Antwon sighed audibly, but controlled himself. He could tell she was way out of her element, but had at least the courage to speak first despite a crippling social anxiety. "So polite. Hope you're less timid in your suit."
"Eep. I'm sorry," she answered back with a whisper once Antwon spoke to the rest of the group.
The unpleasant looking boy turned out to be far worse than Elora imagined, and she braced herself like she was expecting a hit from him. She immediately regretted ever speaking up, and started to imagine all the horrible teasing she suffered back at Epsilon V repeating here. Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.
She then raised a hand slowly, and waited for her turn to speak. "My name is Sigma, pilot of Comet Sigma. I will be working with you people from now on. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The 15-year old monotonely droned, without even a hint of emotion or care in her words. Her sight rested on Elora, and then on the loud Antwon.
"Explanations should be on the operation manuals. I trust you have read upon then, pilot Antwon. We're pilots and soldiers, and when they tell us to do something, we simply obey. Does that explanation satisfy you?" The white-haired pilot said to Antwon.
Sigma also seemed like an unpleasant person, but at least she focused her attention on Antwon, ignoring her. Still, for a moment she could feel her un-approving gaze burn on her skin like a ray of heat. She was serious about this, and clearly didn't want to work with someone like her. Not that Elora herself ever wanted to in the first place.
By this time, the chatter had mostly tapered off and several of the cadets looked at the silent boy sitting behind them.
"Matsuda Takeo," he said, his cheerful smile never waning. He raised his free hand to wave. "You can call me Matsuda, or Takeo, whatever you feel like depending on which planet you come from."
Matsuda on the other hand seemed like the first person that Elora wouldn't have to fear, seeing as he was really calm and easy-going about the situation. She made a mental note to try and learn about him, since he could eventually teach her how to stay so calm. Of course, that would require talking to a boy, and Elora's shook her head a bit due to embarrassment.
Walking up to the group, he took the shy girl's hand without a word and gave it a kiss, looking back up at her with a mischievous smile on his face before he released it and turned to address the group as a whole.
"Eep!" Elora was startled by the very forward gesture one of the boys suddenly did, since she was deep in her own thoughts and didn't realize he came so close to her. She couldn't avoid looking deep into his eyes, and after seeing the smile the boy gave to her, she immediately covered her face with her hands, trying to hide how her face turned bright red like a tomato. She was embarrassed to have something like this happening in front of so many people. Still, it did take her thoughts away from the mock battle and the bully, and she honestly felt a bit better about herself, not that she could ever admit it.
"Hello there, beautiful ladies and gentleman involved in this conversation, my name is Ian Blackwood, my Framewerk is Anubis 14, whose main asset is high damage output frontlining and impressive speed and agility, the main drawback being a lack of defensive capabilities." Ian gave a bright grin to all those present, as well as a wink to the ladies present for added measure before he continued speaking, turning towards the other boy first. "Antwon, right? While I see where you're coming from, as I'm sure most of us have similar questions, the beautifully stoic Sigma here has a point that as soldiers, we aren't supposed to question orders. . . Buuuuuuut, that will only make you a goid soldier, and that isn't good enough for who we're going up against in the future. A great soldier is one who thinks and questions just enough to out maneuver the enemy, but not so much so that he's constantly doubting his motives and actions."
Once she realized that the crowd was focused on Ian, she lowered her hands back to her chest and listened along with the others, noting his Framewerk's specs which were easy to remember since they were basically opposite to her own. To an easily impressionable person like Elora, Ian's words sounded inspiring, and she was glad to know not all the confident people here were jerks about it.
Ian walked over to where Antwon was sitting above the rest of them, the smile never leaving his face. "Keep whatever questions you got, my friend, but save them until after the combat exercise. I'm sure they'll be more willing to answer your questions after you show them you're worth it. Oh, and don't judge Elora so quickly know, she's the most important member of the team. 'Any fight fought without information on the enemy will always be an uphill battle', a little quote my dad told me from time to time. Told me the thing about soldiers too." Ian stepped away fro, Antwon to stand in the center of the group, barely able to keep still with the amount of anticipation he was feeling, ge kept fidgeting with his hands as he begun to pace back and forth. "So, since we've got an hour to decide, do any of you have an idea on who should be our squad leader yet, cause I've yet to see any obvious choices myself. And who else is excited to get into their Framewerks, I mean, isn't it the best feeling in the world to pilot those things. My heart feels like it'll explode from the pure, adrenaline pumping, heart-stopping pleasure of it. Am I the only one who feels that way?"
Elora covered her mouth in reaction to her name being mentioned, and braced the quick looks she got from the others before they turned back to Ian. While she was flattered to hear she was the most important member of the team, she also feared that would result in the others wanting her to be squad leader. She thought for a moment about objecting to his praise, but was too shy to do so. She hoped the adults would make the decision separate of them.
“I’ll be sure to take that information and that arrogance of yours into account as I defeat you in the upcoming battle,” spoke Korie as they smiled a bit upon taking a sip from their coffee. “While it is true that we are all on the same team right now... we are all aiming for the goal of Squad Leader… something that I think neither you, Antwon, nor Elora here could handle based upon what I have just seen from your actions. We are fighting the Cruxi, an overwhelming race that has humanity backed into a corner and yet there are people here that are trying to get all the answers like they have earned them already.” It was clear that specific remark was directed at Antwon. Biting into their sandwich again and swallowing, Korie continued this time in a much softer voice, “Sorry for my rudeness, I didn’t mean to offend or interrupt anything, I was just talking aloud. Oh, I have forgotten to introduce myself; my name is Korie, Korie Ridley and I was born and raised for the most part on Earth until recently for the obvious reasons of working with you all.”
Giving off a warm smile, Korie drank some more coffee before tilting and looking off in some random direction. “I believe my Aester is still being tuned… You have all probably seen it as the White Framework on our way here as we passed the hangar, yes? Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing how your Frameworks fare in comparison to it.”
Korie didn't think she would be a good fit for being squad leader, and Elora sighed in relief. Of course, Korie also insulted her by saying that, but Elora felt that the pilot was just being honest, and she could only agree. Korie seemed to be another no-nonsense person like Sigma, but unlike her, Korie apologized. She wondered about what kind of person the pilot is, and when Korie mentioned a white Framewerk Elora remembered seeing one. It looked very impressive and state-of-the-art. Elora started to think at this point that if they were going to vote on their squad leader, her vote would go to either Ian or Korie, since the both of them seemed to know what they were doing, but they also weren't mean. Antwon then suddenly started laughing loudly, causing Elora to startle. She decided she would stay as far away from him as possible.
His hand reached out to grab Korie's chin, bring it around to face Ian's, then he kissed them.
Elora blushed at the scene, deathly afraid of making a single sound as she covered her mouth again. She knew it was impolite, but she couldn't help but stare at what happened. Does Ian come from a world where kissing is a greeting? Even the thought of it embarrassed Elora, and she cutely shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I have to leave," said Zan as he stood up, "My name is Zan Carter, I'll see you guys later." introduced Zan, who then left to start his daily training.
Elora didn't mind that Zan suddenly left from the group before she got to know him, in fact she was herself thinking about doing the same but was afraid to do so. Still, she was glad he gave his name before he left, so there wouldn't be any confusion later when the mock battle starts.
She looked aside for a moment, and noticed the pretty girl leaning against the wall, ignoring everyone else. She recognized her outfit belonging to idols, and wondered how a celebrity like her was there with the rest of them. She seemed to be in a bad mood, and fearing her possible scorn she stopped looking at her.
"Oh come oooon, fighting already? We're all pilots here!" She had the biggest grin on her face and hopped over to Antwon, clearly angry with all that's happened. "Heeeey. Come on. It's only the first day, No need for a frown. We're not supposed to be fighting ourselves, are we~?" ...And then Serah made her way back to where she was before opening her mouth again: "Oh uh, whoops! I guess I should introduce myself huh? Serah! Serah Gene! I pilot Atty, The red one in the hangar! ...Well... It's real name is AA-TROXX... But I like to call them Atty. It's a cute nickname!"
Serah seemed like a nice girl, and Elora was glad to see her trying to calm everyone down, since she knew she couldn't do it. Elora watched as she went to speak with Sigma. Elora wanted to join in, but she was too shy to. Besides, maybe they didn't like her, and would just tease her if she tried to be friendly with them. At least Sigma would, she thought to herself. Elora just kept looking at them, trying to build her courage up bit by bit.
