"Not amazing, just very lucky to be a part of this team." Lucia told Akira, "We watch each other's backs, and 80% of the time it works out okay," she smirked and turned her attention to Xan, ...but~ it seemed like he'd dozed off. Either he didn't get much sleep on the way here, or he was too cool to get scared by swarms of automated mobile suits and dozed off because he was bored. Whatever, it's not like they were fighting right now.

"Heh. Well, if he's not gonna wake up for a while..." Lucia turned back to Akira and dived through the zero gravity, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him towards the door. "Let's see how good you are in that Impulse of yours! We'll probably be working together a lot, so I hope you'll impress me in a mock battle."

---

"Eh?" Glitch blinked a few times as he woke up. The beeping had to stop...! He slammed on the communicator trying to turn it off, but Cronic's voice began blaring through it. The Irish kid was so tired... Damnable R&D projects, all these experiments and new constructions were taking their toll on the Junk Guild's youngest, but most skilled Engineer as he worked day and night to get the new mobile suits ready. And now the Minerva needed more frickin' Impulse Silhouettes too?!

"Mh.. Yeah, leave it to me. I'll see what I can throw up," Glitch murmured before taking a large sip of his bottled energy drink. How long had he been asleep? "I'll get the guys on it, like, right away..." he yawned.

---

There it is again...

That feeling shot through her again, though it didn't show. Izumi was getting paranoid, and for good reason. Something was definitely wrong here in Prosperity City, but nobody else seemed to catch on. Perhaps they didn't have that 'gift' that herself, the Extended pilot and Cronic had...

"Zerenis, does anything seem off to you?" Izumi asked out of nowhere, while they were just finishing up their contraband crew supply pickups in a drink store. Considering this feeling was sort of following the two around, it felt a little eerie. But maybe Zerenis couldn't feel anything at all, and it was all in Izzy's head. She certainly hoped it was...

"...Define "Off"." Zerenis said, as he began looking around, as if scanning for something, mainly out of suspicion than anything, taking care not to drop the goods they just picked up.

"Asides from an odd sensation in my head, nothing seems out of the ordinary." Zerenis said, turning to look back at Izumi. While Zerenis did show signs of the "Gift" Izumi had, he had yet to fully awaken it. Hell, he probably didn't even realise he had it.

---

"I know this might seem like I'm being paranoid, but are the new units ready for basic testing yet?" Cronic said, as he stepped through the airlock into the Archangel-class ship, Escutcheon, slowly making his way to the bridge.

"...Something felt... Wrong, while I was travelling back to my ship through the cradle. I can't quite put a finger on what, but it's making me nervous. Maybe I'm just over thinking things, but I can't shake the dread that the ETs are going to launch a surprise assault soon." Cronic said, as he sat down in the captain's seat.

"We've not had any movement from them since Maddox's costly skirmish, and that's all the more reason to be nervous."

"R-right!" Akira said in somewhat of a more cheerful manner. Still he wasn't sure a mock battle would be much like a real battle. It was only a MOCK battle after all. Still he'd put everything he could into it just like he would if he were on the battle field. Plus Lucia wouldn't too anything too rash or destructive right? Could chance wrecking the mobile suit or killing someone before an actual battle could occur. Still what did he know? Anything could happen. So was the way of life.

(Short post is short...)

"Let's..." Izumi stopped as she felt something pull at her mind, from far away, in the direction of the Cradle's industrial sector. It was pressuring, but she decided against pursuing this any further... For now. "Let's take this stuff back to the Minerva. And then there's something I want to take a look at, just in case," she said, nodding at Zerenis as she began walking back to the spaceport again. Whatever this was, it couldn't be ignored - and carrying around shopping in a potentially dangerous situation would really be a hindrance! Hell, it was just a curiosity, there might not be anything wrong at all...

---

Glitch shrugged as he stood up, bringing the communicator with him as he started on his way toward the factory. "Relax... We tested Aethon's enhanced boosters yesterday and they didn't explode - it's just a matter of finding someone stupid enough to pilot it. I believe we have a tri-tailed idiot from the Minerva for that... As for Phoenix, we've finally begun attuning the frame to withstand more intense temperatures. Nothing that'll stop a beam in it's path, but it should definitely help protect against you.. well.. burning to death inside your own Gundam," he spoke tiredly into the communicator. "They're ready to launch at any moment, but we haven't even finished the weaponry. And the psychoframes are only prototype; without you or Izzy, or even that Extended guy to test 'em, we have no idea if they work or not."

---

Lucia smiled back at Akira as she pulled him along and into the hangar. She pressed in her earpiece and got permission from the Captain to initiate a mock battle, and just like that, two fighter-like craft were being prepared by engineers for takeoff, the Core Splendors. They would be followed out by a Chest and Leg flyer each afterwards, which would form up in mid-flight to become two Impulse Gundams. And then they would have Silhouette packs deployed to them too, so that their mobile suit wasn't just a bland frame. But before any of that, Lucia dragged Akira through the zero gravity and into the pilots' waiting room, where there were spare suits and helmets.

"Be sure to take everything but your underwear off before you get into your pilot suit! It's so much cooler that way," Lucia advised him without a trace of mischief on her face. It was a joke, and she wanted to see if the new guy fell for it! Most pilots would only take off their jacket... Another motive was seeing if the newbie kept glancing her way as she very slowly took off her jacket - and that way she'd be able to judge him on the spot~!

"Nervous? I'm betting you've never had a mock battle before. Simulations can only teach you so much, Aki'." She asked, with some kind of seductive emphasis on the word 'nervous'. (XD)

"Don't let Izumi hear you say that... She'll kick your ass before the day is out." Cronic said, before feeling the same pull from the industrial sector that Izumi did. "...That felt... Ominous, to say the least." Cronic said to himself, as he looked in the direction of the industrial sector.

"Either way, make sure the weaponry is ready for at least one of the units. I have a sneaking suspicion we're going to need it." Cronic said to Glitch.

"If push comes to shove, I'll launch in my ZAKU to stall for time."

---

Unable to comprehend what Izumi was talking about, but not willing to push the subject further, Zerenis promptly began following after Izumi, carrying all the things they'd purchased on the Cradle. Some of Zerenis' purchases included a roll of wrist tape and a fresh pair of boxing gloves. His current pair had seen better days. Other purchases included a few dozen spare alarm clocks. Contrary to his nature, given the chance Zerenis could sleep through a whole day. He also goes through alarm clocks like crazy, unintentionally breaking one every few days.

"Just don't do anything rash. Last thing I need is thinking you're dead again, understood?"

For a moment Akira found himself in awe of the procedure to get the two Impulse Gundams ready for the mock battle. Of course, that was cut short by the sudden pulling. Lucia sure like to pull him around. Couldn’t she just tell him where to go? Or ask him to follow? Still it wasn’t like he was voicing his complaints. He just followed in suit since he felt it was best.

Soon they were in the pilot’s waiting room. Akira didn’t seem very phased by this until seeing the spare suits and helmets. Still even then he was fine. Until at least Lucia spoke up again. Was what she was saying good advice? She must have been joking right? They wouldn’t need to get into their underwear. Right? Just running over all of this in his head left him with a somewhat uncertain and embarrassed feeling. And even worse was the fact that his face was such a deep red. Lucky for him he had his back to Lucia.

As he thought for a moment he glanced back quickly. She was taking off her jacket. Even if that was all he averted his eyes so quick it wouldn’t have been surprising if the kid had gotten whiplash. “Um… Lucia… You aren’t serious about getting in my underwear right?” He spoke in almost a whisper. Lucia probably didn’t even hear.

He was nervous enough without her messing with him. That is… If she even was messing with him. She had to be! Then Akira heard her speak again. Asking if he was nervous… She said some other things too… Akira might have missed a bit of it. She was definitely messing with him! If she wasn’t… What was with her tone of voice? Even for a prank she didn’t have to toy with him so much! Akira shook his head as if trying to pull himself together and get rid of any stupid thoughts. He then proceeded to remove his jacket.

Still he was on the fence. What if it wasn’t a joke? What if he needed to undress to his underwear? OH WHATEVER! He mentally shouted at himself as he continued to undress starting at the top. It wasn’t like he was some scrawny brat. If there was anything he didn’t worry too much about it was his physical condition. He was tone enough. Sure he didn’t pack on the muscle, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have any! Besides… Physical labor, combat, all that stuff. He was great! Especially his swordsmanship! He excelled at that!

Akira’s mind wondered and he became lost in his thoughts trying to assure himself and justify his own confidence in his physical appearance. Not that any of it wasn’t true. He seriously wasn’t some scrawny brat. And he was excellent at swordplay. Most that just didn’t seem to matter to him though when it came to using a Mobile Suit. It wasn’t the same… Was it? Maybe he was just naïve. By the time he snapped out of it and came back to reality he was already in his boxers. “Oh crap…” He mumbled to himself inaudibly wondering how the hell he actually got to this point.

"...Wow." Lucia coughed and cleared her throat after Akira ended up stripping down to his boxers. In all honesty she hadn't expected the guy was.. pretty damn attractive underneath the uniform and typical rookie attitude. How the hell didn't he pick up the obvious hint? Oh, right... He wasn't looking to see if Lucia was also stripping down, so he was already in her good books after the little eyes test! He was now also marked down as someone she'd be able to tease occasionally for fun. He was the new guy - he totally had it coming...

Lucia giggled as she started undressing anyway, "Whatever, it does get kinda hot in pilot suits. And I feel like I have you at a disadvantage now. Just don't go bragging about this, or I'll have to embarrass you too~"

After a short while, Lucia was stripped to her underwear too, but she got straight into her suit rather than going into a state of shock like Akira did. After zipping the suit up to her neck, she took the helmet from her locker and held it under one arm, throwing her hazel-coloured hair out of the pilot suits collar with her free hand. And, after giving Akira a sly grin, she left the room and kicked off the nearest wall, heading to one of two jet-like fighters being prepared for takeoff by the Minerva's engineers. As she climbed into the pilot seat she would fix the suit's helmet on and take a deep breath. Mock battle or no, takeoff was always a rush - the Core Splendor got catapulted out into space, it wasn't exactly the calm, easy liftoff you'd get in normal gravity.

---

"Yeah, copy that, Cronic. Aethon is the most battle-ready unit - we'll keep a beam rifle and a shield close by just in case there's trouble." Glitch replied in a more serious tone. "Contact me before anyone else if this hunch of yours becomes a real problem, alright? Glitch, out."

---

"Yes, Sir!" Izzy saluted, chuckling as they continued on. Coming so close to death hadn't seemed to leave a very deep scar on the outside. She was still the Aotisa Team #2, and.. well, Izzy. And heck, as far as danger went, Zerenis was coming with her to the industrial sector of Prosperity City.

"So what's the plan for the new boxing gloves? You gonna teach the newbies how to take a punch?" Izumi smirked at Zerenis, nudging him as the two entered the spaceport hangar containing the Minerva. As the airlock closed behind them, and the one in front opened, zero gravity kicked in. "Or maybe you could teach me how to more effectively kick someone's ass in hand-to-hand combat. I know we Reds all get that training, but I'd feel better learning from someone with experience." she shrugged her good shoulder, drifting towards the ship.

"The new gloves are a replacement for the old ones. My current pair are on their last legs." Zerenis said, as he looked at Izumi while drifting towards the Minerva, then hearing Izumi's talk of learning more about hand to hand combat.

"Basic training is one thing, knowing how to use it properly is something that takes time. I didn't become a skilled brawler overnight, afterall." Zerenis said, tempted to throw a few mock jabs but decided against it, due to his current status as a pack mule.

"Well, at least she seems to be fine on the outside, save for the arm. But you don't come that close to death without a few scars, and not just the physical ones either. Whether or not she's ready to get behind the controls of a MS again, I don't know." Zerenis thought to himself as he drifted toward the ship.

---

"Copy that. Cronic out." Cronic said, before terminating the call, and pressing the intercom button.

"All hands to stations. We're moving out for a patrol of the immediate area of the Cradle!" Cronic shouted out. Cronic never shouted unless he was serious about something.

"Just this one time, I'd like to be wrong." Cronic thought to himself, as he stared out the window of the bridge.

Akira shook his head and snapped out of his little panic when he heard Lucia cough and clear her throat. “Oh… Right…” He mumbled to himself. Though he got suited up fairly quickly after that he could have sworn he heard her say something. Did she say wow? Nah… Couldn’t be. He thought before letting out a sigh. He finished soon and zipped up the suit before Lucia spoke again. “Wait…” He said upon hearing her talking about the suit getting hot. “You WERE kidding about having to strip down to my underwear!” He said quickly realizing it.

He could already tell that Lucia messing with him wasn’t gonna be a one-time only thing. “Geez…” He muttered as he took ahold of his helmet. He couldn’t help but sigh at his luck. It was just something he’d have to deal with. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a regular thing…

Without another word Akira watched Lucia head off. “Okay Akira. Just stay calm and give it your all.” He spoke to himself quietly before heading out himself. He too pushed himself off the wall and floated towards his own Core Splendor. Akira couldn’t help, but wonder how lift off would be as he climbed into the pilot seat. He’d never really experienced this. But come on… It couldn’t be that bad right? Still he was growing nervous. He fixed his helmet on and took a deep breath. It wasn’t because he knew he should. He was just trying to calm his nerves and prepare for the mock battle.

After dropping off all the contraband shopping, Izumi and Zerenis headed back into the controlled gravity within Prosperity City. Of course, this troubling feeling Izzy had worried her enough to bring a handgun which she'd conceal in her uniform coat. They would take a taxi as close to the industrial sector as possible for civilians, and then they'd continue on foot. Considering the Earth Alliance had troops stationed in the area for security, ...things may get messy. In the dark, underground sectors of the Cradles, it was pretty easy for people to go 'missing'. Gangs operated down there, as did military factions - mostly engineers though. People here were more than likely stowaways and very shady. No doubt this was a risky place to get involved with...

As the taxi came to a halt, Izumi stepped out and began walking off immediately. Now, so close to the alarming aura, she was pulled in by it. Lured, perhaps? "This way, come on!" she said before breaking into a run. The dimly-lit, dirty sectors certainly didn't look appealing.

---

"Cronic," Kenny greeted the captain as he floated into the bridge. He'd gotten suited up fast! "Want me to get a few mobile suits ready to launch? That Calthorn character seemed off. I can tell somethin's up..."

---

"Lucia Valentine, Core Splendor 1, taking off." Lucia spoke into the shared comm channel between herself, Akira and a CIC operator on the bridge. "Copied. Go ahead," The female officer replied. After this, the fighter was first to lift off, followed by the Impulse's body parts. When they joined together, Lucia ordered out the only remaining Blast silhouette. This left Akira with the choice of Force, for extra battery energy and agility, or Sword, for two huge anti-ship blades that could become a double-ended sword.

Their weapons would emit holo-rounds, simulating the damages caused without any real harm to the mobile suits. Of course, if Akira decided he wanted to use two giant swords instead of the Force pack's rifle and shield, they would have to be swept at range to simulate a real swing or strike. Killing his partner in a mock battle would NOT be a good thing!

"Come and get me, Akira~" Lucia giggled seductively over a private comm channel, winking as her face appeared on one of his monitors. She prepared the two massive under-arm beam cannons for a fight. She didn't expect much from him in all honesty... But beginner's luck was a thing!

"Make it happen, Kenny. Tell the Engineers to prep my ZAKU too. I'll admit, after everything that's happened, the ET's silence worries me. Call me paranoid, but I'm anticipating a sneak attack to happen any time soon." Cronic said, as he began to review the files on Aethon.

"Izumi's still in no condition to pilot a mobile suit. If Aethon needs to be deployed, someone compatible's gonna have to pilot it. Either me or Calthorn at this point." Cronic said, making sure to memorize the figures on Aethon's estimates, such as flight speed, operation time, etc.

---

Calthorn was up and about, but he wasn't up to much, just staring at what was left of Wraith in the middle of the hangar bay, laying flat on it's back. He was just simply leaning on the walkway's barrier, lost in his own thoughts. So much so that he didn't even notice Mark approach.

"So, I've been doing some extensive analysis on your Dagger. Repairs are possible, but it won't really make much difference against the ETs, even if it is a customized version of a mass-produced Mobile Suit. So, here's my proposition. Rather than simply repair the Wraith... I say we give it a full blown re-build instead. Turn it from a modified mass produced MS into the pinnacle of Earth-built Mobile suits, a one-of-a-kind Gundam Unit." Mark said, holding a dossier dubbed "Project W.G" as Calthorn looked at Mark in disbelief.

"Most of what's in this file is mainly just ideas I've jotted down to improve the Wraith's capabilities, offensive, defensive, tactical and so on. But ultimately, you're the one who's gonna be piloting the thing, so it's down to you to decide what'll work and what won't. Given that you yourself have a limited deployment time, I've taken that into account in my choices of components." Mark said as he passed the Dossier to Calthorn.

"...I'll give it some thought when I find the time." Calthorn said, stashing the dossier into his coat before looking back out over the hangar. Mark just simply sighed and went to get back to work.

---

Zerenis too, had made sure to be packing a firearm. Something was playing havoc with his senses, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Choosing to ignore it due to the look of the place and the fact someone or something could try to get the drop on the two of them at any moment was making him nervous. At this point though he was doing all he could to keep up with Izumi. She'd survived an almost fatal incident once before with the aid of the CSC. Zerenis was going to make sure there wouldn't be a second incident, no matter the cost.

Akira’s face was red a little embarrassed and nervous just hearing Lucia speak when she said “Come and get me…” And yeah… He shook his head. “Akira Saito, Core Splendor 2, Taking off.” He said getting the same agreement from the female officer. And just like that he too was off along with the Impulse’s Body parts. “Please send out the Sword Silhouette.” The rookie requested as the Impulse joined together. He tended to drift more towards Melee then the guns.

“So is there anything I should know about how to actually fight in a mock battle with these things?” He asked Lucia being that it was his first time in a match such as this. His grip on the controls was firm. He was still nervous, but he wasn’t about to lose easily because of it.

"Try not killing me with 'em? All I'll say is, when gravity is a thing, you're our ace if you like using the Sword Silhouette. As far as our mock here goes, I think you swing them from a safe distance so the tech-heads can record if it would end up a real hit or not depending on where I am and how I try to avoid it. Fun fact: I'm starting now," Lucia explained before she suddenly unleashed both the beam cannons at Akira's Impulse trying to ever-so-cheekily catch him off guard. The bright blue holo-beams were going straight for his mobile suit's head and chest. She expected that would be enough to finish Round 1, plain and simple.

---

Kenneth meanwhile was getting ready to launch in his Murasame as the rest of the CSC pilots, save for Cronic, geared up and climbed in their own mobile suits. Whatever the Newtypes could feel, it couldn't be good if they were moving the ship. Why did there have to be trouble on Prosperity of all the ships in the expeditionary fleet? If something threatened the civilian ship there would have to be a massive evacuation.

"Boss, we're ready on the launch catapults. Do we launch or hold off for now? I don't think the Alliance or ZAFT forces will like us deploying MS without a good, solid reason." Ken said over comms as he fixed his helmet on and closed the visor. "...But if I were to throw my own opinion on this: you can probably sense just how good or bad this is, right? Shouldn't matter what we do or why if this is too important to ignore."

---

Izumi and Zerenis ran through the dimly-lit industrial sector until Izzy stopped at an abandoned warehouse. The windows were smashed, the doors were forced open but someone tried to close them again. She didn't realise that at this point she was clutching the handgun tightly. That unsettling feeling was so close now - it was right inside! It wasn't really an emotional thing, just.. danger. But she'd felt it before, right before the Saviour was destroyed. Remaining absolutely silent, Izumi stacked up on one side of the slight opening in the massive doors, nodding at the other side for Zerenis to set up as well. Of course, Izzy could only use one arm - she left the countdown 'til breaching to the team leader.

There were mechanical sounds coming from inside. Quiet, not exactly a factory's worth of works going on.

Taking position against the opposite side, Seizing the element of suprise was critical, given that this place was abandoned, yet apparently not. To that end, issuing vocal orders would work against them Zerenis raised his free hand and held up three fingers, lowering them at 1-second intervals, and once the last finger went down, he promptly gestured to move into the warehouse, taking point while he ran a sweep of the place.

"Everything about this feels... wrong. It's like some kind of unexplainable pressure bearing down on me. I'd be lying if I said this doesn't worry me." Zerenis thought to himself, definately feeling something bad about this place, and it was bothering him to no end. Brushing it to the back of his mind, Zerenis braced himself for the worst. Investigating this place was one thing, but if push comes to shove, Zerenis would haul Izumi to safety over his shoulder if he had to. He almost lost her to the ETs once before. Damned if he's going to let it happen again.

---

"Hold off on deployments until we're clear of the Cradles. Last thing we need is the civvies panicking." Cronic said to Kenny, as he took up the intercom.

Upon having issued necessary orders to the entire ship, Cronic directly contacted the Extended upon the ship.

"I know I don't have any authority to be ordering you around, Calthorn, so I'm just going to keep this short and simple. The ETs could strike at any time, and I'm not going to pass up the chance to get some extra help, even if there's a limit to how long you can lend your assistance. As long as it's to the benefit of the rest of the ship and the crew, I don't care what you do. Manning the guns, helping with repairs or mobile suit preparations... The choice is yours and yours alone. Just don't get yourself killed, you hear?" Cronic said, as Calthorn pondered what it is he SHOULD do. Maddox left him for dead, Wraith is down and out... But then he remembered; Mark's proposal. Swiftly exiting the hangar, he made his way to his room, and sat down on a chair opposite the machine used to get him back on his feet. Taking the folder out of his jacket, he promptly began sifting through the information in front of him.

Even though this was vastly different from simulations Akira had enough sense to be on guard even in the very beginning of the match. And because of that he managed to avoid Lucia's preemptive strike. He was quick to move to the side. He didn't want to waste time. So the young rookie charged forward. Using the controls was a bit harder than he had anticipated, but he felt he was getting the hang of it. He hoped he was at least. As he moved forward the left arm of the gundam reached upwards. Soon one of the "Excalibur" Anti-ship swords was in the hand and it was coming back down. Akira slashed from the upper left downward with the sword making sure to remain far enough away so that the blade would not make contact with Lucia's Mobile suit.

(Hope this is okay Jake.)