Mr Rage

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

While Zim sat inside of Black Star waiting for the ability to offload and join the others in celebration, and waiting for a moment to visit with the wounded, he had time to think about things. His muscles finally relaxing, he realized, as he slumped back into the cockpit chair, munching on some field ration or another, and finally put some thought towards something that had been bothering him for quite some time.

Zim had always had a hard time connecting with his Werk. His companions on Squad Sigma seemed to have much closer feelings for their Machines. Serah especially. In her mind, it seemed to Zim, that there was no doubt that her Werk was, in fact, a living, sentient thing. Not to Zim, at least not at first. How long had Zim been piloting Black Star? And he still was only just now starting to make gains in his synchronization with the machine, no... the Werk. In Zim's previous life, before the cadet training program, Zim had done a number of jobs, one amongst them was working on a Terraformer's ship where he was responsible for using a wide range of machines. Some of those machines even had pretty sophisticated A.I. systems, but despite Zim's assertions that these machines were nothing but tools, weapons, and armor. Zim had to admit that he had never experienced the kind of feedback and resistance in using the machine like he had with other equipment.

But now? Now Zim was pretty sure that there was something more to these Werks, that there was, in fact, a type of Sentience to them that Zim had never experienced with the other machines that he had used. The voice from inside the machine. Before, Zim had thought that it was just something that failed pilot cadets had come up with as a way to spook the system. Of course, if that was the case, the military scientists would have simply disproven it and dispelled the rumors, and yet Zim had heard it himself. And that voice had haunted Zim for a long time.

The breaking point, as it were, for Zim was in the fight in Joppa. Three events took place that could not be explained, not without accepting that the Werks were more than machines. The first was the sudden psychic abilities that Elora suddenly possessed. The second was, perhaps unintentional, Paladin's take over of Arin's body. Finally, at the end of combat, Black Star made an attack that it should not have been able to do, not from that range, while simultaneously protecting Zim from harm.

So yes, now Zim did believe that Black Star and the other Werks were sentient, that they maybe even had a soul of sorts, but he still wasn't sure how that made him feel about Black Star. There were times in training simulations that this was getting in the way, the distrust of his Werk got in the way of his Synchronization and it would plummet through the basement, even resulting in a forced ejection from the simulator. So now, Zim had questions, and he doubted that Lorenzo would be keen on answering them, especially in a way that Zim would understand... if that was even possible. But he thought that perhaps his squadmates might be able to assist him with his thought process.

Zim looked around the hanger and spotted Katya talking with Ritsu. She looked in Zim and Black Star's direction. He wanted to talk to her about what went on inside with the infiltration team, about Elora and the Ace Cruxi, and about his questions about the Werks. His hand absentmindedly fiddled with the hair tie that she had loaned him. He wanted to spend time with her, it didn't matter what took up that time, as long as it was with Katya. Then his heart sunk as she seemed to embrace Arin as he helped her up from the ground. It was hard to tell from the angle and the distance, was it a hug or a moment of weakness? If it was a hug was it a celebration or was it something else... Zim's hand pulled on the hair tie now. Not enough to damage it, just enough to pull it tight against the back of his wrist. And off they went together. Zim began down a process of self-loathing and depression. 'This is stupid,' he thought to himself after a few moments of staring at the corridor the two had gone down, 'Get over it. If she didn't feel the same way, then so be it. You returned safely from Combat, give her back the hair tie and move on. Don't let this be an issue.'

His stone-faced composure returning as he felt Atty being dragged off of the top of his frame.

Once he was released from Black Star, Zim made his way to a medic on site to get approval to skip the med bay. After about ten minutes the congratulations became noise to him as he moved down the hallway. No, right now isn't the right moment to discuss this. He would find some other time to ask his companions about their thoughts. For now, he would just go and collect his own thoughts.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

OK, heads up on the collab. I am going to put it to rest for additions 24ish hours from now. I'll obviously keep it up for the editing process and for any other back and forths that might need to happen. So if you want your character to get in on this hot posting action, you should probably get in on it now.

As so far as Zim's current activity, he can be skipped if need be, otherwise, I will have a post for Zim up within 24 hours.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

@redbaron1234 piratepad.net/iQd44mNKAy that's the one you were trying, right? It is working for me just fine, maybe there was a server thing going on earlier if you want to try again.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

@ArkmageddonCat do what you gotta, but like they said, this is a pretty chill rp, you don't have to worry about it. Worst case scenario, we 'splode your character and you get a new one when you come back. ;)

Under the Old Hallowed Tree

Like this dance festival en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Dance_Fes…

However, in a world of elemental mages, dancing can have extra... flare, shall we say?

I was planning on using this later, but it is fine to use now if you like.

Under the Old Hallowed Tree

Take your pick of any festive events that we enjoy in our world, just put a little spin on it. Bonus points if it is a Japanese tradition, or can be spun to be more Japanese. You might have noticed I am using a little soy sauce to flavor the story a little bit.

Under the Old Hallowed Tree

Ok, so long post introducing Krissy the Fire Mage and making the segway to 'current' events. Not much of a prompt to react to, but feel free to flush out character relations, specific spells/techniques that you may want to use, reflect on the years behind you and your hopes and aspirations for the years ahead of you. Free interaction with anybody who wants to interact for a bit.

Under the Old Hallowed Tree

Krissy, like Darya, loved every moment of the presentation. She had no clue whatsoever about it all, except that she wanted to learn it all and she wanted to be the best. When asked what they thought, she excitedly raised her hand and waited for the opportunity to speak. "I want to learn how to do that! It seems like maybe they did something like this?" She started to emulate the movement, Toma started to chuckle at first, but then he became concerned when he noticed how accurately the girl was emulating the motions. "Ye-Yes, quite good enough there, Krissy. Enough of that for now!"

"As for the rest of you, This school, as it were, will be your home now. You have been conscripted by the law into the service of the nation due to your unique talents. While you may not yet realize it. Each and every one of you has the ability to do what you saw here today. And what you saw is the most sacred and holy responsibility that could ever be asked of you. With your help, together, we will keep our nation, no... our world, safe from harm for many many years to come." He struggled for the breath to finish the sentence and nearly gasped in the air that he had deprived himself, the sudden rush of air into Toma's old dusty lungs sounded wet.

Unbeknownst to Toma or anybody else in the group at that time, Krissy's little emulation had a small impact on the balance of the sealing binds that were wrapped around the tree. It was small, impossibly small, but to a Demon sealed away inside with nothing but time, it was enough to begin working on its escape.

"Now then, now that we have had a rest, let us start on our trip back home. If we dally, we might all miss our suppers... I heard that tonight is Tubers and Mash!" Of course, Sensai Toma said that, but it was truly his own legs that slowed the group down the most.

Time would past and the children would grow little by little, learning how to control the magic that was weaved into the world around them. Their abilities grew as their bodies grew and soon they were participating in combat training. Not only in how to cast and use spells in combat, but hand to hand combat as well. No weapons were generally used, as their carrying would simply interrupt the spell patterns, though, in the rare situation where more reach was needed, the simple staff was meant to be sufficient and easy enough to improvise a staff if one was needed.

The students would eventually come to learn about how they could use their spells for various kinds of transport or maneuverability. The Air Mages learned how, if they used a kind of kite or a special bodysuit, they could emulate flight. Water Mages could create iceways that were slick and allowed for faster, quieter movement. Earth Mages had a similar technique, but using a wheeled board or wheeled boots were required to really reap the benefits, so earth mages also learned how to make quick pillars of stone to create cover. While it was not fast or stealthy, it was an almost always effective way to close the distance. While spirit users lacked a physical way to make the terrain easier, they developed two general techniques as well. The first was the way of the mind, taping into the spiritual flow of energy the mage could press their senses out of the body and explore the area around themselves as if floating. The second way was the way of the muscle, infusing spiritual energy into their limbs they could push themselves to move faster than they ever could have done without. Fire mages had no special maneuverability spells, at least none that they were willing to teach. That is until Krissy. It did not have the kind of grace and precision as some of the other schools of magic, but it was flashy. Effectively, it was to set off a large explosion immediately behind or below the caster and let it launch them into the air. The downfall, of course, was that it also affected other people standing nearby, and once in the air, there was little the caster could do about changing directions, leaving them vulnerable to archers or similar.

As time passed and the students learned more and more and created more and more, the demon in the Old Hallowed Tree continued to push and push and get a little stronger every day.

Enough time had passed and the students had proven that they were capable of completing a binding ceremony. Finally, graduation day had arrived.

The children had grown into young adults, blossoming not unlike the pink flowers that adorned the trees around them. Senpai Toma was still teaching, he had remained their instructor their entire life, and in many ways, he had become a surrogate grandparent... one that was not afraid to use their cane to get a point across as Arden had learned early on and often. Of the 11 children who had started with them, only these five were there to graduate. Toma led the small gathering through the graduation, if an outside had been there it would be little more than a collection of hisses, wheezes, phlegmy coughs, and mumbling. However, the five had grown used to it and could understand what Senpai Toma was saying. There was much todo about responsibility. There was much forwarning about neglecting their abilities. There was much shaking of the cane in emphasis of the importance of what they were meant to do. When it was all said and done an attendant of Toma's handed out a five-pointed seal to each of the five, indicating their status and authority. The group bowed out of respect, as they were instructed to do in rehearsal, and then excused.

Relaxation was short-lived, they had their first replacement binding ceremony within an hour, at the same tree that they had first been truly introduced into this world at.

Under the Old Hallowed Tree

Well, I am going to guess that Skwint isn't as interested as they initially projected and will fill the role of fire and get us moving on. Sorry for the hold-up.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Ok, so six months ago I attempted to get a pre-emptive collab going in regards to Zim's personal feelings towards the werks being sentient or not. So now that combat is over, anybody who would be interested in having one on one (unless you would rather do it as a small group) conversations with Zim about their feelings/relationship with their werks, and some of the more unexplained events of the last two rounds of combat, please feel free to stop on by and postulate. There is a section at the bottom of what is currently written with bolded questions. Zim will ask you these questions in as conversational of a way as possible, though he would probably still be pretty blunt. Please feel free to answer any/all of them as you feel, and then I'll go back in and come with up follow-up questions for your particular responses. Once that is done I will edit to make it flow.

piratepad.net/iQd44mNKAy

thx!