Mr Rage

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Everyone was busy with their various tasks around the base. Zim himself had spent most of his free time in the hanger working with Black Star. He felt that he owed the Werk more of his attention now that he had come to realize that, at least to him, Black Star was alive. In his coming and goings, Zim had noticed that he hadn't seen much of the enigmatic Commander. He had assumed it was due to her injuries that she was placed on a reduced labor detail and commanded to bed rest while recovering. Despite this, in his thinking about her absence, Zim came to realize that he had no idea how Elise viewed the Framewerks they piloted. Zim decided then to send a request for a meeting, if nothing else, it would do well to see her. He was pleased to see the approved response very shortly after the request was sent. He viewed the details of when and where and entered it into his datapad.

When the time came to meet with the young commander, Zim arrived a minute or two early and knocked on the door to her quarters. "Private Zim Hero, reporting for our appointment, Ma'am," Zim announced, waiting for a response before entering.

A downcast voice came out from the other side: "Come in." Elise slouched in her chair in an unladylike fashion when Zim arrived. It took her a few seconds to realize he was in the room with her, upon which she made an effort to look presentable, sitting straight.
"You wanted to speak with me, Pilot Hero? What is it?" She asked while leaning on the desk with her elbow, holding her chin up. Her one eye looked at him with curiosity.

Zim cleared his throat as the commander adjusted her positioning and uniform. "Yes, Ma'am. I wanted, in part, to check in with you and see how you are fairing since your injury. I haven't seen you around the base. But, if I am being entirely honest, I am driven to ask about your opinion regarding the Framewerks. So, if you'd rather not discuss your recovery, there are other matters that I wish to discuss." Zim attempted to maintain eye contact with the good eye, but Elise would be able to tell that his attention was shifting between her eye and the red eye patch that covered her injury.

"Permission to speak freely?"

Elise leaned back and gave out a weak chuckle. "I don't mind that. In fact, I have yet to make an announcement to the squad about how I have been adjusting to my current condition. Well, I'll listen to you first. Go ahead." She picked up something resembling a bottle and uncorked it.

"So, any indication of how long they think your recovery will take?" Zim started. He eyed the bottle as the girl uncorked it. He seemed to remember seeing a similar bottle somewhere in the past, he couldn't quite place it.

"Well, it's still going to take some physiotherapy, but I might be good to go in a couple of weeks...Well, not that it matters." She took a swig of the bottle, a small cup, and poured herself a drink. Zim recognized the bottle to be some kind of fruit-based beverage, smuggled to the base illegally. Fortunately, it was alcohol-free.
"Since I can no longer participate in operations. They think I'm some helpless cripple now."

"Really? So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. Ritsu suggested some paper-pushing job, but I have no interest in that. Then again, I have nowhere else to go either; no family or friends, and no orphanage wants a war veteran." She took out another cup, and poured some of the drink to it, followed by offering the cup to Zim. "Here, take it."

Zim took the offered cup and took a small sip from it, hesitant. "Thank you," he mumbled after the sip. "I think you could still have an impact on the war effort, on the front lines, as an instructor... but why not a prosthetic eye like Pilot Ariin? Or why not transplant a cloned eye?"

"Prosthetics and cybernetics would interfere with Pa-I mean, Prometheus. The system is...Unique. It's got a lot of power, but it has flaws, and one of them is that it requires a completely biological pilot to interface with it. It also has to be of the same genetic structure, or it would reject the pilot."

"I mean, I won't claim to be an expert, as I was a terraformer before the war found me, but isn't a cloned eye going to be the same genetic structure? Well, I'm sure that whoever told you that is smarter than me," Zim conceded, taking another small sip of the fruit juice. He noticed how she started to say one name and stopped when referring to her Framewerk. Now was as good a time as any to change the topic towards what his true intentions were.

"Speaking of Prometheus, what is your relationship with your Framewerk?"

Elise winced at the question and now drank straight from the bottle, before setting it down.
"Why do you ask that, Zim? They're...Machines. Built to serve and protect. Well, I gotta admit, if it wasn't for Prometheus, I might have already left by now. I just...can't leave him. Ugh, I thought this one was dry," she commented as she looked at the label of the bottle.

"A curiosity of mine, I admit. There seems to be a spectrum in the squad ranging from Utilitarian to Familial. And I must admit that my position on that scale is changing, crazy as that may be. So let me ask you this," Zim said as he set the glass down and inched forward slightly, "Do you feel that our Framewerks have a form of sentience or at least a little free will?"

"You're being awfully specific there, Zim. That sounds like crazy talk. But you know what, I might be crazy." She leaned in again, her hands gripping the desk. "I've felt something in Prometheus. I don't know why, but it reminds me of someone I used to know. Probably just combat stress, but there's that. I do know that I've sometimes made moves I didn't consciously think of. Maybe they have some secret AI to assist at critical moments, but it has saved me a couple of times."

"I've experienced similar 'phenomena' myself, which is why I find myself asking these questions and digging for proof. However, you are the first person I've talked to who has sensed something familiar. Care to share who he reminds you of?"

Elise simply glared at him, obviously not liking how he was basically prodding at her private life. But then, she took a deep breath and sighed. "This is getting really personal, and I might have you sent to cleaning duty for that, but you seem to believe me, so screw it: he reminds me of P-" She hesitated.
"-my father." Zim could see how her lower lip trembled a bit as she said that. "I know that's impossible, but it's how I feel. "

"Interesting," Zim responded, his demeanor showing his apologies at prodding. He didn't need to ask, anybody who looked at the pilot could tell that her father was most likely dead, why else would she be nearing tears? The trembling lips, the grip on the desk. She was barely holding it in. It was obviously time to back away from that direct line of questioning. With this information, Zim would go back and look for anything similar with Black Star, but then again, it might just be a projection if he is looking for someone.

"So what do you think about what happened with Serah and Atty? Given that we both believe there is something to these phenomena," Zim turned the questions another direction, hoping to give his commander a reprieve, "I've looked through the combat data, there was a pretty serious drop in Synchronization rates with all the pilots in the room, but none worse then Serah. Is it possible that when our Syncro rates get low enough, whatever it is that is controlling these machines goes berserk? Meaning that it wasn't Serah who attacked our comrades, but rather Atty itself."

Elise calmed down as the topic shifted, but she was still at unease from the previous discussion. "I've read the reports, but I don't believe them. Serah's not the kind of girl to turn on everyone like that. Must have been a Cruxi trick or something, those damn bugs." She gave an angry glare at Zim and leaned closer as she spoke in a lower voice: "You might know about this, but I have a history with some of the folks here, including upstairs folk. That Colonel who gave us the last mission? I know the guy. I heard him talk with some Galactic Navy folks, about Serah and the other girl, and it's not good. The geezer's gotten flak for acting like a pompous ass and thinking Solaire is his personal playground. The fat cats at HQ are gonna send him a message by executing the two." Elise looked dead serious as she said that, waiting for his response.

"Is there anything that can be done to save them?" Zim asked, his tone matching that of his former commander, "I'm no fan of Lorenzo, brilliant as he may be, but killing two pilots simply to prove a petty point? Who are we fighting in this war, and what are we trying to protect?

"To them, we're just numbers, a statistic. All they want is to use the geezer to build them more weapons to blow stuff up with, and not fiddle around with toys. However, Cain's been arguing against that decision." By now she had stopped drinking, having set the bottle aside as her fiery spirit came back to her. "You know, Maria's been pretty transparent in her efforts to collect data on what happened at the station. If you guys did find anything useful as evidence to show they're innocent, I can send it to Cain."

"Cain, huh?" Zim asked making mental note of it, "I'll pass that information along. Thank you for answering my questions, and thank you for being willing to pass this information along to someone who might be able to assist. Before I go, is there anything I can do to help you with?"

Zim drank the rest of the juice in his cup before setting it down, preparing to leave.

Elise stood up, her shoulders barely reaching over the tall desk fitted for adults. "All I want in return is that you guys vouch for me when I ask to stay in the unit; Ritsu has agreed to let me collect reports on my performance from you guys and see if I'm still fit to stay despite my disability." She handed out a small device with an LCD screen and saluted. "And even if I can't fight with you guys, I want you to continue doing your best. For everyone's sake. Dismissed."

Zim stood up when Elise did and took the device with a nod, "Of course." He saluted and made his way out of the quarter. He needed to find Maria and let her know what was going on, and the sooner the better.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Zim had been spending more time in the Hanger with Black Star now that he knew his partner was 'alive'. Checking for various systematic applications, running diagnostics, calibrating sensors, helping out the repair crew as best as he could as they went through the process of replacing or repairing any damaged parts from the previous combat. The entire right leg had to be replaced, too much structural damage from forcing it to work under such extremes and the fall after making it back to the hanger. There were several armor plates and servo motors that had to be replaced as well from the stress placed on them from combat. The removal of the Assault Pack made Black Star seem so much smaller again, but Zim seemed to think that the Werk was happier without the extra load. There was no real evidence of it, he just felt that way.

He stopped reading through a configuration readout to take a drink of water when he heard the commotion over at the entrance of the Hanger when Ariin bumped into someone Zim hadn't seen before. There were a lot of new faces around the base of late, it wasn't unusual to not recognize someone. However, Zim watched as Ariin and the girl exchanged words and he leads her over towards Paladin. Outside of mandatory meetings and briefings, the last time Zim saw Ariin was when he was waiting to be able to offload from Black Star when they first made it back to the ship. Zim couldn't be sure if it was just him avoiding the other pilot, or it their schedules and paths just didn't cross in the days following their return. But the bad taste in his mouth was only getting worse, and he wanted to get an answer and clear the air before it ruined something.

Zim grabbed his communicator and sent a message over to Ariin, "When you get a chance, can we talk about something? I'd like to ask you a question. I'm over working on Black Star if you have a moment now. - Zero"

Ariin had just arrived at Paladin checking over the installation he paused catching sight of a message. He decided to answer. "Sure I can come right over been busy with simulations and a new part that arrived for Paladin. -Ariin"

While the message sent he hopped down and then carefully made his way around and across to Zim, stopping short of Black Star admiring it for a moment. Ariin had been avoiding the others mostly out of how some people thought he was crazy and others he just didn't know.

Left to his own devices he and Paladin had several deeper conversations also many talks of the future, though both agreeing they were sure Ariin would have with his status as a prisoner. "What did you need Zim?" Asked Ariin as he looked for the pilot emerging from the werk.

Zim climbed down from the cockpit as Ariin called out to him, he would have moved when he saw the response and saved time, but he wasn't entirely convinced he wanted to give up the higher ground. Deciding to see the conversation through face to face (to face? Zim still wasn't completely sold about Paladin, but he believed it more every day). Once on the ground, he let out a low sigh. "Thanks for coming over. Not really sure how to ask it other than to just, well, ask it. So, sorry if this is coming from nowhere..." Zim looked at the hair band around his wrist that belonged to Katya, he sighed again slightly, "What is your relationship with Katya?"

"She's my friend." Paladin flashed an X across Ariin's eye. "I trust her... She's my commander and one of the only people who didn't treat me like a freak now that I have an AI in my head." Paladin flashed a heart now on the screen. "Why do you ask?" Now Paladin and Ariin had given rather contradicting answers...

"I see," Zim said as his focus shifted between the two eyes. Zim wondered what the truth was, which of the two answers he had received was the reality of the situation. Of course, giving credence to the idea that Paladin was actually controlling the cybernetic implant, it could be that both were true. That Ariin had his feelings, and Paladin had its own. "It seems as though you have been close with her now for a little while and I..."

Zim hesitated for a moment. This was stupid. 'You are a grown man, stop acting like such a child, especially in front of someone so much younger than yourself,' Zim berated himself.

Zim's face contorted into a sneer of self-loathing as he finally forced himself to say what was on his mind. "And I have feelings for the commander. But I didn't want to pursue if there was something going on between you two. I mean, you two are closer in age, and seem so close." 'And you don't look like a freak' Zim left off of his reasoning. "Let alone the military regulations that I would be bending in my efforts, assuming that my affections are returned."

"Look even if I did have feelings for her and I do think a lot of her... I couldn't. I'm not a soldier or a volunteer Zim. I'm a prisoner, my sentence? This until I die or until the war is won. I killed two MP's that's life on Mars." He explained Paladin made a frowny face. "I'll admit I've thought about her like that a couple times... Paladin brings her up a lot as part my 'moral compass' whatever that is about. But I'm not gonna be able to do anything my life isn't my own I belonged to Mars and now Lorenzo's project. The only way I get out is if I'm given a pardon."

He stopped a moment and sighed looking Zim in the eyes. "Do what you feel is right... You still have control of your life. I've lost my family, my freedom, and now? I've lost the right to my own private thoughts." He added turning away. "I just have one thing left to do... Die for the cause then I get to be free in whatever comes after that."

Zim's self-loathing passed into confusion and rapidly turned into anger. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. This squad is so messed up, that damned Lorenzo... But even worse then him is your attitude. I will continue my efforts, then. But so should you, if that is what you want to do. You cannot allow your past to rule the rest of your life. Lorenzo may have conscripted you into the Squad, but that means that he has given you an opportunity to earn your freedom. You said it yourself that a Pardon can set you free, then I would do everything in my power to figure out what I could do to earn that freedom. But then again, that's just me, that's the kind of person I am. As such, if you say its fine, then its fine. Thank you for clarifying that for me. However, if it is going to cause you pain in your already terribly miserable existence, then I wont."

"And I certainly don't want you to pass up an opportunity to continue being friends with her on my behalf in either situation, I could never ask that of you, even before you told me of your situation. Understand?"

"Hey whoever said I was unhappy... I get to kill the things that wiped out my parents and I don't have to scrounge and work my ass just to feed myself." He spoke trying to hide his pain. "You think Lorenzo will release me? Zim, I'm a walking science project, he didn't care when Paladin started controlling my body. He would have left me and let Paladin just control my body." Another frowny face from the eye.

"It's not like on Mars. I had an officer who looked out for me, I had a path to maybe getting out. His project got scrapped Paladin and I went to Lorenzo, who I personally think is a madman." He grumbled. "The one good thing about being where I am, you can speak your mind and they have nothing left to do to you." He spoke turning to look at Zim. "I don't think I will be pardoned. I'm not going to stop having friends... But I'm also out here to protect others usually the guy putting himself up in front of danger dies first." He pulling his hood up and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his civilian clothes.

"I'm not letting anyone else get hurt. My purpose is to get make sure you all get futures." He added with the conviction of an older more veteran soldier. Zim might have forgotten that he Ariin stated piloting years ago, he had time to understand his position and make peace with it.

"Well," Zim said after a moment, "The war has to end at some point, one way or the other. There is being brave and there is being Stupid, just make sure it isn't the later. I'm not giving up on you. On any of us."

Zim held out a hand. "Thank you."

Ariin chuckled and took the hand shaking it. "Yeah, no problem... I'm the shield. Gotta be here for everyone." He let go and walked away, heading back towards Paladin wanting to turn on the shield generator at least once.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

ariin and zim collab posted.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Elizabeth, having now been properly reported in with Command, had made liberal use of the simulation pods in an effort to acquaint herself with the tactics of her new squadmates by simulating the events of previous combat experiences and exercises. That way there would be fewer variables to learn and manage as they enter real combat. The princess of the Praxus V system had finished up a training session, this time working through the infiltration teams run through the space station attack. The nature of the environment limited her ability to assist in meaningful ways, making it a very frustrating simulation for her. She exited the pod and shook her mass of red hair free from the training helmet and made her way to change back into the standard issue fatigues. Deciding that it was time to eat she made her way to the mess hall, along the way she ran into fellow soldiers from Praxus V, whom she warmly greeted in her diplomatic way, thanked them for their continued service, and continued on her own route. Her face returned immediately back to its rested state the moment she had passed the familiarly uniformed men and women. She stopped before entering the mess hall to adjust her uniform and make sure that it was in up to regulations before entering the room.

It only took her a few steps to realize how busy the mess hall was at that time of day. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but being Royalty she rarely had to eat with large groups of people, let alone people she didn't know. Her head swiveled quickly, looking for someone from Praxis V or from the squad. anybody would do, just so long as it was someone that she was at least somewhat affiliated with. The first person she saw was Val, the tall hooded figure who was introduced at the same time as Elizabeth. The princess kept looking for someone and failed to notice anyone else from the squad that she could invite herself to sit with. So she left the line to go talk with her. Besides, there was unfinished business between her and the giantess.

Elizabeth sat down with all the grace one would expect of a royal princess. She sat for a moment in silence until her gaze was matched.

"Yeah, I wanna talk to you," she said at last.

The morning had been a pleasant one for Valéria having completed her morning training in Star Fist, a style of hand to hand combat she was not familiar with. The Haath did not train in Star Fist, using their own style of hand to hand combat. Valéria, however, was happy to learn Star Fist and was confident she would pick it up quite quickly.

So when she was done and told she had done fairly well, she was pleased as she headed towards the mess hall to get something to eat as the training had made her quite hungry. Val could be seen sitting in the corner of the mess hall with two other Haath soldiers where she chatted with them happily. Always pleased to be around her own kind. It provided her with the comfort that she was not alone for Haath did not fair well when isolated from others of their kind for extended periods of time.

When Elizabeth sat down at the table she earned looks form the other two Haath soldiers, their facial expressions showing nothing as to what they thinking. But Valéria who had glanced at Elizabeth as she sat down had a feeling she knew what this was about. In fact, she had been expecting the princess to bother her about it. Valéria looking at the other two soldier for a moment and nodded to them once. Who then promptly left to sit at another table leaving Elizabeth and Valéria on there own, much to Valéria’s dismay, but it was a matter of privacy and this didn’t concern them.

Valéria looked down at her food for a moment making Elizabeth wait on propose for a moment before slowly meeting the princesses gaze. Elizabeth’s words earning her a small frown.
“And what does Sister Fullbright wish to speak to me about?” Valéria asked as she adjusted her hood to better cover her eyes. Pretty sure she already knew the answer to her question.

Elizabeth's arms crossed in front of her, and her back straightened even further as she finally got her response from the Haath pilot sitting across from her, "Hmph! I don't like your attitude, Sister." It was stated as such a fact that everybody in the known universe should know it, and anybody who could see their interaction would have no option but to agree with the fact. She reached up and flicked an errant lock of hair back over her shoulder before once again looking down the length of her nose at the non-worlder, having never broken eye contact.

Seeing Elizabeth cross her arms Valéria knew this conversation was not going to an enjoyable one and mentally readied herself. So she did not lose her temper at any insults the princess might give. Not wanting to be put on report within the first week of her new assignment. As it would make her look bad and bring shame to her family name, something Valéria did not want given it would take a lot of work to remove that shame and restore the honor of her family.

But the princess did not make that easy and Valéria felt her right-hand ball into a fist and the left shattering the plastic spork she was holding as Elizabeth spoke the word sister with a tone that she took as quite offensive, not to mention her body language. If Elizabeth had been Haath, Valéria would have issued a challenge of combat and settled the problem there and then. However, Elizabeth was not Haath, all that red hair made it far too obvious, which meant she had to take a more diplomatic approach as Haath social code demanded it.

“Be careful Sister Fullbright. Insulting me and treating me like I’m something you stepped in will only serve to anger me. I am showing basic respects as required by my culture. If you wish to speak with me I expect to be treated with a basic level of respect all humans are entitled to. Otherwise, Sister Fullbright, you can take your leave now and allow me to enjoy my meal with more pleasant company.” Valéria spoke her voice showing trace amounts of anger and annoyance although her expression remained a neutral one.
“Now Sister Fullbright. If you wish to speak with me please acquire me a new spork. So I may continue my meal as we talk.” she said to simply annoy the princess and to get a reaction.

"What is your problem?!" She asked incredulously, one of her finely shaped eyebrows raising along with the pitch of her voice, "Why should I have to get you a spork? I didn't break it." The obvious signs of self-containment barely holding in the other pilot caught Elizabeths attention, it was obvious that she could only control the situation only so much longer before they escalated to a place that she was sure neither of the pilots wanted. The crimson haired beauty uncrossed her arms and stood up from the table quickly and turned sharply sending her mass of hair splaying out wildly as she spun. "Hmp! Forget it. You aren't worth my time. I'd challenge you to a duel in the simulators if I felt you'd even have a chance," She said as she started to walk away, waiting for there to be a few steps of space further between them, never bothering to look back at the Haath pilot as she headed for the exit.

The moment Elizabeth asked why so she had to get another spork. Valéria could not help but give a small smile as her level of satisfaction of annoying the stuck up princess had peeked. Such a simple request and it earned a such a reaction. Valéria would remember this and have to use this trick again. The reaction was quite amusing to watch.

As Elizabeth spoke saying she would challenge Valéria to a duel in the simulator if she felt like she had the chance made Valéria give the Haath version of a mocking laugh. Doubting the princess had the skills nor the will needed to beat her in one on one combat. To Valéria Elizabeth was not worth her time, that and Haath social code, for now, would not allow her to issue a challenge otherwise. The code required Elizabeth to cause actual offence to Valéria’s personal honour or insult her family name.

Once the princess was gone the two Haath soldiers where quick to sit with Valéria again, one even letting her use their spork so she could keep eating. Valéria feeling quite content, she seemed to have gotten under the suck up princess’s skin, best of all she didn’t even seem to notice she was being played.
“Such a bother, my meals gone cold while she made all that noise. I wonder what she even wanted to talk to me about. Meh whatever, if it’s important she’ll try again, of that I have no doubt. Maybe next time she’ll try to be more reasonable.” she muttered to herself giving the Haath version of a snicker before going back to her meal.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

@Evil Snowman Sure, sounds good to me. piratepad.net/4lvtpRLXLq
Shall El and Val have words?

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

@Ammokkx
Echo Thunder
Ojo

@JasonheroWhat? I figured with her obsession with Russian History she would gravitate towards one of their strongest times in Earth History. We could always use this:

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

an icon for Tanya:

an icon for redeemer:

just suggestions from the web. shrugs.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

I donno, I think Zim has already kind of stepped up into a bit of a leadership role, hasn't he? At one point it was between Katya and Zim for candidacy. And it was Zim that stepped up to introduce all of the new people, minus Ana, etc etc.

Anyways, I'm at a little bit of a loss as to what to post next. If anyone wants to collaborate on something let me know for either Zim or Elizabeth.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

@Ariamis I am not opposed to a discord chat, though having never used it I am not sure what it all entails, but it would be nice to have a fallback in case of another breakdown.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Yay! I can see again! Also, neat new girl.