overly measured steps with everyone else for Jessica's sake. He was tired of worrying about appearances. He was just plain tired. Brant rested his head against Chris', and mentally prepared himself for whatever came after that.

"Thanks ... for everything."

"Maybe is good enough for me, right now."

Chris grumbled some, this had really escalated... At least he seemed happy? Happy was good... It wasn't her own, but feeling someone else, it let her imagine.

"You're welcome, you big dummy..."

Edited July 21, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

When Kim had finally returned to the ship with her latest project in tow, carrying a rather large crate behind her on a trolly, it was time to begin on her next line of business. While the Artemis was performing fine... fine was starting to not become enough. With any luck, Avery would be available to consult on potential upgrades to the machine's systems... anything to give some sort of edge in the upcoming battle. Luckily enough, while the new machines were already delivered... and looked just as impressive in person, Avery was currently on the hangar floor, and not stuffed away inside one of them.

"Avery, do you... have a minute?" The Lieutenant asked, not bringing up her cargo quite yet... Avery would likely ask, of course, but she would take care of that at the proper time.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Ether

[Phoenix]

Excel

Spoiler

Tomorrow. That was going to be a bloodbath of epic proportions. Firmia could only hope that most of the blood would be spilling from Apotheosis' bodies and not their side. It seemed like they were just about out of time to prepare themselves, and with something of a deadline in place for preparations, this day at the beach felt like a serious hindrance. There was no use complaining about it now that they were on their way back, though. Firmia had something extremely important to take care of on top of getting the Avalon ready for the battle. This something was the Mantle. The Regalia was as ready as it could be until they made some actual advancements to some of its parts and equipment, but the Mantle's potential upgrade was a marked improvement, and tonight was the only chance they would have to implement it before things got really heated.

With that goal in mind, Firmia had forced Buck to sit with her the entire ride back and inspect her proposed upgrades on the tablet. There was no real force involved ... but there would have been, had she needed it. This was too important to waste these precious two hours twiddling her thumbs. There was still the matter of the three moles aboard the Riese, but Firmia really did want to trust Hannah's judgment on this one. Buck wasn't doing Apotheosis any favors by increasing the versatility of the AMS units, and doing so again with the Mantle would be an even bigger kick in the teeth with Hannah still piloting the thing.

"So, can you handle a project like this in just one night?" Firmia had been almost afraid to ask that make or break question. She couldn't risk trying to upgrade the Mantle to its Excel configuration if it wouldn't be finished in time. "The circumstances are really bad, and if something happens, Hannah will have to pilot the Reign tomorrow, instead." She could handle it with just a little bit of prep time, but it couldn't take the kind of beating the Mantle could. A minor hit to the Mantle was usually devastating to the Reign, even with its added armor. That machine was simply not designed for real combat.

"Geez..." This was a lot of work, and in a day? Ugh... Did this woman think he was a miracle worker? He was good, but this good... "Maybe if I don't sleep... And if you've got your hands on a lot of material. Some of what I try to make this work might not stick the first time. So... If you can supply me and give me a lot of caffeine, then sure. I can manage it. If that's good enough for you, then I'll get started as soon as we get back... What do you think, Firmia?" He'd wanted an inside look at the Alkaev machines, and this... This was better than anything.

If caffeine and supplies were all Buck needed, Firmia had him covered ... buried, even. Of course, the Mantle would likely be in the Avalon's hangar by the time they got back. They were supposed to be handling the transfers while the crew was gone, so ... "I don't know if you've heard, but Commander Vance gave me a ship of my own. If you're going to handle this, you'll have to grab whatever you need from the Riese and work on it in the Avalon's hangar. We should have plenty of supplies, though." She requested more than enough materials for a single retrofit.

"... caffeine, too," Firmia shrugged. She was going to need something stronger than just caffeine herself if she couldn't fit in a few hours of sleep here and there.

"Whoa, seriously? No, I didn't... Thats awesome. What class?" Her own ship? They could just give those out? That was so crazy! Could he get his one one day then? Maybe after the war was over...

"I'll grab my stuff and come back over, then. Just... Don't let Avery know why I'm off ship. If she knew I was staying up for something like this, she'd kick your ass, then mine."

Firmia scowled at Buck's remark. "I'd like to see her try," the Alkaev hissed. Well, at least she had Buck's cooperation. No need to get too snippy over Avery ... though given Buck was taking this kind of risk for her, Firmia had to wonder if now wasn't a good time to try and bring him over to the Avalon. It would be a bit of a gamble until the mole situation was resolved, but then again, more personnel were coming along with everything else going on. No matter what Louise said, it was a golden opportunity for Apotheosis to put the final touches on their plan to defeat the ANF's most powerful ship and crew, and insert some fresh agents just ahead of the attack ...

... dammit.

"Since we're on the topic, and you value your ass so much, I am going to be needing a head mechanic aboard the Avalon. You've proven to be reliable so far, so if you want the position, it's yours." Firmia kept a dignified 'don't care if you say yes or no' look and tone about her from start to finish, but honestly, she really didn't want Buck's skills diverted elsewhere when the Riese already had Avery.

"Hey, no fighting now... Wait, what? S-Seriously? That's really bold, trying to poach a mechanic in the middle of war... How long does the offer stay open for?" Buck would be lying if he said he wasnt interested, but... "I really like working on the Riese right now. If you'll let me on after this war is over... Then sure."

Firmia supposed it didn't matter too much if Buck was officially stationed on the Riese. It was his rearend getting abused in the meantime, though. "It only makes sense to offer the position to you; you've proven to be a very skilled and reliable mechanic and you're being horribly underutilized, right now. As for how long the offer is available ..." Firmia paused to really ponder the question. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing to leave the door open for Buck post-war, especially if he really was on the up and up, Firmia was simply worried saying as much would weaken her position in the negotiation. She didn't have Hannah over here to give her a solid advantage. The silver lining was of course, that if Buck was a mole, he was still primarily Jessica's problem. Bringing him over periodically, and just sticking Sasha in charge of the hangar for now ... that seemed like a good deal. So long as Avery didn't complicate things, it could serve as a trial run of sorts.

"Okay," Firmia started again, having found her phrasing, "The position will remain open to you until I find someone better suited for it." She doubted she would unless Hannah really broke through the boundaries of creative thought soon, and even then, she was primarily a mobile suit pilot. Buck might even feel the same way and agree to the Alkaev's terms with that young boyish confidence of his.

"You won't find anyone better than me," Buck said with no hesitation, not even trying to play it up. He was a bit cocky, his age couldn't help it, but more than that he was confident that no one would have the brains or creativity he did to put something together. He needed help with resources and manpower, but when it came to creating robots and weaponry, he was second to none. At least, from what he'd seen so far of the ANF. Maybe Apoth had someone as equal in brainpower in their ranks.

"Well... When this whole war nonsense is over, I'll hop on over. The Riese is great, but they don't let me tinker with extra machines, all ANF property. If you were willing to give me free reign over materials and spare suits... I can't imagine a better place to work."

"Yes, that's fine," Firmia nodded, "I can't come up with all of the ideas myself; my people need as much autonomy as I can afford to give them, so you would have that. Materials and spare suits, included." She wasn't sure how much longer the war would continue, but now that Apotheosis' lieutenants were getting in their faces, it was a safe bet they were entering the next phase of the war.

"By the way ..." she leaned slightly closer and jutted a finger at her tablet's screen, "did you have any questions about the Excel configuration here, or are my notes enough for now? I'm going to be busy getting the Avalon ready once we get back, so I won't be available." Hannah could probably handle that, and since she would be the one piloting the upgraded Mantle, any special tweaks she needed ought to be at her discretion anyway.

"If I can get a copy, that should be fine... I can see what you'd like for it. Long as I have the materials and this to reference, I'll make it happen. Swear on my hat." He adjusted it some to add effect to his comment, smirking widely.

"You'll have a copy," Firmia promised. Normally she wouldn't be entirely okay with that, especially after her chat with Louise, but even if all that data wound up in Apotheosis' hands, they had about as much time to study it as Buck had to implement it, and they were simple upgrades, nothing that ought to force a change in tactics on either side.

With the deal stuck, everything pertaining to the Mantle was more or less settled. Firmia was tempted to snatch away Buck's hat as a joke; collateral and all, but decided against it. Instead, she let some other thoughts in the back of her mind come up and decided to make a few separate inquiries while the young prodigy was stuck with her.

"Now that that's settled, I was wondering if you know anything about the Megalodon class warships." She would slap the 'II' on there after she got his initial reaction. There didn't seem to be much point getting into specifics until she knew where they both stood in terms of knowledge.

"Megalodon?" Buck paused for a second, before nodding. "Previous class before Kraken, tried to upgrade it for global and space use, didn't really work out because of its size and lack of firepower, was decommissioned for the kraken class that was brought in soon after... Did the commander give you a megalodon?"

The ANF needed to consider diversifying their fleets more, Firmia mused. Thankfully Buck already seemed to know about the Megalodon II version. The Alkaev nodded right back at Buck's question, still looking oddly dignified being on a bus rolling down the highway. "The Megalodon II class is the upgrade you mentioned, right?"

"Yeah, there should only be a few of them left at all... Did the commander give you one? An honest to goodness Megadolon Class II model--!" Buck had to slap a hand over his mouth before he got too excited and started yelling over the entire bus. "S-Sorry... But, wow, you've got a serious piece of history on your hands. Mech history, at least... It should be a pretty powerful little thing, much as they didn't mass produce them. If you want any help in making it better, by all means. Can't believe I get to work on an actual class II..."

Buck was excited about the Megalodon II class? Excellent~ The AMS units wouldn't be as impressive on paper after V-drive equipped mobile suits became common throughout the world, and with a war going on, that eventuality was being accelerated. As far as mech history was concerned, Firmia had more than just the Avalon going for her. She had the original AMS prototypes--minus one Throne.

"The Avalon is going to be my base of operations for the foreseeable future," Firmia explained, "so I definitely plan on upgrading it as much as I can. Assuming everything goes well with the T-Link, I'll still be shooting the enemy with funnels, even while commanding from the bridge." Firmia wondered if she was about to become the first TK captain in history. Probably not. Maybe the first to combine a relatively small warship with TK weapons? Maybe ...? It was an interesting thought. "If you're on my crew when all of this is over," Firmia continued, "I'll definitely have you chipping in with the upgrades," she grinned.

"Arthurian lore? You are such a nerd," Buck couldn't help a giggle at Avalon, but he was mostly just giddy. "I can't wait. I'll trick it the heck out. I already have some ideas... Not concrete so I'll get them down later, but they're there. A whole tiny ship like that... Man..."

Firmia wondered--a tad irritably at that--what sort of name Buck would have picked for a ship like this. "I'd rather stay on theme whenever possible. Anyway, you've been tinkering on the Riese too long. Nothing that can store eight mobile suits should ever be considered tiny." The exponentially larger number of combat drones the ship could house didn't need to come up here and now.

"Aye, aye, ma'am~ Not a tiny ship."

Firmia's grin morphed into a satisfied smile. Now then ... what to talk with her future head mechanic about next ...

 

[scorri]

Astin had returned to their room, trying to get their emotions under control. Frustration and anger were the two central ones they were feeling and it didn't make sense. Sure, bringing another prisoner on board was stupid, sure having Brant seeming to dismiss revenge as a rational reason for fighting wasn't easy to handle, but still. Something just wasn't sitting right. Circling back in their thoughts, they kept coming back to staring at Vera on the beach. 'My only regret is that we're not on the same side. I'd hate to kill you.' ... 'Until then, I can't have her becoming me... She looks up to me too much already. I'm... I'm not a good role model, if that wasn't obvious' ... No, there needs to be more to it than that. Why would she give up a good pilot in the middle of a war otherwise? It has to be a trick or she has to think that Apotheosis is going to lose or... But if she is telling the truth...

Nothing for it. As nice as getting some fencing practice in would have been, it wouldn't help settle this. There was too much here to just let it all go on the strip. Starting to head out of the room, they hesitated, before slowly turning back towards their desk. As loathe as they were to, Thorvald's suggestion had merit. Slowly pulling open a drawer, they shrugged out of their jacket before pulling a gun and holster out of the drawer. Sighing, they slipped the holding clip onto their waistband and then attached the holster to it. Pulling their jacket back on, they grumbled quietly to themselves about the uncomfortable weight before heading out the door. Time to go visit the brig...

[Phoenix]

Firmia was at the head of the group when they stepped back onto the Avalon. Her insistence. They weren't alone on the ship, though. The crew was here and already at work. Firmia knew it wasn't the right time to hold a meeting and get the major introductions out of the way. Squeezing in said introductions in the evening was the best she could come up with on such a tight schedule. Her first stop would have to be ... the bridg--wait, no! The androids!

"We should find Hannah's sisters ... the ones we have, at least." She was still a little miffed about that whole situation, but fair was fair, and at least the ANF had beaten Apotheosis to the prize for a change. "Where would they be, though? The gard--I mean processor suites? The hangar?"

"Well I'll be on the bridge," Tonya said, starting off on her own. "I'll let you know if I spot either of them there."

[Shin]

The meeting had been incredibly stressful for Elaine, everyone seemed to be out to kill Louise without a second thought. Did everyone make a point of wanting to break everything that meant something to her? First it was her robot and then... no, she couldn't think like that. Elaine shook her head, trying to dispel the thought of Louise being important to her. It had to be psychological warfare, Apotheosis probably knew all of their weaknesses and how to get under their skin. Even though that made sense to her, there was a strange bond that Elaine couldn't ignore. How could she be a hero when she was sympathising with the enemy... and when all her allies despised her existence. Louise wanted revenge for being abandoned to die, it didn't seem that unreasonable to want to strike back. After all, Elaine had dreamed herself of getting back at the people who had arrested her. There were things that had happened in prison that she didn't even want to think about.

With a big battle coming up, and everything on the line, Elaine needed to check in with someone to clear her head. Having no actual friends beyond Aliza and Brant, the latter she'd probably bored to death with her problems, there was only one option - Cheryl. It hurt her pride even considering it, but she needed progress. It'd be a quick fix, right?

She approached Cheryl's office door, readying her hand. Did she really want to do it? Wasn't she basically admitting that something wasn't right in her head. She hesitated for a few moments before finally caving in - not dying was more important than her ego. She knocked gently on the door, waiting for a reply.

"Doctor Hart? It's Elaine... if you're in, I was hoping we could talk about stuff." she asked sheepishly. "A lot's been goin' on and I need some help sorting stuff out in my head."

-

Rather than attend the high profile battle meeting, one that she probably didn't even have an invitation to, Talia had hidden herself away in her room again. Time and time again it had proved to be her own safe haven, that and a cage that she had confined herself to. She'd been making steps forward, but she still lived a pitiful existence. When Vera arrived on the beach, she'd been frozen in fear but T-4 hadn't even flinched. What did he have that she lacked? Probably everything at this point, there was no point making a fourth edition unless the second one had been awful. Was she really that bad a pilot? She passed all the basic flight training, even at Corona Ten she'd helped a little bit in the Umbra... although it had been a choice between that or dying in a flaming laboratory.

There was no other alternative, she needed to get better. Without something to call her own she was just existing and wasting away. It already hurt to see how much everyone else around her was doing. Even Makoto was trying his best, and he had no military training at all. She'd almost uncharacteristically started wandering the ship after some moments of pondering, a subconscious desire within herself leading her towards the simulation suite. She wasn't the only one with that idea, both Makoto and Christina seemed to be going in that general direction.

"Oh... Makoto, Christina. How are you both?" she asked hastily, somewhat startled by the presence of multiple, as in not singular, people. "I was thinking of getting some practice in, I thought that maybe I could start helping... well, if people want me to... I... if I didn't get in the way."

Her plans were already being hampered by her own insecurities, dark thoughts of her own uselessness sneaking into her mind. They had so many able people already, including a direct upgrade of herself... what was she trying to achieve? 

[TheRoon]

With the meeting adjourned and the plan set in stone, Aliza stood up with her orders and walked out. With the task to adjust her machine before the operation. Alfonse was a big target that needed to be protected, along with punching through the front line. Lot to do this time around, not to mention she had to Sagittae. Good thing she had time for that. The Italian pilot made her way to the hanger to locate her new machine, while looking over her notes in her book. 'Lots of pressure...hm...gotta find a way to chill out...' There was really only two ways to do that and one of them is out of the question considering she'll be in the hanger (it was birdwatching). So plan B: Music. She put her notebook away after a short review and sifted through her track list while she marched on to her new super robot.

A track from an old action anime seemed to help, something about wyverns and spheres? Got me.

[Balcerzak]

There hadn't been much else for Jess to do. Her bit of conversation with the doctor had wound down, going out with a bit of a whimper really, as the wounded pilot had just let things trail off, unable to quite respond to Megumi's last bits of advice. Try not to keep pushing herself? That was almost laughable. Maybe if she was an asset enough to be worth pushing, but she wasn't feeling any of that sense of self-worth. It was hard not to get the impression that Central didn't feel the same way too, given that they'd left her to languish on the Riese, rather than summoning her for a proper report and then transferring her to one of their other facilities.

In the end, she'd ended up falling back asleep, an uneasy escape from pain and reality, at least for a little bit. When Jess had awoken again, she heard that the crew, and more importantly the psychiatrist had returned from their outing. Some while ago even, in fact. Figuring now was as good a time as any, and feeling at least well enough physically for the trip from one doctor's office to the other's, she had taken to make the trip, with Megumi's tacit approval.

Unfortunately for her, however, she rounded the corner to find somebody else lined up for for a couch session, or at least that's what it looked like, with their hand still raised in the air, just having finished knocking. "Oh, of course," Jess muttered dejectedly, only realizing too late she'd said the words aloud. "Ah, sorry, no, I mean..." she stammered to explain herself, not wanting the other party to feel guilty or anything. After all, they probably were a better use of the good doctor's time. "If you could, stop by and let me know when you're done... I'll be waiting in the cafeteria."

[Xinnidy]

Time to Improve

Makoto's mind had been fairly one-track since being dismissed from the meeting. He wanted to improve, to get his father back. That was the only way he'd get answers to everything regarding his capture. That Lieutenant, Vera, told him... he'd need to whisk his dad away from Apotheosis, but he severely lacked the force. He wasn't even an official pilot, and his favored machine was definitely not tailored for military combat. Clearly outmatched in many ways, Makoto would need to think harder if he wanted to have any impact at all, but right now his mind was too drained... After switching to more usual garb in his room, off to the simulators Makoto went.

Even if he couldn't have enough smarts, he could at least rely on some muscle memory. They had data on Apotheosis mechs, he could always try and grind some muscle memory something into himself, right?

"Ah? Oh, hi Christina!" Makoto waved at the girl, caught by surprise, but glad to see her nonetheless. Christina seemed to share concerns very similar to his, as it were. "I don't mind at all. I was... I don't feel like I'm doing enough either, so I'm here again. So far it seems like everybody else is doing fine without me... but things are getting harder. Next battle might be the one when another good pilot could make all the difference, and I don't want to disappoint." Pause, sigh,  "I don't want to think I'll be the cause of somebody's death, or that I'm just dead weight on the field, so... --uh, we'll training!" It was getting too real, this wasn't meant to be a heart-to-heart! "I'll train with you as much as you want, I'm sure we'll both give our hardest!" Thumbs up. Out there and in the field they'd give their hardest, and hopefully it'd mean something.

Ah, but that wasn't all. Talia was out of her room again! Makoto certainly didn't expect to hear her voice, but here they were. "Talia? Hi, I'm doing good!" It seemed the three were on the same frequency. "I'm sure people won't think you're a bother, Talia. I'm here, and somehow I made it into a supporting role... I think that's what I'm considered, yeah." He wasn't a pro at military terms, he just knew he was shooting, but not as hard as the taller mechs. On the other hand, he wasn't getting shot at much either. "We were just going to try the sims ourselves, want to join?" It could be doable, right?

Time Alone

The brig was pretty uneventful, but that was for the best. Esther wanted no company or sympathy at that moment, although she did want her TS. Couldn't win them all. Regardless, she was out of that stupid swimsuit into a garb that better suited her status as a prisoner, and had a bed of her own.

...Esther would get bored quickly. She knew it. Sighing, the girl closed her eyes, trying to get herself to sleep. Whenever somebody came, she'd ask for something to distract herself with. At least pen and paper to write with.

Time Bygone

Roxanna had a bit to stew on after the meeting. So that was the whole deal with Louise and her uncle... it was a feeling she could almost relate to, if only her uncle wasn't so aggressively disappointed in her. All this beating down had finally drained her will to challenge Jessica in the past few days, but it only raised more questions now. What could she do as an XO? Jessica seemed ridiculously capable as a gunner, and for the most part the bridge could cover for Roxanna's role if she didn't feel like it. Then why... ? Her facial expression stirred, something between discomfort and clarity. As a far younger captain, Jessica did not have a role model at all (if anything, only lessons of what not to do, from Roxanna), and was mostly winging herself into missions definitely not made for rookies. The fact the ship was still functional and they hadn't burned to pieces was somewhat of a miracle.

Roxanna could have meant a lot more if she tried, and now, with her petty plans stomped to the ground, there was nothing else to do but look back at her actions with some discomfort. I'm a clown. Hiding in her room was tempting, but that wouldn't do much at that point. Perhaps drinking wine with Thorvald would ease the pain for now, but surely she'd be feeling more regret later. There was but a few things Roxanna could try to ensure her role in the Riese had an actual purpose.

"Captain." Roxanna approached Jessica from behind, trying not to cause too much of a fuss. Her voice wasn't half as imposing, almost as if she didn't want to be there. "Is there anything I can do, to... to help, right now?"

[Nanami Touko]

Cargo Kim

Avery turned to the lieutenant, still a bit dumb struck at the machines... And now Kim had something else with her? "What's up this time, Kimmy? I got a lot on my plate, but I guess I got a minute... Damn Alkaev girl took Buck off, somethin' he agreed to 'fore they dumped these on us. He wasn't happy, was real lookin' forward t'workin' on 'em. His fault for getting so ahead o' himself~ Wha'cha got fer me, anyway?"

Sister Sister (Sister)

"They should be on the bridge, actually," Hannah began, as Tonya started to walk off. "Or at least, Commander Vance paused me for a moment and told me as such. He was probably worried I would be too excited... And, really, I am, so shall we? I truly do wish to meet them. I wonder how advanced they are... I don't expect any of them to be like me, but what if the potential is there in all of them? Wouldn't that be amazing? Maybe... I-I am getting ahead of myself, we should just meet them and see to their designations first." Hannah took a moment to 'breathe', trying to calm down. It was clear that she was far, far too excited over these prospects.

Clients

"Oh? Elaine's back... I'm shocked~" Cheryl stretched her way over to the door, opening it and-- "Well now, two visitors in one day? How lucky can I get?" Cheryl smiled at the both of them, looking past Elaine at... "Though I don't recognize you. Still, the door's open to anyone. Once I've finished giving Elaine the time she needs, you're free to stop by. Now then, come on in, Elaine." Cheryl left the door open and went to sit back down, wondering what was on her mind this time. More of the same worries as before? Perhaps. A lot had transpired since their last talk, though. It could be anything.

Practice in Session

"You're not dead weight at all, Makoto. Just because you aren't taking things down all by yourself doesn't mean you aren't a great help... I'm--"

Someone else had joined them, before Christina could get her self deprecation in working order. "You're... Talia, right?" Makoto had called her that, and it seemed like she wanted to join in with the rest of them. She could only smile. Maybe this was going to be a pretty good decision! "Sure, Talia. You're not getting in anyone's way... Makoto's probably the best pilot here. I was trained, but, well... I'm, kind of a coward. I'm just the sub-pilot for the Artemis, I don't really do much but sit there and run a few logistics during fights." That's why I'm here. I need to be able to protect Kim.

"So, if you're fine with doing some runs with me and Makoto, I don't see why not. Let's go~" This was feeling more like a fun outing, than actual training... Which was good. Probably. It meant this wouldn't turn into some dull grind.

Things to Help With

Jess was surprised that Roxanna of anyone would stop her, and asking to help, of all things. No complaints, no worries, no challenges for Jess? ... Well, Roxanna had been trying more recently. Jess had been surprised, but if the XO was going to finally act like an XO... "Yes, actually. I'm going to the hanger to inspect our new androids, if you could come with me and take notes to make sure they're all functioning properly, I'd really appreciate it. Think you can manage that?" Hopefully, something simple would be a good start. "After that, I need to check up on our latest prisoner, and then see to a few pilots... If you can think of anything else, you can let me know. Feel free." Just use her as best as you can... And make her feel like a proper part of the crew.

[Ether]

"That... I'll tell you later. In private. Commander Vance says... 'hi, and damn you!'... by the way." Seung-Min replied, leaning in closer to whisper into the mechanic's ear, discreetly slipping a drive into her hand containing the STEEL project files. Best not to send anything over the network after all.

"Read that over... and we'll discuss it later on. You and I are the only people aware that this is anything but standard body armour... and I intend to keep things that way." The Lieutenant noted, before pulling back to a normal speaking distance.

"For now, though... I want to discuss options we might have to... improve the Artemis' weapon systems. Now that I've gotten used to the two... I think one simple way would be to increase the funnel count, if you can... manage that."

(Wo)Man of Steel

 

"Of course, Commander." Kim noted, waiting the few minutes it took the others to clear out of the room. Once that was settled, with the rest of the Riese crew having left to go about their own business, and Vance had finished his cleanup of the informative documents, Seung-Min felt it an adequate enough time to begin.

"As I mentioned... I'm concerned about our options in a melee situation. As much as the additional androids will help, I still feel as though we're... missing proper recourse. I was hoping to speak with you about... options for enhanced equipment."

"Enhanced equipment... We had something in the works, but being boarded by something so advanced was never a concern, before. It was full of issues and set backs, as well. Wasn't something we could realistically get working before this all started. Got a half built prototype sitting in storage, but it was, uh... Hush hush." Some of the issues with it involved broken limbs, so Vance didn't quite want to get into the discussion of it.

"Weaponry we can try our best to replicate and provide... But you don't think you'll be safe on board with those androids? EMPs are a two way street, so the enemy won't be using them so freely."

"I've ran... combat simulations, against Vera Maxwell, using Hannah's combat data. If she's anywhere near... those projections, no one on board the Heion Riese would last... long enough for one of those androids to intervene. And if her prosthetic limbs use alien technology... EMPs may not effect them at all." Seung-Min noted, trying to explain her heightened concern on the matter... a half-built prototype was it? And one with little information surrounding it... that could be just the edge they needed.

"Would you mind... if I took a look? I feel like we need... every advantage we can get, and if... if this is something that Apotheosis' informants don't know about it, this might be even more influential."

Vance sighed, though it wasn't a horrible idea. "This is... Rather confidential. I appreciate the work you've done, and your rank isn't going to stop you, but... Make sure, if you do decide to look into its development, you don't exactly spread the information around. We are clear, miss Kim?" Vance hoped she got the message, there was already enough to worry about with a war going on. "You should be able to find the suit on your own, in storage. Feel free to bring it onto the Riese, but just tell people it's armor, nothing else. Should be called, uh... Ah, shit, what's the name-- pardon my french... STEEL. Bit of a silly acronym, but it is what it is. Superior Tactical Enemy Engagement Legionary. Supposed to be for a new line of super soldiers... But mobile suit combat won out."

"Of course, Commander. I will go take a look at it... so long as I can... refer the Captain to you with any questions she might have... the only person I presume I would need to speak to about it... would be Head mechanic Wright. She did an excellent job... getting the Artemis in working order, and would be our best shot... at working out those issues. No one knew about the Artemis before it's deployment either... I trust her ability to keep a secret." Kim noted, making a mental note of the project name so that she could pull up documents on it.

"That aside... I would also like to make a request for more... standard equipment. Higher-caliber weapons and the like... would you prefer I leave a requisition form with your secretary, for those? Or discuss them here, since I... have you at present."

"Are you truly considering it, Commander? It's a prototype for a reason. Should anything fail in live combat, Lieutenant Kim might as well be bringing herself in a coffin for Vera." It was a weird approach, and one Admiral Alphonse voiced his concerns clearly. "Perhaps it'd be compromising for the Riese's internal structures, but some explosive ought to work, or rocket launchers. Vera is not all machine, after all. I feel we can honor that request." It seemed to be the type of argument he could back up better.

"No secretaries, Kim. What are we, the government?" He chuckled, "You brought it to our attention. Just keep the Captain aware. We'll relay you notices through her."

"Wright. Avery. That little upstart... Well, she's got a genius brain in her, so I guess I can't get mad. Alphonse is entirely right, though. So I'm setting you, and your mechanic friend a condition. If it still has failures in its functioning by the time it's needed, you are unauthorized to use it. Dangerous as Vera is, we can't be losing you to faulty machinery. You're far too important a pilot... And too young to go out like that." Hopefully the point was well made, Vance nodding at the rest.

"We already moved some onto the Riese, but we can okay a few others. All's fair in love and war... The Geneva Convention never covered living weapons like Vera, so I don't think we'll get into trouble."

"Understood, Commander, Vice-Admiral. If the STEEL suit is not operational, I will not deploy it, regardless of circumstance. And anything you can manage for equipment would be appreciated... I will attempt to involve some of the other pilots in close combat drills, but... I do not know how receptive they will be." Kim replied, giving a practiced salute to both officers.

Alphonse saluted back, "Good, then. Good luck with that, I trust you and the head engineer should know whether the risk will be worth it." That much seemed to satisfy the man, looking at Vance for any further words. "There's no time to concern ourselves with centuries old agreements when one third of the world is at stake... I'd say just make sure you don't sink the ship trying to get her, but you already know that, Lieutenant."

"Tricky situation, definitely. Off with ya now. Judging by how close miss Troy seems to you, you've got more to be worryin' about than just this fight. Make sure you take care of each other." Vance wasn't going to pry into the affairs of pilots, but it was certainly a concern. "And tell Avery I said 'hi, and damn you'!"

Edited July 26, 2018 by Ether