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

[TheRoon]

Aliza seemed to have extended her break a little from poking around her new machine, though that's partially because she had hit a brick wall in understanding some of the new tools she had equipped onto the thing. She knew she more than likely needed a hand getting a feel for the new tech, but was unsure who to ask. Although the academy student in her more or less lead her to stall out responsibility by looking over some of the other machines. It amazed her how so many unique mechs were lined in the same hanger, none of the Legionaries in her previous duties compared.

But while she kept her pace one machine stood out to her. A white juggernaut with a design that was nice on the eyes, simple, not too flashy. But it was...well "plump" quickly came to mind. She wasn't sure why, perhaps fat was a bit too forward of a word. Regardless it impressed her enough to warrant a slight "oooh" outloud, and it certainly had her curious to check it out. However the giant thick bot wasn't the only thing that had caught her eye. It was only for the briefest of moments but she did catch a glimpse of Avery, whom she had met at Orange Theocracy, and another pilot she didn't know. They followed someone else who had jumped in with them, although she didn't quite catch who it was. Maybe it was a mechanic just showing the specs? That sounded real helpful right about now. So with that in mind she took a breath. "HEEEY!" She called up to the machine. "You guys up there mind sending down the lift? I need a hand and I don't wanna shout out my problems!"

Edited August 6, 2018 by TheRoon

[Shin]

Thoughtful? It hadn't been Tarquin's intention to be particularly friendly or affable, it was just basic courtesy for him. Regardless of his motivations or her expectations, he'd at least acquired some company for the time being. With Makoto busy, Nikolai in a stasis tank and all his other meaningful bonds far away and gone, he was actually finding himself with a strange sense of loneliness. It wasn't quite like before the Heion Riese, back then he was entirely content with total isolation. He'd definitely changed, even in the space of a week - although how much for the better depended on the question asked.

"Doctor Hart? It's unusual for there to be a wait to see her, how strange." Tarquin remarked, puzzled as to who her visitor was. Outside of perhaps Astin, almost the entire crew probably had good reasons to book themselves in. However, considering how everyone behaved, nobody seemed to be making use of the service. "I was going to make some lunch. With no formal catering staff on the ship, I've had to rapidly learn to produce my own meals. It was challenging at first, but the learning curve soon became more manageable. I may also visit the medical bay later, I cannot imagine you would wish to spend much more time there."

Coffee was also on his agenda, his plan was to make a visit to the medbay with a cup for Nikolai. Even if he couldn't drink it, Tarquin wanted to bring his friend at least something, an offering from outside the confines of the healing tank.

-

Elaine knew that Cheryl's words were meant to be encouraging, but they were only driving home how sub-par she felt. Of course she was a better shot than Astin, Astin never used any ranged weapons! Tarquin was a sniper too, he wasn't stabbing anyone. Was her only really defining trait that she was kinda OK at most things? With such a highly trained team, what kind of niche could she even have? Try to dodge attacks if Kim was busy? Take them to the face if Thorvald had gone to the bathroom? Everyone else seemed so much better, even Cheryl had a monopoly as the ship shrink... was Elaine really the least special person present? She clenched her fist, hitting it pathetically against the couch's edge.

"I don't want that! I don't want to be third-place in everythin' I do!" she protested, the idea of being an all-rounder made her feel even less special than before. Louise seemed to appreciate her though, why else would she contact her individually? On the Heion Riese she was just a supporting player... could she be something better elsewhere? She shook her head, there was no way she could think that way, Apothoesis were evil, she couldn't join them just to make herself feel better. 

Elaine let out sigh, defeated by Cheryl's logic. "I know what you're sayin', but just because I'm OK at things other people are bad at don't make me feel much better." she replied. "It ain't easy now Brant's on the other ship... and I bet Kim's still mad at me from that meetin'. No matter how hard I try, I just get angry and piss people off, and nobody gives me a second chance. It's not fair."

Edited August 6, 2018 by Shin

[Nanami Touko]

Captain Betaware

"[Acknowledged. Changing designation, 'Captain Jessica Gefalscht' to 'Captain Betaware'. Are there any further orders?]"

"[Designation changed.]"

Hannah could only laugh, mean as it was. It made sense that they would react like that, and to play the joke up some more, "designation changed~ I guess she's betaware, now." Hannah took a small step away from the two and saluted at Firmia. "Really, though. Would you like us to do anything, right now?" With three of Hannah available, there was a lot they could get done... As long as they had the direction.

Praise

Avery rolled her eyes at Thorvald, of course she understood that Kim wasn't special just because of her abilities, but they couldn't be written off, either. Though the reception was pretty poor, what was up with that? First she was getting upset because she wasn't doing perfectly, and now she was bashful because of praise? Something happened. Avery stepped up to Kim with a cocked eyebrow and took hold of her chin, raising her head up to give her a good stare in the eye.

"Listen here, missy. Yer one o' th'best damn pilots in the whole o' the ANF. I ain't gonna hear you actin' like you do things everyone else can, ain't no ace I ever worked with flyin' cleaner 'an you do. And iffin ye won't take my word for it, I'll have t'fetch a cute blonde who I'm one hundred percent sure's gonna back up everything I just said. Sell yerself short one more time, I dare ya. Don't offer much another ace couldn't offer, geez..." Avery let her go, but not before bringing a finger up to bop her on the nose.

At least someone was willing to think properly. "Make yerself the man who makes th'impossible possible, eh? I can't wait t'see it. An' I can't wait t'see this thing movin'. Don't tell no one, I installed an extra camera fer m'self. I don't get t'watch combat, so I really wanted somethin' t'reference. Y'fine with that, Thorv--"

"HEEEY!"

Avery near jumped out of her boots, who was shouting in the hangar? Pushing past Kim and Thorvald before he could answer, she pulled herself out of the cockpit and looked down... "Who the fuck...? Y'all can take th'lift down." Swiping a hook off of her belt, Avery strode over to the lift, slapped it onto the sidebar, and hopped off, letting her cable carry her down the rest of the way, after the small tug from falling a bit. Hitting the floor with more grace than Buck ever would, she was about to give this girl one huge piece of her--

"Oh. Yer th'other pilot, ain't'cha?" Getting a closer look at her told Avery enough, she'd been given a file. "Aliza, right? Don't be shoutin' in th'hangar like that... Anyway, just 'bout done showin' Thorvald 'round this one. I can show ye yours, next."

Second Chances

Well, that had been the wrong tree to bark up. Elaine clearly wanted to be special, even if she didn't have the aptitude for it. But she had the machine... And she was worried about Kim? No, no she couldn't just write someone that spoke kindly to her off like that, even if there had been an altercation. Kim was just being the perfect soldier she tried to be, listening to orders... Cheryl doubted she would hold that against Elaine. "I think it would be beneficial if you tried to speak to Kim again. It might be difficult, but I don't think she'd hate you. From the sounds of things, she was doing her job as one of the ship's lieutenants, and nothing else. She might even regret having to hurt you."

As for being special... "And you do have a new machine now, right? I remember from the reports that it was salvaged and repaired... So, show everyone what you're made of. You've more than got the skill to pilot it, Elaine. Maybe, having your own machine is exactly what you've always needed. After all, none of what you've piloted so far stacks up to it." If initial reports were to be believed. Cheryl spent time reading a lot of them, since she was sat around so much. This Oberon looked like it packed much more of a punch than the Heracles Elaine had been clinging to. Only time would tell, they were going to have to fight sooner than later...

Edited August 7, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

"I... okay." Kim replied, any retort she could have come up with catching in her throat at Avery's rather brazenly aggressive reply... the ending boop to her nose certainly didn't help her compose herself quickly enough to get a word in before Avery was off to greet their resident shouter, leaving a slight blush on Seung-Min's face, which she quickly shook off.

"I suppose we should follow her... unless you would... prefer more time to look around, yourself."

[Shin]

Talk to Kim again? Elaine knew that she'd see right through her, how could she share her feelings when they could be read from inside her mind? Nobody else had given her a second chance, she was doubting Kim would either. Why was it her who had to do all the leg work? It was frustrating that she had to fix all these misunderstandings and messes. She was twenty five years old, but she certainly didn't feel like it. Why was all this stuff so difficult for her? At least in the prison things were simple, you fought for your position... or accepted being bossed around by people tougher than you.

"Back when I was in jail, all it took was one fight to change the dynamics you got with someone. I ain't good at talkin', it's never been my strong point." Elaine sighed, recalling her fair share of defeats - there was a week where she'd been forced to eat nothing but dog food after getting on the wrong side of someone "It was a whole year, but it's a system that made sense. If you did something, something would happen back. Maybe it's just part of who I am, I act first and think later."

The Oberon was her last chance to show she was useful. Technically it was a sound machine, she'd done a tonne of tinkering with it and she knew it inside out. She had to fight hard, she needed to prove that she was as good as everyone else. Jess could go eat her captain hat, she was going to show the whole crew what she was made of. She clenched her fist, sitting herself up suddenly.

"You're right, with the Oberon I can show that I'm proper pilot material and not just some punk." Elaine replied firmly. It was almost embarrassing how sorry for herself she'd felt. The only way she knew how to sort things was to make a good impression. If winning a fight in prison could get her respect, so could a good performance in battle. "I ain't sayin' I can make friends with everyone, but I gotta make sure that people know where I'm coming from."

-

It made sense that Seung-Min was dedicated and serious, she needed to be to survive in the K-Pop industry and the same applied to battle. Talia swallowed, wiping her eyes again. She couldn't cry, it wasn't going to help her get anywhere - she didn't want people to think she was pathetic. "Yeah... it's pretty bad, but we're still here..." Talia replied timidly, taken aback by Christina's passion. Despite going down twice, she'd bounced back - something that Talia hadn't been able to do. She gave Christina a nervous thumbs up, envious that she couldn't quite gather that much motivation.

"Makoto? I... but..." she stammered, quickly sitting herself down into the simulator. He'd always been so kind to her, not only had he gone to the mall with her, now he was looking out for her feelings. She needed to calm herself down, he was just being friendly, he was a nice boy... person! Definitely a person! She took a deep breath, looking at the display and the units available. The Umbra hadn't been around long enough to be registered on the system, and there was no chance she was going to touch the Aria with a barge pole. There was one that caught her eye though, it seemed intuitive and its loadout made sense.

"Loading data for the Ceres. I'm not sure which member of the crew uses it... but I've got a good feeling about it." Talia announced, inputting commands into her console. It was clearly designed for close combat, something that she didn't fail at completely. "Let's all do our best... we'll get better together, right?"

Edited August 7, 2018 by Shin

[Balcerzak]

"Haaaaaa," Abigail sighed. "You make it sound so easy, Megumi. I bet you've got loads of friends, don't you? Next time we get a break, and you're not tied up in the sick bay, you should take me out and introduce me to some."

She had to chuckle though at how the doctor phrased their visit to the prisoner. It certainly was TK trouble in its own way, now wasn't it? "Hmmm, manmade huh? Must be a real special kind of person to volunteer for that kind of Dr. Mengele meddling. What would drive someone to do that? Unless, as you say, it was like the case with Nikolai, only... less back alley abortion, more sterile laboratory."

There wasn't all that much time to muse over it though, as they arrived at the destination. "After you, I suppose?" Abby wasn't sure just how Megumi planned to question her, either in person or across the speakers, like for their first conversation. The doctor hadn't had the benefit of hooking up any monitoring equipment on this one.

 

---

 

Ah, banter with Avery was as fun as ever. Too bad she jettisoned just as they were getting into full swing. Still, probably best to take care of whatever that was going on out there. Damn shame he didn't get to sneak in a snarky comment about what she should and shouldn't be watching with that camera of hers.

Glancing back to Kim, it finally really struck Thorvald just how much space there was in the Odin. They'd had three people in here, fitting extremely comfortably. Hell, installing another chair and splitting the load might not be a bad plan, if the mechanisms behind the transforming mode were pretty complex. Or even if they weren't, juggling a few more things got to be a little much for one plate.

"How's it like, running with a co-pilot," he cocked his head and rumbled thoughtfully. Asking the lieutenant her opinion seemed a fair way to maybe feel out that idea. It didn't answer her question much, at least not directly. But it certainly would let the girl know she wasn't unwelcome to stay in the Odin as he continued taking it in, and making conversation.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Ether]

That was... an unexpected question to be certain. What was it like to have a co-pilot? Had that come up for Thorvald, and she hadn't noticed due to her own mental haziness? Well, asking now would just be embarrassing, so it seemed prudent to simply answer the question.

"It's... a different experience, to flying solo. Chrissy-... tina, helps to bear the load from the T-link in the Artemis. It's... rather highly over tuned, so it can be rough to get it in line with a single connected pilot. She also helps with... re-positioning after firing, which I'm usually too... caught up to manage, unless it's an evasive maneuver. Other than that, she helps to... temper me, somewhat. You're less likely to... make an overly risky move, if there's someone else sitting next to you."

[Balcerzak]

The T-Link and the ability for flight were probably a good deal more complicated than any of the secrets up the Odin's sleeves would have to offer. Well, maybe not. There was the massive size to account for on top of transformation. Certainly a different kind of complicated.

"You never, step on each other's toes or anything though? It's on the whole been working out well for you, something you'd maybe recommend to others?" Thorvald glossed over Kim letting slip with her pet name, and pushed the conversation along a little further while continuing to ponder.

Having someone holding you back from possibly risky moves was a double-edged sword, especially for his style of piloting, especially for the kind of work he was relied upon to get done, which would only increase in demand with his new ability to deliver it. Maybe this wasn't the right idea?

Edited August 10, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Ether]

"Mmm... no, not especially. It was a bit to get used to, to begin with... and Christina sometimes worries that she... makes things more difficult for me, but I think that's more her personality... than anything. I think that... it depends a lot on the pair in question. Even though that clone, Chris... is probably a much more capable pilot than Christina, I think that I'd fly worse with her... than if I was solo. If you have someone you feel you can rely on and get along with, I would... recommend it. Even if they only take care of one thing... it's one less thing you need to worry about in the heat of a fight." Kim replied, feeling some apprehension from Thorvald... considering what she had just said, the source was rather easy to pinpoint.

"Of course, when I say overly risky moves, I meant more... of the destructive variety. The Odin should be able to take quite a few punches, but even it will succumb... eventually. Sometimes things need to be done regardless of risk, but...having someone else to think about can tether you away from making hasty decisions... when they don't need to be made."

[Balcerzak]

"Hmmm," Thorvald drew his fingers through his beard. "It's definitely food for thought. I don't have anybody particularly in mind," maybe the Watanabe boy? He's definitely got the drive to get in there and get things done, but given the bots he's most comfortable in... Who else might work? "So probably nothing doing for it by tomorrow at any rate. But I'm just thinking ahead, and, well, the Odin is definitely big shoes to fill. Thanks for weighing in."

Giving the console a gentle pat as he gave his new ride another look over, options still tumbling over in his mind, he nodded and got back to the lieutenant's original question. "Yeah, why don't we head on down and see what it was that managed to tear Avery away from this beaut of a piece of hardware." Gesturing to the lift, he added, "Ladies first."

[Ether]

"Yeah... I don't think that it's... something to force. Unless you find after piloting that the Odin is... overwhelming to control, it would be best to let it happen... organically." Kim replied, as Thorvald returned to her earlier question, walking to the lift and offering for Kim to step on first. Doing so, Kim turned back to Thorvald, after peering outside of the Odin to see.

"Well, from the sound of it... a screaming woman. I think that's... it looks like Aliza. Probably something to do with the Saggitae."

[Xinnidy]

First Steps

"Yeah, we'll get better together." Makoto reassured Talia, giving the girl a thumbs up before returning to focus on his screen. Christina seemed to have already loaded, so that only left the two of them. Makoto was mentally committing himself to the few routines he wanted to try this go around --focused training seemed to be the key--, but he also needed to pace himself... The Legionary felt like the best idea for the boy. A machine he was unfamiliar with could be a good handicap, even if it slowed down his progress... if need be, it meant he could pilot one in the future, too.

"Legionary, online." That was cool, it was one of the older models, but he could adjust its in-built beam cannon closer to the power of the newer model's. It'd be good to get a feel, for now. "Alright, here we go!" He started walking in the virtual field, moving his machine close to the Artemis. Talia appeared to have chosen the... Ceres. That was the name, right? "Ah, nice choice!" It was a pretty cool machine.

"Let's get some routines done first. You guys wanna race, or do you think you've got the controls down good?" Hmm... should he have said 'you girls'? ...Nah.

 

Situation Assessment

Roxanna nodded... it seemed she had no complaints about Jess' decision, for once. "I think two at most would be okay. We can't operate with many more suits efficiently, nor do we need fighter pilots... I hope." Fighter planes were at such a disadvantage all the time, it made Roxanna shudder. Memory lane certainly colored the XO's opinions as well, "I'll put in the request." That should be enough, they could trust her decision making at least this much, right?

Jezebel Barnes, however, was a special case. "Sergeant Barnes' report indicates she suffered considerable physical damage to one eye. Even if she were to take surgery and be assigned to a new squad, she'd need some retraining." It was really unfortunate for the Sergeant, escaping death only to be reassigned to a new scouting squad that ran the same risks, most likely. "We should probably get her opinions first."

 

Prison Patience

Boring. Boring and painful. Esther was rolling on her bed, trying to sleep away that tugging on the right side of her skull, she knew how it went too well. Give it an hour, and her frontal lobe would feel like somebody was pushing needles through it, and the feverish symptoms, oh god.

"At least give me a game if I'm going to die here..." She mumbled, covering herself under the bedsheets.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Xinnidy

[Balcerzak]

Jess shrugged a little a Tarquin's evident surprise. "What can I say, she was already knocking on the door by the time I got there. Must still not be my lucky day, I guess." He then went on to confirm her guess, it was lunchtime, or maybe it wasn't and he was eating either early or late. Did it really matter? No, it was just the idle roving of a brain with too much time on its hands.

"Oh, in that case, I could cook something for the both of us then. I find it always feels a little gloomy to cook for just myself. Kind of... lonely," a twinge from her healing wrist reminded her that maybe she should take it easy. "Or, I suppose if you still wanted the practice, I could leave it to you and fix us some tea while you're at it, or something. You do take tea, don't you?"

The sergeant had heard his comment about stopping by the infirmary, and part of her was wondering why, but she felt it polite not to pry. After all, his observation was quite right, it really wasn't her favorite place at the moment, so she didn't really feel much like dwelling on it.

[Phoenix]

Loads of friends? Mmm ... "If the friends I had when I left Nicholas' company didn't bail on him at some point, then they're probably all dead by now." It stung a little to think about, but that was just the way things worked around that man. "Instead of introducing you to my other friends I might just put you in front of a mirror and call it a day." Maybe a little too dark, but she wasn't aiming for any particular response.

Megumi supposed making a TK was more complicated than making a relatively effective child soldier, or at least more involved. "I'm sure plenty of cases are involuntary," Megumi noted as they approached the cells. "... I'm also sure it's going to become more prevalent soon."

And there she was, the visually unimpressive cyber TK Astin had told them about. This didn't really look like an emergency. That was always subject to change at lightning speed in the medical world, but just the same, cyber TKs couldn't be that pathetic, could they? Time to find out ...

"Excuse me. You're the 'cyber TK' I was informed about, aren't you? My name is Doctor Megumi Amparo. Can you tell me what's going on with you?" No reason to highlight the fact that she didn't have a lot of intel going in. Best to just handle this one question at a time.

---

"I've been in such a hurry to get back here," Firmia folded her arms in mild frustration, "I didn't do any detailed scheduling. Give me a minute. Oh, and Brant ..."

"Hmm?"

"Tonya's learning to pilot the ship, so you need to get Chris familiar with the Regalia. The sooner, the better."

"Alright, sure thing."

[TheRoon]

Aliza waited for a moment like a good student would (if you ignore the shouting in class that is), wondering when she would get an answer. Well it came alright, but not quite in a way she expected. Avery had stepped out, and approached the lift with a quick swear. It didn't sound like she was happy, in fact she looked like she was itching for some divine retribution. "!!!" Aliza froze in her tracks when she saw her remove her belt and slide down like some action star with her still rather pissed off expression. It was an action that made Aliza go: 'Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!' 

But before Aliza's flight part of her fight or flight mode could trigger Avery made her perfect landing, and gave her response. "O.oh...Oh! Right!" She took a breath and a slight bow from her head. "I'm really sorry. Just a bit frustrated is all but uh...yeah take your time, I was the one who interrupted your work with my big mouth...eheheh..."

[Nanami Touko]

Like Jail

"This isn't prison anymore, Elaine... I know it might feel like it, with how isolated you might feel, but people can forgive mistakes, and accept faults. Try, and you'll be surprised by the reception, I promise." Especially with Kim, the girl was still seventeen, idol or not. She could use friends just the same as Elaine could. At least Elaine was being confident about the new machine, that meant good things going forward. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully in it. It's no pushover." Cheryl was lucky she'd had so much free time, it was hard to make heads or tails of some of the machines without a lot of staring... And Elaine's machine was... Well, in the rights hands, it could be amazing. Were the right hands Elaine's? The next battle would show that.

Race!

They were all loaded, and the Artemis seemed to walk fine. "If we're gonna race, I prolly wanna see if I can make this thing fly properly first... Gimme a second to try." Kim did it so effortlessly, it couldn't be that hard, could it? Christina gently lifted off, surprised by the sudden feeling of... Less gravity? Must've been the V-Drive... Was that how they operated up front? "Guess I haven't really been paying attention, so scared in the back seat." Just a quick lap around the base she be easy, so... "Alright, here we goooOOOO!!" Wh-What the heck!? The Artemis took off, faster than any machine she'd ever tried before. It was hard enough to make the thing turn, and when she did...

The crash wasn't exactly bad, but Christina did have to reset her model in the simulation to continue, slowly picking the Artemis up off the ground. "D... Damn... How does Kim, fly this thing so easily...?" That had been embarrassing... "Uh, y-you two race for a bit, I'm... Gonna try and get used to this. No point in doing this if I can't even fly it." She took off again, and started up the engines. Hopefully after a few more tries, she could get it to stop crashing.

Potentials

"We'll see to two of them, then. And talk to Sergeant Barnes. If she's sustained major damage to her eye, I don't want her piloting up front, but if she's still willing, she could slip into the back seat of some of our machines. At the least, helping with systems while someone else does all the major work, would probably be useful." That was if she was willing. Losing your eye, getting shot down, Jess would understand if someone didn't want to be near a machine after that.

The elevator doors opened, showing Roxanna and Jess into the hangar. Their three new friends were stood completely still, right near the entrance. It was almost unnerving, it was like three new Hannahs... But these ones weren't all going to develop personalities, were they?

As soon as Jess got close, all three of them saluted in unison, looking towards her. Definitely unnerving...

"[Greetings, Captain. I am TAn1. These are my sisters, LAn1 and RAn3. You may refer to us by our numbers, or by Tiffany, Elizabeth, and Rachel. Please use whichever names make you more comfortable.]" The first android, who Jess assumed was this Tiffany, explained their designations and then smiled, their arms falling back in line, luckily not in unison this time. The mirror imaging was far too robotic with human like faces.

"Right... Regular names are fine. So, you three are Hannah's sisters?"

"[HAn4? Changing internal designation of sister model. Hannah. Registered. Yes, we are sister models to Hannah. Please, feel free to use us as you see fit for the betterment of the ship.]"

"H'okay... Any ideas, Roxanna? I was just going to assign them as security detail for each floor... Unless anyone has a better idea."

Escort Quest

"Then, while Brant's doing that, I'll stick with you, to see what you need to get done, Firmia. It was nice meeting my sisters again, but there's too much to get done for me to dawdle." Hopefully she'd be fine with that.

Big Mouth

"Don't look too big t'me. Was just about done showin' Thorvald his machine, so, yer next? Iffin y'want me to, I ain't got nothin' else t'do 'round here but do maintenance an' make sure e'erythin's runnin'." Avery shrugged, retracting the cable onto her belt, and heading over to the Sagittae. "Hop along iffin ye want, Aliza!"

Rollercoaster Part I

Chris was definitely more than nervous, as the adrenaline from the meeting wore itself off. She was filled with a wonderful new sensation, bathing suit exchanged for a simple blue t-shirt and some jean shorts. Perfect for walking around the Avalon, and seeing what it had to offer... Normally. Being alone with Brant, though... It was making her heart go crazy. She couldn't rightly forget what he'd went and said on the bus, and it was driving her nuts. How could he, seriously? It made no sense, it was too fast... She understood her own feelings, if they were there, were too fast, as well... But she had some plausible reasons, at least in her mind.

Hopefully the Regalia would provide enough of a distraction... Oh, no, she'd be alone in there with him. She could feel her face flush, even if there was nothing attached to it in her mind, which just made it worse to deal with. "So... Uh, wh-what's first anyway? With, the Regalia... And things." Fucking hell, Chris... How does Christina deal with Kim? How the fuck? This is so hard...

"Well ..." Brant tried to focus on explaining, but Chris could be as distracting as Firmia when she was really having a hard time. Was it because of their time on the bus, together? Oh man ... "... first I've got to get you used to the T-Link. Make sure everything's working fine there. After that, we'll move on to operating the suit. Before all of that, though ... are you going to be alright?" He smiled apologetically at her, hoping his bringing it up wouldn't somehow make matters worse.

"No. No, I'm... Not gonna be alright, but I have to try anyway. Can't stop thinking about what we talked about... Driving me crazy, but in, a good way? I think? No idea... G-Gotta get used to the T-Link first, right?" No use lying about it, Brant could already tell she was off, if she tried to hide it he'd just prod a bit harder. "I'll... I'll try to keep it under wraps."

Putting too much energy into staying composed seemed like more effort than it was worth, at least to Brant. Then again, it must have been uncomfortable. He was getting some ideas, but they weren't exactly good ones. It was the kind of deep end diving he'd been exposed to all his life. If pilots were afraid of drowning, they got the flooding cockpits. If they were afraid of roasting, they got the beam rifle toting enemies. If Chris was having such a hard time with these feelings they shared, then Brant could always try to help her get used to them, or at least being around him. He could only go so far.

"Don't worry about it," Brant said, stepping closer and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "A little stuttering and blushing never bothered me, and it won't stop you from mastering the Regalia."

Chris flinched enough to bounce as Brant wrapped an arm around her, staring up at him with a bright red face. "Th-This doesn't make this easier to deal with! Now my heart's going even faster... Ugh, this is like adrenaline, or, or fear, or... Love, I-I guess... Just... Hhhhh..." With a resigned sigh, Chris let herself slump against him, trying to calm down with some deep breaths.

"Dunno if diving into the deep end will make this easier to deal with, but I guess, w-we can try. Geez... You're way too much of a player, you know that?" She could only shake her head some, as a smile slipped onto her face.

Brant was glad Chris was going along with him on this, but he frowned at the player comment. "Agh why do people keep calling me that ...? Just stick with flyboy or something." His overall mood hadn't so much as been dented, but the player moniker did leave a bad taste in his mouth whenever he took it too literally. It was a shame flygirl couldn't possibly stick, otherwise he might be able to tease Chris with it, going forward.

And speaking of flying things, the AMS suits were all present and accounted for in the Avalon's hangar. There were plenty of new faces, as well as one familiar one, Sasha. He didn't look any different than he had aboard the Riese. Like always, he was parked in front of a console, handling data entry or some such.

"Y-You are one, though... A natural one, at least. You're way too smooth and comfortable around all the girls you know... And, you're just... Really good at knowing what to say. Makes me all bothered. Totally a player, flyboy..." She stuck her tongue out at him, huffing quietly. Whether or not he liked it, it was definitely the truth...

Brant groaned exaggeratedly as they entered the hangar, which eventually got Sasha's attention. He didn't catch the groan, but he caught the resulting stares and followed them to their source. "Well if it isn't beauty and ... whatever the male equivalent is these days." He stopped working at the console and simply leaned against it as he waited for the 'Regalia Team' to get close enough to talk.

"Well if it isn't Two Beautiful. How'd the meeting go?"

Brant squinted, wondering why Sasha was so cheerful right now. Not that he minded; it was refreshing in its own way ... just odd right after Apotheosis slipped in, gave them a dire warning, and then slipped out again before security could even finish pulling their pants back up. Maybe it was the date. If that hadn't at least gone well then he probably wouldn't be in such a good mood.

"We'll live," he answered.

"Don't groan at me! I'm right, ask anyone!" Chris huffed back at him, getting further embarrassed at Sasha's commentary. "Sh-Shut it, rusky," she puffed, pulling herself away from Brant's comfy arm for a moment. "The meeting was... Alright. I guess. Tomorrow's going to be playing hard ball... Why are you so chipper, anyway? We could all die, you know that?" It was a decent distraction from her nonsense body, but that was still poking itself in the back of her brain. Stupid feelings, stupid physiological reactions, stupid everything...

"So what's changed, exactly?" Sasha shrugged, "Apotheosis could have gotten serious whenever they wanted. At least we've got some kind of warning." Unfortunately for everyone, that meant Firmia was going to work them as hard as she could.

"Along with some kind of headache. So, is it Doctor Hart?" Brant asked, following up on their mutual question.

"Hmm? Oh. Well she's definitely part of it. I can't say I'm not thrilled to have the run of this hangar, though. All in all, it's been a very good day." That probably wouldn't make sense to Brant sense he knew Sasha to be less interested in doing this kind of work for Firmia, but being in charge of the Avalon's hangar and mechanics, even if only temporarily, gave him the opportunity to do something he'd never been able to do, before ... head his own projects~

"I guess so... Doctor Hart? The Riese psychiatrist? What does... Oh... Huh, you're fucking, then? Color me impressed. You're not really my type... But I guess I can see it." Chris shrugged, not attempting to beat around the bush. If she was wrong, she was wrong, but at least being blunt helped her calm down further.

"I'm afraid the details are classified Ms. Troy," Sasha said, taking on an intelligence facade for a moment, "but if you'd like to ask the lady herself, maybe we can set up a double date. You two seem close enough," he smirked.

Brant didn't have anything for that, so he decided to put his arm back over Chris and just roll with things. It'd be some nice return fire if nothing else.

"Oh, come on, that's-- eep!" Another flinch, another bounce, Chris growled up at Brant. If he was going to play it this way... "Yeah, sure, if he has the balls to accept. Bastard keeps making me blush but doesn't have it in himself to even kiss me. Weak first date, to be honest. Who says 'I love you', without following it up with a kiss?" There, take that, Brant! Chris was gonna play hardball if he was going to be so on the offense.

For Brant, there was a certain standard he was trying to hold himself to in this situation, as difficult as that was. Anything that reminded him too much of Jessica's rushed relationship with Abigail was out of the question for the time being ... "Lot's of people do that ... anyway, Sasha, we'll hang out with you and the doctor," he smiled, albeit a little forcefully.

"I said double date," Sasha said pointedly.

"Call it what you want," Brant said, trying not to think about the main Riese pairing.

"He said double date, Brant. Not hanging out. What kinda guy can fly a suit into battle but can't stand up to that? You're practically all over me with your eyes, anyway. Honestly, can you believe this guy, Sasha?" Chris wasn't letting up, Brant was dancing around things and she was going to get him to be blunt or lose trying.

"Give it time," Sasha grinned, "and keep him off the alcohol. He'll make a great husband someday if he's that stubborn."

Suddenly Brant could feel the two rings resting against his chest beneath his shirt, again ... "Let's not pretend the situation isn't a little complicated, right now ..."

"Oh it's not complicated at all. You just haven't nailed down your own standards, yet. Once you do, things are going to start clicking for you."

"... huh?"

"It's not the time I'm worried about," Chris sighed out, flushing lightly at the comments about Brant's future adaptability to unforeseen situations. And then he managed a 'huh?' at what Sasha had said. Really...? "Even I get that one... Brant, come on. You're not giving me much faith, here. What happened to the smooth guy on the bus? Is he too tired to come out to play, right now?"

Brant grimaced. "He's a little busy with battle prep right now," he said pointedly. Since he didn't know what Sasha was getting at, and Chris wasn't filling him in either, there wasn't much else to do but try and work toward getting back to those battle preparations.

"The boss said that's not until tomorrow," Sasha noted, wondering if Brant knew something he didn't. "Don't push yourselves too hard. I learned how to fly the Mantle in a few hours. The technical stuff took longer, but if she's just riding in the back you should be fine for tomorrow."

"I think riding anywhere is getting ahead of ourselves. But, let's see how I fit into the Regalia's back seat, hmm?" It wouldn't do to keep prodding if Brant was too unfocused for it, so Chris made her joke and set on the serious subject. "If he's picking it up in a few hours I give myself twenty minutes, tops." Probably too confident, but it didn't hurt to be optimistic. Mostly... She couldn't quite quiet a niggling voice in the back of her head, hopefully it would sort itself out before it became a problem.

"Ho ho~ confident aren't we? Well I won't keep you, though Brant ..." Sasha paused, thinking back to a brief chat he and Cheryl had on their way back. "Think I could borrow you for a bit? Let's say around ... 8pm or so?"

"I ... sure," Brant shrugged.

"Robots are all I'm good for, around here," she moped, sticking her tongue out at Brant for a moment, letting the boys have their moment. "Which one's the Regalia, again? I didn't get a good look while I was getting shot down."

"It's this one," Sasha grimaced, nudging his head toward the closest AMS unit. Luckily Brant had gotten them fairly close before they started chatting with Sasha. The machines hadn't arrived this way exactly, but when Sasha took over, he made sure the techs had the mobile suits set up for optimal deployment. The Regalia was placed in the dock right next to Launch Lift A. Likewise, the Mantle was positioned next to Launch Lift B. The Reign was positioned in the next dock over from the Regalia, mostly for convenience. All of their portable weapons, with the exception of the Regalia's funnels, were currently on grand display on the hangar's central weapon racks.

"That said, where are your SKIN suits? The changing rooms aren't in the hangar."

Brant had considered that on the way there, but thought better of it. Things between Chris and him were just intimate enough that the SKIN suits could only exasperate the situation without a real opponent to focus on. What they both had on now certainly wasn't optimal, but it also wasn't necessary for just getting Chris used to the system.

"Just gonna strip down in there?" Sasha teased.

"Don't think we'll have to, honestly," Brant played it off as best he could.

"I think he'd blow a fuse if I tried to strip in front of him. Suits can wait, I don't need to put that stupid thing on to connect myself to the machine. Besides... I know I said stripping would blow his top, but I'm confident that would do the same. It isn't exactly a covering outfit, and he has trouble with me in just shorts, so..." Another shrug, Chris kept enjoying pushing his buttons. Maybe something would crack, eventually.

"Call down the lift and let's get 'er setup, shall we?"

"I thought it was harder for you Abrams guys to get aroused," Sasha smirked.

Meanwhile Brant was summoning the lift down.

"Then again, it was only for a week, right? Nine years ago. Maybe it's wearing off," Sasha shrugged.

Brant shrugged right back.

"... Is this about that Rosa person he mentioned?" Chris felt like that was poking a bee's hive, but the shrugs were incredibly vague. Not being in the know was frustrating... Brant had said it wouldn't be a good idea to bring up, but... Chris folded her arms and squinted at Sasha.

Brant clearly remembered that it was Rosa who'd convinced Dima not to go through with that crazy conditioning, so at least in that instance she'd done some good, even if Dima's motivations stemmed primarily from their relationship. "Sort of. She got my brother and me out of Dima's torture sessions before he could mentally neuter us."

"No it's not legal, even in Russia," Sasha quickly noted. If Brant was going to bring that up, Sasha might as well help contextualize some of this. "Dima's in deep with the Kremlin and they overlook a lot of what the company does to train its pilots." It helped that the main testing facility was located in the middle of Nowhere, Siberia. "Plus, the pay's too good to pass up for a regular job, and we get the same kinds of benefits government employees do. Case in point: I can buy guns and I can buy them from just about anywhere ... the rest of my family can't even glance at a firearm without getting mean looks from officials."

Oh... That... "That doesn't sound like something someone terrible would do." Chris was a bit confused, but... "Brant didn't give me the whole story on who Rosa's supposed to be... I recognize the name Dima, though, Apoth was keeping tags on the Alkaevs... Somewhat. Don't really know how much, beyond that. But, I guess they were watching Firmia too, since they shot her down en route here..." Another sigh, Chris looked over at the Regalia.

"Can the lift get here faster? Not having answers is just frustrating."

"Hmm," Sasha crossed his arms, "You may want to write up a report ... anything you can remember about what they wanted with the Alkaevs. Firmia likes stuff like that."

"They're probably just keeping an eye on the AMS units since they're turning out so well," Brant noted as the lift arrived, "Even the ANF's taking the idea and running with it. I'm starting to wonder how they got that tank transformation working, honestly."

"A tank?" The hell?

"Pretty sure the ANF's tired of getting shoved and shot," Brant shrugged, grabbing onto the lift, "If the Odin works out, they can go ahead and mass produce the thing. Then defending their territory on the ground will be a peace of cake. That thing is basically a mobile gun battery."

Chris took hold of the lift and Brant, to keep herself from falling off, wondering why they were so shocked about the tank situation. "It's a much larger machine, so it's easier for the ANF to facilitate these sorts of things... I bet the other one transforms too. The issues they've had that the Alkaev works have been able to work around is getting standard size mobile suit moving, transforming and even flying. That Mark III Velite thing that lieutenant Kim flies around in, that's their first flight capable mobile suit... And as you can see, it's not getting mass produced any time soon, else we'd already be seeing them. They can't afford to sit on that tech, so the prototype might've been a fluke. So, they upscaled." It made sense to her, at least...

"Why do I feel like this is going to turn into a competition between Firmia and the ANF?" Brant mused aloud as the lift started up.

"Everyone needs motivation," Sasha noted, "And Firmia's got to overcome that mass production hurdle if she wants the company to take off. Anyway, you two have fun up there. I'm going to see if I can get a copy of these new suits and take a look for myself."

"Yeah... Fun." Chris sighed as the lift made its way up to the cockpit, wondering what fun they'd even get to with Brant's evasion to all teases set to max. It was a bit frustrating... But what was more frustrating was not knowing what had gone on with this Rosa person. Chris hopped in first, and stepped aside to let Brant sit down first. She had a plan in mind.

Brant closed the cockpit canopy behind him and took his usual seat in the Regalia. It wasn't the first time, but it always felt a little strange being seated here without his SKIN suit. "Just a fair warning," Brant looked back at Chris with an apologetic smile, "I don't know how long it's going to be before Firmia wants the Edict's flight seat for something else. You might get stuck in a seat like mine, eventually."

Not that his seat was uncomfortable; one of the perks of mobile suits was that the seats could be thoroughly cushioned, since they weren't ejection seats. The same couldn't be said of fighter planes. The standard AMS flight seats were comfortable enough, particularly on the prototypes, but the Edict's flight seat was about twelve times as expensive thanks to the blank check Firmia had been written for her project, and that would be readily apparent to anyone using it.

"That's fine... I don't mind getting stuck in your seat. In fact..." Chris stepped over to Brant, gently nestling herself onto his lap, straddling his legs on both sides, before pressing her hands against his chest. "I think this, is just fine... Now... Tell me about Rosa." She dropped the act with a snap, giving him a stern stare. "I'm getting pretty sick of being kept out of the loop, on this. Feels like everyone else knows. I bet even Jess knows."

Great, Brant mused, trapped between a woman and a soft place. Nowhere to go but forward. "Yeah, Jess knows ... but kind of wish she didn't," Brant explained, trying to take Chris' hands into his own to ease the tension a little. "If she never found out about that ..."

If she never found out about it, she wouldn't have reacted the way she did, and Brant wouldn't have reached the conclusions he had. Their relationship would have been different. The situation would be something else entirely from what it was now. He didn't know whether things would have been better or worse, but it was hard not to feel tremendous regret knowing how crucial that moment had been.

"... really, I just want to move past it. I'm learning now that even good natured people will put you through hell on short notice, but if you really want to know, I'll explain it. Just, try to keep it together, alright?"

"... Move past it, huh... I don't want to force you to tell me. I'll be no better than them if I do... I just... I... Ugh..." Chris sighed, flopping against Brant, this was hard to spell out. "If she ever comes back. If she ever tries to do, whatever she did again, or if it was truly horrific, to hurt you again. I want to be there. I want to know, so I can, just... Throw it all back in her face and tell her to leave you alone. You don't deserve that. But at the same time... I know that if it's really that bad, talking about it can't be easy. So... If you do decide to tell me, then I'll keep it together. I promise. I have you to focus on, at least... And that's better than anything swimming in my head."

"The two of you fighting is the last thing I want," Brant groaned. It was probably always going to go the same way, though. Even Tonya had attacked Rosa when she finally found out, and she was more disciplined than most people. It was a high crime and there were no two ways about it.

Best to just get it over with. Tonya was more or less over it now, and Jessica wasn't even thinking about Rosa anymore. She didn't have a reason to. The sooner Chris knew, the sooner she could process it and move on, too. Hopefully.

"Anyway ... back in Nowhere, Siberia, the Alkaev's have a big testing facility--several actually. The main one's where I grew up, and where all of this happened. Rosa's married to Stan Alkaev ... don't remember what his old family name was, but those two don't get along. They got married because Dima wanted them to. Some crap about complimentary genetics and high MHC compatibility." It was hard to argue with the results, their two daughters. "Rosa doesn't treat it like a real marriage, just a show for people looking into the company."

It was starting to feel obvious where this was going ... "She and Tonya got into it over Ilya Polzin, one of the company's pilots, and some really bad stuff happened there, too. Ilya wound up dead, but we thought it was another training accident. Turns out it was actually Dima's solution to their love feud." Brant took one of his hands and rubbed at his forehead, a little wary of the way this story was turning out. Why was Dima coming up almost as often as Rosa ...?

"So ... with Ilya gone, Rosa eventually got interested in my brother, Rex. He's seven years older than me, so he's closer to Rosa's age group, but that didn't change the fact that she's married to Stan. My brother and I don't differ much on principles like that, so I can understand why he hated her for trying to get involved with him that way. She and I were actually pretty good friends around that time, unsurprisingly ... but I didn't know what was going on there."

So... Where was this going? With the way Brant was describing things... And... Getting interested in his brother? And him? "Brant? What... What did she do to you?" Chris wasn't upset, for once, more worried. Hearing about this family, and knowing Firmia, it sounded so off. Would she end up doing things like that? To them? To people she cared about? No, no way. She was blunt, and she was bossy, but she did care... She ended up gripping his shirt a bit tighter, shivering somewhat. "What happened?"

"I guess ... to make it more concise ... she forced Rex into 'romantic relationship' with her, if you can really call it that. It didn't work out, but she got around to doing the same thing with me." And that, Brant remembered, was when things got ridiculously amoral. "I had to be at least half as pissed off as my brother was at first, but ... I thought of an easy enough fix. Divorce Stan, leave my brother out of this. Done. A somewhat legitimate relationship between two people that actually get along. Call me crazy but she was my friend before all of this started, so ... it wasn't the worst idea I've ever had. I couldn't convince her though, because Dima decided to turn her sexcapades into a TK breeding experiment. So for over a year Rosa was using us both to get herself pregnant constantly and using me specifically to fulfill that stupid love fantasy of hers."

"Wh... What?" What the fuck? Her face buried against him, Chris started to shake, the anger rose up, but then it... Disappeared. And for the first time, Chris felt something other than the numbing emptiness. "Why? Why would... You don't... Brant..." Looking back up as the tears started to slide down her face, all she felt was pity and sadness. "How could they do that to you?" A timid hand stroked his cheek, her mind still trying to understand how someone would could put him through this. Put anyone through this. The other went around his back, trying to give him a hug, as Chris went about choking back tears.

Brant found himself tearing up when the righteous fury he was expecting collapsed back into the ether. He didn't know what to think, but he was worried now, and feeling a little guilty for not thinking of a better way to explain his past with Rosa. Whether there was any way to actually do that didn't matter. Chris' reaction wasn't anything like what he expected, especially from her ...

"The Alkaevs are ... only really accountable to each other. The Kremlin lets them do whatever they want as long as they don't get caught. That kind of freedom ... messes with your morals ..." That was Brant's best explanation, given in as even a tone as he could manage while experiencing Chris' grief right alongside her. He lifted up just enough to let her get her hand behind him, and gently placed his high up on her back.

"I just wanted to fix things and save us all the pain and anger. It never quite works out, though."

"You shouldn't throw yourself away to do that!" It was almost a plea, as she bit her lip to stifle a sob, resting her face back against his chest. "I... I get it. I do, you... You just wanted to do everything you could, to make the most people happy in the moment. It... It was all you could try to do. Even if they didn't listen, even if... God, dammit..." Chris would've commented on feeling anything else but anger, but it wasn't anywhere near important as this.

"No one's hurting you again. Not as long as I'm here, I promise. You... You're never going back to something like that. God, Brant, just... That's not fair." Chris already knew that life wasn't fair, but whenever something cemented that, it still hit hard. Her hand fumbled away from his face to his hand, squeezing it tight.

"This is going to work out. We'll make this work out. Something has to... We, c-can still test things, just... Just, give me a moment. First time with grief, it's hitting pretty hard."

"It's not just a big promise. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, and I'll do everything I can to stop anything like that ever happening to you, ever again... And I won't just do it by yelling at the problem." Chris managed a smile, sitting up some. "I know it might not be what you were hoping to wake up. But that means you're helping, right? And actually, feeling something else... It's exhilarating. I have hope. Even if it's making me cry, it means that everything in here... It isn't broken beyond repair."

Chris ended up leaning forward on Brant, getting close to his face, staring into his eyes. "Sometimes, I wish... I wish we could read more than emotions. If I could know what you were thinking, right now... Would I be happy? Sad? Angry? Would I want to know? I can only see you on the outside, I can only know how you feel. That's not the whole story with someone like you, is it, Brant?" Chris bit her lip, stopping herself. "The temptation to kiss you is really bad, right now. But I'll keep waiting... Until you decide it's right."

"You don't have to worry about THAT happening to me, again," Brant assured her. Explaining why right this minute probably wasn't the best idea. More importantly, Brant considered what was happening with Chris right now far more important than the recent developments with Rosa.

"Well, I'm glad you're making progress ... I just hope we don't have to go through all the negative emotions before hitting any positive ones," he sighed, wishing he'd known what might happen to her ahead of time. Maybe he could have found some 'good times' to tell her about first ... not that there were very many of those to choose from.

While he'd been struggling to come up with some happy stories that Chris hadn't already starred in, she was lamenting the limitations of TKs like them. If she could read his mind, she wondered how she would feel about it, and Brant was starting to wonder, too. It wasn't an easy question to answer. He'd been through a lot of physical and emotional pain, but the majority of it was so long ago that he didn't attach the same kind of value to it that someone experiencing it here in the present would. Brant only felt embarrassment and hopefulness when thinking about Rosa, but back then he felt that, plus anger, and fear, and confusion, and so on. Perhaps it was for the best then, that Chris didn't get too close to those memories.

She'd gotten awfully close to his face, though. Brant smiled when Chris said she'd wait, and not just force a kiss. It wouldn't have upset him if she had been pushier, but he greatly appreciated the gesture. It did remind him of their conversation on the bus, though. "And you think it's too soon for me to being saying things like I love you," he shook his head, trying not to laugh.

Chris started to tear up again, but the feelings of sadness in her started to fade towards that familiar numbness. At least now, she knew that this numbness was some other emotion taking the place of what had been in her head before... But what was him saying he loved her turning to? And, besides that--

"It's way too soon to be saying that. You know that, Brant... Just because I'm a wreck, and you've shone this ray of hope onto me, doesn't mean you should be throwing it back so quickly. I... I'm sure it makes me happy... But..." Chris sighed, she'd already agreed to no more talk of doubting herself, how frustrating... Much as she wanted to be there for Brant, she didn't want to force his hand and have his only option be her. If someone else better came along, but he'd already tied himself down... Maybe she could force his hand in some other way. She just hoped he'd be more creative than the kiss she kept thinking about.

"Fine, then. Prove it. Show me something, do something to me, give me something, anything, to prove that you're this serious about this. Because I don't... I don't want to you to tie yourself down to me, after only a few days, unless you're absolutely sure... That you do, love me." Chris sat up on his lap, staring him down with a fairly weak frown. Surely, he could do something...

Do something to her? Brant couldn't help but wince, briefly. That probably constituted more of an answer in Chris' eyes than anything he had to say, but Brant hoped he could at least help her understand where he was coming from.

"... I can't. Not in a situation like this. It's not that-" Wait a second. Brant had finally registered something else that Chris had said that was just as important. "Wait ... you said tie myself down to you? What did you mean by that?" Brant was so worried about the answer to that question that he had the look in his eyes similar to when he realized how little confidence Jessica had in herself. It wasn't long after that when he tried to make a point that was still hanging in the air, today. "It just sounded ... kind of negative."

Oh, no, why did he wince. She was pushing this too far, wasn't she? Chris felt herself slipped back just a bit more, and when Brant's question came out, it made her feel even worse. "I... I just... What, if someone better comes along? I don't, want to get in your way, if they do. I'm glad you're helping me, and I promised I'd be here-- I meant it... But, if there's someone better for you, I... I don't want you to say you love me, unless you're really serious about it. At the same time... I don't want you to feel obligated or anything, like if you agree, and then there's someone way better just down the road, you regret it. I... I'm, sorry." It was times like these that Chris and Christina could be nearly indistinguishable... Not that Brant had enough experience with the other to tell.

So that's what it was. Admittedly, it was actually worse than Brant feared. Chris thought someone 'better' would show up after they had already begun a relationship, and that he'd regret them moving so quickly on this. The first half of that sounded inevitable, somehow ... and she wasn't exactly wrong to have a concern like that ... but still, it was leaving out the bond between them. It was the difference between her, the person keeping Brant alive both literally and figuratively, and the next dead Apotheosis pilot he'd killed with his own hands. It wasn't just circumstance, it was the core of what made them what they were, be it colleagues, friends, or lovers.

Brant forced a smile. "So what you're saying is that right now, you're the best there is~" He reached up around her shoulders with one arm and gently pulled Chris into a hug after the attempt to disarm her. "What do you expect me to do, though?"

Resting cheek to cheek like this was even more soothing than Brant expected. "What's this girl who's better than you even like? Why is she better? Why'd she wait so long to show up? And what am I going to do if someone even better than her comes along after she and I start something? Why couldn't I have met 'the best' first and not have to hurt you and other people looking for her?"

All were rhetorical questions save for the first one, but Brant was genuinely wondering what a series of events like that would be like. He'd gone through this scenario in his head numerous times in the past, and it was why he personally didn't prioritize certain traits in other people, even the ones he vastly preferred. It would be a hellish pursuit if done it in the way he implied, and it reminded him of what Jessica had done to him, and what Rosa had done to Stan and Rex. The last thing he wanted was to take actions like theirs. That was why he couldn't just ... DO something to Chris. Somehow, he had to resolve his personal crisis with Jessica, do things the right way. Then, once he knew where everyone stood, he could decide what to do, and how to best conduct himself.

"Wha? B-Best, I-- Hhh..." Chris let herself get pulled into the hug, pressed up against him, heart going nuts. Why was he so smooth in private, he wasn't saying anything before... And now... "Ugh, Brant..." It was so easy to love him, why was he like this? Chris could only sigh, he'd made a good point. What was the point in waiting for misses best to show up if she never did, or she showed up so late. Chris was... The best there was, right now. And that meant a lot to her. "Geez."

She hugged him back, nestling against-- "Mmm, wh-what's... What are you wearing?" There was some metal lump under his shirt, Chris lifting herself up just a bit to look at him. "And I was just getting comfy... Not that I should, we have tests to run, but you know how to make a girl feel wanted. Jess is an idiot, and you were never worth letting go of. Gonna make sure I don't~" It felt a little dumb, to have her worries placated so well, but that didn't change them disappearing. That comfy empty numbness came back, Chris smiling. It was pretty clear what it meant, at this point.

"Should I get off, get off of you, or should we stay like this for a bit?" A little joke wouldn't hurt...

Brant had been used to the rings on his necklace pressing against his chest all of the time, but Chris noticed them too, and that reminded Brant exactly why he had to resolve everything with Jessica. "Sorry about that." Those blasted rings .... How could he possibly make one for her and then turn around and ... no, that was out of the question.

It was rather obvious now, Brant realized. He'd already met the 'better' girl, and as expected it was at the wrong time. Events wouldn't have transpired any other way. At least Chris seemed motivated, in spite of all of this.

"I'd prefer to stay like this for a while to be perfectly honest. If you can figure out the Regalia in half an hour then we've got plllenty of time," Brant teased her a little.

Well that was a dodged question... "No, seriously, what is this?" She smirked a bit, slipping a hand up and feeling at the spot... Wait-- "Why are you wearing rings around your neck?" That's what the shape had to be, she could feel them through his shirt. It couldn't be anything else, could I? "Saving them for the better girl? I... O... Oh..." It had dawned on her that these rings were very likely added before they got so close. Which could only mean they were for one person. Chris didn't have it in her to point out who so suddenly.

Brant expected he'd panic when Chris felt around for the two rings underneath his shirt, but for some reason the energy just wasn't there, and the shift in his mood was smooth and gradual. "Right ..." Brant told himself. Why panic when there was absolutely nothing practical he could do about that situation.

"Here," Brant said, straightening his shirt back and pulling the whole necklace out from beneath his collar. The rings were designed to be identical, so only Brant or a machine could tell which of them was which at a glance. He let his own ring slide down toward him and held up the one for Jessica. Like always, its tiny slats began to open up, revealing the inner glow. Brant wasn't sure if it was still attuned to him or if it was confused by the two overlapping auras, but the ring gave off a soft bluish teal light.

"When I went to see Jess, I was actually going to apologize to her about the situation with Tonya. She's been rooming with me since she wasn't going to be on the Riese for long. I let her because that's just how close we are. Something similar happened with Hannah, and I was worried it might give Jess the wrong impression. When the crap about Abigail came out, Jess ... she wasn't any happier with herself than I was, but ... I realized she's ... got a serious self esteem problem.

"As for the ring ... it's a real engagement ring ... whatever that means, but the reason I made it was to show her something real and tangible, proof that she was worth whatever pain I had to go through in the short term. I wasn't going to give up just because she was doubling down on a self admitted mistake. If she actually decided to wear it at some point, perfect. No need to shop around for one later, and no need to rush things. Two birds, one stone ... and if we could overcome something like Abby, what greater test of a relationship is there? But she and I wanted completely different things ... and Tonya was right. Sometimes the pain wins in the end ... and right now, it's winning. There's almost as much bitterness that went into making this as gratitude."

Brant let the ring fall onto his chest, still separate from the other one. "And that's the story behind that. I've got no intention of getting married in the middle of a war. I just wanted her to understand, to get why just replacing her was never an option. She's not a TK, though ... and that's a real pain to have to work around ..."

So it was more Jess stuff. Brant had been really serious about her... Oddly, Chris wasn't feeling angry about it, just more of that emptiness, meaning something was either new, or she was happy about these rings. Maybe...? It felt like an odd thing to be happy about, so it was probably something else... Whatever it was, she couldn't feel it, and was enamored with only one idea. "Can I try it on?" She didn't want to talk about Jess. Jess just upset him, this wasn't about her anymore. She'd had her chance, and if she was going to stick to her guns, then he shouldn't have to keep thinking about what ifs.

Chris idly picked up the ring and fiddled with it, but if Brant tried to make a grab for it, she wasn't going to stop him.

Brant instinctively reached up and clasped both of his hands around Chris' after she picked up the ring. He hadn't meant to react that suddenly, and he was more surprised by that than the fact Chris wasn't upset. He was grateful she didn't seem angry, but that ring ... that ring in particular ... "Please don't. Not this one ..."

That sure was a reaction... Chris simply let go of the ring and slipped her hand away, nodding. "Sure. Guess we should start on testing the Regalia, right?" Chris took a moment to untangle herself from Brant, heading behind him to the copilot's chair. She couldn't put a name to what she was feeling right now, but if Brant was paying attention, he certainly could. The lovely waves of jealousy hidden just behind Chris' own moderate confusion and annoyance. Though, she was annoyed that she couldn't put a name to how she was feeling. That empty numbness, as always...

"What's first, then?"

Brant grimaced, and not just because they weren't going to be relaxing anytime soon ... "Okay. First, the boring stuff," he said, tucking the necklace and rings back under his shirt collar. He started up the suit, but kept everything they wouldn't need off for the time being. If only some of his feelings worked that way ...

Getting the technical things out of the way first: basics on the interface, system navigation, etc, left the more engaging aspects of operating the Regalia for later on. Once he got to the flight controls, he began to wonder how much of this was immediately useful for Chris and how much would be getting in the way. Being more of a kinesthetic learner himself, Brant preferred simulations.

"You'll have to mind your left hand whenever the Regalia's shifting in and out of flight mode. The left stick acts as a throttle in flight mode, so it'll switch to its horizontal position in time with the transformation. Its movements will get mostly locked out, too and you'll only be able to push it forward and backward." Brant wondered if Christina had flown any ANF fighter planes at any point. She'd been captured in a Prioxis, so she definitely had enough experience to not make a mess of things in one of those. "It can be a little weird if you're not used to it, but if you've got memories of working fighter controls then you should be fine. Our seats will level with each other when that happens, so you'll have plenty of visual cues to work with ..."

"Sure thing. Pay attention to the throttle, that's easy." If all she had to do was watch her left hand, this was going to be much easier than she'd been expecting. Still, Brant felt... Well, it was quite obvious he felt bad about everything. Chris didn't really know what to do other than try to assure him that things would be fine... But how to go about it? Hmm...

"Brant?" She started, leaning over his set and giving him a small hug. "I don't know what I'm putting out there, right now, but if it's making you feel uncomfortable, you can tell me. That said, no matter what it is, I'm not going anywhere, okay? I get your problems with Jess. I understand the situation. Much as I might be a whiny little girl about it, just a bit, I'll keep waiting. So... Let's focus on what we need to get done. Then you can focus on how to help yourself. Alright?" She didn't want him feeling like this the whole time.

"It's not your fault," Brant assured her. Helping himself, though ... he wasn't entirely sure about that one. "Just takes a while to come back up to normal sometimes, that's all. And we'll get everything handled tonight with time to spare."

"... Alright. I'll believe you, then. Now put me into a simulation, I could use the hands on more than explanations... Getting everything handled, huh? Where am I sleeping, anyway? Firmia never assigned me a room." Probably too busy and forgot the new person, but...

"You're a kinesthetic learner too? Nice." Brant grinned. He didn't waste any time in pulling up some combat data in the simulation menu. It was a bit sparse, but only because it wasn't being used, much. There was plenty of data to work with, and setting up a custom simulation would take at minimum fifteen seconds. ... answering the question about where she was sleeping might take considerably longer ...

"Hmm, good question. We could radio in and ask her. Honestly, she may have just given us the first pick of rooms or something. Except for me. She told me straight to my face that my room's right next to that glorified server room she had set up." Clearly she wanted her best AI tech within poking distance of the processor suites.

"Knowing Firmia she'll joke that we should be sleeping together," Chris laughed, not giving it much thought beyond that. Surely Firmia wouldn't do something like that... Not that it would be bad, but-- "Yeah, I prefer hands on. So start something up, and let me shoot something down, or do my best to keep up with you doing so." Best to think about other things.

Now there was a silly string of events: first Tonya staying in his room out of sheer laziness--and likely some concern about the Rosa revelations, next Hannah staying in his room to be closer and simplify a few matters, and next Chris, if fate decreed. Brant dismissed the thought of his bed being overcrowded almost as soon as it came to mind. Tonya didn't have an excuse to stay in his room anymore since she was the Avalon's helmsman, and Hannah likely still wanted to keep a comfortable distance. Chris seemed like she could go either way on that ...

"She's just sick of the ... problem I brought over from the Riese, and wants it to go away. Alright, let's just load up something basic ... attack run on an airfield ... a full squad of volkovs. Not sure why the AA guns aren't loaded by default, but we'll add those, too."

"I'd like it to go away too, y'know... If it'd help, I don't mind. Don't know how much you'd be able to control yourself, sleeping next to me, though~" That was definitely a joke. Brant could control himself already, there was no way getting close again was going to change his feelings suddenly.

"You don't want me fighting against Apoth units? Firmia's already put me through some tests, I don't think your Volkovs are gonna stand up against me... Sure, it was in the Mantle, but I'm pretty sure the Regalia controls better than it does. Don't be afraid to challenge me, Brant~ In fact, gimme something really hard... And if I win it, I'll give you a reward!"

"Heh." Brant figured he'd do at least as well as he'd done with Tonya, though self control wasn't a major concern in this instance. There was the typical guilt, but also an anger that came on the heels of any thoughts that saw him doing what Jessica was doing. The justifications didn't make any difference.

Brant was surprised Chris didn't think much of the Volkovs. While they were well behind Apotheosis units, these machines were the most heavily armored mobile suits of their generation. They only really had trouble with beam weapons, and they weathered like boulders. More importantly ... "Firmia's not a programmer, so she just focuses on enemy types and numbers. The challenge here is going to be winning when all the enemy mobile suits take a lot less damage."

Brant didn't get into the details, but he'd been setting up the Volkovs since first mentioning them, and they not only had anti-beam coating all over their armor, but also the V-Drive derived mobility of Apotheosis' Hyperions. So not only would they not be alone in the air, but none of the Regalia's weapons would output their normal damage against these heavily armored, beam resistant legacy suits. The completely unmarked leader unit was also loaded up with Hannah's combat data, and wouldn't hesitate to pounce on them with its beam saber at an opportune moment. This would be far from easy ...

"... and what kind of reward?" Brant asked, belatedly.

"Fine, but don't get disappointed in me if this doesn't last very long. As for a reward... You leave that to me. I'll give you something nice." Chris wasn't about to offer anymore details on that, it was actually a pretty embarrassing thought for her, so she wanted to focus on these Russian models... Really, though, Brant was holding them up way too high. "Just one more reminder, Firmia made me take down a Chaldene by myself. You sure these things are gonna stack up?" Chris wasn't paying attention to whatever Brant was inputting, she was too busy configuring her own combat settings from her side of the console.

What exactly did the Regalia have available... Missiles, funnels, beam saber, hyper beam rifle? That was pretty limited, wasn't it? Not even solid slugs? "Yuck," she muttered, shaking her head some and deciding that it just meant things were going to be a bit more difficult. There was no way Brant didn't know what the Regalia was best at, so he'd set up enemies that were good against it. Maybe some of them would be given machine weaponry. She'd have to chop off an arm and take one, then.

"Ready when you are, darling~"

Edited August 11, 2018 by SnakeMomMelissa

[TheRoon]

The heavy southern accent was a bit distracting to Aliza, but she appreciated the eagerness to help. "Oh uh yeah! Much obliged!" She responded and followed Avery along. "Glad you remembered my name too, makes things easier. For some reason I've been having trouble clicking with most people on board." 'Between the awkward air with Abby and Elaine getting a bit too heated anyway...'

[Shin]

It still wasn't clear who Jess was referring to, but Tarquin could imagine that Cheryl had her work cut out for her whoever it was. From a logical perspective, he probably should have made better use of her deployment but he didn't quite feel comfortable with someone who could read him so easily. Tarquin had never shared a meal with anyone other than Nikolai and Bruno, before he'd only ever sat alont to eat. Even on the Heion Riese he'd prepared his own food and eaten in solitude. It may have been with a complete stranger, but he found himself accepting of the offer. 

"Is there anything you would prefer to have? You shouldn't strain yourself, if you are able to make tea I would also like some, please." Tarquin replied, approaching the counter. His cooking repertoire was still limited, but he was no longer burning food or eating the same meal 3 days in a row. He'd never actually had tea before, but it couldn't be that bad... right? He reached up to one of the cupboards, standing on his toes to make up for his short stature - weren't teenagers meant to start growing around his age? "The kitchen is well stocked, I had not made any formal requests before my assignment but I have always found the ingredients I require."

After preparing coffee with Nikolai, Tarquin was up for trying to cook with another person again. It hadn't even been that long ago, but part of it felt almost nostalgic. Apotheosis had nearly taken away something important to him, there was no chance that he'd not retaliate.

"I sometimes think about what I will do once the war against Apotheosis ends." Tarquin mused, his wandering thoughts making it to his lips. He'd always seen himself as a puppet of the ANF, never questioning his existence. What would he do? Mr Mario had found his way to something he was passionate about, perhaps one day he could do the same? "I don't think I would be a good chef though, nobody else has ever eaten my cooking before."

-

"You really think people will give me a second chance?" Elaine asked, a spark of optimism spreading from the centre of her chest. She didn't need to be friends with everyone, but could she really salvage the bad impression she'd made from the beginning? Over the last week she'd showed that she wasn't a particularly good pilot or even person. With people like Tarquin and Jess about, it was really hard to prove that she wasn't just a violent thug. She let out another sigh, what possibly could someone like Louise see in her? It was more than just a scheme to cripple the Heion Riese, right? Elaine still had bucketfuls of problems, but at least she might be able to work on everyone hating her.

Elaine stood herself up, giving a relieved grin to Cheryl. "I ain't gonna pretend that your talk fixed much of my problems, but it's given me the motivation to do somethin' about it." she admitted, looking back it was her own fault she'd gotten into her mess, she needed to start doing something about it. She wasn't entirely sure what she could or would do, but it had to be something. "Thanks for listenin' to my problems. I'm a grown woman and I feel like I act like a kid sometimes, I'm not proud of it, but it's a thing I gotta work on, right?"

She had her chance, a new robot to fight in and a desire to better herself. It was a breath of fresh air, like she was going to be someone else entirely... hopefully it was someone people wanted around.

Edited August 11, 2018 by Shin

[Nanami Touko]

Clicking

"Well, don't let it bother ye too much, darlin'. Yer a new face on a new ship. Ain't gonna be quick, but they'll warm up t'ya soon enough. Just keep yer pretty face smilin', it'll calm 'em nice an' quick like." Avery snickered and tipped her hat just a bit, waving for Aliza to follow her. "Let's get nice an' personal with yer machine, yeah? Betcha don't even know 'bout halfa the nonsense it's got inside." The Sagittae was even taller than the Odin... Was it going to be able to get out of the ship?

Optimism

Cheryl internally sighed, pleased with herself. No, she hadn't exactly helped Elaine's problems, but that wasn't wholly her job. That she'd managed to give Elaine a bite of optimism going forward, enough motivation to try things herself, that was satisfying. The girl seemed desperate coming in, and to think all she'd needed was some direction. You're a lot more impressive than you think, Elaine. "Kick life's ass, Hedrick. You've got this." Cheryl gave her a small thumbs up, as she left, letting that sigh out. "That one's a firecracker... Just hope she doesn't pop on the wrong person. Right, round two. Waiting in the cafeteria, right?"

Cheryl hoisted herself up and slipped out, it was the smallest walk down the hall. She checked which hall Elaine was going down, she didn't want to run right into her again. Best to leave her with her thoughts and leads. Carefully managing her way towards the cafeteria, she poked her head in... "Tarquin? How nice to see you." She hadn't spoken with him for a few days, between all their fights and spending time with Sasha. It was good to catch him like this, was he getting along with the Sergeant. "Don't mind me, I won't interrupt. I came to collect Ms. Barnes over here, but if you're getting ready for food, mind if I join in? I could use lunch." Popcorn only lasted so long.

[Balcerzak]

Anything she wanted? "A grilled cheese sandwich would be amazing... But I probably shouldn't. Can never seem to stop with just one, and they're probably not all that good for me. Maybe some pasta salad? Or anything leftover of what you'd been planning on originally, really." Jess couldn't help but feel she was imposing, even if he offered willingly. "And good, I'll make you a cup too, then."

Filling a kettle with cold water, she peeked into various cupboards until she found the right one, confirming Tarquin's words in the process. The Riese really was a well-stocked ship. Grabbing a box of green and one of black, not sure on his preference, she retreated out of the way, to take a seat while waiting for the water to come to temperature. Resting her elbows on the table, one hand atop the other, and her chin resting on top of that, she watched him go about his half of the preparations.

Jess was pondering the right reply to his worry, when a new arrival surprised her. Turning her head suddenly to face them, and see who it was, she jostled her wrist more than was comfortable, but the pain would soon pass.

"Ah, yes. He offered to keep me company and fix something up while I waited, as long as he'd been thinking of making lunch for himself. Quite the proper young gentleman," she managed a bit of a smile as she gave her own answer to the ship's other doctor. "You've finished up your talk with Elaine, then, was it? I'm in no special rush, so I'm fine with having you join us if he is. ...And if you can still squeeze me in after without worrying about any other appointments." There was an almost uncomfortable bit of delay between her statements, but hopefully it wasn't too noticeable. Moving on Jess added, "There should be enough water in the kettle, if you want some tea, I only took out two cups though..." She wasn't quite feeling like standing up and fetching another, and the psychiatrist hadn't yet sat down, so maybe she'd take the hint.

Edited August 11, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Xinnidy]

R-Race...

"Christi--" Oh my, there she went. That... that was something else indeed. "G-guess our machines aren't really on the same level, haha..." Hmm, that would be a problem, but as long as Christina decided she was cool trying to figure out her bot alone, it meant Makoto could oversee Talia without guilt. "Come catch us when you're done figuring it out, alright?" That'd hopefully not leave Christina out of thing. Now, it was for Ms. Rusty Princess herself. "Alright... I think my machine's a bit slower than yours, but I've been on the field recently, so... still wanna try that race?" It wasn't like he was an expert with the legionary suit. It made things even, totally.

New Members

"Two of them, understood." Roxanna turned to her device, taking notes. Hmm... there were five of them. Maybe Firmia would want one? At least as a bodyguard kind of pilot. The Avalon did seem a bit understaffed in firepower. Then again, Firmia had Brant and that Russian Ace with her... I'll message her later, I guess. What mattered most was getting them to the Riese now. No need to get ahead of yourself with your business mind, Roxanna...

Sure enough, their own bodyguards were quite ready... and they really seemed to behave like Han4 when she was first found. "Ah... H-how nice." So these would get human names as well... hopefully they wouldn't become as complex as Hannah. That seemed like an android revolution in the making. "Tiffany, Elizabeth, and Rachel... I see." More names to jot down, and now that they got to meet them... "I think our plan was to have them maintain the security of one level each, within the Riese. That seems like the best option, anyways. Perhaps we should get them acquainted with the crew first. Make sure nobody is in for a surprise."

More Visits

Esther slowly pushed herself up from her bed, roused by the voice coming through the receiver from her side of the glass. Great. It seemed like the matter of her nature had become common knowledge, at least to... a doctor. Yes, that's what the woman looked like. What was up with the other one, then? An assistant? That one wasn't dressed like such, rather, it seemed like she had bruised herself somewhere. How careless. "I... yes, I'm the cyber TK." Up and out of her bed, Esther now walked towards her end of the glass wall, looking up at the doctor, then back to the floor. Esther's eyes moved erratically, as if she was trying to collect her thoughts. "That... I don't know if it's common knowledge. It means I was made a TK, through surgery, not natural means." She wasn't even sure if the ANF had medics that could treat her, it sounded and was a very underground practice. No, the ANF army had to have people that knew about this, because...

She cut her thoughts, looking straight at the doctor, once again, with an ever blank expression. "If don't really have a... 'filter', like naturals. If I don't take regulating medicine, I can't stop feeling thoughts that aren't my own." Esther paused, not really expecting either to understand how back that was. Neither seemed like a TK, Esther felt no pressure from that direction. "Even if nobody is around, my brain tries to receive signals. That's bad. Without a way to stop, it... overworks and cooks itself. It's slow, but really painful." She'd finished the explanation with one eye closed, tilting to the right, where her palm massaged her temple. That pang once again.

"It's not really the way I want to go. If you guys want to execute me, just shoot it instead."

Edited August 11, 2018 by Xinnidy

[Balcerzak]

After getting onto the lift with Kim, the new vantage certainly bore out the Asian's suppositions. That definitely seemed to be the other Legionary pilot they'd picked up at the Corona facility, and given she also had just been assigned a new ride like he had... went to figure she had the same sort of questions and wish for a little attention and explanation as well.

"Mm, I reckon you have the right of it. Suppose it's only fair I stop monopolizing our head mechanic and let her have a piece too, haha!" A jovial laugh, but not overdone, before Thorvald continued. "Well, since there's only so much one can do in the hangar, and live practice isn't really an option, maybe I should go see if they've loaded the Odin's data up into the sims, give it a spin that way. What about you, any plans? Actually," stroking his beard he stopped and took another look at the lieutenant, curiosity slightly piqued. "What'd you stop by the hangar for anyway?"

 

---

 

Nicholas's company? For a moment Abigail was confused, she hadn't heard that name before, but then it struck her. That must have been from when Megumi said she and her sisters had been working as mercenaries. Before the ANF. Which made the gloomy statement following it up all too grounded in reality. The rebel was uncomfortably too aware herself, how things tended to end up in that line of work. The comment of putting Abby in front of a mirror, and letting that serve for introductions just hammered it in further. The pain in her palms, where her nails were digging in, informed her that her hands had balled into fists. Life was so... unfair.

She didn't even get the chance to hug Megumi, lie to her that surely some had survived, or anything of the like though. They were already in front of the prisoner, and that ship had sailed. It probably wouldn't have been the right move in the first place. Megumi was a strong enough woman not to need it. Wasn't she? Abby had to wonder. Lord knows she needed a little something when the news broke for her, but... that was a special kind of bullshit. Megumi's sounded different.

Her mind was so caught up, she missed most of the first bits of what their captive had to say. Raising an arm, she quickly drew its sleeve across her eyes to wipe any moisture away and help her get her focus back. Oh FUCK. Forgot about the nose for a second. Wincing, she turned an undeserved glare to the girl in the brig, sizing her up.

No filter? That definitely sounded worse, more invasive, than the 'naturals' as she called them. Her swift description of the side-effects, though, made it abundantly clear it wasn't just a bad deal for your average joe human getting spied on, but one helluva bum rap for the spook herself. Your own brain, cooking itself from the inside? Christ!

"H-How long've you got," Abby stuttered slightly. While she had been confident Vera wouldn't dump her underling on them just to die, now that the real severity was coming out, she was second guessing the reassurances she'd given the doctor on the way over. If she needed a mercy killing... somebody was gonna have to pull that trigger. No, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Abigail turned to look at Megumi, wondering what line of questioning someone with actual medical knowledge would take.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Balcerzak

[Ether]

"They might, but if they're worried about information leaks, they might have neglected to... upload it's data anywhere. Commander Vance seemed to be banking... on Apotheosis not expecting these machines." Kim replied to Thorvald's first statement, pausing for a moment as he rattled off his second question. What she had been there for... she very well couldn't mention STEEL, but there were other reasons as well.

"Well, I had hoped to see if Avery could make adjustments... to the weapon systems on the Artemis. We need... all of the firepower we can get. Also... well, you may recall me being a bit... different, at the end of our last deployment. When those aliens attacked, some new system activated in the Artemis... we haven't figured out much about it yet, but we never will without... testing it."

[scorri]

Astin's wanderings had finally led them down to the simulators, where they arrived to find several already occupied. Unexpected occupants perhaps, but occupied nonetheless. But only the mech ones. Thankfully or not so thankfully, the four that could handle foot combat stood empty. Waiting. Taunting even. They knew what they faced in those and yet it wasn't like they could ignore it any longer. A small sigh escaped their lips before they paced over to the one furthest away from the occupied units. Flipping through the options, they found the easiest. A simple target range. Nothing challenging, distracting, dangerous. Just them, a target, and... a gun.

A bad taste settled into their mouth as they settled into the simulator. This was always the worst part. It made sense, somewhat, why they couldn't fire a real gun. The worry overwhelmed them, what if they missed, something so much more dangerous than with a sword. A bullet could travel so far after all. But this... The simulator booted, the weight of the copy of the gun they now carried on their waistband settling into their hand. This wasn't real. They knew that, couldn't deny that. There was nothing to worry about with this. No miss could hit an innocent behind their real target like with a true gun. But still...

A deep breath. Another. Two more long ones and then their arms came up. Focus. Aiming down the range, right at the center of the garish red and blue target, finger light on the trigger. Steady breath, check the aim again... Squeeze the trigger, feel the small shock of the pistol. Check the target... Nothing. "Dammit. Still can't shoot for the life of me..." Raising the virtual gun up, ready to throw it away, they stopped. This moment had happened before.

"... Alright, Astin, look, I can't really watch this anymore. You're not hitting anything, you... You know how to fire a gun, right? Like, properly?"

"I... I don't use them. I don't like them, I can't. Give me a sword any day but this... Every time I try, my brain just starts yelling about what if I miss and hit someone else? There's no one here and it's still doing it. I'm just... I'm a failure. Can't shoot straight even if it would save my life."

"Well... Just, follow along with me for a moment, let's see if I can save your life, yeah?"

"Right... He showed me. Come on Astin. You can do this." Square the feet. Lean forward just the smallest amount and bring the arms up. Relax the shoulders, being tense will ruin the shot. Line up the shot one more time. And then...

"So. If you flinch or move at all before you pull, you're gonna miss. And then, you're gonna hit someone else. Gotta be fearless~"

"Be fearless..." The words slipped out as the gunshot rang out. A small hole appeared in the center of the target, a perfect shot. Success. "You saved my life after all. But I'm still not where I could save yours. I can't stop here. I can't. I've been sloppy up until now, but I can't keep letting my fears stop me. Gotta be fearless." Time to buckle down and practice more. There was still plenty of time before they needed to sleep. Maybe by the end of it, they'd be ready for real targets.

[Shin]

Talia took a deep breath, the Ceres' display came into view on her screen. It was different to the Umbra and the other training units, but it was reasonably inuitive. So far she'd managed to get it to follow her inputs, thankfully she was far better on land than she was the sky or underwater. Either the Ceres was making up for her deficits or she wasn't quite as terrible as she thought. It was just moving after all, she'd passed the basic manueveres course by a decent margin back in the day - it was after that everything seemed to start slipping. Christina's crash nearly made her jump, it wasn't surprising that Seung-Min had a tough machine to use, it sounded like she could afford to sacrifice usability for power and make up for it with skill.

"Oh? Makoto... I think I'm getting the hang of it." Talia replied, she'd been so caught up in keeping her unit stable that she'd nearly forgotten about him entirely. "I'm ready when you are, I'll do my best to keep up."