---

"Commander on deck!"

There was a rapid shuffling, followed by a crisp almost uniform stomp of feet clasping together, and salutes flying to the brows of the men and women that made up the bridge crew of the HMS Nyx. Victor waited a moment before giving a slight nod, allowing the crew to return to their posts and continue their duties.

He made his way to the center of the bridge, a large, modern and open space unlike the older ships of the Zern navy. The center of the bridge was open and clear, save for a single console in the center that doubled as a tactical/operational map. A raised platform behind it held the Captain's chair, along with two others for either Executive Officers, Advisers, or VIPs. The rest of the stations were around the edge of the bridge, sunk slightly below the platform to keep the space open and allow an impressive view out the viewing windows of the bridge.

Tesserarius Aston nodded and stepped over to make space as Victor stepped into the center of the bridge, arms clasped behind his back. "Goings are a bit slow, the Caliban is a new ship class so the docking crew are still getting used to its dimensions. Connection points are standard though, so we should be secured in but a moment." Aston reported without prompting.

The two had a fairly easy to understand relationship. While Victor was technically in charge and understood his command and its abilities well, no one understood a ship like its own Captain. As a result, Victor trusted Aston to take charge and control the ship as he saw fit, allowing Victor to focus on more macro level details- or mirco, as Victor generally preferred to lead from the front and deploy in his own mobile suit when the goings got tough. Not that things got that tough these days.

"Excellent. I'll leave you to preparations then. The Caliban will be participating in the parade during the upcoming Expo, so we'll have to make sure the ship is given a proper scrubbing, the Venunsian dust ring hasn't been exactly kind to us these last few months."

"Aye boss, not to worry, I know how to clean up a crew for parade duty."

"Izumi should have a list of pilots being assigned to parade duty, she should get that to you soon. I should probably remind her to put Torren on the list."

Aston's face fell. "I understand that this could be seen as a punishment, but I'd rather not have the man who crashed his mobile suit into my deck on parade duty."

"Oh come now Aston," Victor replied with a chuckle, "Its not like the mobile suits need to move at all. They just stand there and look nice."

---

With the Nyx now docked, despite docking procedures taking longer than usual, Victor and Ayame made their way off the ship and onto the docks proper. The dock itself had been cleared of all non-authorized ships, and anyone entering and exiting were on a short list- the Nyx luckily, was included on this list. This was the emptiest Victor had seen the dock in the few times he'd been on Annona since his deployment, and with good reason. Princesses Asallia and Sheena were among the Royals from the Venue that were set to arrive today- they had seen the massive ship from the viewports of the Nyx, so he wagered a guess they were coming in soon.

"Looks like we've made it just in time." Victor said in a slightly bemused tone to the commander of his mobile suit squadron, as his eyes scanned the docks. His eyes rested on one noble in particular, Gilbert König, a noble that Victor had worked with a few times in the past. "Lucky for us, looks like König is in charge of proceedings here. By far the least insufferable noble I've dealt with- He has his head on straight, which is more than I can say for some of them."

"Still, should probably be on our best behavior, huh Izumi?" Victor said with a chuckle and wink.

Victor made his way over to König, who was likely waiting for the Royals to arrive, snapping a short salute before falling in line beside him.

"Sir," he said quietly, as a greeting. "5th Battlegroup appearing as requested."

He gestured to Ayame and gave her the briefest of introductions, "Commander of my mobile suit squadron, Ayame Izumi."

To his memory, Gilbert had never been a man of many words, at least not with rank and file soldiers like himself. Not that Victor minded. After dealing with countless nobles that loved to talk, command, whine and whinge, it was nice to be able to communicate with clear, concise and short orders. With that, Victor clasped his hands behind his back and breathed out. Nothing left to do but wait for the Royals to arrive.

Sheena Zern

---

Her sisters words softened Sheena, if only slightly. Even so, she seemed a bit more on guard now- while less intense, she also seemed to be worried. Whether that was over her sister or the unfortunate state of Venus, it couldn't be easily told.

". . .It certainly sounds like him." Sheena showed some restrained and refrained from giving her favorite wheat strain. This wasn't the time or place, tempting as it was.

No, this conversation didn't have the right to be light.

"You're right. I have a good enough understanding of what's to come." She paused for a moment, placing an idle hand at her hip.

"A lot of people are going to die." There seemed to be a hint of mirth in her voice for just a moment, but only that long. It was never the princess' intent, but that would probably end up being the true reason she had found herself here. That was 'gravity' for you. The princess sighed, resigning herself to a dreary and uncertain future.

It may not have seemed it, but the resistance and civil unrest of Venus were in theory a sideshow to her. The reality of the situation was naturally different, but still.

Regardless-

"I'm more concerned about what comes after, Asallia. This is a battle fought over hearts, and not just on Venus." It went without saying of course. But being who she was, Sheena said it anyway.

She was familiar with such things, at least. More than any tool, it was your heart that allowed you to kill enemies and seize 'victory'. She was sure of at least that much from personal experience.

Regardless, more immediate subjects needed to be discussed. She took on a more formal posture, though still candid as ever. It was time to go over what had made her initiate this little talk in the first place.

"There'll be an important military reform conference shortly after our arrival on Annona. If you want to send anyone along, please do. More insight is always good." It was perfectly obvious who in particular Sheena was getting at. This time however, she decided to leave the obvious to float all on its lonesome.

"When our schedules open up, we should have a nice, long, talk. Assuming you desire it, of course." Sheena turned to leave as she spoke, giving her sister sparse time to respond about the invitation. Given that she wasn't expecting an answer right now, perhaps Sheena thought it fine and appropriate.

That done, Sheena made a quick but relatively graceful exit.

However, it seemed she wasn't quite finished.

"Regarding your speech- I'm probably not qualified to say it since I don't write my own, but. . ." The princess stopped at the door for one ghost of a moment. A brief delay later and the door opened to afford her exit. The Guards had to confirm there was nothing suspicious going on in the outside hallway, after all.

"Well. I'm not so sure the mood can get anymore sour, so I wouldn't let Dads specter bother you." It was hard to tell if she was encouraging Asallia or making fun of her.

Without saying goodbye, she exited her sisters chambers and made for her own. Final preparations had to be made before the Venue's arrival, after all.

Had the Guards looked behind themselves, they would've seen Sheena smiling as she left her sisters room.

@Golden Spiral

---

Asallia's quiet nostalgia ended at the mention of the military conference. A sharp, almost painful grimace flashed across her face upon remembering but only for a moment. Her composure returned with a smile and it vanished as quickly as it appeared. The smile that replaced it should have been forced and fragile, but looking at Sheena the Princess couldn't help but smile. Though to others her sister's words were cold and blunt, Asallia had known her too long to assume what others might. She knew what her sister meant. Even with their differences, Asallia felt calmer knowing she would be near.

"Of course I'd desire something so wonderful. My schedule might not be much of an obstacle in the coming days depending on how things go and who listens to me..."

Resting her gloved hands in her lap Asallia looked on as Sheena turned her back and began to leave. Just as her smile began to shrink, Sheena's parting words came.

And the Princess laughed.

The door had closed and her sister had left by the the time Asallia regained control of herself. Her exhaustion and weariness still pushed down on her, draped across her mind and body like a lead blanket. Yet her chest was filled with a warmth that hadn't been there before and Asallia finally felt awake.

"...Thank you Sheena." Asallia said to the empty room.

Standing up from the couch Asallia walked to her bed and bravely faced the large, imposing closet near it. As she reached her hands out to open the closet and begin the arduous process of making her 'presentable' for the ceremony, she stopped.

"He should go."

The thought came suddenly, like a bright light snapping on in a dark room.

"The military conference won't be for some time. I don't really have anyone else to send and it wouldn't be--appropriate for me to attend. Even if I did, some might refrain from speaking their true minds. But if he went then he would say whatever came to him. Discussions are only fruitful if they reflect what we actually want...yes. Yes, I think he will like to go..."

---

@glwgameplayer

---

Lycoris felt herself entire body tense up at the question.

It was simple, innocuous, a borderline platitude of small talk. Or it would have been to anyone besides her.

Spending the last two months avoiding every living being she could, Lycoris had came to the realization that others involved with the expo could very well ruin her. As she was she wasn't a threat, but if she got a chance to throw her hat into the ring once more Lycoris had no doubt she could upstage many of those attending. Even if that was her own arrogance speaking, Lycoris didn't feel it was much of a stretch to assume that others might be afraid of her. And when fear was involved, it was all the more tempting and possible to ruin someone.

Her throat tightened and her mind raced to come up with a lie, to simply shut down the conversation.

Yet-

"Just uh, you know, trying to salvage the molten burning wreckage that is my reputation and career."

Lycoris let out an awkward laugh as the words left her mouth. Inside her head half of her mind was aghast at the words that had left her mouth. She was exposing herself, giving out precious information that would leave her vulnerable. Yet the other half of her mind was...pleased.

"I'll be talking with the governor about getting involved with the expo. If all goes well I might actually be able to participate."

An almost alien sense of release came the more she spoke.

"You know how big this expo is for people like us. Engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, if it isn't a complete disaster due to planning it'll be the talk of the tech industry for years to come. Anyone involved is going to get a lot of recognition and people who actually present something will have a lot of opportunities going forward."

---

---

“How did he die?”

The question came as the two slipped into a dark, cramped alleyway that cut between two towering tenement complexes. They had put good distance between themselves and the scene of the crime, but both knew they couldn’t afford to be lax. Yet in the middle of the alleyway Laika stopped dead in her tracks and hesitantly looked over her shoulder.

“Your ‘uncle’ I mean. He was with me from the start. Did I ever tell you that? Finest ship engineer I knew.”

Standing behind her Cathrida blocked what little light poured from the street into the knife wound of an alley. Her front was cast in shadow yet even in the darkness of the alleyway, the darkness of the hood pulled down over her face, Laika could still see her eyes. Both her real eye and artificial ‘eye’ shared the same, orangish glow that penetrated the shadows.

“He was...stabbed.” Laika admitted.

“I found him in the street outside our apartment. He was so drunk he didn’t even realize how much he was bleeding until he was dead.”

A small, grim chuckle came from Cathrida as she lifted her head back.

“That sounds about right. Uprill always drank like someone was coming to cut his legs off. Did you find out who did it?”

Laika hesitated.

“Yes.”

Cathrida locked eyes with Laika.

“Are they dead?”

The girl swallowed hard, her chest tightening as she opened her mouth.

“No.”

Cathrida cocked her head, displeasure apparent as one of her eyes shrunk into a narrow knife-like slit. Laika shifted on the spot, hands closing and unclosing, she looked down at the ground staring at the dark concrete beneath her boots.

“I went asking around and I learned he got drunk at a bar. Really, really drunk. Someone said something to him as a joke and he attacked them. He broke a bottle, the other person pulled a knife and--”

Laika swallowed and forced herself to look Cathrida in the eye.

“You told me not to get in trouble. That I needed to wait here on the habitat. To keep my head down and get ready for when you came back. And I did that. But Uprill--he acted like you were dead. The news was everywhere for a while, saying you’d been killed, they even showed footage over the public wires. It was months later but he seemed pretty convinced.”

It was difficult to see Cathrida’s expression, but her eyes remained unchanged as Laika spoke.

“But I knew you weren’t dead, I knew it. So when I learned who killed Uprill I didn’t do anything. Because I didn’t know for certain I could do it without getting in trouble. And I wanted to say that I did what you asked me to when you finally came back.”

Shoulders hunched, crumbling under Cathrida’s unchanging gaze Laika looked down at the ground a blank look on her face.

“I’m sorry.” Laika muttered.

Seeing Cathrida’s arms slide out from beneath her cloak from the corner of her eye Laika stood, bracing herself for what was to come…

Then she felt a hand press into the top of her head, softly ruffling her messy brown hair.

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for.” Cathrida said plainly, “If anything I’m the one who should apologize for taking as long as I did to get here. But it's kinda hard to go anywhere when you can’t breath on your own.”

Laika looked up in surprise and Cathrida cracked a smile

“I told Uprill the same thing I told you. If he was an idiot and got himself killed in a bar brawl then he only has himself to blame. You did the right thing, Laika. You’re the only one I can trust now.”

The girl could only stare in disbelief as a weight lifted from her shoulders. A smile of her own came to her face as she straightened out, standing tall and beaming.

Turning around Laika continued down the alley and out into a smaller street, Cathrida following close behind.

“Still. Did Uprill tell you anything? Did he take you anywhere?” Cathrida asked, but Laika shook her head, glancing around a corner before moving forward.

“No. He’d disappear for long periods of time, but he’d always come back after a couple of days drunk and really smelly.”

“Hmmm. That’s a good sign.” Cathrida muttered

The two continued to walk through the tight maze of streets until they came to a dead end. Sandwiched at the very end of the street, pressed up against one of the walls of the habitat, was a tall narrow building with filthy glass windows and a batter sign hanging by one chain into the street. The sign read “The Grand” and Cathrida couldn’t stop herself from smirking at the irony.

Laika approached the door, before stopping and turning back.

“Captain, are we going back to...how things used to be?” Laika asked, barely catching herself from saying the p-word.

“No.” Cathrida said firmly. “There’s an expiration date on our...previous line of work. You can thank Zern for that. No, we’re going into a different business. One that will soon become quite popular...”

Laika’s hesitation faded as Cathrida’s eyes seemed to gleam and her smirk stretched upwards into a full unbridled grin.

Turning back around, Laika pulled open the door and the two stepped inside the bar.

As the door opened Denzel looked up from his drink to see two new faces to the Grand. Well, one and a half new faces. He had a vague inkling he had seen Laika before, not to drink herself but maybe to come retrieve a drunken friend or member of the family. Aside from that her orange jumpsuit and rough looks told him more than enough. She was another abused worker from Venus, and in that way she fit in just fine.

The cloaked figure was a complete mystery. The only reason someone would dress in a dark cloak would be to hide their appearance. To Denzel that meant one of two things, the person why shy or disfigured and didn’t want the odd looks. Or the person had something more… important to hide. Like their affiliation.

He didn’t like it.

Denzel leaned back against the bar and placed his left hand into his pouch. The movement looked casual enough, but his fingers were lightly gripping his brass knuckles. If the situation arose he could pull out his knuckles and unsheathe the knife in a second. But he didn’t expect it to come to that.

Laika and Cathrida stood at the entrance to the dimly lit bar, the smell of cheap electronic cigarettes and cheaper alcohol hung in the air.

Both looked around, seeing almost no one besides the barkeep. The few customers present were tucked away into booths or huddled at tables, sipping at their drinks or leaving them untouched as they spoke in low whispers. Cathrida turned her gaze towards the bar and the swarthy skinned man sitting at it.

“That’s the Crusher.” Laika whispered. “He’s caused a lot of problems for Zern, at least lately.”

“Just the man I want to meet…”

Stepping forward Cathrida paced across the room, taking a seat at the bar directly beside Denzel. Laika sat beside her as the barman approached, his expression as flat as most of the beer he poured.

“What will it be?” He asked, practically in monotone.

Cathrida slipped her black, nanocarbon laden hands from her red cloak and pulled her hood back.

“Anything without blood or teeth, preferably.”

The barman went rigid as recollection and clear understanding of her words spread across his face.

“I-I’ll just check the back then.” He asked, skittering out of sight as Cathrida against the bartop and turned her eye towards the man beside her.

“Mr ‘Crusher’ is it? I hope I don’t need to introduce myself, my reputation usually precedes me. Or used too."

“No need for introductions. As one thorn in Zern’s side to another, I’d say it’s an honor to meet you ” Denzel sat up straight and his relaxed expression was replaced by one of focus and attention. “I assume since you picked me out of a crowd and called me by name, you’ve been looking for me. Might I ask why?”

“My cabin girl knew you by name. That might not mean much anywhere else, but in regards to the Mekon Movement that means everything.”

Cathrida smiled, her eyebrows perking up as she continued.

“There’s something I need to get from the surface of Venus. Something very important for my continued ‘work’ here. Normally I’d just be a matter of quietly stealing a landing craft and going from there. However my arrival here was anything but quiet. It's only a matter of time before Zern comes to investigate and once they figure out who I am they’ll drop the hammer on this place.”

Cathrida tapped a finger against the bartop for emphasis, nearly stabbing her sharpened digit into the cheap synthetic wood.

“You’re with the movement. You know people, very angry people who want to do something. So I want you, and any other warm bodies with a mobile suit you can find, to come with me. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to get what I need. So when Zern comes knocking I want a merry band of mobile workers waiting to greet them.”

“Hmm…” Denzel took another sip of alcohol as he considered her proposal. “I am entirely supportive of anything and everything that sticks it to Zern, and by extension pretty much everything you do. I only have one objection.”

“I had a previous engagement.” Denzel absentmindedly traced the outline of the patrol route he had memorized on the table. “A lovely date with an under-protected warehouse full of Mobile worker parts that would have been a big help to the movement. The plan was to strike hard and fast while a large portion of the military has their big” Denzel spread his arms “Yay the nobility is here to be condescending bastards party.”

“I might be willing to split my forces to try and get both, but that would be a gamble. I would prefer to perform one mission or the other. Of course the boys are willing to fight Zern whenever or wherever, but I prefer to know what I’m fighting for. Measure the risk and reward.”

Denzel leaned forward against the table and fixed Cathrida with a piercing stare. “So before I make a decision tell me about this item of yours. Or at the very least, tell me how it would hurt Zern, or help us.”

Cathrida paused, glancing to Laika who looked on with interest, before looking back to Denzel.

“I don’t want to show my hand just yet. What I need to get is very important and will make my job, your job, and the rest of the Mekon Movements work much easier.”

Reaching out across the bar, Cathrida picked up the filthy glass the bartender had left on the counter.

“That’s probably not a satisfactory answer, but let me ask you this: What does the Mekon Movement need?”

Cathrida looked to Denzel, rolling the glass over in her hand as she spoke.

“If you’re practical you might say guns, parts, mobile suits, but those only allow you and your people to act. It's not the end goal, not what you really want.”

Laika watched as Cathrida’s grip over the glass tightened, so gradually that she could see and hear the cracks beginning to appear in the beer stained glass.

“But I know what you want. What you’ve all been hungry for, hoping for, fighting for. How? Because I want the same thing. Once I get what I need from the surface of Venus, I’m going to join the Mekon Movement. And when I do, I'll be able to lead you towards what everyone floating above this orange ball has craved for years.”

With a simple flex of her wrist the glass all but exploded in her palm and Cathrida’s eyes went wide, gleaming.

“A chance to make Zern suffer! A chance to strike a blow that they will never forget. A blow that will show the rest of Venus that they do the very same thing…”

For a moment Denzel stared impassively at Cathrida, before he cracked a smile “I didn’t expect a ruthless former pirate captain to be so... optimistic about our chances. But I guess it only makes sense, even as a pirate you were one to shoot for the stars. Fine, when we go to the hideout I’ll tell everyone about our change of plans.”

It was almost like someone flipped a switch in Denezl’s head. The calculating stare seemed to fade away, being replaced by a vague friendliness. “I’ll show you to the hideout once we are done here. I’d propose a toast, but…” Denzel’s eyes scanned over the shards of glass all over the counter “Oh well. Cheers.” Denzel raised his glass and drained it.

“As much as I like the title, “Crusher” It gets a bit stifling getting called that all the time. You can just call me Denzel.” He presented his hand for a handshake. “If you have any requests about what to call you, or what not to call you, now’s the time to tell me. Same for if you would like to introduce me to your ward over there” Denzel glanced at Laika.

“I’m optimistic because I have a plan. I’ve had a long time to think about what to do, and this is the first step.”

Cathrida’s near manic grin remained on her face as she reached out and clasped Denzel’s hands. The inner, almost fibrous palm of her cybernetic arm was warm while the nanocarbon plating of her fingers was cold. Just a gentle squeeze was enough the man’s large, strong hand aching.

“Call me Cathrida and this--”

“I’m Laika.” Laika said firmly, finally chiming into the conversation.

“I want you to get the word out through whatever channels you can. We need to leave as soon as possible. Whoever gets to this hideout of yours when we show up will be the ones that come with us.”

Cathrida turned from Dezel and glanced back to Laika.

“Did you prepare a mobile worker?”

“Yeah. It's not very well armed, but I did my best. We can pick it up once we make our move.”

“Good girl.” Cathrida said and Laika beamed at the compliment.

“I already sent a message to a certain Mekon supporting radio broadcaster about half an hour ago. By now the broadcast has already been made, and the gang is already gathering in the hideout. Once we arrive all we have to do is explain the plan to them and set off. So, lets go.”

Denzel stood up from the bar and left a small amount of money next to his glass, enough to cover for the alcohol, and hopefully for the broken mug as well. He very much didn’t want the barkeep at his favorite hangout to be ambivalent to him

“Come on, I’ll show you the way. There are a couple shady streets along the way but that’s fine. I know all the shortcuts and workarounds.”

Arthur held some contempt for Zern's policy on vetting everyone passing through not in a military uniform. Despite passing the gate without issue, the guards there were eyeing him carefully. Only after his name came up did that snap to attention and let him pass. Arthur just shook his head, he had no say on their policies, that was for his brother to deal with. Arthur didn't even know if Din was attending or not, he didn't watch the news when his brother came on, family should contact one another directly after all. The halls of the colony were bustling, with people excited for the royalty's arrival above all, which only served to irritate Arthur more.

Everywhere he went a poster about their arrival was up, and he was even expected to attend by his lowers in the company as to provide a good image for the royalty. As if he cared how they viewed his company. Ever since Imperial Arms was pumping out mobile suits, Sharp was set aside practically as a subsidiary for the military. Their warships were still wanted but mobile workers were moving out of the door for active duty in favor of mobile suits. He'd seen plenty suits being used for labor but not active combat, except by pirates or Mekon supporters. Arthur decided to move away from these thoughts again and began looking over the news for the colony, some having live coverage of the Venue as it was coming into port.

Samantha Brisinggart

---

Another bottle, gulped straight down as she kept up with the news broadcast, voiced by a chipper sounding woman. The Venue was coming closer, that meant they should be disembarking soon. Sam did not feel inebriated or dizzy at all. Instead there was a fire in her guts, a burning feeling coursing through her blood as she directed her feelings towards the royal family soon to be getting off the ship.

With a few last checks, she climbed into the cockpit, as the canopy slid forwards and sealed the interior off. Making herself comfortable, she ignited the engine, the machine coming to life with a few sputtering roar of its engine. There was still the uncertainty that it would fly at all, but Sam was running out of time. It was now or never. She may not get very far, or get anywhere at all; she might very well explode right here and now the moment she tried getting it to move, but if she wasted this chance she might never get another one in her lifetime.

Just one word from the newscaster, just one uttered phrase, and she'd gun the engine immediately.

A single word that says the royals have landed, and she would bring down steel upon them.

Freya Schwartzschild

---

Percival was already waiting in his mobile suit, far apart enough from the main route to not be in the way, yet close enough to be part of the welcoming party for the royal princesses. A sign that the Schwartzschild family was here to keep them safe. Perhaps it held other meanings for those lawless scums out there as well. Lancelot and Tristan were still outside with her vessel, if for some reason the pirates gathered in a large fleet or the sorts.

As for her own mobile suit, she had the engineers bring it to the inside hangars on standby, close enough for her to respond to threats inside or outside the colony equally, if not immediately. It would be gauche for her to greet any member of the royal family in this sort of venue while inside a mobile suit after all.

Taking in a deep breath, she carefully looked over her uniform, making sure everything was clean and spotless before everything started.

---

The minutes rolled on.

It might almost have been painful, how slowly the fleet was proceeding. Gilbert, however, had no complaints. Safety was paramount — he'd looked over the regulations and plans himself, and had found no fault with them beyond the degree of ostentation that had been baked-in. Yet it was these little displays and rituals that helped maintain the aura of mystique and awe around the nobility and royalty, and he accepted that as a necessity despite the compromises elsewhere. Image was just as important as martial might — if not more so.

Which, again, was why he was here instead of out there.

A low murmur swept through parts of the assembled crowd as the side doors opened and the last stragglers to the welcoming brigade entered. Without turning his head, his eyes flicked to the side to watch a parade of mostly-familiar faces stream onto the dock. He saw mainly captains and commanders from the incoming escort fleet — those sufficiently highly-placed or well-connected to avoid major responsibilities in the defensive screen, so that they could be a part of the first set of ceremonies. Many he recognized, if not from past operations than from their personnel files, and as for those he did not he trusted the guards posted at the doors and throughout the nearby halls to have done their duty.

One man among the bunch met his eyes across the dock. Even if he had not been able to resolve every detail of his face, the light-mocha complexion and large scar comprised a highly distinctive appearance among those present. It was not unexpected that Signifier Galahad would have been looking for him, given that a common purpose had brought them both to this toxified planet. Gilbert inclined his chin a fractional degree — the most miniscule of nods, easily dismissable as a random movement to those not on the lookout. It could be taken as acknowledgement, or perhaps even an invitation.

Seeing the man (and a young lady who might have been his adjutant) approaching, Gilbert slowly melted towards the back of the formation. It wouldn’t do to force the Signifier to wade through a packed block of nobles and commanders, some of which might very well take offense at being made to rub shoulders with lower-ranked commoner soldiers. The reputation of the “Lion of Gibraltar” could only go so far, and even the little disturbance he himself made as he moved garnered a few quick frowns and tightened smiles. Where he would receive the two would be among the junior officers (on assignment in Annona, and so accorded higher honors today than their rank would otherwise warrant) towards the rear of the block, close to where he thought Galahad would have been assigned to stand.

The younger officer’s salute was returned in a more formal manner than usual, owing to the severity of the mood hanging over the docks. Galahad’s words were very welcome as well. Though Gilbert hadn’t been notified of any obstacles to his request, it still pleased him to hear a sort-of confirmation in person. “Welcome to Annona, Signifier,” he replied. “I hope you found the journey to be pleasantly boring.” His tone was edging on droll, nor did he expect a real answer. Boring was good for the princesses, but many soldiers would have been itching for a skirmish.

He then turned his eyes on the young lady. As he’d thought, hers was a face that he’d never seen in person before. On a personnel dossier, certainly. The memories were on the cusp of recall; he’d have to review the 5th Carrier’s files in depth once the festivities were concluded. For now, just her name and the pips on her uniform were enough. “Charmed, Avocatus,” he stated, more an acknowledgement of her presence than anything else.

“If there’s nothing else that requires immediate attention . . . ?” But that and a few gestures concluded these courtesies, and his assigned position in the formation was soon filled once again with a pair of well-shined boots. Confirming with Victoria and the other lieutenants that the spaceways were still clear of any threats, he settled back into the wait.

@Golden Spiral


Really, this was all a pain. At this point he had enough to think on being sleepy as he was. But even beyond that fatigue the thoughts that slowly bubbled up as the overwhelming adrenaline and situation of the simulation faded away all concerned one thing. The Expo. There was time to digest it but...



“So the expo right? I was thinking the magnet-collector, and maybe the sirens. Maybe even a incinerator. Waste is hard to manage right? Collecting scraps, improving filters. If the closed space of a colony had those issues… Well, it’s like treating one of the compounds back home. It isn’t like it’s an open environment there right? I think I can do something then. The outside is danger, inside has its own circulation. A closed space, a system." He found himself babbling a bit. Antsy, maybe a bit nervous. It wasn't anything to do with the royal figure with him.

He offered a smile “Some of it’s theoretical, assuming it’d work in space or in colonies. But I could show how some of it works on Earth. Maybe it’d be good to be tested on the moons first? But the idea can be presented, their attention grabbed. The details don’t matter as much until then right? We can fill those in, I can.” He rose to his feet and leaned in, curving forth and suddenly was in her face, palms pressed onto the table.

“This is it right? The chance, what I’ve been studying for. Of course even if we don’t make big waves now there’ll be more later but..”

His palm ground into a blueprint sheet. Slightly clammy, cold. Sticking to him like a half-discarded skin. In a year his knowledge matured into something that could be explained, that could be put down in paper. Concrete visions taken form that could be shared, thought-out constructed approaches and plans that went beyond simply doing as he figured.

This wasn’t just tinkering, putting together something that was needed at the time or forcing a machine of war together. Convincing others, making them understand, share in what he said could be. But then why did it feel off? What were his doubts.

“Can this stuff. Or well, can a reputation and money really change the direction of peoples hearts and their lives? Or..."

It was left unsaid.

Was the talents of the princess of war the only real path?

He came up here to destroy the pirates, to take revenge on those who came down and brought further turmoil to his home. Really, what was his year of effort for then? He’d made the Terra Fossil, he learned of Mobile Suits, and he fought and was being grilled. That was fine, but what as all the rest? What was… He pushed forth with a finger he could barely feel a page that detailed his ideas for a safety feature utilizing magnetic interference.

Did he simply get engrossed in it all, being overwhelmed by the luxuries and wealth of resources of the Empire and life in it? Did he see what could be wanted it to be better? Or maybe he wanted to think of himself as something more than just another killer.

“Hey, why was I brought up. Why am I really here?..." It wasn't a matter of just asking about her own motives in taking him under her wing. It was a quiet request for direction. The young man asking to be told in a moment of weakness what he was. "I... Forget that." Gaia shook his head before retreating to slump back in his own chair.

"Sheena. What's Venus about?"

---

Lucas knew about Lycoris's design malfunction with Oliver, and he knew that it ended in the death of its test pilot. But he wasn't afraid of her. In a way he had her to thank for being able to create Sowerberry at all. She was the one who made the first step towards making a 3rd generation mobile suit. She was the one who set up the everpresent naming theme for the prototypes. She was the one who had made the first mistake and paid the price...

"I um... I know that the early tests with Oliver didn't go so well" He started awkwardly "But that's the kind of thing that happens with prototypes and new technology. I don't think I'm technically supposed to tell you about this but, the first time we tested Sowerberry's heavy servomotors we pulped some of the internal machinery."

Lucas paused to collect his thoughts. He was trying to be supportive, and in a way, it was strange for him to see Lycoris present even a hint of vulnerability.

"There's a saying I like, that I read in the library. "Failure breeds success." It might not sound like the most encouraging thing but... what it means is that failure is what leads you on the path towards success. When Sowerberry crushed its own arm, I learned that I needed to reinforce and protect the innards. I'm not sure entirely what happened with Oliver but... You had your failure, and now it's time for your success, as long as you learned from it."

"And all of those other things besides, We named all our suits after Oliver Twist. So where would we be without Oliver?" He smiled and tried to lighten the mood. Before ehe could make any jokes his watch beeped. He checked the time and was surprised to see that it was approaching the time for the Venue to land.

"Looks like the Venue is docking soon. I need to clean up and put on my dress clothes real quick." Lucas turned to walk away, but paused for a moment and turned back. "I know we are rivals and all... but I really hope they allow Oliver into the Expo. Good luck Lycoris" After saying his piece Lucas walked away for real, headed to his room to prepare his dress clothes.

---

Annona Colony

---

Emilia kept as tightly information as she could. Marching in seemingly perfect harmony with the other members of her line. Even as her hands shook with excitement and twitched the handles of her mobile suit. Soon the Venue was supposed to dock, there was supposed to be a parade and nobles, along with the princess herself was supposed to walk out and-

"Slow down" one of the members of her line snarled into the radio.

"I- I'm sorry." Emilia stammered, getting back into formation

@glwgameplayer@KaiserElectric@Sakaki Chizuru

---

The Industrial District of Habitat 34 was somehow less welcoming then even the residential sector had been. Flats and tenement houses made of black nanocarbon were replaced by towering castles of plasteel and piping, stretching all the way to the demi-glass ceiling as if trying to take block out what little natural light the people received. Though Denzel lead the way, Laika found she was just as familiar with the path they were taking. Where the residential district had been crowded, bottle necked by two lane streets, the factory district was more manageable.

It was working hours so it wasn't difficult to see why. Everyone was expected to be at their job, in doors or outside of the habitat entirely. Those who were outside moved quickly, eyes locked straight head as they strode down the sidewalk or sped down the road. Everyone moved with a purpose, their faces on the verge of the grimace as their eyes narrowed and their vision tunneled.

"We might as well be invisible to these people." Cathrida thought as she walked, hunched over like before, eyeing the rooftops for any signs of possible enforcers watching them.

The roads around the factories seemed almost foggy. Occasional spurts of odd gasses or strange gushes of liquid would come from the burgeoning pipes and tubes that ran from the factories into the ground and down into the guts of the habitat. Just breathing made Cathrida's throat itch and her eye burn, thought Laika didn't seem to notice.

As Denzel continued to lead them, zig-zagging his way through streets and cutting clean across industrial yards, the factories began to slowly disappear. Things became quiet, the streets emptied out, and the rhythmic sounds of factory equipment and near mechanized worker movements slowly faded away.

Soon the three of them were walking through eerily vacant streets where long, identical buildings of cheap corrugated metal sat. It was only occasionally a fork lift would drive by or the sound of a crate falling or glass breaking could be heard somewhere in the distance, only to be swallowed by the silence. They walked and walked until Denzel stopped suddenly in front of a warehouse marked with the number '1337'. Glancing up and down the street, Laika and Cathrida watched as he rapped a hand against the door and sat silence for several moments.

The shutter door lift up just an inch and a single eye peered out from the crack.

Disappearing as quickly as it came, the shutter door lifted up further, enough for them to roll beneath it.

As soon as they were inside the shutter door was closed.

Inside the warehouse Laika and Cathrida were initially confused. Large florescent lambs hung from the high ceiling and lit towering shelves filled with boxes and rolls of materials. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary until they reached the back of the warehouse.

There, tucked away in the far back, was a crude circular table arranged from crates and plate plates. Papers and out of date computers littered the table, along with several crude arms and what looked like a make-shift time bomb. A few mobile workers stood against the nearby wall out of line of sight of the shutter door, in various states of visible disrepair. A few people sat at the table, others stood away from it near the walls as if afraid to draw near as the strangers entered.

Cathrida approached the table, straightening up and threw back her hood. She paid no attention to the reactions of the people present, only their number.

"This is it?" Cathrida asked aloud, unable to hide her displeasure.

"Maybe not everyone is here yet?" Laika said, glancing around the room as she moved up to stand by Cathrida's side.

The women scoffed.

"I would hope people who want to fight Zern would at the very least be punctual. If you can't show up in time to fight and then you might as well be dead."

Exhaling and placing her hands against the table in front of her, Cathrida addressed the room.

"You are here because Denzel has accepted a proposition I made to him, and by extension your organization. You will all be assisting in the recovery of something of great importance to me. Something that once acquired will open up new avenues for what you and the Mekon Movement will be able to achieve moving forward."

Laika listened intently, practically leaning forward to drink Cathrida's words as they spoke. In that moment she seemed almost like a child listening as hard as they could to their mother.

"We will be heading down to the surface of Venus where I had something hidden four years ago. Originally I intended to head to the surface myself aboard a...acquired cargo vessel. However complications forced me to leave the vessel and come to this habitat in my mobile suit. As a result, the Zern Empire likely knows where I am. If they haven't been made aware of what I did then they soon will be and will react rapidly."

Cathrida paused as if to check if those present were listening.

"The state of what we need to acquire is also up in the air. I'm certain its perfectly functional, but depending on how much work was or was not done on it in the intervening years since I left it, time might be required to get it into a movable state. That possibility along with approaching Zern intervention ensures that a fight on the surface of Venus is inevitable."

Laika's hands balled into fists at her side and brief look of excitement filled her face.

"How are we going to get down to the surface?" Laika asked and Cathrida glanced to her.

"How do you think we could get to the surface?" Cathrida asked back, almost like a teacher challenging their student.

Laika stopped, biting her lip before nodding her head.

"We could--We could steal a mining drop vessel! Those are built to carry a bunch of mobile workers and equipment down to the surface and back. There's definitely one in the habitat ports right now."

Cathrida smiled and nodded her head.

"Perfect answer. Yes. We will be stealing the miner drop-off ship to carry out this operation. However the lynch pin relies on the pilots that come with us. I likely won't be able to fight myself depending on the state of our target. Laika here is the best pilot I know and Denzel's reputation makes his competent clear. However two pilots likely won't be enough. I can't know the force Zern will deploy in response to this, so I need anyone else who can pilot and fight in a mobile suit or worker."

The former pirate fell silent, looking around the room with her almost glowing eyes as she tried to spot those who intended to come forward.

---

@Yukitamas@vietmyke@Caduceus@Frater Jeremiah@DostHou@Golden Spiral

---

Lycoris remained standing in the hallway long after Lucas had spoken and left her sight. She simply stood in the center of the hall, staring down at the floor. Platitudes were something she had expected from Lucas. It was always easy to assume what he said was done so out of obligation, but it was difficult to tell if such things were hollow or genuine. The words he spoke lingered in her mind and consumed her thoughts as she became fixated on just what their merit was.

"Failure is a part of success?" She muttered to herself, eyes narrowing behind her glasses as the words became bitter and venomous in her mouth.

"Everyone says failure is a part of life, a part of growing. Yet there are some mistakes we're expected never to make. And when we do make them they forever color how we and our actions are perceived. When your failure costs someone their life or causes some grave harm outside yourself, its not longer just a single 'failure'."

Lycoris could feel her heart begin to race as her train of thought grew grimmer by the moment.

"It becomes an extension of how people see you, see your work, see your very existence. A man who commits a crime is considered a criminal long after he is proven innocent or rehabilitated. And a girl whose life work kills a man unintentionally is--"

"A victim of misfortune, like any other."

Lycoris snapped from her stupor and turned around to see Princess Asallia in a long flowing gown accompanies by a small line of armed soldiers.

"P-Princess!" Lycoris stuttered, stepping to the side.

Asallia simply smiled back.

"I was hoping you would occupy yourself with more pleasant things before we docked, but I suppose I can't blame you. This whole thing has me a bit overwhelmed as well."

"I"m sorry. I got caught up talking with Lucas and I-" Lycoris spoke quickly, but Asallia lifted her hand to silence her.

"Started ruminating. I understand. Don't worry. Things will change moving forward, I promise you that."

Lycoris fell silent. Though she tried to hide it, she had difficulty believing what the Princess said. Her doubt and shame was visible on her face.

"I think I should-"

"Would you like to join me?" Asallia asked suddenly.

"What?" Lycoris as taken aback.

"For the ceremony, of course. There's nothing to say you can't come with me. Its better then waiting on the sidelines or in the crowd. We'd have to get you dressed for the occasion on the way. Thankfully my staff are quite experienced with getting me ready for concerts and occasions at the last possible minute."

"Are you sure Princess?" One of her armed guards asked "She's a-"

Though the man's eyes were hidden Lycoris could feel his gaze on her 'horns'.

"She is my esteemed guest. And will be respected accordingly."

Asallia's voice was suddenly like ice and Lycoris watched as the armored soldier built like a gorilla visible winced at her tone.

"Forgive me, Princess. I'm just trying to do my job. Perhaps Signifier Brache should-"

"Sir Bernard has had two months to inspect people aboard this ship. If my long time, loyal student was some kind of murderous skin-stealing assassin he would have learned that long before our arrival. Unless of course you think your superior simply isn't competent in his position?"

"Please, forget I said anything Princess."

Looking back to Lycoris, smiling and staring intently, the bespectacled girl nodded her head.

"A-alright."

---

Moments later Lycoris instantly regretted her decisions.

One second she was walking along beside the Princess and the next she was all but picked off her feet. Several women all dressed in traditional servant attire had appeared as if from nowhere carrying a portable dressing blind, a few garments, and basic cosmetics. The only thing that stopped Lycoris from screaming was Asallia's continued presence nearby and her idle chatter with the women as they stripped and dressed her like a doll. All of Lycoris's objections, save for her refusal to go without he glasses, went seemingly unheard.

When they had gone Lycoris was left dressed in a purple satin gown with arm length gloves and heels. Asallia said nothing and acted like what had happened was perfectly normal. All Lycoris could do was follow alongside Asallia, moving in a confused daze.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the Venue finally reached the Annona colony.

The approach of the massive gun-laden ship was greeted by a dozen Rosencrants and Gildenstern vessels. They were lined up in two neat rows aligned perfectly with the main dock of the colony. ZIMS-02 Tommys and Tommy Commander types stood at attention atop the vessels, saluting as the royal carrying vessel grew close.

Of course the Venue was too large a vessel to fit into the Annona colony's internal hangers, but it was the presentation and precedent that was important.

Long extensions protruding off the colony cylinder and its primary hanger entrance allowed even the largest of ships to connect, unload and supply.

There were many aboard the Venue and a great number of things that needed to be brought onto the colony. However as the Venue was locked in place no one aboard had any delusions about who and what would be the first to get off.

A sharp pneumatic hiss signaled the break in the pressure seals as one of the hatch doors to the Venue opened. Soldiers awaited in the long 'hall' of the extension, armed and at attention as the Royal Princesses and those accompanying them stepped off the vessel.

Asallia proceeded forward at a diligent pace as Lycoris walked nervously beside her, finding herself unsteady on heels.

Even at a glance it was easy to tell the quality and degree of security present for their arrival. Soldiers weren't simply in the extension waiting for them, but were outside as well in EVA suits. Ready to intercept any bombing attempts that could launch the members of the royal family into space.

Just a short walk down the extension was as far as they needed to go for the royal family members and their guests to enter into the main procession area, where esteemed nobles, soldiers and their mobile suits stood waiting for them...

Samantha Brisinggart

The bottle crashed against the logo on the reconstructed machine, spraying alcohol everywhere. Sam wiped her mouth, a determined look on her face.

Now or never.

Those words echoed through her mind as she pulled her clothes together, zipping up her jumpsuit. The princesses had landed, and now the Swansong can finally fly. The old warbird shall fly again, after years of being derelict, to its final last brilliant spark.

It was easy enough to get it outside; no one cared what junkers do with their small shitty scrap ships after all. An easy matter for her to get out of her colony, and with it, her plane. Anchoring her ship in place outside the colony, she started up the Swansong, the engines rumbling, making the entire frame vibrate. There was no inertial dampener on the cockpit of course, old Earth tech didn't seem to be that advanced, or the long dead pilot of this plane had no use of it.

Inhaling, she pressed on the flight stick, and pushed a freshly installed radial lever on her side slowly along its axis, careful not to gun the engine too quickly. The Swansong responded in kind, moving forwards faster and faster. Sliding her fingers along the top of the flight stick, the verniers fired off one by one. Everything, even the old on board OS, was working. There was a slight flagging of the right side verniers, presumably because she choked the output somehow, the controls were stiff, but it was working, and she was flying it.

Faster, and faster, she pushed the vessel, until it hurted, and keeping her eyes focused took almost all her will to do. It was not just a reckless move however, it took her much much quicker to her destination, with Annona first being visible, then growing larger and larger in her view. Two shapes seemed to grow larger, before she passed them, like a howling comet, the first losing a hand and part of its torso from the sword that flashed out from the Swansong.

Tch, a miss, but no time to turn around, she needed to crash into the ceremony first, before they initiate lockdown. There was no way she was going to get through a colony blast doors with the Swansong after all. Sam had managed to speed past the outer perimeter before they were able to react in time, but there was still the entire armies worth of people parked at the docks. She didn't even need any zooming softwares or the likes; the large ships milling about in one side of the colony was proof enough.

Freya Schwartzschild

---

As per their family's honors, she stood near the procession, far enough apart to not be lumped in with the parade, but close enough to be involved. They were here to guard the Royal family after all. Percival's Axe was saluting as well, though the person inside should be busy scanning for threats.

Freya sighed internally as the event commenced. Were it not for the fact this was her duty as well, she would've only put in a token gesture of her presence, before assigning her underlings to guard the princesses whilst she visited the local law enforcement to scan for corruption.

"...r, Tristan here, perimeter breach. Th...s an unknown drone flying towards the co...ny. Perimeter says they couldn't get a g... look at it, but it seems to be an unmanned plane with how fast it was. Just the one."

Her commlink flared to life in her ears, accentuated by static crackling. "Understood, Tristran. Shoot them down before they disrupt the ceremony. Get Lancelot to accompany you."

How foolish, it was, to send just one drone after this ceremony. It was unfathomable for anyone to just send one drone to fight. Unless it wasn't a drone, but some sort of bomb or super weapon. No matter how she spun it, she just couldn't believe that it would just be one solo drone. No one was that stupid, not even the pirates she hunted. Something was very wrong here.

"Percival. On guard. We might have trouble."

---

Johanna Hölzel peered down at Laika and Cathrida as they made their way to the back of the warehouse for the meeting, most likely not spotting the beret-clad radiohead on top of one of the high shelves. An electronic blip sounded behind her, and she turned to see LAGO unfolded next to her, paws on his hips like a disappointed parent.

"What, don't gimme that look!" Johanna whispered. "I did my job and got 'em all here."

LAGOS beeped again, tapping his little foot. Johanna rolled her eyes.

"Sure, like they really need me for anything else. 'Sides, I got something important to work on." Digging into her rucksack, she pulled out a half-eaten peanut butter and banana sandwich and bit down. "Mmmm...ambrosia..."

"This is it? I would hope people who want to fight Zern would at the very least be punctual," Cathrida's voice echoed from below. A question mark appeared above LAGOS' head as he trilled sharply.

"Tell me about it, it's like she wants to get herself caught," Johanna replied. "Ooh, let's get a billion Mechon sympathizers into this tiny room shortly before the princess arrives, THAT won't cause suspicion." By the time she was finishing off the last bite, the pirate captain had gone over her assuredly brilliant plan, one which Jo had to admit was pretty solid. Sure Cathrida was being coy about whatever it was she found, but it might prove to be handy if she wasn't spinning another yarn, which according to Jo's sources she was more then happy to do. The good captain should at least thank Denzel, since she wouldn't have bothered gathering these people here for her if he hadn't asked her too. He certainly wouldn't get any thanks from the 'cinnamon bun'.

"...so I need anyone else who can pilot and fight in a mobile suit or worker."

Johanna blinked, then glanced over at LAGO.

"No."

LAGO beeped pleadingly.

"No, I'm not going to volunteer. I didn't help set this up just to march down there and shout 'Hey, if you're looking for a volunteer, I'm your gal!' "

LAGO lowered his ears, a smug grin on his face as his internal systems whirred. Johanna's eyes widened in fear as she remembered the new feature he had installed recently.

"Don't you dare-"

"HEY!" LAGO's speaker projected, amplifying the recording of Johanna's voice. "IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A VOLUNTEER, I'M YOUR GAL!"

"NO I'M NOT, ITS A DIRTY-"

Johanna's sudden movement was enough to throw the high shelf off balance, jostling it so that it shifted and dumped her right off the side. Bouncing off two shelves and the arm of a mobile worker on the way down, she landed heavily on her bottom, her cybernetics ensuring that only her ego would suffer any lasting damage from such a fall, right in front of Cathrida and Laika. Johanna grinned up at them, sheepishly adjusting her glasses.

"S-sup..." she managed to get out. "I suppose you're wondering-"

WHUMP

"HURK!"

Johanna turned pale as LAGO, in ball form, plopped down on her crotch after dropping from the same top shelf and gave a happy chirp.

"...right in the oscillators..." Johanna squeaked out, her dignity in tatters as LAGO rolled up to Cathrida's heels to say hello.

---

He scanned the area again, sweeping the Tommy’s sensors across an 180-degree sector of space. But for the yellow-tan face of Venus filling up most of the field there was nothing there, just as it had been for the last four hours.

With a drawn-out sigh of boredom he pressed the button that would finish logging the “all clear” entry in his duty record. Over a hundred similar entries populated the rest of the list, stretching all the way back to the beginning of his shift.

Such was the occupation of the novice pilot. Hours upon hours of boredom, and then you’d go home and let the next poor sod take his shot at fighting the siren song of sleep. Missions in the simulators would be the highlights of your week, and if you were really lucky you’d be able to see some action in a mock battle. Though lately he’d heard that was starting to change — something about the guys down in the Habitats and spacelanes running into more terrorists and pirates lately.

But that didn’t really affect them at Annona. You’d have to be an idiot of the highest caliber to try to attack the well-defended seat of the local Zern government, especially now that two of the Princesses and an entire fleet had come to visit.

He opened a channel to his partner. “Yo, Paste. I’ve got nothing over here. How about you?” It wasn’t the proper phrase to use, but it was just the two of them right now and the higher-ups weren’t going to check over the hours and hours of audio logs without a good reason.

“Same over here, Toast.”

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few seconds. Six hours was a long time to stand around doing almost nothing, but having a friend there made it much more bearable.

He cast around for a new conversational topic. “Yo. Did you watch the Adders game last weekend?”

“Man, you know I don’t watch that Venusian shit.”

“C’mon, dude! Just see Salas play once and I’ll swear you’ll be hooked! He’s, like, the Ed Gallagan of handling balls and scoring goals.”

“You know that sounded pretty gay, yeah?”

“Fuck off, I know you’ve got a pinup of Wellesley in your locker!”

“It’s an autographed poster, nothing wrong with that.”

“He’s shirtless, it doesn’t get more — what’s that?” His eyes shot back to the monitor. He could’ve sworn he had just seen something moving that wasn’t the clouds of the planet below.

“What’s what?”

A few button-taps had the optical sensors zoom in Venus. His tired eyes haven’t tricked him, right? He slowly panned the camera, looking for that . . . there! A small dot in the distance, silhouetted against the planet — that’s something that shouldn’t be there, right?

“You see that, right? I’ll highlight it for you . . .” he looked away from the screen to press a few more buttons. But when he looked back, he almost jumped and shouted in his seat — the dot’s grown much larger! “Oh shit!” he exclaimed as the IFF flagged it as an unknown, and his finger slammed onto a big red button with an exclamation point on it.

“I see it!” The next of his partner’s words came across an open comms channel. “Halt! I order you to halt and — FUCK!”

Whatever it was, it moved far too quickly for them to even see. There was only a blur of red-and-white and the glare of thruster wash as it zoomed between them. The severed hand and ruined Heckler rifle of Paste’s Tommy spun away into the darkness, while sparks and suppressant foam spilled out of the gash in its right flank.

“Paaaaaste!” He screamed, turning and pointing his own rifle at the receding thruster-glow. But the cylinder of the colony was behind the intruder, and even a rookie like himself knew not to shoot a Screwdriver in the general direction of any inhabited station. Even if he didn’t think he’d miss . . . better safe than sorry.

His heart was hammering in his chest, but his partner’s voice coming over the radio was like a bucket of refreshing water dumped over his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me! Throw a flare!”

Right. Just in case the patrol vessels didn’t get their signal . . . he flipped a switch and pulled the trigger. The topmost tube in his Tommy’s waist launcher launched its payload, which burst two seconds later into a brilliant star of blue-white light that would have seared his eyeballs if not for the filtering of the mobile suit’s cameras.

There was nothing more he could do about the intruder. But he could at least help his friend . . .

---

---

Gilbert held his breath as the Venue connected to the colony’s transfer bridge. They couldn’t feel or hear it from here — even as massive as the flagship was, its mass was still dwarfed when put next to a colony — but the announcement had been relayed from the operators and the honor guard in the extension.

The Princesses were almost here.

Everyone in the docks stood at rapt attention. Only unified perfection, the disciplined might of the Zern Empire, could be permitted to greet royalty. There were almost none gathered here who could tolerate the slightest cough or misstep tarnishing the majesty of this day. Gilbert suspected that neither Asallia nor Sheena would have actually cared about having a flawless reception — of all the royal siblings that he’d been acquainted with, most of them seemed to care less for the games and pretense of the nobility than those puffins might have hoped — but, again, this was as much about satisfying the pride of the Annonan nobles as it was about the Princesses.

But these next few minutes would still be a hell for himself. The transfer bridge was the most dangerous part of this maneuver, being a fixed and poorly-armored structure that could be taken out with a few well-placed projectiles. He’d wanted to transfer the Princesses and their entourage into a smaller vessel or shuttle, but that had offended some of the other nobles’ delicate sensibilities . . .

His earpiece chirped, and he found that his fears were about to be realized.

“Commander, there’s an alert from sector ee-oh-eight-twenty-five. Outer perimeter has been breached by a rapidly-moving object.” Victoria’s voice paused for a moment, and Gilbert bit down a violent swear that would have greatly offended the Marquess in front of him. “Schwartzschild group is already moving to intercept.”

Right. Lady Freya had arrived with the Venue’s escort. He knew that she was as reliable as they came, and her Axes were a force to be feared, but with the Princesses’ lives at stake there was no such thing as being too safe. “Have the fourth line prepare to engage as needed. Focus on suppressive fire.” He did a quick calculation in his head, figuring out which other assets he could move in time. “Tell Lorenz to take his squad in as well. Offer to back up whomever Schwartschild has sent out.”

He didn’t care if any of those around him were giving him the stink-eye. If they couldn’t figure out what was going on from the words he’d said, they weren’t worth considering anyway.

---

Ayame was more of less holding her breath the entire time Gilbert scanned her and waited to do anything until after he left to do his duties Ayame let out a sigh of relief

"Gosh, it felt like he was staring into my soul." she said as she collected herself making sure she looked presentable even though she looked fine "Well then, after you signifer, I am way out of my element here and im afraid if i say anything i could anger a noble." and allowed him to take point as she followed behind him, she liked the fact she was here in Annona colony as this was her first time and was excited to be here but terrified that she would screw up so badly it would affect not only her but Victor as well which is were most of her Anxiety is coming from as she know if she screws up here it would look poorly for Victor as well.

'I honestly would rather be fighting back at the siege of Gibraltar then be here right now' she though to herself thinking about that day, 'Gosh has it been that long since the siege?' as she reminisced she took in the area trying not to lose herself and bump into someone but honestly she was looking for something to help with her anxiety of the whole situation.

---

The sounds wheels on concrete grew louder as a seated figure rolled her wheelchair up to the assembled group. She was not easy on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination with her heavily scarred face and missing eye. The tank top she wore did as much to hide the collage of scars running down her right side as her shorts did to hide the scarred, misshapen flesh at the ends of her stump legs. Though her legs were gone, what was left of her was visibly muscular. Her arms alone were more than enough to beat the daylights out of a man or get her wheelchair where it needed to go. The faint stench of tobacco followed as she approached and only grew stronger as she produced a small butane lighter from her pocket and fished a loose cigarette from her cleavage. She paused to light the cancer stick before coasting right up to Denzel with a less than pleased expression

"What a knee slapper, makin' the cripple roll around on the ground." She jabbed a finger up at him with narrowed eyes. "I got half a mind to beat your ass, funny man."
There seemed to be more harsh words just on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped when she noticed Cathrida just off to the side. Dannie grinned before giving a loud belly laugh and slapping the table.
"Well I'll be shucked and fucked! If it ain't the Butcher of Banzing back from the grave. What've you been up to you crazy Lunar bitch?" she asked, offering her hand across the table to shake.

@glwgameplayer@KaiserElectric@Sakaki Chizuru@Jarl Coolgruuf

---

Laika jumped back at the startlingly loud noise and looked on in confusion at the girl who had come crashing down before them. Sticking her arm into the open front of her jacket, Laika gripped the handle of her semi-automatic she’d taken from the dead Enforcer. Looking to her captain to gauge how she should react, Laika was surprised at what she saw.

The former-pirate stood, looming over Johanna, her penetrating orange gaze fixed on her. Yet She did not look on in anger or concern at the loud girl's unorthodox arrival but simply in mild dismay and irratation.

Lifting her glowing orange eyes from where Johanna had fallen, Cathrida glanced around the room once more.

“Is there anyone else?” Cathrida asked again, her tone becoming harsher out of refusal to sound like she was pleading.

Relaxing her grip on her pistol Laika tried to calm herself...but couldn't.

A heavy weight like sensation pressed down on her head.

Her entire body stiffened and she felt sick, almost dizzy.



Laika shook her head. Angry? She had nothing to be angry about. No. That wasn't true. Yet-



Her heart began to race. Her temples pounded like drums as the unexplained, unjustified feelings only continued to well up inside her. Breathing heavily Laika looked into the darkness of the warehouse, firmly gripping her pistol and readying herself for whatever was coming.

Then she heard the soft squeak of wheels and Laika's tense expression withered, her arm dropping to her side as she saw who approached the table.

Cathrida turned her gaze onto the new arrival and immediately her eyes went wide, lighting up like Christmas trees.

Swinging out her arm Cathrida eagerly slapped her palm into Dannie’s, some not-quite dried blood rubbing off as they shook. Cathrida’s cybernetic hand squeezed Dannie’s muscle laden python in a strong, respectfully firm grip.

“Hahahah! Oh you know, I decided to give being dead a try. Didn’t really suit me. I can see why you don’t care for it yourself ‘Living Dead Dannie’.”

Laika let go of the gun inside her jumpsuit, bracing herself against the table as she breathed a sigh of relief. The feelings still weighed down on her, but they no longer left her frightened or overwhelmed.

“Hi, Dannie!” Laika waved, looking up and smiling “I’ve gotten a lot bigger since the last time we met!”

“And thankfully Dannie hasn’t gotten any smaller. Though it looks like I’ve beaten your personal record for lost limbs.”

Cathrida pulled her hand back and rapped her closed cybernetic fists against her thigh-high boots, which emitted a hard distinctly inorganic sound from beneath.

Laika’s eyes wandered from Dannie and she found them drawn to the floor.

“What is that?” Laika eventually asked, pointing.

“Hmm?”

Looking down at her feet the former pirate captain finally noticed the small, beaming pair of neon blue eyes looking up at her from the metal floor.

“Oh, that. It’s some kind of robotic lagomorpha. Or a ‘rabbit’.”

“What’s a rabbit?”

“A small blob of flesh with large ears, larger feet, and fur all over its body.”

“What do they do?”

“They eat, defecate small pellets, eat those, and wander around. Not that different from what other animals do.”

“Oh…Why would someone build a robot of that?”

Cathrida had to stop and inhale, her patience remaining strong with Laika.

“I haven’t the slightest idea. Robotic animals were never a focus as far as I can tell, L-Sect has been able to make humanoid robots for some time. The technology behind it is more or less identical to those in cybernetic limbs and bodies. However it's not the body that is the issue, it's the mind. For something that small to move around like that it would need-”

Cathrida stopped mid sentence and immediately looked to Johanna, her gaze narrowing as she eyed the visible older-model implants on the girl’s body.

“Sophisticated artificial intelligence.”

Laika meanwhile crouched down on the floor, staring at LAGO hungrily the way a dog would at anything remotely edible.

“Who are you? And where did you get this ‘toy’?” Cathrida demanded.

Laika stood up from the floor, tilting her head at Johanna.

“She sounded kind of familiar…” Laika muttered and Cathrida glanced to her.

“Do you know her?”

Laika scratched the side of her head, face scrunching up in concentration.

“I don’t know. But I swear I’ve heard her voice somewhere..”

---

Lillianna let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she stood at semi-attention alongside her comrades. She was with her squad in their suits so close to the end of all those lined-up, at-attention soldiers on the Grand Dock that it felt frustrating. So far away from where the princesses would first come in, but so very close to the exist at the end of the Grand Dock that she could almost touch it. Either way, she supposed, she'd maybe get to be the last to see the two Princess walk by....

...Actually, that wasn't bad necessarily. She'd get to do something so many fans could not! To see Princess Asallia in the fl-

"Mam, the Princesses are almost here."

The Avocati's ears perked up as the comms message reached her, as the communication coming from a nearby squadmate's unit reached her ears. Shock wrote itself into Lillianna's face as the experienced soldier and her unit snapped back to full attention suddenly, fumbling to leave her former daydreaming state. Over the comms she then heard the light giggle of a younger female squadmate of hers. Lillianna turned her unit's head to look back at the whisperer, wish she could shoot them a glare, but getting only a silent lack of response in return. Bernand was probably laughing, that little snot....but despite the frustrations Lillianna went looking over herself once more in the cockpit, seeking to ensure her attire was in proper shape. At least, just in case she was asked to step our for some reason. There was a chance of that, right?

...Admittedly the rest of her squadmates, if not all of them, had laughed at her sudden stint of proper etiquette before they all came out here into the Grand Dock to line up. So what? She didn't much like the stuffy conditions in all of this, wasn't like she was new to being under Gilbert's command either, but to see the Princesses in person was a unique experience! It wasn't like she had any special reasons or anything....i-idiots. Yet on the other hand she knew she wouldn't be adverse to battle orders being handed out right now as well. Hell, if she had any way to keep her music player out she'd have listened to some of her favorite idol's latest tracks at least. Anything to get this stuffy situation over with and see the Princesses, so she could be shuffled off to guard duty with her squad.

"Oh, and the word down the grapevine says Lorenz is getting sent out to handle some intruder as well."

What.

Bernard's unit standing next to her seemed to deliver another bit of information in yet again over the comms, though this information was more worrisome than the last. Sure it had been passed on by just word of mouth as they all were waiting here...but it wasn't fair either! There was something going on right now, something to do, and she was stuck here waiting with her squad! But she also didn't want to miss seeing the Princesses either...argh! Lillianna's hands clenched tightly as she stood at attention, as a small shiver ran down her back whilst her body began to shift in eager anticipation.

She could feel her legs aching to run to where her Tommy was standing a bit behind her, her hands on the controls, and her butt in the seat already. All it would take was a small emergency exit, and...no! No, no, and many more times no! She had to see Asallia, and be here with her squad! She wouldn't hear the end of it if Gilbert caught her jumping out of line here and into her suit and out into space, again at that, much less from other officers due to the presence of royalty here this time. It was like torture, however, to merely stand still here.

"Bernard, i am going to put you through overnight space drills again if tell me another damn thing right now while we are at attetnion. Vanessa, you are probably leaning ion the comms button again too," Lillianna muttered under her breath in a gritty tone, squaking back to her two squadmates over the comms with a tone of light ire. Yet soon after the woman's gaze shifted to her screens once more, more worried than anything if anyone were able to see her eyes, to where the end the transfer bridge connected to the Grand Dock. It would all be worth it, yes? It had to be to stand here like this.

Besides, she wasn't the only one who had been out of it for a moment. Some doofus in a Tommy farther ahead of her had stumbled on everyone's march in, much to her amusement. Hadn't been hard to imagine the following discussion after that over the comms. Haha!

@Crosswire@Jarl Coolgruuf@KaiserElectric

---

"What a knee slapper, makin' the cripple roll around on the ground." Dannie jabbed a finger up at him with narrowed eyes. "I got half a mind to beat your ass, funny man."

"You would have to catch me first," Denzel said with a smirk on his face. To anyone else his comment would have been rude, even downright offensive. But Dannie lived and breathed sharp venomous thoughts and words. The only reason Dannie didn't dismiss him outright was his talent for trading barbs and combat skills. That said it was clear that Dannie and Cathrida knew eachother and already had a healthy respect for one another.

Denzel stood by as Cathrida and Laikia looked over LAGO and Johanna. Seeing As Johanna was still stunned from her fall, he felt compelled to explain for her.

"This is Johanna." Denzel gently rested his hand on her newsboy cap "Who you might know better by her Radio handle, HopPer. A Radio host infamous for having a nonexistent schedule, having a vague anti-Zern leaning, and there are rumors that HopPer might be supporting anti-Zern elements. But, I mean those are "only rumors"

"As for LAGO..." Denzel crouched down and gently poked LAGO's ball form. "Hey, little buddy. LAGO is useful for a lot of miscellaneous jobs. Repairing things, storing small objects, modifications and such. Johanna makes good use of LAGO, she's probably our most inventive mechanic. Not a bad pilot either but..." Denzel looked to Johanna as if trying to detect if she was lying "You sure you want to come on this one?"

---

---

Lucas's preparations were very simple. He changed out of his ratty lab coat and clothes into a fine white suit, with a tie, and put on dress pants and dress shoes. It was uncomfortable and stuffy, but that's fine he could take it.

Lucas took his place towards the back of the line and made a token attempt to appear focused. But in all honesty his mind was focused toards the future. Sowerberry, the Expo, and the promise of grant money to put to whatever he wanted. If all went well he would have money to send to his parents... and he might even get to visit them later. For that, he was willing to endure the parade into the colony.

Din was a lot more enthusiastic about the parade. As the Princess and Lycoris approached he gave a polite nod and took his place a few steps behind her. Part of him wondered who was with the Princess, but he didn't bother to mention it. He would rather not have anything get in the way of the parade... a moment of triumph and prestige. He would rather savor the parade and all the adoring eyes in their direction with a broad smile on his face...

---

Emilia did her best to stay in formation as she continued waiting for the nobles and royals to arrive. Just when it seemed like the time would never come and she was marching in place for nothing the comms crackled to life

"The Venue has connected to the colony. Look alive everyone"

All around the dock, a sudden tension fell on everyone, including Emilia as the news rippled through everyone present. Emilie kept up the march, but her eyes were drilling holes into the connection to the Venue, waiting for her first hint, her first glimpse of the Princess's arrival

"And I know your "girl crush" is about to arrive, dust blood. But if you screw up formation I will be forced to court marshal you."

Emilia felt a fire rise in her gut and she had to bite back a sudden retort. It wasn't like her to snap back at her superiors but... He was just so damn happy to irritate her and make comments he knew she couldn't defend against... but oh well. There was nothing to do but endure it.

Samantha Brisinggart

---

Fear, regret, determination, and more emotions roiled within her. Was she crying or laughing? She did not know. All she felt was the warm trickle of tears as she laughed, just letting it all out in the cockpit. There was a huge bullet that just barely missed her cockpit, the thing flying so fast over her, she was sure it would have just crumpled everything with just its wake. Her chest hurts, with a growing knot in her stomach that wasn't just from the harness she was strapped with to keep from bumping everything with her insane maneuvers. She cannot really see anything, nor can she really see where they were shooting from, not without the more advanced targeting systems other mobile suits had. She was running everything by sheer instincts now.

The entire fleet in front of the docks seemed to be moving, so she pushed the radial lever harder, pulsing the verniers as the entire plane veered suddenly in a sharp turn, aiming to put the colony in front of the entire fleet as she approached it.

Everything hurts, she was getting second thoughts, but Sam has gone too far to return now. The docks was out of the question now, so the next best path of ingress would be through the colony walls, but where? Whatever it was, she was getting closer to the inner perimeter, those mobile suits lighting up as they too leveled their weapons.

Freya Schwartzschild

---

"T..an here. Cannot engage. Target moving erratically, too far to reliably hit. Lancelot not equipped for long range. Target circling around to get the colony between it and the...tire fleet. Might b... a guided bomb."

Freya showed none of her emotions as she contemplated the situation. Tristan was using the old Whiskey rifle, and while they were a great shot, range and bullet travelling time was an issue at longer ranges. Considering they were mentioning something going at great speeds, it was likely that they could not lead it fast enough to get a proper shot on it. Lancelot, of course, was using the standard kit for the Axes, thus unreliable at the range this object seemed to be. Of all her team, Tristan was the most suited to long range engagements, thus if her team cannot shoot it down...

"This is Freya Schwartzschild."She opened a line to a certain battleship stationed outside. "Fa.. Sir Maximillian, please order a lockdown of this sector."

"Negative. We will be moving to intercept them. Your little group will be following as well. We cannot let the ceremony be interrupted."

She closed her eyes. It was as usual, a logical deduction. Just a single enemy, so the battleship with its entourage, and her own crew outside, should be enough to to intercept them. Plus whatever else the fleet commander will send to help. Perhaps she was getting too paranoid.

"Oh, and Freya. Come home every now and then. Your mother is worried about you."

That, was one thing she cannot do. She was very convinced her mother try to convince her to stop what she was doing. In fact she was very sure Mother would tie her up to her bed if that was what it took.

---

The brave men and women of the Zern Empire's mobile suit forces stood proudly in their Tommies. Shields raised in front, machine guns braced and rockets armed, they prepared to receive the charge of whatever that high-velocity object was with an embrace of bullets and explosives. As the second-to-last line of mobile defense for the colony cylinder, it would be their honor to prevent this intruder from advancing any further.

While the pilots of the second and third lines hadn't been able to offer any proper resistance — the unidentified device had crossed through their range limits too early and too quickly for them throw anything more than potshots — the fourth line had immediately scrambled to assemble into a proper firing formation after receiving their orders. The result was that the "cone" projecting from the unknown towards the colony — representing the field of probable routes based on limited observations and with a hefty margin for error, and narrowing with each second — had been designated as a "kill zone" that would be saturated with projectiles. Few of them would be tracking the interloper itself; their role was simply to fill the space all around it and hope for numbers and statistics to carry the day. An old anti-missile defense tactic that had been retooled after the advent of mobile suits.

"Target is changing direction! Groups Delta through Eta, adjust position! All other groups, prepare to engage!"

The teams furthest from the object's new trajectory would move back, repositioning themselves where they would be more useful.

"Be advised, support from the escort fleet will be limited. Firing arcs have begun to intersect the colony. Reinforcements are on their way as well."

A few of the pilots swore lightly, but most hadn't expected aid from that direction anyway. Annona's own vessels were closer to begin with, even if many of them had been pulled to the docks and the Venue. But even those ships couldn't mobilize so rapidly, so only the vessels that were already nearby could be counted on.

"Hauer, Zerben, and Glauston are almost in range. Don't get in their way!"

They had to destroy this intruder. If they failed, there would be little more than the colony's own anti-meteoroid countermeasures remaining between them and the Princesses . . .

---

---

"Sir Lorenz, there is an unidentifiable object approaching the colony. The fourth defense line has been mobilized and the Schwarzchild group is already en route. You are to follow them and provide assistance as necessary."

The man’s face split into a shark-like grin. "Oi, oi. Don’t tell me some idiot is actually trying something?" Not that he would complain. Playing the role of the guard dog was always such a chore — he preferred being the hound. "Sounds interesting. Just point me where."

"Transferring data now. And please, do hurry."

He whistled as the info window popped up. That was fast — there wasn’t much time left, and he’d have to really push to avoid being too late.

"Bäumler, Vogt, Rossiwall, with me! We’re gonna smoke this fool!"

With a whoop of excitement, he threw open the throttle. Three Tommies, kitted with additional thrusters like their commander, followed in his wake — four bright stars streaking across the heavens.

@GreenGoat
Of course, he made sure to notify the Schwarzchild’s flagship as he passed them, slowly closing the gap on the mobile suits up ahead. While he didn’t like having only second pickings at his prey, it wouldn’t do to be too rude about it. "This is Signifier Lorenz, colony security forces. We’re backing you up." His true meaning should be clear though — give us any excuse, and we’re stepping in ourselves.

---

Victor wordlessly nodded as Gilbert exited their presence and made his way back to his primary post. Not much more could have been expected- Konig was a busy man, and for all of Victor's praises and titles, he was still a rather junior officer in comparison to some of those present. To top it all off, not everyone here was quite pleased that the 'Lion' was here. Sure, there was no doubting his prowess, but some Martian misgivings never really faded, and while most treated him with respect- not everyone was thrilled to see him. Though that could have been said for anyone about any situation really: Victor himself wasn't too fond of many of the Military's upper brass, most of them being pompous nobles born into military titles with only the select few- such as Konig, actually earning themselves the respect of a proper commander.

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about it Izumi, I'm pretty sure most of them would prefer we didn't speak at all." Victor said with a light chuckle, garnering some sharp looks from nearby officers- which he feigned ignorance towards. "Nowadays, many people think words matter more than actions. Unless someone is offering to spirit you away to a life of luxury for the rest of your days in return for marriage, they're probably not worth speaking to."

"Ah, that was a joke, by the way. I do hope you don't plan on leaving me any time soon."

Minutes seemed to stretch on as hours as they waited for the Venue to slowly dock with the outer ports of the colony and for the princesses to begin their procession across the bridges and into the docks themselves. The Zerns did enjoy their ceremonies, but while the concepts were all fine and dandy, the processions themselves were incredibly dull and dreary. It was funny that despite one of the princess' reputations as a pop idol, her welcoming party was little more than over pomped, ramrod straight, and stuffy corps of officers.

"I honestly would rather be fighting back at the siege of Gibraltar then be here right now. Gosh has it been that long since the siege?" Ayame had commented quietly as they waited. The comment had taken Victor by surprise and he was unable to stop himself from turning and giving her an incredulous look before turning his head back straight with the rest of the formation.

"I believe you'd be alone in that thought my dear." Victor said almost wistfully, "While I appreciate the experience we gained and the mettle we've forged- the value it gives you to me as a commander, I would give my ship and all of my fancy titles for you to not have experienced it." Victor's face hardened for a moment, and his mouth took a thin grimace, scrunching like he was about to spit. The scowl lasted for a moment before it faded. He gave Ayame a sidelong glance, a small, sad smile, and uncharacteristic melancholy in his eyes.

"Too many lives were lost that day: young men, brave men, good men. And what did I get out of it? A title that reminds me of the men I failed. Ghosts that haunt me in my sleep..." Victor's voice trailed off for a moment. "Did you know I hate being called that? 'Lion'. Its a mockery to everyone I've lost and everything they stood for. I'm a soldier, not a mascot."

"You as well Ayame. You're a talented fighter, but more than that you're a soldier. A defender of peace- remember that."

"Glory is good. Safety is better. Peace is best."

---

Out of the corner of his eye, Victor caught Gilbert barking into his earpiece before stepping off abruptly. Victor's eyes narrowed. Something was going on, and he wasn't quite sure what. What he was sure of was the intended target. The princesses were the only new thing to the Colony in months, and the fact that something was happening as the Venue was docking was an obvious tell. His eyes shot to his ship- most recently docked and closest to the exit ports of the colony's dock, but more importantly his eyes rested on the four mobile suits placed on top of it- kitted out with ceremonial rifles and dressings, but warmed up and running.

"Ayame, which pilots are on parade duty right now?" Victor murmured as his eyes scanned the mobile suits. "Things may yet heat up after all. Keep close."

Victor began making his way to the front of the formation, catching all manner of dirtly looks from officers who continued to stand upright and straight. Maybe they weren't aware of whatever was going on- it was highly likely, was it not for Victor's coincidental glance, he probably wouldn't have known either. It wasn't as though he had a earpiece with comms telling him what was happening. Which was part of the problem.

"Pardon me," Victor apologized as he approached one of the security officers. Before the officer could even reply, Victor had ripped the man's comms unit out of his ear and began putting it onto his own person. Moments later, he was sprinting across the gangplank to his ship.

Clambering up some ladder rungs mounted on the outer hull and onto the deck of the Nyx itself, Victor sprinted towards the nearest Tommy, while shooting Ayame a look and pointing at the second closest one. He slammed his fist on the foot of the machine a few times before the sensor looked down to face him. Jerking his fist backwards, the cockpit of the Tommy opened, with a confused Munifex Torren poking his head out.

"Boss what are you-?" Torren barely had time to ask as Victor rode up the cable to the cockpit and roughly grabbed Torren and yanked him out of the seat, throwing him the boarding cable before jumping into the Tommy's seat himself.

Luckily, the Tommy was already primed and ready to go- if somewhat underarmed for a fight. The Heckler rifles had been replaced with gilded, more ornamental ceremonial versions of the weapon and only had a single magazine's worth of ammunition loaded- though Victor was lucky that Torren was incredibly lazy and didn't bother removing the spare Heckler magazines from the Tommy's side compartments- and the mills bombs had been removed. In short, it wasn't his Knight Errant, but it'd have to do.

Victor began stomping his Tommy across the deck of the Nyx and towards one of the unused airlocks, Ayame likely not far behind him. "Victor Galahad, heading out." spoke into his 'commandeered' comms unit, now patched into the security team's communications.

Victor opened a second, private comm line with Ayame's Tommy as the airlocks opened, emptying them out into space. "Well, lets see what all the ruckus is about right? If we do it right maybe we won't get court martial-ed after this."