There was little time for the centipede warped to reaction. When the beam of light tore down towards its head, its eyes seemed to widen for the briefest moment before it was struck.

The light tore through its flesh, its head obliterated in a single shot, only briefly visible as an expanding ring of smoldering flesh and bone before that too disintegrated under the power of Elise's beam. Flesh burned black and a view of a partial ribcage and spinal column were all that remainng on this end of the monstrous creature, smoking and sizzling as the sinuous body swayed for a few moment, humanlike limbs growing limp.

And then, it fell, collapsing towards the earth before landing with a resounding thud.

It neither moved nor breathed any longer.

@PKMNB0Y@JDubs

---

While the creature was swift to use its backwards-bending forelimbs to shield its face, that still didn't protect it from any harm. The knife embedded itself into one of its forelimbs, and the attack to its upper torso pierced through its body, to which it responded without even a sound though its body jerked and twisted strangely, its incredibly skinny waist contorting in a manner that appeared boneless. Its response slowed the charging of the dark energy in its strange, snake-like tail, allowing for a moment longer to react. A crucial moment indeed, as the beam pierced through it and left it writhing, twisting in the air, the crackling 'electricity' fading.

The flurry of blows forced it back, even as it unshielded its face. For the briefest moment, the vague shape of almost humanoid features was visible before the lengthy black hair fully obscured it again. While it was momentarily stunned, and injured, it was not enough to take it out of the fight.

The final blow would have to be struck quickly to avoid it attempting to attack once more.

@Medili@Mole@Izurich

@VitaVitaAR @Medili @Mole

The One Born in Fire inquired and so her comrades-in-arms answered, the current situation assessed, Titania and Selene could handle the Human Centipede just fine while the defense team could use a bit of assistance to handle one of the two Apex Warped assailing them.

"Affirmative, defense team. Infernus moving to assist K-01 and Supplice, stand by for air support, over."

Boot-wings of fire blazed a fiery trail as she disengaged from the frontlines, confident that Hinotori already received the memo and was fully aware that she'd be going solo for the short future. Accessing the real-time data network shared by all of the deployed Chi-Mechframes, Infernus quickly triangulated the exact coordinates of this Skulker Warped thing, a creature that was similar to how Deathstalker would operate. From what she understood, that meant it should be moving erratically and difficult to lock down, and yet... it was staying still.

"All yours, Infernus! Light 'em up!"

Supplice's notification combined with a screen displaying both her and K-01's frame's perspective was all the confirmation she needed; there was no need for Infernus to make direct visual contact, the artillery had received its coordinates and it would do its job. "All Japanese Infantry, clear the immediate area around the long-haired gangly Warped ASAP!" Pyralis enunciated one last time to really make sure that even the most absent-minded of soldiers would haul ass from there, then with that last warning, Infernus simply pointed forward with her free right hand.

"Agni Enfilade!"

Without delay, all of the flaming spheres orbiting her frame launched off simultaneously, soaring in a wide arc, perfectly calculated to shell their assigned coordinates.

..........
.....
...

A short moment later, Supplice, K-01, Gangly Crab Warped, and most importantly, the JSDF infantry could see a meteor shower heading straight for the mutant monster's location. It didn't take long for the multiple fireballs to home on it, but not all of the spheres landed exactly on top of it, a few were deliberately targeting the ground around it in a circular pattern; it seemed like the one responsible intended to cut off its means of escape as even if it managed to leap away from its current spot, it'd only jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. The ensuing explosions occured nigh-simultaneously, making them sound as if it was one big bomb instead. Its fate was surely sealed...

...and even if it somehow survived, like the Hawk from earlier, her allies already stood ready to deliver the Coup de Grace.

Norika let out an impressed whistle, nodding in approval. "Helluva shot, Kim," she said over the comms. "Clean kill. Almost feel sorry for the bastard." She shifted her blades into defensive mode. "So we got that freaky human centipede mopped up, and we don't come home with third degree burns. I call that a win-win. Well, a win for me, a win for Kim, and a lose for the creepy-crawly. Where are we needed next?"

---

Place(s): Battlefield - Saitama Prefecture
Time: Afternoon
@Izurich @Mole

---

Blazing death rained down from the sky as Pyralis launched her bombardment on the sneaky Warped, which turned out to be one loosely based on the Nue of Japanese mythology. Teodora remained close to the creature until the very last moment to make sure that it will not be able to escape, landing an Axe Kick with her armored right feet down onto the top of its head to push it down to the ground for good measure before jetting away. The timing was so close that some of the fireballs had engulfed her as she retreated, protected from damage by her energy barrier. The transparent barrier became visible as it nullified the burning heat, a spherical silhouette of reddish orange around Teodora that only returned invisible again after she got out of the flames.

She watched on, now at a safe distance, as the merciless flames engulfed and consumed the creature. "Phew." She whistled, Always quite the spectacle, dear Pyra's flames. Fufu~ Teodora also checked the data and statistic displayed on her visor, especially on her energy level and barrier integrity. Energy supply still alright... Barrier integrity at 68%. Wonderful, all still within safe operational level!

The flames slowly dissipated. Theodora looked on in anticipation, her rifle at the ready to fire in the event that the Nue had somehow survived. However, it soon became clear that such was not the case, as a charred blackened remains that can only be the Nue was soon visible to her. "Oh my, I'd say that's definitely a kill. But just for good measure..." She boosted closer until she were right beside the Nue, and then poked it with Uragan, eliciting no response. Not even a twitch. "Excellent. This is Supplice, confirmed kill on the target! Very well done, Infernus, K-01! We fragged it real good!" Teodora smiled widely in satisfaction at the elimination of this 'boss level' Warped, savoring the moment for a few seconds. Then she flew off higher into the air once more, eager to continue adding to her kill count.

"Supplice, returning to overwatch duty!"

With her shot finding its mark upon the insectoid Warped, Elise let out a sigh of relief and let her shoulders relax ever so slightly. The most pressing problem in their path had been dealt with—as had most the others', given the current visuals on her HUD—which meant that they could return to their job of sweeping the area clear of enemies.

"I suppose we clean up after whatever Hoshiko leaves behind," Elise responded, switching back to her live ammunition before promptly raising her weapon back up to her shoulder. "Mission's not over until we get the all clear, so let's hurry up and kill the rest of these things so we can head back and wash off."

@JDubs

---

As the komainu rushed headlong towards the one target it could still see, its gait began to visibly falter. The poison Xuan-Yu had left to fester in its body was leaving its mark, now more than ever, and the heat washing off of the Warped was no longer strong enough to blacken the ground beneath. The single-minded determination it held seemed to matter less and less as it approached Louisa, and when it finally had reached her, the beast was all but spent.

One last attempt at a swing was all it could muster before the creature collapsed in front of the Frame Pilot, unable to bear the weight of it's own body any longer. Though not yet deceased, the Warped no longer had the strength to fight any longer.

A swift stab would be enough to put it out of it's misery.

@Laduguer

---

---

With the death of the larger Warped in the region and the continued support of the Frame Pilots with them, the Japanese offensive to retake western Saitama continued with little further issue. It seemed that the monsters were left with little else after the four that had attempted to stymie the effort were slain, what with the remaining enemies only barely able to offer any further resistance beyond pure numbers being thrown at the infantry on the ground.

Luckily, cleaning even those up would be child's play to the group compared to what they had just slaughtered.

As night began to fall and a defensive perimeter began to be established, though, a helicopter would descend from above to pick up the Frame Pilots and return them to The Horizon. With the operation in northern Saitama seeing similar success and Japanese Frame Pilots arriving onto the scene for their intended night operations and defense, their job was done for the moment. The necessity of their presence to continue pushing west remained to be seen, of course, but given the information being relayed to them, retaking the forests and mountains was of far less importance than the formal residential areas next to Tokyo.

In other words, the mission was likely all but complete, which would leave the Frame Pilots free to wind down in the skies above. As to what they would do after night fell remained to be seen, but success would likely see spirits high—not just among them, but the staff as well.

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@Medili@ERode@Laduguer@Mole@JDubs

"Infernus, confirming that Skulker Warped has been neutralized, over."

With all four Apex Warped slain, it looked like the hardest part of this operation was over, sure it would be folly to underestimate an enemy as unpredictable as the Warped, but Pyra would be lying if she didn't welcome the deescalating biomass assault; the exertion against her Chi-Mechframe and body was getting harder to ignore now, but it was still within tolerable levels. She could reliably keep going, especially if it's just mopping up the small fries; exhaling once, she swiveled around in the air and flew her way back to regroup with Hoshiko.

..........
.....
...

Later that night, being one of the flight-capable Frame Pilots, Pyra consciously decided to fly back to Horizon by herself instead of boarding the helicopter, for the specific reason to allow the vehicle more room for those who needed the ride, including but not limited to Frame Pilots and other types of personnel. Landing back at one of the hangar bays, she touched-down before the wings of her boots extinguished themselves.

"Infernus, disengage."

With the command, her biomechanical armored dress and lance seemingly burned up into nothing in quick sputters of reddish-orange tongues, leaving the brunette clad only in her dark leotard undersuit as Infernus had compacted into its bracelet form. "Nnnmgh..." She stretched her limbs for a moment, sighed in that "runner's high" style, and sauntered her way into the engineering bay, time to return the Chi-Mechframe to Mr. Igor for maintenance and storage.

A quick shower and change of clothes later, the off-duty pilot could be found in her casual apparel, relaxing in the mess hall with a glass of multi-flavored parfait in front of her. Her left hand meticulously scooped the sugar-laden comfort food into her mouth while blue eyes focused on the augmented reality UI projected by her red-rimmed glasses, browsing the internet for various stuff; watching relaxing videos, scrolling through funny memes, etc.

"Paaaaah, great!"

Perhaps drinking an entire bottle of water in one gulp wasn't something most people would describe as 'great', but when she'd been fighting Warped that intensely for that long, it sure felt refreshing.

The first thing that Hoshiko had done on returning to the Horizon was deactivate Hinotori. The next was to immediately take a nice, long, hot shower. She was all sweaty and dirty and a total mess, so she needed it really bad! The water felt so relaxing after all the intense combat, too. She'd lost count of how many oni she'd punched holes clear through.

But she was glad.

She was glad she'd been able to help people. That's what was really important. That's why she was here.

Now dressed in shorts and a loose orange hoodie, Hoshiko stretched as she entered the mess haul, immediately making a beeline for the nearest snacks.

She was pretty hungry.

---

Place(s): Back at The Horizon
Time: Nighty Night
@Izurich @VitaVitaAR

---

As soon as the operation was deemed a success and the pilots were given permission to disengage and return, Teodora did exactly that by boosting straight for the hangar bays, not bothering to ride the helicopter as there was not really a need to. Things only kept on getting better after that. As she walked through the ship after returning Supplice to an engineer, there was no lack of staff members greeting and congratulating her for the success. It really made her felt like a big damn hero, and considering the decent number of Warped including the one Boss-level that she fragged, it sure seemed like well deserved acclamation indeed. Definitely could get used to this, being the one cheered on rather than the one cheering on the heroes, fufu~ Her mind was filled with such thoughts even after arriving to her room and taking her time to tidy and clean herself up.

A while later, she was once more out of her room, now dressed in one of her usual casual-but-expensive-looking dresses. With a cheerful energy to her every steps, she headed for the mess hall, humming an equally cheerful tune as she did so. Win-ner win-ner chick-en din-ner~... Not that I'll have a chicken dinner, no. Sweets would be a much better choice, as always, hehe~ She soon arrived at the mess hall and immediately looked around the place in her hunt for glorious desserts. Her attention however, were quickly taken by other things instead.

Specifically, she noticed Pyralis already relaxing inside the place, seated and enjoying a delightful looking parfait. Like a human-missile locked on to a target, Teodora zero'ed in on the Greek-named Japanese girl. And as soon as she arrived right behind Pyra, she squealed excitedly for two full seconds. Very loudly. At a pretty dang high note in the possible human vocal range. "KYAAAAAA!! Oh my oh my oh my, that looks sooooo good! Where'd you get that?? I want some too!" And then, not even actually waiting for a reply, she skipped off again seemingly already knowing where to get such a parfait. Along the way, she passed by Hoshiko, making her pause briefly. "Oh hi Hoshiko, nice hoodie! Btw you should totally get some parfaits, they looks sooo amazing!"

Soon enough, she had gotten her own parfaits. Three different glasses of them, all at a smaller portion, all made up of four different flavors for a grand total of twelve flavors over three parfaits. The toppings of each parfait were also different from one to the other. Then she returned with her desserts to where Pyra sat, taking a seat beside her. She cheerfully looked at Pyra, her arms stretched out toward her parfaits as if to emphasize them to Pyra. "Tada! Fufu, looks amazing right? Kyaaa, this is the awesomest treat after such a successful mission!" Then she started digging in, happily taking small scoops of her parfaits with a big, joyful smile on her face.

The day hadn't been very exciting after that. Nothing put up as much of a fight as the centipede Warped. But maybe that was for the best. The boots on the ground didn't have the pilots' fancy toys or training. She had to give the average grunt some respect for going up against such deadly opponents with only traditional weaponry. She remained quiet until back to The Horizon, speaking only once she was in front of Yasuda. "Titania, the dance is over."

In a flash of light the Chi-Mechframe collapsed back to its bracelet mode, leaving Norika in the bodysuit from before. She let out a sigh, smiling at Yasuda. "New upgrade worked like a charm, Chiaki," she said. Chiaki smiled back, flashing an A-OK sign with her hands. "Almost felt like I was actually flying."

"Maybe sometime down the line," Chiaki said. "As much as I want to cram every single upgrade in there as possible, time and resources are a limiting factor. That and the general bureaucracy from the brass. If it doesn't benefit them directly, odds are they'll fight tooth and nail unless you can convince them that what you need is absolutely necessary."

"It's the end of the world," Norika huffed. "You'd think they'd quit sitting around with their thumbs up their arses."

"Some things refuse to die. Kind of like someone I know." Chiaki laughed, playfully punching Norika's shoulder. "Go get yourself cleaned up. You've earned it. Plus, I think there's some entrails in your hair."

Norika was disgusted to find that her mechanic friend was absolutely correct. She hadn't noticed in the thick of combat, but her hair was spattered with blood and gore from the Warped. She quickly returned to her quarters, changed out of her bodysuit, and showered until the hot water ran out. Once done she toweled off and dressed in an oversized hoodie and shorts before brushing her hair. She stopped when her stomach audibly growled at her. Norika had been distracted up until now, but she was starving.

She grimaced. That meant going to the mess hall where the others were. Norika sighed. No other choice. Lord, I don't know if You still listen to us down here, she quietly prayed, but if you are, give me the strength to not try to kill any of my fellow Mechframe pilots. Norika took a deep breath and began heading towards the cafeteria.

With the main threats slain and the remaining monstrosities turned to nothing more than fertilizer, the mission concluded in a rather uneventful manner. The Chi-Mechframes performed more or less as expected in the end, even with the extra wrenches tossed in their way. He had managed to foist the glory of the kill upon Faye, the rest managed to get their little commendations in, and the soldiers could live to fight another day. Job success, in the end.

Well, now, his other job began.

A cold shower cleared up what sweat had built up, and a half hour of stretching afterwards had insured that his muscles would be fine come morning. Though the Horizon wasn’t so luxurious as to afford something like a swimming pool inside it, the gym was a place to visit after everything got wrapped up. Dressed now in sweatpants and whatever t-shirt he first saw when he opened up his closet, Xuan-Yu slipped into the mess hall just in time for Teodora to shatter his eardrums with her screams. He turned briefly to Norika, who looked even more reluctant than he did about entering, before flashing a grin.

“C’mon kiddo,” he said, tapping his foot against the back of her knee. “If you’re not quick about it, they’ll snatch you up n gobble you whole.”

And with that, he stepped into the mess hall as well, taking all of ten seconds to cross past the infusion of estrogen that was a trio of girls giving themselves diabetes, before slipping past the doors and into the kitchen.

…

Another minute later, and Xuan-Yu walked back out, balancing four 16-packs of beers on his shoulders. The boxes dug into his flesh and his hands already felt like they were freezing over from the cold, but work was work and it wasn’t as if any of the others were budding alcoholics. Probably. Pilots that had drinking problems were a big problem, in some part of the world at least. As he made to make a swift exit once more, his eyes caught the mountain of snacks that Hoshiko now had before her, and, well, what could be said?

“Keep up the good work, punchgirl. You’ll be a rollin’ boulder in no time.” His head tilted, a brief contemplation. “Save the sweets for morning though, unless you're interested in night watch.”

The food tasted better than Seraphima was expecting. She was famished and quietly slurping down some seaweed soup while simultaneously enjoying the scent of hot, relaxing green tea, and for a brief moment, she set the bowl down and leaned back in her chair.

“Ahhh…” Her mouth made a small o, and her eyes closed. Her head tilted back, and when she opened her eyes, she stared at the ceiling. The Warped monster had taken more out of her than she had thought. In fact, she was surprised she even had an appetite.

I better slow down. She thought to herself. A small smirk emerged on her lips as she sat back up. This whole Frame Pilot thing was going to be hard. She understood that coming into the position. However, the mental level was more disturbing than she had anticipated.

At least, the food was good. Her eyes stared at the meal in front of her. Maybe this is why they feed us so well. She looked at the other Pilots. They were ravenous, and she could not pass judgement. She had no idea what they must be feeling, right now. She, for one, felt a tinge of embarrassment for yearning such nourishment so deeply. At the monastery, the Abbess would have scolded her manners…

Her powers seemed trivial compared to that of other Frame Pilots. It made her ponder how much their own humanity had changed. It was an uncomfortable feeling, as she recounted the mission. More missions meant the likelihood of running into a Warped that looked more humanly was bound to happen. And yet, that was exactly why she was here: to kill them, to save humanity.

Her appetite did not feel very human. There had been a shift from leaving the monastery, which she tried to uphold even after leaving it. And now, she felt herself restraining herself from eating any faster. Unfortunately, the only way to slow down her appetite was to recall the encounter she had with the ape-like centipede and that brief moment in which she hesitated, just like now, as she stared at her entree of vegetables.

Just then, through all the shenanigans, Xuan-yu came through, holding in his arms liquid gold. This seemed curious and natural. It would take her mind from things. Seraphima had not had anything to drink since entering the monastery, and even then, she rarely drink much if at all. What could one or two do but lift her spirits. She should be celebrating like the rest of them. At least, that’s what she believed anyways.

_______________________________________________________________

Louisa reclined in one of the sleek mess hall chairs, her arms folded, rocking it back and forth on its hind legs slowly as she idly pushed away from the wall with one of her feet. She was staring out of one of the observation portholes in the deck, which now revealed nothing but the dusky blackness of the night sky, and the bright reflected lights of the mess hall. She absent mindedly raised a hand to her collarbone, where a long band of dull burning pain extended from shoulder to shoulder, reminding her of the blow she had absorbed from the komainu.

Her body felt cleansed and restored after a shower and a full meal, but her mind was troubled and producing a sort of frustrated physical discomfort along with it that seemed to manifest in her bruised torso. She was thinking about the final engagement in the mission, when she had killed the spent and crippled komainu -- well, that was really attributable to Lang, but that's not what the record's gonna show -- with a parrying stab of her glaive. She had been so pumped on adrenaline that no other thought had crossed her mind than putting down the ferocious monster, but in its weakened state it had seemed almost... pathetic. In close proximity, as she had lunged in to deal the parrying deathblow, there was a moment where the monster's face was near enough to see in detail, and within sunken and heavily calloused eyelids Louisa had seen its eyes.

And there was a quality in those eyes near-death that was far too human for comfort.

How much was the parasite, and how much was the person? This thought made the certain knowledge of the echidna lodged firmly in her own body somewhere - dormant or whatever though it may be - suddenly unbearably uncomfortable, and she was grateful to be snapped out of her reverie by the nearby squealing of Teodora. She took her foot off the wall, her chair falling back onto four legs with a thump, and she swivelled around to see Lang walking out of the kitchen laden with alcohol.

"Are you really about to walk off with all that for yourself?" she called across to the conspicuously male pilot.

@Medili

Much unlike her mechframed self, Pyra exuded a completely different presence outside of Infernus; the unflappable stoic gaze of the 'perfect soldier' and that oppressively threatening aura were all but gone, replaced by an introverted geek who was perfectly content to be left to her own devices. The shift went deeper than mere appearances as the brunette's sense of awareness also took a nosedive, now feeling perfectly safe within the hull of Horizon, enjoying a glass of parfait and streams of digital entertainment, not a fiber in her being expected danger to rear its ugly head, any kind of danger, including one that might come from a supposed 'ally'...

"...?!!"

Thus when Teodora - who was somehow behind her - screeched like an onryo, Pyralis stiffened up like a deer in headlights, goosebumps raised and limbs frozen in place, blue eyes went wide as her pupils constricted in sudden panic. The sheer conflict between feeling safe a nanosecond before and now being 'ambushed' caused her fight or flight instinct to go haywire, resulting in brief petrification; her body wasn't ready to have another dose of adrenaline, not after that intense physical activity of fighting in a warzone, but the glands didn't care so thus flowed the hormone, elevating her heartbeat among other things.

Everything that had been said only took a few brief seconds, but it felt like an eternity, a horribly unwelcome one.

"...e... eh...?" It was only after that Pyralis consciously realized that it was just Teodora, not a banshee warped, and that the other pilot was being as infuriatingly nosy as usual like an evil version of Hoshiko. The brunette blinked a few times as she took in Teodora's departing form, apparently off to get a parfait of her own. It all came so suddenly that she wasn't sure what or how to feel about this. During her dumbfounded moment, she found herself instinctively taking in her surroundings, noticing that the mess hall was more occupied now; Hoshiko was there scarfing down food that could send an elephant into sugar shock, Seraphima enjoying a meal of more... humane portions, Louisa looking bothered (for obvious reasons), and Norika and Xuan-Yu just arriving. Oh good, there was no Warped here, that inhuman screech really just was Teodora.

When the blonde had the gall to cross the line twice and sit beside her, seemingly set on mimicking Hoshiko's 'diet', Pyralis ever so slowly turned her gaze at the slightly older girl, pissed to the bone. Someone like Norika would probably be cussing like a sailor by now, but Pyralis wasn't that person, the opposite in fact, but it just goes to show that even a 'mere' hateful glare from the firebender conveyed more than a thousand profanities could.

"Why... did you do that?" She inquired out of morbid curiosity, voice dripping with barely-restrained napalm.

With the battle in Saitama complete, Elise gave herself some time to breathe as the helicopter ferried her and her allies back up to the airship above. This was the first "real" mission that they had been put towards, and their success was more than just a boon towards their egos.

A victory, of course, meant a celebration was in order, and the congratulations of the staff as the triumphant Frame Pilots returned showed that they likely thought much the same.

First on her to-do list, however, was to wash up; though the others had fought major Warped threats on their own, it was likely that the one that they had fought would have done more mental damage in the long run. There were people flying down all the same to try and carve up their corpses (or what remained of them), and Elise pitied whoever was going to be sent to deal with the centipede and its foul bile-like liquid, but hopefully it wouldn't suddenly spring back to life and murder everyone.

That would be... Less than ideal.

After spending the time washing herself off in a hot shower and scrubbing anything that had managed to stick to her in spite of how long she had spent flying around, Elise dried herself off and changed into something a bit more casual—a T-shirt and shorts. The day had worn on her (as it likely had everyone, to some extent), but that didn't mean she was thinking of simply passing out and eating later.

After making her way to the mess hall to pick something up for herself, Elise found that most of her fellow Pilots had similar ideas in mind; a few were off to the side in a manner reminiscent of her halcyon days in high school gushing over food, but what caught her eye was Xuan-Yu carrying a few boxes of beer on his shoulders. It was no question as to what he was planning on doing, but after the insanity that was today, the half-Korean girl had half a mind to join him. Never mind that he likely wasn't going to drink all of it on his own, of course, but compared to gorging herself on sweets, food and alcohol seemed a lot more appealing.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" she asked, casually strolling towards him as she looked at the boxes again, "I can go get some food and snacks, too, if you wouldn't mind."

@ERode

"Heeh?" Hoshiko cocked her head to one side, pausing for a moment in her crusade to consume more food then most people did in a single day. The parfaits did look pretty good. And she loved parfaits. Well, and pretty much anything that was sweet. Or savory. Crispy, juicy, crunchy, tender...

Really, Hoshiko just liked food in general.

But a moment's consideration left her wondering if she should maybe grab something a little more filling and substantial then just snacks. After all, she was pretty hungry, and at times like these just sweets didn't cut it. She could have more snacks after she ate something a little heartier.

She'd had ramen earlier, so maybe something else? Oh, karaage sounded really good. She wasn't sure if there was any today, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Just as she was about to stand up and ask if she could pick anything up for anyone else, she heard Xuan-yu's voice. The Chinese man was kind of enigmatic to her, he was so different from the rest of their team. Not that she thought he didn't belong or something like that. Simply that his demeanor and attitude always seemed different. Maybe it was because he was...

Hoshiko had assumed he was a soldier before, but she'd never really asked him about it. Resolving in her head to change that, she gave the man a smile.

"Eh-heheh, I dunno what you mean," she replied. Rolling boulder? Well, eating lots of sugar would give you energy like you were boulder that just kept on rolling and never stopped. That wasn't bad at all, so it's clearly what he meant, right? "I guess having a lot of energy to roll over the warped and never stop is my plan, though..."

Hoshiko rose to her feet.

"Oh yeah, everyone, do you want anything else? I'm going to run over to get something to eat for dinner, so I can pick more food up if anyone wants anything!"

The fact that Hoshiko eating all those snacks then saying she was going to eat even more food had to be a mildly surreal one. Where did it all go?

@ERode@Medili@PKMNB0Y@Izurich@Laduguer@Mole@JDubs

As expected, the rest of the pilots had made their way to the mess hall. That wasn't surprising. Between physical activities and Echidna infections, Chi-Mechframe pilots tended to have higher than average metabolisms. But even so there were some outliers, like Fukada. No human, augmented or not, should have been able to put away that much food, let alone not gain a gram of weight from it. Norika sighed quietly, shaking her head. She'd have to deal with her teammates soon. Best to just grin and bear it.

However she was less than pleased with Xuan-Yu's words and actions. She glowered at the man. "Fils de pute!" Norika swore at him.

She made her way to the window to order. There was all kinds of smells from what was being cooked. God, it all smelled so good, especially on an empty stomach. Norika had made a promise to herself earlier. She'd survived the mission. Time to eat until she was stuffed. Two big helpings of mild curry and rice to start off with, washed down with a few bottles of Genshi-Cola. She'd never been able to figure out the whole marble-in-the-bottle thing, but she rolled with it. The soda tasted good enough for the trouble.

Norika made her way to a table, making sure to sit a little ways from her peers. Close enough for her to hear what they were all saying, but far enough that she wouldn't attract much attention... hopefully.

---

Place(s): Back at The Horizon
Time: Nighty Night
@Izurich @VitaVitaAR

---

Teodora sighed contentedly, a big happy smile remaining on her face as she slowly ate her parfaits. This is really the best way there is to sweeten up a glorious success. Haa... She remained oblivious for a while of the hateful, fury-filled gaze that the girl beside her was throwing her way, too engrossed in her euphoria induced by the sweet sweet heaven that was invading her sense of taste. "Why... did you do that?" It was only after Pyra spoke up that she finally realized that Pyra had been looking at her, although even then Teodora did not pick up on the incendiary tone in the angered girl's voice. She turned to look at Pyra, still smiling blissfully as she took her time to taste the parfait still in her mouth.

"...? Why did I do what?" She tilted her head slightly to the left, still smiling. Teodora had no idea what Pyra was referring to. "Oh my, are you quite alright, dear Pyra? Pardon me for saying, but you do have quite the intense look there on your face..." Finally noticing that Pyra looked not the slightest bit happy, but still not realizing the reason why, Teodora's own expression turned to that of calm concern as she continued to speak. "Are you hurt somewhere? Oh my, were you perhaps wounded during the battle earlier? Should I call someone from medical over?"

"Oh yeah, everyone, do you want anything else? I'm going to run over to get something to eat for dinner, so I can pick more food up if anyone wants anything!"

Teodora briefly turned around as Hoshiko spoke of her offer to the other pilots. "I am quite fine, dear Hoshiko! Thank you for offering!" After giving that brief response, she looked around quickly, noticing who else were nearby just in case she needed more help with Pyra which she had mistakenly thought as potentially going to need medical help. Dear Hoshiko is there, and that's Norika there... Elise, Louisa, Seraphima, Lang. Good, everyone's here... Done with confirming that, she turned to look at Pyralis again, still looking calm but concerned.

Hoshiko took it better than expected. What a champ, honestly, especially compared to how naked Pyralis’s expressions and emotions were. Xuan-Yu let out a low whistle at the sheer animosity that came outta bumfuck nowhere, then returned his attention to the ever-hungryin’ punch-lass. “Yup, like I said, keep up the effort but cut down on the sugar,” he replied, flashing his teeth. “Fuel’s gotta be good or you’ll turn spherical, kiddo.”

A thought struck, and he continued. “If you’re playing minimum wage delivery girl though, package up a couple big boxes o’ fried chicken and bring them to the hangar. Y'know, so that…”

Convenient that Elise popped up for the ride. Did she really know what he was doing, or was she just there because she was too lazy to get her own beer? Didn’t matter. It worked out.

“…Elise doesn’t have to. And no, I don’t think anyone’d mind.” He raised his voice to respond to Louisa, “Of course I am! The company can afford the hit either way!”

And without further explanation, Xuan-Yu strode off, leaving Seraphima to stare, Norika to seethe, and Teodora to deal with the inflamed tempers of firecrotch over there. Whatever expression he had on his face faded as the cafeteria became further and further away, the man now more concerned about the state of his shoulders after this as 64 cans of beer weighed upon him. His gait remained steady all the way to the hangar though, all the way to one of the AI-assisted airlifts that had carried him down to the battlefield beforehand. With his foot, he popped the backdoor open and dropped the cases in with a heavy thunk, then leaned against side of the VTOL aircraft and pulled out his earpiece from his pockets.

“Evening, boss. Going on a trip back down to Earth. You’re welcome for the PR or whatever.”

There wasn’t much need for him to await a response. He jammed the earpiece back into his pockets, then turned to face Elise once more, his arms crossed, eyes flickering down to her shorts and t-shirt combo.

“So you gonna go out like that?”

@Medili

"..." Now that she had gotten a chance to 'interact' with Teodora up close, literally, Pyra couldn't help but feel her anger... slowly dissipating. It was as if though her engaged primal aggression wanted things to escalate, it just couldn't; twas’ partly due to her docile personality, but the most important factor in this particular case was Teodora's genuine innocence when reacting to her fury-choked inquiry. The short-haired brunette frowned in doubt as she blinked once while breaking eye contact, in distress because the older girl wasn't pouring fuel into the fire so she could justify her anger.

The worry Teo expressed about her well-being was sickening, in a good and bad way, because it directly contrasted against the image Pyralis had built for the Romanian girl. A queen bee bully shouldn't be acting like this, it wasn't supposed to go like this! "Nnngh..." She groaned, feeling equally regretful and annoyed that Teodora was doing a very good job at dismantling any arguments Pyra might have about the blonde being a bitch. The pyromancer went silent, conveniently occuring at the same time as Hoshiko's announcement, giving her plenty of time to mull over her thoughts while Teodora's attention shifted to the spunky girl.

By the time the older pilot returned, Pyralis' demeanor had noticeably relaxed, the embers of wrath all but extinguished. With a rosy tint to her yellowish-pale cheeks, her focus returned to the projections of her holo-glasses as she murmured, "I... just don't like loud noises..."

_______________________________________________________________

Louisa blinked as Xuan-Yu replied to her question whilst barely breaking stride, marching out of the mess hall with Elise in tow. She was feeling sufficiently exhausted after the days work that passing out in her room seemed appealing, but with a vague malaise still in the background of her mind, she decided the distraction of company was probably better. Whilst the lively conversation of Hoshiko, Pyra and Teodora certainly constituted a distraction, the difference in their ages wasn't negligible, and sometimes she preferred the company of pilots who didn't make her feel... old.

Spinning off her chair, she pulled on her grey combat fatigue jacket and followed after the two. As she walked, she realised that whilst she might be getting in on a cool underground drinking sesh (they had those back in the evacuation camps, or at least she had heard of them), she might also have overlooked some covert ploy by Xuan-Yu and Elise to nonchalantly sneak away on a date. Was that possible? Did they know eachother that well? What was the policy on office romances, anyway?

As she entered the hanger and saw Elise and Xuan-Yu stood by the drone aircraft, her latter suspicion grew, and she felt slightly embarassed about the prospect of becoming a third wheel (or third rotor, in this case).

"Oh--uh... I didn't realise you were going somewhere. Am I interrupting, or...?"