@Norik@Caasicam@Krayzikk@Selvariabell



A siren split the air before the conversation could continue, two loud shrieks that every pilot was required to know at least in passing. Beryl's head snapped around towards the nearest telephone pole and then up at the sky. All levity was gone from her face as her mind raced through the reasons for the alarm.

It wouldn't be a test, system or personnel, not today. Theoretically some joker on base could be pulling a prank but something this big? And on this day? It would ruin the prankster's career at the very least. No, this was real. And it meant that their budding party had ended. Turning back to the rest of the group she asked.

"Think I could hitch a ride with any of you? I took the bus into town and I don't think waiting for one back is an option at the moment."

Yuna Matsuo

Years of service and repeated drills had given Yuna a very quick response to alarms, not so much out of any fear of what the alarm represented but really more of a habitual, 'do this when the sound happens' sort of thing.

So being, when that wailing drone sounded, she perked up immediately from her former muttered complaining to herself and quickly reoriented herself to find the quickest path to the Walker Bays, and then started off at a fast jog.

She felt a little bad about having potentially abandoning Liam but such was the life in the Federation's armed forces.

"Scheiße."

The German cursed, mostly under his breath, but nodded. He jerked a thumb back towards his Walker's bay, and started walking backwards in that direction.

"Gotta make sure Vernichten's in order. Won't be able to launch if she's not."



"No, I don't." Ayane admitted, nodding in Nova's direction. She gestured towards her duffel, and then to her own boots. "I've been getting around on foot, aside from the bus in from the airport. If I could get a ride with you that would be much appreciated."

Alexander's parade-watching was ended abruptly by a familiar tone, drilled into the mind of every Federation recruit without exception. 'All personnel to base'. he felt his pocket vibrate as his uplink received a call. He pulled it out of his pocket, even as he rolled up his towel on the grass. Dave. He stuffed his things into his pack before hitting accept. "Tell me you're hearing this too." "Yeah, I am. Are you done, or is the Nightowl still out of commission?" Alex slung the bag over his shoulder and made for the nearest non-parade road. "Everything but closing her back up is done. What's going on?" "Pilot recall, get done and get out of the hangars. If you can, get off base. If it's a drill, getting in someone's way is big trouble. If it's not a drill, the last place you want to be is on base grounds." "You can't be serious?!" Dave ended the call without another word.

Alexander felt his heart hammer in his chest, but he couldn't tell if it was fear, excitement or both. His walking pace felt inadequate, so he moved into a brisk jog, his prosthetic swinging while his natural-born hand gripped his bag's strap in a futile attempt to keep it stable. He kept his eyes scanning the street. A truck-load of base personnel had blown by much earlier, and if he could flag a ride down, he could probably arrive at base without being exhausted by a run through the intense heat of the day. Regardless of his hope to avoid a run, he kept his pace. Dark thoughts drifted at the back of his mind as his feet pounded against the pavement.

@Norik@Caasicam@Krayzikk@Selvariabell



With a nod to the others Beryl reversed Ayane's course and leapt over the railing, landing gracefully next to Van Hossen.

"Lead the way."

@Selvariabell



With a raised eyebrow at the phrasing, Beryl slung a leg over the bike and grabbed onto the other woman. She probably wouldn't need it for most of the ride but having something to hold onto for the initial acceleration would be helpful.

Ruby groaned aloud as the siren went off. The one day she thought she'd be free of her duties and they rope her back in.

With a resigned sigh, she started making her way none too quickly back to the base.

It wasn't long before Yuna had reached the Walker bays, her own Warrior standing idle in its own berth.

She grabbed the attention of a tech passing by as she pulled on her jumpsuit. "Hey, what's going on, why's everyone being called back?"

@Krayzikk

"Couldn't tell you," Benjamin answered, shrugging his shoulders. The speaker was... Matsuo, Yuna Matsuo. Not someone he'd talked to much, but at least someone he'd seen. And thankfully someone that had still been on base. He wasn't looking forward to how long it might take the other pilots to get back. "Alarm went up a minute ago, no one down here knows anything. Must've come from Ops. Is your machine good to go?"

"Most of the techs were 'nonessential', so I guess I'm pulling double duty for the next while."

"Lieutenant! Uh...Yeah, she should be good to go, I'll go get her warmed up." She turned and more out of embarrassment than urgency, started off toward her own walker, her cheeks burning slightly.

Idiot, how could you be so casual with someone higher ranked like that?! During an alert?!

Matsuo, wasn't it? That was her name. Ben'd seen her around, but judging by her reaction they'd never really met before. Wasn't the time for formalities, he needed to get Vernichten ready.

"Matsuo!" He called after her, jerking a thumb back towards the direction of Test Team's Walker bays. "If yours is good to go, I could use a hand. My girl's in the middle of a power relay replacement, two sets of hands'll make it go a lot quicker than one."



Ayane seemed to be back in her element, by the time they were back on the base. It took a second to explain her situation, officially she didn't report for a few more days, but no one was really turning down another set of hands as long as her ID checked out. Which it did, it just wasn't updated to reflect her present posting yet. They let the duo pass pretty quickly, entering into the hectic frenzy of the Walker Corp's hangar.

The Japanese girl was off the back of the moped almost before it stopped, her duffel slung over her back like a weapon. Eyes scanned the hangar, rapidly but efficiently, taking in all the relevant details. Identifying people of authority. Evaluating combat strength. A certain coiled grace had entered her stride, a martial bearing that had been at least somewhat suppressed before. The Far East Brigade pilot was ready, she was just looking for something to do about it.

"Ms. Marcus, do you have a machine to prep?"

Yuna Matsuo-

She froze up at her name being called, and quickly about faced a little too much, over shooting her intended rotation by about 20 degrees. She relaxed a little at the follow up request however, and her face went from burning hot to mildly warm as a a confident smile found its way back on her face.

"Absolutely, sir!" She jogged back over, her gaze tracing back to where he'd pointed, and she very nearly stumbled over her own feet when she realized, "O-oh my gosh you're part of the Test Team?!" She could hardly contain herself.

Test Team got to play with all the newest tech and weapon prototypes the the Federation cooked up. Yuma had actually been aiming to get into the fairly prestigious group herself, but as per usual, hadn't really put forward the effort in getting there that someone with a slightly better handle on their flighty tendancies would.

Who knows, maybe this can be the foot in the door I need!