Elora's last words quickly went into a hushed whisper once Lora started talking over her. Lora was no-nonsense, but she also put a lot of emphasis on their good qualities, which made Elora feel a bit better about herself. However, it also put pressure on her; she had to live up to the expectation of being the best of humanity, and that was a lot of people. She nodded to Lora's demand of everyone doing their best; she wanted to prove she wasn't a burden for the others, but someone they could rely on. Whether she had the courage to do so was a different matter, but at least she would try her hardest. Elora turned to look at the pilots while absorbed in her thoughts, and her eyes met with Lora's. Lora gave her a nod of some kind before turning around. She first thought she was being condescending towards her, but the gentle tone of her eyes told she actually liked what she said. Nobody else noticed this, so Elora started to wonder if Lora actually wanted to secretly team up with her.

While she was thinking, Koehler snuck up on her, and Elora let out a small scream, frightened by how close he came to her. She visibly trembled while waiting to see what the tall boy wanted with her. Please don't bully me, she managed to think before she realized Koehler actually wanted to ally himself with her, and that made her step back nonplussed. She remembered reading about Koehler's Framewerk, and how it was a fast striking type. She hesitated for a moment before nodding. "O-Okay. I'll try not to let you down." Koehler then started talking about Alexei, and Elora covered her mouth with her hands when he asked if she liked him. "Well, U-umm, I think he is inspiring, and wise, and caring, and-" Elora's face turned red, and she hastily moved her hands before her. "No, don't get me wrong! I like him, but, umm, not like that..."

Koehler commented on Miles, and Elora felt uncomfortable about the subject. "Well, this is difficult for all of us, so it's understandable that we may disagree on something." Elora didn't want to say anything bad about him out of fear of him finding out and bullying her. "Romeo seems nice. I read his name from the files we were given." Elora was getting more and more nervous as the discussion with Koehler went on; this is the longest he's kept a casual conversation with a boy, and her speech became more littered with stuttering. Koehler seemed to notice this due to the suggestion he gave to her before saying he'll talk with Alexei. However, that caused Elora to blush again, and she covered her face with her hands. "Eeh! I can't do that! It's embarrassing!
However, as embarrassed as she was, she did relax. Koehler's presence made her feel a lot better about the situation they were currently in, and she smiled a bit. No matter how scary the fight out there was going to be, at least she wouldn't have to face it alone.

Krista watched as Miles told them about his mech. "Totally gonna need to watch out for him" she thought.

Spotting the nervous blond haired boy from earlier, she sidled up to him. "Name's Romeo right? You pilot the Rose? I like that. Romeo Rose. Roooommeeeooo Rooose. Has a nice ring to it. Anyway I was wondering if you would like to team up with me. We could both use someone to back us up. I was thinking about asking that Yeshua guy as well. Form a little team or something." Krista began scanning the room for Yeshua. "I wonder when we should start suiting up actually..."

Yeshua let his "thoughtful" words sink in. He thought that this was a waste of time now; no one wanted to share their Framework's information since they are to be battling each other soon. As everyone broke into their own conversations, it was almost confirmed that Alexei would be their leader. Whether it was a foul jealousy or a deeper longing to lead, Yeshua felt bitter about the predicament. He realised his emotions were letting him get the better of him. This was not going to happen again. The pilot decided he would lead his feelings of this from now on, as much as he could.

The room's acoustics dropped as the walls came closer to him , pushing him to the limit. His holopad, the only thing he could need when it came to leisure, was retrieved from his pocket and his thumbs began tapping at the cold screen. It was all very cold. No draught could be felt but a cold current swam above them like a vulture searching for its prey. If there was to be an enemy, Yeshua thought, it was the sky.

Yes. The sky is the enemy. That sounds inspirational.

He flicked through a few non-existent pages on his holographic device and quickly wrote down the phrase. It was all he needed to continue through - the solidarity of a powerful phrase. Words had guided him through all of his life, until this point, where no words of gratitude or persuasive nature could save him from dying. If he was to fail by fighting, he would win by thinking.

Noticing how lost he was in his own self-absorption, the boy put his own holopad on the table everyone was gathered on and laid it down, sitting sternly on one of the cold seats. With speed, his fingers passed through hundreds of photos before projecting a particular ensemble; it was a compilation of all their faces, official photos taken by the company that trained them.

Miles was not looking to make friends with anybody, but he wasnt stupid, he knew his actions had left him alone. And though he felt Lora acknowledged his respect, he wasn't counting on her to team up with him so he decided to approach the pilots he felt he could maybe form some sort of breif alliance with, if just for the exercise.

He saw the quiet boy Yeshua he was scanning the room calmly but seemed deep in thought, although Miles picked up he wasn't as infatuated by Stukov's speeches as some of the pilots in the room. Maybe Yeshua wasn't convinced on this young man's 'leadership'. Miles approached him in a very indirect and slow manner.

I have no illusions that you are here to make friends, I am certainly not either, but I will offer my assistance to you in this mock battle so neither of us will have to take on 3 at once. Or at the very least I will not turn my sword on you if you don't attack me. Please consider it.

He wasn't sure how much the young man was listening but Miles said all he was going to say and left Yeshua in piece. He next strolled over to Lora the Caliburn pilot to simply make himself clear one more time.

Join up with me, just this once, you know I know what I'm doing. I saw your eyes when I explained the specs of the Komodo,I was very aware i was giving away information on my framewerk, but it was an advertisement, you know an alliance in this mock battle would be useful. I have no quarrel with you Lora, consider it.

Miles nodded his head to her as he turned away, this time much more clearly and sincerely than before. He made his way to his last possible co-operater.

Harold Koehler, I see some potential in your machine, I offer you to join me in this mock battle. I'm sure you want to see how you craft matches up to mine in combat. I propose after we defeat the cruxi me and you can have a 1 on 1 contest, with live weapons and ammo....but not yet, think about it.

Miles returned to his seat, before dropping his head to return to his pocket computer he locked eyes with Lora for a split second, he knew not what it meant, but didn't look away.

Koehler looks back at Miles, and replies, "Will you drop the one-man army act? And stop appealing to 'skill'? I don't like those. I don't even see why this 'mock battle' is necessary... Just treat it what it is. But alright... I suppose. I guess you don't have to stop being 'you', but I'm not-not teaming up with Elora, y'know? She's meant to support something I think and if she isn't going to support something then it'll fuck her shit."

He thinks for a moment and continues. "...And no I'm not doing a 'one-versus-one' either. I don't like you, but I'm not accepting the possibility of 'accidentally' killing each other more then I need to. Sorry...", he 'finger-quotes', "Bruh.".
"...Well... eh, screw it, actually, meet me after the battle to talk about stuff. I have a proposition, I guess."

He then realizes how close to Stukov he is and backs off, before continuing back to Elora's side. He talks to her some more, trying to reassure her, "Hey, are you still doing reasonably okay? I mean, aside of fawning over Stukov over there? You like him, don't you Elora?". He manages to make a tiny, tiny smirk even over his 'condition'.

"Y'know I could set something up for you, somehow. Keheheheheh.". He then goes to something a bit more important and serious, "But yeah.. it's probably almost prime-time ain't it? Miles is asking me if he wants to team up and I said 'ahh nuu not just us two bla bla'. So y'know, he might be joining us. I'll make sure he won't be too much of an ass to you, I suppose."

Stukov turned when he was approached by Koehler, who made his offer towards the two of them teaming up alongside Diver. That was not a bad idea, it covered close and mid range combat alongside having good recon potential. He didn't know Koehler as a person, nor the very shy and easily flustered looking Elora. But he didn't think that would follow her out to the field, so he wasn't worried about it, and it never even crossed his mind that there would be any interest beyond apparent leadership. Just as he was about to respond, however, Goodwell also approached him with his own offer to team up and stand against the rest of the pilots present. Well, didn't that present an interesting situation? And he didn't comment on the fact Daemon's utilitarian set up made it a good fit for most other Frame's, but he spoke quietly to not attract unwanted attention. "Not a bad idea, not from either of you. Koehler and Elora are teamed up, and they already set up an offer to join in, and I see no problem having Macabre in on it as well. Between the four of us, we could handle almost any situation out there during the mock battle."

Stukov, if he had any say in the matter, would unite as many of the Pilot's and their Framewerks as possible under one banner, regardless of whether he was in charge or not. It was giving him something to focus on, meeting the challenges and problems that each of them faced head on was good, it kept his mind from wandering. Even Miles and his stubborn lone wolf mentality, far more so then any of the others had, was going to be something they would have to overcome. What concerned him was the fact that the battle might not end when everyone opposing their little informal team was said and done, and he had to consider how he would handle three suddenly not so friendly Framewerks, especially Macabre and Roxy, in close quarters. Even Diver would be risky to handle poorly due to the load out and speed it had for being as armored as it looked. If it came down to it, he would have to not waste any time with putting each of them down, which was a sickening thought that he had to consider turning on the people he was allying with in this little exercise. But he would do what was needed, and he kept his silence beyond that, watching and keeping an eye on things and waited for what was to come.

As Miles offered the rather opportunistic deal, many thoughts rushed through the head of Yeshua. His brain was filled with ideas which sparked a path to victory but ultimately not one that needed help from another soldier. While they were a team, and were going to fight with each other rather than against, this exercise was not for teams. If anyone had made pacts, which they most certainly had, they were going to suffer for it.

Miles seemed too distracted in himself to see others, Yeshua pondered. His eyes could only see so far ahead of him, but maybe that's what a soldier needs to do. Not see the consequences, the boy thought. Don't see the consequences and just do what you're told. A perfect soldier.

Yeshua folded his arms and lay his head softly against the back of the freezing chair. It felt of plastic and manufactured material, forged in a dying, blistering hot factory. The thought gave him some warmth as he looked at the ceiling, the mutterings of others slowly fading away into the non-audible goop that it truly was.

Twice now he spoke up and seemed to be drowned out or corrected. Moreso wheneveryone seemed to have so much information on each other, he had been told what they learned was gleaned though a spy network, surely the network cant be this good or this bad for everyone to know everything about each other. What did the enemy know about them then?

I cant take this Rose Framewerk seriously. If any of you emerge as leader, keep this joke of machine as far away from me as possible on the battlefeild before I blow it up for fun.

That hurt, it hurt a lot, more than he thought it would. Wasn't the Frame supposed to be a reflection of the pilot? Would all of the work be worthless if such doubts were able to infect the team view of him?

Absentmindedly, The boy began to wring the knots on his Obi sash keeping his kimono closed. It was a gift he got from another and thought to wear it for comfort. But was it just adding to what he was being mocked for?

Was he supposed to call him out on it now and start a fight outside the frames? That could be seen as childish, but if he didn't would that seem submissive? Did he just attack the guy for no other reason and be seen as the bad-guy for fighting over words or is he standing up for himself?All of this could be quite maddening until someone approached him to break him of his inner dramas.

"Name's Romeo right? You pilot the Rose? I like that. Romeo Rose. Roooommeeeooo Rooose. Has a nice ring to it. Anyway I was wondering if you would like to team up with me. We could both use someone to back us up. I was thinking about asking that Yeshua guy as well. Form a little team or something. I wonder when we should start suiting up actually..."

He looked up at the other with those honey gold eyes of his and dumbly nodded.

"There are nine of us, if he wants to solo that leaves eight of us, probably two to four teams of two to four, lots of pairing up will make it a 'king of the hill' with people betraying one another as it goes on if it counts down to just one winner. I still hold to what I said before, if we do a team of three we need melee, midrange and long range. I'm melee so I'm in no leader position, maybe if I upgrade Rose I would be better suited, but for now I'm trying not to just smash *his* frame to bits. when the bell goes off."
Subtly, the wringing hands had been working one end of the obi into a 'monkeys fist' to attack with.

Koehler teased Elora more about Alexei, and she meekly responded: "Why w-would I l-like him? I barely even know him. He could be a mean jerk for all I...know..." her speech trailed off as she listened to what Alexei said about a team of four including her. She realized that Koehler invited him to join their team, and she blushed, entranced by her own thoughts. "Oh, so you...then...he and...I..." She quickly snapped out of it when Koehler mentioned Miles, though. Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea... Elora honestly didn't want to team up with someone like Miles, at least not immediately. She liked the current number of people their group had, and adding anymore to it would be too much for the mission in her opinion. After all, she wasn't even sure if forming teams was acceptable for the mock battle, since it is a free-for-all. Of course, it would be different when they all would have a common enemy and everyone would have to stick together, but for now she was happy about the people she could support.

Then it happened: a loudspeaker in the briefing hall was turned on, and Lieutenant Ritsu's voice came out of it, loud and clear.
"All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."

Lorenzo's voice then came out. "If I see anyone deploy their Framewerks prematurely, I will disqualify them!"

"Looks like it's going to start now. I'll see you later, Koehler," she said to Koehler, and headed out of the briefing hall. She went to the women's changing room, and found her piloting suit there. She hated putting it on: it was tight, and emphasized her chest and crotch areas in embarrassing ways. She hoped that she wouldn't draw too much attention when she was seen wearing it. At least I don't have a figure like the Lieutenant does.
However, the suits are advanced pieces of clothing: They are a one-size fits all, but are skin-tight due to the fact that they protect the wearer's body from trauma. They absorb shock damage depending on the amount of force applied if you get punched, or hit with a pipe, or get thrown around in your cockpit, so you'll be fine and won't feel much of anything. They are also fireproof and meant to be a portable life-support system on the field. Once put on, they act as a second layer of skin and can be quite comfortable once you get used to wearing one.

Once she put it on, she then headed to the hangars, specifically the one where her Framewerk, Diver, was located. Engineers were still putting finishing touches on its preparation when Elora stepped into the incredibly vast area, and they greeted the young pilot and gave her a rundown of repairs or changes they made to the Frame. Elora nodded to their words; she didn't understand everything they said, but she fully appreciated the work they put into Diver's maintenance, and engaged in a bit of small talk about the Combat Analyzer when it was mentioned.

Elora then opened up the front of Diver's round exterior, and hopped inside. She checked her systems, and they were all green. She then opened up the Combat Analyzer, and set it to limit its unit data processing to only Framewerks. She added Diver's data to it for cross-referencing, accelerating data collecting speed by 65%. It was easy enough to do, the Combat Analyzer being a state-of-the art supercomputer that could be customized up to the finest details, though Elora didn't touch on anything more than was necessary. She leaned back on her seat once she was done setting up a voice channel for her, Koehler, Alexei and Ryan, and contacted them once they were in their Framewerks: "Testing, testing, do you read me? It seems we were given a rough file of the arena the mock battle will take place in, but I'll set us up with a better map once we get out there. Umm, good luck, everyone."

She felt relaxed and at ease while she was sitting in front of a computer; she was truly in her element now. Elora was quite adept with computers for her young age, and was thus chosen to pilot a Framewerk reliant on expert technical skills like Diver was. Unlike the outside world which was full of hate and malice, inside Diver she felt like she was safe from all that. It was comforting, almost as if she was held in her own mother's arms.

I miss her. But she would be proud of me, I just know it.

As the pilots continued to congregate amongst themselves and pick their allies for the upcoming battle, Lora simply remained silent. While she was certain that the team-up idea had some novelty to it, the catch still held that ultimately, on had to come out on top. If they worked in pairs, it meant whichever team took out the competition had to duke it out for the victory. With everyone trying to team up with one another, this was ultimately going to resort in either overlapping teams, or a strange tournament formation in which two teams fought and the winner split and fought again.

From what Lora observed, the chain of deals everyone was offering one another pulled the mass of pilots under one group, sans three people: Yeshua, who seemed to be as quiet and contemplative as she currently was; Miles, who wasn't getting much luck with Koehler or Yeshua (and arguably Lora); and of course, Lora herself, who seemed to be ignored outright by a few of the other pilots. Poor first impressions? With teenagers, even ones raised by war, it was hard to say.

"All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."

Well, time for their first actual sortie. Lora had a feeling this was going to be more than a little chaotic, and in a case like this, getting pinned down could be punishing. Of course, that was all dependent on who was actually allying with who, which potentially could turn a majority of the fight into a series of various back-stabbings. And what of her, Miles, and Yeshua, who had yet to obviously ally with anyone? Caliburn and the Komodo could certainly each hold their own, but for how long against an established team?

If this plan blows up in my face, I'll never hear the end of it.

The plugsuits were terribly snug, as per standard code. Complaining about something like this was just petty (certainly considering that she didn't exactly have a body to be ashamed of,) but Lora might've done less of it in her history if they just affixed less into her curves.

Not looking to risk flaunting anything, the pilot suited up proper quick and took a brisk, accelerated walk to where her Framewerk rested in the hangar. The novelty never wore off, seeing how damned huge these things were. Though as time passed, it turned into less of, "How the hell did they manage to build a standing machine that big?" and more of, "How the hell did I drive this thing like an actual body?" The answer to both was 'physiological and mechanical science', but to Lora, the matter appeared like something the human mind just couldn't comprehend, even if she had done it times before.

But never mind that, now was the time for action. The engineers gave Lora a brief once-over of the maintenance, and she glossed over it with the assurance everything was working as it was supposed to. Poor form, yes, but this was a mocking of an operation, and the Framewerk certainly hadn't been near or done anything that would put it risk recently. The pilot paced across the catwalk, slid in through the main hatch, and entered the cockpit. In this case, rather, cockpit was something of a relative term.

Lora's controls for Caliburn was a body harness with a small series of buttons and thumbsticks around the hand grips. Most of the capacity for 'auto-pilot' was really just freeing up the pilot's hands for in-cockpit work. The intent was to lend towards pilots better synchronizing with their Frame via actual movement coordination, but much like a ship's maiden voyage, it could very easily sink instead of swim. She strapped herself in, took a moment to get a feel for the harness, performed movement calibrations, all typical procedure in Lora's experience. Recalling her minor plan, Caliburn's pilot flicked a couple of dials on the communications panel, testing the feed and gaining success. Lora located the channel for two particular Frames, and put herself on after a careful breath.

"Miles, Yeshua," she started plainly, but with stern intent, "I'm not going to deny that either of you can hold your own in a firefight. What I will say is that Stukov is the most dangerous. Daemon is equal in power and durability, and if it can even get one frame for support, it'll be unstoppable."

She rolled her head around on her neck to loosen herself up before continuing, "To take down that Frame, one needs to land a single strong decisive blow, something any one of us can do; and one of us has to do, if you want that Frame to go down without taking you with it. Whatever happens before and after him is irrelevant, but when it comes down to that Frame... just keep in mind, you might want backup." It was a flimsy idea of a plan, but Lora garnered the understanding that each of them wanted their own way to go, so she would leave them to that with just a suggestion.

She gave them their time to respond, and filled in her own closure, "What I offer is a suggestion for nothing more than a truce, and not even that." With that, Lora went silent, just letting out controlled breathing and waiting for the launch signal.

Breathe in-... hold... breathe out... breathe in-...

The muted noises ticked and whispered by in some noncommunicable message. She continued the breathing exercise.

Koehler followed Elora until the point where he diverged to his Framewerk's hanger, after suiting up of course. He did wonder why they made all of the plug suits so tight, in addition to being so 'form fitting' for the girls. If they were any tighter it'd probably hurt if he ever got 'excited'. "...What a dumb design..." he very quietly whispered to himself as he climbed into his Framewerks' cockpit, it kneeling in its' hangar bay. He waved the engineers who just finished doing some final touches before he jumped into the helm.

He sat down in the Werk's chair and made sure he was as calm as possible before trying out the simple 'manual' controls for the first 'real' time, being panicky is hell for your synchronization rate, if he remembered correctly. He began thinking about why the hell they were doing a mock battle instead of something more productive...

He got a 'hilarious' idea and communicated it to the other pilots in open channels, "Hehehe, ladies and gentlemen, I just got a funny thought. What if this 'mock battle' is like, a test if we can see through a ruse and like, we're all supposed to refuse to do it? That'd be hysterical! With my luck, it probably is, huh?"

As the pilots were mingling and talking, one girl had sat quietly in a chair at the far corner of the room. Not interacting. Not saying a word to show her presence. Keeping her eyes closed as if asleep. She merely was either truly asleep, processing whatever information she had studied or perhaps was merely waiting for the call to suit up. Regardless, she just continued to sit there...until.

"All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."

On that announcement, her eyes opened. Standing up at attention, she merely walked out of the briefing hall like the other pilots and made her way to the womens changing room area. Again, she said not a word as she put on her plugsuit.

She then made her way out to the frameworks hangar where she approached her framework: Model Code "R-1" but codenamed "Setsuka".

For this pilot, she knew that she would be fighting three battles like she aways knew...with her enemies...herself...and her framework's combat system.

...remember seven...on the battlefield, a warrior must always remain detached...emotions will get you killed at the worst possible time...

Be it an actual mission or even a simple mock battle or training, Mai would always remember one of many harsh lessons like the one she just remembered from her old frameworks division. Granted, even she had once thought that they were harsh but she also admitted that SOME of the things she was taught held truth. But that's not what her new superiors wanted. They wanted teamwork, synching with pilots and anything to show that she was more than just a one-man army killing machine.

And she also knew that going through this battle solo would be suiside even for her. She WAS listening to the other pilots talk back in the briefing room but she wondered how long the alliances would last before one idiot decided to shoot his/her teammate in the back. After all, there can be only one winner. But to do this to determine a "leader"? Much like the other pilots, she had also mentally questioned that.

But her superiors had made her mission crystal clear to her...there can be only one victor.

As she approached, the engineers and scientists assigned to her mech waved as she approached. All of them simply saluted and some even gave her a thumbs up as if to say her machine was ready.

She returned the salute before she hopped onto a mobile lift. The operator then raised her up to the cockpit near the chest where Mai entered and promptly closed when she was seated. Putting on her special black helmit, she then started up her machine.

As Mai did the routine systems check, comm's check and the usual stuff, she then closed her eyes as the system began to run what one of her scientists dubbed a "synhro test check".

When it was finished, she observed the information on her main screen.

"...current synchro rate...seventy perfect...inefficient for T-link combat system...", Mai droned into her comm line.

"It happens Seven but like in the past, once the battle starts, it'll raise up due to your concentrative focus. You'll just have to use basic hand-to-hand tatic's if necessary but use your magnums when you see opportunities. In other words, the usual", the scientist on her team replied.

"...understood sir...standing by...", Mai replied.

Switching from a private comm link to an open one, she decided to see if any of the other pilots would be using it to communicate with each other.

Miles found himself looking at Lora longer than the other pilots, he didnt know why this was and he didnt have time to think about it. He quickly made his way to the locker room, wanting to get this vetting stage over with so he could face some real opponents. On the way into room he brushed shoulders with Stukov as he walked past him, and shot him a frosty glance.

Be sure to keep the lone wolf away from the sheep, fearless leader...

Miles said in a low growl and walked on into the chamber, acknowledging Mai properly for the first time , she was like a ghost, a natural stealth machine, and fairly intriguing. Miles didnt get a chance to size her up in the earlier debate but he remembered a brief flash of her Framewerk from his computer. The design was a little garish for his taste but it seemed to be competent machine at the very least. Miles siletly wondered if her quiet behavior was hiding an immense amount of skill.

Upon taking the jumpsuit out of the locker, Miles spat in disgust, it looked like a fetish uniform, and not even a stylish one. He grimaced as he climbed into it, but kept his his shorts and vest on underneath. On the way to the hangar he noticed Elora, Mai and Lora in their form fitting pilot suits, Miles shook his head and did his best to keep his mind focused on his on true love, The Black Komodo.

Upon entering his beautiful beast of a machine he quickly took his pilot outfit off and relaxed in his drivers seat in his vest and shorts, if he was going to fight, he needed to be comfortable. Blue and green lights illuminated the cockpit as his on board computer whirred on. Miles turned his radio mic on to all the other Framewerks, and turned off all auto scanning and targeting assist functions, and changed his window monitor to a 360 view of the immediate area around him. Miles not only had to be comfortable in his own skin but make sure that his Komodo was fighting raw, no help or special aid just his eyes on the enemy and his natural instincts.

Just in that moment his intercom came on, it was Lora, she contact him and Yeshua about the danger of Stukov's Daemon and how it needed to be dealt with first. Miles knew he wasn't the most popular but he also knew everybody listened when he mentioned the Caliburn and Daemon being the strongest and most dangerous Framewerks out there, outside of his own Komodo of course. Miles thought for a moment before speaking.

Lora, Yeshua, I don't plan on turning my weapons on either of you, I have my own targets. Be wary of the other teams though. One of the pilots has a crush and is determined to protect his new infatuation at all costs. That is all.

Miles, closed the audio and opened his intercom to another pilot, one he wanted to address for a while.

Ramirez, I have no personal quarrel with you, but before the end of this battle I'm going to make you wish you never brought that pathetic excuse for a machine into this battle. I'm going to beat you, and its going to be very embarrassing.

Miles felt good saying that, his disgust for the Rose framewerk wasnt leaving his mind. His last message was for the pilot he had no chance to speak to before.

Mai Twilight, My name is Miles Vayne, I look forward to seeing how you and Setsuka perform in this battle, you may interpret that however you want, good luck.

With all the messages he wanted to send now sent, he grabbed his battle wheel and took a deep breath, keeping in mind as many of the capabilities and dangers of the other pilots as possible. His arms felt light and his feet heavy on the pedals.

Game on.

Miles' offer would go unnoticed. Nothing would change the affairs now, Yeshua thought. Solidifying the concrete nature of his thoughts, it sank to the bottom of his heart, swimming in a sea of sludge. His head softly rest against the back of his chair and his feet delicately placed on the pylon underneath the table, supporting it. Was this a canteen? thought Yeshua, wondering if he would ever return here. If he did, this seat would be his. He would be able to tell, since there was a rather large mark on the lower seat. It was like someone had scratched it beforehand, which bothered him even more. Were they the first, and why were --

"All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."

It was that time, then. Hypothetical statements would have to wait. Now, he had to deal hundreds of millions worth of damage to other people's frameworks. How poetic, the boy thought. Leaping himself from the shackles of the chair, he strolled past the door, taking in the surroundings with very little idea where he was going. Vents to his left and right trickled air from the outside like cracks in a seamless glass pane.

Slipping into one of the combat suits, it felt tight and, to be honest, rather uncomfortable. He wouldn't want anyone else to see his almost naked for. It was like stepping into a womb for Yeshua; naked and afraid, but with the sheer excitement to see the outside world. Stepping into the cockpit, the panels around him refracted and he could see every single one, with each having its purpose.

The Anzu was outfitted to be deadly and powerful, nothing more or nothing less. The high-powered rifle, at least thirty feet long, had enough power to puncture most types of armour if used properly. It was going to be down to not the machine, but Yeshua himself. The framework was named after the Old Bible creature, apparent in Mesopotamian Myth as the god of the Sky. A beautiful metaphor for these machines that hopefully would one day save humanity.

One of the panels lit up, displaying lines of information that ran straight past him. A somewhat familiar voice rang through the cockpit. Lora's offer was kind and made sense, which is the exact reason Yeshua refused.

"Lora, did you know Goliath was a man only around seven feet tall, but probably never lived as he was just a metaphor to inspire rebellion against the Romans? Trust me, the Deamon is nothing to be feared of, much like the Cruxi. Expect combat. Even with me or Miles. Let's try and keep out of each other's way.

With that swift response Yeshua flicked off the communications switch, shutting down one of the many panels in his library. He was somewhat satisfied, even if he did just doom himself. The Anzu was swift and strong, he would be safe. It was so strong in fact, he was surprised this technology hadn't enslaved the rest of humanity by now. How could people so young have so much power? Are we really the captors of Gods?

Is there a God? Yeshua pondered for far too long. Why would he send me here? To die?

Krista listens to to Romeo's suggestion on team tactics and makes an agreeing noise. "Well I suggest letting Miles wear himself out fighting the others to start. He seems dismissive of you so he won't be keeping an eye on yo- "

A loudspeaker comes on. "All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."

Lt. Ritsu's voice is followed by the Professor's. "If I see anyone deploy their Framewerks prematurely, I will disqualify them!"

"Well speak of the devil. We better get ready. I'll get in touch when I get to my Framewerk." Krista exits the hall and heads toward the changing room.

Krista spotted Lora and Elora in the changing room, but she focused more on getting her plugsuit on. She doesn't mind that these suits left little to the imagination. These things were meant to be functional, not stylish. They packed a surprising amount of protection into a low profile (colors aside) and relatively comfortable package.

The Archer's squat quadruped form greets her as she enters the hangar. She felt a slight sense of pride of being the pilot of such an unusual machine. At first the unusual design had made manoeuvring awkward, but she had powered through it and became one of the few people who could pilot this sort of platform with the relative agility she could. Krista watches as the last few techs make their way off the machine. Opening a hatch on the back of the Archer, Krista descends into a cockpit behind the Framewerk's 'head'. She straps herself in and puts on the HUD goggles. Taking a deep breath, she tries to open a line to the Rose while doing the pre-startup checks. "Rose this is Archer, do you copy?"

Koehler continued waiting while looking at his new surroundings. A spherical cockpit, the front lined with all sorts of panels, energy levels, ammunition for his shotgun, thruster statuses, G forces, bla bla bla bla bla... "Why do things so big have to be so complicated...". At least his seat was comfortable, that was always good. Don't want to have to worry about a hurting spine while fighting for your life, right?

He begins to wonder if his old friend successfully smuggled in that 'Kepler Grass'. Yeah, right. 'Kepler Grass', some really good narcotics originally found on one of the Kepler planets. Some good shit. It could probably calm down a Cruxi for a few minutes. Ah, drugs, the answer to, and cause of all of life's little problems. Music too, good music and some 'KG' can calm anyone down, great combo.

Speaking of music, "Hey, everyone hear me? Would anyone give a shit if I started playing some old-ass music over the radio? Pretty great! I think it was made when earth was the only planet under humanity's rule, in like the original 2000's or something for a video game.", He continued, "Well I'm playing it anyway. I think it's perfect."

"Hey, wait, wait," he said "Lemme get 'in character'. He puts on the most 'metalhead' voice he can, "THIIIIS IS DJ METALFACE, LIVE FROM THE ARENAAA! TODAY WE'RE PLAYING MYSTERY TRACK #1 FOR ALL OF THOSE BRAVE PILOTS! RAARRRRGH!" He then actually plays the track from a tiny music player he apparently smuggled in with himself.



"But yeah let's do this shit! All systems ready!". He looked over all systems one last time, some good 'fighty' music makes him fight a little better, he thinks. Probably just a placebo affect, really. Left hand control? Check... Right hand? Check... feet? Still there... Yep, seems like everything was good. Amazing how the Roxy is fit with what's effectively a 'scanner' to further assist the pilot control his machine, reading his body motions for more specific control.

He made 'Roxy' do a little dance waiting, tapping it's foot and testing to make sure it's Pile-Bunker was working. CHNK! RRRN! CHNK! RRRN!. Yep, Stake firing mechanisms and retrieval was working 100%. Good. Thrusters? FWWWWWSSSHHHH. fired at minimum power, exhaust is firing. Also good. Emergency thrusters? WRRRR, FSSHHHHHH. Yep! All systems absolutely working.

"Well I suggest letting Miles wear himself out fighting the others to start. He seems dismissive of you so he won't be keeping an eye on yo- "

A loudspeaker comes on. "All personnel, prepare for the start of Operation: Mock Battle. Cadets, your plugsuits are in the changing rooms next to the Framewerk hangars. Suit up, prepare for deployment, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted."
"If I see anyone deploy their Framewerks prematurely, I will disqualify them!"

He looked down as she spoke, already feeling like she didnt see him as a threat, not that he wanted to be a threat to her, but he felt the need for her to see him as a contender against the idiot. But she did have a point, let him be stupid to everyone else first and exhaust or expose himself. He was so focused in ward that he barely heard the blaring announcement.

"Well speak of the devil. We better get ready. I'll get in touch when I get to my Framewerk." Krista exits the hall and heads toward the changing room.

~So, do you like her?~
Not a year ago, Romeo was with his brother while they had been going over him being the pilot and talking about the staff on the team when the talk wound its way to girls. What else were fourteen year old brothers supposed to talk about? At the moment, the would-be pilot was talking about a technician with her own cybernetic arm.
~Um- well- I-~
~Sure sounds like it if you cant say anything about it.~ He teased Romeo, that soft smirk that only worked when you were six feet tall.
~I donno!~

He was mostly lost in thought as he went to the changing room and took off the kimono to reveal he was wearing his suit underneath already before walking on to get to his frame. Unlike most others, his drivers core was in the chest plate rather than the head. This made a significant difference when targeting areas but all specs had placed the pilots chamber in the head like a standard frame. Lots of little differences had been made, namely the sheer sparsity of his cockpit being a chair that he was fixed to.

When things started to boot up, he was injected with a spinal tap as the chair folded up around him to the fetal position while the tapping device implemented its up-link with the chip attached to his nervous system. This is how a 14 year old boy coped with piloting a frame, he had a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain–computer_interface]BCI[/bci] or 'bouquet' that constantly mapped and compiled his entire nervous-motor system so that when he paralyzed himself. There was more than enough data to move around with 'educated guesses' based on every step he has ever taken since the implant was set into him last year and reinforced with the physical training. The paralytic agent also served to protect his body from impact the same way a drunk driver walks away with only scratches, by being totally limp.

Ramirez, I have no personal quarrel with you, but before the end of this battle I'm going to make you wish you never brought that pathetic excuse for a machine into this battle. I'm going to beat you, and its going to be very embarrassing.

Rappelez-moi de planter une fleur sur ta tombe, ou pousser un buisson d'épines dans le cul! Votre choix.

To say it got to him was an understatement, but when he saw a different com hailing him, he opened the link.

"Rose this is Archer, do you copy?"

"Yes, I copy."

His voice was terse but halted, clearly upset but not at her.

Mai merely listened to all the chatter going back and forth on the open lines. Some positive, some negative...some weird.

Mai Twilight, My name is Miles Vayne, I look forward to seeing how you and Setsuka perform in this battle, you may interpret that however you want, good luck.

Mai didn't bother responding to Miles message. Granted, his mind seemed on the mission but if some felt that Mai had trouble with teamwork and synenergy, they should probably have a look at Miles attitude. The man seemed to be out to do the opposite of what she thought of him: ruin a mission with his big mouth. He had the skill perhaps but...

Then the pilot called Koehler started, of all the inefficient things, playing some weird sounds on the open line...no...it was "music" of some sort.

Mai then switched back to a private comm link to block the noises.

"...inefficient behaviors detected...", Mai droned.

"Now Mai. Let them be. That's just how they express themselves and bond", a scientist on her team said.

"...music on open lines is inefficient. It disrupts communication between squad members."

"...well ok. The music would be...excessive I'd have to agree but Mai. People have their ways to express themselves, form bonds..."

Mai stood quiet after the scientist statement.

"...Mai?"

"...I'm not "people"...I'm a pilot...trained to kill...nothing more...nothing less..."

Mai heard the scientist let out a sigh before she switched back to the open lines. Once again, greeted by that music. She closed her eyes and tried to focus despite the chatter going around.

She can keep her focus. And even though she said that a 70% synchro rate was inefficient for the T system or "T-link" as she remembered some calling it, she can still use it. It'd just be at low output energy. Still, she can do some damage but overusing it may cause her sync rate to go down depending on the intensity of the situation at hand and if she hadn't taken damage amonst other factors. Some unknown factors as well tend to sneak up on even her.

But that was also why she was here...why she was in this division...she was here to better herself. To learn. To fight.

...to destory...to live...

Mai shook that thought off and simply waited for the order to launch.