[IC] Chrome Nations

[Bell]

Tiger waited for the other two to walk before stepping in to comment quietly. "The other two won't admit it sir, but it's rather likely the Catalyst girl acts as she does because we didn't really treat her with respect from the start either. We treated her, well... Like a Catalyst. So how you say, we may expect the same in kind?" He saluted before turning to follow the others to prepare his machine.

Maria finished her testing of her machine before moving to the weapons that were packed at its feet. She ran diagnostics on them one at a time to make sure they were functioning right. Finally she finished, and unlike most of the other pilots that were running around trying to finish their tests before it was time to move out, she had plenty of time to just sit down. She sat at the feet of her machine on the edfe of the metal platformnit was mounted on. She kicked her feet back and forth and stared at the ground. She sure didn't seem the soldier type.

[Teach]

"Noted" Thaddeus said in a decidedly uncharacteristic relaxed manner. He acted that he didn't care because he honestly did not care. He didn't want do do anything that involved her and he expected reciprocity. The Catalyst where an unholy combination of alien and man. She was no exception, even if her banner was of the Talon. In the end he who wields the Devil's Sword will be slayed by it. Though now was a good time than any to make introductions.

He noticed that she was finished making her test and was now simply sitting around her mech. Did she not know she was in the middle of a war? When the gaze of the Lord falls upon thou, be sure thou art at prayer. There were plans to make, litany of battles to preach, hatred to form for the enemy! Plans were useless, but planning on the other hand was indispensable! Yes, of course the damn Catalyst should know that, Thaddeus thought. He was being hard on her, and he knew that. But he just didn't care.

Thaddeus went over to the platform for her mech and climbed the ladder up. Just as when he saw her at the distance, he saw her still just kicking her feet and staring at the ground. This angered Thaddeus to no end. At this point he wanted any excuse to be angry at this woman.

"Are you making prayers to the Lord or picking out your grave plot?" he said in a snide manner.

[Bell]

Maria did not look to the colonel. She kept going about her own business, which was apparently staring and kicking her feet. "If I die it will be in the seat of a machine where I will be left to rot and forgotten by those few who acknowledge my existance. The only grave I would be given is wherever I happen to fall when I die." She spoke quietly, though loud enough to be heard clearly. She understood her position well, and that of what those around her felt about her. After all, the only friends she managed to have were Wolf, Panther and tiger and it took quite a few missions of proving herself before they even achknowledged she was a living person. Then again, her idea of a friend was nothing more than somebody who didn't wish for her to die. A type of person that was hard to come by as an outsider in the Talon.

Her squad respected her ability to fight, and they had come to think more of her than the enemy they have to fight alongside. Still, their earlier treatment of her had clearly put a wall between them, one that Maria didn't seem content with taking down.

[Teach]

"If I ask a question, I expect an actual answer" Thaddeus stated. He noticed that she dodged his question, or at least he did not comprehend that she answered it in a different manner. He wanted to simply leave for he knew the risk of interacting with anyone. The more interaction there is, the more acknowledgment that they are human. Empathy is the worst handicap a soldier could have in Colonel Gaunt's mind. With empathy came hesitation and a whole host of other emotions to pour through such as despair, frustration, and anxiety. No, to acknowledge the humanity of others was the worst sin on the battlefield.

"I know only two things of you. That your name is Maria and that you are a Catlyst. I only needed to know one of those two things to pass judgement to you. And yet I find myself doubting" And It was true. After listening to what General Bishop and Tiger had stated earlier, he found himself doubting. He hated feeling doubt. He tried to transfer that hatred into her, but he found himself failing. When he first saw her, his vision was stained with a target scope. Now actually being next to her, he could see that she was a living breathing human being. And he hated himself for acknowledging it.

"I am Colonel Thaddeus Gaunt, callsign Chaplain 1. I have showed many of our enemies the burning radiance of our God . Prove yourself to the eyes of the Lord and you will prove yourself to me. Now what am I to call you? Or shall I simply refer to you as the Catalyst?" Even if he felt a tiny speck of empathy for her, he wasn't going to show it. He wanted to have at least a single shred of himself still.

[Bell]

Maria shrugged lightly. "That's what everyone else calls me as I'm nothing but a Catalyst here. I don't have a callsign other than that, or my name which nobody seems content to use." She thought for a moment longer before continuing. "Tiger calls me Cat, and so do Wolf and Panther sometimes. I guess it's short for Catalyst, but quicker to say in battle. It's not so bad I guess."

She had an obvious lack of protocol in acknowledging rank. Then again, people didn't really treat her as a soldier, but like an enemy civilian. Someone they hated and had no sympathy for, but weren't going to gun down themself.

A high pitched ringing seemed to grow in the camp, louder and louder until a dropship was seen escorted by four white fighters. The Catalyst ambassador had arrived, and that meant it was almost time to get moving. "That means it's almost time doesn't it?" She stood up onto the platform and looked up at her machine, and then to Gaunt. "Permission to gather equipment and prepare for deoyment?"