Battle Suit Utopia

[Master_Archon]

"The facility is actually pretty big, we're underwater but this place does have an Assembly line for standard combat battle suits, they aren't as advanced as ours but they're mostly for infantry. The factory is what makes it so huge," Haruka said, looking to see the time. "It's 3 pm so you need to be back here a bit before 5."

 

Roman smiled, and chuckled to himself as Haruka used normal, non-military time to denote when they were supposed to be back. She may have been around Battle Suits for a long time like Roman, but she sure didn't have the formal military ingraining like he did, at least from what he could see. Probably an advantage of having Doctor Suzuhara as her father, as he could only guess. It just proved that anyone could be normal in any situation, something Roman was glad to see.

 

At Roman's suggestion Haruka looked at him, and grinned, making Roman chuckle yet again.

 

"I guess I do have a bit of time," Haruka said and walked over to a man with very thick glasses. "Take over for me Takahashi-san."

 

"This way guys," Haruka said, heading off, Roman following suite.

 

"The Facility was built around 2082, back then the battle suits were starting to show promise. And this facility was one of the first steps towards heavy battle suit research," Haruka said, Roman nodded as he listened intently, as they headed towards the barracks. "I'm sure you'll be able to find your dormitories just fine. Each of you have your own, it's a perk of being one of the MDN's elites."

 

Xaiver [sp?] moved up to where Roman was, and gave him a smile, something he hadn't expected, but accepted with a smile of his own.

 

"And here I thought I was gonna get to bunk with Roman," the man said, making Roman laugh lightly as he smacked Roman on the back.

 

"Well, if that is what you wish then, by all means," he told Xaiver, ringing his arm around the shorter man's neck playfully. "Anybody else care to bunk with me? There's plenty of Roman for everyone," he joked, laughing; using Ukrainian humor that he was sure some would take offense to, and others simply wouldn't understand, even if it wasn't meant to be crude at all. But he really didn't care, life was too short not to make jokes, even if others didn't understand them.

 

"So shouldn't we try to get to know each other a little better during these next 2 hours? I'm not trying to interrupt your fabulous tour here Haruka, I just think if we're going to be teammates it would be easier to cooperate if we all actually like each other." Xaiver suggested. A very intelligent suggestion too.

 

"Very smart suggestion friend, as a 'house divided against itself cannot stand', after all," he said, quoting the famous saying of Abraham Lincoln.

[Ping]

"The facility is actually pretty big, we're underwater but this place does have an Assembly line for standard combat battle suits, they aren't as advanced as ours but they're mostly for infantry. The factory is what makes it so huge", Haruka said and looked at her watch. "It's 3 pm so you need to be back here a bit before 5".

 

"Gotcha," said Zhao, glad to get an answer.

 

"I guess I do have a bit of time"

 

Zhao sighed. He had originally wanted to go around the base alone, like he always had before, though he did admit, it would be better if they bonded as a team - it would allow them to get missions done more efficiently.

 

I'm sure you'll be able to find your dormitories just fine. Each of you have your own, it's a perk of being one of the MDN's elites."

 

Zhao grinned inwardly. Looks like he could get some time to himself after all. He did, however, notice that Katsu looked slightly concerned at the notion of individual dorms. "What? Scared of a little solitary confinement?" Zhao said, half joking. He honestly couldn't understand why people hated being by themselves - he had always got along fine without any friends for comfort. Zhao then came back to reality with a comment by Roman.

 

"Anybody else care to bunk with me? There's plenty of Roman for everyone,"

 

"Thanks, but I don't think we all swing that way," Zhao laughed, getting the joke.

[Shana]

"So shouldn't we try to get to know each other a little better during these next 2 hours? I'm not trying to interrupt your fabulous tour here Haruka, I just think if we're going to be teammates it would be easier to cooperate if we all actually like each other."

 

"Well you can definitely do that if you wish", Haruka said and turned over to Katsu.

 

"Would it be possible to customize our dormitories to the way we wish to them to look? Or will we have to leave them the way we found them?"

 

"You can do with your dormitories what you like, they are yours from this moment on", Haruka said.

 

"Anybody else care to bunk with me? There's plenty of Roman for everyone,"

 

"Well to each's own I guess", Haruka said and moved towards the wall as her PDA rang. She took it out and found she had gotten a message. She opened it and found it was mailed to her from a Mr. Robeypants. She looked at it for a moment as if deep in thought and then turned to the guys.

 

"I'll meet you back later, I'm sorry but there is something urgent i must attend to", Haruka said and turned to leave walking fast.

 

========

 

General Ramirez was walking through the hallways with the Director Kellan again. They were pretty much quiet the entire time until Ramirez's PDA rang. He took it out and saw a new voice mail was there. And he played it.

 

"General....are you there? Well, this is Commander Cook requesting rienforcements. I have failed to take over the moon, and my squad is now down to only two of my original men, myslef, and four Mercenaries I found on the station who are willing to join my battlegroup. I will however need moe troops in order to protect myself while I put up my new moonbase no telling what kind of other monsters will attack again. The MDN President has already given me the recources to build, all I need now is you to supply me with the needed troops. Well, I hope to hear back from you soon, Sir. Cook out."

 

"Cook again huh?", Kellan said and sighed.

 

"What should I tell him?", Ramirez asked.

 

"What we've told NASA and the others, they'll get their funding and help when our priorities have been delt with. Right now I don't care about the moon and neither does the board of directors. Right now our priority is establishing that treaty with the Arab countries. Without that alliance, private Cook can kiss his family's moon base goodbye and we can all kiss our asses goodbye", Kellen said.

 

"We really have no one to spare?", General Ramirez asked.

 

Kellen looked around to General Ramirez and sighed once more.

 

"Alright, send a brigade of infantry troops. No Elites, we came here to do a job and this team was assembled for it. Let's not deviate", Kellen said and walked away.

 

General Ramirez sent a message to Cook.

 

"Sergeant Cook, a brigade of infantry soldiers is going your way, sorry but we can't spare many soldiers. Especially elites, the burocrats don't really care about the moon right now, the Chinese and the Russians are pressing more for the Arab Countries, and in the end if they don't get the Arab resources they can't hold the moon base for long. Good Luck", General Ramirez typed and sent the message.

[Master_Archon]

"Thanks, but I don't think we all swing that way," Zhao said, laughing.

 

Roman frowned as Zhao actually hadn't understood his joke, and even taken it in the wrong direction.

 

"Sorry, I don't think the joke was too clear. There's a story behind it, but for now it's too long to explain. Let's just say that cannibalism was more than just rumored of, in Ukraine," he said, his frown growing deeper, and his eyes spacing out as he began to reminisce, and brood.

 

Roman quickly snapped out of it, and even cheered up, when he heard Haruka speak up, but quickly became disappointed again when he heard what she'd said. "Well to each's own I guess."

 

Roman was saddened, and tried to say something, but she spoke again before he did.

 

"I'll meet you back later, I'm sorry but there is something urgent i must attend to," she said, turning to leave quite hastily.

 

"I'm not.....like that," he called after her, but his voice faded as he thought she'd gone out of earshot. He frowned with downcast eyes, and finally removing his arm from around Xaiver's neck, he shoved his gloved hands in his coat pockets, and turned to the others.

 

"Well, I'm not," he said plain and simply. "I'm going to go, you guys can 'bond', right now I want to go see Lævateinn 2," he told them, flashing a brief, yet half sincere smile. He too left the group at a fast pace, heading back to where the Lævateinn 2 was.

 

He eventually made it there, and with a little ingenuity, and effort, mounted himself on the suit's collar, where he sat humming an old Ukrainian chant, and fiddled with a box of trinkets. After embarrassing himself in front of his fellow pilots, and Haruka, he needed some time to himself, or more like, to themselves (being that he was with his suit).

 

'They'll get over it, and I will too. It's just hard to lose face with someone, especially after you've just met them...And you want to impress them,' he thought to himself with a barely visible smile, although one could tell it wasn't all too happy.

 

"Besides," he said aloud to the Lævateinn 2. "I feel I'd rather be here with you right now anyways," he said, his voice picking up in tone a bit, as he smiled a much bigger, cheerier, and genuine smile.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"I'm not.....like that,"

 

Katsu watched as Roman turned away from the group and headed for his mech before turning back to the others and slowly shaking his head. He then walked away from the group and headed for his Mech.

 

After a short walk, he found himself in front of the Vegas and after a few moments he managed to position himself on the left foot of the giant mech. He looked up at the Lævateinn 2 and noticed that Roman was sitting on the collar of the Mech.

 

He made a fool of himself. And in front of the entire group. Right now I believe he could use some encouragment.

 

"For the record, I got your joke." He called up to Roman. "I just don't laugh that much."

[Cyborg Ninja]

Xaiver laughed with Roman, happy to see someone who knew how to have fun. However it seemed the supposed good mood everyone was feeling suddenly vanished. First Haruka got a message which seemed to cause her some distress.

 

"I'll meet you back later, I'm sorry but there is something urgent i must attend to"

 

Xaiver looked into her eyes and saw the urgency in them. Whatever she got must have been very important.

 

I hope things go well for you Haruka he thought to himself.

 

He then turned to see Roman walk away from the group. Suddenly he remembered what Roman had said before moving and Xaiver realized he was embarrassed. Xaiver smacked his hand against his head before shaking it slightly. He looked over at Zhao at who was still standing there. Now their leader, which Xaiver guessed was Haruka who unfortunately was forced to leave them and Roman was already straying from the group. Not to mention Zhao looked like the loner type and Katsu looked like he kept to himself too.

 

Well someone has to do something. A good team always needs a second in command, for emergencies such as this.

 

"Alright I think its safe to say we all want to get to our battle suits, but this isn't looking good guys. When we all get back to our suits let's try talking while we work on them."

 

Xaiver began making his towards his battle suit and when he finally arrived he saw Roman working on his own.

 

"Hey big guy!" Xaiver shouted up to him. "Think you got enough guns on there?"

 

Giving Roman time to respond took a piece of paper and pen from a work area and began writing something down. He turned to see Katsu was here as well.

 

"By the way, nice voice you got there Katsu. You should try using it more often," Xaiver said teasing Katsu lightly

[Master_Archon]

"For the record, I got your joke." Roman heard shouted from down below, Roman looking down to see Katsu on his mech. "I just don't laugh that much."

 

"Thank you comrade Katsu, I'm glad you did get it, although I don't know how. But don't worry, I'll make sure to say something in the future that'll make you laugh, and won't make me look like a fool, I promise," he shouted back to Katsu, his old, happy mood quickly returning. In Ukraine, you learned not to focus on the negative too long, or it could literally get you killed. Something Roman was actually glad for.

 

"Hey big guy!" Xaiver shouted up to him, making Roman jump a bit, as he wasn't expecting Xaiver to be there (or Katsu, on that matter). "Think you got enough guns on there?"

 

Roman looked around, his suit was spotless when it came to weapons, even it's Rotary Gun had been removed, only the 70mm guns embedded in the Lævateinn 2's head were there, as all the others had been removed for transport, and checkup. He could only guess that Xaiver had seen his, and the Lævateinn 2's dossier (even if it was heavily censored, and classified), which had a minor description (of him, and the suit), and a list of some of it's weapons load out, even for those who had low level access.

 

"No, I would've liked a Microfission-Bomb Sling, and maybe a Heavy Microwave Cannon too, and some giant titanium-cloth mitts for Lævateinn 2 as well, to keep his hands from rusting in the nuclear winter. But they said my suit wouldn't be able to do Skid Combat so loaded down with weight," he jested back, the first two weapons actually being real armaments, and the last one about the mitts simply to add the humor to his remark.

 

"But in reality friend, ammo on my Battle Suit disappears faster than cookies in a ghetto, pardon the saying," he shouted, making sure to pre-apologize for anything he might say offensively.

 

And at that Roman proceeded to replace the trinket box to it's former place in a compartment in the neck of the Lævateinn 2, and he began singing quietly to himself in Ukrainian-Russian, walking precariously along the collar of the suit, over to the other side, where he proceeded to mount the suit, and go up to it's shoulder. Once up there, he leaned against the Lævateinn 2's head, and sung louder, only in a normal tone though; but it still echoed in the hangar softly, anyone could hear it, though it was somewhat eerie, he wasn't singing it for anyone, only himself, and the Lævateinn 2. If others heard, then they could form their own opinion on his vocal abilities, he didn't need acceptance to be happy, with his suit (although he would still prefer the acceptance, being a sociable person in nature).

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

Cook sighed, he had many troops at his disposal already. The brigade that was sent by Ramirez was enough to try and take over the moon. The transports that arrived were also spaceworthy and they immediately did the small hop to the ruins of Arc. It took two weeks for them to get a station up, but once they did, Cook's scientists flocked their to their new base. The good news was that their were no enemies aware of their pressance! But maybe that was because they were building a base of their own. That was discovered when a scout found a communist base within the side of one of the mountains. He reported back.

 

 

"General Ramirez,

 

I leave you another message, I have succesfuly set up a small facility on the moon, only to discover that the communists have set up one of their own during my absence. Should I take it out? Once I take it out and I have your blessing and I get my project up and running, I will rendevouz with you in the Arab countries. Commander Cook out."

 

 

(Actually, you called Cook private, though he is actually an officer or else he wouldn't be commanding a mission of his own. Just a note)

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Thank you comrade Katsu, I'm glad you did get it, although I don't know how. But don't worry, I'll make sure to say something in the future that'll make you laugh, and won't make me look like a fool, I promise,"

 

Katsu nodded up at him. Before his unit had been wiped out they had fought at the very edge of Ukraine's borders for a short time and he had seen actions such as cannibalism and brutal murders that had shocked him and the rest of his unit.

 

He looked up at Roman who was leaning against the head of his mech and was apparently...singing.

 

"If you all will please excuse me, I'm going to head for the dormitories and get some sleep before we meet up with Haruka again."

 

And with that Katsu slid off the foot of his mech and began walking toward the dormitories.

[Ping]

Zhao rolled his eyes as Roman and company walked away. So he didn't exactly get the joke, but he did try to be humorous. Zhao decided to not go after Roman. As soon as someone was made a fool of, even if it was completely unintentional, Zhao didn't believe people would listen to reason after that. Besides, the only reason he had gone with everyone was just so the team could effectively bond, and therefore, carry out missions effectively. He really didn't care much about friendship at all - Zhao didn't even believe it existed, he had been ostracized so much. Well, may as well find my cabin, Zhao thought. A little bit of decorating and feeling at home couldn't hurt. Haruka was right - finding his cabin wasn't that hard at all. He went into the cabin. With no lights on, it was pitch black, so he couldn't see anything. He swore in his native Taiwanese dialect after tripping over himself in the darkness, and then yelled an obscenity in his native tongue when he hit his head on the wall trying to get back on his feet. After fumbling around for the switch, he was able to get the lights on. The room was pretty boring - just a bed, a nightstand, and a communicator of sorts on the stand (Probably for urgent needs, Zhao thought), and an alarm clock. Zhao flopped himself down on the bed. He began to try to imagine where certain parts of furniture and decorations would go. A desk could go here, he thought. Maybe a lamp there. A new paint job would be nice, too. Zhao felt comfortable in his room, as boring as it was in its current state. After all, where else could he get some alone time?

[Shana]

((OOC: Mandalor, I thought I had told you that everyone was the same rank but oh well, I'll let it go this time I made your character a Sergeant, sorry no higher I had been over this with you in the multiple pms we sent each other, any more stuff you want to add to the story, you have to consult with me, and this goes for everyone and the answer may be yes or no. Any other changes like this will be ignored or just resolved with the finger of god (erased from existance). There are rules I put up in the RP. So read those please. This mostly affects Mandalor's character, everyone else is perfect.))

 

As she walked away, Haruka heard Roman say: "I'm not.....like that,". She had meant her comment as a joke too but she wasn't able to follow through it thanks to the PDA. She got to her desk. There wasn't anyone in the small office around, everyone was outside and she could see from the window overlooking the Battle Suits that her teammates were already inspecting their mechs.

 

She plugged in her PDA to her computer and she started writing code to try to decrypt what was sent to her by Mr. Robeypants. She knew it was a message from her father, he used to play a character called Mr. Robeypants when she was little and so she knew something had gone wrong. But she realized the encoding was really strong. She would need to be at it for a couple of hours, a couple of hours that she did not have at the present time. She decided to keep it in her PDA and lock it with some more encryption so no one could get access to it.

 

Haruka then walked outside to see that Xaivier, Roman and Katsu were there. She approached the railing and could hear Roman singing, Katsu looking at his mech and also Xaivier playing around with Roman. Takahashi, the man in the thick glasses approached her and stood next to her with a cup of coffee.

 

"So what do you think Boss?", Takahashi asked.

 

"I think we're gonna have to accelerate our plans. So far everything has been perfect, the elites I chose are here. Now it's time to see if they are willing", Haruka said, her expresion much colder.

 

"I can sense something is troubling you, I've known you since you were a kid Haruka, your dad and I were best friends", Takahashi said.

 

"Yeah I know, that's why he assigned you to me, so that you could keep me out of trouble", Haruka said with a small smile. "But now dad is in trouble Takahashi-san, I think he may even be..."

 

"Don't say that Haruka, why do you even speculate about that?", Takahashi asked.

 

"I got a message from Mr. Robeypants", Haruka said in a saddened tone.

 

"That's the user he said he'd use in case he...?", Takahashi tried to finish the sentence and it brought a single tear to Haruka's eyes as she nodded.

 

"I'm sure he's fine, if he wasn't then General Ramirez would let us know right?", Takahashi said but Haruka looked at him wiping her tear away.

 

"With that burocrat Kellen here?", Haruka asked and scoffed. "Kellen doesn't give a **** about any of us as long as we do the job."

 

"So what are you gonna do now?", Takahashi asked and Haruka turned to him.

 

"For now, we'll let these events unfold, see where it takes us. After that, we'll see", Haruka said and walked over to the elevator and got down to the level of the Battle Suits. She then moved towards Aegis 11 and sat down on the left foot, and she took out a laptop which she plugged in to a small port in the foot. She started to run diagnostics and wiped her eyes one more time discretely so no one would notice and just continued her work.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Xaiver laughed at Roman's cookie joke taking no offense to it what so ever. He was sitting down on Nova's right foot when he stopped writing to look up. He didn't know why but something told him to. When he did look up he saw that man with glasses and Haruka. He stared at her for a few seconds before looking back to Nova. Something felt out of place but he wasn't sure what. He dropped the piece of paper on the floor and scratched his head for a few seconds. He got up and walked over to where Haruka was.

 

"Well my plan didn't work on out too well, but at least were starting to talk to one another. So the real reason I came over here was to try to get to know you better since you had to leave before we all had a chance to talk...but I can see your busy so I'll stop by later." Xaiver said scratching the back of his head. "Hey if you ever have any free time don't be afraid to come see me, and that goes for everyone too."

 

Wow that sounded a lot better in my head

 

Xaiver backed away and looked up at Roman and called out to him.

 

"Hey Roman, wanna see what the other two are up to? I know your busy but I'd love to hear that story of yours."

[Master_Archon]

She then moved towards Aegis 11 and sat down on the left foot, and she took out a laptop which she plugged in to a small port in the foot. She started to run diagnostics and wiped her eyes one more time discretely so no one would notice and just continued her work.

 

((Uh Cyborg, ya kinda messed up on that one, you would've never noticed her crying, or would have intercepted her, cause she already made it to her mech's foot in her post. On top of that I have to start all over now, cause my post that I was making is ruined. - Ah well, whatever. You got there first, fair game I guess.))

 

((Alright, edited a post in, hope it's not too, blah! Seeing as the other one went down the toilet. - Don't worry Cyborg, I don't hold it against you, I was just saying. ))

 

"Hey Roman, wanna see what the other two are up to? I know your busy but I'd love to hear that story of yours." Roman heard called up to him from Xaiver down below.

 

"No thank you friend, I want to stay with the Lævateinn 2, there's a reason I'm nearly 100% synchronized with it," he paused as he looked down at Xaiver, and noticed Haruka on her mech's foot. He scratched his head, his eyebrows furrowing as he went into thought, he hoped she didn't think he was....'the other way'.

 

"And it's not because of my singing either," he continued, joking with Xaiver some more, his gaze dwelling on Haruka below, as he felt like saying hi, but he didn't feel like embarrassing himself further today. He'd simply have to make up for it, and prove himself in the test runs.

 

"You should go and see about Katsu though, I think my singing scared him off. Zhoa too. He seems the loner type, but even they ((loners that is)) need talking to, friend," he told him, leaning back, so that he was no longer looking down from his mech. "Besides, I'll tell all of you about the story later, it's getting too close to the test runs for me to be reciting nostalgic stories about Ukraine."

 

With that Roman proceeded to climb off of the Lævateinn 2, and down onto the scaffolding-catwalk that wrapped around it's chest, where he began checking an input panel on the outer side of his suit's cockpit. If Xaiver left, he would take that time to apologize to Haruka, even if there was no real reason, or obligation to do so. It was always better to say you were sorry for making a mistake to others you believed you'd lost face with.

[Shana]

"Well my plan didn't work on out too well, but at least were starting to talk to one another. So the real reason I came over here was to try to get to know you better since you had to leave before we all had a chance to talk...but I can see your busy so I'll stop by later." Xaiver said scratching the back of his head. "Hey if you ever have any free time don't be afraid to come see me, and that goes for everyone too."

 

Haruka looked up as he said these things and she giggled a bit.

 

"Ok, thanks that's good to know. And don't worry, there will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other", Haruka said. Which was true since they would be working together for now on. She looked up and saw Roman working up there. She was kinda worried that he had been left with the impression that she thought he was something he wasn't but she wasn't sure if she should just go up there and talk to him. She just figured if he wanted to talk about it he'd come to her so she continued to work on her diagnosis.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Xaiver smiled at Haruka's giggle, and on top of that he was happy with her response. At least he felt comfortable around two people in the group now.

 

"You should go and see about Katsu though, I think my singing scared him off. Zhoa too. He seems the loner type, but even they ((loners that is)) need talking to, friend," he told him, leaning back, so that he was no longer looking down from his mech. "Besides, I'll tell all of you about the story later, it's getting too close to the test runs for me to be reciting nostalgic stories about Ukraine."

 

Xaiver had forgotten about the tests for a few seconds, which he found a little odd; He didn't usually drift off like that.

 

"Good call, I guess I'll bring the wonder twins back here." and with that Xaiver walked off towards the dormitories.

[Master_Archon]

((Well, this is basically the same post as the one I was going to put down from not even two or three posts ago. I just did some necessary editing, and presto, potpourri post surprise!....Or something funny like that :¬: ....Yeah. So, nothing to worry about, I griped for nothing...Sorry Cybog, I was very....uncool, I guess. I 'Pologize! .))

 

Roman glanced over the edge of the catwalk as he heard Xaiver say, "Good call, I guess I'll bring the wonder twins back here."

 

"Anytime comrade," Roman replied, finishing his work on the input panel.

 

Roman scratched his head before he covered the input panel back up, and looked up at the Lævateinn 2, and smiled as if he'd heard something.

 

"Thank you Lævateinn 2, I shall," he said with a smile, moving towards the end of the catwalk. He descended to the bottom level, and proceeded to walk towards the Aegis 11, all while resuming his singing. Once he made it, he climbed up the left foot to where Haruka was, and sat down, his singing quieting as he stared off into the hangar.

 

He got quiet, and looked at her, staring for a few moments before finally piecing together what he wanted to say in Japanese, "Hello Miss Haruka, you're as pretty as the last time I saw you." Roman was trying to go for the 'I'm not like that' demeanor, but he felt that he was already beginning to fail, and deflated a bit.

 

"Nevermind.....So, you look cold," he commented normally in English, although his older wisdom, and common sense, told him she was in the least a little preoccupied in action, and thought. He hoped it wasn't because of him.

 

He fiddled with his thumbs nervously before saying quietly, "I'm sorry about earlier, even if I didn't insult anyone, or you, what I said still caused unnecessary problems. I'll be more careful in the future, I promise."

 

Roman was getting more nervous as the silence continued. "I, uh....." he tried thinking of something that would lighten the mood, and make Haruka smile.

 

"Would you like to wear my coat, the lower levels of the hangars are always colder than the rest of the facility, or so I've thought, and you really do look cold," he admitted, somewhat shyly.

 

"But, you said it was nothing to worry about," as he removed his coat, and set it to the side, between Haruka, and himself. He wanted to cheer her up, as she seemed preoccupied, but he didn't know how, until a thought popped into his head.

 

"So, Miss Haruka, do you like cookies?" He asked, referring back to his supposedly funny remark from earlier that she hadn't heard.

[Shana]

"Hello Miss Haruka, you're as pretty as the last time I saw you."

 

Haruka grinned slightly at his words and continued to type in her computer, trying to finish quickly before turning her attention to him. As she finished, she heard him say a lot more. Trying to justify his words from before and apologizing. She turned to him as he said the stuff about her being cold and then completely change the subject with the cookie remark. This made her giggle a bit.

 

"I'm a bit cold but I also have this thermal shirt underneath so it's all good", she said giving him a small smile. "Oh and don't worry about what happened earlier, I did get the joke, I was joking too but I had an emergency so I couldn't follow up I'm sorry. And yes I do like cookies sometimes, why?"

 

She looked at him intently, he was a very interesting man. She could tell he was worried about her thoughts about him and this was a bit amusing but she respected his feelings about it.

[Master_Archon]

Roman was beginning to cheer up as he saw Haruka grinning, and even giggling at his comments.

 

"I'm a bit cold but I also have this thermal shirt underneath so it's all good," Haruka said, smiling at him, making Roman smile back, somewhat abashed that he thought she might need his coat. "Oh and don't worry about what happened earlier, I did get the joke, I was joking too but I had an emergency so I couldn't follow up I'm sorry. And yes I do like cookies sometimes, why?" Haruka looking at him with great intent, making Roman a bit more abashed, and nervous too.

 

Roman was, however, relieved to hear that Haruka had understood his joke to some degree, and had even wanted to follow through with a joke of her own in response. This lifted quite a lot of stress off of his shoulders, obviously.

 

"An emergency you say? I hope it wasn't too bad," he commented, hoping that any worries she had about said emergency might be somewhat alleviated through his comments. "I'm here if you need anything Miss Haruka, and even if there's nothing I can do, then you have my support. Even the kind where I make a fool of myself offering you my coat like some old fashioned gentleman, not realizing it's the 22nd ((I think that's right)) century," Roman laughed, although it was an honest one, it was still half-hearted, as he had reminded himself of yet another one of his blunders on his way to attempt to impress Haruka in some way.

 

"As for the cookies, I uh....." Roman looked at his feet as if he'd just realized they existed, trying not to say it in too offensive of a way, but in the end, he realized that commenting on cookies disappearing in ghettos would be too high of a risk to take, when it came down to it. He didn't want to chalk up another blunder, nor did he want to insult the beautiful young girl who'd grown up in one of those very ghettos.

 

"....Glad to hear it.....Yeah, glad to hear it," he replied blandly.

 

"'I'm getting nowhere like this,'" he said in Ukrainian-Russian, looking up and over at the Lævateinn 2. Roman looked at Haruka, and smiled, trying to buy time; but to no avail, he had no more ideas, and he was beginning to run out of juice when it came down to speaking in English too. That was it! Language, he would ask her about that.

 

"So, I have a question Miss Haruka. Would you mind teaching me some Japanese? So far I've learned on my own from listening to my technicians yell at me, but that doesn't create stable ground for learning a new language," he asked, and told Haruka with a kind smile. "Besides, it will help us pass the time until the test runs, seeing as I'm finished with anything I wanted to do on the Lævateinn 2, and you seem finished with what you're doing on the Aegis ju ichi."

 

Roman smiled yet again, only far more nervously, thinking, 'I'm looking more, and more like the fool in front of her. Next she'll find my trinket box on the Lævateinn 2, and see my picture of when I lost that bet, and had to wear pink versions of my clothes, and make everything else on me pink too: hair, eyebrows, and eyes included! That would be just wonderful!'

[Cyborg Ninja]

((No problem...but now you owe me that story ))

 

Xaiver made his way to the dormitories, wondering how much longer it would be until the test runs. He called out to Zhao and Katsu ready to tell them about what was happening.

 

"Hey guys, I told Roman and Haruka I'd bring you two back to the battle suits. They'll be waiting..." Xaiver began to say.

 

Alone...he set me up! Well why should I care anyway, I mean I just met her...I mean them. Besides they all probably think your just another American who doesn't care about anyone but himself. I'm not though...am I? Xaiver snapped out of the conversation with himself.

"...for us, we should hurry back there."

 

He began to make his way back towards the battle suits. He didn't know why he was getting worked up like this, it was probably best to just let it go for now. As he got closer to the battle suits, he kept his eyes fixed on Roman and Haruka. He didn't see a chair in his path and smacked into it. He quickly covered his mouth to stop himself from yelling and continued walking like nothing ever happened.

 

"Miss me?" Xaiver called out to the two of them as he continued walking towards them. "Zhao and Katsu should hopefully be on their way," he added almost forgetting about them.

[Shana]

"An emergency you say? I hope it wasn't too bad," he commented, hoping that any worries she had about said emergency might be somewhat alleviated through his comments. "I'm here if you need anything Miss Haruka, and even if there's nothing I can do, then you have my support. Even the kind where I make a fool of myself offering you my coat like some old fashioned gentleman, not realizing it's the 22nd ((I think that's right)) century," Roman laughed, although it was an honest one, it was still half-hearted, as he had reminded himself of yet another one of his blunders on his way to attempt to impress Haruka in some way.

 

Haruka's eyes widened a bit and then looked at the jacket.

 

"Oh sorry, thanks a lot. I'm just not acustomed to others giving that kind of courtesy towards me", Haruka said and put on his jacket over her shoulders. "I feel a bit warmer now, thanks", she said giving him a small smile.

 

"So, I have a question Miss Haruka. Would you mind teaching me some Japanese? So far I've learned on my own from listening to my technicians yell at me, but that doesn't create stable ground for learning a new language," he asked, and told Haruka with a kind smile. "Besides, it will help us pass the time until the test runs, seeing as I'm finished with anything I wanted to do on the Lævateinn 2, and you seem finished with what you're doing on the Aegis ju ichi."

 

"Well I don't know how much I can teach you in so small a time", Haruka said giggling a bit and then looked at him. "I guess it won't hurt to try, you already have the basics down for all the phrases you've said so far."

 

She then looked over to where Xaivier was coming towards them.

 

"Miss me?" Xaiver called out to the two of them as he continued walking towards them. "Zhao and Katsu should hopefully be on their way," he added almost forgetting about them.

 

"That's good, let me see...", Haruka said as she turned to the monitor on the wall. It seems my test will the the first one so you guys get an idea of what we're gonna do. Each trial is different given the kind of fieldwork you specialize in. Mine is aerial and close range combat. So a lot of my training is in midair", Haruka said.

[Ping]

Zhao heard Xaivier's voice call out to him and Katsu, though it was a bit muffled, as he had the door to his room closed.

 

"Hey guys, I told Roman and Haruka I'd bring you two back to the battle suits. They'll be waiting..."

 

Zhao poked his head out of his room just in time to see Xaivier disappear down the hallway. May as well join them, he thought. He then noticed Katsu hadn't come out of his room. Probably asleep, Zhao thought. He then went up and banged loudly on the door to Katsu's room. "Xaiver wants us to get back to our mechs," he said in a raised voice, so Katsu could hear. Zhao didn't know why he felt compelled to help Katsu, as Zhao himself was very anti-people. I must be eager to get out of here, he thought. Zhao then walked down the hall and into the hangar. "Alright, this better be important," Zhao said to the others, annoyed that he didn't get more time to himself. "Katsu's probably waking up from his nap, and I'm itching to get back into my mech."

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Xaiver wants us to get back to our mechs,"

 

Katsu slowly opened his eyes at the sound of someone knocking at his dormitory door and then opened his eyes even wider at the sound of someone shouting at him through the door.

 

The last thing he had remembered was finding his dormitory and then laying down on his suprisingly comfortable bed. He had been having nightmares again.

 

I should really see if there is a therapist on base.

 

He got up off the bed and walked out the door and headed for the area where the mechs were docked arriving after a few minutes of walking.

 

"So...May I ask why we were summoned here?"

[Cyborg Ninja]

"That's good, let me see...", Haruka said as she turned to the monitor on the wall. It seems my test will the the first one so you guys get an idea of what we're gonna do. Each trial is different given the kind of fieldwork you specialize in. Mine is aerial and close range combat. So a lot of my training is in midair"

 

"I'm all about close range, I've turned Nova into the ultimate close quarters warrior." Xaiver stated proudly.

 

"Alright, this better be important," Zhao said to the others, annoyed that he didn't get more time to himself. "Katsu's probably waking up from his nap, and I'm itching to get back into my mech."

 

"Amen to that Ace. Well we're each taking the tests individually and each trial is based off what your suit specializes in. Haruka here will be going first," Xaiver said to Zhao and Katsu before turning to Haruka "Speaking of going first, is the second slot already slotted or are we taking volunteers?"

[Shana]

"So...May I ask why we were summoned here?"

 

"How quickly they forget", Haruka said jokingly. "We're about to begin our training excersizes guys."

 

"Speaking of going first, is the second slot already slotted or are we taking volunteers?"

 

"Well the order is a first come first served. They said I should be first because I'll be gathering data of your performances. Takahashi-san will gather info about me and Aegis 11. But if you guys want to settle among yourselves, you can decide the order", Haruka said and pointed towards a terminal near the monitor. "Over there you can make a selection of weapons you might want to test out, my designs so make sure to take advantage of all their features".

[Master_Archon]

"Oh sorry, thanks a lot. I'm just not accustomed to others giving that kind of courtesy towards me," Haruka said and put on his jacket over her shoulders. "I feel a bit warmer now, thanks," she said giving him a small smile.

 

Roman smiled back warmly, somewhat relieved by her remarks. "You're very much welcome. But you don't have to wear it, it was simply a kind gesture on my part, no obligation goes towards you to wear it Miss Haruka, if you don't want to, that is," he explained kindly.

 

"Well I don't know how much I can teach you in so small a time," Haruka said, giggling a bit, and then she looked at Roman, making him grin abashedly. "I guess it won't hurt to try, you already have the basics down for all the phrases you've said so far."

 

"You should hear me when I try to carry on a conversation! I end up saying things so wrong, the technicians don't even want to tell me what I said half the time," he laughed at himself, unashamed. "Besides, Miss Haruka, you don't have to teach me now, considering the time restriction, but if I may ask, would you be willing to teach me over a long term period?" He asked with a small, but handsome smile.

 

"Miss me?" Roman heard from off to the side, looking over he noticed Xaiver was back. "Zhao and Katsu should hopefully be on their way," the younger man said, making Roman raise an eyebrow as he thought of how expediently Xaiver had returned. He'd hoped that his friend would have gotten the idea to give him some time.

 

"That's good, let me see..." Haruka said as she turned to the monitor on the wall. "It seems my test will the the first one so you guys get an idea of what we're gonna do. Each trial is different given the kind of fieldwork you specialize in. Mine is aerial and close range combat. So a lot of my training is in midair," she told them.

 

Roman smiled at this, he couldn't wait to see Haruka, and the Aegis 11 at work finally. Roman sat and listened to the remarks going back and forth for a bit.

 

"So...May I ask why we were summoned here?"

 

"How quickly they forget", Haruka said jokingly. "We're about to begin our training exercises guys."

 

"How quickly indeed," Roman added, chuckling at Haruka's joking manner.

 

"Well the order is a first come first served. They said I should be first because I'll be gathering data of your performances. Takahashi-san will gather info about me and Aegis 11. But if you guys want to settle among yourselves, you can decide the order," she told them all, Roman leaning back, somewhat nonchalantly.

 

"If it's all the same then, I call third slot, after whoever goes after Miss Haruka. I want to at least see one of my fellow pilots' performance before I go out," Roman said.

 

"Over there you can make a selection of weapons you might want to test out, my designs so make sure to take advantage of all their features." Roman smiled as he looked over at the monitor Haruka was pointing at.

 

He looked back at Haruka, he remarked, and complimented, "I'll be sure to take a look Miss Haruka. Considering they're your design, they're probably very good."