[IC] NCQuest: Favors for Favors (Taking new players)

[LHG100]

Just like every other day, it was a cold and snowy one in New Anchorage. During the migration, people were wondering how their lives would be like in this new settlement, built by their 'benefactors' at Volkov Security... which, most of the people, hated. It was a tense four months, but with the advanced, nearly-pre-war tech of Volkov, the new, independent township was nearly a fortress.

With blocky, modular, and gray structures all around the town, it was a bit hard on the eyes on an aesthetic level, but it worked. It was efficient, and easy as pie to repair. With the towns' new 'arch-enemy', the safety and durability of the housings for everyone was much more important then anything else.

The town, or, now a small city, was a planned, efficient, and logical series of roads, blocks, and buildings. The entirety of New Anchorage was protected by a single layer of sturdy and thick walls, made of concrete and reinforced by steel at key points. The tops of the blocks of rock and metal were lined with various defensive implements. Spotlights, sensor arrays, and a large amount of kinetic weapons, ranging from rapid-fire autocannons to a total of four turreted artillery guns.

New Anchorage was a bastion for its' people, and it would stand against everything, for them, for many years to come. Another layer of its' defence were all in a single, moving point. A small military truck, the sides of the back painted with 'NC Support'. Its' cargo was vital to the continued wellbeing of the settlement, and it was headed outside the young city.

Its' second driver looked into the back of the vehicle, seeing four total people. New Anchorage's NC pilots. Joe Verona, Percy Moore, Elizabeth Jackspar, and a new additions. A 'Jan Van Gent'. The three ones from the previous iteration were on the left-hand side of the transports' back, the two new pilots were on the right-hand side.

Alexandria, the second driver, said hi. "The Gang's all here, it looks like."
The one actually at the wheel, most know of him as 'Slinky', interjected before Alex could continue. "Yep. It's odd how we have two guys with 'J' as their first initial. The two 'J' team, that's hysterical."

"So, what's your story, 'Jan'? It's just tradition for us to get to know each other. We're gonna be pulling you into and out of hotspots, so y'know."

"My story?" Jan said. "Well, I've been a drifter mostly really, going where the fighting is. Never wanted to tie myself to any of the big players. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with the corporations." He looked over everyone else in the truck. "I got roped into a contract by Volkov. Normally I'd refuse on principle, but with what they're paying... Let's just say it was an amount no sane man would say no to."

The woman replied to that, "So how much? And what the hell did the contract say? Oh noes, you're not sneakretly a spooky spy meant to doublecross us or anything, are you? that'd be way too spooky."

'Slinky' had to snort. "Pfft, Volkov... how can you stand them... Well, I suppose when they give you a ton of money, or maybe a small city for you and your people to live in, I guess they're not so bad. Hah."

"Trust me ma'am. I have a list of all the previous people I've worked for or with... and I can assure you they'll have mostly positive things to say." It was his standard response to people apprehensive of him due to his unreliable-seeming nature. He had learned early in his career that having references was a good counterargument to that.

"Well, I guess I'll be happy to work with you on that note. Us two transporters used to be with Denver-Vegas. We used to pilot one of their superheavy transport choppers for NC's? Some idiot made us go on a suicide mission, and when we survived that shit we decided to go on our lonesome ourselves. Heh... the funny thing is, we're gonna get another heli just like the one we had when we get to the NC hangar. The higher-ups managed to convince Volkov to 'gift' one of their famous ones."

Alexandria seemed to zone out for a second before speaking again. "..Bill, are you okay? You never talk this often. Is something up your ass?" "Impatience." "Ah, getting excited?. Slinky nodded. He then did a head tilt towards Jan, and Alexandria seemed to get a message through it, somehow. "Holy fuck, he never got an answer! Jan, you need to tell us..."

Slinky, AKA Bill, finished for her. "When you're on a mission, how do you shit? Is there like a tube that goes up your ass in the chair if you need to take a dump?""

Jan took a moment to process Alexandria's question. He then burst into laugther. "Right... I think I'm going to enjoy working with you people." He then produced a manual. "page thirty-five, second paragraph... never bothered to read it myself because it seemed like pointless knowledge."

[Ladypug]

Percy was simply watching and listening to the group talk amongst themselves - just like before. His thoughts were focused on his daughter and the stress she had previously went through. If anyone happened to be paying attention to him in that moment, they would have seen it on his face. Nothing can really hide the concern of a father.

He listened more intently when the two drivers had Jan explain that he's basically a mercenary tagging along for the ride. What a joke, he seethed wordlessly. Just doing this for the money, all for your own selfish gain. Prick. He looked down to his feet, trying to hide the disgust on his face.. He wouldn't admit this to himself, but he's not completely just either. He came into this for the same reason - money. But it's for his kid.

"What's your deal, 'big P'?", Alexandria inquired, while looking at the rear-view mirror, specifically at Percy. "Thinking about deep things?"

Percy jumped slightly when he heard Alexandria's voice. When Alex continued to look at him, he first went to respond, but decided it was better to just shake his head so then his honest feelings didn't just spill out in front of the people that are still practically strangers to him.

"So. ... How's Ana doing?"

"How do you think she's doing?" Percy asked shortly - she obviously just pushed a button.. and not a good one.

"Well, considering it all, probably a bit shell-shocked. Damn, how old is she? And she's already going to have nightmares about things... I feel sorry for the girl."

Percy couldn't believe the nerve of this bitch. How dare she- Percy snapped, "Well, it's not my fault-" he had to force himself to bite his tongue - figuratively, of course - before he could finish that thought completely. His jaw was tense from where he was clenching his teeth together to keep himself from saying exactly what he thought of all of this.

"Well... think of this as... a bit of a new beginning. Your NC, Joe's, and Elizabeth's all had upgrades. With those, you'll probably be able to get some payment from whoever orchestrated that. Plus, you have seen the 'outskirts' of the city right? We have gigantic walls, and they're covered in turrets. I think we won't have to worry about that happening again for a long time."

Tell that to my kid, jackass. Percy's facial expression just showed just how done he was with this conversation.

"Alexandria, you should shush. Just her way of saying sorry about what happened, Percy."

Percy's expression softened, but only slightly. At least someone has a little bit of sense in this insane world.. next to himself, of course.

"So.. this gonna be an awkward drive of angst, then? Thanks Alex, how thoughtful. If you guys don't give a shit I'm gonna put on some Midge Ure. Well.. a cover of another song, but whatever."

"Why do you love that stuff? Can you at least put in earplugs?"

"Sure thing."

Bill plugged in some earplugs and stook one in his ear. Some sweet musics could be very faintly heard, if you believed hard enough. Amusingly, Bill slightly moved, hummed, and sometimes mumbled along to the song."We never lost control..."

[Natsucooldude]

Jan looked around the transport. Yes, he had already made acquantance with the transprt personnel, but it couldn't hurt to buddy up with the people he would be depending on in the field proper. "So, now that I told my story, why don't you all share a bit about your own past? It'd be a good conversation point to start off with." He looked at his colleagues expectantly. Surely, they wouldn't mind having him around once they got to know him.

[Ladypug]

Percy's barely known this guy (Jan), and he's already grating on his nerves - what he'd give to just sock him right in his stupid mouth.. But he just forces himself to exhale. The nerve of the guy asking them to just spill their life stories when they barely fucking know each other anyway.. Yeah, it'd be a way to get to know each other, but that's just too intimate to share with the people that are still basically strangers. If one of them did start to just spill their hearts out to this dope, he tuned it out and took more interest in his jacket's zipper than whatever information is being disclosed.

OOC Comments

The opinions of Percy are not my own - I am very much interested in the life stories of these characters, as told by these characters. XD

also wow I feel like this post is WAAYYY too short. XD

[M127]

Joe pretty much stayed quiet the entire time. He would only respond to questions directly directed at him, as trust on the field usually comes from the situation and not previous experiences, at least in his opinion.

His eyes were staring into the distance, unfocussed, but still ready to notice anything out of the ordinary.

[LHG100]

Inside the semi-underground NC facility's command room, a small group of people were asking a single woman questions.

"So... you're the one that was pointed to us, miss? Very interesting profile, you have.”, a middle-aged woman , obviously the boss asked. ‘Sophia’, the ‘commanding officer’ of New Anchorage’s NC operation.

“Stein.” The blonde-haired girl replied to the first portion of Sophia’s dialogue, as if interjecting in a “This is my name, by the way.” manner.

“Is it?” The reply was blank, almost robotic as the blonde-haired girl looked toward this… ‘commanding officer’ of this backwater outpost as she mentioned Stein’s profile despite the fact that such a profile “officially didn’t exist anymore” and she only had a fringe reputation from her enemies and rivals now. The former Volkov soldier wasn’t sure if she should’ve been thankful for her situation here in New Anchorage, but it was partially true that without them she’d be still working on repairs of her NC after the battle she faced with her… former comrade.

”I apologize for your situation. Must’ve been difficult having to handle. In any case, let’s get down to the thick of it; Our terms are that you officially join our organization as an NC pilot, and in return, we’ll give you a place to stay, compatriots, and a mission to do. You’ll be able to pick which specific missions you wish to partake in, and we’ll give you a very fair cut of each contract's’ award."

“That sounds agreeable, but given my situation I don’t have a lot of alternatives.” Stein looked down to the ground for a minute, thinking over if she should outright thank them for what they did or not. Formalities were something she was barely used to; at least beyond the typical “Affirmative, sir.” and “Negative, sir.” machinations that had been a part of her life for the greater part of a decade.

“I owe you a degree of debt for your help, so it makes sense that I accept.”

”Yes, it only makes sense. Well, we aren’t the type to make you sign a formal written agreement or any of that crap, so… welcome aboard. We have a transport with your most direct allies already headed for us, they should arrive very shortly., Sophia quickly explained. She easily wasn’t one to linger too much. ”I suggest you head out and let my assistant here show you how everything works. Matthew?”

“Yes ma’am, affirmative. Ms. Stein, please follow me. I’ll show you around and introduce you to your team-members when they arrive. As stated, we’ll give you your own residence on-site and explain how things will work. Please follow me to the briefing area.”

“Lead the way.”

The two went away from the command room, and down the hall connecting it to a small hub area. Matt turned left, and into a door labelled ‘Pilot Briefing Area’, opening it to a decently spaced , well-lit room with a seven-seat square table in the middle. On the opposite wall of the door was a large projector screen , currently showing a generic outline of New Anchorage itself, with areas labelled with what they were.

It soon came apparent, the speed and efficiency of Matthew’s tongue was particularly impressive. In seconds, “We have it defaulted to New Anchorage so it’s very quick to give the details when it’s… under siege. Again. We have seven seats, five for you NC pilots and two for your transport team. Bill and Alexandria, very skilled helicopter pilots and drivers. Obviously, here you’ll see what missions are available and the details of each, such as enemy types, suspected ‘hiccups’ and repair cost allowances. If we detect your NC has reached a certain ‘limit’, we’ll take you out of the combat zone.”

He continued after exhaling, then inhaling. Rapidly, “We’ll also give you documents on ‘larger’, multi-deployment missions if necessary, and, if enemy NC’s are a likely suspicion, we’ll additionally give you anything we have available, such as psychoanalysis files, history, notable events where they took part, et-cetera. If you’re unsure about anything in the mission and require more in-depth information, the Captain will likely give you anything she personally knows of, and we can produce any related files.”

“I see. I will have to adjust accordingly.”

“Would you like to see the NC Hangar or on-site residential area next?”, Matthew then inquired. It was amazing how fast this fellow could speak.

“I would like to see where my NC has been moved, I need to run diagnostics on your repairs of my systems; to see if they were adequate.” Stein seemed particularly unfazed by Matthew’s quickness in conversation, apparently more concerned with her NC in particular. Though after the damage she had and not completely understanding the skill level of this operation led by Sophia it seemed like a sensible decision.

“Very well.”, with her answer, Sophia’s assistant then led her through a winding path through a series of hallways, into one of the few steel security doors. He input a card into a slot, then retrieved it as the door opened. The two went into the massive room, where five large doors on the ceiling, with NC-sized elevating pads, and the NC’s on them were located. Technicians could be seen working on each NC, the most situated on the fifth, the heavily beaten up ‘Little Dragon’ The first was a solid white, winged machine that was obviously a jet with legs if anything. The second was a walking tank with a huge reserve of visible missiles, the third a simple machine with a rifle and a strange shield contraption, and the fourth had hussarian wings on its’ shoulders, that on closer inspection were mounting points for two large autocannons. It didn’t hurt that the thin machine appeared to have a large energy weapon in its’ hands.

“What experience do the other NC pilots have?” The question was delivered like a statement; the idle inquiry occurring as her eyes glossed over the multitude of NC’s before them.

Pointing to each pilots’ respective Neural Combatants, “Joe Verona was a skilled machinist before joining up and is now an electronic warfare and missile-based munitions specialist who can think quite quickly on his feet. Elizabeth Jackspar is a highly skilled close combat specialist with good reaction time and Synchronization ratio, and is adept at evading most enemy attacks. Percy Moore is… the weakest link, but is very determined due to personal reasons for joining. Jan Van Gent is a mercenary who Volkov sent to assist our efforts. He appears to be very loyal and is a good front line fighter.”

“So only one of them has military experience or records? What is the accumulated time in-machine?” Stein’s tone shifted to one of disappointment as she picked up on some of the information this assistant was telling her. A machinist?— was Sophia absolutely insane putting people like that on the line?

“...I believe it’s close to sixty-to-eighty for Verona, Jackspar, and Moore, and closer to seven-hundred for Jan Van Gent?”

The blonde-haired pilot raised a brow, “Sixty-to-Eighty days or hours?”

“Hours.”

A somewhat awkward silence ensued.

”I have no words for….” Stein paused for a second, “...how long do you expect Van Gent to carry them?”

“Carry them? They may not have many hours in the seat, but they took on three Denver-Vegas ultra-heavy assault vehicles with minimal resulting damage and support. That definitely isn’t bad at all for people with so little experience. Not to mention actually winning against a duo of ace NC pilots, first mission. Of course, they were likely out of their element...”

”Your attempts at convincing me of their talent is admirable, but you must admit…. it sounds poor from a trained perspective.”

“Oh, it does. Natural talent can only do so much of course. I have faith in them, personally. Lady Luck blessed them plenty in my opinion”

”I don’t believe in superstitious folklore.” She stated as she walked forward towards the Little Dragon. She withdrew a toolkit from her belt as she began to run basic exterior diagnostics. As she did so she began to wonder the odds of survival with such a group; especially if they depended on a thing as ‘luck’. Stein was taught to only believe statistics as matters such as faith and hope were crutches only the weak relied on.

“When will they arrive?—or are they here already?”

“Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.”

“Good, that is ample time for me to revise your repairs on my machine and help your engineering staff bring it to combat condition.”

“Very well, best of luck. Your private dormitory space is located down the hall, first right, then the fifth left.”

“Noted.”

“If you have any more questions, I’ll be in the briefing room preparing a contract presentation.”

[Mcmolly]

Eli normally would have kept quiet. Last time they'd had a ride like this, she'd done her due diligence and given her side, however now it seemed like no one else was going to speak. Joe she wasn't surprised with, the man was more stone than flesh for all she knew, but Percy's silence came off as odd. Though she supposed she didn't know him well enough to really say, he did seem...off, on a thinner wire so to speak. The reasons didn't concern her, he was an adult and he could manage his own issues, she was sure, but it did leave the new-blood's question unanswered. Taking Joe and Percy's liberties, she addressed Jan.

"We're from Smith's Rest," she began, motioning to each of the others as she named them. Percy Moore, Joseph Verona, and my name is Eli."

Satisfied with her response, she settled back into her seat. Having to bridge conversational gaps wasn't her forte, nor was it something she enjoyed, but she figured it worked well enough.

Her thoughts returned to past battle, mulling over the mysterious NC "savior". The word left a sour twinge on her tongue and she hadn't even spoken it, she would not call some mercenary their hero. Were his combat skills impressive? Certainly. Did he assist in the protection of Smith's Rest? Of course. Did that make him anything more than a potential threat? No. The man, whoever he was, was dangerous, and the knowledge that they would encounter him again settled like a rock in her stomach. The more she thought about the fight, the way they'd all been taken down, how her heart leapt into her throat when Blur plummeted, the more her ambient memories turned bitter. Eli found herself, in the end, more frustrated with the mystery NC than angry with the attackers, not that she would ever voice it. Still unsure of where she stood with the Captain, she thought it best if, for the time being, she kept her actions strictly professional and by-orders.

So instead her thoughts went to Vera, returning to what was left of the Hangar to find the girl huddled and clutching the revolver had shaken Eli more than she'd ever admit. Of course, Vera had almost effortlessly bounced back, all smiles and pride by the time the migration began. It was likely the girl was either already at the new base of operations, or was preparing to leave for it, given her "assistant" status. At least at the end of the horridly cramped ride Eli could look forward to that.

Trying her best to keep her mind on lighter thoughts, Eli opted to spend the rest of the ride in relative silence.

[LHG100]

The NC pilots' transport began to slow down as it reached a relatively unassuming, circular structure a quite far ways away from New Anchorage proper. The truck stopped at a checkpoint, and Bill gave an authorization code in a whisper. It then continued its' journey, stopping at a large door, which soon opened. The driver parked inside the structure, obviously an entrance into the actual facility which must've been underground.

"Well.. if it ain't obvious, we're here. Disembark, pilots. Get to it, a functionary will meet'cha.". After a few moments, all of the NC pilots were out. When they got inside the facility proper (going down a short flight of stairs, as the elevator seemed to be busy being serviced), they met a well-groomed, yet somewhat bland fellow who must've been the aforementioned functionary.

"Lovely to meet you, pilots. I'm Matthew, Sophia's assistant, and NA NC operation functionary. Please follow me and I shall show you around. We'll be going to the NC hangar first. Try to keep up." He spoke abnormally fast, and walked with high efficiency as well.

"Aren't there any signs showing a few ways around here?", Verona inquired.

"Oh, there are small maps and guide signs around the facility, sir."

"In that case, I'll be off to the briefing room. Have a good day, sir."

"Very well. Ms. Jackspar, Mr. Van Gent, and Mr. Moore, please continue walking with me." With no objections, the functionary and the other pilots continued their short tour and 'show-around'.

Joe made his own way to the facility's briefing room, using the guides and maps in every other hall. When he got there, he would've found Sophia standing near the table and shuffling through documents.

She seemed to notice his nearby presence without even looking in his direction. Dryly, "What is it, Verona?"

"Nothing, just waiting for the briefing, unless you have something specifically for me."

"Hmm...", Sophia looked up and towards Verona. Sophia seemed a bit icier then usual, which could be seen even by Joe.

"Don't get yourself killed out there? Pffha.. Aside from the obvious, I don't have anything to say."

Joe lifted an eyebrow at the sudden unusually cold coldness in Sophia's voice. "It would be detrimental to me, if I would get myself killed."

"Of course it would. In any case, the engineers have been making some minor improvements to the Swarm. You should run diagnostics with it. Get used to the changes."

"Thank you for the heads up. On another note, did the synch-rate test on startup get fixed in Swarm's software?"

"I apologize, what are you referring to-... Ah, yes, yes it was. Should be, anyway. Now get going, see for yourself?"

"I'll be back...for the briefing."

Joe headed for the hangar. As he did so, Sophia went back to what she was doing and scoffed a bit. "Never change..."

As Joe got inside the surprisingly large hangar, he could see the team's four NC's, his own standing proud... and there was a fifth one for some reason. It seems like Volkov sent another pilot? That wasn't in the memo. Technicians were crawling all over it, and some blonde woman was sitting on the NC's head upside down, running her own diagnostics it seemed.

Joe thoroughly examined the 5th NC, since it was quite unusual for memos to be outdated this quickly. His looks were quite noticable.

The apparent head of engineering, wearing a full-body, shock-proofed engineering suit for some strange reason, looked over at Joe, while standing under the fifth NC. He beckoned him to come over for a talk.

Joe did as asked, there was no reason not to. "Yes, what is it?"

An older male's voice answered, the lead engineer's face covered by the suit's welding-mask/helmet hybrid. "Verona, yes? Someone probably mentioned your NC had some minor upgrades, if not, now you know. Here to check on them, yes? If you're going to do that now, I suggest you should absolutely make sure all the missiles' safeties are on on your end. One of my wrench monkeys apparently damaged your fire control system, should be fixed, but check it yourself and all that. I'd do it, but... I don't exactly have a plug!", a slight chuckle ensued.

Joe audibly sighed: "Thanks. However, regarding you being unable to test, what about direct control via software?"

"... I seemed to have forgotten that exists... I've been doing physical crap too often, Heheheheh! Well, in any case, you need to make sure everything is working as it should from a pilots' perspective anyway. Before you trudge along, perhaps you should greet Ms. Stein up there?"

"Happens to all of us, and thanks again." Joe then decided to shout a little in Stein's general direction: "I was told to greet you, Ms...Stein!"

The blonde-haired girl looked away from the suit, shifting her view toward the direction of the shout and the newcomer. Was this one of the other engineers or one of the pilots she had been told about? She motioned a wave before she lifted herself back on top of the head of the bipedal tank before climbing down quickly. As she landed she lifted up her welding goggles over her bangs, her blue eyes looking closely at the person who required ‘greeting’.

“Consider yourself greeted.” She replied.

The lead engineer got back to work, a subtle shake of his head could be seen if you paid close attention. "Oh god, two people-machines? One would be enough..." he thought aloud.

Joe couldn't supress a grin at the lead engineer's reaction.

Stein looked at the engineer quizzically. “That’s absurd, I assure you I was birthed naturally.”

"...I said that aloud? Well... uhhhrm... Check on the Swarm already, Joe. And, continue running those checks of yours, Stein."

"Really now, head engineer? You were the one suggesting me to greet her in the first place."

"Well gee, I didn't know the both of you talking would just turn into a strange half-silence such as this. I thought you'd say hi and discuss NC piloting things."

“I could’ve done plenty of repairs in this time if I did not need to come down from my NC. Why did you waste my time, engineer?” Stein’s brows narrowed in irritation before making back for the top of her NC to continue her diagnostics and repairs.

Joe couldn't help but giggle a littlebit now. "I guess this joke was beyond you." Joe faced Swarm and started to climb it to enter the cockpit. If anyone, who knew Joe, would have been there, they might've found his reactions a littlebit...more intense than they used to be.

Joe ran diagnostics after plugging in. He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, aside of some of the names in the NC's list of components being changed, and it generally having improved statistics, such as available extra power and fuel storage. Seems like it really got a well-deserved renovation across the board. Out of pure interest Joe ran the now hopefully fixed synch test. Unlike before, the program didn't crash before it launched, however now it crashed after the test. "Error: NaN" 'I guess another fix is needed.' He thought.

[Natsucooldude]

Jan had silently followed along with the tour. The base seemed to be quite an adequate accommodation. To his dismay however, it seemed the other pilots were quite a close knit group. He just wanted to make sure they tolerated his presence. After all, he would depend on them out in the field.

It was when he came upon the hangar that he had an idea for a conversation piece. All of them were NC pilots, and it was likely easy to get them gushing about their NCs. It seemed of the group, only Verona was currently anywhere nearby, apparently running a full system diagnostic. He walked up to the foot of the machine, noting the rather large amount of launchers attached to it. “A preference for rockets I see!” He shouted up to the cockpit. “Can't blame you, firing and forgetting has a certain charm to it. I myself prefer to get up close and personal.”

He looked over to his own NC. Goldenspur had seen quite a lot of combat in its life. He quite remembered the day when it was basically a bunch of metal scrap held together by stubbornness and duct tape. It had come quite a long way since then. The hussar wings gleamed in the white light of the hangar. “Read about some ancient warriors named winged hussars in a history book once. Scary people, routed entire armies with their daring charges.” The decals had cost him a fortune, but it quite helped to have a touch of glamour to one's rig as a mercenary. It quite helped to make a positive first impression on potential employers. “Decided to take after them purely on a whim... It worked out seeing as I'm still standing here.”

All this looking around the hangar made him notice one more thing... there was an NC here that didn't belong to anyone he knew of right now. And it was being piloted by someone he hadn't yet been introduced to at all.

[Gowi]

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STEIN KALFOX

_{“Greed is so destructive. It destroys everything.”
E A R T H A K I T T}

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MECH HANGAR - NEW ANCHORAGE

Stein Kalfox felt agitated as she got back to work on her NC, pulling the goggles from over her bangs to back over her eyes before tapping a switch on the side of them to activate their sensory array that connected itself to the readings of the NC itself. The “Little Dragon” had seen a lot of action in the past, but she had never gotten blindsided like she had when her newfound commander ‘rescued’ her from death— a fact she was surprised hadn’t been held over her head and used to force her in as a pilot for their interests. A light breath escaped her as she retrieved her toolkit from her belt once again and began doing whatever work that she had missed out on with the pointless conversation the head engineer had basically forced her into having to only mock her blatantly.

“Tch.”

The annoyance would fade with time, but if she was to be fighting with amateurs no matter how “talented” they were— she was going to make sure she was at maximum capacity as per possible. She sighed deeply as her thoughts going back to the fight was still resounding with more and more questions.

We have to put you on probationary status pending an investigation we are not at nature to speak about.

All company resources will be suspending for this duration.

The timeline of this investigation will be unknown so you should look for independent contracts in the meantime.

The price of the NC will be deducted out of your holdings account so you may be allowed to keep your personal NC.

Stein gritted her teeth as the words cycled in her mind as if reminding her of her situation. She was broke, homeless, and stranded. Even if she hadn’t been nearly killed and her NC half-toasted, she would’ve been in a shit scenario and not any less furious. It frustrated that they hung her out to dry for whatever reasons the Board of Directors were investigating. All the blonde-haired pilot had were questions without answers and it all came back to her shaking her emotions ajar.

CLANK!

“Damn it!” She spat, loudly as she swung a wrench down against her NC— the loud CLANK of the metal meeting metal making an abrupt noise in the process.

[Mcmolly]

Eli stuck by the group for awhile, slowing when they entered the hangar. First she saw Blur, scanning it over at face-value, relieved that the damage had been repaired and even more, the upgrades seemed to be in place. She remembered the canon-backed NC, a scowl formed under her scarf; the next time she grabbed something, it would not be getting away. Secondly she noted the presence of the new NCs, satisfied that they all looked to be at least marginally capable of combat. She could only hope the pilots were equally up to the task.

When the tour brought them around to the barracks, Eli wordlessly branched off and made for her own designated room. If there was anything critical to be said in the tour, it would likely be repeated in briefing. For the time being however, she had more important matters to attend to.

"Lizzy!"

No sooner did she open the door was Vera leaping from the bed and latching onto her. Making sure it had first shut, Eli hugged her back, tousling the girl's shaggy hair.

"You've been breaking the room in I see," she said, glancing around at messy bed and clothes haphazardly hung up in the closet.

"It's great, way better than the last one! The bed's so comfy!" She broke from the embrace and threw herself onto the bed, bouncing from its springy nature. As Eli set her personal bag down, Vera rolled onto her stomach, legs kicking absently at the air. "So didja meet the other new pilots yet?"

Eli nodded, even if it was something of a half-truth. She'd exchanged words with Jan, which was more or less "meeting". Before she could give it too much thought, she caught the end of Vera's sentence a second time, and gave the girl a curious look. "Other?"

It was Vera's turn to nod. "Yup! One's been here for a bit already, I saw'er she's workin' on her own giant robot. Dunno her name tho', but you should go say hi! I bet she's been really lonely just doin' her own thing."

"Pilots have to work on their NC's now and again, I'm sure she's fine."

"Aw c'mon! She's really pretty!"

Eli cocked a brow at her, but couldn't help the smirk. She shed her overcoat, grabbed the tablet from her bag and started out. "I'm going to get something to eat, stay out of trouble, okay?"

Vera scrambled up, tying Eli's coat around her waist and plopping the ushanka back atop her head. She snaking around the older girl, then marched on down the hallway. "Fine then, I'll go talk to the new people and make friends instead!"

It took some restraint not to insist Vera not nose into the others' businesses, but more due to the fact that she had no idea what these other people were like. Percy was relatively harmless, and given the fact that he had a daughter, Eli doubted Vera would have any trouble around him, and Joe, while not the most lively, was nice enough she'd been told. However she had no idea how these new people might react to her, and though she was certain Vera would be safe, Jan and...whoever this other pilot was, were more or less wild cards.

Of course, Eli knew nothing she said would dissuade the girl from her adventures, so she just waved goodbye and made her way on to the cafeteria. The food was secondary really, she just wanted some time to settle and look over the technicals of what had been done to Blur. The repairs and additions had been handled by Volkov cost-wise, which was convenient if not confusing. In fact, the whole assisted migration had been strange. Why Volkov? Why Smith's Rest? Did it have something to do with that damned mystery NC? Every question she had came back to him, infuriating as it was, and the more she thought the later she realized she was mauling her food more than she was eating it.

With a deep breath she went about reviewing Blur's new statistics.

[Natsucooldude]

CLANK!

The sound of metal striking metal rang through the hangar. The technicians working on the Little Dragon were surprised, looking up to see that Stein hit the NC's head with a wrench. A short pause, then they began quietly returning to work, making sure bolts were as tight as possible, wires were functioning properly, and sensor readings were reasonable.

Jan turned his head to the resounding noise. It didn't sound like an accident, there was too much purpose behind the strike for that. "Ey! what's the big idea there! Isn't this place supposed to be for fixing NCs?" He took a closer look at what appeared to be the NCs pilot.

The girl was blonde-haired and looked not in the best of moods as her free hand rose up calmly to her goggles, pushing them completely off her head and grabbing them in a single motion as she clipped them to her belt. As she did this, there was a weight to her expression; an expression that had gone irritated to full stone-cold abhorrence. The yells from the engineers below were only shot back with glares— glares that reminded them of their own commander, Sophia. That was before Jan’s own comment was directed at her.

The girl stood up, dusting off her jumpsuit.

She remarked a comment under her breath though due to the distance between her and Jan it was hard to make out if at all. It was then that this female of which he had not recognized yet moved down from her position and towards the hangar floor.

“I don’t know who you are or who you think you are, but this is not the time.” The blonde-haired woman stated blankly as she crossed her arms as she did so.

"Well excuse me miss, I didn't know you followed the percussive maintenance school of engineering." Jan snarked at her. He wasn't one to drop an issue with someone he didn't like, and the first impression he got from this lady was rather bad.

“I don’t have the patience for fools so eager to show off their wit.”

"Well miss, you'll have to learn to deal with it, because I handle that kind of atittude with snarking."

Her brows narrowed, “Will I? Then I suppose you will have to deal with my wrench cracking your skull as well, that is if you want to keep this up when I am in... this sort of mood.”

"You want to go? I'm always up for a tussle to get rid of bad blood. Don't even care that you're a woma—"

The sentence seemed to be cut short as her rage got the better of her as she swung her knee upwards, attempting a strike into his stomach.

The strike got Jan flat-footed, He exhaled heavily as the strike pushed the air out of his lungs. He stumbled backwards "Heh, right then, come at me!" He stood ready to react now.

“Tch.” The blonde-haired woman rose her hands in a military stance; one Jan recognized— one used by Volkov military.

As soon as the Lead Engineer sensed what was going on, he quickly stepped backwards a bit and scanned the situation. He was an older man, sure, but he could analyze nearly anything like no one else. Though it was hard to say if he would react in-time to end the dispute before it got any worse. He cleared his mind of any doubt before doing his plot. Surprisingly quickly (mostly, due to adrenaline), he got in between the two combatants and yelled for them to stop.

"This is ridiculous! You're both adults, stop waving your genitals around-", As he paused, for emphasis, he slammed down his foot; a quick stomp on the ground to get things under control. "-and apologize to each other for this stupidity! Damn, you pluggers might be the only people who can handle actually interfacing with an NC, but that doesn't give you the right to act like animals."

Jan took one look at the engineer. The man's shouting had gotten him out of his adrenaline-fueled stupor. "Heh... guess you're right. Though... nevermind." He walked away from the lady, chuckling at the speed at which things escalated. "Let's hope we can at least not have a repeat of this while we're plugged in. I don't think anyone would like that."

The woman’s adrenaline seemed to calm down as well but her demeanor still seemed rather icy even after the fact. “Speaking of apologies, engineer. Where is mine?”

"What? ... Your apology for what? What did I do?"

“Wasting my time. I believe around the time you referred to me and the other as ‘people-machines’.”

"Fine. But, I still think you-.. The both of you could grow up a little."

She turned back to Jan, “As for you, I hope your piloting skills are better than your wit.”

Jan glared back to the lady. "Wanna make a bodycount competition out of this?" he chuckled at the slightly morbid suggestion.

“Overall or NC's? This year or all-time?”

"NC's of course, you think I'd bother counting chaff like normal infantry? And starting from here on out."

“Heh. You’re interesting.”

"It's good you two are getting along...", the Lead Engineer mumbled under his breath. Situation apparently defused, he quickly returned to work. "In any case... the Little Dragon's repairs should be nearly complete... Also... It's getting close to briefing time, you two. About 50 minutes from now. Plenty of time to do some final things, but don't be late. Sophia'll have your ass."

[Ladypug]

Vera was having a much less stressful time, in fact scampering through the new facility was plain-old fun. There were crates and stacked containers everywhere, yielding plenty of climbing and observational opportunities. When she at last reached the hanger, her focus quickly went to the NC she'd seen the new pilot working on. A sign designated it as "Little Dragon" and Vera smiled, she liked dragons, Ms. Jackspar had told her stories once about brave knights and magic princesses fighting them, and she always wondered what it would be like to have one as an ally. Fire-breathing was hella rad.

She saw mostly new faces at the end of what looked like a conversation. One looked like a mechanic, the other a pilot, and then of course there was the girl. Vera waited until she was alone and there was no one to interrupt, then scurried over to Stein.

"Heya!" she chimed.

Stein was just about to get back to work when the young voice caught the blonde-haired woman off-guard. A sight of a child in a hangar wasn’t completely obscure to the former Volkov corporate, but something rung different about Vera to her— perhaps it was the sunny disposition that she came up to Stein with? It felt foreign, almost alien to her.

“Hm? Hello.”

The girl took Stein's reply as permission to actually approach and jut out a hand, as she'd seen plenty of adults do when they met each other for the first time. "You're new right? I'm Vera. It's cool to meet you!"

It felt like clockwork and while Stein didn’t see it strange at all to return the handshake after her incident with another pilot only moments before she was still a bit on edge. “I suppose I am. My name is Stein.”

"Stein? Like...Frankenstein?" Vera asked, and her beaming smile grew. "That's so cool! is it like a codename?"

“It’s my given name, it’s short for Steindreia. My codename was ‘Little Dragon’.” Stein replied matter-of-factly.

"That's even cooler!" she squeaked, and only then remembered to let the other girl's hand go. "How long have you been driving robots?"

“I think it’s been ten years now.”

Vera wasn't particularly great with numbers, but it didn't take more than common sense for her to figure out that meant Stein couldn't have been much older than her when she started piloting. That was enough to push whatever dial she had straight to eleven, but before Vera could get another question out, a man that looked to be in his early thirties interrupted them. "Hey there, good-lookin'. What're you doin' in a place like this?" The man's attention was all over Stein.

Stein raised a brow at the newcomer, turning her view to him for a moment. “Repair and analysis before preparing for deployment.”

That wasn't quite the response he was expecting, but.. whatever. "I can tell you're new here. How's New Anchorage been treating you?" He comes in a little closer - not too close, but enough to maybe make Stein uncomfortable. Kind of depends on how big her personal-space bubble is.

“I received moderate injuries and my NC was almost toasted to the point of ruin.” Stein replied, once again matter-of-factly, though she wasn’t sure what this newcomer’s intent was he was closing in on her for unknown reasons. It reminded her of a former comrade— a comrade she had broken the arm of for such unprecedented invasion of personal space.

Zach stopped his advance. He looked kind of shocked and confused at how blunt and honest she's being. "Uh.. That's.. ...That sucks," he said. He even took a step back. "Uh.. Well, I hope that it gets better for you..”

That’s when another new face— in Stein’s case, at least - popped up. A little shorter than the brunette in her space right now, and with a head of red hair and freckles.

“Zach, damn it—” Percy took notice of Vera- who was probably listening to every word- and adjusted his wording accordingly, “—I mean.. Dang it. Dang it, Zach.”

“What? Percy, I was just-”

“I know what you were doing, and you need to stop. You and Ana aren’t even supposed to be here - and WE need to talk anyway. Now, c’mon!” Percy grabbed Zach’s arm and started to basically drag him away from her. Well, not really dragging, Zach was going with it, but still.

Stein blinked at the sudden arrival of another newcomer, though it seems he was on… awkward terms with the one whose arm was five inches from being broken. “You seem to be acquainted.”

Percy stopped and looked at her, “Yeah, he’s my friend.. Doesn’t mean I’m not about to really tear him a new one, though.”

At that moment, Zach took advantage of the fact Percy’s death-grip on his arm loosened. “I’ll just go-”

“No, you’re staying right here, mister.” Percy glared at his ‘friend’.. They argue more like a married couple.

“This is all very fascinating and all, but you are both in my space.”

Percy’s face reddened slightly. “Sorry.. Zach, just- You know what, take Ana back home. She doesn’t need to be here right now. But I’m gonna be back and I’m gonna have a talk with you.”

“Alright, alright. I’m leaving.”

“Now.” Percy ordered.

Zach left at that.

Percy mumbled something that Stein couldn’t quite hear, then turned to her. “I’m really sorry about that. I’m Percy.”

“Ignorance is not insult. The next time I will break his arm.”

“Got it. I’m Percy,” he repeated, holding his hand out to shake.

Stein took the hand as she had done with Vera’s earlier, showing the same respect as she had done to the ten year old. “Stein.”

“You must be a pilot too, right?” Percy asked as he let go of her hand. He had noticed the new NC earlier, but he was too busy trying to find Zach to find the pilot of the new NC.

“Indeed. Are you one of the ‘talented’ newcomers to NC’s I was told about?”

“Uh.. No. Probably not.” Percy laughed a little bit. “I passed the test though. That’s something, right?”

“So… you’re a pilot?” Stein seemed puzzled by the response; was he one of the amateur pilots or not? He said he had passed the ‘test’ but had said no to her question. Why was he giving her mixed signals?

“Yeah.”

“Then the correct answer was ‘Yes’.”

“..Well, you said ‘talented’.” Percy looked just as confused as she did.

“That was how you were described by… Sophia’s assistant, I believe.” She clarified, remembering the dialogue in question.

“Really?” The guy honestly looked surprised, “Ha.. That’s not a word I’d use for myself, but.. Hey, whatever. I just do what I’m told. Uh.. Hopefully you don’t go MIA or something.” Percy blushed again when he realized how horrible that sounded. “Nevermind. Just.. ..I’ll see you later. Bye.” Before Stein could really react to that odd statement, Percy left.

“Independents are strange.”

[LHG100]

All of the earlier commotion had made Jan quite tired of his fellow pilots for now. Sure, he made an impression on his colleagues, but he felt quite peeved about the whole thing. He needed something to move his thoughts. He had reviewed the facility in passing earlier, and had noticed there was a training room with simulation capability. It always felt good to blow things up, even when it was just a pretend exercise. Yes, he would be killing some time with that.

Jan used the guides around the facility to get there, winding down through several hallways (and a single flight of stairs), to come across a door with a red ‘TRAINING ROOM’ on it. Going inside, it was a somewhat small, but not cramped room with three interesting pods on the left (west) side, and three more on the right. There was a single person already in the room, he was wearing a coat fit for a scientist, and writing down something on a clipboard right next to the furthest pod down the left line. He quickly noticed Jan’s presence.

“Hello there. Jan Van Gent, right? You noted the training simulators? That’s just great, the one to your right is operating. Plug in if you want. Or are you just wasting time standing there?”

“Why yes, I have some time to kill. Might as well sharpen my skills, I trust you have compiled a copy of the Goldenspur’s system?”

A quick, annoyed reply, “Yes, I took a copy of your NC’s system data from the black box, in-sim should be as close as possible.”

Jan nodded as he climbed into the simulation pod. “That’s good, didn’t find any errors?”

“If I did, you likely fucked up somewhere. And it seems like you did, your weapon’s software seems to be corrupted. Still works, which is amazing for a monkey such as yourself.”

Jan simply nodded again. He seemed rather nonchalant about this revelation. “Oh, it’s been like that for god knows how long, never really bothered to have it looked into seeing as that would likely have cost me an arm and a leg for what would amount to just resetting the system.” He started fiddling with the pod’s controls. “Anyways, I’ll be starting a simulation now, so good day. Don’t let a power surge fry my brain while I’m in there.”

The pod’s soundproofed cover closed before the technician could respond to Jan’s joke. He loaded up the system and took a look at the available training scenarios. He wasn’t in the mood for anything particularly challenging, though his standards still made him turn his nose up at the basic training scenario. Then, he had a rather mischievous idea. He loaded up the scenario for 1 on 1 NC combat and started fiddling with its parameters. A quick search through the system’s directory of available NCs turned up what he was looking for. He finalized his modified scenario and plugged in, signaling the system to start the simulation.

The rush of his body becoming but a small part of a great warmachine raced through Jan’s mind. He had always marveled at how efficiently these simulations emulated reality. More out of routine than anything, he ran a quick system check. As always, everything was in order except for an annoying error message nagging him about the main weapon. As always he dismissed it without reading it over even once. He started surveying the area around him. If he wasn’t mistaken, his opponent would arrive any second now.

And then he saw it in the distance. The telltale silhouette of an NC coming right for him. Jan smirked as the machine got closer. It was indeed the cobalt frame of Little Dragon coming right for him. He ignited Goldenspur’s thrusters to get up to charging speed. Jan had only faintly heard about Little Dragon’s capabilities, but he didn’t mind. He liked being surprised. He was getting closer and closer to his opponent. It seemed now was a good time to ignite the heatray. Warnings pinged on Jan’s interface notifying him he was now in weapon range of his opponent. He kept going, just as always.

The simulator-ran Little Dragon’s exterior began to ‘whir’ as the machine gun system mounted to its systems flared, firing rapidly at its enemy. Jan responded with just basic evasive maneuvers. There wasn’t much else to do that wouldn’t interrupt his forward momentum. He felt the faint, almost tickly feeling of shots pinging off of the forward armor plating of Goldenspur. Of course sustained fire would be a problem after a while, but Jan liked to make a point of eliminating the opposition before that point. He looked at the estimated distance to his target. He was getting quite close now, close enough to commit to this attack. There was a feeling of inevitable momentum as all auxiliary power diverted to the heatray. Sure, systems didn’t show he was in range yet, but experience had taught him this timing was optimal for actually being able to fire in the window of opportunity he would get.

However, The Little Dragon didn’t remain completely stationary, though, keeping itself in a position of agile mobility as it fired the anti-armor caliber in bursts rather than a full unload.

Jan smirked as his target started evasive maneuvers of its own. “They always try and get away.” he thought to himself. Sure, his thrusters weren’t at full power right now, but he could still very well adjust the path of his forward momentum. The rather accurate fire was starting to become worrying though. Damage was starting to show on the forward armor and it was quite possible a lucky hit would punch all the way through to something vital. Still, it was too late to go back now. He would just have to take the chance. And then, he was finally in range, He leveled the plasma lance, now humming with barely-contained power and let loose, a brilliant flash tore through the sky.

The Little Dragon rose it’s right arm as what looked like a hard light wall came from a gauntlet-shaped generator on the top of it’s forearm; wider than a sword with no cutting edge. A shield?

Jan raised an eyebrow. A shield? That was… actually a pretty novel idea for an NC. The concept didn’t seem that far-out to him, after all, he himself had modeled the Goldenspur’s loadout to resemble an ancient cavalier.

Nevertheless, he wouldn’t let some fancy new toy dissuade him from victory. Jan manually overrode all systems he deemed unnecessary to the current situation and diverted all power to the plasma lance. It burned ever so much more brightly. Already, he could see the shield starting to flicker and fail.

The machine gun fire dropped to a complete halt as the simulator detected his change of tactics; perhaps adapting to the power loadout on its own end?

There was a brief his as Goldenspur’s lance bore into the shield, it wouldn’t be long until… yes, it went down. At the same time however, the lance also powered down. Jan was briefly confused as to what was going in until he noticed the error message he had been ignoring up until now. ‘power overload imminent’ it read in big flashing letters.

“Tch.” The clicking of Stein’s lips echoed in Jan’s mind as both the NC’s went out; smoke clearing from their significant power overload. The fact she was weighing so heavily on his mind and the sim was going this… disappointingly was bothersome.

Jan got started resetting the mainframe when the simulation suddenly hiccuped and grounded to a halt. The podules’ door opened quickly, an obviously miffed Neurologist staring at Jan’s fuckup.

“I swear to god, how the hell do you people break these so easily?” Jan stared at the pod, slightly disoriented by the jarring transition back to the ‘real’ world.

“I don’t know man, perhaps look into it simulating power overloads or something?”

He leaned back in the seat as he got to work safely unplugging. He had never encountered a defense his lance couldn’t pierce before. Yes, this lady seemed like she would be quite an interesting colleague.

He off-handedly looked at the clock, and darted upright, the pod’s neural plug clattering on the sides behind him. Apparently the simulation had eaten into his time. The briefing would begin in but a few moments. He jumped out of the pod and past the neurologist. He could hear the man inhale for another round of cursing as he dashed through the door and back to the hallways of the facility. He wasn’t going to make a bad first impression by running late for the first briefing, not as long as he had standards to keep up.

[Gowi]

---

---

STEIN KALFOX

_{“Greed is so destructive. It destroys everything.”
E A R T H A K I T T}

---

---

MECH HANGAR - NEW ANCHORAGE

“Finally I can—” Stein’s train of thought was cut off when a light ‘whirr’ of her watch rumbled on her wrist, her blue eyes catching the device. Had Stein been smiling she would’ve immediately scowled… but she was already frowning due to the incessant wasting of her time and emotions that had occurred since she had met the machinist. It was nearly time for briefing and she couldn’t now do anymore repairs or analyses of the systems of the Little Dragon. What she and Sophia’s drones had done would have to be sufficient enough now.

“Damn it.” She thought, as she took a heavy breath as she looked over to the head engineer.

“You. I’m going to the briefing. Later.”

The engineer blinked in confusion before he waved her off as the blonde-haired pilot took to heading towards what Sophia’s assistant had designated as their briefing room. At least she would have had she not run into the man from before that she had planted her knee into— a fact that was clear as he nearly ran into her! What the hell? Stein’s brows narrowed as she side-stepped to prevent herself being ‘accidentally’ run into.

“Tch.”

It was a familiar sound to the hurrying mercenary. “Going to the meeting too, I see.” He said as he continued walking forward. “Wonder what the bigwigs are gonna want us to do” He followed up immediately.

“Kill, Damage, or Capture— those are the three central choices in my experience.” Stein replied, matter-of-factly.

“Heh, I prefer the first two more than the third. Capturing is always such a hassle.” He rattled on. It was quite clear he was just talking for the sake of talking. “So what have you been doing? I’ve been checking out the simulation pods, pretty well equipped they are.”

“I was going to continue analysis and repairs on my NC. But it seems people wanted to stop me from doing that. I never had to deal with such idle conversation in my previous unit.”

‘Well excuse me ice princess, I just like idle chatter. You see all those guys piloting for corporations, they’re a bunch of boring mechanical buzzkills… heh, kind of like you.” Jan snarked.

“What you call ‘buzzkills’, I call efficient.” She paused for a second. “But I don’t know which is the best option given… never mind. It’s not important.”

Whilst she did now have reservations about the company that raised her, there was no reason why she should divulge such doubts. She wasn’t even sure if this pilot was particularly trustworthy enough to make mention about it to. It was weird to not have her former commander, Roxa Vox, here to talk to her after her last combat scenario and to communicate plans going forward. The blonde-haired pilot had always been solitary but she hadnt necessarily been alone. It was a feeling she didn’t quite understand.

It was because of such that she changed the subject.

“I didn’t catch your name.” She had made an estimated guess on who this man was, but she had only been actually introduced to the machinist so it was good to be sure about her newfound comrades whether she found them bothersome or not.

“Heh, didn’t catch yours Either. Name’s Jan van Gent, professional NC pilot as you can likely guess.”

“Ah, so you are the competent one of them.” Stein smirked, albeit briefly. “Steindreia Kalfox, also professional NC pilot.”

As they rounded the final corner before the briefing room, Jan felt like he needed a good conversation ender.

“We might have had a rough start, but I think this’ll smooth itself out… oh, and I’m still serious about that bodycount competition.” He had noted Steindreia had shown a crack in her cold façade, however brief it was. For him, that was more than enough progress for such a short conversation.

“I was irritated, hitting you was a good relief of such emotion. I have no issues toward you as a pilot for it.”

“No problem, I know how to take a hit, now… let’s see what we’ll be risking our lives for today.”

“Indeed.”

Stein nodded, taking the suggestion to heart; not just for their idle conversation but for her thoughts as well. She needed to be ‘quiet’ with her mind if she was going to be focused and a mission by any unit was not one to take lightly in any capacity. Though Stein didn’t necessarily see the threat of death as one to factor in, as it had been one thing that had been taught to her that whilst it was a consequence it was quite pointless to care about it. She knew that once she was in her NC on the battlefield her mind would be completely clear and none of her thoughts would be dwelling on what had happened between her and her former company or the individuals within that company. She had been trained as such; or as Jan might have called it... programmed.

Jan opened the door of the briefing room and the two stepped forward.

[Mcmolly]

Vera waited by for the conversations to end, committing Zach's unfamiliar face to memory, and giving Percy a pleasant smile. When that was all said and done, Stein didn't look too pleased. Really, Vera couldn't blame her, Zach had been a kinda creepy, like the people Lizzy warned her to stay away from. On top of the that, it seemed like the other girl hadn't gotten to finish up whatever it was she was working on, and so when at last she took off, it sounded like she did so with a huff.

"O-oh, okay! Have fun, keep some butt out there, Frankenstein!" she called, waving after her until she was gone. Vera looked around, the hangar more or less void of any truly familiar faces, and found herself bouncing, anxiously trying to think of something to do. All at once her eyes lit up. "Lizzy!"

A sudden energy overtaking her, Vera hurried off for the cafeteria, eager to tell Eli about her new friend. It had been a while since Vera had made a friend Eli liked, or knew...or spoke to. But now there was no alternative, Vera had planned it perfectly, Eli would have to talk to Stein because they were both pilots. Yes! All planned and meticulously calculated!

Vera arrived at the cafeteria to find it empty.

--

Eli was early to the briefing as was her status-quo, standing silent and at attention. Whatever their first mission in the new home would be, she was determined to handle it perfectly. This time there would be no follies, no bastards slipping from her grip or blowing off her damned arm.

When the door opened she saw Jan first, followed by the unfamiliar face she could still assume was Stein. She supposed for what it was worth, being the only other female on the team made identification a tad easier. The girl's stature reminded her a bit of Madison, at least in size. Stein's gait was far bolder, a soldier's walk.

But, the brief glance was all she spared their way. What her teammates looked like, how they walked, held no relevance towards their mission. She returned her attention forward, waiting for the Captain's orders, and further that, the mission proper.

[M127]

Joe went back to the briefing room immedeatly after the tests were finished, he didn't have much else to do, and the idle chatter wasn't great so far. Strangely enough, nobody had noticed him leave his NC or even the hangar, and he was the first one to return, as he was the only one who had been in that briefing room before.

He took a seat and read whichever documents were already there.

[Ladypug]

Percy, on the other hand, was running late. He thought because he'd have an hour, he could get home, talk with Zach, then come back for the briefing.. but he's running late.

"Zach, I-" Percy was rubbing his temples, trying to not SCREAM at this man.. "Just because the window was open doesn't mean you can buy something with my money!"

"Percy, c'mon" Zach says, shrugging slightly, "y'know it's worth it. You're gonna kick serious ass with the thing. And you'll make the money I used getting it for you. You weren't gonna do it."

"I was saving that money for Ana!" Percy cried.

"And you'll make it back in ONE DAY! Percy, I SAW your mech and it just wouldn't've been good for you. You needed the upgrade. A little more buffering and fixing the broken shit just wasn't gonna be enough"

"If I had really needed something, that fucking Captain would have told me I needed something."

"Or maybe she thinks you're smart enough to make decisions like that for yourself?"

"Suck a dick, Zach."

"I'm trying to HELP you. God damn it, you've been different ever since we came here!"

"WELL WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS, SMART GUY?" Percy's voice could probably be heard from outside if anyone was listening.

"I DON'T KNOW," Zach stated, "You said there was some attack, but I sure don't remember any of it!"

"MAYBE IT'S CAUSE OF THE FUCKING ATTACK? I DUNNO, MAYBE?" Percy was real close to getting violent, but he was trying to hold off as much as he could - so much so he was standing on the other side of the room by now.

"I'm trying to help you."

"I KNOW, but SPENDING MY MONEY on STUPID SHIT doesn't-"

"YOU'RE GONNA BE THANKING ME WHEN YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAD JUST WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH."

That's the moment that Percy's gaze was on a clock on the wall. He cursed, then looked at Zach. "We'll finish this when I come back." Before Zach can say anything to sway him from leaving, he leaves.

When he finally rushes to the briefing and sits down, it's more-than-likely started already.

OOC

this post is really choppy and garbage but I felt like I needed to post idk. you can just totally disregard this if you want to. idk. sorry.

[LHG100]

Sophia was standing at the Briefing rooms' table, waiting for all the pilots to arrive. she gave each pilot a small trio of documents pertaining to the coming operation, set to happen 3 days from now, Januray 7th. "Mondays...", she sighed.

"Anyway. As everyones' situated... I'll commence the briefing.", she flipped the projector's switch to on, showing a trio of pictures. The first, titled 'Op 1, Volkov, Weapon Capture' depicted some sort of ultra-heavy artillery, half-buried in a crater and surrounded by archaeological digging and construction equipment. 'Op 2, Paragon, Naval Attack' was some sort of blueprint for a battle cruiser, with many interesting armaments and features, like main guns that looked like they belonged to a proper dreadnought, and some sort of drone deploying system. 'Op 3, Fairbanks, Weapon Test' depicted what looked like a prototype NC.

"Three Operations over the week. Wednesday, Volkov wants us to capture, or at least neutralize something that those people over at Red-Star dug up from before the war. There isn't much info, Volk couldn't give us much and we barely know shit just from looking at it, but it's apparently a very-high-velocity railgun meant to attack things at intercontinental, or maybe even anti-orbit ranges. Red-star doesn't have the know-how or infrastructure to properly feed this beast anyway, at least in Volkov Security's opinion, so they want us to give it to owners who can take care of it. Them, obviously."

Sophia went on to describe its' defenses. "Currently, it's pretty walled up. We seem to have two NC's guarding it, the Red-Oni and Fubuki, a heavily armored unit that specializes in thermal based attacks, and a 'bird-leg' humanoid that focuses on mobility and electronic warfare respectively. Aside from those two stooges, the gun is also defended by a small collective of turrets, most of them fitted with standard medium-ROF, medium damage kinetic cannons, and two of them being light artillery pieces. Nothing Little Dragon and Goldenspur can't handle together, I reckon, so you two'll be heading out for that. Pay is 450,000 credits, divided amongst you two and after taking a cut for SR, that should be 100,000 for each of you."

"The Volkov one is the only one that's absolutely necessary, but the other two have a nice fat stack of cash involved too. Paragon wants us to take out a new Denver-Vegas heavy battlecruiser, they suspect DV stole quite a few Paragon-patented tricks, and they want them to know that just because they're the biggest in the west they just can't do that. At least, without any repercussions. It has a small escort fleet of two light cruisers, a submarine, and three frigates. It honestly doesn't need anything else, and Paragon wants us to sink the whole taskforce. Of course, NC's are strong, but they won't be able to completely annihilate a naval vessel: just focus on destroying anything that looks important on it. If the main ship has a nice wreckage for Paragon to later salvage, that's going to be a 200,000 bonus for us too."

Sophia seemed to do a mental calculation, then continued. "The entire squad is going to be required for this. This needs to be done Thursday, the 8th. Day after the Volkov OP, in other words. For obvious reasons, this has the biggest possible payout at nearly 1,400,000 bucks. Dividing that, that's 200,000 for each of you, and an extra 50,000 if you manage to damage the main ship just enough."

She gave an overview on the fleets' total capabilities, "The primary battle-cruiser has two, double-barreled battleship grade turrets, flinging .350 shells up to 46 kilometers. With their very high muzzle velocity, you'll probably need to dodge their fire while getting into range. Shells that big'll really screw up an NC, which isn't helped by their superb rate of fire for such massive shells... But I'm certain you can dodge them."

She discussed the submarine class, next. "DV's premiere and latest class of submersibles. About 80 meters long, somewhat tiny for something that can pack quite a punch. Has long-range, multipurpose cruise missiles. If the battlecruiser gets spooked and really doesn't want to fight you guys at close range, it'll definitely call on its' little friend to fire off a few swarms. Total destructive power should be comparable to the battleships' main guns, and they home in obviously, but it can only fire off so many."

"The others-", concerning the cruisers and frigates, "Are complete small-fry. Deal with them as you wish, their main guns are a joke compared to the big fish's little number. The cruisers can probably scratch your paint with their Close-in-weapons systems, but nothing to really worry about."

She then described the third available contract. "So, Op 3, Fairbanks has heard about the exploits of Jan Van Gent, some how, and want him specifically to help out in testing an NC they made. It's definitely not standard in any case, and they actually want anyone else 'he can bring along'. This is sort of fishy to me, but the pay is nearly on par with Contract 2's, so we should look into it in my opinion. 125,000 for each of you, if you all join in on the fun."

"The Prototype NC's cockpit is reinforced even more then usual, so don't worry about damaging it too much. As well, we'll uplink safety information with the Prototype, so he'll know when to stop to test if he needs to. They didn't give too much info about the NC, wanting it to be a surprise so we can't prepare for it in particular. But they did say it's 'going to be a new breed of NC', it's only reasonable to be prepared for anything."

Sophia sneaked in a quick sip of coffee, "Any questions for any of the contracts?

[Gowi]

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STEIN KALFOX

_{“Greed is so destructive. It destroys everything.”
E A R T H A K I T T}

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BRIEFING ROOM - NEW ANCHORAGE

"Currently, it's pretty walled up. We seem to have two NC's guarding it, the Red-Oni and Fubuki, a heavily armored unit that specializes in thermal based attacks, and a 'bird-leg' humanoid that focuses on mobility and electronic warfare respectively. Aside from those two stooges, the gun is also defended by a small collective of turrets, most of them fitted with standard medium-ROF, medium damage kinetic cannons, and two of them being light artillery pieces. Nothing Little-Dragon and Goldenspur can't handle together, I reckon, so you two'll be heading out for that. Pay is 450,000 credits, divided amongst you two and after taking a cut for SR, that should be 100,000 for each of you."

Little Dragon and Goldenspur. Heh.

If Stein had a sense of humor she would’ve found her first assignment as an independent particularly amusing. Not only was it for her former employers, it was one assigned with that pilot in particular. She was sure that the lead engineer would be chuckling in his own amusement. It seemed that she would be indeed seeing if his piloting was better than his wit, indeed.

Her eyes moved down as she flipped through the information her unit had been given on the missions at large.

“Hm.” Stein mused in her thoughts, as she read the paper in front of her.

As Stein read through the files she stopped on the page that detailed her to-be enemies. Enemies that were detailed in what could have been possibly the most messy intelligence gathering she had ever seen for any enemy in her entire career, let alone ones she was particularly familiar with— NC’s that she had come across before in actual reports back when she was a Volkov drone. Then again she didn’t know a lot more than Sophia’s operation, though she’d never admit it. Red Oni, or Akai no Akuma (赤い悪魔) was a bulky mech that had a ridiculous loadout, but if she remembered correctly the pilot used this as a sort of “false flag” operation to trick opponents into underestimating them; which was smart and something Stein would do. As for Fubuki (吹雪), well the only thing that Stein could gather in the past was they were a “solo player” who liked dealing with things quickly, efficiently, and alone.

These were facts she would most definitely share with her partner in the operation. Though it was here that Stein began thinking of strategies revolving around the two almost as soon as she read and recalled their profiles.

Jan had taken a sideways glance at Stein the moment he realized he was being paired up with her. He thought back on the simulation earlier. It seemed like he would get to know what her piloting was like without the rigidity of an AI involved. He was already making plans as to how they would work together. The intelligence on the enemy wasn’t too great, but it would have to do. At least, that's what he thought.

When his name was mentioned specifically, Jan felt somewhat flattered, but also rather perturbed. If a corporation would bother to call him by name, it meant they had at least a passing interest in him. Experience had taught him such attention could be quite dangerous for independents like him. Still, the offer seemed easy enough, just shoot at a prototype for field testing. He had a nagging feeling about the specifics of the offered contract though. Why did Fairbanks want independent contractors for such a sensitive thing, he’d think they could just draw from their own fleet of NC pilots. It seemed Stein had followed a similar vein of reasoning to himself though, as she was already raising essentially the same concerns.

“I have a comment, if I may.” Stein stated as she paused on reading about the third operation; the one requesting Jan by name.

"You have the floor. Go ahead.”

“Is it not sufficiently risky for us to engage in the Fairbanks operation? It seems like we could damage our armors pointlessly. Is there additional information, Commander?”

"Pointlessly? No. It’s a simple fight ‘to the death’, AKA, until you or the prototype has to tap out. In any case, Fairbanks didn’t give us shit to go on themselves, but they’re the types to use anything to win, no matter what. ”

“Understood, though could it also be possible that asking for Officer Van Gent by name might indicate Fairbanks is targeting him? His career as an independent has dubbed him as a ‘mercenary’ with many enemies in all corporations if my information is correct.”

Whilst Stein didn’t recognize Jan’s face when she met him earlier in the day, she did know the name; a fact she kept to herself when they exchanged names in their brief ‘proper’ introduction. It was clear to her, at least within her mind, that this operation from Fairbanks could’ve been a trap for one individual pilot. Stein had guided herself on her instincts in the past and she was getting one from this briefing when the third operation had been mentioned— a reason she had decided to speak up when her history at Volkov had little vocal inquiries or statements in the briefing room.

Jan nodded, “I would rather not walk ass backwards into a trap, sir. She is right, I have quite a bit of bad blood with quite a lot of powerful people. And if this were to be a trap, it would also drag everyone else in this room in along with me.”

“Very good points you two, it’s nice to confirm that you pilots are keeping your eye on the ball too. In any case, they had to go through a lot of trouble to contact us, and just how hated can you be by the higher-ups in Fairbanks, Jan, really?”

Jan leaned back as he reminisced. “Well, I’ve disrupted their supply lines for about a year one time, I’ve also been part of some larger clashes where I’m quite certain I could confirm a not easily ignored number of confirmed Fairbanks-aligned casualties to my name. But perhaps you are right. An independent like me can grow quite paranoid living ‘off the grid’ for as long as I have.”

“A career on the grid isn’t much less dangerous.” Stein added before turning back to their Commander. “What are the estimated statistics of this Fairbanks operation being a FFO?”

Jan chuckled at the mention of the word ‘statistics’. As if pure conjecture like this could be quantified. Still, he remained silent, as to not interrupt anyone’s train of thought.

“Oh, yes, what a complex series of calculations…. three percent.”. Sophia had to keep herself from breaking face. Stein wanted a full on estimation of the statistics? These days, anything could happen.

Stein raised a brow about the statistic given, but decided not to make a comment on it’s authenticity; an authenticity that was most certainly fabricated as far as her presumptions went because she had never gotten such a low percentile in her decade or so of fighting as a pilot. Howver, if that was the information she was given, then that was what she would factor in.

”If you two really believe it’s a trap, as I said, it’s optional, on all technicalities. I won’t force you to do it, but I’d obviously prefer if you signed up.”

“If he accepts the mission and requests me as backup, I will provide it.”

Jan took a moment to think about the entire situation. “As you say Commander, the chance of this being a trap is rather negligible. Still, I’d prefer we have a backup plan in case that three percent does ring true. I would ask some pilots stay back at base as a plan B, just in case. But given those precautions… I’d be willing to do it.”

“Fair enough. Anyone else have any questions?”