"My thoughts exactly," Bentz replied to the recon pilot. "We can't afford to get by on table scraps any longer. A partnership with the XCD will get the unit back on its feet. This is the most practical course of action the Panthers can take."

Richard pressed a button on his PADD and the holo-table's display changed once more. Images of several FRAMEs were imposed in the air, along with datasheets and promotional videos depicting the models in action. Cecilia recognized some of them: all high-end XCD machines. They were leagues apart from some of the old Handous that were decaying in the Samigina's bay.

"Director..." Cecilia gasped. "The XCD is actually supplying us with these?"

Richard smirked, still studying the holo-display. "The option is there, if you feel the need to retire your old-timers. In any case, if we're going to be operating as an auxiliary of the XCD, it'd save us a lot of trouble to get familiar with their equipment. When in Carth..." *

"I've made arrangements for Fort Huangdao to receive the Samigina," Colonel Leung said. "The Panthers will be attached to the 3rd Battalion, 26th Armored Reconnaissance Regiment. For the duration of your contract, the Panthers will receive orders from Battalion HQ. As an auxiliary unit, you'll have some degree of autonomy under Captain Bentz, but will be expected to abide by standard XCD Army conduct while on its premises."

"The Samigina will embark for Fort Huangdao, Nansheng first thing tomorrow morning," Richard added. "We should arrive within the day. In the meantime, I've uploaded material to your PADD clouds to familiarize yourselves with the way things are done in the XCD Army. I'd recommend studying up on the trip. If there are no further questions, I'll let Colonel Leung be on his way."

* FRAME-universe equivalent of "When in Rome," saying.

---

"<Colonel? It's me.>"

"<Sir. The Panthers have been briefed on the venture between themselves and the XCD. I just stepped off the landcruiser.>"

"<With any luck, the Panthers ought to be a useful asset. I know it must seem like a risk to invest so much in them, but at least it'll keep them in the dark until the time is right. You saw how they handled Captain Tong's unit.>"

"<I agree, Sir. Dangerous, but expendable. I just hope the Regiment HQ will have enough errands to keep them busy with.>"

"<If not, we can always create some. I've passed instructions to Colonel Yu. I need you back here for the time being. We need to talk about the League.>"

"<On my way, General.>"

"Oh gods," Cecillia muttered in a barely-audible whisper. "Kat, I'm so sorry..."

As Kat stormed-out, Marlene sighed. Things had been fraying at the edges for awhile now and it just had to be now that one of their own was starting to come undone... in front of a client...

"I'll take care of it. You'll have to tell me how this meeting ends, later." She replied as she rose and went for the halls, moving quickly to keep from losing her.

She didn't try stopping Kat, at first she didn't even talk to her until they'd walked well out of earshot. But the important thing was she wasn't going to let her just run away; because that's what she was doing, and she was better than that.

"All week you've been itching to use that bazooka on a worthy target. Mind telling me why I shouldn't have even bothered to watch-out for your field of fire?"

...

"I want to hear it from you what happened; what you, in your many years of working unpaid-overtime keeping these things running, propose we have to do to fix this.... We're worried about you, okay?"

Kat stormed off in the direction of the hanger, not slowing or giving any indication she was listening to Marlene who was following.
Eventually when they arrived at the FRAME storage Kat finally turned to face the young Handou pilot.
With a sharp dismissive snap, Kat told her all she was going to tell her on the matter.

"Look, I had some power and mobility issues that stopped me from getting the shot! You wanna see it fired!? You pay for the bloody ammo then!"

With an annoyed huff she runs her fingers through her hair as she looked at the FRAMES in the hanger. Spotting Sarah's MP21-AC Handou, she heads over in its direction while continuing to speak.

"We just need to do what we've always done. Stick to it and it will work out."
They arrive at the feet of Mr B.
"There's no good shortcuts in life. You get where your going the long way!"
It was said in a matter-of-factly manner. Kat even stopped to look at Marlene.
That is before she whipped out a black marker pen and started climbing up the 40mm armourplast surrounding Sarah's Handou.

Kat climbed four meters of FRAME to reach Mr Bubbles head where she left a little message for Sarah.

'Mind your own damn business and keep your freak show techno babble thoughts in your own pretty little head or I swear I'll upload you with a virus!
<3 KAT'

Feeling she made herself clear she climbs down and addresses Marlene again, having blown off some steam she talks more level headed.

"I'll go where ever the panthers go, but it doesn't mean I'll like it. Now if you will excuse me I have some repairs to make."

Kat heads over to own FRAME.

Maxwell kept quiet for the majority of the meeting with the XCD official. He tried to put himself in the XCD's shoes, tried to work out exactly what their interest in the Panthers was, and he frankly found himself feeling suspicious.

Certain words were still marching through the old cop's head: "...been been monitoring the Preying Panthers since the incident at Cradle Headquarters." Why? If the XCD was going to dismiss the Panthers' lackluster performance over the last several months, why were they paying attention to the Panthers at all? Why study a group and not take into account the results of that study? The whole scene was fishy.

Kat's outburst, Lang's response, and XCD Colonel's unfettered decision to recruit the Panthers in spite of such behavior outright baffled Maxwell. The expenditure in training a private security organization to do one's dirty work had "plausible deniability" written all over it, and such circumstances didn't bode well for the Panthers. Maxwell didn't like it.

He kept a steely, hard-to-read expression nevertheless, realizing just what the payout for working for the XCD's military could be. The contract seemed plenty lucrative, and useful contacts could be made from this, too...

"If there are no further questions," said Bentz, "I'll let Colonel Leung be on his way."

"What's the contract's duration?" Maxwell asked suddenly, folding his arms over his chest. "What sort of supervision are we getting? What kind of operations are we being trained for?"

What's the catch? Maxwell wanted to ask outright, but he decided against it. There had been enough abrasiveness on the deck for one day.

Think about that later, Maxwell reminded himself. Tackle problems one at a time.

"What's the contract's duration?" What sort of supervision are we getting? What kind of operations are we being trained for?"

"The initial contract lasts for six months," Colonel Leung had answered. "When it's expired, the Panthers can decide to renew it or take another. However, depending upon the circumstances, you may be asked to stay on standby longer. You will be compensated for any extra time spent in XCD service.

"We're keeping the unit on a long leash," he continued. "You are asked to follow the conduct outlined in your guides when present on the base, but you will not be subject to routine inspection or surveillance... Unless absolutely necessary. In the field, you will be expected to cooperate with XCD personnel and understand battlefield protocol and standard operating procedure, also in your manuals. Your training is for your Battalion HQ to decide. Expect to accompany other units during combat exercises. Doing so will familiarize yourselves with operations and protocol of the 26th Regiment."

---

It is currently nightfall. The Samigina has been en route to Fort Huangdao for approximately six hours, and should reach the island by morning. The briefing with Colonel Leung has left mixed feelings in the guts of the units pilots, but the general consensus is that the risk is worth it. Anything that will help kick-start the Panthers back to top-tier is a valuable investment.
Still, not all is tranquil aboard the landcruiser. Uneasy tension can be felt between pilots as cases of PTSD, homesickness, depression and other mental ailments hamper the unit's ability to function. Richard Bentz prays he can keep his unit together for the next six months and run the contract's course without taking any more losses.
As night envelops the Samigina, the pilots of the unit are left to their own devices, preparing themselves for their new role as auxiliaries of the XCD's 26th Armored Reconnaissance Regiment...

Marlene watched as Kat stormed off to Snow Leopard, to busy herself with fixing whatever electrical-issue she was having this time

_{"There may be no shortcuts, but there's also a saying; insanity is the act of doing the same thing as before, but expecting a different result than failure."} She whispered to herself, before turning towards Yassir, getting her PADD out and running a quick diagnostic and inventory before sending a pulse to Sarah.

<Sarah, would like to know if you'd be willing to tune the targeting-laser for my missiles to double as a comms-laser, and to write some code for Bubbles to be able to translate it to speech. Oh, and if the opportunity presents itself, upload the program to Snow Leopard as well. -Marlene>

After clicking send, she went over inventory, picking-through all the captured weapons from their minor thug-busts. Most of the weapons were little things and barely a threat to other FRAMEs outside of point-blank, others were more for show than actual purpose... however, it didn't take long to find what she was looking-for.

Requisitioning a pair of hand-trucks, she set the handle of one down on the tines of the other before loading it down with several auto-cannons, heavy machine-guns, and several hundred pounds of captured ammunition. Amongst the motley assortment was an MG-27, an NNU-10 from some SSU brush-war, and a pair of LBU-3 HMGs she'd noticed were re-chambered to some sort of 30mm gatling-grenade-launcher... which just sounded too wicked to resist trying-out at least once.

Lugging this improvised limber and caisson up the deck was not too difficult, as the halls were mostly empty, aside from a few late-shufflers from the briefing passing her by in the halls on their own way to the hangar. She smiled and waved politely at Sabrina and Cecelia, hoping they'd pay no attention to the twenty year old dragging what could almost qualify as a mech's starting-arsenal behind her.

As night came, Sabrina found herself in the hangar once again. As usual, she was tending to her frame. Her uniform blouse had been unbuttoned a bit at the top with her sleeves rolled and a towel around her neck. The rest of the day had gone on without much event. She was processing what was going on now with her unit. A lot of it stunk like her old Joint Task Force business in the NSU, but this was different. Still, there was a lot she learned in those years fighting the SSU on the frontlines, and a lot of things she picked up on. NSU rock n' roll was certainly piqued her interest, and she got to listen to it a lot when she was on-base down in that jungle.

Music from her portable radio was echoing from her station where she worked at something with a crescent wrench on her FRAME's foot. Her dog tags clinked as they hung just barely free off her bust while she had a knee down to get into the inner workings. She wanted to make sure everything was good, and no problems would be plaguing her in the field where it meant the difference between life and death. That was another habit she picked up in her deployment time: Fixing her machine herself. It wasn't that she didn't trust the other mechanics, but she needed to be able to recognize the difference between something that isn't a problem, something that's worn from wear, and something that may look like sabotage. She watched her back but didn't make it obvious that she was doing so. She didn't want to seem paranoid, after all.

For now, Sabrina continued working on her FRAME, enjoying the air conditioning after wiping some sweat off her face with the towel she had. A toolbox, some oil pans, and a other odds and ends lay clustered into an organized mess for quick access when she needed it. The lights were dimmed as a sign that there weren't many people around at this late an hour. The soft clinking of her dog tags punctuating her wrenching was one of the only noises she heard for now as a single flood light spotlighted her in her work, being full on in contrast to the others that were saving power.

Sarah had floated off as the meeting seemed to disband. It was decided then, the panthers were now no longer so independent. She didn't care so much though. With a soft smile she wondered if Kat had gotten her message, then shrugged her shoulders and put her headphones back in. A nice playlist of the Inane. Electroswing to death metal, it would be kind of disconcerting to most people but to her it blocked out the cycling thoughts for a while. -Message received <Sarah, would like to know if you'd be willing to tune the targeting-laser for my missiles to double as a comms-laser, and to write some code for Bubbles to be able to translate it to speech. Oh, and if the opportunity presents itself, upload the program to Snow Leopard as well. -Marlene> STRENGTH UNITY SUBSERVIENCE!- She chuckled, oooh that sounded fun, she about turned from her path to the deck to go down to the hanger. By the time she got their she had sorted out the code in her mind and sent to her PADD. It wasn't very hard, she just had to configure one of the infrared cameras on Mr.B to recognize a short start sequence. Screw with the targeting code for YASSIR to track and lock onto her camera when in coms mode. Then make sure YASSIR didn't fire a nice missile at her in the process. It was one way communication and she couldn't quite grasp why she was wanting it. But as usual she didn't care in the slightest. Whatever it was it was a cool idea. Looking into the hanger most people would have found it depressing, the Samigina was quite barren. Missing the technical staff and parts usually strewn across it. Though her eyes wouldn't register that, the only thing that did was YASSIR.

Connecting her PADD, she inserted the modified code. Then did the same for Mr.B and tested it, didn't seem to be much of a problem at all. "Ahhh boo....", she said softly, hoping for a bit more entertainment than that. It was going to be a very boring ride to the XCD island of terrors. Sending Marly a pulse she realised she hadn't actually confirmed it with her beforehand.

<Hey marly...I'm all sad and it's your fault...I thought this would take longer....it works.... :p ALL HAIL THE WORKERS PARTY!>

She smiled and looked to Mr.B, a small mark on his shell, how could she have missed that, she ensured he was cleaned head to toe after the engineer had removed the damaged components ..."Mr. B! What have you been doing... filthy boy! She clambered up to his now disassembled head with a cloth and a mock sense of injustice. "I...see", she said as her demeanour softened and her usually jittery posture nullified. It wasn't the threat... That was very real, a virus set to overload her neural processors and she'd be blind at best and dead at worst. Freakshow....That's what got her, the shiny reflective metal of her Frames innards shone back her reflection. It was a bit of joke...She knew that. The fractals that scarred her were as a result of powersurges and relief lines. Jerryrigged fixes to experimental technology. The truth was she did belong in a freakshow. A lacklustre smile spread across her face as if SOP required it. She didn't really feel that energetic anymore.

-<Sent from Paddfoot> Marly, I'm quite tired. I've attached the code to this message. If you can you can get it in Snow Leopard.-

Huh....It had been a while since she had sent a message with a PADD. It wasn't as intuitive as she remembered, it kind of dropped from her hands onto the worklift as she opened up his hatch to climb back in. Somehow she felt safer in than out. Out of a small compartment she picked up the sterling silver cigarette box within. Two were in their, she hadn't smoked in such a long time. Both hand rolled one was filled with good old fashioned Marijuana and the other was tobacco, she took the former. As she inhaled her eyes flickered as neurons and synapses fired, confusing the circuitry in her brain. Causing the implant to malfunction. The sudden onset of colours coming from her ...well cameras allowed her to think more clearly. Without the constraints of her shattered mind. She was a freak...It was the only conclusion she came too. Then slowly drifted off to sleep. Her thoughts having introverted deeply. Her dreams interfered with enough to prevent the coming nightmares and allow her to rest peacefully; She just didn't have the energy to deal with it.

People had been coming in and out of the hanger for some time, either tinkering or just passing through. Kat however, unnoticed, had locked herself in Snow leopards cockpit.
Sleep screens stopped any light from entering or exiting her isolated little confined haven. Kat was sweaty and dirty, working half naked on some not so military approved mods. Circuit boards and wires lay sprawled about as she tangled herself in an awkward position just to tamper with the parts that weren't made for tampering.
A small arch torch flares brightly in the reflection of her dark goggles as she lights what looks like a lumpy cigaret.
She continues to tug on wires and pull up panels as the stick in her mouth slowly burns away. As it slowly smoulders away, each bulb it passes releases a sudden short bright green flash and a wisp of blue smoke.

'Knots' they were called, Kat figured it referenced the speed boats are measured in and their resemblance to a knot in a rope. But the more that you burnt, the faster you would go... Hence why Kat hadn't slept for a day and didn't seem to be any time soon.

As she set up her impromptu gun-range on the Shamiga's deck-railing, her PADD vibrated, and upon answering found Sarah had encountered a partial success. Although a hunch told her she wouldn't be able to finish it today even if she had an opportunity the size of an open barn-door land in front of her.

With her PADD, she replied back, <Going to be testing some weapons up on deck, care to join me? Otherwise I suggest earplugs ^_->

Without awaiting a reply, she made sure to set aside plenty of ammunition to give any enthusiastic individuals some trigger-time as she took a rangefinder to a few landmarks coming-up.

Then she started with one of the 30mm gats strapped tightly down to the hand-truck as a makeshift gun-cradle. For safety's sake. she gave the mount a few kicks to convincer herself it wasn't going to budge before loading a test-clip of 20 rounds... just enough for a half-second burp... estimated flight-time of about 2 seconds... this was going to sound weird.

Standing alongside the mount as an observer, she connected the firing-solenoids and watched the chaos ensue.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Some folks would call Maxwell stuck in the past, and maybe they were right. The clock on his wall was old fashioned and so were the books spread haphazardly about his room. Of course, books as a whole were old fashioned. Most people did their reading on their PADD or their computers. They said it was faster. Maxwell sometimes wished the universe went a lot slower.

He sat half-naked on his bed and stared at his desk. There was a picture frame atop it, and the people inside were himself, his wife, and his daughter from five years ago, just before Latisha caught that supervirus that'd spread around town. It still felt like a bad dream sometimes: one day his wife had danced with him to their favorite song, and the next she was in the hospital. She'd died the day after that. And yet there'd been no time to grieve: he had to drive his daughter to her exam the same day, or else she could've failed that test. It wasn't much longer after that when Sunny went missing, just a few months before she was supposed to graduate high school. The world wasn't in the habit of letting wounds heal.

Maxwell's eyes drifted to the right, toward the gun sitting on the desk beside the picture. Sometimes he wanted to do that one thing he knew was a coward's way out. He just wanted to see them again.

"Just wait, baby girl," he mumbled, patting the picture frame. "You and Momma just wait a little longer. I'll make things right."

Maxwell pushed himself up and got dressed for a jog around the ship.

---

Silver finished his twenty minute jog at the door to the FRAME bay. It looked like one of the more professional members of the team, Sabrina, was already down there working on her FRAME. The old cop nodded approvingly. He also approved of the music coming from her radio: it was better than the crap some of the kids on the ship listened to, that was for sure.

Maxwell made his way to his own FRAME and gave the old Dreq a good look-see. He clicked his tongue as he looked it over. He'd had to put himself in harm's way to redirect fire from that Oliver kid, and his FRAME suffered for it. There were gaps in the reactive armor, and the weapons certainly could be in better shape. Maybe it was worth considering getting one of those FRAMEs the XCD offered...

As he cleaned his FRAME Maxwell couldn't stop thinking about how close the Panthers were to being on XCD soil. The XCD, the most neutral of the nations and certainly not one caught up in any wars, was hiring mercenaries to work with its Armored Reconnaissance Regiment? Maxwell would've understood if a corporation was hiring them, but the XCD military? What did they need mercenaries for?

The work started to get a little taxing, so Maxwell took a quick break and had a mouthful of water. He stepped on over by the other pilot, Sabrina, to see how her repairs were going... and she was actually making good progress. She knew more about FRAME repair than he did, that was for sure.

"What do you make of this situation?" he asked, taking another gulp from his water bottle before continuing. "Besides 'profitable.'"

'How long had it been?' Her wide eyes scan the messy console's and cluttered floor for any fallen 'buoy's', there had to be one around with a few knots left...
Kat looked at the mess, " Damn, fuck, shit!" she curses in frustration while banging on her surrounds. She had made some exceptional progress in the last 68 hours thanks to the driving focus and aid to concentration that the drugs had supplied, but now as they wore off and she came down it had the opposite effect.

Kat had spent at least a solid hour just staring at cables, and about one or two before that simply pulling unnecessary things apart. She was getting easily agitated and managed to admit to herself that no more progress would be made today.
Food, oh she needed food so badly!

Not considering her inappropriate attire Kat snaps down her wielding goggles to hide her eyes and slides very ungracefully out of her frame.
She ignores anyone she passes being in no frame of mind for conversation. Upon reaching the kitchen she pours herself a bowl of cereal, having no idea what time of day it was. Before the spoon could even reach her mouth Kat passed out on the table.

[New Message received] The buzzing in her head wouldn't stop. There wasn't even the ability to turn it off. It wasn't like she had the ability to update the firmware anymore. It wasn't like anyone even had the ability to outside of the OSU. A soft whine left her as she summed the mental energy to open it. Ah...Marlene. She read it before her body simply curled in and the thunderous boom of a gun that quite frankly shouldn't exist by some convention or other began to blast out in fever. She'd turn off her ear implants but her sleep had already been disturbed. If she went back then nightmares it was. Sarah opened her eyes slowly. The vibrant colours still distorting her vision. It was like she was seeing in infrared. Moving to turn on the inner lights she sat their for a while. Seemingly non existent but in physical form before she simply popped the hatch and clambered out. Not even noticing that her classic Sonic the Hedgehog blanket lay strewn across her shoulders.

Sarah looked at the message again....Freak...It seemed to bite that much harder this time. As if an iron facade had broken and it could simply hit her in full force. If it were not for the THC still coursing through her she'd most likely just cry. It's an old expression, but it was more than true for Sarah. Laugh, or cry. Lifelessly she hit the floor and looked around the hanger. There was everyone, working away, apprehensive? Excited? It didn't matter, deep down as she walked she wondered why she'd left.

"Huh...", she said softly to herself. Kat had vanished from the hanger bay. Well, Marlene did say, without much thought she merely plugged her pad in and uploaded the perfected code. Marlene would be able to play her hand now. It wasn't anything bad. That she knew, but it didn't seem to matter much to her. Sarah kind of felt like a robot, an emotionless husk with a simulated personality. The bizarre colours she saw as she moved and the sensations going through her mind just seemed as normal as her usual day.
[<Sent from Paddfoot> Hey, jobs done. All is well.]

To any outsider that would be obvious, though to an Osbanian, raised as the party wanted. It was the greatest crime to leave your country. Having been given the honour of being a testing vessel for the technologies that would make Osbania the greatest power in the world. At least if the party line was towed. The question span in her mind as she walked slowly through the corridors. She wasn't even going anywhere in particular. Her eyes seemingly drifting in and out of different vision modes. A rather vacant expression until she passed the dining room. There, slumped into the table lay Kat. Sarah blinked, then walked over. Looking down she moved to place a hand on her. Then stopped, looking down at the floor she lifted the blanket from her shoulders and gently lay it over her. Then once more moved to gently lift her head to rest on her forearm and walked off. Not even giving it another thought. Sarahs eyes began to flicker, small sparks could be seen within. Smoking weed did a number on the electronics. It wasn't permanent damage, but it certainly was not good for the system.

She continued walking. It was rather eerie in the Samigina now. What was once bustling corridors simply held shadows and in all honesty that was all she could really see. Just shadows, shadows of people. Ghosts of people that were. It was funny, for all the effort she made into being happy around people she couldn't remember their faces. It just seemed like a lie, all of it. Them...her. All the same. This venture was becoming pointless. Why had she left the union? Why had she betrayed her country? Why didn't she try and make amends? Her wandering had taken her to the deck of the samigina. Sarah barely even noticed the sound of Marly's gun fire as she stared forwards. Not even looking at anything in particular before she simply sat down.

"Well, one thing's for sure, we certainly have our work cut out for us now that these guys think we're just in it for the money and nothing else. You can thank that loud-mouth back there for that, as well as announcing the intentions of us not wanting to be entirely cooperative or maybe even being suspicious of their forces. We have a right to err on the side of caution, but you must know the enemy and yourself if you hope to win. They know us, and we don't even know ourselves that well. Just take a look at what happened today, for example. Aside from that outburst in the command room, we had one of our guys just go all gung-ho right into the enemy line. I don't expect people to come from military backgrounds, but we don't have a need for heroes in our line of work."

Sabrina, cold as she said it, wasn't wrong about the situation. She laid down on a crawler and skirted around to the underside of the foot she was working on.

"It's as much our fault, though. We need to try to reel them in. Make them better so that things like that don't happen. We'll need to if everyone's suspicions about the XCD are right. We don't know what they really want, but I smell ulterior motives. I've been in something like this before, and my sixth sense is telling me that something's not quite right with this whole thing. It stinks. That doesn't mean we need to go looking for trouble, though. There's a lot of thought put into this, and it'll weigh on the commander's head. Any slip-ups we make as a unit will just cause more stress. This opportunity is as I said: too good to be true and too good to pass up. This unit needed to get back on its feet badly, but we need to be more careful about how we conduct ourselves along with our business."

She stopped and looked Maxwell in the eyes.

"The XCD have no cause or reason to show us mercy should they decide they no longer require our services. Do not show them any unless you want to be spending your next years six feet under without a pulse anymore. After all, who's going to miss a ratty bunch of mercs just trying to make some blood money to live by in a world like this? We'll be put on the news maybe, with our names listed if we're lucky, but no one will truly care but any family we have left. So unless you're content to get a few extra holes in you courtesy of their rifles, watch yourself out there."

She went back to her work, feeling as though she had said enough on the matter.

Marlene took a break from testing APERS on some trees as they buzzed-by... leaving it looking as though she just swiped a gigantic magic-eraser across the edge of the treeline; a smile swept across her face as she thought about how to mount such a devastating close-in weapon-system, even though it wasn't much good against armor, it could undoubtedly trigger every ERA-plate on a mech in the blink of an eye...

While changing ammunition-drums, she noticed something new... It was Sarah, moping in a corner. It was then the harsh reality of her earlier reply, and the fact that she was insisting on communicating over a PADD rather than sending pulses like she used to... something was very wrong.

Setting everything down and wiping the grease from her hands as best she could as she picked-up a waiting beer and sat-down beside Sarah; being quiet and just letting her know she was there at first.

"You said it's my fault you're sad, but you never really told me why. Did something happen back at the briefing?" She asked, placing a hand on her knee and offering her a swig of beer from her bottle.

Sarahs eyes still blazed with colours. Glitches and static distorting her view of the world. It was yet another reminder of just how much a freak she was. Her vision was so comprimised that Marlene actually looked like a deep azure stroke of colour moving in. She looked up towards it blankly. As if it was simply a hallucination. "Heh...Not at all, the only thing I can blame you for was giving me such an easy job...", she looked towards her with an empty smile. As Marlene was closer she would be able to see the servos in her eyes spazzing out; The apertures opening and closing randomly. Little, what seemed to be sparks, shot through her scleras and propagated through the fractal patterns on her face. The sensation of the comforting hand made her feel ill. As if the comfort was alien to her. How can an enemy's touch feel comforting...?Her head fell back into the corner and the sparks intensified for a moment before her head turned back to her. She took the bottle and took a drink. Ich...beer. She cringed, "Hah....damn it Marly....too weak", her smile seemed a little warmer but was still depressive considering her usual take on life. "I'm a freak of science.", she said softly. "At least I can realise that now, it's hard you know?", her spasming eyes seemed to focus on her friend, just for a second on her before going back to jittering. "Marly...I've tried for so long to block it out...But the nightmares just keep getting worse. I keep leaping on every moment of joy I can...hoping it just might filter through.", she stammered a little through it as she tried to articulate her thoughts.

Growing up in the union was a very alien thing to outsiders. Real emotions, other than national pride, were not considered to be something that was worthy of anything. Sarah could only take the mental beatings so long before the elephant that broke the camels back. Her hand shook before it found her pocket to bring out the little silver case once more. A quite beautifully rolled hand made cigarette. Victory tobacco. It was hard to get outside of Osbania, hence she had been saving the last of it. Now seemed as good a time as any. Bringing it to her mouth seemed to be an arduous task. Though no where near the level of difficulty she had in lighting it. Her hand seeming to only just manage a spark of the trench lighter she used. Before it finally caught a burn. The smoke from one of those things was acrid but the rush of nicotine and homesickness generated by it only served to make her sadder. Her body curled up, as if under attack from the world. "I...don't want this anymore...", she said before taking a desperate drag. As if trying to will it to burn harder. "I should go back....It might...", it seemed as if her brain triggered a defensive mechanism on the thought. Her finger began to rhythmically tap her knee as she tried to prevent her line of thinking being exposed. "They'll kill you if you try....", her words louder than she had thought. She looked at Marlene in a way that could only convey what she had said referred to the Panthers. In her head the national anthem began to play, she began to shiver as her mind came under attack from years of propaganda. Programming is a hard thing to kill and she'd been fighting it an awful long time.

Marlene was relieved to know that Sarah was only joking about being sad, but something was still a little... off.

"They've got the stronger stuff reserved for clearing the oxides off of electrical components." Marlene retorted with a laugh and a smile at Sarah's disappointment in her taste in beer, even though in truth the Kamdeshi-mercenary was still working on the ability to properly handle more than the tiniest amounts of alcohol.

She was just about to offer to let her blow something up when Sarah explained that not everything about being the team-mascot was all sunshine and rainbows, that she'd been re-living every injury she's ever had in her life every night...

As Sarah curled-up into the fetal-position, Marlene just hugged her. "Yes, I think I do know what you mean. _{But that doesn't make you a freak.}" She whispered, before letting-go and giving back her personal-space. It was difficult to read Sarah's expression when she was like this, but she figured an explanation on how she could even possibly understand what Sarah was thinking right now was in order.

"The Kamdeshi region used to be a part of the Perizian Union, a very strong ally of the Osbanians. Remember?" She started her story with a question, hoping that some of that propaganda floating in her head would shift focus to allies of the union and stop brow-beating her to self-terminate.

"It wasn't my choice for the region to declare itself in need of self-sovereignty, that was from before my time. Nevertheless, the choice was made, and the newly elected Perizian government officials in the Kamdeshi-region saw the need to rightfully protect their hard-earned autonomy." Marlene had to work hard to remember not to think of her first leaders as a ragtag bunch of inexperienced rebels, but such as they were.

"Our volunteer military was pretty thinly equipped back then, sort of like how the Panthers have been this past year. We maybe had one or two working FRAMES per platoon, even in our best equipped units; others had none at all. But we were all highly motivated. We knew it was just a test, a test to prove that this new system of Perizian government was better than the older, more obsolescent one; despite its shortcomings."

She sighed and took a long drink from her bottle, remembering all the hard-fought battles; the costs of battle made every victory bittersweet.

"When the war ended in a truce, the leaders decided to consolidate their assets, to simplify training and make room for units equipped with more modern replacements. Our unit was re-slated to become an infantry-unit of FRAME-hunters... more cost-effective, they said... Problem is I'm a FRAME-pilot; neither a gun-jockey nor a desk-runner, so I was dismissed. Out of a job."

She set down the empty bottle, not quite sure where it all went, but not really too concerned about it as leaned forwards and her arms hugged her knees.

"So I bought a FRAME slated for decommissioning, old "Lt. D. YASSIR", and went on the market to become a mercenary at a little bar in Sardonia, in a city called Hamarr. Where I met you."

"I seem to remember seeing some video footage of old "B." ripping an arm off an enemy frame and beating its pilot to death with it before taking a shot straight into its radio. From there, despite being functionally-deaf," She paused for emphasis, "continued to assist in the operation even after getting a leg blown-off by getting out and assisting on-foot."

"I joined the Panthers, because units are judged by how well each member trusts their team-mates. And I trust you not to give-up on your friends."

At the end of her story, Marlene looked down, then back up, seeing the crate of ammunition and the gun mount...

"Sooooo, wanna blow stuff up? Got this one gun rigged to shoot twelve-hundred projectiles per second, totally shreds the soft parts of the landscape."

Sarah gave a soft flinch to the hug. Though within seconds she had already melted into her. It was odd to her, but it was nice. No human could ever deny that. She began to feel somewhat normal again, in terms of physiology anyway. The sparking in her eyes seemed to dull as the world seemed to come back to her. The mash of colours no longer looking like someone took a magnet to a CRT screen. Just like a tv after someone took a magnet to it. "Thanks....", she replied meekly. It was a little difficult for her to say anything else. She meant it. Turning her head to her comrade, it cocked slightly at the statement. Yeah, she did remember that. That was a strange thing in itself. The OSU were masters at doublethink. She soaked up the information. It was kind of strange though, in her head all she could remember was that the dogs in the Kamdeshi region were blowing up children. That was nothing in comparison to the bizarre propaganda they famed themselves on. "Well, it must feel homely then.", a half smile appeared on her face as she compared her rebel days to the panthers. Her arms tightened around her legs however as she saw the pain flash across her friends face. A pain she knew all too well, if she didn't block it out with factor 5000. "Huh...You don't change do you...", she replied softly, her mood having perked some. Marlene was as pragmatic as they came. That and she thought it kind of cute that she didn't want to replace him. Mind, it wasn't like half of Mr. B wasn't forced into her newest iteration of him.

"I remember that...It was a nice night...", when in all realities four men had left the bar that night, only three testicles went with them. "That was never confirmed....I told you, the arm came off.... in my hands...and I was just...trying to get it back on...", she gave a soft chuckle as she tried to lie her way out of it. "Marlene...thanks", she said softly and moved to squeeze the breath out of her. "NIIICE....", she said with a somewhat renewed vigour. "Please tell me that you left some forest for me?", she said standing, Sarah wasn't bounding, just walking to go and let off some shells. "Ten credits I can hit that bouy!", the last thing she could have thought was whether or not that bouy had been important or not. As it soon ceased to exist.

Marlene grimaced and wheezed as Sarah gave her one of her infamous hugs, but smiling through the pain since she knew it meant she managed to crawl out of her funk; still not sure what put her in a bad mood, though.

"Well, I only de-forested this side of the ship, the other side is still fair-game." Marlene laughed, pointing at the veranda leading to the other side of the ship. Although Sarah was already starting to show-off when she let-loose a short-burst that completely sealed herself winning her own bet.

"For you, it only counts if you shoot it free-handed." She blustered in response as she went after her, somewhat taken-aback by how quick she'd gone from feeling low, to embracing the little pleasures aboard the ship fully and completely.

[May or may not time-skip here of the duo spending a good portion of the night chasing each other around the ship and shooting the shit out of some poor defenseless trees; if no-skip.... PMs?]

"God DAMMIT!" Kat loudly grumbles as she slams her fist down on the bench. Startled and ripped from her unexpected slumber she quickly glances around through dazed sleep deprived eyes. Upon failing to find the expected hustle and commotion of battle or an attack she angrily grinds her teeth, relaxing a little before sarcastically mumbling to herself.

"Gee, I wonder who the idiots are making all this ruckus and wasting ammo like that..."

With a deep sigh she rests her head in the palms of her hands as she tries to gather herself. Peering down between her hands she is greeted by an unnecessary amount of cleavage.
"Ah, oops."
With another painfully drawn out breath Kat gathers the energy to get up and stumble to her room where she finds the shower and a set of somewhat decent sporting clothes.
She enjoyed her majority female crew, the idea of working around so many men made her cringe.

After a concoction of foul tasting lumpy green liquid and a cap full of various vitamins and supplements, Kat was ready to face the day... Or night, what ever the time was. She forces one leg before the other until she hits the rhythm of jogging and continues it for around 20 minutes where she finally ends it at the kitchens again.

She got a snack and then went out searching for someone or anyone important. Kat put on her best smile which could only mean she wanted something.