TARRRPG: Chapter 23: Gründe [Earth]

[legacygundam]

(Sorry for the long reply Kylern, busier weekend than I thought.)

-Kyle-

As the other arm came round for the Huckebein's shoulder, Kyle brought the left arm up, saber blocking the claw inches from reaching the shoulder. Pushing back the arms so that they weren't putting as much force on his suit, Kyle noticed the heat wires, getting ready to launch. "Tch, its a good thing I prepared in advance."

From behind the Belphagor, a spiral disc came streaking from behind another building at the suit's right arm. A remote slasher, one of the two Kyle had launched when he had dashed into the city. And while that one was coming straight for the suit, the other lay in wait, till it received the signal to attack.

[Kylern]

-Kylern-

This was getting fun and the Belphagor reacted just as it should. The heat-wires deployed and swung around using their thruster bits to slice through the remote slashers destroying both units. "Did you forgot remote weapons are this machine's favorite snack! Now prepare for my own!" With that the two knee mounted atomic scissors fired forward to chomp into the knee caps of the Huckebien and attempt to cut him down to size as they continued to push against each other physically. Even if the other remote weapon came after him the remaining 6 heat-wires would seek them down too and eliminate them. He had sacrificed some of his weapons to survive but it was worth it in the end.

-Nowe-

The doctor noticed the girls distaste and scoffed at her as she left.

(later on)

It seemed like days to Nowe but it wasn't as he laid there nice and quiet. Later on a doctor would come along with a machine to "repair" the young man's mind. Once that was done he was put back to sleep and return to his quarters.

[SNT1]

--Santi--

"We will find him, General, you can count on that," Santi says boldly. Ain't nobody as big as SNRI will be invisible to Santi.

Santi listens on to Livingstone's explanation, on why the DC is a higher priority target than the Fandom for the Federation. In the end, Santi plays along with Livingstone's reasonings. "Yes, they're being quite troublesome aren't they?" The tone is like that of an adult annoyed at a bratty kid causing some trouble. "Well,the Excalibur Team may be able to lend a hand, but the Duskraiders is on a mission right now; I'm not sure at this point if they can lend a hand. I'll see what I can do."

As he concluded his message, it's important to note again that Santi wasn't impressed by Livingstone's concern for the DC. Fandom is growing just as much, strength-wise and tech-wise, if not more so; good thing that Federation locking away the two drives may stall their surging GN tech rate even for a little bit.

He gets handed reports of the last official Federation raids against the DC. They were all SNRI-Earth related. The Fandom aid. The Hong Kong raid. Really peculiar as to what Richter sees so badly against the DC that he'd rather help Fandom. Even more so is that Livingstone's sense of urgency paralleled Richter's actions...

Juan Santi attempts to contact Taylor Reese...

--Taylor--

With the ship docked and welcoming all the other pilots back for a trip, one GN drive is being unloaded, to be taken in to some undisclosed location in North America. Taylor oversees this; it's part of her plan---have the two drives as far away as possible---the other one will have to be sent back to Tokyo.

She comes back on the ship and finds Kit, and says, "Johann Nueve can probably patch up your unit, even if it won't look pretty. We will be leaving for Tokyo again and await orders there." With that she turns and goes about her responsibility again.

--Slug and Antonio--

"From a ship, you say? I sure hope it doesn't run out of juice as fast as the small one! We just figured out that we can power it with electricity, but easier said than done..." Antonio says, welcoming the arrival of the bigger GN drive.

Slug just nods, he has nothing to add.

He looks on to Johann's Strike E IWSP, which was now in pristine condition. Johann even said that he ran a few simulator exercises and really nerded out on studying how to max his performance with this Gundam. After all, before fighting all he did with this Gundam is show it off to potential customers, much like Slug showed off his old ZetaPlus unit to sell, sell and sell.

[legacygundam]

-Kyle-

A warning light inside Kyle's suit alerted him to the attack coming at his knees. Pulling back on the controls, Kyle backed off from the suit, the scissors slicing cuts into both legs of his unit. Floating a short distance away from the Belphagor, both sabers still extended, he watched closely for a moment, then locked onto the suit. Dashing suddenly to the side, he put the left saber away and drew the rifle, the weapon already locked into the rapid fire mode. The GN drive on his back glowed red and the weapon fired a barrage of five shots at the Belphagor, then flipped a switch inside the suit, moving the remote slasher he had left to wait nearby to Kylern's unit, to strike the second Kylern let his guard down.

[Omega]

-Luna Ramius-

She knew it would be disheartening for Aile and the rest of the Excalibur team, but she had made the decision to move Lyon to the base's medical ward... She oversaw Lyon's transfer personally... Despite the heartache she felt for the pilot she saw as a daughter...

"Lyon... take care of yourself... if you ever wake up..." A tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke...

-Rena Lanford-

She quietly returned to the Ceres and quietly went back to her room to go to sleep... or so she thought, until she had a dream that ended with her waking up in a cold sweat, and her heart was pounding, complete with her face a rather deep shade of red.

'What the... the heck was that about...' She quietly dressed and left to try and get some fresh air.

[Sume Gai]

Raven Sterling/Victious Sterling

The doctors had quickly pronounced Raven to be perfectly fine upon her entry into the Olympus Mons medical ward. However there was something they couldn't have diagnosed. Her body was exhausted, continual fighting had taken it's toll. Her body, against her desires, had taken this chance to rest up. It was a long and deep sleep. Since she was not in any real danger she had been left to sleep in one of the Olympus Mons' private wards.

When she Finally awoke many hours later she found someone unexpected beside her, Victious Sterling. Sitting beside her, he had his usual professional air, showing no personal concern.

"Good you are awake"

"Victious?" upon ensuring that she was decent Raven set up. "Why are you here?"

"I can't very well let the heir to the main branch die, can I?"

it made sense now, It was as usual a matter of appearances with him. This way he would appear to care deeply for her well being. Since raven herself was now a symbol of the war effort this was great publicity.

"So what do you really want?" Raven was guarded; she knew her cousin was an opportunist.

"Can I not simply make sure you are well?" Victious smiled disarmingly before returning to a more stern expression. "Very well I do have some business I've selected the machines to replace the ones your gaurd have lost."

Victious passed a data pad to Raven who studied them for a few moment. "the first one will suit Johann well however this one does not suit me at all"

"You? we were giving you the Arche."

"I have promised that to Nena. Therefore, this second machine will be mine." Raven seemed to take pleasure in foiling even the smallest of his plots. Victious took it in stride his expression reading annoyance for only a moment.

"You can be so troublesome -dear cousin-. Very well I'll handle this." Victious rose and left.

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

After a bit, she tried to sort out her not-so-innocent dream, which only ended in building a warmth in her lower extremities...

After walking back into the Ceres, she scanned around, deciding to ask for a bit of help in sorting it out. Her gaze fell on the Delta, and she noticed someone was working on it... She walked over to it, and gently tapped the person to get his attention.

"Um... You got a minute? I was wondering where this 'Strike Zero' was I heard about..."

[SNT1]

--Hermann--

Hermann has been told that the Fandom structure here is defined as 'loose' at best, and it would probably be best to park his Gadessa somewhere else until he's either assigned to a squadron or be handpicked by the top brass to protect them.

As he walked out of the command center in Hawaii he noticed some people eyeing his new unit. He understands that there will be more GNZ units coming here, but he appreciates the commotions nonetheless.

"Excuse me gentlemen, gonna park my baby in that hangar over there, yeah, it's brand new and it kicks ass." He weaves his and climbs his way to the cockpit. "Alright, the guy told me to walk over here..." The Gadessa walks left, then turns right... then... "Oh wow, no wonder they need GNZ units here, hmph," he notes. Hermann sees the junked remains of the Throne units and some Ahead. "Ok, I'm just gonna park it here, and..." He parks his Gadessa next to a couple of GN-XIII's, just to make sure his mecha stand out.

~~~~~~

He climbs down and walks back again to the command center, curious. Enjoying the war-ravaged beaches is not an option right now.

[Strike Zero]

- Strike -

At the tap, Strike looked up to see the pointy-eared girl standing over him.

"Well, you can wonder no more, as you've found him."

He scooted out from under the golden Gundam and dabbed a sleeve over his sweaty brow. "Rena, right? What can I do ya' for?"

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

"Well... I need a little help making sense of a dream I had...." as she spoke, she started blushing. "Would you be willing to help me out?"

[Strike Zero]

- Strike -

Strike tilted his head just slightly. It was barely noticeable, but Rena's cheeks had turned a light shade of color. Was it an indication that the dream had been a personal one? Strike straightened his back and squared himself with the younger girl.

"Well, I can't say that I'm an expert on dreams and whatnot. But since you went to the trouble of finding me, I'll do my best. Lay it on me."

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

"Well... thank you..." She quietly leaned in and whispered the contents of her dream, would probably be enough to make Strike turn Cherry Red. "What does... it mean?" Her blush deepened as she recalled it.

[Strike Zero]

- Strike -

As Rena divulged the contents of her dream, whispering into Strike's ear, the young man was indeed left with a slight flush of his own due to the sudden flow of provocative images that came about as a response to Rena's vivid descriptions. Slowly, his head tilted to the side once again and "o_o" rightly summed up the expression he was left with as she finished. However, he soon caught himself and quickly straightened once again, clearing his throat.

"Ah, I see. What does it mean, you say...?"

He began rubbing the tip of his chin and closed his eyes while resting his other hand on his knee.

"That is a very difficult question. It is one that rivals Fermat's last theorem in terms of complexity. You see, it deals with the ever persistent mystery that is human nature and the sporadic chemical processes of the living brain. For centuries people have attempted to master an understanding of its underlying truth, but to no avail, having only been capable of expressing its meaning in crude, utterly simplistic forms of literal explanation. In other words..."

His eyes snapped open and faced Rena squarely.

"You're hitting the grand streak of your life that is puberty and there is most probably somebody you want to do 'it' with," he said.

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

"Do... 'it' with?" At first Rena seemed genuinely confused... but then it hit her. "Isn't... that another way of saying... you're in love?" She managed to stammer out, with a deep blush covering her cheeks. 'Do I... love him?'

-Luna Ramius-

The commander of the Excalibur quietly walked onto the bridge, then voiced her orders for the bridge crew.

"If there's any orders for the next three days, ignore them..." The bridge crew sweatdropped at that, but nonetheless replied with a 'yes ma'am.' as she left for her quarters. She obviously didn't want to be disturbed.

[Strike Zero]

- Strike -

"Hmm... yet another complicated question," Strike replied, resuming his philosopher pose. "For love in itself is complicated, a complexity that presents an endless battle the human soul that no man or woman is exempt from facing. Can love be defined simply by those innate primal urges that come with the passing of age? Or is love a deeper, conscious construct of the human soul, the desire to connect to another, to form a bond whose mere existence defies all logic and reason? There is no clear definition, no easy way to make the distinction between the two. However, one cannot deny that such feelings are real, and to deny them is to deny one's very humanity itself. In the face of such truth, I would most definitely have to say..."

He aimed his index finger as a gun and squeezed once.

"Bullseye," Strike asserted, grinning cockily.

His smile vanished, his expression taking a serious turn, and he leaned forward. "Which brings us to the more important, pressing matter at hand: is this man aware of your feelings for him? If not, how do you intend to express them to him? The answers to these questions belie the utmost importance, Rena!"

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

Her face reddened as Strike pressed on the offensive, asking her how she intends to confess to him... "Well... i'm... not exactly sure... I don't know what he thinks of me... As for how I intend to confess..." Rena's blush deepened before she spoke... "I'm worried he'll just shoot me down..." Her blush vanished as she lowered her head.

'Will he... return my feelings? Or will he reject them?'

[Strike Zero]

- Strike -

Strike laughed, shaking his head left to right. "I hope you don't mind me saying, but we'd have to be dealing with a stone-cold jerk for him to turn down the likes of a sweet girl like you. I don't think there's any real reason to worry. That said..."

The young man rose to his feet. "If you feel that you aren't mentally prepared, there's no need to rush. After all, confessions are only done right when it feels right. However, the most important thing is that you actually do say something to him at some point. I cannot stress this enough. For to let feelings of love go unknown..."

Inexplicably, Strike's tone took on a sudden change.

"...To let her pure, heartfelt feelings go unspoken... 'tis the greatest tragedy that could ever befall a young maiden such as yourself. It flies in the face of all that is pure, and all which our culture was built upon! Romance! Love! For such purity to be sullied is something that cannot be allowed to pass! In this time of strife and death, it is my wish... nay! My duty to see it so! I swear it upon my honor as a man and as a noble member of the unstoppable and ever-enduring Gundam team!"

There was heavy pause for several seconds. Then, Strike snapped back to his original demeanor and rested a reassuring hand on Rena's shoulder. "Anyway, that's the best advice that I can give you. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. I'm free all day."

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

"I... I see.... Thank you..." She then bowed before turning to leave... only to stop and turn her gaze towards the Belgaphor, her heart pounding as she found herself thinking of the moment when she finally confesses her feelings.

"How will you react...?"

[The Big Zabowski]

-Kit-

Kit looked up from her seat as Taylor addressed her.

"It can wait, Major. Right now those drives are more important than any single mobile suit."

She paused, looking out past Taylor at the ocean for a moment. She then made one more comment.

"I want to thank you for not ostracizing me for my connections to the Divine Crusaders. I can only guess how hard it is for you to trust me as a pilot and solider."

It seemed that even now when she could have felt the most human, Kit refused to even refer to herself as a person. There were still many bridges to cross for her to further adapt to interpersonal communication and society in general. Life for her, was no longer confined to the computer banks of a mobile suit; and this test with the Federation would probably be one of many trials in her search for her own personal beliefs and..self.

[Kylern]

-Kylern-

He had no intention of letting the Huckebien get away and as his foe started to retreat the Belphagor rushed him. The atomic scissors returned to their ports as the Belphagor struck out with its strike claw and unleashed the hyper beam saber. The first attack was to lock up the enemies beam sabers again. The second claw though wrapped around and tried to grab the rifle before it could be pulled out. Kylern wanted to crush it before it could be fired again.

-Nowe-

He slept for the longest time just to awake to a splitting headache and a lapse in his memory. Fandom sucked at memory replacement and his own was more fractured than anything. But he was use to by now and just shook it off along with an advil.

"Note to self... Never let them get you again..." He gave a sigh and headed off to the locker room in order to get changed. To his surprise was a note from that Wedge fellow he was suppose to keep watch over with a code to unlock the Prototype Ahead. "Guess he wasn't so bad after all..." A small grin came over his face as he grabbed a fresh set of clothes and threw them on. He then headed off to find this machine and see what it was capable of.