The black Frame shifted the firing angle of the weapon from Atty to Dynasty as it continued to fire, but the Frame responded by shooting back with its own blaster, causing the Frame to miss for the critical moment before Dynasty charged in and delivered a burst of short-range missiles that disoriented the Frame, and prevented it from activating its overhauled servo for close-quarters combat. Lora brought the Blade of Hope up, and in that moment she felt a presence coming from Dynasty; it was as if someone in her heart nodded slowly, and deemed Lora to be worthy of inheriting the foreign weapon, as she has claimed it has her own through her actions of valor and virtue. A blue crescent circle was painted as the blade was slashed diagonally across the dark giant, and the sub-atomic weapon took full advantage of the weakness in the armor as it bit in, causing a fracture to spread across the armor like a lightning bolt, followed by the blade's motion. While Lora was not on the level of Irina and her amazing skill in swordplay, the slash nonetheless caused the Frame's torso to double over due to the strain, and it collapsed with a deafening grinding of metal.

Irina smiled as she performed the acrobatic stunt. She knew that if she simply ran straight at Rostosov, it could aim one of its cruise missiles straight at her feet and catch her before she could dodge; her thrusters were busted, so she decided to use her jetpack to give the lieutenant the finisher he deserved. I'm gonna twirl past that, Harry, she thought as she saw the missile fire. But then she spotted with the corner of her eye another attack, and turned just in time to parry the extra-charged energy sickle aimed straight at her. She couldn't believe that the red Frame was still capable of standing despite having taken the brunt of Daemon's heavy caliber cannon. It was at that moment that she realized that she lost; she was incapable of dodging at that point in the air. But instead of anger or wrath, she instead gave a nice smile. You did well, kids.

The resulting impact of the cruise missile knocked Sköll away, and it hit the ground some distance away, followed by its sword, that landed pointy end first a couple hundred feet away. The missile hit the Frame's lower body, and the scattered pieces of its feet were like a trail of destruction. Irina recovered from being knocked around in her cockpit, and noticed that she was bleeding from her mouth. At first she simply stared at the crimson flow, before she started giggling, followed by a full-blown laughter. "Good job, punks. You're now ready for the alien scum."

If one were to be shown photos of the battlefield before and after the operation, they couldn't recognize it as the same. The earth was scorched black, and craters dotted the landscape at every viewing. The corpses of fallen angels littered the horizon, their glistening bodies now turned black with soot or in multiple pieces. It was all over.

As Lorenzo observed the feed, and saw Irina's defeat, he bit his lower lip. "Oh Irina, I thought you were better than this. Then again, it has been a while since your last non-VR operation, so I'll forgive you for being a bit rusty." Ritsu was silent, and tried to think of a rational explanation for the carnage she was witness to. She wanted to question Lorenzo's methods, and have him explain how anything could be worth the cost of the repairs and new Frames. However, Lorenzo had full authority, and she could only carry out any whims the mad scientist could have. Lorenzo then laughed a bit, and pressed all the red buttons on his remote, causing all the Framewerks to suddenly shut down. He then turned on the loudspeaker.

"Attention all Cadets, the operation was completed. While it was technically a victory as the objective was achieved, you took so many casualties it might as well be called a defeat at this point. A completely terrible display of brainless idiots without any sense of tactics. No lollipops for you naughty kids." Then he snickered. "Leave your Framewerks where they are at, the mechanics will retrieve them. There will be choppers shortly arriving to escort you all back to the base. Assemble at the briefing hall and prepare for hearing your results." He cackled over the intercom before turning off the communications.

"So, they performed exactly how you expected them to?" asked Ritsu as she looked over Lorenzo's data, and sighed; these operations were stressful to her, but Lorenzo seemed to consider it entertainment, and she hated that. He responded: "Yup...although I have chosen an officer. It was an obvious choice from the get-go. But I gotta say, there was some good spunk with some of them, despite them all being complete idiots who could kill themselves in an empty room. Maybe after some proper words they'll come around."

"Despite all that happened you're still going to promote one of them?"
"I have to, someone needs to be in charge on the battlefield. Conflicts of any kind must be resolved, preferably even prevented, if they are to survive for a second out there. I may even assign a secondary leader to them, someone who showed a different set of skills." And with those words, Lorenzo shut off the monitor, and sipped on his caffeine-based refreshment. "What is the situation on the additions?"
Lieutenant Ritsu whipped out a hand-held tablet from her pocket, and checked it. "It will take a couple of weeks to transfer the Framewerks, but we'll get the pilots here by the time of the briefing. ETA 4 hours."
"Good. Make sure they're up to speed and at my lecture on time. I've already done enough waiting for a century."

Once the announcement was done, Elora opened her eyes, and held her head, whimpering in pain. It turned out that they managed to barely secure a win, which was surprising to her; she thought that nobody could defeat that crazy lady. She may have pondered on the subject more if she wasn't feeling suddenly crept out by the silence that descended on the entire area. And then, for some reason, she felt incredibly alone in the cockpit, not to mention stuffy. She wanted to get out, and talk to someone, anyone.

Elora climbed up Logic Gate's innards, and opened a hatch. She hopped out of the Framewerk and cringed as she saw how battered her round friend was. "Oh, LG...what have they done to you. Please be well," he said as she put a hand on the cold metal, before she started walking towards the nearest Framewrk she saw which was Yeager's mangled remains at the base of Zone G. She knocked on the Frame, hoping she would get a response from Rooney, afraid that he might have actually been killed. "Uhh...R-Rooney?...Are you t-there? Please respond." She was shaking like a leaf; her plugsuit kept her warm, but she still felt chilling inside. Maybe it was all the insanity and violence she just experienced, and that her gifted, but young mind tried to process? She didn't want to think about it.

OOC: Three way collab between @Ariamis@Dragoknighte and yours truly.




An annoying beeping sound woke Sigma from her torpor. A communication from Lorenzo. The exercise was over. She clutched her head, still wincing from the empathic ordeal. She felt numb and cold, and she hugged herself in response. Her eyes went slightly wide.

Wow, someone took Irina down?

She grinned slightly. Perhaps, just perhaps the situation had a silver lining. For the very first time in her life, she had scored a hit against her template. Her memory wandered to the other clones, wondering how they had fared.

But, she first had to get out of the wreck. She really had pushed Eiswolf to the limits, she lamented as she opened the hatch, examining the wreck of her Framewerk. A broken doll for a broken doll. She stood silent, letting the wind caress her hair and make it wave. And hit her face a couple of times. Stupid hair.

The feeling of a battlefield could never be fully simulated.

It was then when she noticed another pilot, dashing towards one of the wrecks. The Logic Gate pilot, Elora. The one who cried. She had cried too now, so she would need to ...apologize? It seemed fit. Damn, social interactions weren't her best. And fighting... it had been a rather underwhelming performance.

She dashed towards Elora, who was inspecting another frame...Yeager?? Was that its name?

"Calm down." She put a hand on the other distressed 14-year old. "I'll help you with the emergency hatch."

---

Once the hand touched the poor girl's shoulder, she screamed in fright and jumped a bit, turning around like a cornered animal, her eyes wide and filled with water. She never heard the quiet girl arrive, and she didn't expect anyone to approach her on this incredibly vast field. "IYAAAHH! Uuuuhh. I-I'm sorry. I'm a bit...scared. It's hard to put to words."

She nodded to Sigma's offer, and the two strained themselves as they pulled on the mangled piece of metal, and opened the hatch. Elora let Sigma go in first, and followed after her into the dark depths of Yeager's insides. They found Rooney in his cockpit, who was unconscious, and dragged him outside. Elora put her hands to her chest once they were done, as her fears started swelling up. "D-Do you think he's...uhhh..."

---

Sigma tilted her head, and a hint of a smile appeared in the corners of her mouth. She knelt besides Rooney, hands tenderly reaching for the pilot's face. "He's breathing."

SLAP.

"WAKE UP!"

---

Roger's eyes opened slowly. Where am I? Am I dead? The face that he felt all over made it abundantly clear that the answer to that last question was no. There was an aching in his ribs and his head throbbed, but something felt different. HE reached up and touched his face, which felt strangely hot.

"Did I get slapped?" It was only then that he noticed the two girls standing over him. Oh hey. He knew these girls. Maybe. He didn't really remember much of anything that had happened in the last couple hours. Um... one of them was the crying girl, and the other one was um... he didn't remember her.

"Sorry, but what happened?" Rooney reached up and touched his forehead. Blood. And he was in his plugsuit. He probably crashed.

---

"Pilot Elora. I think you're more suited to tell him." Sigma nodded, as she gazed around, searching for more wrecks. "I blacked out after my last attack on the Sköll." Her visage contorted upon finding one of the fallen enemy wrecks, who had been smashed against the tower.

"Damn, please be alive. Please." Sigma muttered imperceptibly as she fumbled, and hurried up to open the cockpit of the other fallen mech. "Hey, are you alive, sis!?" She yelled, in an uncharacteristical display of emotion, her voice trembling much like when she spoke of Irina earlier. Her eyes widened, and she blanched all of a sudden, before turning her sight away, tears welling in the corner of her eye.

"...ugh. Rest in peace, Theta." She whispered, before turning her sight on the other two live pilots. "Any more wrecks to check?"

---

While Sigma was busy digging around the enemy Frame's grotesque vehicle, Elora jittered, unsure of what to say to Rooney. She was also taken out fairly quickly after Sigma was, and she only remembered that Rooney was fighting multiple enemies at the lake with Zim.

"Uuhh, well...you beat that thing, I think. And, uhh, won? Irina was taken out as well, so we won the mission. Hey, are you okay?" She bent down, and looked at Rooney's face. "You l-look like you need medical attention, with t-that bleeding. N-Not to be rude..."

---

Roger tried to remember the battle he was supposed to have just been in, but nothing came to mind. Well, if he had actually managed to come out alive after all that, he must have done something right. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and felt a sharp pain in his torso, just below the shoulders. Broken ribs maybe?

It was then that he got his first good look at Yeager since he had come to. Oh. That would explain why he couldn't remember anything that had just happened.

"Ouch, sorry about that, Yeager. Um, Elora right? I should be fine for now. Yeager and I have had our fair share of crashes. Nothing this bad. I hope I'll be forgiven for wrecking it so badly. 'Sides, I don't think there are any medical supplies around here, even if somebody did need them." Rooney wiped some blood out of his eye and blinked several times before realizing the other girl had asked a question too.

"Um, I don't remember, but if I was fighting against multiple people, I think the wrecks would be that way." He pointed over towards the Lake of Rage. When he crashed, it was rarely ever in a curved path, so the battlesite was likely in a direct line backwards from where Yeager and that other Framewerk were.

---

"Good. I need to go there. I need to check if they're alive." Sigma said, not even directing her sight towards Elora nor Rooney. She walked in a hunched, primal position, and her eyes had gone rather glassy. "They are disposable dolls...but they're my siblings." She began to walk, tears running down her cheeks, without herself realizing.

"Am I breaking down? Oh I apologize in that case." Sigma droned, in a strange eerie tone, before beginning to walk. "I am crying, I am being wasteful. I don't want to be disposed of." She paused "You did...well." Sigma also said, halting for a second. "I am sorry for calling you a crybaby. It seems...I fall under that definition too." She resumed her ghastly walk, before one of her knees seeemed to cave in under the tiredness, making Sigma kneel on the dirt due to sheer tiredness.

---

Elora put her hands to her mouth, trying to not make a sound as she watched the suddenly emotional Sigma walk away and then stop, thankful of her kind words, but cautious of their honesty, considering her state. She moved around in her place while she looked aside, uncomfortable with the situation she was in. She tried to ease the awkwardness by trying to keep up the conversation, even though she was a nervous wreck at this point. She wouldn't be surprised at all if Rooney dismissed her as a crybaby, because she knew she was one, but she wanted to try, regardless.

She cleared up her throat that was dried out by the weather. "Uhh, mister Rooney...I...I hope I wasn't a burden out there." She realized what she let out of her mouth, and whimpered. "I mean, was my data a-applicable to the tactical needs of the mission? I wish to improve as the intelligence specialist, so any feedback would be appreciated...if that is okay with you."

---

Roger brow furrowed. Wait. Disposable doll? What? Was that a slip that he wasn't meant to hear? For now he would pretend like he hadn't heard it. That girl seemed like she wasn't in any state of mind to hold a conversation. Right now there was another girl right in front of him who seemed to be in the process of breaking down.

"I don't remember the fight, but I'm sure you did just fine." Roger felt relaxed, almost serene. It was odd. Perhaps it was a side effect of brain damage. Maybe it was just because he couldn't remember the life or death struggle he was just in and could ride the high of endorphins left over in his body. Details.

"You're beating yourself up too much. If you're constantly worrying about every mistake you make, you'll just make everything else worse. First lesson I learned about piloting back on my home planet. Course that was airplanes, not giant robots." Rooney didn't really know how to follow up, nor could he get that line about not wanting to be disposed out of his head. Damn, what he would do for a cigarette right now.

---

The young girl nodded, and swiped her cheeks with her arm. For some reason Rooney's words brought her back to reality, away from the dark visions of causing people around her to die, as she has experienced before in a heart-wrenching memory. She rationalized that her map and enemy data was helpful for the operation's success when she thought about it more clearly, and sniffed as a sign of retiring from her misery. "I understand. I...I won't bring myself down, mister Rooney. I'll try my best as well, for as long as I have Logic Gate to trust in. T-Thank you," she said, and blushed a little at the embarrassment.

---

"Not for nothing, but what are we waiting for? Are we going to have to walk back to base?" From the look on his face, it was blatant that was the last thing he wanted to do. Sitting up hurt enough, and given the size of the battlefield... He winced internally. Maybe it would have been better if he had just stayed unconscious and got dragged back to base. Then again, he would probably be even more confused than he was now.

---

Elora looked around, at first confused about Rooney's words, before she realized what he meant. "Oh, well, the Executive Officer said that we'll have to wait for helicopters to come and retrieve us. It woudl be a long distance get back on foot, even with the rocket motors on our boots," she said, turned around, and hooked one of her legs up so Rooney saw the sole of the boot. "I don't think we have other choice but to wait." Elora didn't like handing out bad news out of fear of getting hit or otherwise mistreated, but she hoped that Rooney was still calm enough to take the news well.

---

"That so?" Rooney replied before laying back down. If that was the case, he could just lay back and rest.

---

Elora walked over to where Sigma knelt down, and put her hands to her knees as she looked down at her. "Miss Sigma...did you fight against Irina Spanova? W-What was she like...in person, I mean...well, in Framewerk." She bit her lip, and wished she could turn invisible.

---

Sigma's face was pointing downwards, her fists clenching the earth. "I can't save them." She whispered to herself, before noticing she was being talked to..."uh? Irina?..."
She eyed the fellow teenager. "I only got a shot in, because of my backpack. I think. I never got to hit her before. Only Alpha did. She trained me, and I never...managed to get a hit in. She's a monster. All war heroes are...except Harold?" She sat, wiping her tears, the moments in silence having done wonders to regain her bearings.
"That's why she's the template." Sigma added, looking at Elora."Maybe I said too much, but I might be disposed after this."

---

"So if you're saying, what I think you're saying," Rooney interjected, "you're some kind of copy of Irina? That's... I don't know. If we're not supposed to find out, I won't tell." Really, secret government cloning programs sounded like something out of a movie, or the odd conspiracy theory that nobody took seriously. It didn't feel like something that was actually real.

"If that's what's going on, why are you here with us?" Roger's fingers searched the ground for greenery of some kind, a blade of grass to chew on, something to occupy his mouth, but all he found was dirt and rock. "I'd figure they wouldn't mix in clones and normal people together in one group, but then again, we're a bunch of experiments ourselves. Guinea Pigs for these Framewerks. Still."

---

The truth of Sigma's identity shocked Elora, and she went down to her knees and hugged the girl, tears appearing in her eyes. It was incredibly forward of her, but she couldn't help it as she was overcome with grief at that instant, far stronger than any anxiety she had developed over the years. "Miss Sigma, that can't be true! You're a real, living person like us! You can't be a clone. I-I won't believe it...I don't want to." Elora couldn't stand how the suffering they went through was done not only to them, but to beings who never had anything else in their life but to fight and feel the same things she did while she was out there, facing death and despair itself. That was not something she could accept.

---

Sigma stood there, silent, only rattled slightly by Elora's hug. Closeness. Sigma's face reddened so slightly, as her lips wobbled a little."Pilot Elora." She didn't know how, but her hand reached for Elora's head, stroking her hair. Much very like an adult would stroke a child. Much like in Irina's memories."We are through hard times. Very much so. People die. Families are broken. Yet framewerks need pilots. We were created so people like you could live on." Both her hands gently leveled the young pilot's head towards her own. "I do not think it is shameful to be a clone made for such a purpose."

She then eyed Rooney. "In fact, I regret we could not be better. We were supposed to become like Irina, peerless...but I am...the success..." She bit her lip."And the others..."

..."Were disposed as mobile targets." Her voice choked. "I couldn't save them. I'm sorry. i developed sisterly feelings for them. I'm no good. At anything. Not even social...wordsfailingdon'tknow...scared." She finally decided to hug back Elora, unable to think a better response.

---

Rooney mulled over Sigma's words. If she was the success and she was searching through the wrecks... oh. The pit of his stomach settled.

"That's rough." A lame response. That helped nobody. It probably made him look like an ass. "I live out in what most people would consider the middle of nowhere. The kind of place people look down their noses at. But we didn't care. You get proud of your home when people stick their noses down at you. Makes you want to hole yourself off from everyone. Well the problem is that we can't really survive completely alone. In its natural state, we wouldn't be able to grow food, and the support we get from the Federation ain't enough to provide for everyone in time." Rooney paused to take a breath.

"So we ourselves set up a big transport system using planes we built ourselves. With this, we could support a civilization. Well it isn't all that simple to be a pilot on Sparth. The mountains can grow so tall as to enter the stratosphere at times. If you aren't always focused and a... quick on the controls, you could trash the plane and doom some city's inhabitants to starvation. And the best pilots are like how ya describe this Irina. Peerless. About to move a plane like it were part of your own body. I was only in the program for a short time, but you're always pressured to be perfect at all times, because everyone, especially people you don't even know and will never meet are counting on you. It's probably nothing like whatever you've been through..." Oh man. He forgot her name again. But he couldn't let it show, or else this whole story would be botched. "but I imagine you're feeling a pressure kinda like that."

---

Elora, after she held Sigma for a moment, finally let go, after her eyes turned red from the crying. She felt bad for Sigma, and hated herself for having assumed she was cold and unfeeling, like a stony statue representing stoicism. She helped Sigma up to her feet, and dusted off the dirt that accumulated on her plugsuit with her wet hand, causing even more stains. "I'm being messy, aren't I? I'm s-sorry." They were all having a difficult time, not just her. Sigma, Rooney, everyone. She sniffed, decided to try and stop crying, and puffed her cheeks as she did so.

---

Sigma tilted her head, thanking silently Elora for her help. She closed her eyes, interiorizing those words carefully. She didn't know how to follow, or what to say. Maybe she could tell them? Yes. Maybe she could.
"I can cook though. Irina can't." She said, in a neutral voice."It's supposed to help in society, or so I'm told? I'm...no good at this?" She added, before trying to clumsily backpedal in her speech. "Uhh...ehh!!" She finally fumbled, becoming a little red. "I think we should regroup and wait for the others?"

---

"That sounds like a good idea," Rooney answered, making no move to get up from his rocky makeshift bed.

---

Elora stopped puffing her cheeks, and let out a sound of wonder. "Huh? You can cook? Well, it does..." Elora had no idea what to say to a comment, let alone reaction like that. The distress she was in seemed to fade away, replaced by oddness as she came to recover. "I agree, we s-should wait. Miss Sigma...don't say that you are not good. You are the best pilot I have ever seen, and you are also kind and caring. That makes you more of a human than Irina is." Elora shut her mouth and closed her eyes. It was rare when she had the guts to insult anyone, but she felt it was appropriate at that moment, if only so Sigma would feel better.

---

"...I don't know. I am after all a copy of Irina." Sigma said, puzzled. "But I appreciate? yes, that is the word, the ...thought?" Sigma added, obviously struggling to appear natural, before adding a small ruffle on Elora's hair. "I also held back a little against my sisters." She added."How much is that help going to take?" She wondered, looking at the sky.

Why the hell would they design chairs like this? Daniel grimaced, turning in his harness to glance at the perfect ninety degree angle between the bottom and backrest of the seat he was strapped into. He glanced up and down the ‘tin can’ that made up the section of shuttle they were sealed in and released the leg straps for a moment to stretch. There were a scant few others here to notice, and he doubt they would complain. “What divisions did you guys transfer from?” He glanced sideways, noting the type of plug suit the nearest pilot was wearing. Different mechs, different tech, the plugsuits all worked the same, but had some difference in design.
"...that's classified for me...", came a rather drone-like reply.
Not far from Daniel was a girl or woman wearing a jet black plugsuit. In the empty seat between him and her was the pilot's helmit. Also jet black with a red visor at the front of the helmit. The red haired girl seemed to look straight ahead at nothing though even at Daniel's question.
"...right." The man raised an eyebrow. "It's not like anyone is listening here though, it's just soldier talk." He shrugged and leaned back. "I came from an engineering division. We mostly built and tested." He glanced sideways. "May have even had something to do with your own ride, whatever it is."
"...negative. My framework uses...unique technologies. It wasn't handled at common engineering divisions at first...", came another emotionless reply. And to Daniel, it seemed that she didn't even glance in his direction.
A slow smile crossed his face, he raised an eyebrow. "From the advanced expirimental? Now that is interesting." He refastened the leg harness and leaned his head back. "I always dreamed of working on one of those teams." Daniel's smile faded a bit. "I doubt you are interested in the science of it all though. Pilots usually are the shoot-em-up types."
Daniel did notice something different though. The girl seemed to close her eyes. Considering her current behavior, it was a slight change. Then she opened her eyes, still looking ahead and spoke.
"...one of my..."assigned"...hobbies...is being a mechanic...though a necessary skill...I don't trust others with basic maintenance-"

"MOTHER FUCKER," came the outlandish swear from beyond the shuttle doors. There was a the sound of a faint scuffle from the outside before the doors slid open with a hiss and a surly man in a pilot's uniform was frog-marched into the compartment by a trio of guards, who all looked a little worse for wear. "You give that back or so help me I'll piss down your throat!"

One guard did not look amused and gave the man who sported a particular purple shiner a viscious cuff on the back of the head as they threw him in head over heels onto the floor. "You were told once, you were told a thousand times, Cadet Glasere," he stressed. "No CONTRABAND."

The cadet glared daggers and saw fit to salute the guard with the sacred double single finger Martian middle point. "Up yours you goose stepping pansy."

The moment all that happened, the girl immedately looked to her side at the commotion while her left hand went towards the inside of her helmit as if reaching for something. Thankfully, Daniel saw this just in time to figure out what she was going for.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Daniel raised an eyebrow and rolled his head in her direction. "Think what you want of him, but anybody on this shuttle is valuable."

The cadet gave a bitter growl as the guards wiped their hands of him, the shuttle door hissing after them, and he pulled himself up off the ground, dusting himself off. He spared only a glance for his fellow shuttle comrades. "And just who are you two dipshits suppose to be?"

"I am supposed to be some kind of pilot of a giant-ass robot." Daniel shrugged. "I think I got mixed up somewhere though, seeing as I ended up in this tuna can with a dead fish and another one freshly beaten and ready to be fried." He looked with some amusement at the girl. "No offense meant, but all insults given, you being the dead fish here."

The girl did look at Daniel after his remark but then looked straight ahead afterwards.
"...none taken sir...and...if I may speak honestly sir..."
The girl then closed her eyes again and, strangly took a sniff through her nose as if she smelled something. Then, perhaps out of her character, said this in a emotionless tone.
"...better dead...than drunk..."

The cadet gave a noncomprehending blink at Daniel for a moment before a rather toothy grin spread across his face. "Oh joy, we got a minnow on board with the rest of the catch of the day. We are now officially fucked," he said with a sarcastic leer as he plopped down right next to the girl. "Better drunk than dead, pretty tits."
"...and your a pilot...face reality...don't escape it with...Alcohol...", came a drone reply as the girl continued to look ahead.

"Sweetheart," the cadet said as he threw his arm around the girl's shoulder, throwing his head back. "It's what helps me face reality. Try it sometime, might take off the frigid bitch complexion you got going on."

"Well, you two are getting along." Daniel chuckled. This was going to be interesting. "Why don't you too just kiss and make up? We have a long ride ahead."

The girl didn't seem to hear Daniel's comment as she suddenly looked slightly at the arm around her shoulder then at the "drunken" cadet in her view.
"...it's behavior like that that's...inefficient...it makes you a danger...to everyone...yourself included...", the girl droned. She then looked straight ahead again.

"I'm game if she is," the cadet said Daniel as he turned to the girl. "How about it Frigid tits, care to lock lips wth a dangerous man?"
Daniel glanced between them, and considered unbuckling and moving a few seats away. Not that he didn't enjoy the company, but it seemed wise to avoid the potential blast radius of this encounter. Stiffs tended to snap, after a point.

The girl then looked at the drunk sitting next to her. A long look. But there was nothing to suggest an emotion on her face.
"...leave...your becoming a threat to me...", she suddenly said coldly.

The cadet gave a shit eating grin that stretched from one side of his face to the other. "Make me," he dared back.

That's when two things happened. While the girl was still looking at the drunk cadet, her left hand quickly went towards her helmit again. Only Daniel was quicker and snatched the helmit before she could get to it. The girl then glared at Daniel who then pulled out of the helmet what looked liked a small combat knife in it's sheath. He let out a whistle when he saw the weapon. "I like this, wonder how you got it through clearance..." He glanced between the two before slipping the knife into his boot. "I think I might hold on to this a bit longer... feel free to bash eachother's brains out with this though." He tossed the helmet back at her with an appraising look. "Would be unfortunate to arrive all bruised up in front of our new commander however."

The cadet a low whistle as he saw the knife, his arm around the girl squeezing him close to her. "Looks like Frigid Tits here has a pair of criminals down under," he said with a demeaning laugh, before grabbing a hold of her chin and forcing her to look at him. "Sweetheart, let me make some shit clear. You pull a knife on me again, you better make fucking sure you cut my fucking throat on the first go. We have ourselves an understand?" he asked, as he forced her to nod her head. "That's a good girl..."

The girl simply let herself be physically harassed by the drunk. She didn't respond at all. At least for the moment. But then she spoke again. "...what is your name..."

At that, the cadet removed his arm from around her and jerked a thumb in his direction. "The name is Nikolas Glasere. I'm here to, as Minnow said, pilot giant ass fucking robots, kill Cruxi bastards, and get absolutely shitfaced. Except I'm all out of-" he began. Suddenly, it seemed as though he had been struck with a euphoric moment of inspiration. He lept out of his seat rolled up his pant leg, and lo and behold was a miniature flask taped to the inside of his ankle.

"...I'm a fucking genius," Nikolas said reverently as he unscrewed the cap and took a quick swig. "Praise be to the marvelous fucker who looked at a potato and said 'Lets fucking drink this shit'. "

Daniel raised his eyebrow at the other's actions, and offered a bit of advice, [color=fff79a]"Probably should put some distance between you and her before you get too far into that. Would be a shame if she broke your neck while you couldn't feel it." He shrugged, "Not that its my business. Name is Cadet Wilton, by the way."

The girl ignored Nikolas's current behavior but acknowledged Daniel but simply looked ahead again. She then spoke. "...my name...is Seven..."

Nikolas waggled a finger in Wilton's direction as he took another sip. "No, it's Minnow. When the Cruxi blows our asses into the void, I'm gonna make sure they put a little fish on your tombstone back home," he said with a cruel smirk as he made the distance across the shuttle and plopped nect to Daniel. "You weren't kidding about her being a wet blanket," he muttered under his flask. "So Frigid Tits brought a knife, I got the booze... whatcha got stashed away Minnow."

Daniel glanced over at the other man and winked. "I have to keep it secret, would be a shame if the word got out." He looked towards the girl. "Give me your full name, and you can have the knife back." He pulled the blade out and waved it tantalizingly in front of her.

The girl calling herself Seven continued to look straight ahead again but then closed her eyes yet again. And in her usual drone-like matter, responded. "...Twilight...Mai "Seven" Twilight..."

Katya and Zim

It was the sound of Lorenzo voice over the inter comm the brought Katya back into the waking world. The young woman finding herself laying on her side in her pilots seat with her forehead throbbing.
"Ow. I really need softer consoles," she thought reaching out blindly in the total darkness. Katya found one of her consoles and tapped on it a few times only to have nothing happen. The young girl cursing as it meant her mech was powered down and getting out would pain as she would have open the hatch by hand something she hated doing.
"Crap... I better find the manual release," she muttered as she fumbled around her seating looking for a leaver with a handle. After several minutes Katya found what she was looking for and with grunt she pressed down on the leaver and pulled the handle up, her cockpits hatch hissing as it opened slightly letting in a little light into the darkened space.

Now having some light Katya reached to the partially opened hatch and started pushed on it. With no power the door didn't resist her much as she slowly pushed it out then pushed it down. With the hatch now wide open Katya climbed out of her mech.
"The engineers are going to kill me...." was the girls first thought when she made it out and saw the state of her mech. Caretakers left leg sheered of in the blast and flown off somewhere.

Listening to the comm chatter, it sounded like everybody was accounted for and checked in except for Zim in Black Star. Katya decided to head over to check on the older pilot. Making use of the rocket boots on the plug suites, she made relatively quick work of the travel. Once she got to Black Stars wreckage she found that the hatch was still sealed shut. A quick radio in to HQ got them to remotely deactivate the pressure lock on the hatch system.

Chnk, hisssss, chnk chnk chnk chnk chnk.

Zim stirred awake. "What was that?" he thought as the hatch was remotely released. The pressurized hatch was held in place by six internally driven bolts against a pressurized gasket seal. After the first bolt was withdrawn the pressure hissed as it was normalized between the cabin and the outside world. He still wasn't sure exactly what the sound was when the dark cavity that was Black Stars cockpit erupted with natural light from the outside. Through his closed eyelids the world burned red and white. He jerked against the pain in his harness. As his eyelids flickered open he was starting to see a shape, a face maybe? A voice accompanied it. Finally the haze lifted. "Oh, it is Katya," He realized as he focused.

"Did we win?" He finally asked her.

Hearing Zero's voice Katya was filled with relief.
"Yeah... although for little I know we took a real beating," she stated partly climbing into his cockpit so she could reach Zim and help him out of his cockpit.
"How about we get you out of there. You can't be comfortable," she said giving him a smile and offering a hand to help pull him out.

"Yeah, good plan," Zim said, as much to himself as to anybody else. He felt around until he found the harness release. With a snap he was able to pull the harness straps out of the way. He, as much out of habit as anything else, reached up and pulled the zipper of the plug suit down part of the way down his chest. Nothing indecent by any measure.

"I guess you were right," Zero said as he took Katya's hand, "I was the first one out on Team Sigma, wasn't I? Looks like I'll be depending on you more then I want to out in the field. At least until my Sync rate improves."

Katya felt happy he seemed to by okay at least. Seeing him partly unzip his plug suit, Katya couldn't help but feel little embarrassed. Glad he stopped part way down his chest, anything further might of made her a little too embarrassed help him out.

"I don't know if you where first. Everything happened so quick I'm still trying to process everything. I'm afraid I'll have to depend on you just as much... I got a nasty reminder just how limited my combat ability is in Caretaker. Not that I'm bad mouthing my mech I love the hunk of metal. It reminds me of home and why I'm here." she stated rubbing the back of her head with her left hand.

Zim noticed the flush of the younger girls face. He raised the zipper back up to a nearly closed position, "Sorry about that, habit."

"It was a learning moment for all of us," Zim said as he settled himself on the wreckage that was Black Star, "The commands were all over the place with no real leader. You shouldn't have had to take a fully offensive position, support, sure, but unless you are trying to protect someone while your drones are running. I don't think you should be directly assaulting the opponents. But what do I know? Besides, what are teams for but for them to depend on one another."

Hearing Zero say is was a learning moment for all of them Katya could do but nothing but nod in agreement. But his next comment caused her to once again nod as she agreed while she didn't mind fighting she simply wasn't equipped for front line combat.
"Zero seems like he's quite a clever little bug." she thought looking at Black Star her mind picking out the damage thinking of ways to fix it.
"Wow he took more of beating then me. Well it looks like it, any way," she muttered softly to no one in particular merely expressing her thoughts out loud.

Zim sat in silence a moment, surveying the damage. Black Star was still primarily three pieces. The main body of the Framewerk, the destroyed armor wing, and then finally the chuck that had been torn out below the cockpit from there it was impaled.

"Home, huh?" Zim said, finally turning back to Katya, "Where is home for you?"

Katya smiled felling home sick for a moment looking at Zero for a moment before looking up into the sky.

"Home? A desert world called Kormm. A world with 3 suns. But my home is mining outpost in the middle of one of its desert. Always hot, always sandy. The sound of machinery going by day and Merry making by night. My pet scuttle running around getting into my sock drawer, eating them or just getting into mischief. My mother spending her days underground dig for ore..." she said trailing off there was more she wanted to say but at this time wasn't willing to talk about one of her family who might be dead.
"What about you Zero. Where's home for a you?"

"A planet called Fortress. It is a rocky place, more hospitable then Kormm, it sounds like. It is protected by the debris of a broken moon or something that has stayed in orbit. Attempting to approach the planet was nearly impossible during the early settlement days. But now the debris work for us. Between mining them and using them for defense platforms, we've also rigged up some of them to be able to control their position so we can open up a hole for people approaching with permission. I haven't been home in so long. I worked on a terraforming team before I joined up with the PDF..." Zim trailed off. He wasn't ready to talk about Fleck yet, not with a stranger... No, Katya and the rest of the team were no longer strangers, they were compatriots. He didn't say what he was going to say, instead he ended with, "So I have seen some pretty weird planets."

"Wow that sounds so cool. I'd love to see that see that some day." she stated trying to picture massive chunks of rocks orbiting a planet being moved to make a gap to allow ship passage. Although she was sure whatever her mind could cook up wouldn't even come close to the real thing. When Zero mentioned he worked on a terraforming team, Katya looked at him stumped having heard the word terraform once before but couldn't recall the meaning of it. But after a moment shrugged finding it didn't really matter.

"Sound like you had an... ummm, interesting life. Beats mine, I grew up in mining outpost signed for the military service to escape home. Then have spent the last 8 months learning how to operate Caretaker. This is the first world I've ever set foot on outside of my home world. Gotta say though never thought other worlds would be so cold. I have no idea how you people deal with it. Still what a the weirdest planet you've been to?" she said sounding curios, Katya having in interest in hearing about other planets thanks to her father.

"A hollow planet," Zim said quickly. It didn't take him long to think of the weirdest planet at all, "The outer crust was all that was there. There was no sign of organic life on the surface of the planet, despite it being in the hospitable zone. So we assumed that the atmosphere was toxic, but that didn't prove to be the case, so we started drilling, looking for why the planet was dead. Our core drillers only got a quarter of a mile into the rocky upper crust of the planet before they made open air. Sensors couldn't see anything, the hole was too big. We drilled a few other places on the planet and it was the same everywhere we went. Best theory about it was that it still had an active core somewhere in there, otherwise there wouldn't be any gravity, but that the planet had been mined out by someone... We listed it as a dead planet and continued on, reported it to the Planetary Exploration Corps and moved on. It was definitely eerie being on that planet surface. Always felt like someone was going to pop out at you."

Hearing Zero mention a hollow planet Katya listened intently hanging of his every word. Having never heard of a planet that was hollow. It seemed to deify the tiny amount of knowledge she know about planets and how they worked.
"Wow, that sounds really cool in a creepy sort of way. Not sure I could handle being on a world with no life on it what so ever. The idea of a livable world just sitting in space devoid of life just doesn't sound right," Katya commented once again trying to picture it in her head which caused her to shutter. After that she became lost in her thoughts for a moment almost like she was deciding something in her head.

"Thanks for sharing that, I appreciate it. You know, you're not so bad, Zero. I think we have potential to get along well."

"Thanks?" Zim said, "I suspect that we will, indeed. Who do you think will get command? My money is on Harold. Through the chaos he tried his best. He's got experience as a leader too. And, meaning no offense to you, the vast majority of this fighting force is far too young to really be able to take command, I think. But, what do I know."

'Fleck was young too, when he first got his command on the Terraformer ship, and I think he did just fine,' Zim thought to himself. Zim missed Fleck, he would admit it to anybody that asked, but the truth was that he missed him even more then he was willing to admit. But maybe, with the help of people like Katya and Serah, perhaps Zero could find someone to help alleviate that hurt.

Hearing Zero say he suspected they would get along Katya clapped her hands together once with smile on her face. Which quickly faded as she thought about his question of who she thought would get command. Thinking on what little she knew of the others.
"No offense taken. To tell you the truth I agree with you a lot of us are "young". As for who will be the officer I actually can't think of who it might be. I don't really known anyone so its hard to hazard a guess. Personally I hope its not me. I happy being in a supporting role, it what I'm trained for. Although if it was offered to me I'd take it. My instructors always told me challenge give people a good chance to grow." she said thinking on who might become the officer a little more. Before shrugging seeing little point on dwelling on it, they'd find out soon enough.

As the two continued to chat the extraction helicopters came into sight. It was unnecessary, of course the flight crews knew where everybody, and every body, was. Despite this, Zim raised to his feet on top of Black Stars broken form and waved down the extraction team. Anything else that was said between the two was washed away by the sound of the helicopter blades as they were whisked away to join up with the rest of the team, as well as their mission debriefing.

Serah felt a shock through her body as she suddenly woke again, only about a minute or two after blacking out. A terrible headache still remained, but her body didn't sting as much as before and she could at least make out where everything was this time around. A forced message came over from Lorenzo, informing everyone of their quite frankly TERRIBLE display and the fact they needed to basically get out of their frames. Not like they had any choice, with everyone's machine having been shut down. Serah wasn't thinking clearly enough to comprehend everything just yet, so she sat there for a little while trying to recall things. Then she realized. "Wait, what happened to everyone?!" the girl nearly panicked, feeling a surge of energy shoot throughout their body. Quickly, without any care for grace, she forced open the exit to her framewerk and made the climb down to the battlefield. Now that Serah had a bit of time to take it in... Wow. Everything was in ruins. Black craters and rubble filling it as far as the eye could see, bits of scrap and bullet cases scattered all over the place...

And worst of all, completely wrecked frames scattered the field. Serah had to really take a few moments to comprehend the sight. Rostosov, barely held upright in the distance even through the shutdown. Paladin... Complete wreck, honestly, alongside Caretaker's missing leg. Dynasty had gone off somewhere, and in the very distance lay Sköll. "We... Got her...?" Serah muttered in disbelief. It didn't look at all like the beam Atty swung was the thing that hit her, though. And then she noticed Rostosov's missile remains scattered all around there. Realization dawned upon her. Harold did that. Wasting no time, she sprinted over using the mini-rockets in the suit. Within only a few moments she was near Rostosov, shouting "Harold?! Harold, are you in there?!" worridly. What the hell happened when Serah blacked out?

As if in immediate reply, a hatch opened in the back of the Rostosov. Climbing out of it was a Harold who looked worse for wear - not injured, but thoroughly exhausted. It seemed that he was muttering curses the entire time he was crawling out of the hatch. Only noticing the girl too late to mind his language early enough, he looked down at her, paused, and said,

"Hey."

Then he cleared the small opening and stood upon a small platform where in the hangar, it would have lead neatly into a lift's doorway. He looked around, taking in the sights of charred land and strewn, rent metal about. He exhaled deeply as the breeze met his skin. It was a good feeling to be outside after being confined to such a small space for some time. As he examined his environs, the extent of the carnage slowly became known to him.

"God Almighty," he muttered. "All of this happened in... how short?" His eyes then came upon Paladin's mutilated corpse. "Shit."

Another realization came to him shortly after: he was 100 meters off the ground, and there clearly was no elevator around.

He peered over the platform's edge, looking towards Serah again.

"Hey, Serah! How am I supposed to get down?"

Serah blinked a few times when al Harold had to say was 'Hey'. What was that even supposed to be? Was he THAT indifferent to everything? Though, the girl would be lying if she said she wasn't glad to see the veteran alive. And speaking of the veteran, his common sense and emotions slowly seemed to return when he actually took in the sight of what actually conspired here. Then he asked to get down... Wasn't it obvious? Couldn't he just climb Rostosov's side? Serah could, anyway... It wasn't that hard. Even if the frame was a little smooth. "Uhm... Just climb?" she bounced back with a question, visibly shrugging from Harold's point of view. She fixed her ribbon which had gotten a little loose from all the action, then bonked her head once to fix some of the fog still stuck inside of it.

"Anyway, that's not important... I'm... Just glad to see someone's okay..." Serah yelled over. Then something popped into her head. "Oh! If you're having troubles, there's some kinda rockets built into the suits. You could use those to slow your fall?" she informed and questioned, quickly whiplashing the mood back to something a little casual. Maybe she didn't have very much common sense.

Harold frowned slightly at the suggestion, more out of confusion than disapproval. Hey, whatever method of getting down he took, there was always going to the possibility that he was going to fall and break a bone or two.

"Uh," he yelled back, "I think I'll just climb down."

And he began to do so, carefully lowering himself from the platform and grabbing the nearest nook or other handhold on the Rostosov's back. While it seemed at first that he was doing alright as his movements were smooth, he began to strain as the surface curved down in fixed slopes towards the legs. Serah could hear him muttering again, and was able to particularly note the word "mother."

Harold had reached the hip assembly and was about to latch onto the mech's left thigh when, for a moment, he failed to make the grip. He had also shifted his weight too early. His feet came away from their holds and he began to dangle from just one arm.

Serah winced as Harold nearly broke something by nearly falling from Rostosov's leg, and was now questioning how in shape the man actually was.

"Oh, shi- nah, nah, it's alright, I got it!"

He managed to right himself again and begin traveling down the Rostosov's leg. About ten meters off of the ground, he thought of whether to jump and see whether his suit's mini-rockets were really powerful enough to break his fall, but he wisely decided against it. Taking the long way down took a couple of minutes more of intense effort, but Harold reminded himself that he was pushing his luck far too many times in the last six months.

He jumped a short distance off the ground landed on his feet with a triumphant thump. Dusting himself off and sorting out imaginary creases from his plugsuit, he whistled at his exhaustion but managed to smile at Serah.

"You alright?" he asked. Then his smile turned into a frown almost immediately. "Wait, no. Not one of us is alright. Have you seen the Paladin? We have to check up on Ariin immediately, and on the others, too."

"What?" Serah blinked in surprise. But it seemed the thing she was confused about was quickly backpedalled. "A-Ariin? They're okay...?" Serah asked, hopefully. Her face was twisted in a way that conveyed both relief and fear of the answer. She nodded, though. "Uhm, sure! If you think he's okay, we probably should..."

Harold blinked, and paused. There was a palpable silence before his reply. He'd seen faces like the one Serah made just now - the fear of someone who was unused to death. Hell, he'd even made the same expression once. Right then and there, he was reminded that Serah was still a girl. He wanted to grimace, but forced himself not to. Until that point, he was seeing her as a comrade, first and foremost, hence his brusque mannerisms.

"Ah," he said, his face impassive. "Yeah. That mech's split in two." He looked around, and clicked his tongue, scowling. "Damn it, this place is a mess. The egghead- the scientist, Lorenzo said choppers, right? The question is - when? That was easily the most insane wargame I've ever participated in and some of our guys might be injured. Hell, they might even be..."

Then his veterancy kicked in, like instinct. His smile was swift and foreign as he extended his arms in a shrug. "But hey, it's not like we didn't sign up for this, right?"

Serah listened carefully and wondered why the other guy hadn't yet ran off to check. The teenager honestly wanted to run over and check on Paladin, but before she got the chance to mention it Harold had said his last line. And Serah froze up. "...i... i actually didn't get a choice..." she muttered in an eerily silent tone, barely even audible for Harold. The girl shook her head, banishing away those negative thoughts immediately. She didn't need to make the other feel worse than he actually is. "...Erm, anyway, they said shortly, right? Considering how we deployed, it might not take much more than another few minutes." Serah chimed in, scratching her elbow. The plugsuit made it a little hard, but she managed. She also forced out a smile, trying not to make Harold feel too bad for her obvious nervous posture.

Awkward was how best to describe the situation at hand. He could tell that Serah was nervous, but he just didn't know why. Perhaps it was his still brusque mannerisms or hell - maybe she thought he was the reason Team Sigma got beaten this hard in the first place. After all, wasn't he the one who proposed that ridiculous defense in depth tactic?

"Yeah, hopefully," he said quickly. The current atmosphere was quite uncomfortable for him. "Anyway, we should get running to the Paladin now. That black mech was really insane..."

Harold started walking. Serah followed suit. They didn't say anything much on their way to the shattered mech, but their worries grew as the debris from the Paladin began to shadow their comparatively diminutive forms.

The former lieutenant cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hey! Ariin, are you around? Come on, you still have strawberry cake to make!"

Ariin groaned in pain as he looked to his left and then his right, he could see sunlight wasn't inside the... Oh right, he got cut to ribbons. "I'm alive... I think!" He said as rolled out of the now open side of his Frame and then jumped down gracfully rolling as he landed and standing. "So... I guess I didn't get her huh? So win or lose? I was kind of knocked out when she decided to remove all my Frame's limbs." He answered, in truth he remembered the pain and such, he sat down laying on the grass. "Still I think with a little practice and time to adjust to working together we could be a decent squad even if they don't name a leader."

He hummed as looked between them. "Anyway, how are we getting back? They book us a ride or do I get to steal something to get us back to base?" He asked, his electronic eye and real eye grew wider at the thought of theft. "Also... One other question... How bad is my eye?" The glass was cracked, wires stuck out and the flickered on and off occasionally. "Doctors warned me to much damage could cause my other eye to as well." He said as if he didn't care that he could go blind. Ariins face had stains of blood as did his hair from the implant moving around some breaking. Other than that he seemed to be fine if a bit out of it at the moment.

Harold grinned. He approved of Ariin's more or less nonchalant reaction about the whole thing. "It's pretty beat up. Might wanna get that thing checked out."

The former lieutenant particularly examined Ariin's errant, drying blood. He gave him a thumbs up. "You look good. Have you fought like this before?"

"Well I trained under this Colonel, he brought me into the program. I ran simulations day and night, they even wrote A.I. squadmates for it. He was trying to groom me into being his successor I think." The boy answered with a yawn. "Of course I don't really care if I lead. The team and the people on it come first in my mind."

Serah visibly puffed up her cheeks from behind Harold, her not tolerating this casual danger-chatting whilst Ariin looked like that. "Wait, wait, hold up for a moment!" she interjected before the conversation could proceed any further, walking in between the two older men. "Ariin, you're not fine at all! And don't you," she pointed at Harold. "imply that he is. I don't care what you say, but that needs to be treated!" Serah boldly exclaimed. Though, even if she did say that, it's not like the girl had any medical knowledge. "...Muuu..." she softly whined at the realization.

"A-Anyway... We shouldn't be worrying about that team leader right now, anyway! It's bad enough that I thought you-" Serah cut herself off, not wanting to finish that stament. Boucing back a bit, she shook her head and changed subject. "N-Nevermind, we should just get you to the medical office once the helicopters arrive, Ariin!" she quite forcibly ordered, and didn't look like she was going to give up on that point.

"Serah were you worried about me?" He got up smiling like a proud older brother patting her head. "Don't worry it takes more than PMSing psycho in a killing machine to end my life." He told her grinning like an idiot. He gave her a one armed hug. "Now when's that's chopper getting here? Since your worried I'll have a replacement eye put in just encase their was extra damage."

Serah yelped as Ariin suddenly wrapped his arm around her for a sudden hug, the girl feeling actually quite uncomfortable by the sudden yank. "Please... Don't..." she choked out and wormed her way out of his arms, taking a step back. Serah did not like getting touched out of nowhere like that. Still, it seemed the boy was ready to undergo at least some treatement. "They, uhm, didn't give an estimated time of arrival..." Serah muttered, looking away. Right back towards the destroyed ruins. That caused her to bite her lip, becasue she still wasn't quite used to the carnage. But she forced herself to deal with it, to not drag others down with her.

"So Serah what's your story?" Ariin asked as he watched the sky. "I've come to the conclusion that all of us are hurting inside. Loss is the one thing we share, people don't fight like we do unless they know the pain of losing something important." Ariin said, the smile gone as he stared up at the sky. "I can point to you Gaius-four right now, it's the lifeless rock I was born on... Cruxi burned the land and boiled the sea. I lost my mother and father their... I basically raised three girls and my baby brother on Mars." He said. He didn't cry but their was a sad tone in his voice.

"Back on Gaius we had these whales... Huge beasts, needed fleets of boats to haul one. They were full of Helium three, they could float in the sky when they were full. It was amazing to watch." He said, shutting his good eye as the broken sparked a little. "I'm sure Harold, Elora, and everyone else has something they lost. Memories and pictures they will never see again. It's why I fight, so kids like you and my sisters can live in a world where you never have to remember stuff like that."

Harold, meanwhile, had been observing closely and listening intently. Sure, Ariin appeared to have the right stuff for fighting, but it seemed to the former lieutenant that the guy was really touchy-feely. Bleeding and dishevelled, he had tried to put his arm over Serah, and the girl wormed away, looking uncomfortable. Then he was telling his life story, and his purpose for fighting.

Harold found it strange, but said nothing. Instead, he uncomfortably shifted his feet around, looking over the vast expanse of charred landscape and destroyed mechs, before sitting down, and sighing tiredly.

"I wonder if we'll get some hazard pay for this," he thought aloud.

Serah looked back at Ariin when he asked the girl for her story, though she wouldn't get the chance to answer before he droned off about something else. And maybe that was a good thing, since Serah didn't feel like sharing it either way. The thing Ariin droned off about was his own past, which made him out to look like some kind of rebel fighting type. Going on about how the Cruxi scum basically wiped out his home planet. Serah winced at the thought, knowing full well what a well-executed Cruxi attack is like. She felt really uneasy, even when Ariin tried to be convincing with that last line of him fighting for the smiles of others. In a way, they were like Serah... But in another, they're doing the same thing for different reasons.

"Is that so..." she replied, honestly not knowing what to say. Serah noticed Harold asking for hazard pay, which the girl tried her best to smile in reply to. "I'd much more prefer some rest, and it's not like we get paid at all right?" she giggled, if a little forced. Serah crossed her arms underneath her nonexistant chest, looking back to Ariin. "I'm not really anything special, honestly... I studied as a mechanic, until they found I had a knack for synchronizing with framewerks... So I guess I 'volunteered' to be here..." she spoke, omitting a lot of details and even lying slightly. It was probably best if the teen kept everyone's spirits up whilst she still had the chance.

"Oh," Harold perked up, looking towards Serah. "They drafted you? Huh. It was a piece of paper and my willing signature that got me here, so I assumed it was the same for everybody else. Volunteers, I mean."

Serah tensed up when Harold figured out she didn't volunteer at all. "It's not like I mind, honestly..." she tried to reassure him, though inside the girl knew it was a lie. Honestly, she was starting to get very uncomfortable with this whole thing. "I-I think I'm going to rest up by Atty, okay? I'll be back to my usual, peppy self in no time after I get some, alright?" she promised, putting as much gusto as she could behind it. Then Serah didn't bother to waste any time waiting on replies, simply walking off to go and be with her framewerk.

"Alright," Harold said, giving her a smile. Serah was acting strange, but he didn't know her well enough to make any judgments. "You rest up good. There'll be strawberry cake or some such later."

Ariin watched the two talk, keeping his eyes shut he decided not to but in to the conversation. Soon he heard Serah walk, mentioning that she was going to rest that sounded like a good idea. Blocking out the occasionally phantom pain from his eye Ariin was soon asleep, his back against the warm half melted railgun that used to be attached to Paladin.

Lora didn't have much to say or do as she sat within her deactivated Framewerk, but ruminate on the circumstances around it. Through some combination of hodgepodge tactics and sheer dumb luck, Sigma Team had managed to come out on top with a lucky strike on Sköll. But as Lorenzo himself noted, the effort was exactly no more than that, and it might as well have been a mission failure considering the casualties and poor display by the cadets.

That scientist, he was something else. The man held himself somewhere just between laughing mad and deathly determined, giggling with apparent sadistic glee in one moment and then cussing out anyone who objected in the next. More than once, Lora figured someone had questioned why exactly the old man was put in charge of not just the Framewerk program but every operation revolving around them. After all, his mental stability and judgement seemed a tad unbalanced at best, but if it was just a facade then why bother? Just to creep people out for fun? Or maybe to disguise something else...?

Whatever the case, it wasn't in the cadet pilot's place to wonder about that. Thinking too hard might just get her anywhere from court martial to execution- or even worse, under Lorenzo's eye.

So instead, Lora turned her thoughts back to her own last moments in the battle - how she cleaved Daemon apart with the Blade of Hope as Sköll was being stuck down. It very easily could've failed by any other circumstance, seeing as how she only barely managed to gut Emperor with Atty's help. Yet, in that moment as she reared back the sword to strike... Such a feeling was difficult to describe for Lora. The best explanation she could offer herself said that something just clicked within her, within Dynasty. She poured all her intention into the strike, and the machine she controlled followed her wish- and the Blade of Hope understood that.

Being a pilot within the Framewerk program gave one interesting experiences and views into the gigantic weapons. The most experience among the veterans seemed to recognize the machines as something more than just a vehicle of destructive intent, speaking as if they were an extension of oneself. In that idea, were the synch ratio values more than just numbers, beyond the idea of how well the machines could respond to a pilot's movements?

Did those people speak as if their Framewerks were truly as alive as they were?

The faint whirr of spinning copter blades began to resonate through Dynasty's armor, and Lora forcibly removed herself from the control harness. She felt a bit of regret that she likely could not keep the sword she pilfered from the enemy Framewerk, but the weapon ultimately wasn't built for her. The Blade belonged with Phantom Zero, even if the Framewerk now belonged in a scrap pit.

Still, the experience resonated with Lora in a pleasant manner, and she found herself considering possible modifications to Dynasty later on that could reflect it. It proved an able distraction from the fact that her team of cadets had just killed a dozen children today.

Hours later, a transport shuttle landed on the rooftop of Solaire Base, and out of it jumped out two men and one woman, recently transferred from other divisions. Lieutenant Ritsu was already there when they arrived, one hand on her hip and another holding a high-tech tablet device, which she pressed with her thumb. She moved her eyes to the tablet for a moment before focusing on the pilots. She motioned for the girl and boys to follow her as she stepped inside and walked in a brisk pace through the facility.

"I am Lieutenant Ritsu, one of your commanding officers alongside Executive Officer Professor Lorenzo here in Solaire. As you may know, you were dispatched here as part of Framewerk Project XJ9, which your previous facilities should have now locked clearance of. Your Framewerks will be transferred here in a couple of weeks. You will be integrated into Squad Sigma starting now, and your first task will be to be present for hearing the Executive Officer's report on the mock battle the squad carried out. You are to be silent and only speak once he gives permission."

The four entered the briefing hall, where the other pilots were now assembled in a row after having been picked up by helicopters and flew back to the base. When the pilots flied through the air, and glanced back at their Framewerks, they saw heaps of metal that once ruled the arena as physical gods, but fell to the earth in their pride, like angels fallen from heaven. It was a grisly sight, surely to be followed by many more even horrific sights in the lives of those destined to fight.

But reminiscing had to yield in the face of reality as the female officer clicked her heels together. "Take your place in the row. The Executive Officer will begin speaking," Ritsu ordered, stepped aside and saluted as Lorenzo entered the room. The old man deliberately walked slowly to increase tension in the hall, his eyes shifting from one pilot to the next. He stepped up the podium, took some papers from a drawer, waited for a short while as he cleared his throat and sorted them out, and then suddenly slammed his hands on the podium, scattering the papers everywhere and startling Elora, who whimpered and stepped back. She had been quiet the whole trip back, and shook in her plugsuit as she waited for what she imagined would happen. And for once, she was right.

"Alright you intact medulla oblongatas~!" Lorenzo spoke, letting his voice carry all the way to the back of the briefing hall. It made one wonder how a man of his advanced age could speak so casually while having such volume. "That was the single worst performance I've ever seen since I began the project. It was actually quite a comical sight to see, hee hee!" he grinned as he took a scoop of ice cream and promptly ate it with delight, snickering like a devilish serpent. After taking a bite of the delectable treat, he cleared up his raspy throat. "Over 90 percent rate in casualties...you..." He suddenly turned serious, and placed the ice cream back on the podium.

"Let's start with the worst offender...Gene!" He shouted as he pointed his wrinkly finger at the young girl. "When you shut off your communications you might as well have waved a white flag and surrendered, that is how much you failed! While cutting off unnecessary chatter from personal communications is allowed and even advised, the command channel will always stay open! And what did you accomplish by doing that? Going solitary and picking off an opponent already attacked by another pilot, and then get yourself caught in a crossfire? It was a miracle you weren't killed, kid. If I was your father I would be sorely disappointed...No, I am disappointed even if I wasn't."

"Sorus! You goddamn idiot! There's an enemy unit with long-range capability who has just shot you, and you open your hatch to it? Why not throw yourself off a cliff if you're so eager to commit suicide? Then squad Sigma would have one less moron in their ranks." However," Lorenzo then shifted his tone, "You did provide covering fire as was your combat role, and did engage in the conflict with commendable results..."

And the shouting continued. "...Unlike you, Cadet Liu'un! You were just standing around and twiddling your thumbs until you were also terminated!" Elora gasped in fear, and put her hands to her chest and lowered her head, unable to look at him. Lorenzo stepped off his podium and briskly walked right before her.
"Liu'un, look at me. I said look at me!" Lorenzo's eyes stared at the poor girl with intensity, and she managed to lift her head, tears swelling from the corners of her own eyes as she trembled in fear. "You did succeed in providing initial data with that area scanning, but that is only the first step. After that you must take a more active role, and get to scanning those Cruxi when they assault your squad. Do you understand?" Elora sniffed, and tried to speak, but had difficulty doing so through her sobbing. "Y-Yes, sir."
"Good. Now you remember not to wait and observe; the alien scum certainly won't."

Lorenzo returned back to his podium. "Alright, next up...A-ha! Buell! That was a commendable attempt at organizing a plan of attack, but it ended up with you getting ambushed instead! Even a rookie would realize that if the enemy has used the command channel to send a message, they can also receive them? What kind of backwater cesspool of a planet did you earn your promotion? If I had the bastard's address who gave it, I would call them and tell them how you fucked up on elementary tactics! Still, it wasn't a complete disaster, as you seemed to adjust to the situation quickly enough and have some kind of presence. Acceptable for a lower-ranked soldier like a corporal, but not to a lieutenant. Am I right, Ritsu?" Lorenzo glanced at the female officer, and she turned her head towards him, and kept her neutral expression. "Different approaches must always be considered," she answered diplomatically, and Lorenzo sighed.

"Anyway...Let's see...Sigma! You initially showed promise as you took up a tactical position and used it to pick off distant targets. But no, that would have been far too efficient of you," he said, using words that he was sure would personally sting the young girl. "You just had to run up to an enemy unit despite being exclusively a long-range unit, and get yourself destroyed. Try that kind of move against the Cruxi, and you'll be eaten alive, if not even worse! I expected so much more from you, Cadet, and you have let me down. You know what Irina would say, so let's leave it at that."

"Romanovna! You lost your focus, and let the enemy unit take full advantage of the ambush they had on you! Though this incident wouldn't have happened if Cadet Liu'un for daydreaming when she should have been reporting of enemy movement," he glanced aside to Elora, and she put her hands to her mouth, resisting the urge to cry as her eyes started turning red. "Still, it was commendable action to stay and support a downed ally. Speaking of..."

It was clear who was the next on Lorenzo's hit list. "Shinkai! You may have thought that nobody would find out, but I saw you give up and surrender when you were buried in the rubble! Do you know what that means? Oh, you should know fully well the consequences: It means you allow the Cruxi to destroy humanity of your own free will," Lorenzo said in a cold tone, without blinking once. "And the moment you drop your gun and give up the fight you also give up your humanity to those alien's filthy hands for them to tarnish and violate. Is that what you want, Shinkai? Have you given up on being a human? No, don't answer that," he said as he lifted his hand dismissively. "But as pathetic as you were, you did manage to contribute to the conflict, and with a borrowed weapon. Your display convinced me to make compatibility tests with the Sword of Hope, and if the results are positive the weapon will be installed on to the Dynasty's systems. It's previous owner is dead anyway, so why not make a good use of it while you still can? Heh!" Lorenzo chuckled, though it was done with a menacing tone.

Lorenzo then shook his head as his eyes stopped at Rooney next. "No, I have nothing to say to an imbecile like you, Cadet Rooney. You go ahead and bash your head against that wall over there, I'll be waiting. At least then you'll have some use for entertainment, and a Framewerk is spared from a suicidal retard." He shook his head in frustration. "Goddamn whippersnappers ruining my beauties," he mumbled to himself as he shifted his attention to the last pilot.

"Zim Hero, or rather, Zero! Hah!" Lorenzo mocked the pilot. "But contrary to the numerical value, you actually did something, which is a lot more than can be said of the others. Still, it was a foolish move to not finish off an enemy when you have the chance, or it'll end up taking one in the arse, like what happened in your case. You're fortunate it wasn't a Cruxi Bruiser sticking it up yours, or you wouldn't be standing here like you are. A bit of common sense goes a long way."

Lorenzo took another bite from his ice cream. "However, as much as you may loathe me for pointing out your flaws and stupidity," Lorenzo said as he rattled his fingers on the podium. "You did manage to take out Irina Spanova, one of our finest pilots here in Solaire. And for that, you have earned a parfait to be enjoyed in the cafeteria. Let it be known that I can be kind as well! Now then, before I announce the new squad officer, do you have any questions? Yes, that includes you, Wilton. You may have missed out on the operation, but that doesn't mean you have the right to stand there and gawk like a clueless barbarian. You two as well," Lorenzo said as he pointed at Mai and Daniel. "No nodding off there."

Mai listened to the results of a battle that had taken place. Judging from what she saw before and the "rumors" and some reports she had read on Lorenzo, a very intense mock battle had taken place. Though the destruction as she saw before suggested that it was no mere test battle.

But it was the name Irina Spanova that did catch Ma's attention to a degree. She was considered a "Ace" despite all the..."things" going around her with project Homonculus. The other thought was about her previous framework, the Setsuka aka Model ID "R-1" since she knew that it was transfered to her squad. She would have asked about the status of the R-1 but thought better of it. No doubt it was beyond repair or perhaps COULD be repaired but she doubted Lorenzo would put in such a request considering the man's current behavior. Despite the fact that her Sync rate with the Setsuka was higher than her sync in the Neo Angel, the..."higher ups" felt the R-0 Custom would better serve Mai than the R-1.

Orders were orders.

Even so, this squad beat Irina Spanova but it was obvious the battle was a disaster based on Lorenzo's observations. Despite Lorenzo's personality on what she's seen of the man so far, he had every right to be displeased to some extents. Still, a victory was a victory.

They completed their mission.

The fact that the only casualties was that of the opponents alone was saying something if she had to hazard a guess.

When Lorenzo was asking for any questions before announcing the squad leader and even address her, Nikolas and Daniel, she merely and slowly shook her head while standing at attention.

"...no sir...I have no questions at this time...", Mai droned.

She could have suggested having Cadet Nikolas transfered to another division due to his..."behavior" but if he was here, it was perhaps for a good reason so she didn't say a word about it.

Even before entering the room, Sigma knew this was going to be harsh. At first, the situation at the briefing was quite. But before long, it erupted in a storm. Lorenzo spared no vitriol for anyone, as he carefully dissected each one of the pilots. Still, verbal abuse was still much better than being physically beaten to a pulp. Or for the matter strapped to an operating table.

One by one, the pilots were put in Lorenzo's sights, which wielded words like a Cruxi energy weapon. Although, for some, stealth commendations were given, as if to lessen the brunt of the blow. Sigma didn't need to hear what Lorenzo would said. She had thought herself too arrogant, and too cocky, and she had paid the price by being almost instantly incapacitated.

Still, she felt a knot in her chest when Elora was given a first front view of Lorenzo's disappointed visage. She clenched her first so slightly. The girl was fourteen, like her and her sisters. And unlike her and the Homunculus project, she probably had little training in that regard. Tighten a wire too much, and it will snap. Those were the words that came to her mind.

Buehl, for all his attitude also got a real chewing, but Sigma had an inkling he might be one of the officer candidates on Lorenzo's mind. Simply because, technically speaking, he had been an officer before. Sometimes you had to play safe.

And then her turn came. Lorenzo stated the obvious. Sniping targets had been the reasonable, efficient solution and she had pulled that stunt because she thought she was better than she really was. Her emotions had clouded her judgement. She bit her lip and endured the chewing, her fists tightly knit into balls until a word escaped his lips. Irina. Years of training had left quite a reflex on the clone pilot and upon hearing said word, Sigma literally blanched and relaxed her fists, shaking so slightly.

"I apologize for my unsightly behaviour, sir." She pieced together.

Will I be discarded? She thought to herself. No, he would have done it already if such a thing was meant to be. He would've executed me on the spot and replaced me, instead of chewing me. A small, self-deluded consolation, but better than nothing.

The following two, Romanova and Shinkai also got a chewing. The latter one specially, which made Sigma suspect Shinkai could also be an officer candidate. Better than Buer, If I had to give a say. She added mentally, as the XO kept talking about. Roger was called a retard. Sigma wondered that if Lorenzo didn't send him into checkups promptly, the retarded pilot Rooney would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The final member, the one with the edgy nickname, Zero also got some chewing and commendation. He could probably the one officer too.

And then Sigma's trail of thought was interrupted by the magical thought of parfait. So creamy, cold, and thick and sweet. The ambrosia of the gods after a battle. Losing control of her mouth, droplets of saliva began to make their way out of the corner of her mouth, before, in a mighty display of self control, the young pilot wiped the drool with the sleeve, before advancing towards Elora.

"Per Aspera ad Astra" She whispered in her ear with a little hug, thinking the thought might cheer her up. But she was completely oblivous wether Elora would get Sigma's meaning or not. Social knowhows still escaped the grasp of the silver haired girl. And she didn't look like the only one. She heard about new cadets, and one of them sounded particulary dispassionate.

It's as if she is like one of us. I have a bad feeling... She cringed inwardly. It made her remember something, before remembering something she had to do.

No, something she owed. She had to ask, and know. She hesitated at first. Words failed to form once. Twice.

"Um...sir? I...wish...to ask, what is the status of the rival pilots?" She finally blurted out, shivering slightly.

Ariin stood up as Lorenzo was leaving. "Sir, even still my duty was to do my best to protect my team and with incomplete targeting data I could have hurt more than I helped. I had to open my hatch, it was my best bet to take out the target, I was blind any way if I was to be any of use I had to risk myself. Call me an idiot if you will sir, but if that was real combat and I was blind stuck deep in an enemy combat zone I'd do the same thing, better to die fighting then to just stop and wait for the end." He said waiting to hear the announcement for who would be made squad leader, he wondered if it would be Harold, he did have experience though he could a bit of jerk. Lora might be a good fit, yet she would have adjust to leading all of them in battle.

Ariin Sorus, while not ambitious did wonder silently if he even had a chance at a position like that? He did have experience leading a small squad in simulations. He also was quite the prodigy for someone his age, apparently having a rather natural talent with his Famewerk. If he was named squad leader he'd have to be tough on them, even Sigma and Elora. He would earn the respect of the others, that went for anyone Lorenzo named in his book, he could say who was the best fit for the job was but at the end of the day, the squad itself would decide who they wanted in charge. Few could argue that point, he'd seen it before officers whose power only came when their NCO agreed with them.

Ariin now hoped he might get that chance, to lead them failing that he would like to at least assist in leading the squad or even helping plan strategy's. He might not have been a genius but he had training and skills to back up his talk, in truth he'd accept whatever Lorenzo said. He just wanted to make sure the whole squad could get along and work with one another, since if they couldn't they would probably end up fighting on battlefield. Out there a petty squabble could get hundreds hurt or killed, especially since they would a front line fighting force in the war against the Cruxi. He also pondered if he could sneak into the cafeteria and back that cake for Sigma, he did promise her a strawberry cake and a Sorus never forgot a promise.

Zim stood in line with everybody else, awaiting his turn to be read. When it did finally get to him, it wasn't nearly as bad as he anticipated. "Sir," Was all he replied with a nod.

Zero could have argued why. He could have said that he felt it was the best tactical decision. He could have explained how his own frame left him at a disadvantage against Zeus, and that liberating Rooney and his frame was the better tactical decision because at least Jaeger was equipped with a weapon that provided the range needed to deal with Zeus. It was true, however, that the result may have ended up the same whether Zim had freed Jaeger then, or if he had taken another moment to deal with Mr. Spikey before he turned his attention to the Rose.

But he didn't. He didn't because he knew when it was time to speak, and when it wasn't. Unlike some of the children in the ranks, he had held a job before. You didn't talk back to the boss and offer and explanation that wasn't asked for. Lorenzo was not a fool, and Zim suspected he wasn't half as crazy as he lead on. Lorenzo dissected every bodies actions, he knew exactly what was going on, and why. There was no reason to explain himself. If his motives were unclear, the Executive Officer would have asked him what he had done it for, but he didn't. So Zero didn't take the time to explain.

Zim, instead, waited for Lorenzo to deal with everybody elses questions and name who was in command. As he waited, he realized that he did, in fact, have a question.

"Sir, if I may?" He waited to be acknowledged. Once he was, he continued, "During this training mission I discovered that Black Stars greatest weakness, beyond it's pilot, sir, is a general lack of versatility, and more problematic, has no range to speak of. I wonder if I might be able to requisition some equipment that might assist in granting greater versatility, or at least help me close the gap between myself and my target?"

---

After handing back the girls knife, Daniel leaned back next to Nikolas and pulled out a sketch pad and a small pencil, going to work on a weapon concept for his own mech. There were dozens of such within the small notebook, but he never was quite satisfied with any of them. Every mech had a very specific design, and he had only ever worked the external systems. The core was offlimits, both in clearance and physically. He had attempted more than once to get a look at the internals of one of the beasts, but never had cracked the inner seals. His hand moved on to sketch the larger design of the mech, noting places he though weak and movement quirks. He glanced sideways at Nikolas. "What? Some guys draw girls- I draw mechs."

He flipped a page and started to go to work on some of the math, calculating for Magus' current systems. That alone ate time away as if it was nothing, and in short order they were offloading onto base. Daniel saluted and nodded his way through the short briefing of Lieutenant Ritsu, noting with some chagrin the time it would take his own machine to arrive. Upon arriving in the hall, he fell in next to the rest of squad Sigma. He snapped to attention and saluted at their newest exec entered, seemingly calm before exploding. It appeared that his new squad had done less than admirably in their last assignment, but he was far from unkind. Daniel's expression remained still, but inwardly his mind was trying to dissect what he was hearing. Gene, cut communications and went solo. A lone wolf type? Possibly one who didn't appreciate orders, though he wouldn't be able to tell until he met them in person. Daniel hadn't had a chance to put any faces to the names. Sorus, reckless behaviour- yet tactical sense, Seemed an interesting guy. 'Covering fire' definitely resonated as a long range weaponry user, or at least mid. This probably meant that they would be working in tandem more often than not. Liu'un. She seemed to receive special attention, or rather, a special barrage of 'gentle correction'. Appears to have some sort of scanning ability, but is a passive combatant. They would likely come into conflict, due to Magus' secondary disabling transmission. Though that was always a last case scenario. Buell, strategist type yet missed an important detail. That said nothing of their mech's loadout, but something to file away. Even if they were not to be his superior, in the chain of command it was always best to know who could step up in an emergency. The next was more interesting. This person shared the name of the squad. Possibly coincidence, possibly not. He would have to reserve judgement on that. Sigma, long ranged tactical unit, attempted close quarters with enemy. Romanovna, supported downed ally. Not that there was much other description in the last. Really could have meant anything, though clearly the pilot chose loyalty over survival... which could be useful. Shinkai, surrendered? Managed to use an improvised weapon A mixed message, certainly- but it gave credit to the skills of the pilot. Rooney, nothing really given away here on his capabilities. Hero, didn't finish off an enemy- yet had the highest praise of the group. Someone to keep an eye on, certainly. Daniel repeated these notes in his head, he would need to remember what he could for notes later. Every bit of detail mattered. He was jerked from his thoughts rudely with the mention of Spanova. She was legendary... for the amount of mechs she had sent back to engineering for repairs. At the invitation to ask questions, Daniel waited a moment to process his thoughts. Beside him, Seven declined question, and one of the young girls suddenly asked about their opponents. Daniel waited for their Executives answer to both her question and the comments of one who appeared to be Cadet Sorus, by his defense. Daniel snapped his heels together and saluted after their questions had been addressed.
"Sir, will we have access to the enemy audio and video files of the previous exercise for review and self evaluation?"

Truly, he wanted to know what kind of team he was working with- and there seemed to be little better way to find out than by seeing what had transpired through the eyes of their enemies. While a parfait sounded good after a long trip, he found the idea of analyzing the battle a lot more alluring.

Upon arriving at the base, Roger didn't really know what to expect. This was supposed to be a training mission right? But going off of the battlefield of robot corpses, that most certainly was not the case. At least, not training in any kind of traditional or perhaps even rational sense. Furthermore, given how bad shape all the Framewerks were in, what was coming would probably be negative in nature. After all, it's not really a good job done if everybody died.

What he was not expecting was for everyone to be personally insulted by the old man up front. Roger was able to get a vague, general sense of what had happened amidst the verbal lashings. A plan was formed, everyone got ambushed. Chaos ensued. Somehow Team Sigma still won. But he still wasn't quite sure what his part in that struggle had been, at least until Lorenzo got to him. It was pretty clear that what had taken him out was a crash, but it evidently was something he did on purpose rather than a slip up. Still, instead of being insulted for fucking up, it felt like Rooney was being given up on. Relegated to quick, cheap entertainment.

Roger fists balled up, until his skin almost stretched over his knuckles. But he didn't talk back. It wasn't his place to do so, and in a way, the old man was right and Rooney knew it. He was barely capable of piloting Yeager at all, and if he kept up this supposed streak of just crashing into things, he wouldn't last very long at all. Still, it was infuriating to admit it, even if only to himself.

If that's how it's going to be, I'll just have to show that geezer and become the best damn pilot in this program.

The reprimand was harsh. Serah appeared to be taking it well and when it came upon Harold he performed likewise, standing stock still and rigidly in a fine display of Navy discipline. He hadn't been chewed out like this since he was a Cadet two years ago, and since he was a Cadet now, then perhaps it wasn't entirely undeserved, especially given Team Sigma's horrible performance. The scientist, whom he thought was more relaxed earlier, yelled like a lion; each word coming from him was like a bite from sharp fangs. Perhaps because what he said was true.

But to be fair, Harold thought, they were a barely organized, duct taped-together unit. The only briefing they were given was a short one with barely any information while people tried to claim that most coveted position of command. Team Sigma was also composed of complete strangers who had met each other just a few hours ago, and then there was this and that... everyone was confused throughout the whole affair, and...

Oh hell, he thought. There really is no excusing our performance. Looking back, it's cringeworthy as hell.

That, and my Rostosov could really use some more armor around the guns, he added.

After Lorenzo had said his piece, and Ritsu given hers, he said crisply, "Sir, yes sir! The Cadet will remember it, sir!"

Harold then listened to Lorenzo chewing out the others, learning of how the battle went. Having had combat tunnel vision and with his unit not at all possessed of a clear communication structure, he did not know what was happening outside of his immediate environs during the mock battle. As the debriefing went on, the timeline became clearer: Serah was reprimanded for giving up; Sigma for ignoring Harold's suggestion that he snipe the artillery mech (Ha!); Lora had been buried by the artillery strike and kind of gave up; Katya had not been buried but kind of gave up; Elora was daydreaming and kind of gave up; Rooney did something like banging his head against the wall and Zim Hero actually got the best evaluation from Lorenzo. Even then, his was full of venom. The scientist clearly had a talent for making all of them, Harold included, look like imbeciles.

Lorenzo then said that even though they sucked, then didn't suck all that badly since they did take out Irina - and also that they earned a parfait for their troubles. He then called out one of the new arrivals for 'gawking like a barbarian.' The scientist did ask for questions, however, and Harold had a good one.

He stepped up,

"Sir! My Rostosov was way too quickly firepower-killed due to having insufficient armor on its main guns. The Cadet asks whether it would be possible to up-armor the gatling guns to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Then Ariin spoke, and Harold frowned. He spoke again of a sense of duty, talking as if he were some kind of hero - and did he just say that he opened his Framewerk's hatch and actually peeked outside? The former lieutenant nearly scowled, confused about Ariin more than ever before. He'd met lots of soldiers before, each with their own colorful personality, but he'd never seen an actual hero type. Hotshots, gloryhounds, yes, but not hero types who combined the characteristics of both a hotshot and a gloryhound.

The guy spoke with such audacity and arrogance. It went against the Navy's code of conduct when conversing with a superior officer.

Then again, Harold reminded himself - the people around him were not regular soldiers. Besides, didn't he ask for this? Things that applied in Air Group Three might not be so here. He still had lots to learn about Framewerks as well.

Serah had sat down next to Atty for a couple more minutes, staring out into the field blankly whilst waiting on the choppers. It was starting to get really boring out here. Her prayers were answered from above, with the helicopters finally arriving to pick everyone up. Serah got onto them wordlessly, and didn't say much during the trip either. This silent mood didn't clear up any, even as all of them were being escorted to the debriefing room to get their report. Predictably, Lorenzo was angry with everyone. And he decided to start unleashing his anger on the blue haired girl first, saying she might as well have committed suicide the way she acted. She was also called out to be the worst offender, something that stung even harder. Serah grit her teeth, especially struck by the part where Lorenzo compared himself to her father. There's no way they didn't know about everyone's past, so this felt more like a personal insult than it did a lecture.

Still, the girl was wise enough to not disobey her superiors an opted to just tough it out and listen like she's supposed to. If they drilled one thing into you during any form of military training, it's to suck it up and listen to whatever those that outrank you throw at you. Lorenzo went further down the list, with sometimes even more scathing comments or softened blows. One thing was for sure, and that was that the man didn't seem to like anyone here at the moment and decided to rag on EVERYONE. Even when it ended with the promise of Parfait, Serah still didn't feel any better at the end. "No questions, Sir." was her reply to Lorenzo, and just idly shifted in place hoping to get dismissed soon. She needed a moment away from the crowds.

The events following the battle, in Lora's experience, didn't get interesting until the debriefing- or, in more accurate terms, Lorenzo's judgement of performance. Terrible across the board, in his opinion. Surely, though, the executive couldn't have expected anything better from a recently-assembled 'team' of cadets given a vague outline of a mission. But when one kept in mind the sheer ineptitude of some of the enemy pilots, it seemed to be assumed that any casualty not suffered from the resident ace pilot was a pathetic one.

All in all, Team Sigma's performance proved laughably and inexcusably terrible, even for their first real performance. On one hand, it couldn't be helped; on the other hand, Lorenzo had every right to help it, if it meant tearing his subjects to pieces until they pulled themselves together.

And then the executive's verbal warpath locked sights with Lora. The young adult couldn't help but cringe ever so lightly at the interrogation she was subjected to. Not that the pilot was concerned that Lorenzo witnessed what she did, but the fact that she suffered such a meltdown in the first place. Such a disastrous act should've been below her, not becoming of her gritted focus. Reflexively the pilot clenched her teeth and tightened her fists, resolving to keep cool despite the frustrations gnawing at her.

"Is that what you want, Shinkai? Have you given up on being a human? No, don't answer that," he said as he lifted his hand dismissively. But he couldn't just dismiss such a decisive question unless he believed the answer was obvious. Emotion, relationships, love, empathy- all those things that made her human, but not a single one drove the Framewerk. All it took was reflex, piloting knowledge, and raw mental power. You could arguably get any animal to drive a Framewerk with enough training, it it weren't for the fact that they were built for humans in the first place.

So would she surrender her humanity to the Cruxi, or to Lorenzo? At this point, neither seemed especially desirable.

"It won't happen again... sir," Shinkai spoke in response, her visage steeled with the tone of confidence that it would be true.

Lornezo quietly scoffed at that, as if she were making a promise she couldn't possibly hope to keep, and continued with his evaluation regardless. "Your display convinced me to make compatibility tests with the Sword of Hope, and if the results are positive the weapon will be installed on to the Dynasty's systems. It's previous owner is dead anyway, so why not make a good use of it while you still can? Heh!"

That announcement got a rise out of Lora, mostly of confusion. As she understood it, Framewerks were not allowed a supplementary weapon platform until their pilots reached a certain high measure of skill that proved they could handle using it. While Lora did recognize herself as a proficient pilot by the end of her flight training, the cadet was also fairly sure that she was yet to be at the level where she could tote anything more than the Blaster Cannons. Unless Lorenzo believed she had already passed that threshold...

Perhaps the man did have some faith yet. If he didn't, none of the cadets would be standing here being collectively told to pull their heads out of their asses - they'd all be taking the walk of shame back to the ship hangar to be sent home. No, every one of these rookie soldiers had to have a reason for being kept around and offered a treat for their lucky efforts.

"Now then, before I announce the new squad officer, do you have any questions?" Ah, right. Someone among them still had to be given the task of actually managing this squad of misfitting Framewerk drivers.

But first, their inquiries. Lora was among the first to raise a hand. "Sir, what you said about that sword- am I even authorized for that?" After a moment, the pilot elaborated, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that a certain amount of experience is mandatory before a Framewerk would be allowed an additional weapon outfit. Sir."

Form the moment they where picked up by the choppers Katya had little idea how the battle went. While aware they had taken "casualty's" she didn't know how many exactly. A fail part she became very aware of as the chopper rose into the sky. The sight of destroyed and badly damaged mech's laid out. While she couldn't see how badly damaged the other Frame's where due to the distance. But even at a distance many of the Frames she could see looked like they had seen much better days. On the trip back to the base Katya sat next to Zero feeling a little more comfortable around him. But remained silent replaying the battle over in her head over and over. Only now that there was some quite did her mind start to process the events that had transpired. But it didn't get very long to do so as before she knew it the helicopter touched down at the base and the team was lead to the briefing hall and lined up.

What would happen next didn't come as to much as a surprise given how the battlefield looked, although Katya did see the whole thing as slightly unfair given they had just been thrown into battle with no real direction and fed misinformation meant to breed distrust and competition. Most units would have had a temporary leader assigned for the battle before a more permanent one was assigned. But that was doing it by the book something Lorenzo apparently didn't have to do. But even if Katya didn't like it she had learned that simply didn't matter and had to simply bare with it even if it meant the mock battle was pretty much a shit storm for them and now there where getting a dressing down for the poor performance.

When it was here turn Katya was able to do nothing then other then agree with the old man, even if she didn't want to or didn't like it said out in front of the others. But he did also mention that her staying back to help out Lora was a commendable action.
"Yes sir. Thank you sir." she said in response automaticity like a drone following its programming. When Lorenzo moved onto Lora Katya felt a pang of relief as her turn was over and thought it could have been a lot worse. Even if he did point out she lost her focus which was true he pointed out the fact she had helped another something he did have to do.
[i][color=Fuchsia]"I guess the old man is trying to be at least a little nice."[/i][/color] she thought as she listened to Lorenzo dress down the remaining pilots of the squad. Finding the old man was really hard on Rooney, simply telling him to go bash his head into a wall.

When he was done dressing down everyone Katya felt another pang of relief followed by confusion when he mentioned they earned a parfait at the cafeteria.
"Another food item I've never heard of. Goes to show home is really limited on what we get to eat." she thought before noticing the others had started to ask questions. Making her think she had one she wanted to ask one that had been playing on her mind since she saw the wrecked mech strewn across the battlefield.

"Sir I have a question. I understand killing is the very nature of our job. But why make us kill those other Cadets? If you had the capacity to disable our Frames why not do it with the others?" she said trying to keep her tone respectful, aware the question by some XO's the question might be considered questioning there authority. But Katya wanted to know why and this was also a good why to see what type of XO the old man was. Hearing the two of the other mention new equipment for there Frames made her think of the request for an improvement to Caretaker that her former commanding officer had forwarded with her. But Katya didn't feel like pushing her luck and asking about it. It would be reviewed at some point if she asked about it or not.

When Ariin verbally countered against Lorenzo, the old scientist was not pleased by the youngster's spunk. He went right up to him, and grabbed him by his cheeks. "You still had the duty of providing a line of defense with Legion, but instead of redeploying it you went on a failed duckhunt that could have resulted in your entire team wiped out. That's zero people saved, bucko." He then threw his arm off Ariin's face. "If you ever talk back to me like that again, you'll get another ocular replacement." He said, and glanced at Sigma. The girl then felt strange, as if she has experienced something like that as a projection of Irina, or even maybe in an entirely different reality.

Elora tried to hold back her tears as they dropped from her cheeks, but was unable to in the face of the verbal abuse. It brought back painful memories from her normal life, and she felt like she was crushed by an immeasurable weight. She hated herself for not being able to stand tall and proud as the other pilots, and for making a mess of herself. However, when Lorenzo's attention was elsewhere, Sigma gave her a hug of compassion, and she flinched. Somehow, the irony in the reversed situation caused her trembling lips to turn into a smile, somehow managing to stop shaking. She really appreciated Sigma for showing kindness where nobody else did, and it made hr realize that as much as she blamed herself, deep inside she has grown strong over her hardships. Elora tensed up as Sigma's mouth went awfully close to her ear, but when she whispered the young girl was left confused. She didn't understand the meaning of the words, but she assumed that she tried to encourage her after her gesture of affection. She silently nodded, and then took a rigid stance like the others when the questions began. She gulped, and swiped her face of tears with her sleeve. She decided that after the pathetic number she showed, she had nowhere to go but up from now, to a stronger, more brave Elora.

Lorenzo began answering the questions that began heading his way 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 shifted her posture a bit when Elora was targeted, but kept her position regardless. Stil, one could see her looking at Lorenzo with disapproving eyes for his hostile briefing.

"Um...sir? I...wish...to ask, what is the status of the rival pilots?"

"Hmm, yes, you would be interested in their condition, Cadet Sigma. Irina reported to have only incurred minor injuries, while Cadet Iota has been reported to be alive. As for the rest...confirmed to have been terminated by squad Sigma. Next question," he then added nonchalantly, as if his words only contained a trivial matter such as today's weather.

"Sir, if I may?" He waited to be acknowledged. Once he was, he continued, "During this training mission I discovered that Black Stars greatest weakness, beyond it's pilot, sir, is a general lack of versatility, and more problematic, has no range to speak of. I wonder if I might be able to requisition some equipment that might assist in granting greater versatility, or at least help me close the gap between myself and my target?"

"Yes yes, I'm aware of those traits. Black Star was designed for flanking maneuvers and finishing off units suppressed by crossfire, and while in theory it sounds perfect, a real situation is far too hectic for a proper tactical move like that. Based on your earlier VR testing and today's results, you have been authorized for the installation of a new weapon system Wave Surger, and new Armor Wings to replace the damaged ones. Details will be provided by the head of Black Star R&D. You may be as attuned to that machine as a boot, but at least you know how to operate it, kid. Plain natural gift ain't gonna cut it in this world," Lorenzo said, eyeing Elora in particular, who meeped.

"Sir, will we have access to the enemy audio and video files of the previous exercise for review and self evaluation?"

Lorenzo put his hand to his beard, and stroked it. "Those are usually classified for security reasons...but for you I will make an exception. Ask for them later at my office, and I'll load them to your personal device. But I'll warn you: you may not like what is in them...hee hee!" Lorenzo then laughed as he shifted his attention to a new question.

"Sir! My Rostosov was way too quickly firepower-killed due to having insufficient armor on its main guns. The Cadet asks whether it would be possible to up-armor the gatling guns to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"They were supposed to also have the same kind of plating as the rest of the front, but the blundering grease monkeys seemed to have failed. Goddamn idiots think the rotational motors would need an external cooling agent...even a child would have installed a ZX-98 module inside C15, link it to AR-32-X, bypassing the need for-" He then realized he went on an absentminded rant, and coughed. "We will be reviewing your suggestion, Cadet."

"Sir, what you said about that sword- am I even authorized for that?" After a moment, the pilot elaborated, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that a certain amount of experience is mandatory before a Framewerk would be allowed an additional weapon outfit. Sir."

"Yes, that is correct. While you are not authorized for an additional weapon system with the amount of skill you have shown so far, I still want to test the weapon's effectiveness in VR. What happened today was a fascinating phenomenon I have yet to see, and to leave the discovery untested would be an affront to science. If I had my way, I would replace one of the Blaster Cannons with the blade, but it has to be approved by a higher power first. Those goddamn bureaucrats sucking their thumbs..." He mumbled to himself as he then answered the final question.

"Sir I have a question. I understand killing is the very nature of our job. But why make us kill those other Cadets? If you had the capacity to disable our Frames why not do it with the others?"

Lorenzo turned silent, and slowly walked right to Katya's face. "Never question the orders you've been given, Cadet! It is your duty to fulfill them to the best of your abilities, but nothing more. And here's a new order: notify squad officer Buell to discipline you once promoted. Yes, that reminds me...Cadet Buell, you are hereby promoted to squad officer."

He then walked back to his podium, as if he was supposed to announce the promotion there. "So, we'll need to organize you into a proper unit. And a proper unit requires positions of absolute authority who take charge and march you to victory. For this I have chosen Cadet Buell; you showed the kind of skills required for officers; initiative, leadership, intelligence, tactics, adaptability, all that crap. Besides, you are the only one with the proper training, so we'll save some time on that as well. Cadet Shinkai, you have also earned a promotion to junior squad officer. You will answer to Buell like the rest, but you can also take initiative if the situation calls for it."

Ritsu brought a suitcase to the podium, and opened it up before Harold. Inside were four items: two badges that are to be worn on the right shoulder and illustrated a human inside a cog, and two advanced pistol-like weapons.
"Tazer pistols," Ritsu began explaining. "They deliver a non-lethal electric shock that reliably incapacitates targets at about twenty meters. You are now authorized to carry them at all times, but their use is only authorized for self-defense and maintaining discipline, nothing else."

Lorenzo then 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. Elora wobbled out of the briefing hall and in the direction of the mess hall, holding her arms in sorrow. She looked like one without any destination, simply letting the winds of fate carry her to a new tragedy. Finally having time of their own, the pilots were free to either converse with each other and improve their social relations, or head off to train in virtual reality simulations with one or several partners and improve their piloting experience.

Serah didn't bother look in Lorenzo's general direction as he lectured everyone around her, instead just trying to ignore him by staring into the void. Lorenzo danced around the group and gave varying levels of reaction, sometimes eccentric and other times dead serious. But even then they always made sure to be either mean as possible about it, or shrug it off as unimportant. Basic stuff for a commander, really, but his snide attitude just made it worse. Soon after Lorenzo finished, Lt. Ritsu started listing off the schedule for all the pilots starting tomorrow. Serah DID pay attention to this, perking both her head and ears up whilst the lieutenant explained. Everything seemed to make sense, so the girl didn't have any issue. Not that she had a right to complain, even if she did.

Then everyone got dismissed, and Serah made sure to worm her way out of the room first. She ignored everyone's attempts of conversation or their questions. Right now the girl transformed into a nimble little mouse, scurrying through the hallways and soon finding herself in the women's bathroom. Her forehead was drenched in sweat, and if it weren't for the plugsuit probably a lot of other parts on her body too. The girl was breathing heavily, eyes wide and a sickly feeling inside of her stomach. Serah looked to her left, seeing a mirror and by extension, their reflection. She looked awful right now, wide eyes with a hint of red and a face twisted in disgust. "This... Is sick..." she muttered to herself, memories of that battle freshly etched into Serah's mind. She honestly didn't think much of it at first. Maybe a harmless fight among themselves, or some Cruxi simulation dummies. Small stuff.

But they actually wound up killing humans. Their own species. What's worse, Serah actually pushed Atty's blade through one of them herself... She killed someone. The girl knew stuff like this would happen, but she didn't... She didn't know it was going to be this bad! Her stomach started to twist and turn, Serah balling up her hands into a fist whilst leaning against the door. "Ghuu...!" she groaned, quickly placing her left hand over her mouth. Serah ran into the first stall she could find, crouching down on her knees whilst supporting herself with the other hand on the wall. When the girl was leaning over it and dropped the hand covering her mouth, she felt an awful taste rise up from her stomach. A sickly fluid gushed out of her mouth and filled up the toilet bowl, pain and cramps rocking Serah's body.

She vomited for a good few times, the insides of her stomach clearing themselves out nice and clean. When the girl finished she nearly had to puke again just at the gross sight, so they flushed it down and ran straight out of that stall. Serah was faced with a mirror showing her ugly face again, grimacing. I need to clean up. was the only thought to race around in her head at the time, so she decided to rinse her mouth with some water and wash her face. They made sure to vanquish any trace of the weak side from earlier, prettying herself up back to the regular Serah everyone would be used to by now. The girl glared at her new self in the mirror again, having put up a fake smile. You can't ever show yourself like that to anyone. Nobody will ever like you again. Just pretend, it'll be fine... were just some of the words rattling around inside that girl's brain, self-loathing and cruel things. But just by looking at Serah, you wouldn't suspect any of it.

"Aw cmon, I can't run around like this, right~?" Serah cheerfully hummed herself, hinting to the fact she was still inside of her plugsuit. From all the commotion that red ribbon Serah always wore also seemed to have gotten a little loose and the girl had to giggle at the sight when she noticed. With a few swift motions she tied it into her hair properly again, looking to the exit. With a cheery little hum she exited the bathroom, then took a moment to orientate herself. Serah then proceeded down the path towards the hangars, wanting to change back into her cute clothes before doing anything else.

(OOC: A small transition before the collab)
Sigma bit her lip, as she barely contained her shivering upon the realization that none, save Iota, had been spared. She hoped for the sake of sanity Iota had been the one piloting the mecha she had neutralized. She would loathe to have more blood of her kin in her hands. Squad promotions weren't unsurprising. Lorenzo had decided to play safe. Still, Sigma hoped that Harold would be professional and not take in account the feint kick to his face.

On the plus side, Lora seemed a bit more agreeable, even if it was the junior officer. Sigma stood in front of them both, and then clacked her boots and did a salute.

"Sir, ma'am, congratulations on your promotion." She droned, without the barest hint of emotions in her voice, only a certain inertia of duty, before turning her back on them and beginning to head outside, a knot forming in her gut. She wasn't the only one. Elora, the emotionally-frail girl also had taken yet another hard hit, and Sigma decided to give her another nudge to make it bearable.

"Keep it together." She said. "You can have my parfait." She added.

It wasn't like she was very hungry upon knowing what had transcended.

I guess I could... cook? This is so awkward. She thought to herself while she headed out.