"Well, fuck you too then." Was what Alistair wanted to say. So much for being polite on what was supposed to be a milk run. But being someone who tried to avoid people with attitudes, he just let it slide. It's just for a mission. I’ll be back with my team soon enough. I can deal with insufferable people for now. “Sure thing chief.” Is what Alistair actually said after the two of them started following Falk into the wood and she told him to guard her. He drew Judicium just in case they were ambushed. They were in a forest with limited visibility after all. The vibrorapier actived as it left the scabbard. The hum that was typical of vibroblades was inaudible. In fact, it was nearly impossible to tell that the sword was indeed a vibroblade.

With the word that they were being followed by Invaders Alistair became both annoyed and excited. I thought the area was cleared… Though, he knew that he couldn't complain too much about it. The whole reason he joined the academy was to help fight the Invaders. Replacing batteries was important and all, but a few less Invaders was never a bad thing. Alistair didn’t consider himself to be the type to crave a fight. But when it came to them, he was always ready to clash.

Damn. Alistair thought to himself as the trail became muddy, he immediately got off of the trail and started walking against the underbrush, dragging his boots a little to get some of the sticky stuff off. Yui forged on into the mud for just bit before seemingly deciding to not do that. As strikers they both knew that any hindrance to their mobility could prove deadly. They needed to be able to react quickly to anything and move in tight spaces. Neither of which was easy while the ground was grabbing at their feet.

They hadn't been walking for very long when Alistair spotted the exit to the wood just under a hundred meters ahead of them. The trees were beginning to clear and beyond that he could see more ruins of used-to-be cityscape with more dense vegetation growing on nearly every surface.

"Fiore, it's Cellica. I'm safe, and with Riyame from Team Chaotix. We're almost at Point D-4. We'll meet you there."

"Alright. We can talk once we're all together." All things considered, Fiore doesn't feel too bad about the mission; Cellica’s found, they managed to defeat the invaders, and Point D-4 isn’t so far away. It’s likely the Lieutenant will chew them out a little for losing track of Cellica, but as long as nobody was hurt…

“Cellica’s safe,” Fiore reports, keeping a brisk pace towards D-4. “We’ll meet her at Point D-4; we can regroup and replace the batteries at the same time.”

Fortunately, it doesn’t take much time at all before Fiore and Tian-Gui reach the two Gunners, and it doesn’t take a genius to notice Cellica’s being carried. The girl carrying her, Riyame, even steps forward to talk to them.

“Yes, thanks,” Fiore responds, but is then distracted by Cellica’s… situation. One look at her, another at her foot, and Fiore immediately begins her spiel of “and THIS is what I come home to!?”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?” Fiore doesn’t even have to examine her closely; this is what her contacts are for, after all. “And WHERE WERE YOU? We were so worried! This looks sprained, did you get into a fight? I know you have your gun, but that’s just too dangerous!” Running the gamut from worried, to irritated, to full-out angry, Fiore delivers a small, but moving, speech on Cellica’s irresponsibility, then turns to Riyame for a calm “Thank you very much for taking care of her.”

To be yelled at was expected by Cellica, although she had previously thought that it would be Tian-Gui that would be taking it out on her more than Fiore. The two puzzle pieces almost failed to match in her head, and most likely wouldn't match at all if Fiore wasn't yelling in the present. The issue was that Fiore was correct - Cellica had been irresponsible, and though she did have Thumper and was able to handle herself to some extent, Fiore even got Cellica's injury worked out in an instant (which was not something that Cellica was surprised by).

Though feeling like she should make a link with her speech bracelet and explain herself, Cellica refused to do so. She raised her hand to her mouth, breathing deeply through her nose - she was upset, both with herself and with the yelling, and used one of the few advantages of being mute to not speak, and instead stare with troubled eyes at Fiore, trying not to let a tear slip free.

Throughout Fiore’s entire speech, Tian-Gui stood in the background, an unmoving monolith radiating an imposing aura. The mask did not shift to reveal the human face underneath, and those blue orbs shone on with an azure flame. He only watched, waited, as Fiore unleashed all her worry and anger at Cellica. And in the aftermath of it all, he lifted one gauntleted hand, raising it up.

From it, Flamestone burst out in geometric formations, the material extending and then branching off, until, moments later, a chair was made. Not just a shoddy stool or anything, but a proper lounge chair, the seat long enough that Cellica’s legs can rest fully on it. Placing the psychic construct onto the ground, Tian-Gui gestured towards Riyame, his tone cordial despite the reverbations. “Thanks for your help, Riyame. If you could lie Cellica here, that would be much appreciated.”

“Fiore,” he continued, turning towards her, “I’m sure Cellica knows what she did wrong as well, and there’ll be plenty of time for her to get yelled at later. For now, can you work on the injury? I’ll start replacing the batteries on my end.”

With that, he turned to the console, only to pause and then wheel around again, almost as if on an afterthought. “Oh, and Cellica? Glad to have you back.” Then he flicked her on the forehead. “But you’re doing the dishes tonight.”

"Uh..." Throughout this initial outburst, Riyame merely stood in place, holding on to the ever shamed Cellica as she was barraged by her teammates' words. All the same, she had no place in saying who was right and wrong and so she continued to stand there until Tian-Gui made motion to her. "Right. It's no problem," she said, gingerly laying Cellica down onto the constructed furniture Tian-Gui had created. It was probably a good idea to keep quiet on the fact she had been the one to rescue their teammate, for Cellica's sake at least.

"Truth be told, she shoudn't feel too bad. I lost my teammate too," Riyame said with a sigh, shaking her head at the memory. "Granted I'm sure my partner's caused more trouble for you rookies anyway so I should be the one apologizing. And seeing as she's not answering our comm links, I think I'll stick around your team a bit until I can locate her. Strength in numbers, after all." She looked between Fiore and Tian-Gui. "If that's fine with both of you."

"I don't see a problem with it," Fiore says, bending down to get a better look at Cellica's injury. "Thanks for everything. And, Cellica, don't feel too badly, okay? I should have made the proper precautions. It's a Linker's duty to guide their teammates, and I failed at that." Pulling out an ice pack from her medical bag and a roll of bandages, Fiore does what little she can for the sprained ankle. "Things like these just need time," she tells Cellica. "The ice and compression should help a little, but you can't--we can't--go on." Yup, the Lieutenant isn't going to be happy with this. Their only consolation is the fact that they made it to the first station, but the mission is still pretty much a failure.

"What do you think? Riyame? Tian-Gui? What kind of path should we take?"

Whether intentional or not, the fact that Fiore didn't ask what Cellica what she thought made her feel all the more depressed. Doing the dishes tonight was the least of Cellica's worries, even as she clenched her teeth in response to Fiore treating her ankle. However nice Fiore was trying to treat her now, and tell her not to feel badly about it, she had just yelled moments before. The injured girl did not take that sudden change of heart and nice treatment as it was. Her mind focused on the negatives that had just happened, not the positives.

She sucked in a breath as it dawned upon her that the injury was going to prevent them from carrying on. Cellica realised that the Lieutenant was most definately not going to be happy with her, and that the distraction that started the whole facade had made a major problem even larger.

Peering toward Tian-Gui, she thought about a way the could possibly carry in the mission, albeit perhaps at a slightly slower pace than normal and a little more clumsily. Crossing her arms, she psychically connected to her speech bracelet, if only for a small period of time - she still didn't feel like talking a lot. "Tian-Gui could carry me on his shoulders," the bracelet says in an eternally depressed voice, before it was immediately disconnected from.

"Sorry, Celli," Tian-Gui said, shaking his head from side to side, "But your safety comes first, and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to watch it for all of you, considering how aggressive these Invaders seem to be."

He rose up from the sensor array, facing the others again. "Standard procedure would be to head back to the base after sustaining a crippling injury. Let's head back to the Osprey for now, yeah? I'll see if the Yui Gang or some other team can finish our job." A shrug. "Maybe one of them's spotted RR too, neh?'

"While I agree Cellica should be taken back to base, the mission still needs to be completed. I guess you guys need a Gunner more than I realized..." Riyame glanced back the way they had come from, frowning as she considered the Invader's presence. "There's only light scout units out and about, as far as we've encountered. And as I'm sure you've noticed, they're not directly attacking us unless provoked."

"We had a different experience on our side. A pack of Invaders chased us down."

"All the more reason to finish the mission so we can get out of here...here's the plan then. We take Cellica back to the Osprey," Riyame said, looking at the injured girl. "She'll be safer there for obvious reasons. Once that's done, we'll finish Team Afterglow's portion of the mission with me acting as your Gunner temporarily. We've had some absences in the other teams anyway so a few of them are working off temporary members. That, and we don't want your team being the last stragglers."

"And what if I refuse?" Cellica suddenly retorted, having reconnected to her speech bracelet. Yes, perhaps it was a stupid decision for her to make. She was hurt by the fact that she was going to be taken back and left so easily, but more than that, she was upset that she was being replaced. The reason behind it was clear and simple, but she didn't like it at all. "What if I don't want to be left at the Osprey, what if I want to continue the mission instead of being further scolded by the lieutenant who is most likely now waiting for a reason to yell at me?"

"And what if you get hurt?" Fiore, after listening quietly, finally interjects. "You're not at 100% physically, and I don't have a weapon. I don't think it's fair to Tian-Gui to make him protect the both of us. Though, if Riyame comes along..." Sighing, Fiore stands up and dusts herself off before looking around the area. "I can't think of another way. I didn't bring crutches..."

"I'm your gunner, not Riyame!" Cellica interjects again. "An injury like this isn't going to stop me! I use my arms not my legs! Yeah, I do need to walk, but not a lot if Tian-Gui has me up there!" She points at his shoulders with the speed of someone trying to swat a fly that had flown beside her. "I don't want to be seperated from my squad, you're my team! You're leaving me out when I can come with the rest of you!" Her head spins to glare at Fiore in a mixture of anger and distress. Even the speech bracelet was subconsiously changed to whine a little. "You wouldn't like it if there was a way that you could continue on, and the rest of us said no! There is a way! A solution that you're just refusing to take!"

"Cellica, stand up." Tian-Gui said, drawing out a Flamestone pole from the palm of his hand. "Can you walk with this? Fiore, plot the most efficient path to the next three sensor arrays, and tell me the total distance."

Cellica scooted off of the Flamestone chair, placing Thumper down on the chair temporarily so that she could take the pole and see what position it worked best in. After a very brief period of experimentation, she found it easier to have the pole in her left hand so that she could wield Thumper in her right. It also meant when she needed to shoot, it would be easier to lean herself against something and brace her back, since she didn't have two feet to stabalise herself as well as she normally could - internal recoil dampeners did a lot of the work, but they still relied on her having two working feet to take firing such a powerful round.

Only when she had properly demonstrated that she was able to move efficiently with the pole as a support that she let herself calm down the slightest amount, that she trusted that she was going to be allowed to continue on with her team. It didn't take away the depression that she felt, however. Her team had tried to leave her behind, it didn't make her happy. Cellica realised that thinking about it too much would make her even more upset when the beginning of tears began to form in her eyes, and she quickly began to blink to clear them away. And like crying, she refused to talk again too, just turning her head to stare at her squadmates with dejected eyes.

"Right." Bringing her hands up to her temples and taking a few VERY deep breaths, Fiore pulls up her map and links it to Amber Rise. "It doesn't look... horrible. Does 6.5 kilometers sound okay?" If the decision was in Fiore's hands, she'd be prescribing nothing but rest for three days, but a team's gotta do what it can to keep the peace. Nevertheless, Fiore is not very happy. She is beginning to think Cellica is being a tad unfair.

Behind her, the chair dissolved, turning into rust-colored dust that melted like snow on a summer day. Six and a half kilometers was a lot of distance, and Thumper wasn't an energy weapon. Handling the recoil with one hand and a compromised foot was questionable at best. Then there was the fact that Cellica was doing this largely out of pride and fear, at least from Tian-Gui's point of view. But still, she was a child before she was a soldier, and children were entitled to their tantrums. Letting out a breath, the titan nodded once.

"Alright, here's our formation. Riyame takes point, Fiore supports Cellica, and I take rearguard. In combat, Cellica will be firing Thumper as a last resort. When there's a situation we have to escape from, I'll carry the both of you, with Riyame taking rearguard. At each sensor array, Fiore should go check up on Cellica's injury. I'll leave it up to her in determining whether to continue longer or to bail out." Tian-Gui paused, tilting his head slightly. "In a really bad situation, Fiore, go give Cellica a painkiller and the three of you should go run off back to the Osprey. Sounds good?"

"Got it," Fiore answers, already pulling out painkillers from her bag. "Let's get this done before it gets too dark."

"Honestly, you rookies..." Riyame sighed and shook her head. She was sure this might have been some sort of protocol breach...but at the very least she was around to steer them clear of any trouble. "Sounds like a plan. We'll move out as soon as we can," was Riyame's reply as Team Afterglow Plus One continued the mission.

Alistair would hear the tail end of a chuckle on the comms. "She's a Striker too, Al. She's got it. Yui, I'll keep watch from above and scout ahead." Falk said. Above, he was leaping from branch to branch, scouting ahead for them and making sure the enemy kept their distance. He perched atop a tall tree, spotting the ruined skyline ahead of them.

"How much you want to bet our sensor's there?" Falk said, gazing upon it from the treetops. It was almost beautiful, how nature had reclaimed what was once a massive human city. "I'll go find a vantage point and see if I can spot it." He said, and they could watch as he rappelled over to the nearest tall building. He had his strings hooked to the top, and was rollerblading up the side. He was just being a show off at this point.

"I've got visual on the tower." Falk said, tagging it on his map. "I'm uploading the location now. Should I come rendesvouz with you and Al or should I wait at the sensor?"

@Burger@Melkor

Mavis jokes and her play on words were nothing knew and Mila came to expect them. However when the Striker came in to give her a piece of advice, Mila leaned in - partly because Mavis pulled on her - to listen closely. "Stay...cool?" she answered echoing Mavis between two of her sentences.

Subaru's report was a tad worrying. Mission had only started and already they had a missing person, maybe wounded or worse even. Mila looked in the direction that Subaru pointed briefly, then back at the enemies lurking around close to her. If she doubted her next course of action in any way, Mavis' next few sentences fixed it. With a nod to her team leader, Mila turned to the two enemies and raised her weapon. The distinct sound of the generator charging was heard before the destructive plasma weapon opened fire. The laser hit it's mark, and Mila deviate her aim so it also hit the other nearby invader. It didn't take long before the burning plasma cut through the smaller targets, sectioning them both as well as burning any vegetation that was in the weapon's path. Those were weaker enemies, little more than scouts.

"Now..." Iron Saga still on Mila's shoulder, another compartment opened on the top of the weapon. Multiple loud thumping noises could be heard as what looked like metallic rods flew off through the trees, into the air, only to fall back all across the direction that was to be theirs.

Mila had used Subaru's scouting data to calculate their approximate path to the objective, scattering her Psychic Drive along it. She then put Iron Saga back down, holding it with one hand while she turned to face Mavis. She raised her free hand into the air, only to bring her fist back down in a triumphant move, but a still emotionless face

"Cool as an Iceberg." she said, as if it was a fact. They were now ready to get moving.

@KoL

Lucia grimaced as R.R. responded to them. The girl's speech was always so vulgar. But, she was technically ranked above them, so Lucia kept her tongue in her mouth on the matter. And, regardless of her opinion of the girl, R.R. had a proven record in combat; the mission at hand would really only be smoother with her tagging along.

"Very well," she said as she strode over and picked up the backpack containing the new batteries where she'd dropped it before the fight broke out (Writer's Note: *cough*), "Let's continue then. After you, R.R. Kuni, if you could continue scouting... and make sure we're going the right way? Let us be off."

It didn't take long for the first of the two sensor arrays to come into view. The trip there contained no further troubles, any scattered Invaders being scarce if they could be found at all, and nothing at all close to a size or number large enough to be a threat. While they were walking, however, a call came in on the global channel and Lucia called a brief halt to listen to it.

"This is Tian-Gui Jian of Team Afterglow. Our Gunner, Cellica Karris, has gone missing. If you find her, check to see if her comms are working, and reply to us immediately. We will be heading to Point D-4 right now. Thank you, and have a nice day!" That gave her pause. Cellica was missing? Had something happened? Was it possible she was hurt? What if-

Lucia mentally slapped herself. Fretting about this would do her no good, and neither would bolting out into God knows where trying to find Cellica. Her roommate couldn't have gone far, and regardless of that she was still in the middle of a mission. The first step, she reasoned, would be to finish her own tasks. Then, if Cellica still hadn't been found, they could switch to a search and rescue. But nothing good would come from abandoning the current task. So she quickly relayed the information to the rest of Novae, resolved to look deeper at the surrounding areas for a missing Linker, and kept moving. Soon they were at the foot of the array.

"Alright," Lucia said as she laid the batteries down again and took one of them out, "I'll only be a moment. Akari, R.R., if you'd keep watch? Merci." With an almost playful tapping of her heels together she boosted herself up to to the top in a single bound, and quickly made her way to the power hatch. It was really no different from changing the batteries in a smoke alarm or a digital clock, just all the pieces were a bit larger and heavier. She was done in less than five minutes, and soon was leaping off the edge to land on the ground with a heavy thud.

"And that's that," she stated as she put the old battery beneath the second new one in the backpack, "Where to for the other one?"

---

Listening to R.R.'s response, Kuni kept her eyes on the tablet. Through Dee's eyes, she could see the sensor by using his increased height. When R.R. asked who the Linker was, Kuni simply raised her hand for a brief moment before returning it to the tablet "Let's follow R.R.'s path for the time being. Should anything happen, I already found three other paths for us to use, but I see no immediate danger." She stated to the other three girls.

The way to the first sensor was much quieter, making Kuni had also decrease Dee's hovering height to half of what it was. From what she could tell, there weren't any visible threats on the way, and what little Invaders there were ran away as soon as they spotted the group. As the first sensor was in sight and getting closer, Kuni began working on finding the best path to the second sensor.

Once they reached the sensor, Lucia immediately went and started taking care of the task of changing the batteries. Probably for the best too, as if it was her that changed the battery, she would be tempted to start fixing everything she could see in there. And despite how safe it appeared to be now, something told her that if the sensors needed fixing, then they wouldn't send the teams for a mere battery change.

When Lucia was done, Kuni had already determined the optimal path for the next sensor "Next sensor is further south from our current location. I already found a path for us to go through, and it currently appears to be safe to go through. Should be 15 minutes and we'll reach it." She told them, turning to the south and looking ahead. There was a hill in that direction, which most likely meant the Sensor was on the opposite side of it "Climbing the hill may be tiring, but it is the fastest and most secure path. We'll be able to see any incoming attacks, should there be anymore." She told them, and turned her gaze from the tablet to the three girls.

Akari beamed when R.R. began shaking about like she had a tail attached to her, thoroughly amused by this behavior. The redhead certainly had a mouth on her -one that most likely offended her other teammates- but she sure was funny. She could switch emotions at the drop of a hat, it seemed, going from excited to sheepish when she went to answer Lucia's reasonable questions. Akari found herself wanting to know more about the girl, mind filling with questions about her fighting style and her motivation behind applying to the Academy, if she had even had to apply. She filed these away for later. They were on a mission, after all. Maybe she'd meet up with R.R. again back at the academy. If not, most of these questions would have to be left unanswered.

When R.R. looked her way for confirmation, Akari gave a firm nod of her head. Technically, Kuni was supposed to be in charge, but the girl stayed quiet which led Akari to take the role of leader. After Lucia told R.R. to begin leading them to the sensor, Akari dutifully took her place at the back of the pack. She listened to the sound of gunshots in the distance, her body itching to assist in the battle. Despite this, she kept a clear mind and stayed on course, and it wasn't long before they had arrived at the first sensor.

Upon reaching the sensor, Lucia quickly took over. She gave everyone their positions before leaping up to take on the sensor. Akari didn't mind one bit, staying on the ground to keep watch with R.R. while Kuni purposefully messed with Dee. They had a bit of time to talk, so why not utilize it? "So, R.R.," Akari began, unsure of what to say despite having so many questions in mind. "What's it like having so much responsibility? You seem like someone who enjoys being a little more...loose."

They didn't get the chance to have a back and forth conversation, with Lucia jumping back down shortly after Akari asked her question. She regrouped with her team, listening as Kuni told them about the next sensor. They were making great time. At this rate, they'd be finished and back to the Osprey in about forty-five minutes. Perhaps they could even go to help out another team, or find Riyame and give R.R. back.

"Lucia and I will be able to take the hill pretty easily. I can launch you and R.R. up there, Kuni, but you'll have to be careful not to break anything on landing." Akari had given her teammates lessons on how to properly land after being thrown by Concussion, but she wasn't sure if those lessons had stuck with Kuni. "That, or we can just walk. It isn't too steep."

"Oh, huh," Tian-Gui remarked, midway through their short trek to the next sensor array, "Just remembered. The Lieutenant said we were only doing two. Guess eight hours to get this operation done really was excessive."

Yeah, it really was. If it was like this, it probably wouldn't be nearly as hard for Fiore to overlook Cellica's shenanigans and let her complete the mission with the rest of them, huh? Scanning about, the golden monolith looked for signs of yet another pack of Invaders sweeping around behind them, but thankfully, there were none. The terrain they found themselves in was open and less damaged than the rest of the district, after all, a path plotted to make it easier for Cellica to travel in. And though open space was terrible for purposes of cover, his own Psychic Drive made up for that terrain disadvantage.

Real nice, all things considered. But there was one thing he was forgetting...

Oh, right, R.R.

"Yo, this is Tian-Gui from Team Afterglow," he spoke, turning on global comms again, "Just giving y'all a heads up that we found Cellica, and that we also found Riyame, from Team Chaotix. If anyone knows where R.R. is, feel free to give her a message."

---

Mila’s reaction drew a sigh, and then a chuckle, out of Mavis. "Never change, girl, never change," the redhead said, patting her friend’s back an amused way. Once she was done with her chortling, Mavis spun on her heels and marched away to their objective, always paying close attention to any invaders lurking in the shadows.

With Subaru’s precise navigation, it didn’t take long for them to reach their destination: a solitary sensor atop an old building. Swapping the batteries hardly took a couple minutes, leaving their team with plenty of time to deal with their last objective.

"I wonder how the others are going?" Mavis said as she took some time to rest. She produced an energy bar from one of her coat pockets, as well as a water bottle and found a place to sit by the edge of the derelict rooftop as she munched on her snacks. "Let’s give Subaru some time to organize the mission data. While we do that, we may as well take a quick break, right? Here, think fast!" Mavis said as she threw a snack towards Mila.

"According to the most recent update, it seems that the disappearance problem has been solved. The two of you can remain on standby while I process the data relative to our next target," Subaru said, her voice coming through her drone as it hovered silently around them. "None of the other squads seem to have encountered any substantial hardships up to now," she added, reporting on the condition of the other teams.

"Just like I thought. I guess this is fine as well, don’t you think?" Mavis said — apparently more to herself than the others — as she overlooked the post-apocalyptic scenery before her eyes while her hair swayed in the breeze.

---

“Well,” Yui joked, “nothing stopping you from going ahead of us. Except you getting ganked and accidentally blowing yourself up while we try to keep our feet dry. C'mon, Pubert.”

She walked around the perimeter of the marsh. Strange, she thought. If Falk had said that they were being watched earlier, why hadn't they attacked them already? They may had been just waiting for the trio to be put in an unfavourable position, like being isolated or stuck in mud, but were they that intelligent? Probably. Yui didn't really know much about the invaders, besides they were evil and looked metal. Despite her worries, she wasn't upset. If they were able to complete this mission without any combat, then they were technically the best group out of the lot since they would have avoided engagements. Unless the other teams didn't really fight. That would mean they were just slow.

Still, though. Talking an extra moment to avoid mud made the mission a lot more tolerable.

---

The trip to the first sensor had been uneventful, at least in comparison to Team Novae’s earlier Invader encounter. R.R. led the way back without much complaint, though it was also possible she just wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. Certainly not when she ignored the MIA report for Cellica over her comm link as well as the unhappy grumblings of Team Chaotix’s Linker. That, or the white noise was passing right through her skull. Her attention was shifted to the first sensor anyway and she eagerly stood on guard as Lucia began switching out the first battery.

Metallic claws deployed, the redhead lurched down on all fours, eyes flicking every which way as if waiting for an Invader to appear. Her stalwart watch was only disrupted by Akari’s questioning, earning a quick look of distraction as R.R. focused on her now. “Eh? Responsibility? Ohhhh, right. I’m like, a higher rank than you cause of my team, yeah? I’ll tell you, it fucking sucks.” R.R. would have gone into how being the prim and proper model of teamwork meant more boring endeavors but was never given the chance.

Lucia had returned and with her, so too did new directions come from Kuni. The question of whether they would climb the hill or not came into mind and R.R. sized up the great mound of grass and dirt. “I could probably just fucking scale it. Don’t need to launch me like dead weight for your team you know-” Once again she was interrupted by the global comm links. Were it not for the sound of Tian-Gui mentioning her name, she would have ignored the transmission like the last.

“Hey, uh, don’t tell them I’m here. I really don’t wanna fucking upset Riyame cause I’m sure she’s gonna yell at me for running off again,” R.R. said. She looked at each member of Team Novae pleadingly, letting her gaze fall upon Akari with big eyes. “Come on, I don’t wanna get in fucking trouble more than I’m already in. Lemme just stay a bit longer.”

A good few miles away, and the rest of R.R.’s team was frowning with a hint of annoyance in her features. Riyame led the fractured Team Afterglow into an opened field of derelict buildings and greenery. At the very least, it would give the two Gunners on the team ample shooting space. Riyame held a finger to her comm link, single eye mapping out the area around them as she led. “I know she’s ignoring me. Honestly, if she could just pick up already-”

“R.R. is a big girl who can handle herself. Focus on the task at hand,” came the voice of Team Chaotix’s Linker, speaking privately to Riyame. “She’s ignoring me too. When she gets like this, she’s best left alone. Stop worrying about her and focus on Team Afterglow.” It was a shame the voice on the other end couldn’t see the eyeroll from their Chaotix Gunner.

“Right, right. I’m on it,” she muttered, closing the line and seeing the next sensor just beyond the clearing trees. Their luck would become infectious as soon even Team Yui Gang found their first sensor among the swampland muck just on the other side. Taking the detour had slowed them down but, in the end, it was better to have good fighting environments than to fight the environment. All the same, as each team completed the first of their two battery transitions, the air of tension about them would grow restless.

Each team’s Linker-and perhaps in Team Yui Gang’s case their Gunner-would be able to spot a subtle shift in the Invader behavior. Like the blip of a much bigger target for example, one that seemed to be moving indecently of the others. Despite keeping to itself, its size was something to take into consideration in a threat analysis.

---

Falk Fukuzawa

"I'll stay out of trouble." Falk responded to Yui. From atop the ruins, he scoped out the area. The mooks were just milling about, keeping their distance. It was strange. It was putting on Falk on edge. And lo and behold, on the outside, wandering near the next sensor, was something bigger.

"Heads up. We've got a big guy hanging out around the sensor." Falk said. He held out his hand, and a thread shot out, hitting a tall building right next to the sensor. He pointed at the wall next to him, and the other end was attached to the wall next to him. "I'm heading over there to secure the perimeter. Just in case."

Falk tucked his legs up, and ziplined down to the array, hitting the ground with a loud thud. He cut the two strings he'd used to get there, then began to set a few up in between the trees and buildings around them. Each one was no thicker than a piece of fishing line. He had given them enough slack that they were lying on the ground, more or less invisible for now.

@Burger@Melkor

“Blimey,” The word escaped Al's mouth as little more than a whisper. The two stepped out of the forest and into the urban ruins. The behemoth came into view. He suddenly felt the need to draw a second blade. But he knew that one blade was just as effective as two - he would just have to decide how he wanted to deal with this. If he wanted to study his opponent's weaknesses and strike with extreme precision he would have his rapier, Judicium. If he wanted to go in and cut into the situation, he had Taiyō… his katana wouldn't be much help here.

It was big. Really big, tall, metallic, angular planting, glowing eyes… one appendage was what appeared to be a rail gun or some other form of projectile armament. The other could loosely be described as a claw. Claw would do this no justice. ‘Claw’ holds the implication that there's an anthropomorphic hand with long nails. These were long enough to be short swords. The invader itself must have been somewhere around four meters tall.

“There’s more…” Alistair could see the base of the sensor array and he could see a group of the smaller Invaders of the quadruped variety had just came out of the wood on the far side of the clearing. These were normal sized. The sort that didn't pose much of a threat in small numbers. But they weren't dealing with small numbers here. Perhaps thirty of the Invaders, plus their larger friend there…

“Hey, Falk, can you check if any more of the buggers are going to sneak up on us? Otherwise, we should get this over with.” he held Judicium angled downward in front of him. Ready to be brought bear.

---

"I would personally prefer not being launched." Kuni told Akari, keeping her eyes fixed on the tablet as she did "I'll send Dee ahead of us, to the top of the hill so I'll be able to get a better grasp of the upcoming area." She also told her team and R.R., before inputting the instructions into the tablet. The drone would soon leave their side and hover higher, quickly making its way up the hill.

When the comm message from Tian-Gui came in, Kuni's eyes moved to R.R., who was quick to beg that they don't respond. Or at least, that they don't mention she is with them "Wouldn't she just yell at you later then?" She briefly asked, before moving her eyes back to the tablet.

Looking through Dee's camera, Kuni didn't see any obvious, out in the open threats. However, there was something else that came up. It was a much larger threat, one that didn't move quite like the rest of the Invaders, but also kept to itself. She briefly tried to figure out what it could be, but without any visibility to it, Kuni felt that making assumptions for something that big would be counter-productive.

"Before we start moving ahead," Kuni started to speak, moving to look at her team "There is a much larger target in the area, one that appears to not share the movement patterns of the other Invaders, and also keeping to itself. We need to stay alert, just in case." She told them "Aside from that, our path still appears clear, and Dee's camera indicates no obvious threats on the way up the hill. I'll have it turn and scan the other side of the hill now. Once she finished speaking, her eyes went back to the tablet, when she tapped a few new instructions for her drone, hoping to see nothing but clear path on the camera.

---

In fact, the concentration of Invaders around the sensor that Yui’s Gang approached was slightly out of the ordinary. Dashing into such a mob was most likely going to spell disaster for them, if they chose to do so. That said, it seemed like the humanoid one was instructing the quadruped types.

They didn’t use any language that could be comprehensible by humans. In fact, they barely emitted any sound at all, just like in the theories that the aliens were capable of some kind of ESP based communication. Once it handed whatever instructions it giving out, the quadrupeds began to scramble, forming three groups that rushed towards different directions while leaving only the humanoid and a group of four quadruped to search the area close to the sensor for whatever is it that they were looking for.

It wasn't long after they reached an agreement about Cellica, which was really just Tian-Gui telling them to stop arguing and get on with things, that Fiore started to calm down. Generally, she isn't a emotional person, and she keeps many of her thoughts to herself, but Cellica had hit a nerve. She put her own wants above her health, and that is something Fiore is not likely to forgive.

True, it was only a sprained ankle, but put weight on a sprained ankle and you get a bigger problem. Having seen a lot of ugly, painful things makes Fiore wary--and more than a little miffed at Cellica for throwing a fit when Fiore only had her best interests at heart.

Or, at least she thought she did. Now, as the team lapses into silence, Fiore begins to do some thinking. Was she really thinking of "replacing" Cellica? That's kind of outrageous, and Fiore kind of thought they were better friends than that... But wasn't this whole thing her fault in the first place? After all, Linkers are responsible for their teammates, and yet she failed, didn't she? This is her fault. She should have been paying better attention.

Now look where it's gotten us, Fiore thinks, sticking close to Cellica's side but refusing to look her in the face. Everything's ruined. Suddenly, Fiore's anger has turned to self-doubt, and as the group continues on, the medic's face grows darker and darker, bent on examining and re-examining everything that has led Team Afterglow to this point. To an outsider, this might seem dramatic, but Fiore takes her team's safety very seriously. It's her job, after all.

Presently, Fiore's focus shifts from her teammates to surveying the surroundings as she notices another "blip" on her map--an invader, but something about it seems... off. Odd enough to tell her teammates about, definitely.

"There's a larger target on the prowl," Fiore reports, flying Ember Rise upwards to get a better look. "It's alone, but we should be careful."

It was hard to tell why Cellica was angry. At least, to herself, it was. She didn't know if she was angry at herself, angry at her teammates, or angry at something else, like the Invaders. It was soon during her quiet, vexing walk that it was all of them.

Cellica was angry at herself. She had lost focus, and instead of focusing on the mission she had started thinking about something that she could have thought about at quite literally any other time. It wasn't like she thought about her 'voice' enough already, that she spent some of her time wondering about what it was like to speak for real. The girl knew that the mission was the priority, but she still got distracted. She could blame it on her age, but she knew it really wasn't that, and that it wasn't an excuse.

She was angry at her team, too. She knew it was wrong to be, but she could not help it. She felt like she was ready to be abandoned, to be replaced. The thought of someone else taking her place on the mission, taking her role in her team. If Cellica was lead back to the Osprey, she would have had to bear the wrath of the Lieutenant - alone. She still knew that the Lieutenant would be pissed at her, but at least she didn't have to bear it while having her team out on the mission. Cellica found it hard to look at her team as she walked.

And the Invaders... She hated them the most. She hated them for existing. None of this would have happened, none of anything would have happened. Humanity could carry on normally if they just did not exist.

A larger target? Cellica thought to herself, as Fiore spoke. That's what Thumper is made for.

Mila followed Mavis for the most part. She was more suited for close quarter combat, after all, if they ran into enemies. However, Mila took Mavis' words - about threat recognition and engagement - very seriously. She would constantly be scanning around them on top of Subaru's support. It might be a bit overkill, but best to leave nothing to luck.

Though it seem it was all for naught, for before long they had reached and fulfilled their first objective.
"If you and me succeeded, probabilities are the others met some success also. From the report Subaru gave us, it seems to confirm that enemy presence is low in this sector." While she was speaking, Mila was quickly cut by a thrown piece of candy at herself.

"Ironic." Mila said. Although 'Funny' would have been more accurate for anyone else. "I had brought these to share with my companions, but calculated that now was not the time. Was I wrong?" Mila said as she brought out, yet again, some pieces of candies she had brought for Mavis and Subaru when she learned of their sweet tooth.

The cyborg girl walked closer to Mavis and put her Iron Saga against a concrete destroyed pillar before giving her own sugary gift to Mavis. If not for now, then for later - the time seemed right. "Sorry, Subaru." she said into the comm, knowing full well Subaru could probably have her own stash of sweets boards her things back at the transport, if she so wished.

To her red-haired friend's comment Mila looked out onto the horizon, then back at Mavis. "As well?" Mila said, purposely on an interrogative tone "Did things not go according to your own calculations, Captain Limit?"

---

While his team's Linker was replacing the battery of the station they'd reached, Raphel Hagos Mekuria took the liberty of noting everything he'd observed from the Invaders that they'd detected along the way. There was a lot of data that he'd compiled, and research into all the data could prove extensive; if not for the higher ups, then to Raphel himself. He was always curious about these creatures that appeared out of the blue during the Second Genesis, and the more information he could garner for himself, the more faith he'd have going into future missions.

Still, Raphel figured he'd best send a copy of the file he made to Lt. Mako Isoshima, the commander for this operation, after the mission was over. While it was possible that she and the other higher ups would find nothing that they didn't already know, Raphel would hate to consider the probability in which he'd otherwise be withholding vital information. He returned the PDA that he stored his wealth of data on back into his pocket, and looked over to see how his team's Linker was doing. It looked like the necessary maintenance wasn't complete just yet.

"I'm going back on lookout duty," he told the Linker, "Come find me when you're done."

With that, he separated himself from the Linker, albeit making sure he didn't go to far. He climbed a nearby tree and concealed himself within its leaves, before looking down the scope of his marksman rifle, The Voice of Reason.

Raphel was confident that the Invaders wouldn't spot the Linker and try to attack, but it was better to be safe...

While Fiore stewed in her regrets and Cellica simmered in her anger, Tian-Gui, for all his imposing 'GIANT ARMORED MAN WITH BIG HAIR AND BIG FISTS' appearance, was trying to lighten up the mood with some cheery whistling. It echoed out of his helmet like a soloist in an empty concert hall, even if the technical skill was lacking, and there was an imperceptible spring to his step. Sure, the Lieutenant was going to yell at all of them after this, but that was just a part of life, wasn't it? Didn't change the nice weather or the fact that the sensor was in sight, and it didn't change the fact that what they were doing was still good for the world.

"Got it," he chimed, as Fiore reported the presence of a larger Invader somewhere. "Keep an eye on its movements, and watch out for other Invaders as well, Fi. I'll push forward to slot in the batteries now."

No point in hunting, after all. Not their job, and if the sensors were damaged as collateral for their conflict, that was just going to be another thing for the Lieutenant to rag on them about. Continuing to whistle that childish, cheery tune, Tian-Gui pushed forward past the clearing, leaving a small trail of golden Flamestone in his wake. He expanded his 'territory' as a precaution while he knelt by the sensor, swapping everything out swiftly.