Exhack
Inactive Member
ON, VSV Astarte
High Orbit Over Mazerin
Bukor 11, 936
15:13, Commonwealth Standard Time
After long months of recovery from the wounds of the battle at the Elevator, Bahram Wing had been returned to duty, given the honors of a new ship, and even new units. The reasons were mixed: perhaps it was the rallying cry that they had brought to the battlefield, allowing the Vanguard to spring back and push the remaining NVR forces away, or the entirely accidental rescue of the Minister of the Conclave that had earned them a powerful new friend in the upper echelons of society. The reasons themselves didn't matter that much, as before they could revel in the little prestige they'd attained they already found themselves pressed into new battlefields on the edge of known space.
The VSV Astarte was a fine vessel, evoking feelings of the classic era before the worst of the Outer System Conflicts and of the new one being created. It was very much a vessel of reclamation, returning pride to the Vanguard and the strength of arms to its soldiers. The crew were bright and new, carrying with them an atmosphere of excitement at finally seeing the frontiers, and the officers selected from the bridges of the most distinguished Vayu, but all could already feel the weight of the new assigment being levied on them and the high expectations of the brass.
As they arrived upon the vessel, Bahram Wing was given notice from their CO, being instructed to leave their belongings in their assigned quarters and head to the ready room adjacent to the hangar, where they would meet their fellow garrison pilots and be given further intelligence on the ship's status.
Mridula was barely awake as she shuffled down the hallway. She had mechanically dressed in her uniform, mechanically applied her facial markings, mechanically brushed her teeth and hair. She still hadn't completely recovered from the battle at the elevator, the trauma from the machine's collapse and the subsequent state of her dear friend Mareyn sitting inside her like a dull ache. She'd been assigned to Astarte due to her experiences that day, but she wasn't entirely sure she was able to serve, or even deserved it. The Ivuori didn't even know who she had been roomed with; she had slept like a rock since her arrival, brief dream-touches with Madhu her only solace. Still, though, she reported to the ready room like everyone else, her eyes flicking dully around.
It'd been days since he'd even looked at the news reports, instead spending every waking moment on vacation with his daughter, and now Serhan found himself being crushed in intelligence reports and data on the 'new enemy' that the Astral Vanguard ordered to make 'armed intervention' upon. The Conclave, in its infinite wisdom, still clung to the centuries-outdated notion that there were never any wars in the Commonwealth, and that its military existed only for the purpose of carrying out police actions against rogue nations. But the data seemed to say the opposite, that the scale of this 'police action' would be too great to be encased in a well-prepared term that people could use to distance themselves from the bloodshed.
It was going to be a war.
"They're rather late..." Serhan found himself idly browsing the local OGNEIR.net node and resting in his elevated seat, wondering if he'd be even as lucky before with this new batch of frame runners, field mechanists and physicians. If it was anything like the Third, most of them wouldn't make it past their fourth sortie, but he was hopeful that the new technologies of Solan and the strength of the crew might hold it all together. The outlook wasn't terrific.
But he could hope.
Zus made her way into the room, Reovan in tow, and the two sat down near the middle of the room, The younger Eyr Ranr looking mildly bored and wandering her eyes about the room while the Sund Wakir sat at attention almost, waiting for their commander to speak. The Sund Wakir would give the Eyr Ranr a slight smack on the leg to get her attention, and very soon, both Zus Storhan and Reovan Mehta were paying attention the the raised chair which held their bespectacled leader.
Malik laughed as he headed to the ready room, walking alongside Shokhi and Zalus, his arms draped around their necks and pulling them in close as he told them jokes, an odd mixture of Cohronl and Mazerinii humor. The runner had been "busy" these past few months, and was honestly glad to see his wingmates again. Zalus, Zus, Reovan, Savitar, Shokhi, and even Serhan, they were all welcome faces to him. His mane of orange hair was gone now, replaced with a shaved head, though his attitude had only seemed to be come friendlier and more open to the people he considered his friends. Of course, the phsyical contact was for a reason. You can't share an empathic connection with someone you aren't touching, can you?
An Ivuori followed behind the other frame runners like a lost pet. He had that pathetic expression of being lost, and not having enough nerve to ask where to go next. 'So we're going to a breifing? At least I know that. But where's it at? I'm so confused.' Akjit thought to himself. He casually flipped through his little sketchbook to pass the short amount of time he'd be spending looking at Zus', Malik's and Reovan's backs as he followed. His fingers briefly paused on the roughly drawn images of Khiyai and Amari, before moving on to the drawing of that VANDR. It was lightly armed with pulse lasers and a tether; Akjit was thinking of how he'd use the teather to reel in the enemy and stuff, but, in the end, he never really got to even sortie; it was over before then.
Alia was also in the room. Her presence not so much as a pilot, but as an observer, just incase they need anything special made or modified for the frames under her care. 'That idiot ruined another frame.' Alia thought as she remembered reading the sortie logs. 'I'm just glad it wasn't any of the ones from my hanger.' She continued to think as her shoulders rose then fell with a silent sigh.
"..." Stifling a yawn, Amari soon made her way into the ready room. Albeit looking a little more worn then usual, she seemed as she always was: laid back, calm, giving each of the people who'd arrived thus far a little wave and smile before she located a seat for herself, pulling it out and sitting down with a little sigh. In the wake of the recent events, the Vanguard had required the services of nearly all of its physician staff in order to cope with the amount of injured located in the aftermath. She, being no exception, had taken to the task with gusto burning the midnight oil on more then one occasion just so one less poor soul ended up sleeping with the dreamers.
Finally allowing herself a small yawn, only half hidden behind a hand, she rested her head on her arms that were now planted upon the ready room table.
Rather than taking a seat when she entered the wardroom, Mridula stood by the door in a parade rest position, her face fixed into the slightest of frowns. Her eyes swept over the people entering, but didn't really register any of them - though they had saved her life, she didn't feel much of a connection with them. They had all fought and bled together, and somehow she felt as though she was intruding on something sacred by being there - the only thing she'd done to deserve being assigned to Astartes was almost dying. She knew very well, after all, the deep and unexplainable connections that could form between people.
Shokhi Miyorh did not recall much of anything from before the order came. He had been sleeping, maybe. Or maybe he had been daydreaming. Or... well, that didn't matter. Whatever it was, it was lost in the unstoppable labyrinth of his MIND. Ahem. He actually didn't even recall getting the order, which suggested he had probably been deeply lost in thought, but fortunately somebody (Malik) had taken him out of his reverie and brought him along for the ride. Complete with every sort of inane conversation that could be imagined. Shokhi assumed so anyway. He knew all these people in the wing were prone to inane conversation and he, on the other hand, was prone to being quiet and reserved. Also prone to thinking bad things about Reovan every so often, but he wouldn't ever admit to it.
Malik's smile widened, taking on a slightly mischievous bent as he grinned at Shokhi, the two Iroma entering the ready room. "So, Shokhi. Whody'a think is better looking? Zus or Reovan?" Malik's question was probably completely innocent, but his voice was still robust enough to carry over to the ears of Zus and Reovan.
"Da buh wha..." Shokhi stuttered uncertainly, absolutely flustered by the question. What the hell kind of question was that? Shokhi didn't think about these things! And even if he did he surely wasn't telling Malik about it! "I, um, I mean, well..." He staggered a little bit more while trying to come up with an answer, and finally he did! But it was not nearly so suave or smooth an answer as he might have liked to give. "Um, Zus is... I mean Zus is too tall..."
"Well, maybe. But she's still kinda cute, In a little sister-ish kinda way," Malik started, smiling at his friend. "Sure, she may be a little bit sticklike, but that's normal for Eyr Ranr, I think. Reovan is pretty cool too, but, eehhh, the red hair just isn't my thing. And I think she's dating Savitar, anyway." The Cohronl grinned as he led Shokhi into the room, finding a nice seat near Zus and Reovan and the rest of their wing. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that I'm already taken, so she's all yours."
Zus took special care to ignore the blasphemy spouting from Malik's mouth at the moment, more intent on learning what it was that Serhan had to say to them. Reovan couldn't really be read from where Malik and Shokhi sat, but one would get the vibe that she was rolling her eyes. Zus' mental image of Malik continued to degrade down the path of 'Idiot' or 'Moron', while Shokhi's blustering seemed rather cute to the Eyr Ranr. She kept that to herself though, the more closely she guarded a secret the more useful it could be.
Akjit heard this, and looked at Zus carefully, noting her every curve, bend and hair on her head; he made up his mind. The young Ivuori pulled out a writing utensile and presed it against the archaic medium, etching and drawing on the paper. Within a few moments, a slightly cartoonish image of Zus and Malik formed, with Zus impaling the latter with exaggerated horns through and through. He carefully detailed Malik and made him realistic, along with his gore and entrails of course. Zus, he left chibi and adorable.
"Red hair is pretty," Shokhi commented quite suddenly, almost reflexively defensive in his response. And then he found that his cheeks were coloring slightly and he was silent for the next few moments, only managing to say anything again once he had been seated. His attention was now focused on Serhan, but he managed one more comment. "My father wouldn't approve... of me thinking about females who aren't Ivuori..."
"Maybe Redheads are pretty, but our old mechanist, back at Fort Jarizas? Khiyai? Yeah, she's the best looking girl I know." Malik's smile widened even more at Shokhi, as he patted him on the head. "Hey! Who cares what your father thinks? It's perfectly fine to like any girl you want, so don't go thinking like your father is going to show up someday and tell you how he thinks you're a failure. 'Cause from what I've seen, Shokhi, you aren't one. You aren't anything close to one. You've managed to, in the entire time I've known you, never get shot down. That is an achievement."
Akjit nodded to himself when Malik mentioned Khiyai. He flipped back a few pages, eyes falling on to the carefully faithful depiction there. Since he already had a drawin of her, he wouldn't do another for now. Instead, Malik did mention Reovan, and also included something about her being in a relationship already. Akjit's drawing tool got to work again, the little sketches ever so audiable over their talkind and walking. Just as they were about to enter, he finished his little masterpiece. 'There!' Malik was orientated to the 'left' and behind him, stood Reovan, pointing at his back with a mischevious glint in her eye. Out of the end of hte paper was a fist and arm flying into Malik's face. Akjit nodded his approval on his work. 'Oi! What's with all the blood here? I know blood and guts are kinda like the insides of a ship and...oh. Yeah. That's why I like them. Except when they're coming out of people I like. Wait! I like Malik! Don't I? Huh. Then why am I drawing him with his...oh well.
----
Eventually, with the remainder of the pilots filtering in, Serhan was left with a room filled with people that he did not recognize, interspersed with a few familiar faces. He'd probably become quite familiar with many of the faces as time went on, know the names and the people behind them and eventually mourn their loss when misfortune would strike some of them in ways that would cost them their lives. But he'd do his best, and cherish every life that came to him until then.
"Well. Let's begin your briefing with simple introductions. I am Marranr Serhan Nejem, your Executive Officer on this vessel and direct superior as members of the VSV Astarte's Bahram Wing." Standing up to the lecturn, he gently pushed his glasses up with the middle of his white-gloved hands, and gave the crowd an appraising glance. "I am a native of Criun Lighthouse, have a daughter on Mazerin and have spent most of my life in the military. During the last war, I held the call sign of 'Ice Wyrm' and received honors for my part in the final offensive on A'Veyri-Du."
"Look to your right, and to your left. Unless you perform to the best of your abilities and learn to work as wingmates, one of these people will die." The officer gentle brought down his palm onto the lecturn and leaned forward. "And regardless of your actions, some of you won't be returning home."
As Serhan finished his opening statements, Shokhi did as he was bid, and looked to his left, then his right. Were both of these people going to rape him? No! One of them was going to die! It occurred to Shokhi abruptly that he would probably be the one to die out of the three... he didn't trust his ability as a pilot nearly so much as he trusted that of the rest of his wing. He was visibly distraught, too. Somebody wouldn't return home - and he had the painful suspicion he was the one Serhan was referring to when he said 'some of you.'
Malik was all smiles though, giving thumbs up to Shokhi and the guy next to himself, and then to Zus and Reovan behind him, and then to the pilots infront of him. "We're wingmates, right? And that pretty much makes us like family. No, closer than family! We're wingmates, siblings forged in blood and flesh, or something like that! I'll do my best to look out for each and every person I fly with!"
Akjit listened to what Malik said, and since he was the least credible of the pilots, 'Oh right! That's why I drew him suffering!' he mostly dismissed it by looking a way, and towards Sehran instead. Still, the words 'We're Wingmates! We're Wingmates! We're Wingmates!' echoed in his head. Why?
Mridula simply stood and listened. When everyone else looked left and right, she watched them - she wondered, like he did, which of them would die and which would live. She wondered if she would die, hoping, of course, that she would survive - at least long enough to have another of Ediz's BEST kebabs. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, drumming her fingers, wishing that the loud bald man would stop gesturing so emphatically.
Serhan clenched his teeth slightly, and squeezed the muscles in his arm until his knuckles made an audible 'pop.' A small smile graced his mouth, and his gaze immediately levelled itself at Malik. "Every one of you should do just that. Become closer than family and learn to work together better than the hunting Neesh." Despite his prejudices against his least reliable frame runner, he had a genuine reason to praise him.
He was right.
The officer's smile faded briefly, as he continued. "But understand, those bonds might be broken if one of you were to die. You'll lose comrades and feel that crushing pain of loss, but instead of sinking into despair, embrace each other even stronger for that reason. You might all avoid turning into the burned-out husks that High Command gives high praise and ranks as field officers." Serhan's voice nearly became sardonic as he said this, wavering only for a second before it became his more formal near-monotone. He let out a deep breath, and slammed his other hand onto the lectern. "That said, let's speak of the mission, and cease discussion on this messy business of death."
And he was right. The guy who stole a VANDR and got sent away and all that stuff was right. It was just like what Akjit's father said, 'Just because a thief tells you not to steal, doesn't mean you shouldn't listen. Good advice comes from the most unlikely places.' The young frame runner nodded to himself as he thought over that tidbit. It was a bit confusing, but he was certain that with enough thought or experience, he'd have a better handle on what it meant. And then Akjit's eyes followed Sehran's hand, and hopped up a little as it slammed down into the lecturn.
Closer than family. Malik had said it, then Serhan had repeated it. Shokhi didn't really know what that MEANT, though. He wasn't exactly on close terms with his family, why would being closer to his wingmates really mean anything? Shokhi couldn't think of anybody he was 'close' to. His social life consisted of occasionally being dragged into conversations by Zalus, Malik, Savitar, and that one time Reovan. Still, he asked a question... "Is the mission... likely to kill somebody?" What? He was too young and far too introverted and bookish to die! And Serhan had just spoken in so much depth about DEATH and DESPAIR and LOSS! What was he supposed to be thinking about?
Mridula had been mulling over the thought of her own death for a few minutes now, and had come to a simple conclusion: she wasn't going to die. If she died, her parents would have only one daughter. If she died, her other half would float, lost, through the rest of her life. If she died, then the NI in Ediz's cart would probably choke him to death. She resolved, right then and there, to stay alive.
Zalus cracked his neck and smiled. He knew what the stakes were whenever he went out, and he knew he had some close calls as well, but he had no intention of dying anytime soon. The wing was filled with some goofballs but in general, they were decent pilots that Zalus could trust to cover his back. Zalus raised his hand and asked the commander: "But sir, I thought we were immortal. At least that's the impression I recieved from the recruiter when I joined up."
Malik raised his hand, one thing on his mind now. "Marranr Nejem, sir! I've heard rumors of a new model VANDR, and I have to ask.Do they really exist, and are we going to use them on this operation, sir?" Even though Malik's all expenses paid "vacation" and the events leading up to that had matured him a bit, he was still, deep down, the same VANDR fanboy he always was.
"Vaybalri Rashidan, Ka'salm. I suggest you quiet yourselves." Serhan said, gently biting the side of his tongue as he attempted to avoid cursing the two men out during the briefing and waste valuable time he'd rather spend speaking to his daughter while they were still in radio range. "This briefing will proceed to order, in accordance with regulations."
"The first order of business is the status of this wing. Some of you served under other wings on planetary and orbital garrisons. Most of you have not seen combat, while others were survivors of the incident over the Capital. For any number of reasons, the name of a small, understaffed wing from Mazerin took precedence, with its commander in charge of a large and diverse group of frame runners." The officer felt the need to use diplomatic language in his speaking, hoping to avoid disaster and earn himself the enmity of his troops so early in the campaign. "You will be divided into six standard squadrons, so be sure to read up on your postings after briefing to know your assignments. I've carefully read though evaluations from all of your previous executive officers and only separated old wingmates if there were indications of conflicts between members."
"Together, you number a hundred and sixty four. You are Bahram Wing."
Malik sat up in his seat, heart swelling with pride as he smiled, eyes twinkling with awe at his commander.
Zalus looked around the room and finally realized just how many people were in it. "Looks like the next time we get ambushed they're going to need a bigger force..." He said under his breath.
"Well, the first order of business is introducing some of our supporting staff. You'll become quite familiar with the Vaytulris Mridula Ituri Osei, our Solanii Liason, and Alia Jyotsna, the Chief Mechanist for our flight deck." Serhan gestured to the two women, and gave a small nod when they acknowledged. He'd been somewhat familiar with the latter of the two, but the former was something of a mystery, an unknown person the Wing had rescued under circumstances he did not pretend to enjoy. Which made her addition slightly suspicious, but seemed to give a slight reassurance. Solan only rarely dispatched crew, unless they had something to gain by doing so or had failed to make their quota on science personnel for the Vanguard.
Mridula raised her hand and waved from her position in the back of the room. "For those of you following along at home, that means if you suck up to me I can get you really neat guns." She smirked and crossed her arms again, trying to keep the despondent expression off her face now that people were actually looking.
"Crap! Alia is the Chief Mechanist. Again. If she hears what happened during the incident, she'll probably try to keep me from touching a VANDR at all! But Mridula seems pretty cool, especially if she can get me new equipment for my VANDR." A look of worry apeared on Malik's face, but it was hidden by a smile as the implications of Mridula's presence floated around in his head.
"Vaytulri Osei will now be taking the stand to give you a short overview of the two new, cutting-edge, unit types that the Astarte is carrying. Part of her joint contract with the Vanguard and Solan will involve the tuning and recording of the performance for these new unit types." Serhan gestured to the smooth plas wall behind him, which shifted color and became a display screen with a pair of gaunt, biomechanical humanoid figures on it.
"Meanwhile, I am serious about the VANDR you all will be using," Alia said. "Sucking up to me won't win favor or even change queue positions on repair manifests." She spared Malik a steely glance. "I expect all of you to be good to your frames and I'll be good to you. Be an idiot out there and I will make sure you hear it."
Mridula balked. She had figured she would have to say a few words, but she hadn't expected to have to give an actual presentation on the RAEVR and the Erla VANDR II. She rubbed a hand over her head, a few hairs springing from the tight bun she usually wore. The time when Alia was speaking was used to carefully compose herself and regain her slightly superiorly-amused expression; when the other woman was finished speaking, she smoothed out any lingering wrinkles in her uniform and stepped through the ready room to the front.
Malik somehow managed to almost ignore Alia completely, his sheer glee over the TWO new VANDRs almost audible. And probably visible too. But it didn't matter to him. There were two new kinds of VANDR available, and this made Malik one very happy boy.
Once Mridula had taken the podium from Serhan, she produced her data pad from wherever she kept it tucked away and brought up some schematics, just in case she forgot what she'd been learning.
"We'll start with the Erla VANDR II," she said, projecting her voice loud enough for everyone to hear easily. Her eyes swept over the crowd, and a smile tugged at her lips. "As you might expect, it's a refinement of the original Erla VANDR. However." She pressed her fingertips onto the podium. "It isn't a simple 'better' version. The Erla VANDR II is the predecessor to even greater things - things which are already in development, in fact, and which I'm sure you'll see later. For this reason, the II was only distributed in limited numbers." Her long fingers tapped at her datapad like a sea bird's feet toddling over the sands; subsequently, numerical distribution figures were added to the diagram of the Erla VANDR II behind her.
"You - we - are one of the lucky few to be issued some." She gestured back to the diagram. "Specifically, around eighty. Obviously this means not all of you will be piloting one." The biologist paused to let this sink in, taking up her datapad in one hand and tapping it thoughtfully against her lips.
"I know one who isn't getting one." Alia muttered from her seat.
'Not me.' Akjit thought.
"Woohoo! I can't wait to pilot one!" Malik rejoiced.
"The EVII features much of the same maneuvering and propulsion equipment as the original model - you'll all still be swimming about like minecarp." She grinned. "This is actually more useful than it was on the EVI, since it'll allow you to change position quickly. The EVII is equipped with rapid charged particle accelerator cannons, which are longer range than the light particle cannons on the previous model. It also has less missiles, but the loss of those is balanced out by more long-range laser cannons. So you won't be doing as much up close and personal combat - in fact you shouldn't, since most of the electronic warfare equipment is gone, so you won't be able to disable an enemy that gets in too close.
There's a new system that should prevent you from being completely annihilated in close combat, though - the Advanced Blade System, which is, in short, a really big sword with a cannon on it. The EVII is also equipped with a VT sword. All in all, the EVII is much improved from the original, but if you try to use it in the same way, you'll get yourself blown up." She stopped again to catch her breath and give the others time to digest the info-dump.
'Don't get confrontational like my dad after a few drinks. Got it.' The young frame runner thought. 'Hmm. I wonder if she could use one? Her throat must be dry...'
"Not to interrupt, but weapons loadouts aren't really necessary for the breifing at the moment ma'am." Alia piped up after she woke from her slight trance due to the droning nature of the weapons description. "Just the bare facts, the specalities can be talked about later I think."
Mridula narrowed her grey eyes at Alia. "Marranr Nejem asked me to give an overview, but if my descriptions are so soporific then I'll limit myself a bit." She gestured at her datapad again; the diagram of the EVII vanished along with its data to make room for the growing one of the Raevr VANDR, which began to rotate gently.
"The Raevr has a long and boring history involving Solanii politics that I'm sure none of you want to hear, but I'd be absolutely overjoyed to elaborate on it a bit if any of you feel the need to contact me privately. Suffice it to say that it is a transforming frame with much the same armaments as the Erla VANDR II, except with more missiles. It's got racks here and here - " she gestured to points on the back and sides of the rotating models - "where more weapons modules can be mounted. Blah, blah, air support, disabling enemy emplacements - ah!" A flicker on her rapidly-scrolling datapad drew her eye. "The Raevr is also equipped with a new technology called the VecTran Node System or VNS. There's a lot of complicated science behind it, but in short what it does is it holds a bunch of missiles in a kind of spatial pocket, to be released in whatever numbers you like whenever you like, without the complexity of actually having to fire them." Mridula nodded.
"...as for numbers, we have about another eighty of these, also meaning most of you won't use one. Between the EVII and the Raevr, there are enough frames for everyone. If you happen to blow yours up, there are four Erla VANDR Is left onboard. If you manage to blow up one of our shiny new toys, then I'm not sure you'll fare any better in one of the old ones, so don't." She tapped at her datapad again, closing the display behind her. "Any questions?"
Alia perked up at the mention of a spatial pocket technology. "Can I have the technical data for the VNS system forwarded to my workstation? This intrigues me."
"Righto." The Ivuori's fingers danced across her datapad as she sent the specified data to Alia right away. "Sent. Should be there whenever you get back to your terminal."
"Oh yes. I like this Mridula." Malik smiled, practically beaming at both the new mecha, and Mridula's retort to the monster of the Hangar.
"I know that idiot will want to sortie in both of these things." Alia thought. "I need to convince Serhan to ground Malik's destructive ass as soon as I can."
Serhan gently wiped a very small tear from the corner of his eye and pushed his glasses up, nodding to Mridula in acknowledgment for her efforts. "Thank you for the information. In addition to these new units, the ship will also be stocked with MACD modules for battlefield support and have a fabrication bay for manufacturing small-scale replacement components."
Mridula grinned out at the crowd, nodding in return to Serhan and acknowledging his acknowledgment. She cocked her hips to the side and crossed her arms again. "...what, no questions about the RCPA cannons? I helped design those, you know!"
Akjit didn't know why, but he had the sudden urge to ask Mridula to stand in front of one of the new models for him to sketch. Or, better yet, get started immediately. His pencil started to work furiously to take down as much information on the other Ivuori so he'd have something to work with later when she wasn't around. Hopefully, they'd all think he was taking notes. 'Where am I going to put her? Will she be standing on the Frame's shoulder? Or by its foot? What will she be wearing? Hmm... Akjit sniffed back a speck of blood in his nose. Perhaps. Just perhaps, this would be his finest work yet.
"Well that was kinda boring... But it's nice to know that I'm going to be getting a nice toy to play with. I do hope I'll be getting the one with the missiles... whatever it was called. I'd rather like to keep the ability to dance with my enemy." Zalus thought to himself.
"I'd just prefer the EV 2, please. I don't know, but it seems to fit me." Malik was still smiling, wondering what the EV2 would be like to pilot. If he got one.
"You're not assigned the frame here, idiot." Alia retorted.
"Marranr? Can you confirm or deny the Chief Mechanist?" Malik asked the older runner, honestly worried that he wouldn't be able to use one.
"Speak to me in private at a later date. I think it deserves some discussion, but this isn't the time." Serhan gave his reply with a lightly distant manner, placing his hand over his throat as he cleared his throat. "You may return to your seat now, Vaytulri Osei." The officer said to the liaison, gently giving her a tap on the shoulder.
Akjit noted Malik and Alia fighting a little. He didn't like fighting. But he did love how he was getting so much material to draw! He turned a few pages to make sure there was room for Mridula and the new frames, and quickly drew cute little cartoon versions of the two quarreling frame runners; standing between them were two mini-VANDRs the size of toys fighting furiously. The two rooted for their own mini-VANDRs and victory.
"Yes, Marranr Nejem." The liaison nodded to Serhan, then smirked as her hand snaked up to tap him on the shoulder as well. She strode through the briefing room again to take up her spot by the door, this time looking more comfortable as she leaned on the wall.
Serhan made a small frown when she returned his tap, but otherwise found it mildly amusing that she was genuinely unafraid to do something like that during a briefing. Most of the people who acted with irreverence only did so because they had no understanding of proceedure. "With that out the way, I'll begin on what the Commonwealth government has outlined as our primary enemy for this campaign." He gestured to the screen behind him, which switched to a split-screen of battle recordings, fragmented scans and insignias recovered from recovered units. "The enemy is a rogue nation known as the New Veyrin Republic, a country which declared independance ten years ago and was pacified and reclaimed by the Astral Vanguard."
"But for an unknown reason, by means that remain unknown, they've returned. Our first mission will be to gather intelligence of the new NVR homeworld and understand how they've acquired such immense production capabilities."
High Orbit Over Mazerin
Bukor 11, 936
15:13, Commonwealth Standard Time
After long months of recovery from the wounds of the battle at the Elevator, Bahram Wing had been returned to duty, given the honors of a new ship, and even new units. The reasons were mixed: perhaps it was the rallying cry that they had brought to the battlefield, allowing the Vanguard to spring back and push the remaining NVR forces away, or the entirely accidental rescue of the Minister of the Conclave that had earned them a powerful new friend in the upper echelons of society. The reasons themselves didn't matter that much, as before they could revel in the little prestige they'd attained they already found themselves pressed into new battlefields on the edge of known space.
The VSV Astarte was a fine vessel, evoking feelings of the classic era before the worst of the Outer System Conflicts and of the new one being created. It was very much a vessel of reclamation, returning pride to the Vanguard and the strength of arms to its soldiers. The crew were bright and new, carrying with them an atmosphere of excitement at finally seeing the frontiers, and the officers selected from the bridges of the most distinguished Vayu, but all could already feel the weight of the new assigment being levied on them and the high expectations of the brass.
As they arrived upon the vessel, Bahram Wing was given notice from their CO, being instructed to leave their belongings in their assigned quarters and head to the ready room adjacent to the hangar, where they would meet their fellow garrison pilots and be given further intelligence on the ship's status.
Mridula was barely awake as she shuffled down the hallway. She had mechanically dressed in her uniform, mechanically applied her facial markings, mechanically brushed her teeth and hair. She still hadn't completely recovered from the battle at the elevator, the trauma from the machine's collapse and the subsequent state of her dear friend Mareyn sitting inside her like a dull ache. She'd been assigned to Astarte due to her experiences that day, but she wasn't entirely sure she was able to serve, or even deserved it. The Ivuori didn't even know who she had been roomed with; she had slept like a rock since her arrival, brief dream-touches with Madhu her only solace. Still, though, she reported to the ready room like everyone else, her eyes flicking dully around.
It'd been days since he'd even looked at the news reports, instead spending every waking moment on vacation with his daughter, and now Serhan found himself being crushed in intelligence reports and data on the 'new enemy' that the Astral Vanguard ordered to make 'armed intervention' upon. The Conclave, in its infinite wisdom, still clung to the centuries-outdated notion that there were never any wars in the Commonwealth, and that its military existed only for the purpose of carrying out police actions against rogue nations. But the data seemed to say the opposite, that the scale of this 'police action' would be too great to be encased in a well-prepared term that people could use to distance themselves from the bloodshed.
It was going to be a war.
"They're rather late..." Serhan found himself idly browsing the local OGNEIR.net node and resting in his elevated seat, wondering if he'd be even as lucky before with this new batch of frame runners, field mechanists and physicians. If it was anything like the Third, most of them wouldn't make it past their fourth sortie, but he was hopeful that the new technologies of Solan and the strength of the crew might hold it all together. The outlook wasn't terrific.
But he could hope.
Zus made her way into the room, Reovan in tow, and the two sat down near the middle of the room, The younger Eyr Ranr looking mildly bored and wandering her eyes about the room while the Sund Wakir sat at attention almost, waiting for their commander to speak. The Sund Wakir would give the Eyr Ranr a slight smack on the leg to get her attention, and very soon, both Zus Storhan and Reovan Mehta were paying attention the the raised chair which held their bespectacled leader.
Malik laughed as he headed to the ready room, walking alongside Shokhi and Zalus, his arms draped around their necks and pulling them in close as he told them jokes, an odd mixture of Cohronl and Mazerinii humor. The runner had been "busy" these past few months, and was honestly glad to see his wingmates again. Zalus, Zus, Reovan, Savitar, Shokhi, and even Serhan, they were all welcome faces to him. His mane of orange hair was gone now, replaced with a shaved head, though his attitude had only seemed to be come friendlier and more open to the people he considered his friends. Of course, the phsyical contact was for a reason. You can't share an empathic connection with someone you aren't touching, can you?
An Ivuori followed behind the other frame runners like a lost pet. He had that pathetic expression of being lost, and not having enough nerve to ask where to go next. 'So we're going to a breifing? At least I know that. But where's it at? I'm so confused.' Akjit thought to himself. He casually flipped through his little sketchbook to pass the short amount of time he'd be spending looking at Zus', Malik's and Reovan's backs as he followed. His fingers briefly paused on the roughly drawn images of Khiyai and Amari, before moving on to the drawing of that VANDR. It was lightly armed with pulse lasers and a tether; Akjit was thinking of how he'd use the teather to reel in the enemy and stuff, but, in the end, he never really got to even sortie; it was over before then.
Alia was also in the room. Her presence not so much as a pilot, but as an observer, just incase they need anything special made or modified for the frames under her care. 'That idiot ruined another frame.' Alia thought as she remembered reading the sortie logs. 'I'm just glad it wasn't any of the ones from my hanger.' She continued to think as her shoulders rose then fell with a silent sigh.
"..." Stifling a yawn, Amari soon made her way into the ready room. Albeit looking a little more worn then usual, she seemed as she always was: laid back, calm, giving each of the people who'd arrived thus far a little wave and smile before she located a seat for herself, pulling it out and sitting down with a little sigh. In the wake of the recent events, the Vanguard had required the services of nearly all of its physician staff in order to cope with the amount of injured located in the aftermath. She, being no exception, had taken to the task with gusto burning the midnight oil on more then one occasion just so one less poor soul ended up sleeping with the dreamers.
Finally allowing herself a small yawn, only half hidden behind a hand, she rested her head on her arms that were now planted upon the ready room table.
Rather than taking a seat when she entered the wardroom, Mridula stood by the door in a parade rest position, her face fixed into the slightest of frowns. Her eyes swept over the people entering, but didn't really register any of them - though they had saved her life, she didn't feel much of a connection with them. They had all fought and bled together, and somehow she felt as though she was intruding on something sacred by being there - the only thing she'd done to deserve being assigned to Astartes was almost dying. She knew very well, after all, the deep and unexplainable connections that could form between people.
Shokhi Miyorh did not recall much of anything from before the order came. He had been sleeping, maybe. Or maybe he had been daydreaming. Or... well, that didn't matter. Whatever it was, it was lost in the unstoppable labyrinth of his MIND. Ahem. He actually didn't even recall getting the order, which suggested he had probably been deeply lost in thought, but fortunately somebody (Malik) had taken him out of his reverie and brought him along for the ride. Complete with every sort of inane conversation that could be imagined. Shokhi assumed so anyway. He knew all these people in the wing were prone to inane conversation and he, on the other hand, was prone to being quiet and reserved. Also prone to thinking bad things about Reovan every so often, but he wouldn't ever admit to it.
Malik's smile widened, taking on a slightly mischievous bent as he grinned at Shokhi, the two Iroma entering the ready room. "So, Shokhi. Whody'a think is better looking? Zus or Reovan?" Malik's question was probably completely innocent, but his voice was still robust enough to carry over to the ears of Zus and Reovan.
"Da buh wha..." Shokhi stuttered uncertainly, absolutely flustered by the question. What the hell kind of question was that? Shokhi didn't think about these things! And even if he did he surely wasn't telling Malik about it! "I, um, I mean, well..." He staggered a little bit more while trying to come up with an answer, and finally he did! But it was not nearly so suave or smooth an answer as he might have liked to give. "Um, Zus is... I mean Zus is too tall..."
"Well, maybe. But she's still kinda cute, In a little sister-ish kinda way," Malik started, smiling at his friend. "Sure, she may be a little bit sticklike, but that's normal for Eyr Ranr, I think. Reovan is pretty cool too, but, eehhh, the red hair just isn't my thing. And I think she's dating Savitar, anyway." The Cohronl grinned as he led Shokhi into the room, finding a nice seat near Zus and Reovan and the rest of their wing. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that I'm already taken, so she's all yours."
Zus took special care to ignore the blasphemy spouting from Malik's mouth at the moment, more intent on learning what it was that Serhan had to say to them. Reovan couldn't really be read from where Malik and Shokhi sat, but one would get the vibe that she was rolling her eyes. Zus' mental image of Malik continued to degrade down the path of 'Idiot' or 'Moron', while Shokhi's blustering seemed rather cute to the Eyr Ranr. She kept that to herself though, the more closely she guarded a secret the more useful it could be.
Akjit heard this, and looked at Zus carefully, noting her every curve, bend and hair on her head; he made up his mind. The young Ivuori pulled out a writing utensile and presed it against the archaic medium, etching and drawing on the paper. Within a few moments, a slightly cartoonish image of Zus and Malik formed, with Zus impaling the latter with exaggerated horns through and through. He carefully detailed Malik and made him realistic, along with his gore and entrails of course. Zus, he left chibi and adorable.
"Red hair is pretty," Shokhi commented quite suddenly, almost reflexively defensive in his response. And then he found that his cheeks were coloring slightly and he was silent for the next few moments, only managing to say anything again once he had been seated. His attention was now focused on Serhan, but he managed one more comment. "My father wouldn't approve... of me thinking about females who aren't Ivuori..."
"Maybe Redheads are pretty, but our old mechanist, back at Fort Jarizas? Khiyai? Yeah, she's the best looking girl I know." Malik's smile widened even more at Shokhi, as he patted him on the head. "Hey! Who cares what your father thinks? It's perfectly fine to like any girl you want, so don't go thinking like your father is going to show up someday and tell you how he thinks you're a failure. 'Cause from what I've seen, Shokhi, you aren't one. You aren't anything close to one. You've managed to, in the entire time I've known you, never get shot down. That is an achievement."
Akjit nodded to himself when Malik mentioned Khiyai. He flipped back a few pages, eyes falling on to the carefully faithful depiction there. Since he already had a drawin of her, he wouldn't do another for now. Instead, Malik did mention Reovan, and also included something about her being in a relationship already. Akjit's drawing tool got to work again, the little sketches ever so audiable over their talkind and walking. Just as they were about to enter, he finished his little masterpiece. 'There!' Malik was orientated to the 'left' and behind him, stood Reovan, pointing at his back with a mischevious glint in her eye. Out of the end of hte paper was a fist and arm flying into Malik's face. Akjit nodded his approval on his work. 'Oi! What's with all the blood here? I know blood and guts are kinda like the insides of a ship and...oh. Yeah. That's why I like them. Except when they're coming out of people I like. Wait! I like Malik! Don't I? Huh. Then why am I drawing him with his...oh well.
----
Eventually, with the remainder of the pilots filtering in, Serhan was left with a room filled with people that he did not recognize, interspersed with a few familiar faces. He'd probably become quite familiar with many of the faces as time went on, know the names and the people behind them and eventually mourn their loss when misfortune would strike some of them in ways that would cost them their lives. But he'd do his best, and cherish every life that came to him until then.
"Well. Let's begin your briefing with simple introductions. I am Marranr Serhan Nejem, your Executive Officer on this vessel and direct superior as members of the VSV Astarte's Bahram Wing." Standing up to the lecturn, he gently pushed his glasses up with the middle of his white-gloved hands, and gave the crowd an appraising glance. "I am a native of Criun Lighthouse, have a daughter on Mazerin and have spent most of my life in the military. During the last war, I held the call sign of 'Ice Wyrm' and received honors for my part in the final offensive on A'Veyri-Du."
"Look to your right, and to your left. Unless you perform to the best of your abilities and learn to work as wingmates, one of these people will die." The officer gentle brought down his palm onto the lecturn and leaned forward. "And regardless of your actions, some of you won't be returning home."
As Serhan finished his opening statements, Shokhi did as he was bid, and looked to his left, then his right. Were both of these people going to rape him? No! One of them was going to die! It occurred to Shokhi abruptly that he would probably be the one to die out of the three... he didn't trust his ability as a pilot nearly so much as he trusted that of the rest of his wing. He was visibly distraught, too. Somebody wouldn't return home - and he had the painful suspicion he was the one Serhan was referring to when he said 'some of you.'
Malik was all smiles though, giving thumbs up to Shokhi and the guy next to himself, and then to Zus and Reovan behind him, and then to the pilots infront of him. "We're wingmates, right? And that pretty much makes us like family. No, closer than family! We're wingmates, siblings forged in blood and flesh, or something like that! I'll do my best to look out for each and every person I fly with!"
Akjit listened to what Malik said, and since he was the least credible of the pilots, 'Oh right! That's why I drew him suffering!' he mostly dismissed it by looking a way, and towards Sehran instead. Still, the words 'We're Wingmates! We're Wingmates! We're Wingmates!' echoed in his head. Why?
Mridula simply stood and listened. When everyone else looked left and right, she watched them - she wondered, like he did, which of them would die and which would live. She wondered if she would die, hoping, of course, that she would survive - at least long enough to have another of Ediz's BEST kebabs. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, drumming her fingers, wishing that the loud bald man would stop gesturing so emphatically.
Serhan clenched his teeth slightly, and squeezed the muscles in his arm until his knuckles made an audible 'pop.' A small smile graced his mouth, and his gaze immediately levelled itself at Malik. "Every one of you should do just that. Become closer than family and learn to work together better than the hunting Neesh." Despite his prejudices against his least reliable frame runner, he had a genuine reason to praise him.
He was right.
The officer's smile faded briefly, as he continued. "But understand, those bonds might be broken if one of you were to die. You'll lose comrades and feel that crushing pain of loss, but instead of sinking into despair, embrace each other even stronger for that reason. You might all avoid turning into the burned-out husks that High Command gives high praise and ranks as field officers." Serhan's voice nearly became sardonic as he said this, wavering only for a second before it became his more formal near-monotone. He let out a deep breath, and slammed his other hand onto the lectern. "That said, let's speak of the mission, and cease discussion on this messy business of death."
And he was right. The guy who stole a VANDR and got sent away and all that stuff was right. It was just like what Akjit's father said, 'Just because a thief tells you not to steal, doesn't mean you shouldn't listen. Good advice comes from the most unlikely places.' The young frame runner nodded to himself as he thought over that tidbit. It was a bit confusing, but he was certain that with enough thought or experience, he'd have a better handle on what it meant. And then Akjit's eyes followed Sehran's hand, and hopped up a little as it slammed down into the lecturn.
Closer than family. Malik had said it, then Serhan had repeated it. Shokhi didn't really know what that MEANT, though. He wasn't exactly on close terms with his family, why would being closer to his wingmates really mean anything? Shokhi couldn't think of anybody he was 'close' to. His social life consisted of occasionally being dragged into conversations by Zalus, Malik, Savitar, and that one time Reovan. Still, he asked a question... "Is the mission... likely to kill somebody?" What? He was too young and far too introverted and bookish to die! And Serhan had just spoken in so much depth about DEATH and DESPAIR and LOSS! What was he supposed to be thinking about?
Mridula had been mulling over the thought of her own death for a few minutes now, and had come to a simple conclusion: she wasn't going to die. If she died, her parents would have only one daughter. If she died, her other half would float, lost, through the rest of her life. If she died, then the NI in Ediz's cart would probably choke him to death. She resolved, right then and there, to stay alive.
Zalus cracked his neck and smiled. He knew what the stakes were whenever he went out, and he knew he had some close calls as well, but he had no intention of dying anytime soon. The wing was filled with some goofballs but in general, they were decent pilots that Zalus could trust to cover his back. Zalus raised his hand and asked the commander: "But sir, I thought we were immortal. At least that's the impression I recieved from the recruiter when I joined up."
Malik raised his hand, one thing on his mind now. "Marranr Nejem, sir! I've heard rumors of a new model VANDR, and I have to ask.Do they really exist, and are we going to use them on this operation, sir?" Even though Malik's all expenses paid "vacation" and the events leading up to that had matured him a bit, he was still, deep down, the same VANDR fanboy he always was.
"Vaybalri Rashidan, Ka'salm. I suggest you quiet yourselves." Serhan said, gently biting the side of his tongue as he attempted to avoid cursing the two men out during the briefing and waste valuable time he'd rather spend speaking to his daughter while they were still in radio range. "This briefing will proceed to order, in accordance with regulations."
"The first order of business is the status of this wing. Some of you served under other wings on planetary and orbital garrisons. Most of you have not seen combat, while others were survivors of the incident over the Capital. For any number of reasons, the name of a small, understaffed wing from Mazerin took precedence, with its commander in charge of a large and diverse group of frame runners." The officer felt the need to use diplomatic language in his speaking, hoping to avoid disaster and earn himself the enmity of his troops so early in the campaign. "You will be divided into six standard squadrons, so be sure to read up on your postings after briefing to know your assignments. I've carefully read though evaluations from all of your previous executive officers and only separated old wingmates if there were indications of conflicts between members."
"Together, you number a hundred and sixty four. You are Bahram Wing."
Malik sat up in his seat, heart swelling with pride as he smiled, eyes twinkling with awe at his commander.
Zalus looked around the room and finally realized just how many people were in it. "Looks like the next time we get ambushed they're going to need a bigger force..." He said under his breath.
"Well, the first order of business is introducing some of our supporting staff. You'll become quite familiar with the Vaytulris Mridula Ituri Osei, our Solanii Liason, and Alia Jyotsna, the Chief Mechanist for our flight deck." Serhan gestured to the two women, and gave a small nod when they acknowledged. He'd been somewhat familiar with the latter of the two, but the former was something of a mystery, an unknown person the Wing had rescued under circumstances he did not pretend to enjoy. Which made her addition slightly suspicious, but seemed to give a slight reassurance. Solan only rarely dispatched crew, unless they had something to gain by doing so or had failed to make their quota on science personnel for the Vanguard.
Mridula raised her hand and waved from her position in the back of the room. "For those of you following along at home, that means if you suck up to me I can get you really neat guns." She smirked and crossed her arms again, trying to keep the despondent expression off her face now that people were actually looking.
"Crap! Alia is the Chief Mechanist. Again. If she hears what happened during the incident, she'll probably try to keep me from touching a VANDR at all! But Mridula seems pretty cool, especially if she can get me new equipment for my VANDR." A look of worry apeared on Malik's face, but it was hidden by a smile as the implications of Mridula's presence floated around in his head.
"Vaytulri Osei will now be taking the stand to give you a short overview of the two new, cutting-edge, unit types that the Astarte is carrying. Part of her joint contract with the Vanguard and Solan will involve the tuning and recording of the performance for these new unit types." Serhan gestured to the smooth plas wall behind him, which shifted color and became a display screen with a pair of gaunt, biomechanical humanoid figures on it.
"Meanwhile, I am serious about the VANDR you all will be using," Alia said. "Sucking up to me won't win favor or even change queue positions on repair manifests." She spared Malik a steely glance. "I expect all of you to be good to your frames and I'll be good to you. Be an idiot out there and I will make sure you hear it."
Mridula balked. She had figured she would have to say a few words, but she hadn't expected to have to give an actual presentation on the RAEVR and the Erla VANDR II. She rubbed a hand over her head, a few hairs springing from the tight bun she usually wore. The time when Alia was speaking was used to carefully compose herself and regain her slightly superiorly-amused expression; when the other woman was finished speaking, she smoothed out any lingering wrinkles in her uniform and stepped through the ready room to the front.
Malik somehow managed to almost ignore Alia completely, his sheer glee over the TWO new VANDRs almost audible. And probably visible too. But it didn't matter to him. There were two new kinds of VANDR available, and this made Malik one very happy boy.
Once Mridula had taken the podium from Serhan, she produced her data pad from wherever she kept it tucked away and brought up some schematics, just in case she forgot what she'd been learning.
"We'll start with the Erla VANDR II," she said, projecting her voice loud enough for everyone to hear easily. Her eyes swept over the crowd, and a smile tugged at her lips. "As you might expect, it's a refinement of the original Erla VANDR. However." She pressed her fingertips onto the podium. "It isn't a simple 'better' version. The Erla VANDR II is the predecessor to even greater things - things which are already in development, in fact, and which I'm sure you'll see later. For this reason, the II was only distributed in limited numbers." Her long fingers tapped at her datapad like a sea bird's feet toddling over the sands; subsequently, numerical distribution figures were added to the diagram of the Erla VANDR II behind her.
"You - we - are one of the lucky few to be issued some." She gestured back to the diagram. "Specifically, around eighty. Obviously this means not all of you will be piloting one." The biologist paused to let this sink in, taking up her datapad in one hand and tapping it thoughtfully against her lips.
"I know one who isn't getting one." Alia muttered from her seat.
'Not me.' Akjit thought.
"Woohoo! I can't wait to pilot one!" Malik rejoiced.
"The EVII features much of the same maneuvering and propulsion equipment as the original model - you'll all still be swimming about like minecarp." She grinned. "This is actually more useful than it was on the EVI, since it'll allow you to change position quickly. The EVII is equipped with rapid charged particle accelerator cannons, which are longer range than the light particle cannons on the previous model. It also has less missiles, but the loss of those is balanced out by more long-range laser cannons. So you won't be doing as much up close and personal combat - in fact you shouldn't, since most of the electronic warfare equipment is gone, so you won't be able to disable an enemy that gets in too close.
There's a new system that should prevent you from being completely annihilated in close combat, though - the Advanced Blade System, which is, in short, a really big sword with a cannon on it. The EVII is also equipped with a VT sword. All in all, the EVII is much improved from the original, but if you try to use it in the same way, you'll get yourself blown up." She stopped again to catch her breath and give the others time to digest the info-dump.
'Don't get confrontational like my dad after a few drinks. Got it.' The young frame runner thought. 'Hmm. I wonder if she could use one? Her throat must be dry...'
"Not to interrupt, but weapons loadouts aren't really necessary for the breifing at the moment ma'am." Alia piped up after she woke from her slight trance due to the droning nature of the weapons description. "Just the bare facts, the specalities can be talked about later I think."
Mridula narrowed her grey eyes at Alia. "Marranr Nejem asked me to give an overview, but if my descriptions are so soporific then I'll limit myself a bit." She gestured at her datapad again; the diagram of the EVII vanished along with its data to make room for the growing one of the Raevr VANDR, which began to rotate gently.
"The Raevr has a long and boring history involving Solanii politics that I'm sure none of you want to hear, but I'd be absolutely overjoyed to elaborate on it a bit if any of you feel the need to contact me privately. Suffice it to say that it is a transforming frame with much the same armaments as the Erla VANDR II, except with more missiles. It's got racks here and here - " she gestured to points on the back and sides of the rotating models - "where more weapons modules can be mounted. Blah, blah, air support, disabling enemy emplacements - ah!" A flicker on her rapidly-scrolling datapad drew her eye. "The Raevr is also equipped with a new technology called the VecTran Node System or VNS. There's a lot of complicated science behind it, but in short what it does is it holds a bunch of missiles in a kind of spatial pocket, to be released in whatever numbers you like whenever you like, without the complexity of actually having to fire them." Mridula nodded.
"...as for numbers, we have about another eighty of these, also meaning most of you won't use one. Between the EVII and the Raevr, there are enough frames for everyone. If you happen to blow yours up, there are four Erla VANDR Is left onboard. If you manage to blow up one of our shiny new toys, then I'm not sure you'll fare any better in one of the old ones, so don't." She tapped at her datapad again, closing the display behind her. "Any questions?"
Alia perked up at the mention of a spatial pocket technology. "Can I have the technical data for the VNS system forwarded to my workstation? This intrigues me."
"Righto." The Ivuori's fingers danced across her datapad as she sent the specified data to Alia right away. "Sent. Should be there whenever you get back to your terminal."
"Oh yes. I like this Mridula." Malik smiled, practically beaming at both the new mecha, and Mridula's retort to the monster of the Hangar.
"I know that idiot will want to sortie in both of these things." Alia thought. "I need to convince Serhan to ground Malik's destructive ass as soon as I can."
Serhan gently wiped a very small tear from the corner of his eye and pushed his glasses up, nodding to Mridula in acknowledgment for her efforts. "Thank you for the information. In addition to these new units, the ship will also be stocked with MACD modules for battlefield support and have a fabrication bay for manufacturing small-scale replacement components."
Mridula grinned out at the crowd, nodding in return to Serhan and acknowledging his acknowledgment. She cocked her hips to the side and crossed her arms again. "...what, no questions about the RCPA cannons? I helped design those, you know!"
Akjit didn't know why, but he had the sudden urge to ask Mridula to stand in front of one of the new models for him to sketch. Or, better yet, get started immediately. His pencil started to work furiously to take down as much information on the other Ivuori so he'd have something to work with later when she wasn't around. Hopefully, they'd all think he was taking notes. 'Where am I going to put her? Will she be standing on the Frame's shoulder? Or by its foot? What will she be wearing? Hmm... Akjit sniffed back a speck of blood in his nose. Perhaps. Just perhaps, this would be his finest work yet.
"Well that was kinda boring... But it's nice to know that I'm going to be getting a nice toy to play with. I do hope I'll be getting the one with the missiles... whatever it was called. I'd rather like to keep the ability to dance with my enemy." Zalus thought to himself.
"I'd just prefer the EV 2, please. I don't know, but it seems to fit me." Malik was still smiling, wondering what the EV2 would be like to pilot. If he got one.
"You're not assigned the frame here, idiot." Alia retorted.
"Marranr? Can you confirm or deny the Chief Mechanist?" Malik asked the older runner, honestly worried that he wouldn't be able to use one.
"Speak to me in private at a later date. I think it deserves some discussion, but this isn't the time." Serhan gave his reply with a lightly distant manner, placing his hand over his throat as he cleared his throat. "You may return to your seat now, Vaytulri Osei." The officer said to the liaison, gently giving her a tap on the shoulder.
Akjit noted Malik and Alia fighting a little. He didn't like fighting. But he did love how he was getting so much material to draw! He turned a few pages to make sure there was room for Mridula and the new frames, and quickly drew cute little cartoon versions of the two quarreling frame runners; standing between them were two mini-VANDRs the size of toys fighting furiously. The two rooted for their own mini-VANDRs and victory.
"Yes, Marranr Nejem." The liaison nodded to Serhan, then smirked as her hand snaked up to tap him on the shoulder as well. She strode through the briefing room again to take up her spot by the door, this time looking more comfortable as she leaned on the wall.
Serhan made a small frown when she returned his tap, but otherwise found it mildly amusing that she was genuinely unafraid to do something like that during a briefing. Most of the people who acted with irreverence only did so because they had no understanding of proceedure. "With that out the way, I'll begin on what the Commonwealth government has outlined as our primary enemy for this campaign." He gestured to the screen behind him, which switched to a split-screen of battle recordings, fragmented scans and insignias recovered from recovered units. "The enemy is a rogue nation known as the New Veyrin Republic, a country which declared independance ten years ago and was pacified and reclaimed by the Astral Vanguard."
"But for an unknown reason, by means that remain unknown, they've returned. Our first mission will be to gather intelligence of the new NVR homeworld and understand how they've acquired such immense production capabilities."
