It had taken Elise a moment to realize what Xuan-Yu was actually planning after he had spoken, but the Pilot had barely managed to restrain the expression that would've crossed her face otherwise. Internally, though, she was kicking herself over thinking that the Chinese man in front of her could have actually managed to down that many beers on his own and wasn't actually doing something more altruistic for the people holding out on the ground. With their own fights settled, it would ultimately be up to them to continue to hold what had been taken back, though. Though she felt bad about assuming something more self-centered at first, the young woman didn't feel it was right to longer on something so petty as that.

There were other plans afoot anyways, it seemed.

"Well, then I'll go pick up some edamame from the kitchens. Seems only right to pair with that," she said, waving to the other Pilot as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Of course, by the time she had emerged with what she had set out to retrieve—a few containers of boiled and salted edamame—Xuan-Yu was gone from the mess hall, no doubt already making his way to the hangar. Not wanting to be left behind, the half-Korean woman quickened her pace, plastic containers somewhat precariously held in the bags she was carrying in her hands.

Whether it was by good fortune or speed that she managed to catch up with the other Pilot in time before he left didn't matter so much as the fact that he was still present in the hangar. Though only slightly out of breath, Elise made her way over to where Xuan-Yu was and gently placed the bags in hand next to the beer...

Only for Xuan-Yu to comment on her appearance. At that, Elise glanced down at what it was she was wearing and considered where it was that they were supposed to be headed before a blush of embarrassment crossed her face.

"Ah... Right. I'll go change, if you don't mind waiting," she said, rubbing the back of her head as she stepped off of the aircraft. As she turned to go leave, though, the young woman ended up face-to-face with Louisa... Who, given her words, was possibly misunderstanding the situation.

Or not. Given how she had already been off the mark with one assumption for the day, doing so twice would likely be little more than folly.

"I... Don't believe you'd be interrupting anything?" Elise said before promptly slipping past her co-worker and heading towards the door, "I'm just going to be right back. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes, I think?"

At the very least, swapping her shorts out for a set of jeans and getting a jacket to wear over her shirt wouldn't take too long, right?

@VitaVitaAR@ERode@Laduguer

---

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

---

Teodora watched on, head tilted slightly to the left and still ready to call a medic, as Pyra seemed to have calmed down and the anger had drained out of her. The Japanese-Turned-Greek returned to watching the projections of her holo-glasses, murmuring. "I... just don't like loud noises..." Teodora quickly replied. "Loud noises?" She blinked a few times, still not entirely getting what Pyra was talking about, what's with her focus being on whether or not Pyra needed immediate medical assistant. A few more seconds passed before something finally clicked in Teodora's head. "Oh." She lightly bumped her right fist down on the palm of her left hand, looking upward as if at an imaginary floating light bulb. "Oh my, I see. Ahahahaha. Well~"

Teodora then lightly tapped the top of her head with her right fist, tongue sticking out slightly and winking one eye. Her cheeks turned bright red as she now fully realized that, no, Pyra didn't need medical attention at all. She was instead surprised because of Teodora's loud squealing. "Tehe. Soooowwy, really. Hehe... Oh my, this wasn't even the first time this kind of thing happened~" She giggled lightly before continuing. "I swear, I didn't do it to surprise you on purpose or anything. It's kind of a reflex reaction for me! Like, I'm a rather loud and excitable person by nature, fufu. It was sooo extreme that even my Echidna infection was kind of caused by that, you know!" Indeed, just a few seconds had passed and she had quickly started speaking excitedly again with her voice slowly rising in volume. She quickly caught herself though, putting both palms to cover her own mouth.

"Whoops. Ehm, hehe. Anyways, yes, I'm so sorry for squealing like that so near to you, dear Pyra. I know that it can be quite annoying for some people... I'll try not to do that around you, promise!" She gave a thumbs up at Pyra, smiling widely. Then, her eyes flicked toward her trio of parfaits again. Unable to resist the sweets, she promptly returned to eating them. This time trying, with mixed success, to not be too noisy while doing so.

"Alrighty, leave it to me!" declared Hoshiko cheerfully as she practically spun in place to head back to the kitchen. It definitely smelled like they were making karaage today. The brunette's mouth was practically watering at the thought of the crispy, delicious, juicy fried chicken. But first, she had to get some for Xuan-yu and Elise.

Where were they going, anyway? If either of them had mentioned, she hadn't overheard. Even as she picked up the biggest boxes of karaage she could, scooping them into her arms, her mind was elsewhere. Were they going out to to do some sight-seeing? Then again, this seemed like an awful lot of food and alcohol for that. No matter how much Hoshiko liked eating, she knew it would be difficult to walk around and manage to eat this much food. Just carrying it all was plenty to deal with. So maybe they had a destination in mind? Were they just going to hang out, or was something else going on?

Hoshiko really was curious, even as she headed down from the cafeteria to the hangar.

She spotted Xuan-yu, with Elise no-where in sight for the moment, leaning against one of the AI-controlled aircraft that was deployed to get people to and from the Horizon.

"Heeey! Lang-san! I've got-uwaaah!"

Hoshiko's fought caught on something she hadn't seen over the boxes as she attempted to take a step. Stumbling forward, she found herself toppling over, the boxes tipping with her.

Through a stream of panicked thoughts at the idea of tipping all the karaage all over the hanger floor, a single clear course of action manifested in her mind. She had to do it, in order to save as much of the delicious fried chicken as she could!

Thrusting her foot out, she slammed it down, curving her spine back as much as she could to straighten her upper body, the boxes practically bouncing in her grip as she caught herself mid-step.

"SAFE!"

@ERode@PKMNB0Y

Working off of a timer as she was, Elise wasted no time in making her way back to her room and changing into something a bit more suitable for the weather outside. As comfortable as her current clothes were, walking out in a spring night with them—delivering a bunch of goods to the soldiers below, no less—seemed both stupid and tone-deaf.

Making sure to don a light windbreaker before she left, the half-Korean girl quickly ran back towards the hangar, where it seemed that Xuan-Yu had decided to not simply set out without her. Of course, Hoshiko's delivery would likely have played a part in that decision, given how she had brought over actual food instead of snacks, but ultimately the reason mattered less to the Pilot than the result in this case.

"Sorry for the wait..." she said as she re-entered the room to hear Hoshiko's scream of triumph over... Something or another. With an expression of confusion plain to see on her face, Elise turned towards the source to see the younger Japanese girl in what felt like a somewhat uncomfortable position with the boxes of karaage stacked in her arms.

"...Need some help?"

Without waiting to see if the girl would even accept (which, all things considered, she likely wouldn't if given the chance), Elise quickly walked over and slid a few boxes off of the stack that Hoshiko was carrying into her own arms before placing them with the rest of the food and drinks that were being prepared.

"Good to see I made it, though," she said, deciding to take a seat as the rest of the food was loaded onto the aircraft. "I'm ready whenever you are."

---

Once everything had been loaded on and the people who had decided to tag along had entered, the hangar's door would slowly open and allow the aircraft to slowly lift off and depart the ship. Ordinarily, one would have expected the door to have not opened at all and their efforts denied, but it seemed that there was at least one other party sympathetic to what Xuan-Yu had intended to do.

The flight towards the secured zone, unexpected as it was, immediately caused a buzz within the JSDF forces below. Though there were still a few patrols milling about, most of the group was concentrated within the camps in the center—likely in part due to the security cameras installed in the region to allow them to monitor the area without worrying about losing good men and women to any stray Warped that had somehow managed to escape the last few sweeps of the region.

Once the aircraft was brought closer to the ground, though, the Pilots within would be greeted by a man in his late fourties, his brow furrowed as he stared at the group as his suit and tie were buffetted by the wind. Once it had landed, though, the clearly-irate man decided to simply speak candidly towards the group.

"I didn't hear anything from the commander about further reinforcements," he said, glancing at the group and what they were wearing. "Is there something that you need?"

"Ah... Well, not that we need, no, but—" Elise began to say, only to be promptly cut off in turn.

"Then I would recommend you head back. We are in the middle of a military operation, after all, and so—"

"Takemiya-san? Is there a problem?"

Just as he had been cut off moments before, the voice of someone else cut through the conversation. The source—a young man with light brown hair—quickly ran over once he saw exactly who the man was talking to.

"Oh, you're the Pilots they asked to help with the operation here today, right?" he asked, a bright smile on his face as he looked at the group. "I'm Kougami Akio, a Frame Pilot working for the JSDF. I didn't get to see you guys in action since I was assigned to help with the other offensive to the north, but everyone's been speaking pretty highly of you since I arrived. So... What brings you here?"

Compared to the more taciturn response of the other man, Akio's demeanor seemed a bit less standoffish—and given how 'Takemiya-san' had chosen not to respond, maybe this encounter would be in their favor.

@ERode@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer

Wait, Elise was actually going to get changed? Xuan-Yu rolled his eyes as she turned to leave, still rocking his own t-shirt and sweatpants combination. Maybe he just…won’t expect her to be able to pick up any zingers from now on. What a serious kiddo. He scratched his head as she went off, leaving him with Louisa, who also seemed more than a little confused.

“Naw, three’s a party n all,” Xuan-Yu replied. “I’m sure the folks downstairs wouldn’t mind seeing another pretty face either.” Verdict was still out there whether Lou was pretty, of course, but that wasn’t the sort of jab he was planning on throwing right after a fight. Whatever thoughts he had, however, was disrupted by the near-catastrophic entrance of Hoshiko. The older man grimaced at the way she contorted her body in order to stabilize the boxes. At his age, considering his occupation, he was already feeling the youthfulness seep out of his own spine, so to watch that happen, her lower back bending out almost like a ‘C’ was painful, to say the least.

He let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, before helping receive the boxes of fried chicken with Elise. “Careful with your feet, wrecking ball,” Xuan-Yu said. “Don’t wanna be that top-heavy yet.” With the VTOL loaded up and the others ready enough to go, all that remained was the hanger door. There was a spot of tension, of course. A hanging question mark as to whether the door would actually open or not, but Xuan-Yu was willing to take a hit his cross-country brothers: if it didn’t open, it would open once Deathstalker kickstarted it.

So they descended, the floating elevator taking the most direct route to the airfields that had been cleared out by the Japanese forces beforehand, with Xuan-Yu doing his due diligence with announcing codes and locations beforehand. With new advancements in how scouting functioned in the post-Warped world, security cameras being around the perimeter and surveillance drones being used to establish wider autonomous patrols meant that most who were on-duty and off-duty were more or less concentrated in the same camp. Convenient enough for his own purposes then. Night shifts were shitty enough.

And of course, the first person they met was in fact quite shitty!

While Elise fumbled with the introduction, Xuan-Yu opened up the back of the aircraft instead, allowing just a whiff of the still-warm chicken to waft out. He poked his head out from behind the VTOL next, a sardonic grin on his face. “Evening motherfuckers. The girls made too much chicken and no one even drinks up there. Airsickness and all, yeah? Anyhow, the big boss had the bright idea to send ‘em off to the troops here, and here we are. Also super awkward to have just bounced the moment the operation ended, even with commander’s orders n everything, so these lovely ladies here wanted to shake hands and chat with the boys too.”

He shot a wink at Elise and Louisa.

“Anyhow, that’s the gist of it. There a kitchen you’ve got for me to set up and portion things out in? Ain’t enough to feed the whole army if it’s a first-come-first-served deal, y’see.”

Norika watched the others. It was good to see that they were in high spirits. Despite their differences, they seemed to gel well. However she still had her doubts about that pretty-boy Xuan-Yu. While Fukada was someone Norika might lose her temper with, she seemed kind enough. Maybe a little stupid, but kind. Xuan-Yu was definitely the type she'd "accidentally" shoot out in the field if he pushed her buttons enough. The others, though, seemed to be good eggs. Kim, Faye, and Constantina were solid and dependable; she hadn't worked with Drakos enough to form an opinion; and though Constanza rubbed Norika the wrong way, she could tolerate her antics.

She ate slowly, wondering if she could get access to any of her teammates' files. It would be a concise way of getting to know about them more, and she wouldn't have to paste a fake smile on her face to talk with them. Definitely sounded like a win-win to Norika.

"You'll never make friends thinking like that."

Her mother's voice. Words came back on occasion, usually when Norika didn't want them to. But in this case she had a point. Once dinner was wrapped up, she'd go to the most approachable first.

_______________________________________________________________

Stepping out of the relatively cramped confines of the VTOL into the dark expanse of the army encampment, Louisa was now roughly 75% certain she hadn't third wheel'd her way into a date between Lang and Elise. Although, either way, she thought, with Hoshiko there, that would make a fourth wheel. Wouldn't that make our social vehicle that much more stable? Maybe that isn't how the analogy is supposed to work. Wait, what am I doing...

Snapping out of it, Louisa realised someone had received them, and turned her attention towards the conversation as Akio began speaking. She smiled faintly as he spoke, feeling slightly overwhelmed and disappointed that her hope of relaxing with an after-work drinking sesh had manifested into... uh... more work. Still, it was interesting to return to something resembling reality, after what felt like far too long pinging between the two extremes that were the gratuitous luxury of the Horizon and the adrenaline-numbed madness of combat. Looking around, she felt strangely nostalgic, as the features of the evacuation camps she had spent most of her post-warped life in were recognisable all around her. The smell, the sounds, the constant juxtaposition people trying to feel at home and remain human in an environment that was by its nature transient and alienating. It had a certain 'soul' to it that was absent abord the Horizon.

On the other hand, the fact that a spartan military encampment on the frontlines reminded her of the evacuation camps - where thousands of civilians and their families spent years living - highlighted just how awful the situation had been for her back then, and how awful it continued to be for most people, and how absurdly fortunate she had been to randomly stumble into the precious security of the chi-mechframe programme.

As Xuan-yu finished speaking, despite feeling somewhat awkward about being associated with his very much no-nonsense introduction, she found herself agreeing - the least they could do for these people was hand out some god-damned fried chicken.

She bowed slightly - that's what you did, right? - and held out her hand to Aiko to shake it.

"I'm Louisa. Pleased to meet you, um, Kougami-san. Is it okay for us to be here?"

Though the man in the suit seemed less than pleased at Xuan-Yu's choice of language, the Pilot at his side seemed to be mildly amused at how things seemed to be panning out. The explanation that had been given seemed innocuous enough to him, and even if the higher-ups likely wouldn't have approved of this sort of thing, something like this—a taste of days since gone—would likely bring spirits up.

Or, well, so he believed.

"Well, my friend here is probably a bit too uppity to allow for something like this," Akio began, smiling as he clapped a somewhat-irate 'Takemiya-san' on the shoulder, "but as the person who formally outranks him out here, I'd say that a morale boost is just what the people down here need. By all means, feel free to set up what you need. I'm sure that some warm food would be a welcome change of pace—doubly so after staring death in the face, right?"

The man in the suit seemed unable to actually speak up against his 'superior' and his okay, stickler for the rules as he looked to be, and after biting his tongue to refrain from attempting to argue back chose to take a step back from the aircraft and bowed.

"Takemiya Shinji," he spoke through gritted teeth. "We shall be in your care."

Choosing not to push the man's buttons any further, though, Akio simply walked over to where Xuan-Yu was waiting and took in a whiff of the food before smiling.

"Fast delivery, I'd say. All right, I'll lead you over to the kitchen crew and send out a notice to everyone. We have roughly 50 people stationed here, us two included, so make sure to portion everything accordingly. Also, I see you have a few crates of beer here, too; I don't think I need to say this, but just so my second-in-command doesn't start breathing down my neck afterwards: try to keep from giving any one person too much. This is still a military outpost, after all, so I want everyone to be somewhat ready in case of an emergency order from base. If that's all, then I'll lead the way."

If there were no further questions to be asked, the brown-haired JSDF Pilot would promptly grab a box of the chicken and begin walking back towards the center of the camp. Shinji, it seemed, had already left—likely to convey his superior's orders to the rest of the on-site personnel.

Though surprised by how easily things had panend out, Elise simply shot another sidelong glance towards Xuan-Yu for his cover story before picking up the boxes of edamame she had left off to the side and following after.

Hopefully her co-worker's plan would pan out well enough...

@ERode@Laduguer

“Gotta love a strict hierarchy,” Xuan-Yu sang, not meaning a single word he had spoken. Sure, it worked out this time, with one superior being more lenient than the other superior, but there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to do shit anyways if he had to.

Didn’t need to in this case though, and it helped doubly that there were only 50 stationed here after all. Not exactly what he was aiming for, but on the other hand, it was substantial at least. Xuan-Yu flashed a thumbs up at the Japan-allied Frame Pilot’s directives, before moving to the back and hefting up the beers once more. Going after Elise to the center of the camp, where the temporary mess hall was established, Xuan-Yu stepped in, surveyed his surroundings, and then, just as promptly, kicked Elise and Louisa out.

Full of shit he was, he was also serious about wanting them to fuck off. It was after work hours, and they essentially came here under false pretenses and the promise of a drinking party. There was no reason whatsoever, then, to have them on the side of those who served.

And so, his domain established, Xuan-Yu made use of elementary school math to calculate the servings, made sure the trays of utensils and plates were ready, and got to work.

Word would spread in a bit, and once that happened, he’d be too busy to think.

Despite her readiness to actually do some extra work (that she, admittedly enough, hadn't planned to do that night), Elise soon found herself summarily booted out of the kitchen by Xuan-Yu. Though she had initially intended to argue about his choice of action at that point, the other Pilot seemed less-than-inclined to hear her out, much less let her back in to work.

It was irritating, yes, but ultimately there was nothing really to be done about that stubbornness at this point. The best she could do—at least, in this situation—was to speak with the other soldiers who had been drawn by the allure of food and drink to be had.

The praise from them towards her and her colleagues by those who came to eat was some small solace as she realized that there would likely be some sort of reprimand in her future, but to show such worry at this time would drag down the mood of the area.

The least she could do, then, was attempt to socialize—speak to those present and convey their thoughts to the others still on The Horizon after the night was done.

---

---

The Horizon had lingered another day or so in the skies above Tokyo, as per the details of their contract for the reclamation of Saitama, before promptly setting forth towards southern seas. The mission, after all, seemed to have resolved without a hitch, and without any immediate intent to reclaim more land and instead to stabilize what they had taken back, there was no further reason to stay around.

That, in other words, left those on board free to pursue other missions elsewhere in the world—or, at the very least, as free as the captain would dictate. With the success of their first 'proper' mission at their backs, other nations seemed inclined to follow in Japan's stead in enlisting their aid.

Which, in other words, left them where they were now. Efficiency was the name of the game now, and splitting up the Pilots and sending them out from there seemed like the best way to accomplish that.

---

The first stop after arriving in Australian airspace was the city of Perth—or what they could keep hold of, at least. With its (comparatively) closer proximity to the mainland, the city had been able to muster up enough resources to stave off the Warped, but that put it at equal threat to be invaded by threats that bled over therein. Though isolated from the larger cities on the eastern coast, the people of Perth had managed to hold on in spite of everything. The results were by no means pretty and they had by no means been able to thrive, but here they remained.

Of course, without any Frame Pilots, the city found itself at a loss with regards to how to deal with it's newest problem—a string of disappearances and murders that did not seem to be done by human hands. With law enforecement focused towards the external threats, the people in charge had decided it more prudent to cover the issue up and request aid in handling whatever it was that was threatening the city from the inside.

Whether or not that was a good plan, however, remained to be seen.

The only information that the three Pilots had been given to start with, though, were a series of locations at which the incidents had taken place and alleged times of death for those presumed deceased. The trends leaned towards the later hours of the day, which at least narrowed the timeframe down, but the locations, spread throughout the city as they were, seemed less than helpful.

@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer@Mole

---

With the threat of Warped higher the further away from the bastions of civilization, it would seem almost foolhardy to have been flown down into the midst of the sun-beaten brush. But a mission was a mission, and so the two Pilots had arrived thus; whether they wished to be here or not was another story.

An abandoned facility, not too far from where the aircraft the two had arrived in had landed, stood in front of them. Nature had begun to reclaim what was left of it, at least—as had the Warped which had undoubtedly taken root within. Their mission objective was simple—retrieve the core of an AI module located within the lower levels of the facility, along with any other things of interest they could find, before leaving. The first took priority above all, of course; given how it seemed to still be active in spite of the death of the people within (enough to send out a request for retrieval of its own volition), doing so could prove to be valuable.

Could, of course, was the key word here.

@ERode@JDubs

---

As far as punishments went, a verbal dressing-down and some supplemental work aiding the technicians on board for a day were far from the worst that Elise had expected to do, and in that regard it hadn't been too much of a loss to handle what they had been given to do. But with another mission on the table (and this one no less daunting than the last in her eyes), the young woman had no leeway to linger upon what had happened.

Not with the problem in front of them, at least.

It had been less than a day since The Horizon had landed in Sydney with the intent to recover, which had left her and her partners for the mission—Pyralis and Teodora—time to get a lay of the land. Ultimately, though, that meant that most of their time was spent near the coast.

After all, their target lurked within the waters nearby, not inland. A 'giant aquatic Warped', or so they had been told. Reliant on trade as the city was, losing access to a port was not something that they could afford—and with the Pilots here still in training, something of this magnitude had required external help.

In other words, theirs.

With a sigh, the half-Korean girl leaned on the railing in front of her as she stared out towards the ocean. Despite being marred by underwater barriers and blockades to impede the smaller Warped from catching them unaware, the harbor at least looked somewhat reminiscent of days gone by.

A moment of nostalgia, then, to take in the moment before they were to head out for the day for some more reconaissance. Ordinarily, sonar or radar would have picked up some trace of the creature terrorizing the bay, but the lack of any proper response on that front meant that they would have to do things the old-fashioned way.

Or, at the very least, by air. A boat in this situation seemed borderline suicidal.

@Izurich@Medili

@PKMNB0Y @Medili

After the misunderstanding was cleared, things surprisingly progressed quickly for the two frame pilots of opposite temperaments. The fact that Teodora went out of her way to explain everything and apologize cemented all but one path for Pyra to go to, anyone - including herself - could see that it'd be Pyra's fault now if she maintained her hostile disposition towards the older girl, not to mention delusional. If Teo was willing to accommodate her noise preference, then the least Pyra could do was do the same in return so they could meet at a sweet spot in the middle. Although it'd still be difficult for Pyra to be naturally comfortable around such boisterous people compared to being by herself, at least she and Teodora are cool now.

That said, the event turned out to be the best as Pyralis found herself being assigned in the same squad as Teodora and Elise this time around. Although the brunette was willing to postpone any personal beef with her squadmates during missions, it'd make things a lot easier if she didn't dislike any of them in the first place. Looking out towards the deceptively calm waters of the Sydney Harbor, the sea reflected in her blue eyes, the Japanese-Greek was well-informed that twas' a mere ruse for something sinister was lurking underneath the waves, this thalassophobia-inducing leviathan of the deep.

Therein lied one conundrum that Pyra had about this particular assignment. Her Chi-Mechframe was designed around incendiary attacks... and this creature was submerged in the ocean; although Infernus' flames were no ordinary fire, the fact remained that her weapons would be less effective against submerged targets. To make the most use of her dragonfire, she had to employ fast-moving projectiles, such as jets of flames to give the attack enough oomph to pierce through the water without letting the cold liquid doused too much of its power. This meant techniques such as Agni Enfilade and similar long-ranged arcing projectiles would be unwise to pick over its more direct fire counterparts such as Infernal Buster.

Regardless, she had a job to do and right now, it was scouting; an artilleryman needed to locate her target first before firing after all. Taking a step forward, Pyralis held out her left arm, where the wristband was latched onto her wrist.

"Infernus, ignite!"

A short baptism of fire later, an armored dress formed over the brunette's black leotard and a dragonlance on her left arm. Infernus immediately vaulted off the railings as feet-wings of flames carried her diagonally up into the air. "Conducting a scan on the perimeter now, over." Pyra reported as she began to do exactly that. She didn't expect this to be easy, but wasn't that why Horizon assigned three flight-capable Frame Pilots to the task?

She'd missed her opportunity. Norika had beat around the bush and failed to interact in any meaningful way with her fellow pilots. She'd tried, but each attempt had ended in some awkward conversation. "Nice weather we're having." "Been a long day." "Hey, you gonna finish that?" That last one had been spectacularly embarrassing. Asking Fukada if she was going to finish a snack was like asking if the sun was going to set in the west.

But life went on. Birds flew and fish swam. The Horizon left Japanese airspace and headed for a new location.

And now, here she was in the middle of Australia with Xuan-Yu Lang. Definitely not how she wanted to spend her day, but orders were orders. She'd remained silent when the orders were handed down, but once in the privacy of her quarters Norika had let loose a string of curses that would have made a sailor take notice. To say she wasn't very keen on this whole mission was an understatement. Once suited up and armed, Norika did her best to maintain a cold exterior.

Now, standing in front of some kind of abandoned facility, she was in a slightly better mood. The dry heat sucked, but the mission ahead seemed promising. Norika flipped her revolver open and began inserting rounds wider than her thumb into the cylinder. "Can I trust you to watch my back without tripping me?" asked Norika. Her tone had an icy edge to it. She still hadn't let their little interaction a few days ago go.

@ERode

“Please.”

And as always, the Chi-Mechframe responded, pulling Xuan-Yu beyond the reaches of humanity, dissolving his physical form into an existence that light could no longer catch.

Even in what accounted as ‘Northern’ Territory, Australian weather was the murky and unpleasant, the dry heat and the lack of shelter making it the sort of situation that caused an abandoned facility look almost like a welcoming place to be. Less welcoming was the fact that he was put on babysitting duty with a girl seven years younger temporally, and twelve years younger physically. He cast a glance towards Norika, already looking so tense and serious that it looked like a mockery of both those descriptors, before throwing out a nasty sneer at her comment.

Oh wait, no need to bother with facial expressions. She can’t even see him now.

“Yeah, go for it,” Xuan-Yu replied, making his steps loud enough to show that he was headed into the facility already. “Just don’t blame me when you end up tripping over yourself, Dulac. Heard coordination’s pretty difficult when you’re still growing.”

Really, this was the definition of a one-man job. Was ol’ Sandy feeling punitive, putting a sadist on a stealth mission and expecting him to leash her in?

On one hand, the dry heat both frame pilots were experiencing would begin to fade as they neared their destination.

Unfortunately, it was simply replaced by intense, oppressive humidity.

The northern portions of the Australian territories were considerably different from the outback's red sand-filled arid regions. Indeed, it could be considered to be nearly tropical in many regions, and in fact was home to a few rainforests as well. Indeed, the humidity was only growing as their surroundings became more and more flush with green.

Their destination was eventually visible.

The silver of steel. The grey of concrete. Some of it was visible, under the layers of vegetation and rust that had long since claimed the structure. It was a austere building, rectangular and grey. At least, it had been at one point. The entire front section of the research facility had been caved inwards by some tremendous force, scattered concrete and rebar laying all across the ground. This damage had allowed the plantlife to spread inwards with reckless abandon, groundcover sprouting all across the floor as vines spread across the walls, small saplings in locations that received enough light.

The structure certainly wasn't small, and apparently there was an underground section.

But navigating the forest that had reclaimed the facility's above-ground portion would just be the beginning.

At the very least, the birdsong that filled the forest indicated that nothing was disturbing the local wildlife. That, perhaps, would serve as an indicator of their solitude.

For the moment, at least.

The facility's reception desk was visible on further inspection.

A hallway choked with vegetation would lead them further inside.

@ERode@JDubs

_______________________________________________________________

Leaning out of the open window of the provisionary office, Louisa wondered if it was wrong that she felt... good? It was hard not to with the sun shining and the blue expanse of the ocean stretching out before you. It was the closest thing to a beach holiday Louisa had experienced since she was a child. Of course, it would take some serious mental gymnastics to describe what they were doing as anything close to a holiday, and Perth didn't look so great (where did?), but nevertheless it was good to get off the Horizon and get her feet on the ground.

She was wearing her usual get-up of grey fatigues, but had tied her jacket around her waist and was lounging by the window in a t-shirt.

"Alright... well, detective work isn't exactly my strong suit. But then it's not like we're trying to out-maneuver a criminal mastermind here, right? Whatever is doing the killings is just a... smarter-than-average animal. I mean, we know these things can be unnaturally good at staying hidden - that one back in Saitama had some kind of active camoflage, right? - but if this thing prefers to come out at night, maybe that means it doesn't have those kind of powers."

She waved her hand dismissively.

"Either way, it's a stealth predator, so I don't know if just going out and looking for it is going to work. But if we can figure out what's directing its behaviour, maybe we can trap it. I mean, it must have some objective, or else I would guess there'd be a much higher bodycount. It doesn't seem to be going on a killing spree every time the sun goes down. Can we... find anything out about who the victims were that might give us a clue?"

She shrugged.

"What do you guys think, anyway?"

@Mole@VitaVitaAR

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"Dear me, this is really different from what I remembered. Then again, last time I visited Sydney, there wasn't any monster trying to kill people or trying to infect them by getting into their mouth, fufu." Teodora was high up in the air, looking around the tremendously vast area that had became the mission location for her, Elise, and Pyra. Looking at it from where she were, it really put into perspective just how the Warped invasion had changed the world as a whole. This doesn't even feel like the Sydney Harbor... She thought in her mind, noticing the barricades and the lack of boats out in the open ocean. Of course, it made sense that the waters were abandoned, considering a supposedly massive leviathan was lurking out there ready to attack and destroy any seafaring vessel foolish enough to roam into its hunting zone. I wonder how this one is going to look like. A kraken? Moby Dick? The traditional hungry gigantic shark? Fufu~

"Conducting a scan on the perimeter now, over."

The voice over the communication channel got Teodora out of her musing. "Understood, Infernus. In fact, on that note... Supplice, moving in to survey the area as well." She took a deep breath in and out before turning her gaze toward the horizon far away beyond the ocean seemingly stretching into infinity in front of her. Then, she smiled confidently. Alright then! Time to find and fish out this monster of the deep! And with that the jet engines of Supplice's wings charged up, propelling her onward a moment later, leaving behind contrails to mark her path through the sky.

Teodora adjusted her altitude and speed. Moving at a comfortably slow cruising speed of 50km/h about 50 meters off the surface of the water, she kept her eyes open, focusing on finding any trace of the sea monster hiding under the blue waters.

Sandra Morrison had chosen the three flight-capable Chi-Mechframes that were also capable of long-range assaults for the mission, even if Infernus might not be as effective as usual due to the nature of the target. Regardless, now it was up to Teodora, Elise, and Pyra to prove whether Sandra had chosen the members for the mission correctly. And Teodora, of course, was fully eager to prove that they will indeed be able to nail the target and complete the mission just like they did with the last one. Then we'll all come back as heroes again! Fufu, I can't wait to finish this and enjoy some post-mission treats~

Traveling the world had never been a high priority for Seraphima. Living modestly on a monastery had seemed to suit her just fine. For a while, when foreigners came and tried speaking to her about their origins, she would use her hand as a make-shift map, with her memory as some type of invisible ink. Now, outside of the monastic life, she felt like a world traveler. Even if she had only been to minimal destinations this early in her Frame Pilot career, being below the equator gave her a tingle of curious triumph.

Although the new mission was happening so quickly after the last mission, Seraphima was looking forward to this one. Even after a year on The Horizon, she had barely made much small talk with the rest of the crew. Coincidentally, this reminded her of her first year on the monastery. She would just be recovering from a long fast and an abundant feast day — sponsored by the monastery when many pilgrims would attend the celebration — and suddenly, the convent was preparing entering another fasting period and preparing for another feast of the Church. She could never catch her breath, unlike Sister Susanna, who seemed to always have enough for constant laughter and joking.

Seraphima pondered how Sister Susanna was doing. Was she a Warped, now? She let out a small sigh and though if how she occupied her mind more with monasticism than she did her family, these days, despite having become a Frame Pilot for the sake of her family. Maybe, it’s because I am afraid of having to kill one of them… if they’re still alive. The thought lingered and slowly vanished.

She hated allowing herself the opportunity to let her emotions fall into a stupor. Stay focused on the mission, she reminded herself. It seemed like an interesting mission, anyways. It was different than simply blasting away at Warped, and she was thankful for this. Her mind shimmied away the dark cloud of emotions. Why can’t I be more like Sister Susanna… or… Teodora? The thought that the two were similar with high spirits had never crossed her mind. It was comforting.

Oh, Louisa is talking… Her fingers toyed with the wool knotted prayer cross around her neck. It was nubby from all the times she had used it on the monastery. It was like a worn out stuffed animal for a child, and she blushed before speaking, attempting to sound relevant. “Do we have any information on the targets?” She asked with a soft curiosity.

Glancing towards her two companions for the mission ahead, Elise took a deep breath to still her heart before activating her Chi-Mechframe. The mechanical equipment quickly formed around her body, and without any further reason to delay her advance, the half-Korean girl began to slowly float up into the air.

"Selene, moving out for reconaissance."

And with that, she was off.

The design of her own Chi-Mechframe prioritized stability over speed, and so unlike Supplice or Infernus, Elise had to move at a slower cruising altitude to search over the region. While the others went towards deeper waters in their search, she would remain somewhat closer to the harbor, attempting to examine deeper rather than wider in her sweep. The day prior had been spent scrutinizing the already-defended harbor and helping to fully secure it from any Warped attempting to push further into the city's lifeline, of course, which meant that today was the first day that they would actually begin to move into deeper waters.

The scent of the sea breeze would likely take a back seat to the three pilots, however, given their current goal. As much as a flight over open waters might have been a thought more reserved for days of relaxation, it was unlikely that taking in the scenery would be in any way smart.

With that said, if either of the two pilots further ahead took a moment to pause, the sight of an odd pulse of light from within the waters below might have caught their attention. Though the sun's rays did shine and bounce off the surface, the deeper waters below were blotted out—save for the occasional odd glimpse of that which should not have been.

@Izurich@Medili

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As the Pilots discussed the possibilities as to what could be instigating the incident, the person assigned to the case until then—a woman by the name of Sherry Brown—sighed and picked up a few maps from her desk and carried them over to the three.

"I've already done an analysis of the victims before you three arrived," she began, placing one onto the desk in front of the group, "and there doesn't seem to be any immediate link here... Or, well, at least in terms of the people themselves. Haven't gotten around to checking the data points other than the frequency of attacks where the deceased were, though."

After placing the other maps on hand in front of the three Pilots, Sherry stood back up and promptly returned—this time, with a stack of profiles on the deceased.

"Might go a bit faster if I'm not the only one working on this like they made me do for the past two weeks. Would it be too much of a hassle to start trying to sort what I've got here? Autopsy reports, addresses, all that other stuff... Maybe something'll come up?"

Sifting through that information could lead interesting places; varying (but subtle) differences between the bodies of the deceased, for instance. Some bereft of pools of blood beneath their bodies, other with limbs missing, some with both, even. Others, notes mentioning their supposed activities before their passing—some returning home after a late shift of work, others drunk on the street...

But no witnesses, and seldom any attacks to those who could have had some nearby.

@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer@Mole

Hoshiko wasn't sure what to think. She didn't understand any of this at all. Warped were attacking people within the city walls. Killing them.

A somewhat grim expression was on the girl's face as she considered that information once more. These people were supposed to be safe, and yet there were being killed in terrible ways. A part of her wished she already knew, so that she could have intervened before anyone got hurt. A part of her hated that it took this long for her to know.

The brunette took a deep breath, shoulders sagging.

"I don't really know what's going on, but..." she paused for a moment, glancing over the information again, "We have to stop it before anyone else gets hurt, so I'll do my best!"

Hoshiko raised one fist and clenched it in the air for emphasis, nodding to herself. But it quickly dawned on her that she had no idea where to start. She had to do something, but where did she even begin?

"Um... you said you needed addresses?" she asked, grabbing a map and spreading it out, "Tell me where they are and I'll start marking them down!"

Indeed, as soon as she was instructed, Hoshiko would begin to mark each address with a red X.

@PKMNB0Y@Mole@Laduguer

Norika had to bite her lip, otherwise she'd call the man's mother something... unflattering, to say the least. She drew her revolver and moved towards the door. There were signs of Warped around, but nothing indicating a major outbreak or something she couldn't handle solo. Still, it was always good to have an extra pair of eyes watching your back. She just wished it was literally anyone other than Xuan-Yu Lang. She moved inside the building, taking in her surroundings.

The place was being reclaimed by nature. Grass, bushes, saplings. But no sign of animal life, other than a rat sitting on the front desk grooming itself without a care in the world. Had the local rodents forgotten their fear of Man this quickly? It wouldn't surprise her. Norika lowered her weapon slightly. "No visual contacts."

@VitaVitaAR@ERode