RP: OIF Atuan [OIF Atuan] Episode 5: Taps

[Moogle]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

"I'm not sure," Mark replied, "I'm still new around here, so maybe a sight-seeing tour would be nice... or you could show me the hanger so I can get started on modifying the Kirin's CECS to intercept our 'contact' and whatever radio signals might be floating around in the area. Maybe you could help me-- I ain't got much experience working with the comms systems on a mobile platform of this size? Whadaya say?"

"The tour can be held later. I can help you, though I have no understandable knowledge on communications arrays and the like. Any and all necessary modifications should be made now, so that way the job won't be rushed and botched later when we are finally getting ready to go." Taela told him. The Neko flashed him one of her faint smiles and continued, "And welcome to the crew."

With that, she led him from the conference room to the Hangar, directly to their shiny new Kirin.

"Wait here." She commanded, disappearing around a corner. A few moments later, Taela returned, wearing a pilot suit.

"I shall get the main systems online while you do whatever you like. From there on, any instruction you can give for me to help you would be appreciated." She demanded before heading into the machine and doing just that.

 

[Luca]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Lucien shook his head to the Abwehran, "Nae ma'am, I've been doin' th' simmer-lations 'fore the meetin' started," He still had a smile on his face as he examined the sheer size of the Asura, "They get borin' after a bit by yerself."

Lucien was pleased to know that there was someone with an accent as thick as his, and smiled to himself. He took a glance at Viki, and judged that she wasn't the sort who'd be privy to a pampering, and liked a bit of rough and tumble.

 

[Lamb]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Mark was quick to remove his jacket and tie before clambering up into his own position in the cockpit. Some of the controls looked strange to him. He recognized the drone controls from his own pre-employment training. He also recognized the interface for the Destiny AI from many nights spent sneaking around Couriers and Mules when he was a reporter. It was all as it had been in his training, except everything seemed smaller, scaled-down inside the frame somehow.

"Didn't get to play with the real deal before, kinda glad I didn't." he mused, thick fingers fumbling with the switches to activate the CECS "I might not want to get used to these tiny things."

A few more strokes brought up the CECS' advanced settings. It was an easy task to direct the CECS through the radar blades on the head as well, but after that Mark was at a loss. He reached forward and placed his hand on Taela's shoulder to ask the all-important question, "I think it wants more power to do this for me. I can't find anyway to access that over here. I think you have to do power management through the Silhouette... But, I really dunno a thing about these frame-specific systems. What do you think? Can you help me out here?"

 

[ShotJon]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Nae would probably mean no. At leas Vici thought so. VIci head to give herself few second to get through Luciens thick accent. "So it is langweilich with one persen eh? Things like this usualy are. Wanna do some simulations with mich then?" She then noticed that Neko and other rookie coming in. Taela has something on herself. "So we will be wearin armored overalls like this? Well there is never enough material between you and enemy Kugeln." she then said.

 

[CadetNewb]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Kelly fought the urge to gulp. Arah's spoken words brought back the unsettling moments of the prior briefing. And yes, she was right; he had failed on several accounts. Failed to prevent the frames from being stolen in the first place, failed to keep a team member alive. 'I should have been the one to get out and grab it. I was the presiding officer!' his mind screamed at him. Hell, he had even failed to keep his own team from wreaking their city. His eyes dimmed as he spoke.

"Yes ma'am. Is there anything else?"

*****

Yoshiko's face practically burst into flames from the furious flush that arose to her creamy skin from Async's reminder of the whole fiasco. In fact, she stood ramrod straight as she looked down in embarrassment, brown hair falling to obscure her eyes. From this angle however, the shade of crimson was still visible. Fortunately, her feet still functioned and carried her along with Async as the Spacer went about.

It was the babble of numbers and math that got her attention again though. "Oh!" she exclaimed, life being breathed back into her. "Yeah, the M1 series tends to fall out of, um, what's that word? Calibration, yeah!" she whooped, celebrating the use of a more complex word. "But that's no biggie, since the tolerances it's got is really loose and it'll still work. I could throw in some cream cheese or a cucumber into a leg and it'll still work perfectly fine." The young Ex-Neko's mouth watered at the thought of bite sized little snacks.

"Anyways, let's fix that up. And then we'll see if we can give yours some awesome mods!" Yoshiko's eyes lit up like bright stars at the idea. Kelly didn't let her paint her own frame pink, but he did allow the Zesuanium claws to be attached.

Happy Meter: Increasing

 

[Cy83r K0rp53]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Async looked up thoughtfully at the machine for a moment before asking, "perhaps some warpaint is in order? I'm thinking... maybe pink?"

 

[Moogle]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

"Let me try." was all that Taela replied with, gripping the link orbs at the end of her seat's armrests. Within moments, the power was redirected towards where Mark wanted it, and Taela breathed out a sigh.

"It is a new experience, rerouting the power." She commented. The Neko then continued, "And for future reference, the AI told me that the power management is on your left."

Taking her hands off the orbs for a moment, she rubbed her wrists before placing them back where they were.

"So, where are you from?" Taela asked.

 

[Lamb]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

"Funky City, mostly," Mark replied, adjusting and readjusting the signal strength on a console to his right. "But I spent a lot of time in Hoshi no Iori these last few years, working the dial and learning Yamatai-go on the side. What about you, where do you hail from?"

 

[Luca]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Wot wot, she's usin' 'erself some funny words! Lucien wondered to himself, taking a couple of moments to scratch his chin, "Aye, we gotta wear 'em. 'sides, they're able to take us a hit 'er two if we're outta the armour."

He then looked over to the Asura and stated, "An' 'opefully with all that solid durandium 'teen us 'n them, it don' 'ave ta. Speakin' o which, let's get in there. The others are already in their own frames 'n ready."

Lucien quickly took his seat and took a quick look at his interface, before remembering to put his hands on the orbs. He was used to turning a key, pushing a button and finding some pedals.
Speed of thought Frame piloting was something he was still getting used to. Still, the AI suite did all the more involved things for him.

"Orrighty, er," Lucien checked his designation number hastily, "Unit oh-one ready tae go."

 

[ShotJon]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Viktoria nodded. She went to place where little cat girl gotten herself a piloting suit and donned one herself quickly. When she returned she proceeded to jump and cat lower part of cockpit and then pull herself in the kneeling mecha. In such a light gravity llike here it was no problem.

She then climbed in adn strap herself. Cockpit was pretty roomy and she even noticed some room under the seat. She also saw orbs that she knew from manual. SHe has put her hands on them and activated the mecha.

Interface flickered to live and HUD came up. "Gutt," she said and tried moving mechas hand. She proceeded to reach as far with hand as she could, and then she tried moving finger in certain ways. From thumbs up to giving a finger to the floor.

"Unit vier ready. Du know. I could fit in here wearing an Impulse Panzer Armour. You could put power pack unter the seat easily." she said to Lucien and then had her mecha stood up carefully.

 

[Moogle]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

"Funky City, mostly," Mark replied, adjusting and readjusting the signal strength on a console to his right. "But I spent many of time in Hoshi no Iori these last few years, working the dial and learning Yamatai-go on the side. What about you, where do you hail from?"

"Oh, you know. A SAoY training camp. Being a military Nekovalkryja, I never really knew my mother that well. Not like it matters, though. I mean, I might as well have been another vat-created Neko. The Atuan bought me out of my service or something like that - probably to test their product compatibility for the Star Army." Taela informed the Nepleslian, her arms at rest. "I've probably got some sort of contract that lasts a few years."

 

[Lamb]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Mark stopped what he was doing at 'contract'. He narrowed his eyes and leaned over Taela's shoulder to speak to her. "And after that, what happens? After you fulfill your contractual obligations, what do they do to you?"

 

[Kai]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

At this point Shinji and Meena arrived in the Hangar area, just in time to overhear Mark and Teala's conversation. He made his way into the entrance to their still-open cockpit, and peeked in, explaining: "Afta' the Contract's up, She get set Free. Or, Well, She's no longer employed by tha SAOY, or nuthin' an gets ta make tha decision a' where ta work be 'erself. Leastaways thass how it was back when I was in tha service."

He looked around at the cockpit and the two pilots, before starting up again "Don't go tryin' ta move about too much like 'eavytits ova there" Pointing a Finger at Victoria's Frame, which had disengaged from the hangars for some reason. A second later he was smacked in the head by a small piece of metal thrown by Meena, obviously in response to what he had called Victoria. Thinking he'd done nothing wrong, the Yamataian turned to the nepleslian girl and yelled "OI! WAT DA HELL WAS DAT FOR? YA STUPID LITTLE-!" and then he tripped and fell off of the Kirin. Luckily for him, the artificial gravity had been decreased somewhat to allow for easier handling of the equipment, so he dropped to the ground more like a leaf than a stone.

Muttering to himself, Shinji stomped over to another section of the hangar, leaving an annoyed looking Meena behind. "Sorry about him" she called into Teala and Mark's Kirin, moving on herself.

 

[CadetNewb]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Yoshiko's reply to Async was simple, as her mouth moved into a mischievous grin, eyes shining with intent fury.

"Hehehe." she giggled. "Let's paint the town pink!"

****

Time. It was something in abundance for the crew, not only because the ship stayed by to have its inventory shuffled about, but because the journey took four hours to complete. Yet, at the same time, there was a lot to do, and even with those tasks aside, personal matters and tensions remained. Async's frame was worked on by both the Spacer and the Yamataian, but not before the ship was painted a dull, civilian gray. Yoshiko was particularly attentive to details, adding on three dimensional paints that emulated dents, added on aged scrapes, scuffs, and even blackened the engine baffles. When she and the others were done, the Atuan looked well used and worn in.

And then there was Yoshiko's frame. Pink. Pink was all that Kelly could really think when he first saw it. He didn't care about the multiple shades and subtle hues; as a man, he only cared that the horse he once rode on was pink. Due to some technicalities in reassigning frames, Yoshiko now rode in what was once his. It hit him right in the stomach to see it in luscious pink with white, gaudy flames. And the other frames...well, he didn't think it was that bad and could have cared less of Async's frame being pink as well. With the spare time, Yoshiko practically volunteered herself into doing custom paint jobs for everyone after hurrying to finish her maintenance duties. The Ensign couldn't complain, as the work was exemplary, plus, the painting seemed to give her back a spark that seemed to have been lost.

Kelly half wondered if the Ex-Neko was conspiring with the Freespacer to cause him untold misery in the future as he sat on the redone bridge in loose jeans, black shirt with a red and black checkered flannel over that. It too, like the Atuan's new appearance, was worn in and even a little dirty with oil and metal shavings. Still, he was comfortable, as the down-armored Impulse painstakingly concealed under the clothing went out of its way to make sure of it. Stars burst into the viewscreen and Kelly's blood spiked as the visage of the moon, seemingly shrouded in asteroids came into view.

"And we're out ma'am." His hands quickly moved over the console. "A small ship of indeterminate class has been detected by sensors." Kelly didn't want to look Captain Arah Tenner in the eye after their discussion, but he forced himself to anyways, considering their present proximity. It was brief, to say the least. "Armored Frame Team is on standby, in case of emergency, as is the Away Team. I'll rejoin them as planned as soon as hailing and confirmation of our contact is established Captain."

 

[ShotJon]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

"Macht nichts," replied Vici to Taela when se apologized for Shinji. She was smiling upon the nickname she received and decided that Shinji won't ever feel her 'eavytits himself. With that she moved her Asura back into its resting place and proceeded to do few battle simulation with and against Lucien.

When they were done, Vici climbed out of her Asura and saw suspended Yamataian girl and Frespacer paiting one of the mechas. It was pink. That made Vici raise an eyebrow. She scanned work of two girls for a second. Well it was painted very nicely, but she felt that as an optical camouflage it will work quite badly.

When Yoshiko offered to paint others mecha, Vici came to her and pointed to her mecha. "I am up for it. Pain my Blitzkrieg schwarz if posibble. I like that colour. Now excuse me I will be here as schnell as posible to help you with the painting, but I need something get done before the mission." She said to Yoshiko and hurried away.

It took some time to find Kelly. In the end she caught him by chance just when he was leaving captains room. She aski him for a spare Impulse armour to be issued to her and after some though he approved of it. That put her smile on her face. "Danke, you are das Beste," she thanked him and give him quicky kiss on his right cheek before running off.

Next time she appeared in hangar she donned a Impulse PA with a helmet under her arm. "Eh looks wunderschön!" she said as she walked to help Yoshiko with painting her mecha black, making also sure, that paint won't cover any of sensory arrays. She then proceeded to paint her new Impulse black too, making sure that it still hast orisec marking on it.

She then boarded her Asura and made sure to do all system scand and all movement checks she was able to in the hangar. Then she just spent in some more simulations before Kelly called them up on the communicators. "Unit Six ready, I kann gehen whenever you need." She roperted in.

 

[Cy83r K0rp53]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Async flexed the Oban's arm, admiring Yoshiko's handiwork both on and under the frame's skin, her Silhouette enjoyed the feeling even more as it settled into the wash of information and fiddled with the powerplant's output.

"Unit Oh-Three's purring like a Nekovalkyrja with a chrome egg," the dark-skinned test pilot crooned, a faint glimmer from the internal lighting showing on the pale stripes of skin where her silicates were growing back in as she directed the Oban to arm itself. The civilian frame girded the W3109 Longsword and W3106 Pistol-Saber about its hips, slung the pair of W3105 Plasma SMGs crosswise about its shoulders, and finally the large humanesque manipulators prised the W3202 Graser rifle from its arming rack.

 

[Kai]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Arah nodded to the ensign, quickly hailing the vessel, and going through a few formal and informal greeting practices, before positive contact was verified, and the Airlocks on the bridge deck were released, the plates of armor sliding outwards to allow a shuttle to dock with the ship, which happened very soon. Arah herself, along with the Away team, made her way to the Airlock and greeted their contact with a Bow. It was a middle-aged man, with a few moderately armed guards, he was slightly portly with a scruffy beard and a gleam in his eye that told of a spirit not yet crushed by years or disappointment. He smirked and returned Arah's bow, before holding out his hand for a vigorous shake.

"This is my team, And I need you to take them to the arranged place. There is a shuttle placed for them to return, correct?" she began, and Marin Ara nodded, adding "It's an Old Yamataian shuttle, but it should be more than enough. Arah responded "Good, and I hope we don't cause you too much trouble." Marin nodded, saying "It's no trouble for us, so long as you can get rid of our unwanted 'guests'" He grimaced, obviously annoyed at those who were now taking unwanted residence on the black moon.

"Well, Get going, Kelly." Arah said, suddenly, pointing to the inside of Ara's shuttle. It was a bit dingy and banged up, and smelled like gun oil among other things, obviously mostly used to transport weapons or soldiers. Once the Away team embarked the craft, the Airlocks would seal and the shuttle make its way to the black moon. the unidentified craft, as well, disappeared around the other side of the moon, leaving the Atuan hanging out in the blackness of space a ways away from the moon.

Ged would notify the Frame team "You may now exit the Atuan, but stay within five miles of the ship." as the doors began lowering, creating a surface which could be used to stage launches, as well as creating a large enough opening for the frames to easily extricate themselves from the ship.

******

Shinji and Meena were more than ready by this point, and they began their short startup sequence, getting the Kirin ready to go in a matter of moments. "Awh Righ!" Shinji shouted, excited to be on the move in his Frame, even if Meena was the one driving. The Nepleslian, for her part, rolled her eyes and moved the Kirin gingerly out of the Hangar, hopping off the deck like a diving board, and beginning to drift off a bit awkwardly, trying to remember the controls for space movement.

 

[ShotJon]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Victoria took a deep breath and made a dew steps in her Blitzkrieg. Silhoute wokred pretty fine. Although this were just few steps, not a rocket physics. "Gutt," she said and checked her weapons. Both chain swords were at her hips and Hyper rifle in her hands. She nodded seing that. Her Asura nodded too.

She walked to the open hangar doors. There was alwys somethin special on looking into the space. Wheter you are piloting shuttle or sitting in mecha. She did another step into the nothingness. She immedieraly activadet her thrusters to keep herself steady. Problem with space is that there is no up and down. For the time she will keep same 'up and down' with Atuan.

"Abteilung sechs ready." she said over the commnicator. "Ahh I mean unit six." She quickly added. She really needs to wotk on her yammie-talk. Meanwhile she got back to testing out movement of its mecha and how it behaves.

 

[Cy83r K0rp53]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Async jogged, it would seem, out of the hangar, letting the momentum carry her machine into microgravity. Feeling the familiar sensation of freefall hit her body, she relaxed, the Oban's vectored thrusters fluttering to stabilise its trajectory and bring it coasting alongside the Atuan. Her Silhouette did a rapid check of all systems, keeping shields, active sensors, and the like on standby until they were needed, a moment's thought from full power.

 

[Luca]

Re: Episode 5: Taps

Lucien, after his round of sparring with Viki in the simulations earlier, and doing an average job with an even score, he finally got to climb into the real deal once again. He felt a little shaky doing it a second time, but he was relieved by the fact that he'd finally had time to do simulations and get a better feel for the Frame's intuitive interface.

He stood next to the Head of the Asura that had "#01" stencilled on the shoulders and legs and climbed in, with the pilot's seat waiting for someone to tame the steel beast.

"Orrighty then," He said as he put his hands down on the orbs, making the engines spring to life with a roar, and watched the HUD light up and a the view coalesce.

He'd taken himself a moment to check his inventory, including the Heavy Pulse Laser Cannon he'd requested that'd been attached to his Frame's shoulder. He noted that he had a forearm blade, the autocannon, gamma rays, rail gun, and the the ultraviolet pulse laser. One of the mini missile pods had been replaced.

He also had a Targa shield on hand and chain straights on standby. He smiled and thought that his arsenal would be able to overcome any obstacle thrown at him. He was currently equipped with a Plasma Pistol.

"Unit oh-one is ready tae go!" Lucien said as he followed the others out into the void of space, keeping close with the formation.