Penultimate_Pi

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

I generally see OOC chat as not just discussion but distributing personal news relevant to the roleplay. Saying things like "hi, i've been busy for a few days and will continue to be busy" explains your situation and states why you've been less active here.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

No offense to Clocktower, but I wish he could've described the Blade of Hope's deign a bit more so I could fine a suitable picture.
But in any case, Lora's question applies to me, too: will I actually be allowed the sword for future missions, or is this just something being dangled over my head until I get better?

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

The events following the battle, in Lora's experience, didn't get interesting until the debriefing- or, in more accurate terms, Lorenzo's judgement of performance. Terrible across the board, in his opinion. Surely, though, the executive couldn't have expected anything better from a recently-assembled 'team' of cadets given a vague outline of a mission. But when one kept in mind the sheer ineptitude of some of the enemy pilots, it seemed to be assumed that any casualty not suffered from the resident ace pilot was a pathetic one.

All in all, Team Sigma's performance proved laughably and inexcusably terrible, even for their first real performance. On one hand, it couldn't be helped; on the other hand, Lorenzo had every right to help it, if it meant tearing his subjects to pieces until they pulled themselves together.

And then the executive's verbal warpath locked sights with Lora. The young adult couldn't help but cringe ever so lightly at the interrogation she was subjected to. Not that the pilot was concerned that Lorenzo witnessed what she did, but the fact that she suffered such a meltdown in the first place. Such a disastrous act should've been below her, not becoming of her gritted focus. Reflexively the pilot clenched her teeth and tightened her fists, resolving to keep cool despite the frustrations gnawing at her.

"Is that what you want, Shinkai? Have you given up on being a human? No, don't answer that," he said as he lifted his hand dismissively. But he couldn't just dismiss such a decisive question unless he believed the answer was obvious. Emotion, relationships, love, empathy- all those things that made her human, but not a single one drove the Framewerk. All it took was reflex, piloting knowledge, and raw mental power. You could arguably get any animal to drive a Framewerk with enough training, it it weren't for the fact that they were built for humans in the first place.

So would she surrender her humanity to the Cruxi, or to Lorenzo? At this point, neither seemed especially desirable.

"It won't happen again... sir," Shinkai spoke in response, her visage steeled with the tone of confidence that it would be true.

Lornezo quietly scoffed at that, as if she were making a promise she couldn't possibly hope to keep, and continued with his evaluation regardless. "Your display convinced me to make compatibility tests with the Sword of Hope, and if the results are positive the weapon will be installed on to the Dynasty's systems. It's previous owner is dead anyway, so why not make a good use of it while you still can? Heh!"

That announcement got a rise out of Lora, mostly of confusion. As she understood it, Framewerks were not allowed a supplementary weapon platform until their pilots reached a certain high measure of skill that proved they could handle using it. While Lora did recognize herself as a proficient pilot by the end of her flight training, the cadet was also fairly sure that she was yet to be at the level where she could tote anything more than the Blaster Cannons. Unless Lorenzo believed she had already passed that threshold...

Perhaps the man did have some faith yet. If he didn't, none of the cadets would be standing here being collectively told to pull their heads out of their asses - they'd all be taking the walk of shame back to the ship hangar to be sent home. No, every one of these rookie soldiers had to have a reason for being kept around and offered a treat for their lucky efforts.

"Now then, before I announce the new squad officer, do you have any questions?" Ah, right. Someone among them still had to be given the task of actually managing this squad of misfitting Framewerk drivers.

But first, their inquiries. Lora was among the first to raise a hand. "Sir, what you said about that sword- am I even authorized for that?" After a moment, the pilot elaborated, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that a certain amount of experience is mandatory before a Framewerk would be allowed an additional weapon outfit. Sir."

Enigma Final Fantasy [High-Casual]

Yeah, I got to do some ruminating over what character I want to play as. I'm pondering Yuna from X-2, but with a bit more emphasis on her dynamic between a faithful warm-hearted summoner and a roughhousing, badass hunter. Or maybe I'll be something more traditional, like Kain.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Agh, sorry, finally got something out. Fairly short, but I think it's alright considering I didn't collab with anyone.

I am seriously thinking about some modification to my primary weapons, though. I was thinking mostly just a blade mounted on the underbarrel of each blaster, but maybe I might change the blaster's mechanics a bit too. Something for a bit more variety.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Lora didn't have much to say or do as she sat within her deactivated Framewerk, but ruminate on the circumstances around it. Through some combination of hodgepodge tactics and sheer dumb luck, Sigma Team had managed to come out on top with a lucky strike on Sköll. But as Lorenzo himself noted, the effort was exactly no more than that, and it might as well have been a mission failure considering the casualties and poor display by the cadets.

That scientist, he was something else. The man held himself somewhere just between laughing mad and deathly determined, giggling with apparent sadistic glee in one moment and then cussing out anyone who objected in the next. More than once, Lora figured someone had questioned why exactly the old man was put in charge of not just the Framewerk program but every operation revolving around them. After all, his mental stability and judgement seemed a tad unbalanced at best, but if it was just a facade then why bother? Just to creep people out for fun? Or maybe to disguise something else...?

Whatever the case, it wasn't in the cadet pilot's place to wonder about that. Thinking too hard might just get her anywhere from court martial to execution- or even worse, under Lorenzo's eye.

So instead, Lora turned her thoughts back to her own last moments in the battle - how she cleaved Daemon apart with the Blade of Hope as Sköll was being stuck down. It very easily could've failed by any other circumstance, seeing as how she only barely managed to gut Emperor with Atty's help. Yet, in that moment as she reared back the sword to strike... Such a feeling was difficult to describe for Lora. The best explanation she could offer herself said that something just clicked within her, within Dynasty. She poured all her intention into the strike, and the machine she controlled followed her wish- and the Blade of Hope understood that.

Being a pilot within the Framewerk program gave one interesting experiences and views into the gigantic weapons. The most experience among the veterans seemed to recognize the machines as something more than just a vehicle of destructive intent, speaking as if they were an extension of oneself. In that idea, were the synch ratio values more than just numbers, beyond the idea of how well the machines could respond to a pilot's movements?

Did those people speak as if their Framewerks were truly as alive as they were?

The faint whirr of spinning copter blades began to resonate through Dynasty's armor, and Lora forcibly removed herself from the control harness. She felt a bit of regret that she likely could not keep the sword she pilfered from the enemy Framewerk, but the weapon ultimately wasn't built for her. The Blade belonged with Phantom Zero, even if the Framewerk now belonged in a scrap pit.

Still, the experience resonated with Lora in a pleasant manner, and she found herself considering possible modifications to Dynasty later on that could reflect it. It proved an able distraction from the fact that her team of cadets had just killed a dozen children today.

SPARTAN - The Exiles (Original Mecha RP)(Pre-Interest)

I'll toss in my own interest, though this is looking awfully more than full.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

So Lora got one of the highest synch increases, eh? Guess taking on the Blade of Hope worked out pretty well after all.
...heh, 69 percent.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

So I'm back from my weekend trip. Feel a little dumb because I forgot controllers, but we had food, drink, and a bonfire, so it was nice otherwise. I'll see about getting back into the posting mood soon; probably gonna just have to post for myself since I figure everyone's already collaborating with everyone else.

Souls of Steel: A Giant Mecha RP

Oh, speaking of missing stuff, I should probably mention that I'm going up to a friend's cabin for the weekend, so I'm not going to be back around until then. I will try and get together one more post before I go, though.