RP: OIF Atuan III [OIF Atuan III] (prologue) Once more, with even more feeling!

"Oh no, that's just. . ." Taela said, a snarky lilt to her tone. "Leftover aggression. It happens. A lot."

The test pilot swayed in her seat for a moment, a wave of pain running up her nervous system. She doubled over, but only as long as it lasted. She mumbled, "Uuu. . ." clutching her sides. As soon as it came, it went, leaving Taela to pull herself together and pass it off like nothing happened.

"I'll take the compliment, though," she said. The comment of "foxy" didn't escape her finely tuned ears, after all.

"And what was that little dance, sweetie?" Markus kept his skeptical look, a nervous smirk starting to twist one of his cheeks, "Did you jus' go and swallow that leftover aggression?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mark shook his head and clasped a firm and friendly hand on Taela's shoulder. There was no tug against her as he pulled himself up to sit next to her and brush some hair out of her face in that overtly sexual yet somehow perfectly plutonic way he had. "Kitty, I'd say you need a spa day. And maybe a trip on the 'Medical Scanner Ride'."

The man smiled, a bit of a devilish grin. "Ahh, a duffel bag, you say? Could it have looked like this one?" he asked, holding up his hand, above which appeared suddenly what seemed to be Doran's bag, though, the fact that it was floating and spinning and hadn't been there a second ago seemed to be a bit suspicious.
"No, No I haven't seen it. But, I do know where it is. It is, of course, Inside this ship, which is rather plain to those such as you and I, no?"

*************

Without warning, a visitor appeared in Mark and Taela's room. It was a man, who appeared to be perhaps forty, with short brown hair, and an origin uniform with Blue shoulders instead of Green. He smiled at the duo, a look of somewhat less than innocent joy on his face.
"Oh, dear friends, it is quite nice to see you again, though, I do believe it has been much too long since we parted ways. And yet, here we are, united at last, setting off on another adventure. If only all of us were quite as fit as we had been previously." The man tut-tutted, a look of concern coming over his face as he observed Taela, noticing the same motions which Mark had.

With a sharp chuckle Doran stopped on one foot and his head dropped so that his chin rested against his chest. In the back of his mind he had been wondering when he would meet up with an AI, but he had not been betting on it having a sense of humor to boot. "You cheeky li'l AI," Doran started to say under his breath before perking with a grin that was much more relaxed than the other man's. "Oh, well, good ta know Ah din't leave it outsida the ship. Again.

"Well, sincen we're both in agreement about the bag's general location, Ah don' s'pose ye could, ya know, do some computer finaglin' and check exactly where t'is for me, could ya?" he asked, sounding more down on his luck as opposed to straight begging. "Ah'd like ta find it before all the good rooms er taken."

Mark didn't know for sure. But he had to do it. Too much of an opportunity to be smooth and cool, here. And the voice sounded right, anyway. So; he raised a casual hand to the new visitor and, without skipping a beat or looking confused or surprised at all, he belted a quick and casual, "What's up, Ged? How y' likin' the new digs, man?"

"Eeeeh~ Don't touch me!" the neko whined, squirming away from Mark's touch. And then Ged appeared.

"Why does everybody have to be on my case?" Taela growled at the AI and the jockey. "I had something at lunch that disagreed with me! That's all!"

She didn't even so much as give a single verbal greeting to Ged, instead passing him a terse wave of two fingers.

“Fuzzy.” The Elysian repeated as Lucien pulled out his communicator. Thalath's voice had thrown off a good deal of the exhaustion it had been layered with earlier and now had a more pensive and glum quality to it. “I have spent a lot of time in my life wrestling anything that turned out to be 'fuzzy' into the neat little corner I have always been told they were supposed to stay in.”


As she stopped speaking Thalath pushed herself upwards while simultaneously scooting backwards across the bed until she was propped up against the wall. The Elysian ran a hand across her face – from her forehead down to her chin – and then frowned.


“It may be rude and sometimes it might seem like I have a problem accepting reality, but for the first time in too long I've decided on taking things at my own pace.” The Plebeian knocked her head back against the wall and then looked up at the ceiling. “The people you got here are certainly good Sarge and all my other problems aside whether or not I can perform as a part of it all is still something I have to see for myself.”

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." The AI responded to Doran. "You can trust that it will find you once you have found where you go." He smiled, winking, and then turned on his heel and Disappeared. Regardless, Doran could still hear the distinctive sound of footsteps walking away from him, down the hallway. A transparent green arrow suddenly appeared before him, pointing the way to the crew cabins.

*********

Ged quirked an eyebrow at Taela's new behavior, logging it away for further scrutiny, before waving back at her in an odd sort of way. "It is good to be back in this mainframe," he responded to Mark cheerily. "The OIF Rammagain was a bit too plain. Though, I am fond of the new additions they have made to keep pesky pests further from my hull." he upturned the palm of his hand and a schematic of the refurbished Atuan appeared on it.

"You'll notice you entered from the rear, which wasn't possible before. A larger ramp has been added, while the original has been replaced by a deployable Catapult which can launch up to two Mecha at once. Additionally, The Atuan has been refitted with numerous defensive turrets, and, thankfully, the electrical shortcomings have been gone through, though the additional defenses draw extra power, meaning the big guns are still limited." The miniature model of the ship disappeared suddenly as the AI closed his hand, and he smiled at the DJ. "And of course, the Hangar bay has been stocked with a new Mecha type, which I'm sure you will appreciate."

With an exasperated grumble and an exaggerated move of his arms, Doran simply stared with a vacant look at the unnecessary floating arrow that made him feel like a video game character that was not actually in control of his own life. Swatting a hand indignantly through the sarcastic icon the Irishman plodded along in the direction of the cabins while hoping nobody was sniffing around his duffel.

After reaching the general area of the cabins and surveying a few potential units, Doran finally settled on one. Not that there was much, if any actually, variation between them beyond the inhabitants. Doran had found a vacant one, not for any particular reason other than it was the first one he had come across that was not full up. As such he had no qualms sharing if need be, though in the back of his mind, more like the front really to be honest, he was hoped that it would be a lovely little lass as opposed to the usual type he bunked with; i.e. smelly and crude.

Lucien smiled when he heard Talath say 'Sarge'. "Aye," Lucien sighed contentedly, rotating his ankles idly and cricking his neck with a contented smile on his face. "life's fulla fuzzy. Hopefully our performance ain't gonna be so 'fuzzy'." He had an opportunity while he was on the job to look at the combat reports and assessments of his character - of him. Lucien's performance reports were ... fuzzy. Wavering between brilliance and madness, able to keep his team safe at the cost of his frame's integrity or able to keep on fighting despite sustaining incredible damage.

In addition to just the combat reporting was the evolution of his skills as a whole. Starting from a civilian with absolutely no prior Frame piloting experience. The usability data was valuable to Origin's Armour works. If their frames were easy to pick up and hard to master, possibly streamlining and reducing the learning process for Frame combat on land or in orbit.

Ever since he'd stepped into a frame for the first time they'd seen how a civilian could evolve from an actor to an inner circle of Frame Pilots - perhaps the best team in the Yamataian sectors of space, rivalled only by the Lorath's best and perhaps the isolated Iroma. "Flyin' a frame ain't different from flyin' a hoverbike after a while. I was a civilian once Talath - nae prior experience and I just went." He turned his head around to her and looked into her face from across the room.

The door to the quiet, empty room which Doran had occupied suddenly opened, and a vivacious redhead suddenly appeared within its confines. She blinked a few times, seeming to realize that the other person in the room was Doran, and also seeming to realize that the room was otherwise Empty. she looked one way, then the other, pondering if she was in the wrong place. then she backtracked, checked the number at the door, confirming it was correct, and walked back in.

"Heya Doran. Did you steal my stuff?" she asked, rather nonchalantly.

Slightly surprised at the sudden arrival Doran craned his neck to look over his shoulder at Nora, and just as he was about to wave to the girl she made him pause a bit with her question. "Nah lass, wasn't me. Room was like this when Ah got 'ere," Doran said in a somewhat sing-songy tone as he panned around the room to confirm that he saw nothing. As he looked back at Nora he donned a playful smile. "Good ta know Ah'm not the only one who can't find their stuff. Maybe they got up an' ran off on their own?"

"Actually..." A familiar voice began, coming from nowhere in particular. "Everything you seek is near at hand, but you just aren't looking hard enough. sometimes, the eyes can deceive, but touch is truth!" Ged riddled, seeming a bit gleeful as suddenly the room changed, the entirety of Nora's possessions, as well as Doran's bag, materializing in the space. Nora's stuff included lots of bits of metal, small mechanical parts, and what appeared to be electric motors and servos, most of which were placed haphazardly around the edges of the room. One of the dressers was overflowing with quite a bit of clothing, and one of the beds also seemed to have a bunch of clutter on it. the other bed and dresser, however, were untouched.

"Ahhh! Ged! That trickster!" Nora One-three pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. "One day I'll figure out how you work, then I'LL be the queen!"

"Ged, you're probably one of the more interestin' AI Ah have come across," Doran said as he couldn't help but chuckle at the whole matter. Besides the disappearing act and the insightful riddle, the Irishman was impressed that Ged had figured out which room he was going to wander into and settle on in order to place Doran's wayward duffel in it. "Well, since that is settled..." he mumbled to himself as he trailed off slightly. Lazily making his way over to the side of the room that was unclaimed, and free of stray parts, he looked around at Nora's things.

"Ah'm not sure what Ah was expectin', but Ah figure it's a safe bet to assume you'll be bunkin' 'ere as well? Seems you're already settled in," Doran chimed as he reached his bag and began rummaging through its contents.

Nora one-three shook her head excitedly, grinning. "Yup yup yup! This is all my worldly possessions! I hope you don't mind the mess. I swear I'll make them into something before too long..." She went over to the pile of things on her bed and fished out what appeared to be a cravat made from old wires, presenting it to Doran. "See! i pulled all the wires off of a bunch of broken toasters and computers and stuff and made this neck thingy! It' doesn't really keep you any warmer but I do get better reception on the wireless network!"

"Okay wait here honey," A tallish person said to a smaller person next to her. The smaller person frowned at the taller one.
"Do not call me honey," it said and sighed. The smaller one carried quite a bit of luggage, though it did not seem like it was encumbering to her.
"All right liebchen," came the reply from the taller one. "I am going to go meet Arah now."

Those two were both women. The taller one has white skin, a cross tattoo on her face and a bit of as trange lacey dress with corset. She leaned on a cane, which was clearly more for looks, then for support. A long cane with metalling ball on the top. The taller one was named Viktoria Ritter and she was coming home.
The smaller was a woman as well. With auburn hair and pretty face, well expect for a scowl she had on her. This one has a Origin uniform on, without any rank. She put the luggage down and waited.

Viki left walking to the bridge to report to the captain. She took the elevator to the bridge, watching all the changes that were done to the ship. There was a lot of them, especially the ramp they used to move into the ship. That was new and quite clever in Viki's mind. This will be fun, Viki was sure. Flying around space with Arah and shooting pirates was fun, but she really really missed Blitzkrieg, her old mecha. She had its combat data saved though, if the time would once again came and she would sit in the mighty machine once again.

"Gutteeeeeeen taaaaaag," Viki said as she walked to bridge where Arah was. "Oh I missed Atuan, this bridge suits you well. Sorry it took me so long to get my arsche hier. And sorry for the lack of uniform, I will ammend that, I wanted to see you first though."

"Well now, whata lovely tie-thing," Doran remarked as he grunted as he tried to pull items from the bottom of his bag without removing the top layers. "An' Ah wont trouble ya about your mess so long as you give me the same courtesy." Seeming to have found what he was looking for he grabbed hold of a small parcel and pulled it out of the duffel. It looked to be a small, neatly wrapped snack bar. Tossing it up and down a bit in his hand he checked to see if it had crumbled any, then once he was satisfied he lobbed it over his shoulder to Nora. "Think fast. A gift from one bunkmate to another."

With that, Doran began to unpack what amenities he had seen fit to bring with him. Generally used to moving around to new posts he had gotten used to sticking to the essentials; a few changes of clothes, a couple tools he had grown fond of, a few sketchbooks and binders filled with notes, and a few more of snack bars similar to the one he had thrown to Nora. In the back of his mind he still looked for a certain picture he used to have of his family, but he knew very well that it was still back 'home' since he didn't have it with him when he to his unexpected journey. Brushing his moment of disappointment aside he set about finishing unpacking.

"We'll pro'lly get along just fine seeing as Ah'm a tinkerer meself," Doran said casually as he absentmindedly put away his things.

Arah simply nodded at the Abwehran, having only arrived back on the bridge moments prior to Victoria from the opposite entrance. "So long as you are effective when need calls for it, like on the Rammagain, I will not trouble over it." she told the woman, before a blue-shouldered man with short brown hair appeared out of thin air next to Victoria.

"Ah, yes, it does fit much better in here, doesn't it? the hardware is so much nicer, and I have all the room I want to just be, well, me!" the Atuan's AI began, smiling at the black-haired woman. "I'm sure you've figured out who I am, so I won't trouble you with the details, but, I have to ask, Does the new look suit me?"

"Keep it short." Arah warned, picking up a handset for the Public Address system and keying it in Her voice suddenly reverberated throughout the hallways, rooms, and compartments, loud enough for everyone to hear but not quite loud enough to be obnoxious.
"If you'll excuse me, I must announce a short meeting prior to our departure. All personnel are to assemble in the armor bay immediately for an address by the head of our department, Kelly Williams. That is all."


**********

Nora One-Three was about to grab another Bauble and display it for Doran to see when the PA turned on. Suddenly stopping, her head began to crane twitchily about the room as she attempted to identify the exact source, but it seemed no use. Regardless, she got the message and, when it was over, she turned to Doran, looking out the cabin door and then back at the man. "Welllll, I guess that means we should go. Right? Right?" she asked, head flipping back and forth a few times as if she couldn't decide exactly what to do.

Doran's face carried a decidedly disinterested one as he half paid attention to the announcement and half to wondering where one of his personal effects had run off to. Bringing an arm up in a languid motion the man scratched his neck as he gave up and stood before turning to Nora. "Ah've been told otherwise once or twice before for various reasons, but Ah do believe we fall under "All personnel" right now," Doran said as he statement seemed to be a rather unfunny joke. Once again standing up, he perked up and appeared to have his energy back. "But yup, we should prob'ly head out." Then with an uneven jaunty step he moved over to the door and made a motion for the lady to leave with him.

Kai said:

Ged quirked an eyebrow at Taela's new behavior, logging it away for further scrutiny, before waving back at her in an odd sort of way. "It is good to be back in this mainframe," he responded to Mark cheerily. "The OIF Rammagain was a bit too plain. Though, I am fond of the new additions they have made to keep pesky pests further from my hull." he upturned the palm of his hand and a schematic of the refurbished Atuan appeared on it.

"You'll notice you entered from the rear, which wasn't possible before. A larger ramp has been added, while the original has been replaced by a deployable Catapult which can launch up to two Mecha at once. Additionally, The Atuan has been refitted with numerous defensive turrets, and, thankfully, the electrical shortcomings have been gone through, though the additional defenses draw extra power, meaning the big guns are still limited." The miniature model of the ship disappeared suddenly as the AI closed his hand, and he smiled at the DJ. "And of course, the Hangar bay has been stocked with a new Mecha type, which I'm sure you will appreciate."

Click to expand...

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Taela responded, flicking her hair back. "It takes an awful lot to impress me with these days."

After the call went out, she smirked. "Oh, Williams is going to give a speech? This will be good. . . especially since his 'big promotion.'"

The neko's gaze flicked between Ged and Mark. She hopped off the bed with a gravity-assisted bound. "Don't hang out too long. I'd hate for you to miss such a show!" she told them with a salutory wave before speeding down the hall.


She found herself in the hangar, whistling at the new models as she strolled in.

"Alright Ged, I'm impressed. I like the really big one!" she called out.