...Was... Was that Ian talking just now? ...They really fixed him? So... Elora was correct? He really was in the medbay? Serah quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice, seeing Ian stand there... With a bandage covering the hole where one of his ears used to be. Serah... Would have flinched, but she didn't. Instead the girl just kept smiling, although while feeling her heart sink at seeing her friend in such a state. "H-Hey Ian!" Serah raised from her chair and walked over the him. She... She just has to get a better look in. From what she had heard, Lorenzo's... Shooting... Was brutal, and the way Ian was there now is as if nothing happened... Well, ear aside. Not to mention Sigma isn't anywhere to be found either.

The girl's face didn't betray it, but now worry for both of them settled in. What happened between those two? Why is Ian's ear gone? ...What did Lorenzo DO to him...? Before she knew it, Serah was already in front of Ian. Indeed she got a closer look but... Ian really hid the details well. Nothing new could be spotted by the blue energy ball. "You're okay! I knew there was nothing to worry about!"

Sigma stood idle for a while, her eyes set on Ritsu as she kept talking. It's as if we had lived in two different worlds. The young pilot took Ritsu's words inside, and pondered. Shadows and light, I guess. This entire existence is made of them. She flinched slightly when the Banshee placed a second slice in front of her, still not fully understanding why the Lieutenant would waste the army time's and resources to get a housemaid. She then grabbed the cake with her hand.

"Thank you, ma'am. If you'll excuse me..." She added, quickly regaining her regal position. Her inner mind was a turmoil. She had been taught this world was hellish, and that she had been born as merely another body to throw in the bonfire of war. And yet this Ritsu was telling otherwise. She breathed deep. Philosophy was left to philosophers. There was a war to be won right now.

And the doll had to do its show once more. She looked at the slice of cake in her hand. I should share the spoils. It's not like It would be healthy to drown my sorrows in cheesecake, as good as it is. She hurried her pace, cake still in hand, and headed for the cafeteria, where she would have guessed the pilots who had heard the message would be there.

But she couldn't cross the door at first. Ian was there, walking again, talking to them. Memories flailed at her mind, stunning her for the briefest moment, stopping her dead in her tracks. No. So much to do. She gritted her teeth and accentuated her frown, and the freshly changed, pistol wearing squad leader crossed into view of everyone, looking at the situation.

"Spoils of the battle from the Liutenant. Share with Serah." She dropped the cake in front of Elora as she was still seating. And then she noticed a strange creature in Antwon's lap.

"Kitty." She thought out loud, and for a second, she was about to lean and play with it, but she jerked once again upwards, giving the beast a side glance every time and then.

"You're here, Ian. Good." Sigma said, in a most dispassionate voice, fighting hard to contain conflicting emotions about what happened. "So you are here too, Serah. Antwon." She tilted her head. "Zan." She saluted to the moody pilot as well.

"Where are the others?" She asked. "There's a chat to be had."

Elora flinched a bit at the white creature's appearance. She wondered how a feline mammal was in a military base once she saw the little ball of fur hop on Antwon. It was really cute, and Elora worried for its safety once one of the scary soldiers ordered him to dispose of it. Thankfully Antwon had a heart and refused, if in an impolite manner. Zan scolded him for that, which wasn't that strange to her: he would be the type to be strict about authority. He had a point though: They all now knew what happens if you're not careful around your superiors. Her thoughts ran back to a certain somebody who learned that the hard way.
Poor Ian. If only I could see him again.

And then, as if her wish was granted, she heard his voice, and Ian was once again among them. Elora clasped her hands together on her chest, her mouth agape. There was something about Ian that was different, even strange, and she did notice that Ian was missing an ear, but Elora was too distracted about her joy at seeing him alive to pay attention to it.

"I-Ian, I'm so glad you're alive. D-Did everything go well in the med-bay?" She wanted to ask him about Sigma, but she didn't want to put too much pressure on the recently wounded.

And then Sigma appeared, and placed a cake on the table. Elora was confused at first, but then she remembered that Sigma promised her and Serah something like that. But Elora didn't care about the sugary treat: she was more glad to see her friend again. However, it was then that she realized: Sigma wasn't herself. She didn't show much emotion when she greeted her, and Elora was frightened by that.
Maybe she's just taking her new role as squad leader seriously?

"Umm, thank you Sigma," she meekly responded to her. Her previous joy from seeing Ian disappeared like the setting sun. Elora didn't know what happened in the med-bay between the two of them, and that made her worried.

"Relatively speaking, I'm missing a good chunk of my ear, my shoulders still ache like hell, and my legs feel like they could give out any second. Have to wear a special medical brace just to stand, but I should be able to get rid of it soon enough. They got some hi-tech medical procedures, I tell ya."

Ian chuckled as he ruffled the excitable bluenette's hair, glad to see that she was thinking about him. Her cheerful greeting hammered in his resolve to try and keep the truth about his current condition, and the what led him to it, underwraps for as long as he could. Just thinking about it gave him phantom pains, though he tried not to let it show. His smile dropped, however, when he heard Sigma's voice echo through the room. He visibly flinched when she addressed him, his eyes pointed downward with only a curt nod of acknowledgement to show that he had heard. Taking a breath, he walked over to collect some food than sat down next to Elora, painfully spooning the gruel into his mouth, finding it to be surprisingly palatable. That being said, he stared enviously at the cake that the shy brunette had been awarded, licking his lips as he realized he was fucking starving. Guess being inhumanely tortured would leave one with quite the appetite. . . though I doubt I'll be able to eat any meat for quite a while.

"So, I see that we've a new member of the team, got a name for the little ball of fluff yet?"

@Ammokkx
@Ariamis
@AtomicNut
@Dondude

"H-Hey! Stop that..." Ian ruffling Serah's hair was not appreciated, it was hard enough to brush and keep a relatively neat-looking hairdo. Ruffling it just made it spring up all over the place. She didn't have much time to react either as Sigma walked in, Serah now grinning even harder than before... Suprisingly, that's possible. "S-Siggy!" She called out, but the older girl just walked past her. The grin started to drop as she noticed Sigma wasn't being herself... Even more so when just adressing her so coldly moments later. W-What happened with those two?

Serah straightened her hair out, adjusted her ribbon... And then notices Ian having taken the girl's spot. "...mou..." She let out in a hushed voice, leading to sulking and shuffling back over to the table. No more room at it...

"I've got no time for this." Sigma sighed as she facepalmed. Apparently her fellow pilots were more interested in the cat than what she had to say. Well, the cat was rather cute. She then looked at Serah's crestfallen attitude, and Ian's seemingly recovery back to the intrusive, tactless person he had ever been. She then flipped her own ID card, into a food dispenser, which produced a silver package with goo and a straw.

Military Emergency rations. The foulest food one could get, but at the same time the fastest method to eat something nutritious. She then sipped, gulping the foul and overcooked goo into her mouth. She felt she could puke, and it wasn't helping the gruel was bringing her memories of being tube-fed after a particulary traumatic and hard training lesson. Much like this one taken.

Finishing in a moment, she crushed the package suddenly with her fist, and tossed it to the nearest bin. "I will say this only once. And whoever doesn't get the memo by tomorrow, either because they're absent or freaking out, it won't matter. They will be punished." She glared at everyone in the room, a piercing stare in each one of them.

"Pilot Ian and I underwent further disciplining, as some of you might have guessed, we didn't stop at the usual medbay." Sigma said forwardly. She wasn't sure wether the fellow pilots had checked it or not, but it didn't hurt to cover one's back. "Each of your failures will reflect on me as squad leader from now on. And the punishment is befitting when so much is at stake." Sigma added. "So. Do. Not. Fuck. Up. Ever. Again." Sigma said each word slowly and intently, stopping to gaze Ian for as much as her willpower could maintain.

"And If you're tempted to run off your mouth, or have complaints regarding anything, know that I will leave my door always open." Sigma added. Probably a little of Ritsu magic could help with this lot, regardless."Do not cause burden on your superiors needlessly. That will be all." Sigma finished her little speech abruptly, and then her sight rested on Serah. Sulking. What a childish creature.

She grabbed Serah by the arm and led her to another seat. "Let's talk about cake strategy." Sigma said in a more lowered voice, motioning Elora to come over aswell. And bring the cake to another table.

Elora's fears came true: something did happen to the two of them, and by the sound of Sigma's tone when mentioning the 'disciplining' it must have been unimaginably horrible like torture, and the very thought caused visible shivers and sweating in her. It did explain why the two of them disappeared for as long as they did, even with Ian's wounds. She took another look at Ian, trying to figure out what was done to him, but she couldn't find any answers. Maybe it was better that way; Elora's already seen enough to upset anyone, let alone someone as timid as her. Even the mere sight of blood on Ian was enough to make her squirm.

But does this mean Serah knew all along? She was awfully quiet about Ian when she mentioned him, and kind of sidestepped the issue.

Maybe she was also worried, and just didn't want to incite any panic? I hope so...

Sigma also ordered not to cause burden, and that made her think: Was she making trouble? She wasn't purposefully doing it if she was, and hoped Sigma would understand that. At least she would be available for talking to later, which was a relief. She hasn't got a chance to talk to her since the mock battle.

Sigma then called Elora over, and wanted her to bring the cake too.
"Umm, okay," she answered and took the cake. She relocated it to where Sigma was. She did notice Ian staring intensely at the cheesy treat, and she considered sharing a slice with him, but squad leader's orders came first. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard something about cake strategy. She didn't know whether that meant sharing the cake, or using it as a weapon. It wasn't hard to guess which option Elora preferred.

Sigma crushing the package, then suddenly raising her voice was... Quite a scare. Serah shot straight when it happened, obviously not expecting the sudden switch in tone. "R-Right... Siggy isn't being herself..." With that thought the Bluenette shifted her attention to what was actually being said. The 'Further Disciplining' didn't sound very pleasant, and especially not with Ian's wounds... But Sigma also getting that... Treatment? That's... Horrible... The next part also seemed more like a threat than an order, which Serah almost called the now above her pilot out on. She didn't, though, Sigma might just be new to all of it... Well, that and complaining can always be done later. Sigma even said so.

Then the older pilot suddenly grabbed Serah's arm and tried to drag her, something that actually did cause a reaction. She did NOT like to be treated like something that needs constant guiding, or be played for a fool. "H-Hey! Let go!" the girl spouted out, wrestling herself from the other's grip. "What was that for?! If you need me to follow you, then say so!" She'd absolutely no idea of the squad leader's intentions, which really were only to help Serah out. The girl then crossed her arms, clearly taking offense to the action.

Ian gave a mental sigh of relief that Sigma had kept the details of the discipling secret, though he also cursed her for making it known. It was a selfish thing to want, but people will ask him questions sooner or later, and that was the last thing he needed or wanted. In truth, he should be back in his room resting, but that would just leave him alone with his thoughts, and that would end in far more pain than walking around with bullet holes in his shoulders. As Sera, Elora, and Elora's cake went over to talk to Sigma, he was left to eat his barely edible gruel, and look around with his one visible eye at those assembled.

After a few more spoonfuls, Ian was officially bored and in need of something to do. As he started to push his meal around in his plate, he felt his prosthetic eye start to ache a little. As he rubbed over his bandana a little, he remembered what Cedric had said about it. Zoom-in, Heat sensing, . . . heart-beat reading, god damn if that doesn't sound like a ton of bullshit, but let's out it to the test since I've got nothing better to do. It took a couple of minutes for him to figure out how to do it, but he finally got it working by just thinking it real hard, as it seemed to have some sort of brainwave reader, or some sort of bullshit science he couldn't even begin to understand.

Anyway, once he got it up and running, he looked over at where Team Cheesecake were having there secret meeting, he noticed that Sigma's heartbeat was beating a bit faster than normal, which made sense considering what had happened. Elora's was also a bit faster, though not as much, again making sense as she'd probably be a bit worried about the 'further disciplining' that Sigma was mentioning. Ian turned it off with a thought, wondering if this could be used on the Cruxi at all. He'd have to talk to Cedric about the max range of the heartbeat sensor and if Cruxi had hearts detectable by it. If so, it could be a helpful early warning system if he could somehow connect it to Anubis. Maybe he could even use the framewerks generator to amplify the power of the signal to increase the range of it, as well as the heat sensor. That was a nice way to kill five minutes, but I'm still fucking bored.

After the cat bit Zan, he gave it a look meaning something along the lines of I'll kill you without a second of hesitation. Zan thought the cat was going to be just a waste of resources, just like this group of Cadets.

"Hey everyone, what did I miss while I was getting fixed up?" asked Ian.

Zan didn't answer the question Ian asked the pilots that were in the Mess Hall. All he did was look up at Ian, then he continued eating his food. As soon as Zan noticed Sigma, he stood up at attention and saluted. "Attention," said Zan.

"Spoils of the battle from the Lieutenant. Share with Serah," said Sigma as she dropped some type of cake in front of Elora. "Kitty," said Sigma, as she leaned towards the cat and then she jerked upwards quickly. She gave the cat a side glance every once and awhile. "You're here, Ian. Good." Sigma said, in a most dispassionate voice, "So you are here too, Serah. Antwon. Zan." Sigma saluted Zan.

"Ma'am," replied Zan.

"Where are the others?" said Sigma to no one in particular. "There's a chat to be had."

"Unknown, ma'am," answered Zan. Zan continued saluting and standing at attention. The rest of the Cadets present were basically ignoring their Squad Leader. They were either focused on Ian, or the cat, or both.

"I've got no time for this," Sigma sighed while she face-palmed.

"I will say this only once. And whoever doesn't get the memo by tomorrow, either because they're absent or freaking out, it won't matter. They will be punished." Sigma glared at everyone in the room. "Pilot Ian and I underwent further disciplining, as some of you might have guessed, we didn't stop at the usual med-bay." Sigma said forwardly. "Each of your failures will reflect on me as squad leader from now on. And the punishment is befitting when so much is at stake." "So. Do. Not. Fuck. Up. Ever. Again." Sigma said each word slowly and intently. "And If you're tempted to run off your mouth, or have complaints regarding anything, know that I will leave my door always open." Sigma added. "Do not cause burden on your superiors needlessly. That will be all." Sigma finished her little speech abruptly.

"Yes, ma'am!" said Zan. Zan's facial expression did not change at all during Sigma's little monologue. 'That is probably going to damage the small amount of morale left.' thought Zan. When Sigma started talking to Elora and Serah, Zan sat back down and finished the rest of his food. After that Zan got up and left to go back to his training. Zan preferred to use his free time training, then wasting it sitting around in the Mess Hall.

As the commotion continued among Antwon's peers, he was still distracted (and though he wouldn't admit it) completely smitten by the cat that had stayed on his lap. He had since picked it up, bringing it to his own face, admiring how soft it's layered, abundant hairs were (fur, the name of which Ant had not known), and how pleasant it was to touch.

But he immediately regained attention on Sigma, who managed to silence the room with her laborious monologue. Ant rolled his eyes, but kept silent. She meant well, but he was yet to be convinced of her abilities as a leader. She would need to display some real human emotion, dedication, for the boy to begin seeing her as a possible leader.

He then looked over to Ian, who also seemed intrigued by the creature.

"His name... will be Little Antwon, Jr."

Ian head slowly turned over to look at Antwon, taking a few seconds to go over what he had heard, then making a metal checklist of his current state of mind. He wasn't dreaming, he wasn't hallucinating because of the drugs anymore, and he wasn't hallucinating from pain either. This brought him to the conclusion that his mind was relatively sane, so that means that Antwon had actually said that. So Ian did the only think one could do in this situation . . . he laughed his fucking ass off. Ian laughed and laughed, banging fist into the table for about a minute, where it had calm down to low chuckling.

"I'm sorry Antwon, but I'm not calling him that, I don't know if it's even a him to begin with. Also, just the fact that you, of all the people here, would be so smitten with it that you name it after you . . . it's just too funny to me. Seriously, though, if we're going to name it, lets go with something like Fluffy or Snowball or Mr. Whiskers. Sorry if those are Generic, but I'm not really so creative with naming things. Better than Antwon, but only just so." Ian finished with a slight smirk, appreciative of Antwon's comment as t had helped break his somewhat sappy mood with some genuine hilarity.

@Dondude

Sigma's gaze turned on a frown upon Zan's departure. Always the yes man, without any kind of effort towards socializing. Granted, none of them weren't too keen on what team spirit meant, but that kind of cold shoulder from the no nonsense pilot was rather disheartening. Keep that up, Zan, and you're going to end as a basket case like all the veterans I know of. She thought to herself. Sigma's frown met with Serah's own sour mood, after having being dragged along with her.

Antwon's statement and Ian's laugh broke her stare and concentration for a brief second, before uttering something and rolling her eyes. "Guys. Always the fools." Her stare then resumed her scan of both Elora and Serah, while she mentally checked that what she was about to say would sound as ridicoulous as Antwon's pick for the cute critter name.

"Listen up, the both of you. This is an important mission to save our leisure time. I am going to perform a highly risky operation in order to procure the goods needed for the sachertorte I promised." Sigma said, eyeing the both of them, battering an eyelid. "Serah. Your spirit is unbreakable and you can't take a no for answer, so you will be bugging the guys at the supply depot for this list of ingredients." Sigma added as she transferred a list towards Serah's digital device."Elora. Your keen eye for detail is critical. We will assault the Lieutenant's kitchen and seize it to bake the goods. Make sure you are up to par when managing such critical ingredients." The young team leader barely battered an eyelid upon giving the orders. "Lastly, the both of you will dispose of the remains of this cheesecake. How you do it, it is not of my concern. But I do not think it would be nice to throw it or leave it as it is."

Sigma's serious face contorted suddenly, a small impish grin forming. "Sorry, I just can't keep my face straight with cakes involved. We will commence operation when we gather all ingredients." The pilot said in a slight chuckle. "And that's all. I'm going to browse the pilot profiles in my room. I have to do my squad leader part." Sigma finally conceded as she raised herself from the table, and excused herself out.

It had been an hectic day, and she really needed to figure out more than half of her team and the possible combinations.

"Um, uhhh, I...I don't think that's-" Elora tried to object to Sigma's plan, but was unable to. She could have tried to reason by saying how this would be incredibly dangerous and crazy, since they would be trespassing on a superior officer's quarters, but at this point it was too late for her meek self to make a difference. She sighed. At least Sigma was back to her usual self, and that made her a lot more comfortable. The joint-operation with Serah would be fun to accomplish, though.

"You can count on me, Sigma," she said, and waved goodbye to her as she left. She then cut a slice of the cheesecake and set it aside in case Ian wanted one, and then cut the rest of her share of the cake into small slices. "Well, looks like we're together for a new mission again, Serah." She smiled, happy to have the gang back, for better or worse.