Romeo had managed to get picked up finally as he had been looking over and reviewing all of the information. He would never be like diver, but he did use the information to try and draw up battle plans, who moved faster in straight aways, who banked better or could come to a sharp stop. Even Komodo was useful to show how to use the kinetic energy of a hit to shift propulsion by going with it rather than fighting against it.

He was drawing up a plan for one pilot to lead a cruxi into the path of archer and let her cannon wing a pilot into a spin, the round continuing on to hit the cruxi while letting the pilot spin around without loosing momentum to launch an attack of their own. In the midst of the computations, a helicopter arrived and he had to reluctantly remove himself from the machine. Now he was no longer a 300 foot tall war machine protecting the world from the intergalactic threat, he was back to being a 14 year old boy who didn't even clear five feet tall.

Standing in the rows again, he once more wore his kimono as they were tore into with words over actions or inactions. Here this one congratulated himself with a desert and whatever else he could have on any given day. His reward was mere denial of the others, a bullies tactic. This was part of the mental tortures that his brother killed himself over, he had to be stronger than this.

"Now let's move on to the people who seemed to actually realize what the purpose of the mock battle was, but even they failed, such as...Ramirez! You actually succeeded at a basic principle of human intelligence: co-operation and tactics! A marvelous feat coming from this rabble! You showed great promise when you took the Black Komodo down together with Reynolds' Framewerk, but after that, you hesitated! You can never hesitate once the fire is on! That's the moment the Cruxi will take advantage of, and then your teamwork will crumble, like it did when Horowitz led you around like on a leash! Still, you have stones, young'un. I heard what you said about me. A fool I may be, trying to get you runts ready to face reality, but I am, in fact, not trying to make 'bloodthirsty assholes'. That would be a very simple procedure, simply lobtomize the subject and treat it with the correct serums, and there you go: a bona-fide asshole, ready to shit on the Cruxi! But assholes don't win wars, son; soldiers do! And the next time you mention humanity to me like that...I'll lobotomize you so it won't happen again."

This was the first time someone had dared to lay a hand on him and the shock set in more than he wanted it to as he went up on his tip-toes as an immediate stance of savate. But he was released before he attacked a superior officer, not that this man was superior in any way. Clearly this one already sacrificed his humanity on the altar to science long ago.

"Now, does anyone have questions before I announce who the squad leader will be?"

Romeo raised his hand after the other two asked theirs.

"Who did you loose in the war?"

Yeshua swallowed what seemed like a large stone in his throat while he felt sweat trickle down his forehead, sticking his already-long hair to his head. Throughout all of the battle he hadn't sweated one drop and kept his cool even if he was somewhere else for half of the fight. His mind had wandered to meaningless things that even the young man couldn't understand and he would have to analyse his own thought processes if he wanted to still retain his position as a dedicated sniper. That was for a later time, Yeshua remarked, as he and his "team" stood side-by-side for what seemed like the first time in far too long. These were the people he was going to protect and spend his time with in the future. For one reason or another, that made him even more nervous.

Wringing his hands behind his back in the most formal way possible, he displayed the proper stance of someone being talked to by a superior officer. Lorenzo was superior even though he didn't act like it. It took a whole new wealth of dedication to not flinch when the man came in with a . . . Sundae in his hand.

The greatest of us are often the maddest, Yesha remarked, trying to regain his composure. To be honest, he was a slob. Yeshua only became more confused as he started to lecture them on their fighting techniques. After all the preparation, even though they were young, one would think they could coordinate. The boy still had his questions about the combat exercise and how much it had costed for the engineers who had to put back together Setsuka's half-destroyed head. It was madness, in fact, to use the Framework's against each other instead of a computer simulation. Or there was a more sinister reason, Yeshua dared to think.

His ride back to the briefing had been smooth and without interruption, other than a few confused medical staff confused in how he managed to get a large bruise on his right leg. The helicopter made good time and the view was also good. It was such a nonchalant journey after all that Yeshua had been through, he felt like he had just come from a walk in the park. He remembered that this was a walk in the park, compared to what he had to face in the real battle.

When questions could be asked and the rest of his crew inquired to Lorenzo, he knew what he had to ask.

"Sir, the combat exercise seemed pointless. With all the damage done to the Frameworks, it would take a lengthy amount of time to repair them, even if you recover all the materials. A computer simulation would have accomplished the same thing and none of this damage would have happened. My lonewolf tactics were only apparent because I could survive by myself, and after all, the people I could team up with would be my very enemies. Unless I have missed something, sir, the event could have been executed to a much more productive degree." Yeshua slowly let the words trickle out of his mouth, keeping a stern expression and making sure his eyes never met with Lorenzo's. His heart almost dropped to his feet by the time he had let the last words out. "I hope my criticism is appreciated."

It took a lot of willpower to keep his whole body from shaking.

Mai sat as the Professor gave out his final analysis of the mock battle. As he started, Mai already knew she had failed. This environment was different than what she was used to. But she should have expected this. This frameworks division operated on a different set of rules unlike the more..."extreme" methods employed from her previous division. Still, Professor Lorenzo did have a mean streak like certain other high ranking individuals who she trained under but unlike them, he had SOME shread of compassion despite the failed mock battle mission. Though that depended on the pilot.

Then, he addressed her.

"Twilight! The purpose of an operation is that you operate, not sit around on your ass and spectate the others like a mindless robot! You have vocal chords as a deliberate process of evolution, use them! I don't care if you have to growl and bark like an animal to communicate with the others as long as you do it! If I wanted a mindless robot, I would have built myself one with better AI, and not loan a piece of junk from those short-sighted fools who can't even terminate a project properly, let alone work on one! Still, you did show capability for teamwork and proper combat skills, but it was too little too late. Next time, you'll have to be more interactive from the very start, and not after a warm-up!"

"...yes sir", Mai droned with a salute from her seat before letting her hand drop to her lap. It was as she thought though. She lacked the things she thought she did: Drive, Emotion, Synenergy. But more important, she didn't follow her own instincts nor did she keep her cool when she thought the other pilots were "rubbing off" on her. When she was trained before, acting without any direct order was insuborniation. Even if your being shot at, you engage when ordered to.

Rather obviously, THAT needed to change here...well at least slightly. She still had to follow orders. Just not to an extreme such as WAITING for the order to be given. When necessary, she needed to trust herself...and speak her mind when needed to like Lorenzo said.

She decided to hold any questions till the others have spoken. At the moment, she didn't really have any questions to begin with.

Elora blew on the handkerchief and dried the few tears that came out by the time the pilots started asking their questions. Lorenzo began answering them with a profound lack of enthusiasm, yet one could recognize that some of the topics were more important to him than he openly let on. Ritsu continued standing in the sidelines. She was now gave more attention to the scene since the incident with Elora, and tensed up anytime Lorenzo passed by the girl as he walked by the row of pilots.

He asked the biggest question that came: "Uhm, sir, when will our next mission come? Will it be a real one?", and a follow-up, "And... do Cruxi things tend to self-destruct?".

"Well, officially you are only allowed to take to the field after your advanced training is complete, which takes about four months or so. However, considering the rate the Cruxi are advancing from the Zygan system, Cain may order a deployment sooner. Worst case scenario, you may be thrown out there in under a month. So you youngsters better devote the time you have to honing your skills, whether they are physical, mental or social. Especially the social part, that is lacking from you all." Lorenzo turned around.

"As for the other question: the Cruxi utilize both biological and mechanical units in their invasion force, which you will learn of starting tomorrow. The biological units seem to have some kind of sensor built into their weapons, causing them to be broken down once the unit itself is killed. A couple of them have been managed to be captured live, though, so we have managed to initiate research into their weapons. As for the mechanical units, they tend to activate self-destruct sequences when rendered incapable of assuming the offensive, for example disabling its weaponry, resulting in the remains turned useless for research. There have also been cases of more advanced units retreating using unidentified teleportation technology.

My hypothesis is that these advanced units are too valuable to be sacrificed in the field, and so would make for a fine objective to capture. While I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to study a mechanical unit like that close-up and figure out their function, capturing one is extremely dangerous, and could easily result in casualties to the Framewerks. It is up to the Squad Officer's discretion whether such an operation is worth the risk while on the field."

"Hey, sir... one last thing. The... y'know, narcotics, made me freak out. I don't want those any more. I didn't know they'd do... that. I wouldn'tve used them if I knew."

"Ho ho, so you don't want them? Such a shame; I would have been more than glad to provide you with more of the substance, especially if I mixed up some of my colleague's solutions into the mix. However, for you to be properly rehabilitated you will first take diminishing doses to ease your body into the lack of a 'fix' as young ones used to call it. Suddenly cutting off the substance will just lead to unnecessary withdrawal symptoms. I'll also get some research done on the rather peculiar effects the drug causes," Lorenzo said with a creepy grin. He flicked his fingers at the next pilot with a question.

"Sir, I actually have two questions. First, what happened to Stukov?" She glanced around the room to double check Miles wasn't actually there when she asked the next question, "And second,where is Miles?"

"Pilot Stukov attempted to harness the Framewerk's inner potential, but failed. The electricity he generated to coat the Framewerk's armor layers overloaded the systems. And to think how much promise he showed; to waste that potential on such idiot is a shame. I expect you to learn from this, Shinkai." Lorenzo suddenly turned to Lora's direction, his eyes boring into her. "At your current stage of development, you should also have a deep enough connection with the Framewerk to utilize its power. However, you are only to release it in an emergency; it is highly probable that you are unable to control it, just like Stukov, and while he only killed himself, you could cause even more destruction. You must train your concentration and mental capacity every day from now on so you can control it reliably, understood?"

Lorenzo then resumed walking back and forth. "As for pilot Miles, he was reported to not have put on his suit, and due to the lack of protection he is now a vegetable due to a concussion-induced coma. A fool, and an arrogant one at that. People like them don't deserve to pilot my beauties. Anyway, next question."

Romeo raised his hand after the other two asked theirs.
"Who did you loose in the war?"

Lorenzo paused for a moment, and looked Romeo straight in his eyes, before he continued walking. "...My wife and daughter. She was only eight when they came...I shouldn't have been in that conference in Umbris...I struck back, but only realized later why it didn't interface properly...damn things require hormones..." Lorenzo's speech devolved into rambling as he seemed to be absorbed in his memories. Then he snapped back awake, like a lucid dreamer, and turned angry.

"No more questions about my personal life! That is an order! Horowitz," he said and pointed at the next pilot to raise his hand.

"Sir, the combat exercise seemed pointless. With all the damage done to the Frameworks, it would take a lengthy amount of time to repair them, even if you recover all the materials. A computer simulation would have accomplished the same thing and none of this damage would have happened. My lonewolf tactics were only apparent because I could survive by myself, and after all, the people I could team up with would be my very enemies. Unless I have missed something, sir, the event could have been executed to a much more productive degree." Yeshua slowly let the words trickle out of his mouth, keeping a stern expression and making sure his eyes never met with Lorenzo's. His heart almost dropped to his feet by the time he had let the last words out. "I hope my criticism is appreciated."

"If a virtual reality exercise would have been sufficient, do you think I wouldn't have done so?" Lorenzo came leaning close to Yeshua, his breath smelling of pickles and fruits. "You can make a million combat simulations, but none of them will ever prepare the mind for the reality that is the fires of war. There is no sense of danger, no fear of death while in such a machine, making it only useful for basic control tests and gauging motor functions. They don't prepare your survival instincts to give all the adrenaline and endorphin they could to make that final push between life and death. Virtual reality will never replace the real thing, as much as some of my more foolish colleagues like to think. And it seems the exercise wasn't so pointless; after all, we found out how much you can actually do in a real situation," he said, letting the ensuing implication to dig into Yeshua's consciousness. Lorenzo turned away, and returned to the podium.

"If you think yourself so good that you can work alone, maybe we could just do that; we'll drop you into a Cruxi-occupied planet, and observe how you take the invading forces all on your own, since you are so capable of surviving. You would be a hero for the entirety of three minutes and thirty-five seconds before you would be subjected to a fate worse than death. Wouldn't you like that, Horowitz?"

"...Douchebag..."

"WHO SAID THAT?" Lorenzo suddenly shouted. One of the pilots stepped out of the row: It was Ryan. He took an expression of defiance.

"I said that you're a douchebag. You call me an idiot even though I did just as you ordered us to do? You're the idiot here. Besides, Lora would have attacked Elora first, and I wanted to protect her. Anyone
would have done the same in my place. So suck it, gramps!"

He finished his speech with a hand gesture considered offensive in most civilized cultures. Elora blushed a bit when she heard what Ryan said, and lowered her head a bit to conceal her reaction from the others. This, however, didn't escape Lorenzo's observation. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again:

"I see what is happening here. Liu'un, come here."

Elora hesitated. "Uhh-"

"That is an order, Liu'un, not a request," Lorenzo snapped back.

Ritsu suddenly interjected: "Sir, I believe this isn't necessary-" before she was stopped by Lorenzo's fiery leer. Elora did as told, and stood next to the podium. Lorenzo's gaze shadowed the poor girl.

"Now stand still and watch closely, Goodwill. This is what happens when my patience is tried past the limit. Now, pilot Liu'un, Goodwill has decided to act like a complete moron and defy his commanding officer. All because of you. Don't you think you are responsible for this behavior?"

"...Um...Uh...I..." Elora stuttered, so scared she was unable to form sentences. Her face started sweating, and her wide eyes reflected Lorenzo's looming figure over her. Her legs were shaking, barely keeping her balanced. She held her hands tightly to her chest.

"Answer me!" Lorenzo shouted, and the girl whimpered. She started crying again.

"Y-Yes! It's be-because of me! I'm responsible! I'm the one wh-who should be punished, not R-Ryan!"

After a moment that went by in a couple of seconds yet felt like an eternity to all spectators, Lorenzo answered: "...Wrong."

Elora only managed a yelp before she was slapped in the cheek by Lorenzo, causing her to fall down to the floor. She lied there, softly crying and whimpering while partly assuming a fetal position. Ryan clenched his fists and drew something that shone and reflected light from his pocket. He roared:

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Before anyone else of the pilots could respond to what was happening, Ryan lunged at Lorenzo with a combat knife he hid in his clothes. It looked like the old man was about to be stabbed. But then something happened: Lorenzo caught Ryan's knife-holding arm with the kind of speed and strength that should have been impossible for a regular human, let alone a man of his advanced age. Lorenzo tightened his grip on the arm, causing the knife to fall from Ryan's grasp.

"That was the wrong move, boy. Not only did you defy your commanding officer's order, but you also assaulted him. That is an offense punishable by death." He tightened his grip on Ryan's arm again, and started twisting it. Trickles of flowing blood and audible creaking of Ryan's bones could be heard as he screamed in agony. His arm was bent to a 90-degree angle, before he finally released his grip, causing Ryan to fall to the floor in catatonic shock. Ritsu ran to his side, and called a couple of soldiers to carry him over to the med bay.

"However, I'm a benevolent person, so I'm instead going to give you a lighter punishment: you are hereby stripped of your rank and Framewerk, and disbanded from the Framewerk Project. Liu'un, back to the row. And Ritsu, call a new replacement. Issue the Macabre back to the pool." Lorenzo non-chalantly gave orders as Ritsu knelt by Elora's side and helped her stand up again. Elora was filled with grief and remorse, her eyes swelled up due to the crying she's done, as she stumbled back to her place, a red mark of a hand on her cheek. Ritsu also went back to her place, took out her tablet and carried out the order given to her. She was now tensed up even more than previously, obviously not approving of the old man's cruelty.

"Is there anyone else who would like to test their luck? We can either stand here and do this all day, or I'll announce the squad leader. Your choice, Lorenzo said as he finished eating his sundae and placed it back in the drawer.

Harold's questions produced interesting answers. She kinda guessed that they would be rushed into service, but learning that the Cruxi had teleportation technology made her think of another question. She did disapprove of the drug use though.

"Pilot Stukov attempted to harness the Framewerk's inner potential, but failed. The electricity he generated to coat the Framewerk's armor layers overloaded the systems. And to think how much promise he showed; to waste that potential on such idiot is a shame. I expect you to learn from this, Shinkai." Lorenzo suddenly turned to Lora's direction, his eyes boring into her. "At your current stage of development, you should also have a deep enough connection with the Framewerk to utilize its power. However, you are only to release it in an emergency; it is highly probable that you are unable to control it, just like Stukov, and while he only killed himself, you could cause even more destruction. You must train your concentration and mental capacity every day from now on so you can control it reliably, understood?"

It made sense that overloading the system would cause it to blow up, but Krista assumed that there were safety measures in place to prevent that sort of thing. She was apparently mistaken.

Lorenzo then resumed walking back and forth. "As for pilot Miles, he was reported to not have put on his suit, and due to the lack of protection he is now a vegetable due to a concussion-induced coma. A fool, and an arrogant one at that. People like them don't deserve to pilot my beauties. Anyway, next question."

Krista was shocked at the news that she'd made Miles a vegetable. Granted, so many of the cadets had ganged up on him so she couldn't rightly say that she was THE one to put him in the hospital, but she couldn't help but feel guilt. He was an asshole but he didn't deserve that. Either way, Krista was wrapped up in thought as the others asked their questions. She was surprised at the boldness of Romeo's question and even more surprised that the Professor actually answered it.

The virtual reality question also had a fairly interesting response, though she still thought that it wasn't worth damaging the Framewerks. Still, she started to raise her hand for another question.

Then Ryan Goodwell spoke up.

She stood shocked at his outburst. She recoiled as the Professor laid into Elora. She had barely registered that he was armed before the Professor swiftly subdued him. She felt sick at the sound of Ryan's arm breaking.

"Is there anyone else who would like to test their luck? We can either stand here and do this all day, or I'll announce the squad leader. Your choice." Krista slowly lowered her arm, mumbling that her comment could wait until afterwards. She stood waiting, trying to quell her rolling stomach.

-:Deleted:-

Mai quietly watched as everything went down...obviously, emotions got the better of a few. And sadly, one paid a high price. Yet ANOTHER pilot goes down.

...maybe I'm not the only inefficient one here, Mai thought.

But it was the way Lorenzo's perhaps inhuman response time to Ryan's attack that got her attention. Clearly, that alone suggested that Lorenzo was more than just a scientist...the way he reacted...the strength he possessed...the way he suddenly changed from a Professor lecturing his students while eating a sunde to trained soldier in her opinion...

"Is there anyone else who would like to test their luck? We can either stand here and do this all day, or I'll announce the squad leader. Your choice."

"...I will as you say "test my luck" sir", Mai droned all of a sudden.

Not even waiting for an order to do so, Mai stood up from her seat, at attention then walked up to the front of the room approaching Lorenzo. Perhaps getting some stares from the other framework pilots. Yes, what she was doing was flat out insuborniation but for Mai, there was something that she wanted to see for herself.

Even if it means she got seriously hurt in the process...or worse...but Lorenzo's rapid movement...she had seen it before. Only in her previous frameworks division. But...only highly skilled framework pilots who had seen lots of combat had those kind of reaction time and speed. But perhaps she was wrong..."dead" wrong perhaps. But she needed to be sure. Especially...if she was going to take orders from him.

"...sir...throw me out of this division if you must...but I need to evaluate you. What I saw just now...I wish to see again", Mai droned.

That's when Mai suddenly got into a defensive hand-to-hand stance, right there in front of him.

"...attack me sir", Mai droned.

Romeo was satisfied for the moment as he took a step back and to the side closer to Krista. He could understand what would drive anyone to do what they did. This was not the man eating a sunday, this was the man of loss he could follow orders from, not some child-killing data-miner. When the other drew the knife to attack, he made a soft lunge forward. Not to attack or protect, but to get a better view of the play out.

When the knife fell, Ramirez took a ste to the side, the dagger disappearing in the folds of the cloth as he took a step back as Mai stepped forward. Perhaps this professor had more in common with them than he would care to admit. His brother had attempted cybernetics on order to increase the synchronization rates, he had settled for paralytic synaptic conversion. A shift in his robes, and the youngest was handling the blade now as he pondered it and the chainsaw sword to make for his own.

Yeshua was disgusted by what he heard. How could a man in authority ever decide to treat people who spoke out in that way? He was making a correct statement and he knew he was right. Not only was this man incompetent, he was rude and brash, as was all soldiers. That's what they were all like, always talking down to him and treating him like a insubordinate and a child. Now that he had the power of the Framework, he thought it would change.

These things take time, Yeshua realised. They would all soon realise how powerful he was. They will thank him for his actions to save humanity. He didn't realise his feet were tapping together against the metal floor, making slight and small clicking sound. He was almost bouncing.

His plotting was soon stopped when the sound of a girl crying caught his attention. She had just been slapped by Lorenzo in what could only be described as pushing a goat already falling down the mountain. Although she was far from a metaphor, her soft face and red mark on her cheek only begged forgiveness. He wanted to help her, all of a sudden. He had no need to do. Yet he felt obliged to care for someone that didn't even know his name.

It disgusted him.

The initial debriefing ended, and the cadets began to dispense their questions. Harold's came first from shaky lips, him being clearly less secure of himself. It seemed he was regretting his use of drugs, and so denying any idea of taking more of them. Perhaps he was in some sort of post-trip hangover that he was really feeling hard.

The professor's answers provided a bit more professional insight to the Cruxi, some detail that Lora looked to tuck away. For a race that seemed to lack any rhyme or reason to their attacks, they sounded awfully careful and conservative with their equipment. Some ulterior motive, surely, but one that none of the humans knew about. Plenty of questions to ask on that front, but few answers. And unless they got a mission dedicated to it, the cadets likely weren't going to bring back any equipment to salvage or get answers from.

Lora returned to full attention when Lorenzo had called out her name. The professor had confirmed part of Lora's idea about Stukov's fate: he had attempted to harness the hidden potential of the Framewerk, but failed. Why, then, if he knew such a thing would prove so hazardous? Or maybe he didn't know, trusting the word and will of whatever voices he also heard. Regardless, Lora was now in the same boat as the late Framewerk pilot, and so needed to find a way to prosper where he failed. The professor insisted that Lora would have to train herself every day, exercising the capabilities of her mind in order to properly take control of this secret power. She nodded firmly, well understanding the potential consequences if she failed.

Romeo's question was up next, and unlike his confrontation over the comms post-battle, it was personal. Much to all of their surprise, Lorenzo answered. And then promptly devolved into angry, traumatic ramblings, spouting unconnected nonsense. Something about a conference, fighting back, failing, something needing hormones to function...?

The professor snapped out it quickly enough, though, and addressed Romeo and everyone in his next command to not ask any further about Lorenzo's personal life. Fair enough; the prospect sounded rude anyways

Then Lorenzo, with Yeshua's question, went into a heavy rant regarding his control and intentions over the program. Simulations were substitute for training, not for real life, and that was what he intended to test today. Though, with most of the Framewerk trashed right now, it was probably safe to say he wouldn't be testing that every day. And then Lorenzo turned that idea on its heel by attacking the caet personally, spouting doubt over the Anzu's lone wolf tactics and mocking his current capabilities in a real battle.

Then someone else spoke up to insult the professor. Heads turned, and the perpetrator revealed himself to be Ryan. He belittled Lorenzo's vague orders and called him an idiot, and then proceeded blame Lora for his actions; by his logic, Lora would've gone to attack Elora first, and he wanted to protect the younger pilot. Caliburn's pilot blinked at Ryan with an incredulous visage, before piping up, "What the hell are you even talking about?"

Before anyone else could respond, the professor announced, "I see what is happening here. Liu'un, come here."

No, this didn't need to involve her- the conflict was clearly between Ryan and Lora! She reached out to object, but caught a glimpse of his hard stare. For her better judgement, she stayed quiet, retracting her pose.

"Now, pilot Liu'un, Goodwill has decided to act like a complete moron and defy his commanding officer. All because of you. Don't you think you are responsible for this behavior?"

No, she wasn't responsible, it was Lora. She had made a vague nodding gesture to Elora - a tic that she had picked up from one of her engineers, basically a nod of friendly recognition, she had been told. But the cadets didn't know that, and her serious expression might've ruined the gesture - Ryan seemed to pick it up as a threatening gesture. That wasn't the truth, though, and now Ryan had gone out of the way to hack down Lora-

"Y-Yes! It's be-because of me! I'm responsible! I'm the one wh-who should be punished, not R-Ryan!"

No! She didn't need to be punished for anything! It was Ryan who had assumed too much, Ryan who had made an enemy out of Lora, Ryan who was blatantly insulting his own commanding officer just to defend himself! None of this was her fault!

And then Lorenzo harshly slapped Elora to the ground, the professor announcing she was wrong and the pilot breaking down into tears. Lora gritted her teeth, felt her heart rate accelerate, tightened her fists - more than anything, she wanted to object to this, not just to tell Ryan that he was improper but to admit her own fault, all just from a stupid gesture.

But Ryan, as was the trend, acted first and took it a step further. With a furious cry, he charged out at the professor with some hidden blade, before anyone could stop him.

Lorenzo would not be fazed. With impossible ability for his age, he caught the advancing hand, grabbing and twisting it with such sheer ferocity that Ryan's grip failed and his arm cracked. Above his screams of pain, Lorenzo announced his intentions: Ryan's actions thus far were unprecedented treason and attempt of murder, and he ought to be in death row for it... or worse. But in a bout of mercy, the insolent pilot's hand was released, and he fell to the ground, unconscious from the shock. Ryan would simply be stripped of all rank and removed form the project, returning home with shame and a new broken limb.

Lora's heart was racing. She had before thought that this commanding figure was batty and illogical, but this was something else on an entirely different level. He didn't simply resign himself to making threats and mocking inability - no, he had all the might and fury to back it up and fight back. Her own words and intentions died in her throat, and she swallowed hard. Elora was sniffling and gasping, pained from being beaten, and perhaps truly convinced that this was all her fault.

It wasn't true. Lora needed to convince her of that. It was the best she could do now, after having put her in the middle of this conflict and brushing her off during the exercise. She needed to make it up to her. Breifly, she wondered how Mitch was holding up...

And then Mai stepped forward in ever her robotic manner, wishing to test her luck on Lorenzo. With but a glimpse of the old man's capabilities, she wanted to be the judge of how powerful he was. Lora could only stand back, arms crossed again, waiting for this new conflict to end.

Koehler would, in his own wasted-looking ways, look at this counter-productive event. This was stupid, even for him. He'd go in between Lorenzo and Mai, and try to be a man. "You know what? I've already had it with all of you! Every single one of us, even me, is apparently a damn idiot. What the hell would this prove? What the hell would this achieve? Knocking each-other around like goddamn animals? This is dumb. Mr. Lorenzo literally just said-,... Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but he just fucking said we need to stop being idiots and be a team. Fighting him and being childish 'durr, I need to prove myself' fuckheads won't accomplish anything."

He would breath in, wait a moment for 'drama', then continue right before anyone could say shit. "Those Cruxi fuckheads are probably killing countless innocents while we're standing here, planning on fighting each-other. We're framewerk pilots dammit, none of us may be older then eighteen or... whatever, but we aren't little kids going through puberty who just love to measure the size of their dicks. Or tits. Whatever the hell young women do." "War is an adult thing. If we're going to win this war against these crabby alien assholes, we need to be adults. We need to be professionals."

Another round of slow breathing to calm himself down ensued. He then continued speaking his mind. "I know I'm a big one to talk, freaking out barely after we started and waving a white flag, but I know how much of a damn failure I currently am, and I'm going to train to get better, and go cold-turkey even if it kills me! From my experience in being a dumb fucking kid trying to do organized crime, you can't do shit by yourself. And, in a team, communication and trust is key, like Mr. Lorenzo pretty much said anyway. This is why I'm giving my thoughts: Shit like this, speaking out your mind, is vital to a team!"

"So.. I guess I'm going to challenge all of you, including myself. By our first serious deployment, we have to at least appreciate each-other! If we can't do that, we shouldn't even be allowed to call ourselves Framewerk pilots." "That's my thoughts on this matter. We all have a place, and we're all a part of this... family. If we can't support one another and get along, we might as well just lay down our arms and just let the Cruxi kill our species."

Koehler, would instantly regret this decision after letting all of his thoughts out. He would immediately brace for a slap on the face by anyone, or everyone, in the room and preemptively wince a little. He also feared getting shot in the face, but there's no real defense against that he had on-hand. He would begin thinking on how he could at least survive the possibly encroaching chaos. He could just kick Lorenzo in the nuts, find his Framewerk, plug in and fly the fuck out. But that probably wouldn't work since Lorenzo apparently had a little button that would disable it. Whelp, time to face the consequences!

The briefing hall turned tense in its atmosphere as Lorenzo looked at the group of pilots with the kind of fury one could only imagine. The situation seemed to turn out of control as Mai challenged the old man, immediately followed up by Koehler intervening and proclaiming their need to unite. While Lieutenant Ritsu tapped the side of her holster in reluctant anticipation, Lorenzo slammed his fists onto the podium.

"ENOUGH! It's like I'm running a goddamn kindergarten here, when I should be talking to soldiers! First of all," he said while shaking his finger furiously at Mai. "That was a figure of speech and not a challenge, pilot Twilight! Don't take everything so literally! Use your grey matter for once! I've had enough broken specimens for one day! And second, Koehler! I admit your willingness and resolve to improve as a fighting unit is admirable and even encouraged, but it doesn't mean you can provoke the rest! The two of you, get back in the row, RIGHT NOW!"

"What am I going to do with you whipper-snappers," he mumbled to himself after taking a break from the shouting. His constant bellowing was now catching up to him, causing his breathing to become heavy and inconsistent.

"Now then, If I could have one single damn moment without you trying to get yourselves killed, I'll announce the squad leader. Now, all of you failed the test, so in normal circumstances nobody would have been chosen. However, due to us being in a fucking war to extinction with an invading force, we'll need to organize you into a proper unit. And a proper unit requires leaders who take charge and march them to victory. For this I have chosen two Cadets." He paused while looking at each pilot in the eyes, before he spoke:

"Cadet Reynolds and Cadet Shinkai, you two are hereby promoted to Squad Officer and Junior Squad Officer, respectively. The two of you showed the kind of skills required for squad leaders; initiative, leadership, intelligence, tactics, adaptability, all that crap.
Reynolds, you especially showed the most potential for leading a unit, so now you can prove yourself.
Shinkai, while you weren't as promising in that regard, you also showed independent ability and prowess from the rest of the pilots, and not only because of your Synchro Rate. The two of you will together be what I would consider a true squad leader, so from now on you will teach and complement each other.
For details, consult Lieutenant Ritsu. As sign of your rank, you will be authorized for possession of these."

Ritsu brought a suitcase to the podium, and opened it up. Inside were four items: two decorations that were to be worn on the right shoulder and illustrated a human inside a cog, and two pistol-like weapons.

"Tazer pistols," Ritsu began explaining. "They deliver a non-lethal electric shock that reliably incapacitate targets at about twenty meters. You two are authorized to carry them, but their use is only for self-defense and maintaining discipline, and nothing else."

Lorenzo now spoke: "Now remember, with great power comes great responsibility. While you have commanding authority over the rest of the Cadets, that doesn't mean you can abuse it, as you are responsible for the well-being of your unit. If such behavior comes apparent, you'll be demoted. Now, unless you have any more questions for me specifically, I'll let the Lieutenant take over for now."

"Now then, you will have the rest of the day off, but starting at 5.45 AM tomorrow we will begin on the daily training regime. From morning till noon will be physical training. You are to report to Sergeant Ken in the gym area of the Solaire facility after breakfast. The training will include sports, Star Fist-style martial arts and meditation, if I remember correctly," Ritsu said as she looked over the details on her device.

"After lunch you are to report to me for virtual training. I will first hold a recapitulation test of the skills you've developed as part of basic training, followed by advanced simulations including leapfrogging, orbital deployment and strike maneuvers. Once a week, presumably on Wednesdays though there may be changes, you will report to Executive Officer Lorenzo in the briefing hall for lectures on more technical subjects, such as Framewerk systems and Cruxi."

"Free time will be from 6 PM to 10 PM, during which you are authorized to use the gym and recreational areas. The recreational area includes a virtual reality console fitted with various shooting games, a library section and a silent room. Your accommodations will be in the pilot barracks, separate from the rest of the soldiers. There you can find manuals detailing the training program and the available facilities. Dismissed."

Ritsu then left the briefing hall, signalling that her presence was no longer needed. Lorenzo brought a pile of papers on the podium and started reading through them. Finally having time of their own, the pilots were free to either converse with each other or head off to relax and prepare for what was to come in their new life of being Framewerk pilots. Elora held her cheek as she wobbled out of the briefing hall, coughing a bit due to her throat being sore. She looked miserable, having just been witness to a horrific event.

---

Once again, a transport shuttle landed on the rooftop of Solaire Base, and opened its metal doors. However, this time a girl arrived from it. Lieutenant Ritsu didn't change her tone of speaking as she was there again to meet her, though, and had the same professionalism as always. The two entered the building, and walked towards the briefing hall and mess hall, where the other pilots most likely spread to by this point.

"Cadet Camden, I am Lieutenant Ritsu, one of your commanding officers alongside Executive Officer Professor Lorenzo here in Solaire. As you know, you were transferred here as a replacement pilot of the Framewerk Project XJ9, which your previous facility should have now locked clearance of. Your Framewerk will be transferred here in a couple of weeks. You finished your pilot training a bit sooner than the others, so you'll have to work hard to catch up with the others. You will be integrated into Squad Sigma starting tomorrow, but you can already go and introduce yourself to the other Cadets. If you have any questions I will be available in my office for most of the day outside of VR. If I'm not available, ask either Squad Officer Reynolds or Junior Squad Officer Shinkai."

Harold simply went to the mess hall and went over his thoughts, as well as the current events. Thinking, Well that was fucking crazy. I wonder what I should do after I get my stuff..., as he looked under the table he was sitting at for something. He easily found what he was looking for; a box titled 'Care Package <3 -B' in yellow marker scribbles. 'B' was one of his rarely seen military friends, this box was him simply returning a little favor. Possibly involving drugs. Maybe.

He opened it viciously, quickly, and got out its' contents: Delicious food. Five small packets of his favorite 'cheap meal'. NUKE NOODLES! With a tag-line that accurately described the taste, "CALL DOWN THE FLAVOR!", they were surprisingly good, especially when further spicified (and washed down) with what else was in the box. MURDERSAUCE brand chemically altered 'Martian Gutbuster' pepper-sauce. This stuff, in terms of hotness, was actually comparable to police-grade pepper spray. Harold fucking loved the pain.

It also had three bottles of his favorite drink, which was oddly tame compared to what else was in there. Just orange juice. He fucking loved orange juice too. Good pains and orange juice... All that a developing man needs! he jokingly thought to himself as he opened up a bottle and took a few sips. "'Least I had my orange juice I guess." he audibly said to himself before laughing a little, an awkward semi-smile forming. He soon noticed new people coming in! OH! He hadn't introduced himself to these new arrivals! Shit, how embarrassing! He decided to stop what he was doing immediately and look for the two new fellows. He thinks there were at least two, right? He got up and walked over to the girl that was coming into the Mess-hall.

With his odd, permanently angry looking face and mildly weird speech (on top of just being a pretty big guy), he would likely be quite imposing, and perplexing, as he brought one of his bottles of... Orange-juice of all things to this new arrival. "Uhh... Hey there! I'm Koehler. Yeah, Nerve damage, just gonna answer that question right there. Happens when you got punched in the face as much as I did. Hah. Orange juice?"

He forgot Ritsu was there for a second as well, and remembered to salute, a little after he introduced himself. "Uhh... Liutenant Ritsu.", he let out while doing his best to stand tall.

As the shuttle neared it's destination, Alyssa grew more and more anxious. She was leaning forward with her forearms resting on her knees, looking down at her feet. What if I'm not ready for this? What if I can't do it? She thought, clenching her hands into fists. No, I can...I must...that's why I'm here, right? Cause I showed enough promise to replace that pilot? Or is it just dumb luck that I got picked? She continued to question her reason for being on this shuttle inside her head, recollecting some of her best and worst moments during training at the other facility. Letting out a sigh, she leaned back in her seat and covered her face with her hands, groaning somewhat audibly as the memories brought some feelings of embarrassment with them.

She almost didn't realize that the shuttle had arrived at Solaire, and was jolted back to reality when the shuttle door opened. She immediately jumped to her feet and gathered her things as fast as she could before hopping off of the transport. Taking a look around Alyssa saw a woman in a Framewerk suit standing not to far away, and figured that must have been who she was supposed to report to. Alyssa hurried over to the woman, whom she found was Lieutenant Ritsu, and offered a salute before proceeding to follow her though the base. As they walked through the hallways to their destination, Alyssa could barely help but look around and into each and every one of the rooms they passed along the way. This place may look like any other from the outside, but the tech here looks a lot better than where I came from. She thought, having toned out Ritsu almost completely before she realized and tried to listen more carefully. "Your Framewerk will be transferred here in a couple of weeks." She heard Ritsu say, and ultimately found herself sighing. That long, huh? Well, I'll miss Delta...but I guess I'll have to deal with it while I wait. Alyssa thought, barely hearing the next part of Ritsu's speech. "...You'll have to work hard to catch up with the others. You will be integrated into Squad Sigma starting tomorrow, but you can already go and introduce yourself to the other Cadets. If you have any questions I will be available in my office for most of the day outside of VR. If I'm not available, ask either Squad Officer Reynolds or Junior Squad Officer Shinkai."

"Yes, of course, Lieutenant...if I have any questions I will ask them..." Alyssa replied, just as a fairly big and disgruntled-looking guy came up and introduced himself. At first, Alyssa thought he was gonna be some kind of a douchebag with a bone to pick...but when he started speaking, she had a look of surprise, and then relief, on her face. "I'm Alyssa...uhm, nice to meet you Koehler. So...you have Facial Palsy? From being punched in the face? Huh...I had a teacher with Facial Palsy...but he got it from Lyme's Disease..." She replied to Koehler, then looked at the orange juice. "And, uh...no thanks to the orange juice...I can't really drink it any more on account of one bad day. She swallowed hard, and looked around rather nervously. Meeting new people...what fun...

"So...who all is in Squad Sigma?" She finally asked, holding her hands behind her back while leaning on one leg. "Probably need to meet all of them first, right?"

"Well, there's me, I used to be a drug-abuser, We have Elora who's too weak to stand up for herself, we have Lora and Reynolds who are our glorious overlords, we have Yeshua, we have Teaman mcquiets, Romeo, who pilots a flower-robot for some reason, and we have Mai who's kind of a robot.".
He tried to smile, face not moving much due to his little condition, "Nice little squad, isn't it?".

Before Alyssa could answer, Koehler seemed to get really dissapointed about something, noticing Yeshua sitting all alone and moping.
He quickly decided to see what Yeshua was doing before he went looking for that other new one. He'd apologize to Alyssa, "A moment", then go to Yeshua in the mess hall looking all sad and lonely, and sat down next to him. He'd speak up, and try to say hi. "Hey. Yeshua, right?"
"What is it?" Yeshua spat in return, keeping his eyes fixed intently on any place other than the intruder.

"Well, you're apparently just moping around... and shit. Is something wrong?", Koehler said, worrying a little. He almost looked like one of those goth kids that cut themselves. Koehler hated crap like that.
It took the boy a minute to reply. He was obviously in a lucid state of contemplation. His mind darted back to the fight. He had tried so hard but had failed in the eyes of the commander. When he was about to open his lips and share this message, it became obvious to him that Koehler didn't need to know this. He only needed to know he was strong and proud, Yeshua smiled.
"No, nothing's wrong. It is strange being in a foreign place like this. I will be fine." His eyes finally looked up from the table. "You're Koehler, if I remember?"
"Yep, drug-addict and non-stop-dumbass extraordinare. Don't ask me how I got this, but orange juice?", He asked, to continue testing his 'when suddenly: orange juice!' tactic.

Yeshua's eyes narrowed as Koehler introduced the bottle. It was strangely inviting to him. He hadn't had something to drink for a while now. Accepting it would be a kind gesture, Yeshua thought. It would, however, show weakness on his part. The last thing the boy wanted was for people to think he was dependent on others. While he seemed to once again remember the hypocrisy of Lorenzo in the chamber far away now, scarring deep into his mind. Once again had he been deteriorated to another useless cog in a clock, ticking time away. Yet his voice went unheard, even to the figure who claimed to be their leader.

This was not the most frightening revalation. It was how Yeshua had wanted to help the innocent yet foolish young girl known as Elora for no good reason. If it had been Koehler, he thought, there would have been no compassion in his eyes. This sickening thought had driven him away from the chamber and he had vacated his body to the Mess Hall, hopefully to get some space in a far more empty room. The absence of closing walls enlightened him and made him feel like he was at home. Yeshua realised he had no home, as he never had belonged in the first place. The boy did not move his eyes from the damp table. It was clean and removed from all dirt, just as he wished his soul to be. If only was it so simple.
"Loh, toda rabah."

Koehler thought about this. He didn't know this young man, and he didn't know why he feels this way, but he gets a feeling of 'overdone'-ness. It almost seemed like he died a little inside, seemingly thinking some...Really fucking deep shit. Like, "What is art?" or some other overly philosophical crap. Fuck that shit. "Hey, question? You reading ground control from up there? Where the hell is your head?"
"We're a team, kind of a family." Harold continued, "And from my knowledge, a good team, or family, needs to speak their minds. So I'm going to do that again myself. What the hell did I do? I think I saw a vein pop or something, why the hell are you thinking so hard?". Harold resumed his analyzing, "If you ever want to talk about whatever, you can always just tell me. I know I look like a fucking idiot, but a broken clock is right twice a day, right? ...Really though, why do you seemingly think that hard? It can't be healthy. I mean.. aren't we supposed to be thinking about zany schemes to pick up girls or something instead of really deep stuff? I mean, 'normal' teenagers do that and they turn out... y'know, 'normal'."

Not much would have broken Yeshua's composure as he leaped down into the chasm of contemplation, no bungee rope attached. This would be the case for everyone he had talked to, be it the Orthodox Kaballan family he had been brought into before the Cruxi began their crusade, or his own Grandmother. This boy was different. Words could not describe his masculinity or his courage in the face of defeat. As soon as he had heard the words, "kind of", there was no hope for the conversation to last. At the mere thought of someone holding their own against him, the house of cards collapsed instantaneously. His decorum became non observant as almost all of his politeness faded. He was being lectured. "Lectured" had been repeated in his mind around ten times before he looked at the young man to his right, the remains of a smile on his face.
"No, you are right, Koehler."

His little lecturer managed to pull off a small amount of emotion in his face, a little undescribable. "Yeah, I may not be able to pull it off myself as well as I once did, but I can detect sarcasm. Let's just drop the fucking subject then, for now. We'll slap eachother's shit or whatever over philos...philosip.... Whatever later.". He'd grab a seat next to him and plop his ass down. "So, how's your frame been handling? Mine's been doing pretty good. Maneuvers okay and all. Nice and punchy."

Yeshua seemed to lack any amount of excitement at the mention of the Frameworks. Although he almost worshipped his, he had not yet shared any information on it. The Anzu was swift, armoured intensively and carried one of the most powerful weapons mankind had ever created. He had that power in his hands and it was pride alone that had driven him through the previous "training" fight. At the sound of Koehler sitting down, his bruised leg twitched slightly and his unbrushed hair seemed to sizzle in the air.
"I'll repeat again. Koehler, you are right. I'm not being sarcastic."
The boy stood up from his seat and turned to look to one of the farest lights.
"You do look like a fucking idiot."

With nothing else to say, he walked off down one of the corridors, eager to meet one of the other, less ridiculous, pilots.
Koehler, standing flabbergasted, simply smiled afterwards. Of course, a half-smile really. He returned to his little introduction with Alyssa, saying, oddly happily, "Don't worry about him, there's hope for him yet." "I thought he was going all robot as well. Robots can't get angry, right?"

Lora had to admit, she was surprised that the position of team leader was actually split between two figures - if Krista was the one that actually showed the most prowess for teamwork and management, surely she would get the whole position? But no, Lora possessed some key critical ability as opposed to the other pilots, and her high Synch Ratio played a part in that. As the new tools and decorations were handed out, Lora took her share with a slight nod to Ritsu. She pocketed the handgun and quickly fiddled about in getting the pins on, while the lieutenant turned to speak with the other cadets.

---

"Carry on, Cadet," the Lieutenant greeted Koehler in return, and smiled. "Now you kids play nice, and make sure to relax. We'll start with full throttle tomorrow." She then walked away, with a much more casual swing to her hips.

Elora was quick to leave the briefing hall, still glum and pained by her faults, but Lora would have none of that. Before she could move to pursue the sullen girl, however, she noted Krista, the Archer's pilot, about to cross paths. That was right, Lora was one of the new leaders for Squad Sigma; still technically below rank of Krista, but a leader all the same. A hefty concern, certainly, considering this mismatched ragtag group of pilots, but she would have to attend to it later.

As Lora and Krista hailed each other, Lora took the first opportunity to say, "I wouldn't have guessed you to become squad leader. Congratulations, in this and the battle." A firm but gentle handshake was shared, and then, "I'd love to chat a bit, and we should discuss our roles, but I have some business of my own I'd like to catch up with first, If you don't mind, I'll meet up with you later." Not a hasty gesture, but hopefully a clear one, Lora dismissed herself and moved to follow Elora, walking just below a brisk pace of her own.

Elora managed to reach the mess hall, where she took the farthest table out of the others as she could. She had her tray fitted with some food, but she seemed to have trouble eating it. The fork she held dropped from her shaking arm, and she lowered her head on the table. She wondered how she would survive in this cruel place, filled with pain and sadness. She was starting to think that her affections were a curse; Stukov died, and Ryan was crippled. Elora believed it was her fault what happened to him; she answered wrong to the professor and was punished for it, causing Ryan to become angry. She lifted her head a bit to take a look at the other pilots, who seemed to have fun together. She secretly wanted to join in, but was too scared; she would just cause more suffering. She dropped her head again.

Lora finally caught a glance of Elora as the former entered the mess hall - the latter was sitting in a far-off table, he face buried in her arms. She looked lonesome and miserable, but at least she wasn't hard to find. Not bothering to greet the transferred replacement pilots or even get herself any lunch, for now, Lora made a beeline to Elora's table. Before she got too close, however, Lora stopped herself, taking up a smoother and more calm stride. She was concerned that she had come across as too fierce before, and she wanted to register herself otherwise. The junior leader hoped she could pull it off - being a big sister again, after so long...

Elora opened one of her eyes, and saw Lora approach her. She remembered how she gave some nice words to her, but kept to herself, making Elora unsure of what kind of person she was. She didn't know whether the new leader wanted to comfort her or scold her for making the wrong choice. She couldn't help it; the scary professor exerted tremendous pressure on her, and she didn't want to cause trouble for others by denying responsibility. Elora kept quiet, and waited for what the junior officer had to say, her head still buried in her arms.

A hand fell to Elora's shoulder as Lora slowly took a seat next to her. "Hey," the older pilot began, smooth and caring as she could first manage, "I know what you must be feeling, that this really is your fault, right?" Cautiously, Lora tried to knead Elora's shoulder in a meager massage.

"U-Uhhh-" Elora tried to voice up, still struggling to find words for what was happening. Her shoulders were stiff, so it felt uncomfortable when Lora kneaded one of hers, and she was briefly reminded of the kind of bullying she was subjected to. It soon started to feel better, though, when she started to relax, and ease up on being as tense. It was clear to her that Lora was only trying to help, and appreciated her for doing so. Still, she had doubts about herself. "B-But Ryan got hurt, and I didn't-"

"You're taking this all wrong," Lora insisted, attempting to sound firm while also keeping the softer tone in her voice. "Ryan... he was being over-protective and judgmental. He thought I was going to destroy you, and he broke off because of that." Lora felt a small lump forming in her throat, but she choked it down and continued, "He wanted to protect you, but more than that, he also wanted to kill me. And when Lorenzo hurt you... he wanted to kill him, too."

The older pilot took her hand from Elora's shoulder and moved to wrap around, embracing her in a half-hug. "Whatever you're thinking, you're not the cause of this." Lora shook her head, ensuring Elora was facing her. "Lorenzo... He knew you weren't guilty, but he also knew you couldn't refuse him. He simply preyed upon you, as a means to an end. Either you claimed it was not your fault and made Ryan get removed, or you got hurt and Ryan would remove himself."

Elora sniffled as she listened to Lora's mature reasoning. She didn't think about it from an outside perspective like that, and realized that no matter what she did, Ryan would have been hurt regardless. She embraced Lora's hug, which was a brief respite from the day's never-ending stream of nightmarish scenes. Lora was like a big sister she never had, who would listen to your woes and help you with them. Encouraged by her, Elora opened up:

"Th-Thank you, Lora. I've been so afraid, ever since I ended up here...ever since I started piloting that robot, I've never stopped being afraid...until now. How could I ever pay you for this kindness?"

Feeling and hearing Elora respond like this brought a certain wonderful feeling to her. Despite having trained for so very long to be a living tool of war, to pilot humankind's heaviest weapons into battle, Lora could still be human. She could still feel, and comfort, and convince. And just as Elora looked at her like a big sister, Lora too felt like that, and it was more than a truth. More than anything, she wanted to be strong... so that she could save others with her strength, her reasoning, her care.

"Don't," Lora finally responded after a few extended seconds. "You don't have to pay back anything. Just be strong; nothing is your fault unless you make it so. Alright?"

Elora meekly nodded. "I...I'll do my best, Lora. I learned a lot about being strong today, when we...umm...you know, so I'll continue doing that. I promise."

With a far more friendly nod, Lora stayed a few moments longer before relinquishing her grip on Elora and standing up. Elora was now starting to feel better after she exchanged a few words with Lora. She was really glad that someone like her was part of the squad. When Lora turned to leave, Elora tugged on her sleeve.

"Hey, um, thanks for talking with me...again. It means a lot to me."

Lora nodded in return. "Of course. If Ryan was truly wrong about something, it was that I meant to destroy you. I didn't... and I probably couldn't have, either." One more time, she turned, but then doubled back, feeling the shifting of her new decorations. "...Oh, and I guess you should technically start calling me 'ma'am' and 'leader' and such. But save it for business, okay?"

With that, Lora left, not meaning to leave Elora alone but simply wanting to get herself some food. After all the hard thought and exercise today, and with the physical and mental training to come, it was just nice to stay plain and indulge oneself.

As Lora left to her own devices, Elora couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands and blush in embarrassment. She forgot that Lora was a junior officer now, and that she should have been greeting her formally, with a salute and all. But Lora didn't seem to mind too much, and in fact was fine with being on friendly terms outside of the super serious war stuff. Elora was fine with that, and smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all, she thought as she finished her food and left the table, trying to talk with some of the other pilots who were going to be her new family.

Yeshua had managed to navigate a few of the corridors of the facility without any hesitation. He wasn't worried that someone would be worried for him. It was ridiculous, in his mind, that anyone would have stopped him while pointlessly walking. Eventually his small stroll left him where he had started; the Mess Hall. While not exactly accomplishing anything, the boy felt some of the pressure on his shoulders to lift. It was a miracle of medicine - solitude.

His eyes darted around the large room, a hazy mist of background noise descending over it. Before he could smell the appetising food, he saw a young girl that was almost swallowed by the bench she was sitting on. Her body was small and frail but she had seen things a child should not have. The juxtaposition of her very existence sent a shiver down his spine. She was a Pilot, just like him. Yeshua realised that the only difference between them was that she was weak and submissive. He hadn't run into her during the battle, but he doubted she would have put up anything that could resemble a fight. His mind raced with accusations and pages of pity and malice. He explained to himself how she was useless as a pilot, but his thought was broken when he realised he was standing opposite her, on the other side of the table. He had been standing for far too long.

"I-I'm sorry to be standing here." he failed to articulate, shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling his gaze to somewhere other than his feet.

Elora was looking around the mess hall when she was spoken to by the pilot who Lorenzo was really angry at. He had an aura of certain intelligence to him that came apparent in the briefing hall, but right now he seemed to be just like her: nervous. Then she remembered something, and put her hands to her cheeks.

"Oh, you're, umm, Yeshua, right? You pilot the sniper Framewerk...they're meant to work alone, so I don't think the professor was fair with you..." She meekly looked at Yeshua with innocent pity.

While Yeshua had somehow managed to deter his original malevolent thought of this frail person's lack of skills in piloting, Elora mumbled his name. It had brought his senses to the real world. Koehler had done the same earlier, and if Yeshua remembered, it was because he didn't know how to talk formally. This girl had managed to snap him out of his trance by saying his name, frightening him in a new way.
The first part of her sentence was inaudible from either the background noise and chatter or his inability to hear properly or how the girl had an inability to speak properly. He had managed to listen to the remark about his Framework, the Anzu, proud and powerful. She saw exactly what he did; Lorenzo was unfair to him. In fact, it was so similar to his disgust with the superior officer that for the first time in a very long time, a smile appeared on his face. It was horrifying. It didn't belong on his face.

"Yes, yes. Th-that's exactly what I said -- thought. He came off as a pompous scoundrel, if you'd also agree with me."

Elora reeled back at the creepy.looking smile that suddenly appeared on his face. It was then that she realized that she was talking to an actual boy for once, something she rarely did in her pre-Framewerk life due to the constant harassment she had to endure. But she did want to learn more about him; despite his weirdness, there was genuine insight that sometimes gleaned outside, as it did when they first discussed about the mock battle.

"Well, he said a lot of bad things. And he did hit me," Elora said while showing off the mark on her cheek, which was now starting to disappear. "He's a bad man. But maybe it's because he's had to go through a lot of stuff...It's hard to be nice if you've lost your family, like he did. I know how that must feel..." Elora turned sad as the topic caused her to remember her presumably dead parents.

For the last fifteen years of his life, it was easy to get lost in a different thought. It was easy to not pay attention and feign interest. Rare times had been when he was being taught, when he was reading and when he was being attacked. These were none of those times, Yeshua remarked, yet he had just listened to everything she said with a sharp interest. While her small voice was clouded by the mist of noise around her, it also glowed like the sun after a rainy day. As she gestured to her cheek, the contours of her fragile yet remarkable face invited him, but he had learnt many years ago that he would soon be having these thoughts. They were disgusting and immature, but the subtle gesture had made his jaw loosen slightly. A red, boiling anger ran through him at the thought of someone attacking her. Yeshua remembered that this was definitely the case. Lorenzo had slapped her without holding back, and if he was holding back, the man was evil as it is. When she tried to justify his anger, his only rose. However, the rage that flowed through him never spilled out. He remained calm.

"Don't try to justify him. People are broken. They have been and now is no different. Nobody should slap you. You're the least menacing thing in the world."

His voice caught slightly as he figured out what he had just said. His eyes seemed to know no place to rest and his hands twitched like they had just been electrically shocked. The uneasy feeling in his throat and mind failed as he continued to move his lips. He had to set things right; for humanity. He couldn't risk the defender of the human race to be weak and immature. His comment had made no sense in quick analysis; a cup of water was less menacing than her. There were many things, yet he had felt the need to exaggerate. Was it to compliment someone he had never talked to before? It wasn't this reason, Yeshua realised, as he knew that he had tried to help her, emotionally. A pilot didn't need help.

"You don't deserve to be a Pilot. How can you pretend your protecting us when you can't even protect yourself? You're weak, not a soldier. The only thing we should be giving you is pity."

Yeshua's words, while true, bit into Elora's already unstable self-esteem. She was weak, and she knew that better than anyone else in the world, no, the galaxy. Having that confirmed by an observer still hurt her, and she turned even sadder. She didn't know what to say first, but after she blinked a bit and sniffled a bit, she responded:

"S-So you think I don't deserve to be here? That I should just give up now, and go home? I want to try, you know. I'm weak, but I can be strong. Lora believes that I can do it, and I don't want to disappoint her. But if you want to bully me about it, fine. It's not like I'm not used to it..." she said with her head down, looking at her feet.

His blood had not stopped boiling. Yeshua had thought so, that she was so innocent in her reply and had referred to Lora, the other pilot, his leader, who had taken the awful job of having to try and put a spine in this crumpled piece of paper. As she mumbled onwards, like a tire rolling down the hill, there was no stopping what she was saying. She descended into a more gloomy expression than before, if Yeshua had thought it was possible. His hands clenched into fists in his pockets as she accused him of bullying her.
The arrogance of Elora stunned him and, if it was possible, turned someone that had been an object of pity in his eyes into an object of hate. This young, very young, woman pretended in her horrifying fantasy that she was the worst off, like he was some silent predator. This girl he had almost shown care for without having to say a single word. She had made no effort, yet he had felt a need to talk to her. Subconsciously or consciously, it had worried him.
She was 14, a year younger than him. They were arrogant, children, to Yeshua. That had been the case for all so many years and that was why he had delegated himself to book reading, study and the curiosity of nature. This was the reason his father left him the old library, why he left his grandmother's house in the night to find himself, why every person he talked to hated him in one way or another and why he now had gripped the edges of the table, his gaze falling towards the floor.

"You don't deserve to be here. You don't deserve my pity."

His glasses sparked like a the kindling of a fire as he turned around and walked away. If it was possible, he had now found a more ridiculous Pilot than Koehler.

Elora trembled at Yeshua's rising temper, and recoiled when he heaved on the table, before he up and ditched her after some bitter words. Elora held her shoulders and looked aside, feeling worse off than when she talked with Lora. She now started to think about what she said, and if there was something particularly offensive that she included in her rebuttal, but finding nothing. She sighed. This wasn't as bad as when she had to face Lorenzo, but it did add a scratch to her feelings.

Mai had understood what Lorenzo had said to some extent and had taken her seat at the end of the meeting. Hearing who her new superiors were, she had merely saluted and left the meeting room.

Now, she was in her assigned room in the barracks area. She decided it was best to hit the books now. After all, in her mind, she was becoming inefficient...at first, she felt it was the other pilots doing it simply by being around them. But now, she thought it was simply the "environment".

Where she was trained, the environment wasn't..."calm". It was more like "tense" to the point that you were always ready for a fight. Either that or you had a mental breakdown. Again, it was "cruel" by normal standards but some things she learned were sadly true in the war with the Cruxi.

"Normal" was kind of subjective in this world now.

Looking through the books on her desk, she then spotted something. It was an iPhone of sorts with a red casing on it's rims. Knowing that perhaps her certain matience member most likely left it there for her, she turned it on.

She had a text message.

Looking at it, it said the following:

Hello Seven. Hope your doing ok. Just a heads-up though. Professor Lorenzo might pay you a visit. I think he may talk to you about that syncho rate spike you had during the mock battle. I know how you feel about "that" but try not to give your superior trouble. - Rick

Mai just shook her head. So what she saw briefly during that battle wasn't some random hallunciation....

Alyssa listened to Koehler as he listed off the members of the squad, her face showing concern as he described himself and Elora, though she snickered at his description of Romeo. D-Drug abuser? She thought to herself as Koehler excused himself and went off to go talk to somebody else. While he was away, Alyssa contemplated leaving while she had the chance...but she didn't want to be rude, especially not to somebody who was supposed to be a drug abuser. He seemed nice enough, but he certainly didn't look like it...and since she just met the guy, she didn't know what to think. This feels really awkward...I don't know what I'm supposed to do while he's off over there...I guess...I guess I'll just sit down? Alyssa thought, then moved to go sit down at a nearby table.

And until Koehler returned from his conversation, Alyssa simply passed the time by thinking about her life before the Framework training. She couldn't say she hated how her life was now, but she certainly missed how comfortable things used to be. She missed playing the piano the most, and as she began to hum a tune to herself she pretended to play the piano by tapping her fingers on the table in front of her. Then as Koehler moved to return to her, she snapped out of her little daydream and looked at him a little nervously. "Don't worry about him, there's hope for him yet." "I thought he was going all robot as well. Robots can't get angry, right?" Alyssa heard Koehler say, but as she payed no mind to his conversation with the other guy, she offered little in response.

"I wouldn't know...and I've never thought about it." Alyssa said plainly, looking past Koehler to Yeshua, who was leaving the mess hall. A few moments later he returned, which Alyssa found rather strange. He then started talking with a rather frail looking girl sitting at the nearest table, and as Alyssa glanced between Koehler and the two pilots she couldn't help but think of when Koehler asked if robots could get angry. The guy didn't look all that nice to Alyssa's eyes, but then again...neither did Koehler, and after a little longer he suddenly snapped and walked angrily away from the now fearful looking girl.

"Looks like robots can get mad after all..." Alyssa said, looking at Koehler and gesturing in the direction of the recently ended argument. "I think she needs some cheering up...so why don't you stay here, Koehler?" She added, still annoyed by how Koehler left her all alone only moments before. That, and she thought it'd be good to follow his example; so she proceeded to head over to the lonely girl, and introduce herself. "Uh, hi there...I'm Alyssa. I just transferred here...and you are?"

Elora was still reeling from her previous conversation when a new girl came to talk to her. She was still holding her arms and looking aside, and glanced at Alyssa with sad eyes. She hated herself for only seeing the girl as the replacement to Ryan, who she would never see again thanks to Lorenzo's brutal punishment. She bit her lip after she glanced at Alyssa, avoiding eye contact, and mumbled:

"I-I'm Elora. I'm the information specialist in the squad." She sighed. "Though I guess you can call me Weakling."

Alyssa couldn't help but feel sad as she looked at this girl, and remained silent for a little while before speaking. "I'm not gonna call you that..." She started, then calmly took a seat at the table. "Who am I to say you're any weaker than me? I mean...I'm terrified of real, live combat. I freeze up like a total idiot...even in simulation..." Alyssa continued, leaning forward onto the table as she eyed the timid Elora.

"Oh..." Elora was surprised at Alyssa's claim of being scared. "I thought I was the only one. I remember one time when I locked up when the simulation called for an escape maneuver, and a horde of enemies were after you. It was horrible," Elora said, and her frown was reverting. Sharing in experiences and fears helped in dealing with them, and the meek girl was no different.
"You must be lucky, since you didn't have to participate in the real combat we had to do today. It turned ugly; Framewerks were flying everywhere, with bullets and lasers and all. I would have been toast if it weren't for Koehler and...Ryan..." Elora turned silent again.

Alyssa listened carefully as Elora talked, and looked down at the table for a moment when the girl finished. "In any simulation that requires the use of Close Quarters Combat, I get really...really scared. I pilot an artillery Frame, so I have to rely on others more and more the closer I get to combat. But, wait...you guys did a live exercise against each other?! That sounds...terrifying...and dangerous." She said, paused for a moment, and then continued. "And I met Koehler...but he didn't mention anyone named Ryan...I'm sorry, in advance, for asking...but what happened to him?" Alyssa asked curiously, hoping that she wasn't being rude by asking.

"He...got hurt. Really bad," Elora said as he lowered her head. "He protected me during the battle, and when the professor called him an idiot Ryan made him angry, and...yeah." A silent moment went by, and Elora cleared her throat.

"The mock battle was terrifying yes, but it would have been worse if I had to do it alone. Fortunately that didn't happen." She smiled.
"You said you pilot an artillery Framewerk, right? That means you fight from the back...I have to stay in the middle, sometimes even the frontlines for my scanning to work."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Alyssa replied, then felt a little better upon seeing Elora smile. "Sounds like I couldn't hit half my targets without you doing your job...because I can't always see the things that I shoot, and I have to rely on ther people to be my eyes out there. And don't get to thinking I can just sit back all nice and cozy...oh no, in several of our simulation battles, the enemy would flank all the way around behind where I was. Now I'm not sure if that was programming meant to challenge me, or not...but it knocked me out of the fight almost every time..."
Alyssa explained, smiling back at Elora. "Sure taught me not to go off alone..."

Elora hastily moved her hands in front of her. "No no, I didn't mean to say it was any easier for you to stay in the back. I just, thought about it out loud. Please don't hate me for that. I already get enough of it without even trying..."

Alyssa chuckled a bit and sighed, giving Elora a friendly smile. "You're just so sad, but so adorable...you're sadorable, you know that?" She teased, then added. "Why would I hate you? I can't think of any reason why I should, so...don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay..." Elora nodded in a cute way, convinced that Alyssa had good intentions. "Th-that's the first time anyone's called me that." She blushed. "But I don't mind it. Thank you for being so kind, Alyssa. I...I hope that we become friends, if that isn't too much to ask," Elora said while shuffling in her seat, her arms glued to her chest, in embarrassment.

"I don't think it's too much to ask, not at all. And as for being kind, well, that's what friends are for, right?" Alyssa replied, smiling happily. "I'll be glad to have you as a friend."

Elora rose from her seat, and bowed. "I h-hope we can t-talk again soon," she timidly said, and went on her own way, out of the mess hall. Elora felt better again, and learned a valuable lesson: No matter how hard things would get, she wouldn't be alone with them. Elora promised to herself to remember that.

---

An announcement could be heard ringing through the facility, and Lieutenant Ritsu's voice was heard from the loudspeakers:
"Cadet Twilight, report to the administrative office."

When Mai arrived in the office she was met by Ritsu and Lorenzo, who was now sitting at the desk, shuffling through partly crumpled papers. He stopped to look at the pilot.

"Pilot Twilight, according to our readings you experienced an unnatural spike in your Synchro Rate during the events of the mock battle. This phenomenon is, even by Synchro Rate standards, abnormal, and often accompanied by certain...traits. Did you feel strange when it happened? Perhaps you sensed something you shouldn't have? Don't spare any details."

Koehler watched on as Alyssa and Elora talked about things, and it got him thinking how weird this all is, really. Young men and women piloting gigantic war-machines against some alien force. This wasn't regular at all, was it?
Of course, they were all likely irregular people. It's natural for irregular individuals to do irregular things. As well, too much regularity was simply boring. Hell, with friends like these, who needs enemies? With all of these other folks being so needlessly aggressive...

Why was that Yeshua kid so sassy, and such an asshole? Harold had to admit though, that was one hell of a comment. Perfectly executed, really. At least it was a good one. Koehler did however have a complete change in his train of thought. He realized how fucking great this was going to be, especially tomorrow, what with being actually trained in martial arts... He knew how to punch someone very, very hard, but actually knowing a 'real' combat technique was going to be one hell of a boon. And since 'Roxy', his Framework, was quite easy to articulate, being a dedicated melee frame, his effectiveness in that will also be severely increased, most likely.

He then got another idea. What if they had to pair up and spar..? He definitely knew who he was going to pick, if that did happen. Also of course assuming he could pick. Knocking Yeshua on his ass would teach him some manners, most certainly. Right? He'd certainly win in that situation, what with already being experienced, if not trained, and simply being stronger, as well as larger, already.

His mind wandered...

"Shalom, Koehler." Yeshua almost whispered, only about two feet behind his left ear. "For someone who complained about contemplation, you're doing a marginal amount of it yourself."

Koehler quickly turned, a faint smile barely forming. "Yeah, Salami to you too. The hell does that mean?"

"It means you're still a fucking idiot, Koehler." Yeshua remarked, no smile forming on his lips.

"Well, you're still an asshat. What do you want from me right now?", Harold replied, a bit coldly.

A height of interest peaked in his voice as the boy's glasses became illuminated by the white, cold lights in the room. It was obvious that he was interested in what he was talking about. His hands shuffled in his pockets.
"I am not sure if you know this, but you were the person to call yourself that first. I'm merely repeating that, given how much evidence there is to prove that this is the case. We are both Humanity's last defense against an unstoppable foe, so it would be childish for you to jeapordise our capabilites as a unit just because of this phrase. Be sure to remember I mean no offense by it."

"Oh, you don't mean any offense in calling me an idiot? Look, I handled that really fucking horribly. I did try to say what I mean. I'm worried because you were thinking so hard about... what? What the hell were you contemplating? I was just thinking about combat scenarios and how this 'star-fist' they'll be teaching us will help me out on the field. My frame's a fighter, so knowing how to punch shit with an actually good technique should help me out. Right?"

"It isn't a surprise that the only thing you have thought about since coming here is violence. For young men it is either that, or sex. My contemplation was about my detoriating self image, as I had almost purposefully hurt myself earlier in that cockpit after my sudden and abrupt failure. You didn't try hard to understand my situation but I appluad you for trying to communicate. Empathy is a rare resource in the fields of a young person's mind." Yeshua became distant and his voice became that of someone reading a long poem, or a psalm in front of a church, an ethereal voice appearing between the words he spoke.

Koehler's voice, in contrast, turned irritable. Annoyed. "Where the hell are you from, anyway? I can't believe people like you exist. My problem with you is... Well... I can't fucking explain it to you it seems. What exactly are you saying even? I can't tell
with all of the needless bullshit coming out as well. Is that a compliment? Or a put-down? One sentence you're trying to hurt, the other you're trying to heal? What the fuck is that?"

Yeshua seemed to be quite amused by the outcomes of the conversation. His shaggy hair became a visor for his eyes.

"The true mark of an imbecile is if they know they're being insulted. What I'm trying to say, Koehler, is that if my predictions are correct then I hate you an order of magnitude above how much you hate me. But I'm not trembling like a sweaty drug addict, am I?"

The aforementioned 'Sweaty drug addict' was still confused on just what this man was trying to accomplish. Really, praising him for his empathy, then going on about hate? This man would be a wonderous politician, really. He seems like he could do a 180 faster then any other man Koehler ever knew. He stopped moving completely, stopping his little fidgets, and breathed in before he asked. "As I said... What do you want? Are you analyzing me so you can break me later? Are you trying to break me now? Do you have such little faith in... Me, I presume, that you want me to thrash out at you because of your comments and get thrown out?"

"What the hell is your game plan here? With no snark, no insults, and just bluntly, why are you in my face, right now? If you hate me so, why do you continue to talk to me?"

As the young man's meandering around a very simple point finally came to a crashing halt, Yeshua rolled his eyes under his thick hair and glasses. His right hand, previous firmly in his pocket, was moved out in a friendly gesture. His voice sounded almost solemn as his gaze did not match Koehler's.

"I'm trying to be your friend."

That answer severely worried Koehler. He responded. "...Define 'Friend' as you see it. What does the word mean to you? Answer that for me.", and waited for Yeshua's response.

"A friend is someone . . ." Yeshua stopped halfway into his sentence, suddenly loosing his cool and out of the corner of his eye, spotted Alyssa talking to Elora. The latter young girl was now smiling and seemed happy, unlike the state he had put her in. Yeshua's hand shook slightly before he put it back into his pocket. He dared to open his mouth again.

"A friend is someone who wants the best for you."

"Is that so? You're certain?"

"Ani lo yodéʿa, Koehler."

"To me... a friend is someone I'd die for. Do you understand that definition?"

"I'd never die for anyone." Yeshua bitterly remarked, suddenly regaining his razor-sharp composure. His eyes shot at Koehler's yet again.

Koehler looked at Yeshua straight in the eyes, oddly piercing into his. A strange emotion revealed itself, a mixture of dissapointment, worry, possibly. Although it was uncertain.
"I wouldn't die for you either, then.", He bluntly responded.

The words almost cut into Yeshua, if he wasn't in another world as he spoke. He had become a wraith, his ankles hanging a foot from the floor and seeing into the world through the eyes of a 15 year old boy. Had he not been training to save the human race, he would have been the best of his craft, a carpenter, a politician, an artist or a sportsman. Whatever he wanted to do, he would do it. Even a ghost had impossible tasks. He had never made anyone like him.

"I sincerely hope that it won't matter either way."

Harold responded simply. As an afterthought, really. "I hope so too."

With no more words but a thousand lost tears, Yeshua sat down on the nearest bench and placed his hands on his mouth, feigning deep thought. His thought wasn't deep, the boy realised, it was shallow and naive. Somehow, it still got to him. This was the scariest thought for him, his weakness - his mortality. He wouldn't die for anyone, not even himself. Yeshua thought that right now, death had never looked so welcoming.