Gundam: Wrath of the Stars IC

[Nova_Eclipse]

The year is UC0284. Humanity, having spread throughout the stars, is in conflict once more with the Ragalians, a race of Near-Human cat-like warriors whose reasons for attacking are still largely unknown. The war has dragged on for 5 years, following its 200 year hiatus. But now, the Ragalians have begun fielding new, more powerful mobile weapons in their latest offensive, and even humanity's realtively new alien allies being folded into their combined forces, has only barely stemmed the tide of Ragalian advances. System after system has fallen to the Ragalians, though the defenders have put up long, valient fights. In the opening three months of the year, observed Ragalian forces have increased three-fold, and the Republic Alliance, the combined alliance of human and alien forces, have grown increasingly desperate. Humanity, however, seems to work best under pressure, and has been developing its own new mobile weapons to counter this threat. The legend of the Gundam lives on from its first appearance in UC0079, but the Alliance hasn't stopped there, commissioning every member nation that can manage it to commit a mobile suit for advanced development and rapid deployment, Gundam or not. These suits were gathered at Stechkin 4 for development, testing, and upgrades before deployment into the field. Stechkin 4 was thought to be safe; far from the front, and lacking any useful FTL routes into or out of the system, the system's Earth-like world was a perfect testing ground for the mobile suits, if more than a little dull. But that was your mission: to test and develop and build the weapons everyone was counting on to help win the war.

They say no plan survives first contact with the enemy. And that goes doubly so when the enemy shows up unannounced. In short, you were completely unprepared when a portion of the Ragalian fleet somehow leapfrogged through the contested front-line systems and began bombarding Stechkin 4. Although the Alliance had stationed a guardian force consisting of several carriers and battleships in orbit above the planet, they were unable to do more than delay the enemy. Fortunately for you, the Republic Alliance assault carrier Vengeance was at the base when the Ragalians appeared. Originally there to deliver development supplies and to load several of the newly-completed suits for delivery to the fleet, the Vengeance's captain ordered the base evacuated and every development suit to be loaded aboard, no matter its stage of completion when the Ragalians appeared. Unfortunately, the bombardment destroyed many of the suits under development, and even damaged one of the mostly completed Gundams, killing its designated pilot and badly injuring its backup, though before succumbing to their injuries, they managed to get it on board for evacuation. Only 6 suits in total managed to board before the captain was forced to depart, lest the ship and its precious cargo be destroyed, or worse, fall into the hands of the enemy. But even then, the ordeal was not over.

In order to evade the enemy, the Vengeance has had to adopt extraordinary measures, micro-jumping from Stechkin 4 to the Stechkin system's asteroid belt, before powering down and drifting to blend in. However, you've been largely unaware of this, as another drama played out on the Mobile Suit deck, one of man vs. machine. One of the prototype suits, during the loading process, moved by itself to protect one of its techs during the siege, promptly scooping her into its cockpit, before rushing up the boarding ramp, stepping on its own pilot in the process. Once inside, the suit went dormant for a time, but when the crew detected that the tech inside was injured, unconscious and in need of medical help, the next ordeal began, as the suit refused to let anyone open the cockpit, and began swatting away anyone who tried. Four more techs were injured before the crew chief gave the order to evacuate the deck save for the suit's own team. Crammed into the first available space, it took 5 hours for the team to finally extricate the tech from the recalcitrant suit and get her to the medbay. In the ensuing 3 hours, you've been allowed back out onto the Mobile Suit deck, but have had no updates on the outside situation, as the crew of the Vengeance have largely been preoccupied with evading the enemy.

8 hours after the attack, and things have started to settle down. On the Mobile Suit deck, the crew chief has ordered an inventory of parts that were loaded before takeoff, as well as team listings from suit teams. In the medbay, the injured are being treated. And on the bridge, the captain checks her data, and then leaves the bridge to her first mate. If the Vengeance is to survive, it's going to need every asset it has just acquired, and it's time for her to personally see what those assets are....

Episode One: The RAS Vengeance

Lucia: You awaken in the medbay of a ship with a massive headache. You vaguely remember a blast of heat and light, and then red all around you, before tumbling headlong into Sazabi's cockpit and everything falling away into darkness. The bed beneath you is soft and supportive, and while you don't seem to have an IV, you can feel the bandages wrapped around your left arm and right leg, as well as the one on your head. A tall, thin man with black hair wearing a white lab coat draws back the curtain surrounding your bed and regards you with a smile.
"It's good to see you're awake. How do you feel?"

Yuuki: Your father has been dutifully following the crew chief's orders to take stock of his team, and he's pawned inventory duty for the Shura off on you. Despite the haste, the teams managed to load a significant amount of ordnance before the ship was forced to depart; there's enough ammunition available for several sorties if used conservatively. Counting crates isn't that interesting, but at least it's something to distract from the more disappointing realization that the war has come to find you once more. As you finish your circuit of the deck, you note your father talking intensely with the crew chief and gesturing in your direction. That can't be good.

Agrias: You were one of the pilots whose suit was scheduled to depart on the Vengeance. You and Freedom were awaiting final assignment when the Ragalians showed up, and your suit had already been loaded when the assault began. Curiously, the order to suits never came, and instead, you've been put to work helping the crews on the MS deck after the Sazabi debacle. Now that things have started to calm down, perhaps it's time to check with your suit's team lead and see if he's heard anything yet. You spot him making a beeline for the crew chief, who's currently engaged in what seems to be an intense discussion with the head engineer for one of the other suits.

Athrusa: You also awaken in the medbay, though your entire body hurts, not just your head. You can feel the compression of the bandages on your arms, legs and torso, and there's an IV in your left arm. Trying to move or shift sends a stab of pain shooting through you; and it's hard to think. One moment, you were working on some calibrations with Matthias, the Nephilim's primary pilot; the next, you were flying through the air with a shooting pain in your side. Things went black for a moment, and then you were in the cockpit of the Nephilim...or what was left of it, anyways, as Matthias, badly injured, did his best to get the ancient machine up the ramp and into the ship. The suit almost fell, but you managed to help him hold it upright, before he fell unconscious and stops breathing, succumbing to his wounds. The sheer effort of holding the suit up and making it walk comes and goes in a haze, before there's blackness once more, and now you're here. A blonde woman in scrubs pulls the curtain back just slightly, and startles when she notices you're awake.
"Oh, oh my! I wasn't expecting you to be awake yet. How are you feeling?"

Tana: Your suit had been just been submitted for upgrade, testing, and performance evaluation when the Ragalians attacked. You had been on base less than a week, and your suit had barely been through the baseline evaluation before the bombardment started. Thankfully, the tech team hadn't started disassembling your suit yet, so it was usable, but you know you're going to be at a disadvantage compared to some of the other suits that managed to make it on board. You were evacuated with everyone else during the Sazabi issue, but since then, your team has insisted you stay close to your suit in case scramble orders are issued. Unfortunately, that seems to have meant a lot of sitting around and waiting, but now one of the techs comes to find you, waving.
"Tana! C'mon down, the crew chief wants to talk to us."

Xaia: Your team was in the middle of running calibrations on your first set of arms when the Invaders struck. Your hangar was far from the ship, and while everyone from your team made it aboard along with you, they were unable to load much of the parts that were intended for you. Your team tried to help during the Sazabi issue, but were unable to convince it to let the person inside go. Ever since it released her of it's own accord, your team has been working with the few parts they were able to bring to give you a smaller body you could use inside the ship. They'd just finished the link to your Haro when one of the Vengeance's techs comes to fetch the team. It seems the crew chief wants to talk, though from where you had been docked before being connected to your Haro, it seems he's already engaged. One of your team absent-mindedly picks up your Haro and carries you along with them.
"Let's see what he wants, shall we?"

[Merilan]

Athrusa is a white-haired, white-eared Artificial Ragalian; perhaps the only one onboard, which owes to a lot of the stigma and uncomfortable looks that she has accrued from a lot of the tech and military staff during her time on Stetchkin 4. Still, it wasn't all sour grapes -- she did get along with a number of people, chiefly the one who was really kind to her... Matthias, the primary pilot of the Nephilim, who often took the time to teach her and was patient even when others were snapping impatiently at her.

The beastwoman took a horrible hit from beam rifle splash during the initial assault -- a great portion of the right side of her body was badly singed by radiation emission, including her eye, which currently is hidden behind a patch of bandages. She's wearing an oxygen mask to sustain her during this precarious period, but, even then, all she can replay in her mind is--

Matthias groans as the last of the shot bombardments die down; the awful scent of smoke and oil is deep in the air as flames surround them, and the cockpit is torn open from where the shot blasted through and wrecked half the display panels of the Nephilim's mobile suit core.

Athrusa trembles and stares, barely aware of what's going on -- stares in shock as she finds herself the one in the actual cockpit seat, the primary pilot having reversed their positions. "W-why-- Matthias?" was all she could choke out, as blood drips down her throat and lips.

He wasn't doing much better. He slumps slowly, revealing a horrible shard of debris from where it's impaled him on the back. "... heh... guess I... messed up, huh?"

"No, no, this isn't happening!" screams Athrusa, even as the pilot reaches for one of the auto-pilot systems and forces the suit to start walking. Warnings are flaring all around them, cascading the scene in crimson. "M--Matthias, you're going to be okay--"

"It might be the end of the line for me... but... you'll take care of the Neph, right...?" Matthias tries to reassure the Artificial Ragalian with one of his cocksure grins, but it's clear that it's all bluster. "... sorry I couldn't do more..."

"Y-yes..." Athrusa answers the question first and foremost, even as she stabilises the suit by instinct and uprights it on whatever vernier balancers would still respond to her.

"Good... hey, Ath..." Matthias pauses for a moment. "... live a good life, okay? Live true to your... emotions. It only takes... one fool to change the world... heh..."

"M-Matthias?"

There's no response.

She's jolted back towards the present through the sharp, stinging pain of something aching rather badly across her body. "It hurts... all over..." is all she manages to muster out. "Where's... where's Matthias? What happened to the base...?" She sounds more like she wants this to be a bad dream, but some cognitive part of her mind already knows otherwise.

[DualShadow]

As good as it was for her and her suit to be already loaded into the Vengeance Agrias felt like she should have gone out to help with the evacuation. Instead she helped around as needed especially after the incident with the Sazabi. "Blasted AIs, what good are they for if they don't work with us." she mumbled to herself as she went about helping. At least things were calming down and the chaos created by the messy departure was more or less solved.

Wanting to know more about the current situation Agrias headed to her suit's lead but he met up with the others before she could intercept him so instead she moved closer to the group to hear what the fuss was about. "That ought to be good."

[DoctorFaust]

"Oh please god, no."

Yuuki lets out a groan as she sees her dad motioning towards her, deep in conversation with the chief of staff. They can't possibly be talking about what she thinks they're talking about, right? All she is is a gofer, a very junior techie at best. They're on a ship full of actual military people, at least one of them must be qualified to sortie in the Shura.

But...

Always the goddamn but, Yuuki thinks to herself as she sits down with a thump, leaning against a box of shells for support. But she was the one that got the Shura in when the pilots couldn't be found. But she remembered Dad telling her about how he designed the controls so that even a moron could use them. But she had helped to design the instructional program for it. But, but, but, but, but. They actually are going to try to make me pilot it, she thinks to herself, sinking her head into her hands. But I'm not going to let 'em.

[Burden King]

Xaia calmly allowed the technician is carry her as they went along, glancing around the ship as she experienced the human sized halls for the first time. Since her activation, she had only seen the training and testing field, and the hangar when it was time for dormancy. "Have we caused some damage or inconvenience to the crew of this ship?" she asked, glancing up to the tech that was holding her, briefly contemplating what title they would have if they were a biological family.

Her father and mother were back at the Praxus territories, programmers and researchers that departed for different projects after her model was approved for testing. She hoped she could send good news back. She'd hate to be a disappointment.

As for the technicians though, they were not involved with Xaia's creation, or related to her mother and father. But they had been around and cared for her like she would think a family would. The question settled in her head, something for her to gnaw at later, when the mission was over.

[Erynn]

"Finally...", Tana griped as she separated the helmet from her pilot suit before pushing off from the cockpit of her mobile suit, "There's nothing I hate more about this job than the hurry up and wait."

As Tana descended to the hangar deck, she got her first opportunity to take stock of the mobile suits that had been loaded aboard the Vengeance. Her gaze drifting from Sazabi to Freedom before finally coming to rest upon the form of Nephilim. For some reason, the mobile suit's small size compared to those around it left Tana unsettled.

"I swear that one's familiar.", she muttered to herself, "I just can't quite put my finger on it."

It was at this moment that Tana's feet met the hangar deck, magnetizing to the metal surface. She took a moment to brush her hair out of the way, back behind her again, as it has continued forward in the weightless environment to obscure her vision momentarily. Proceeding toward what looked like the engineering and repair bay, Tana began scanning the patches attached to each crew member's shoulder, looking for the individual of the correct rank. What she finds instead is a rather distraught looking teenager leaning on a box of shells.

"Hey, kid!", Tana calls out looking to break the ice, "You know that's ammo, right?"

With a little bit of luck, the comment would get her attention and perhaps see Tana recognized. Directing civilians to safe locations was always easier when they knew who was directing them. 'even if they've never met you before, just knowing who you are seems to make it easy for people to trust you.', Tana thinks to herself.

[DoctorFaust]

Yuuki leaps up from the crate, jerked out of her brooding by an unfamiliar voice. She whirls around to face the other woman, and replies, "Oh, uh, yeah. I know. I got put in charge of doing our inventory. I'm part of the Axis Forces group."

[Shimmer]

When Lucia awakes there is only silence for the briefest of shining seconds like the soft intake of air before a scream. Then the feelings hit her like a tidal wave. Fear, anger, terror, fury, concern all wash over her to the point that she feels like she might drown as her vision swims with red her head pounding as loud as a drum, as loud as a heartbeat. Desperately she tries to de-tangle the feelings. How many are hers? How many are Sazabi's? She doesn't know, but as she tries to force her self to breath through her nose she can almost feel the force of the AI bearing down on her mind. Then just as suddenly it lifts. Less a pressure and more the feeling of someone standing at her back so close that if a machine could breath she'd feel the stirring of the hairs on the back of her neck where it lurks in some distant part of her brain.

Not for the first time Lucia curses her abilities and almost misses the man in the lab coat at her bedside entirely. For a moment she blinks at him trying to comprehend his words that might as well be foreign code to her then slowly things click back into place. The world seems to righten and she nods.

"F-fine." She croaks out wincing at how raw her voice sounds leaving her answer coming off almost more as a question rather then the response it was meant to be. "I'm... I-I think I'm fine." Lucia adds blinking groggily at her surroundings noting they didn't have her hooked up to an IV. Thank goodness for that drugs never mixed well with her abilities and if she was going to get Sazabi loaded on the ship she'd need....

Slowly her mind stuttered to a halt her breathing kicking up a hitch into borderline panic and once more she could feel the weight of the AI react to her fear.

"Where am I?! Where's MSN-04 Sazabi?! There was an attack! Did he get loaded in time!?" Lucia gasped out struggling to sit up with her good arm ignoring the piercing headache and the near migraine like pressure of the AI against her mind. Sazabi had to be at least in one piece if he was giving her this much of a headache and possibly close, but there was no telling with the Mech.

Down on the MS deck the MSN-04 Sazabi's eye lights up shedding the area around it in an eerie sickly green as the single orb shifts seeming to be peering up and in the direction of the bed bay. Beyond this minute startling bit of movement the mech does not make any show of lurching into action like it had done once before. Instead a low rumble echoes from the suit as it vents a short burst of steam. Possibly cooling down from it's previous brief burst of movement or revving up for another. Whichever it is it's clear it's own techs can't quite tell which as the few that had been lingering around it take a few rabid steps back out of it's range just to be safe.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Athrusa: The nurse's expression shifts to one of sadness as she moves up to the side of the bed and places a cool, comforting hand on Athrusa's forehead. It's something of an odd gesture, but the physical pain seems to fade for a few moments.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the other pilot who was with you, Matthias, was it? He didn't make it. He was gone before your suit made it aboard. We tried to revive him, but it was too late, and his injuries were too extensive. As far as what happened to the base, the enemy arrived. They're in the system, bombarding the planet. We're aboard the RAS Vengeance. We've escaped the planet, but I don't know much more than that. The doctor should have a look at you; you shouldn't be awake this soon after surgery." She taps a small device on her wrist, but otherwise makes no move to leave. "My name is Celeste. What's yours?"

Agrias: The lead engineer for one of the other suits seems to be arguing with the crew chief. As you get close, you can hear him talking in an angry voice.

"She's still just a kid! She didn't sign on to become a combat pilot!"

The crew chief seems to have a different opinion.

"Look, Mr. Itano. I wouldn't be suggesting this if there was another option, but she's the only one you've got! The other two pilots didn't make it aboard. She piloted the thing aboard. The captain wants to know who the pilots are. I gotta tell her something, and your daughter's the only thing I've got right now!"

Mr. Itano does -not- look pleased. He crosses his arms over his chest stubbornly, and frowns.

"Well then, I'll just have to take it up with the captain."

The crew chief sighs in an exasperated manner as Mr. Itano walks off, back towards the Shura.

"You do that." Then he turns to look at the suit lead and Agrias. "What's your team and suit's status?"

Yuuki/Tana: One of the suit techs for the Shura walks by, and pauses, noting the insignia on Tana's suit.

"Yuuki, have you got the inventory done yet? Your dad's probably going to need it. I'll run it to him, I think you may need to stick with your new friend here." Great. Now your own team's trying to throw you to the wolves. The tech with Tana seems unusually nervous, but says nothing while the Coordinator stops to try and help the "civilian".

Tana herself may have noticed that despite the general disorder currently present due to the amount of crates on deck, the mobile suit deck seems oddly empty. There should be many more suits aboard; this class of carrier typically carries a complement of 24 suits. Where are the rest of them?

Xaia: The tech shakes his head, smiling.
"Nah, he probably just wants a status on the Gai-Sura. It -is- incomplete afterall, though it wouldn't take much for you to be able to fight with it the way it is." It seems you'll have to wait in line; Agrias' team is already talking to the chief, and several others seem to be queuing up. Odd that. And then, everyone pauses, and goes silent for a moment as the Sazabi's eye glows, looks around, and the suit releases some steam. Several of the techs back up for a moment, but when the suit doesn't move, activity slowly resumes. Hopefully, that's a good sign.

Lucia: The doctor opens his mouth to reply, but before he can say anything, a woman wearing a long, black coat with epaulets dripping gold fringe appears next to him. The black pants with the red stripe, and the plain white blouse under her coat somewhat conflict with the black beret with the gold shield atop her head. The uniform of a ship captain. Her black hair is worn in a loose braid down her back, and her dark blue eyes regard Lucia with something between kindness and annoyance. The rest of her expression, however, is professionally neutral.

"You, and your troublesome mobile suit are both safely aboard my ship, the RAS Vengeance. I am Captain Nina Brighton. I know who you are, Lucia Lynelle. Your team told me once the suit had loaded itself, and injured four of my crew." She looks to the doctor. "How is she?"

The doctor looks startled, glancing at the readout above the bed. "She says she's fine, and I'm not seeing any abnormalities, just a few bumps and bruises left." Something on his belt vibrates. "Excuse me, Captain, I have another patient to attend to."

The Captain nods, and the doctor takes his leave, though she fixes Lucia with a sardonic expression.
"Well then, you and I need to come to a decision, then. Feel up to taking a walk with me?"

[DualShadow]

'So the Shura is lacking a pilot right now ... ' Agrias mused in her mind as she looked at the brick wall of a Gundam stored a bit further. To her it might as well been a walking coffin being so bulky like that.

Her thoughts returned to the crew chief as he asked about her team and her mobile suit. She quickly exchanged a look at her lead engineer before answering "Most of our staff and supplies were already aboard the ship when the attack began and so was the Freedom, no even a scratch on the ... " It was at that time that the Sazabi acted up and released some steam. Her first reaction was to clench up a fist in front of her "... I swear if that thing acts up again on its own I'll do more than scratch its paint." As the seconds went by and Sazabi remained motion less her focus returned to the conversation at hand at pretty much the same rate that the rest of the crew started working again.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Pausing to see what the other players near Agrias does.

[Shimmer]

After a few harsh panting breaths Lucia manages to reign in her panic. For the Captain's words are reassuring even if the information they convey is decidedly unpleasant. Finally reigning her emotions in the tech rests her face in her hands allowing herself one pained groan at how quickly the situation had devolve before forcing herself back to dealing with reality. Today she decides, is not a good day and as she eyes the woman before her Lucia can't help, but mourn that it's machines not men and women that she can read.

She can almost feel Sazabi's indignation, but she shoves it to the back of her mind pondering why the connection has lingered so. Perhaps a side-effect of head trauma? She couldn't really say.

"Captain." Lucia finally greets the woman with a nod. "I apologize for any trouble the MSN-04 Sazabi may have caused you. The AI is...touchy. Typically I am there to deal with any tantrums as you will, but it seems this time I was otherwise...disposed." She explains unable to hide the slight wince as she considered just how much trouble the irritable AI might have caused. Still she gives the Doctor a polite nod as he leaves and finds herself blinking in surprise at the Captains invitation if you could call it to 'walk.' What will come of it though Lucia is unsure. Still she leverages herself out of the bed doing her best to ignore how everything aches like a bone deep bruise and how her vision blurs red at the edges slightly when she straightens.

"If you wish to stretch your legs then it's the least I can do to join you." Lucia agrees once she's a little bit more steady on her feet.

"If you don't mind me asking the last thing I remember is the catwalk collapsing. Sazabi must have overridden or found some loophole in the restriction protocols on it to catch me and everything is a bit of a blank from there." She murmurs moving to follow wherever the Captain might lead leaving the medward to those in need of it.

"How..." Lucia begins with a slight grimace. "How badly did things go off the rails?"

[Erynn]

"No kidding?", Tana responds, somewhat skeptical before the comment of a passing tech seemingly corroborated the kid's statement, "If that's the case, then maybe you can tell me where the rest of this ship's mobile suit complement is. Or maybe my new shadow can?

Tana playfully acknowledged the nervous tech that had approached, hoping to put them a bit more at ease. Truth be told, however, Tana was experiencing a bit of unease as well. A hangar as empty as the one in which they currently stood was rare, generally occurring in only the most dire of circumstances.

Never the less, Tana continued to put forward a confident, relaxed demeanor for the benefit of those around her. Whatever the situation, there could be nothing more demoralizing to the rank and file than seeing those above them succumb to fear. Such fear behaves much like a plague, spreading from person to person as if an infectious contagion.

Tana had seen such a thing happen once before to another unit, and had no desire whatsoever to see relatively recent history repeat itself.

[DoctorFaust]

"Of course I wasn't lying," Yuuki replies, her voice more than a little frosty. "I've been working with the Shura for years now. And no, I don't know where the rest of the MSes are. Maybe in another launch bay or something?" She grimaces, and adds, "But...they also might not have made it on at all. I really hope they did, though."

Turning back to her duties momentarily, Yuuki flashes her tech a hesitant smile, and passes the inventory documents over. "Yeah, it's done. Here you go, Rafe. But, do you know what Dad's so worked up about?"

[Burden King]

Xaia stared at the Sazabi silently, letting the technitians wait as she decided to do something. Staring directly at the Sazabi, Xaia sent out a signal, trying to open up communication with what she thought had to be an AI.

"Hello? I am X4-14, or Xaia. Are you feeling better now? You seemed agitated before."

Her words were vocalized, a silent transmission to the Sazabi. As she waited for a reply however, she spoke allowed "When is my body going to be complete? The lack of I fields is disconcerting. And what if the enemy? Am I not combat ready yet?"

[Merilan]

There's a faint, hoarse breath escaping from Athrusa's lips, a measure of practiced agitation as Celeste places her hand on her forehead -- but it soon recedes as the cool touch starts to take the pain away, and she slacks against the bed. "A-Athrusa," she murmurs after a bit. No last name. The closest she'd have to one was the batch designation of the experiments she was part of, and Matthias had told her to stop thinking herself as a product on a production line.

She quietly catches Lucia and the Captain leave the medward on their way out, but her vision is a bit blurry for her to make any details out.

"I killed him..." she murmurs, after a while, her face scrunching up into a grimace. "He shielded me, I shouldn't have..." she whimpers, tears rolling down her eyes.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Agrias: The crew chief pauses, then sighs with relief when nothing happens. He makes a note on his datapad and looks back to Agrias.

"No argument from me on that; thing creeps me out." He shakes his head. "Alright, for now, stand by over there, please." He gestures to an open area to his left, then looks to the next group, all wearing the same patch. They must be the SRS team; she probably saw them earlier around the half-trashed suit that barely made it aboard with two injured pilots that had to be rushed to the medbay.

"You there! What's your suit's status?"

Agrias might just be able to hear the wrecked suit's status from where the chief told her and her team to wait, if she's so inclined to listen in.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If Agrias wants to listen in, she'll need to roll for it, since the suit deck is still a busy place with lots of people milling around.

Lucia: Captain Brighton walks slowly enough that Lucia can keep up with her despite the unsteadiness, her expression shifting to a more serious one. She leads Lucia down a hall to one of the personnel lifts and presses the down button, then speaks while they wait.

"Two broken arms, one cracked rib, and two Ooontaa with bruised organs. Your suit flicked them away when they were trying to get the cockpit open after it loaded itself and we detected you injured inside of it." She frowns, and fixes Lucia with a serious look. "In its rush to catch you and get aboard, your suit stepped on its designated pilot."

The lift arrives, and the captain heads into it, waiting for Lucia to follow. Once she's aboard, the captain will go on after selecting the button for the Mobile Suit deck.

"Your suit is refusing to let anyone inside of it now. Your designated pilot is dead. So, since it's so concerned about you, I can only conclude that it cares more about you than anyone else. The question then, is, are you willing to become Sazabi's pilot? I realize you're not trained for combat, but I don't have many options right now."

Yuuki/Tana: Rafe takes the documents, and glances back to the Shura, before holding the back of his hand to his mouth and speaking quietly.
"The crew chief here is trying to list you as the Shura's pilot, since Ginny and Steve didn't make it aboard and you piloted it on. Your dad is trying to keep that from happening...but...." He looks around, and nods at Tana. "I don't think there are many pilots aboard who could just take the Shura out and fight effectively in it. I overheard a couple of those little alien mechanic guys, uh, Ooontaa, I think they're called, saying that the ship's complement had been put out on defense duty before it was allowed to land. That's why the bay is so empty, it didn't go back to the station when it took off to recover the rest of its complement."

The nervous tech (his name is Gordon, though no one seems to remember this, despite having worked with him for months) nods at Tana. "He's right, Tana. They forced us to do the same thing before delivering the CGUE to the base; you probably don't remember that because you were the designated pilot, and were being briefed at the time. Supposedly an extra security measure, though fat lot of good it seems to have done."

Spoiler: New Situational Aspect: Out on Defense Duty

Show

The Vengeance's mobile suit complement was out on defense duty in space during the assault on the base. Most likely, they've all been destroyed, so now the suits it loaded planetside are the only suits aboard. This will be added to the ship's listing in the OOC for reference.

Xaia: The tech (Tim, his name is Tim, why does no one remember this other than Xaia?) chuckles while they wait their turn, oblivious to her silent transmission to Sazabi.

"I think we may need to revise the bar on completing your body. We don't have the other arms, or the parts to remake them, so you might have to make due with just two arms instead of six. Otherwise, if we just throw a bit of armor over the empty sockets, and run some calibrations, you'd be combat ready, I think." He sighs, after a moment. "I think the Captain is trying to give the enemy the slip. That's probably why you can't detect any I-fields right now; the ship's probably powered down to try and blend into wherever we are. It's a pretty standard tactic."

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm not sure whether Shimmer wants to handle the interaction between Sazabi and Xaia or not, so I'm going to leave that open for her to respond to. Shimmer, let me know if you'd rather that I handle Sazabi, otherwise, I'll leave it to you.

Athrusa: Nurse Celeste smiles gently, in a comforting manner, and speaks soothingly.

"Shhhh, it wasn't your fault. I saw what happened to your suit; from what I could tell, I don't think either one of you could have saved it alone. If he hadn't shielded you, he might not have gotten it aboard at all, and you most certainly would have died. As it stands, I think he did the right thing. You're here, and your suit's here, and that's the best outcome that could have happened, given the circumstances."

A tall man with dark hair in a lab coat has slipped in while Celeste has been speaking. He smiles gently, before moving in in a brisk manner with a needle and injecting something into Athrusa's IV line.
"The nurse is right, young lady. I know it's hard, but you need to honor your friend's sacrifice by getting better as fast as you can. I've given you some more pain medication; hopefully it will help you to feel better. I'm Dr. Tram, by the way." His smile deepens as Nurse Celeste withdraws her hand. The coolness fades, and the pain starts to return, but quickly enough, it's dulled and fades as the medication begins to work. "We'll do our best to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible." And with a final nod and smile, he leaves. Nurse Celeste pulls down the call button and presses it into Athrusa's hand.

"Press that if you need anything, or if your pain suddenly gets worse. I'll be by to check on you a little later. Please try and get some rest." She smiles gently, and with that, makes her way back out into the ward, drawing the curtain behind her, leaving Athrusa alone with her thoughts.

[Merilan]

Some rational part of Athrusa probably agrees with Nurse Celeste and Doctor Tram, but... right now, biting her lip down hard is all she can do to keep herself from bawling further -- crying is turning out to be quite painful, given her condition, when Nurse Celeste releases her hand from her. "But he's a valuable member of the team... he was supposed to be the pilot... I--" she chokes out a sob, before nodding as she feels the thrush of the IV run through her body.

Live a good life. Live true to your emotions.

"... what am I supposed to do, Matthias...?" she murmurs to herself as she closes her eyes, as the nurse and doctor both leave her alone. Her thoughts were swimming at a mile a minute.

[Shimmer]

@Xaia

The MSN-04 Sazabi response to Xaia is far from immediate. So long in fact that at first it seems as though it hasn't received the signal at all or perhaps it is merely ignoring the younger AI. Yet finally after what seems like an eon Xaia receives a few terse sentences though the suit itself does not take it's single glowing eye off whatever it's target might be.

Communication received: This is unit designation MSN-04 SAZABI of the Principality of Zeon. Weapons will remained primed until status confirmation of unit designation Lucia. This is non-negotiable.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________

Lucia's grimace only darkens at the list of injuries to her crew yet finds herself relieved to hear none of them were injured fatally in her retrieval. At least until the Captain mentions the pilot and that causes the engineer to still with her heart in her throat. She'd never liked the man personally. Gyr had by no means been her favorite individual, but he'd been a good pilot even if he wasn't necessarily a good person. In her stunned silence Lucia almost misses the lift, but managed to catch the door with her hand and step in beside the Captain. Her thoughts catching on to the other woman's words. Your suit.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble." Lucia murmurs once again feeling as though all she has done since she woke up had been apologize for 'her mobile suit' as so many seemed to be putting it. Yet even as Lucia felt her chest tighten as she tried to come to grips with the knowledge placed before her she could not deny that fact. Ever since she'd been brought onto the project Sazabi had been branded across her soul as much hers as he had apparently shown she was his. Sighing Lucia finally came to her decision.

"I'll take responsibility as Sazabi's pilot. I'm not combat trained, but I know the controls better then anyone else." She acquiesced even as she considered her options and silently prayed to whatever deities might be listening that the mech didn't have anymore incidents.

"That is of course." She added "If he'll even unlock the cockpit for me." Lucia spoke even as the elevator door slid open revealing the MS deck bustling with activity yet far emptier then she had ever expected it to be. In the back near the doors Lucia spies the bright blood red of the MSN-04 and as the mobile suits single eerie green eye slowly swings over pinning her with it's gaze and she cannot help, but feel that she goes now to make a deal with the devil.

Vaguely she is reminded of an old saying of her Fathers. "Better the devil you know..." She whispers under her breath leaving the last half of the saying unsaid as she steps from the lift drawn to the mobile suit as a moth might be to a flame. As she limps past she notes as a few of the groups grow silent at her approach, but she refuses to bow her head or acknowledge their stares. Instead she draws alongside her suit standing before it hands resting on her hips, head tilted all the way back to match it's mono-eyed stare that had tracked her progress across the room. For a moment the world seems to hold it's breath and Lucia wonders what sort of picture the two of them make. The tiny tech in her grease and ash stained coveralls and the massive crimson mech. Slowly Lucia breaks the mechs gaze letting her eyes drop as she glances at an abandoned wrench left upon the deck. Toeing it lightly with the tip of her boot she stoops to pick it up weighing the weight of the tool in her hands for a moment. Then in on smooth motion she lifts her head, pulls her arm back, and sends the wrench flying to collide with a clatter against Sazabi's blood red hull not even nicking the paint as it hits the ground once more.

"Don't you ever touch my $*%#!@ crew again understand!?" Lucia hisses out between clenched teeth voice echoing in the slight hush after the commotion. Yet she still steps forward trailing her fingers along the edge of the mechs leg as she makes for the catwalk lift valiantly doing her best to ignore the surge of what she could only describe as vindictive smugness from the mech. It's AI already knowing that if not forgiven yet that it would only be a matter of time barring any further discourse before it is.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________

@Xaia

Unit Status confirmed. Weapons on standby.

[Erynn]

It was as bad as Tana had feared. The entire space wing had been out on defensive patrols when the Ragalians attacked, and the ship had been forced to get out of dodge without them. Tana's expression hardened before the eyes of those in the immediate vicinity.

"Yeah, they really took a bite out of us this time.", Tana agrees with Gordon, "Question is, how the devil did they find out about this program?"

Tana's train of thought was cut short though, as the hangar seemed to go silent. She watched with curiosity as a tech covered in grime limped toward the ominously active mobile suit whose green mono-eye tracked the slightly hobbled tech across the room. When the tech reached down to pick up a wrench, Tana could already tell what she was going to do with it and despite the assuredly dire circumstances the ship and crew found themselves in, Tana couldn't help but display an amused grin as the wrench ricocheted off the plating of the massive red mobile suit.

Clearly, this was someone who knew not the meaning of fear. Tana made a mental note to keep an eye on this particular individual. Whatever was going to happen around Sazabi's tech might not be the safest, but it was sure to be interesting.

"he he he she's pickin' a fight with a freakin' mobile suit..."

[DoctorFaust]

"There has to be other people," Yuuki protests. "We're on a freaking military base! How could they have not trained anyone else that made it on?"

[DualShadow]

Moving aside as ordered with her crew Agrias leaned against a nearby stack of crates as she looked over the chief. With a deep and slow breath she focused and tried to filter out the chaotic mess of the deck to listen in to the next team. At the very least it was a way to spend some time and the information would allow her to already start thinking about a possible encounter with the enemy. Which suit is ready and which ones lack pilots. As the art of war stated; to win you must know your enemy and know yourself, and for now she sure knew next to nothing.

[Burden King]

Xaia felt a little wave of disapointment, having expected a more engaging response "Aknowledged. My body and my creators are descendants of the Zeon. I will be proud to assist a mobile suit within the family when we face the enemy"

In the open, Xaia's civilian body had its little side flaps open and close in amusement "I'm looking forward to working with these people Tim...Though, the chief is taking a good time." she said, before hopping out of Tim's hands and rolling towards the chief

"Excuse me, we have been waiting for sometime. What did you want to see me and the Gai-Sura's technicians for? We have work to do and this is taking time we could use to prepare for future engagements."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Agrias: Agrias manages to listen in without anyone seeming to notice. The techs for the destroyed suit seem fairly depressed as they explain that the Nephilim has sustained significant damage: missing an arm, many of its maneuvering thrusters damaged or missing, and damage to its chest that includes damage to its cockpit. Nearly all of its weaponry is either damaged or destroyed, save half of its massive separable twin beam cannon, but the remaining arm may not be able to withstand the recoil of that particular weapon. Their only remaining pilot is still in the medbay; even if they can manage to make the suit spaceworthy before it might be needed, it's currently unknown what the pilot's status is. The crew chief instructs them to stand aside in the same area as Agrias when their report is done. Everyone seems to freeze when Lucia appears and stares down Sazabi, but after she throws the wrench and nothing seems to happen, the crew returns to their tasks. A moment later, she hears Xaia ask the crew chief what the hold-up is.

Xaia: The crew chief looks around for a moment for the voice, having just finished with the Nephilim's crew, before looking downwards, and scratching his head in bewilderment.

"Chatty little thing, ain'tcha? I needed a status report on the suit's readiness. The captain asked for it-" He suddenly cuts off as he notices the woman in the uniform behind him, with an expression on her face somewhere between annoyance and amusement. Her black hair is worn in a loose braid, and her long black coat with epaulets dripping gold fringe suggest an officer of some sort. He turns, comes to immediate attention, then calls loudly, "CAPTAIN ON DECK!!"

Lucia: The captain simply nods as Lucia exits the elevator and goes to confront her suit. Hopefully, this will fix the problem without her needing to do much else. Lucia is probably too busy to notice how long the captain actually goes before being noticed, when the crew chief bawls out his warning. All of the techs wearing the Vengeance's ship patches immediately come to attention and salute, facing the crew chief, since not all of them can see her. The tech teams from the base, on the other hand, simply stand and watch, waiting for her to speak.

Yuuki: Rafe shakes his head, sighing.
"They're out of pilots, Yuuki. The pilots that were on board had to go with the suit complement, and ours were missing when we lifted off. They didn't train everyone on every suit at the base, and besides, you're the only one with any zero-G piloting experience on the team." He seems about to say more when the deck goes quiet as Lucia confronts Sazabi, holds his breath for a moment, then lets it out as a sigh when the crew chief yells that the captain is now on deck. "Well, if you're going to protest, there's the person to yell at about it, not me." He gestures towards the woman standing in front of the crew chief in the black uniform, then turns back towards the Shura. "I'm gonna go deliver this to your dad before he starts in, too."

Tana: Gordon shakes his head, and is about to say something when Lucia confronts Sazabi. After the wrench hits, he shakes it again, then jumps, looking towards the crew chief when the latter calls out his warning.
"That's the million dollar question. Maybe the captain knows?" Typical civilian; no military respect at all. There's not time to lecture him, though, as the captain speaks, her voice echoing loudly even as the din of activity dies away.

Spoiler: OOC

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Everyone on the Mobile Suit deck can hear this, though some of you have better vantage points to see the captain than others.

Mobile Suit Deck: The captain looks around for a moment, before speaking loudly, though her voice and demeanor are calm.

"At ease, everyone. I do have something to say to all of you, though, so please keep your ears open. Some of you know me, some of you don't. I am Nina Brighton, Captain of the Vengeance. The situation, I'm afraid, is rather grim. We are the last Republic Alliance ship active in this system. Two of our scout drones confirmed the destruction of the rest of the security force an hour ago. Currently, we are drifting, powered down, in an asteroid field. We cannot hold this position much longer, as our exit from Stechkin 4 was not clean, nor particularly stealthy, and it is only a matter of time before the Ragalians begin looking for us. In order to make an exit from the system, we will need to skip jump to the system's known jump point, which the enemy will no doubt have blockaded. Our mobile suit contingent was deployed to the defensive forces; it is now destroyed. The only suits we can use to project force beyond the ship are the ones that came in off of the base. Chief Gantz has asked you all to submit status reports on your suits' conditions and pilots. I know that not all of you have been able to report in to him just yet; I would appreciate it if those of you that haven't been able to report to him would report to me instead. I will be formulating our escape plan based on those reports, so please, be as thorough as you can. You may return to your duties now, all teams who have not reported to Chief Gantz yet, report to me ASAP, please."

The crew chief nods to her, then goes to his office after tapping a few things on his datapad. She now waits in the same place he did for the other teams, though her gaze seems to wander between the suits.

Athrusa: Athrusa is left alone to her thoughts for awhile; the drugs work effectively, and while she is now able to move around with minimal pain, it's only just a matter of time before they wear off. It's a pity that there aren't any vidscreens in this suite, it seems to have been set up for post-op patients who aren't out of the anesthetic yet. Apparently, the staff is keeping the fact that she's awake a secret for now, since no one else comes to visit for quite some time. Eventually, she can just barely make out voices in the hallway, though the bandages seem to be muffling the actual words enough that she can't make out what's being said.

[Merilan]

There's a groggy, tired stir from Athrusa as she lapses in and out of wakefulness; there's no hiding the fact that she's extremely worried and uncertain about what's going on. She knew that it was the Ragalians that attacked them, but not much more than that -- Nurse Celeste hadn't quite mentioned anything to her, lost on the situation as she was. The voices make her perk up just a little, and she squints as her ears perk up, fluffily, and she tries to carefully listen in on what's being said outside.

Spoiler: Action

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(4d3-6)[3] Rolling to Carefully listen!

[Burden King]

Xaia rolled over to the feet of the captain, flapping her covers in an attempt to salute. "X4-14 reporting for the Gai-Sura captain. The mobile suit is currently missing 4 of its six arms, but remains at a tolerable level of combat effectiveness. Tim, the head technician of my team, has gone on record saying that the Gai-Sura should be ready for combat after coverings are placed over the empty secondary and tertiary arm sockets."

[DualShadow]

The Nephilim being as damaged as it was sure sounded bad in the current situation, with the limited amount of suits the ship had one less operational suit was bad news. Agrias gaze went from suit to suit until the captain showed up. She saluted the along the others but her motion wasn't a quick and sharp salute but more one of born out of obligation.

She listened to her speech and smiled a little when the captain took over taking the crew reports. Looks like she was a captain that was able to get her hands dirty even if it was just taking in the mobile suits situation. Agrias moved in closer to the captain eyeing the Haro unit that was behaving oddly, she saluted Nina with a bit more vigor this time. "Captain, I am Agrias Oak, pilot for the Freedom. Our unit's report is already in the files but I would like to ask for a copy of the final report of the ship's various mobile suits." She was just a pilot and in the mess Agrias lost track of who was in charge of the pilot group and who would be entitled to what information.

[DoctorFaust]

As soon as the captain has finished giving her speech, Yuuki stomps up to her and says, maybe more forcefully than she intended, "I refuse. You guys cannot make me do this."

[Erynn]

As Tana's salute drops, and the captain finishes speaking, the Zaft pilot quickly makes her way over to the captain, prepared to report the status of her unit, just in time to catch Yuuki flatly tell the captain that she had no intention of cooperating.

"Kid, you just got done telling me you're part of the axis forces group.", Tana reminds her, "If you're not a civilian, what you just did could easily land you in the brig."

Tana then glances over to the captain, her expression seeking to convey the doubt in her mind to the superior officer that the individual in question was actually a soldier. At the same time she does this, she hands the captain a data disc containing all information on the CGUE, as well as her own service record with the assigned machine. Inserting said disc into a PDA would readily display the fact that both mobile suit and pilot had managed to come aboard unscathed.

Tana waited quietly to see how both Yuuki and the captain of the ship would respond. She could foresee the scenario resolving only one of two ways, and regardless of which it turns out to be, what happens next is bound to be interesting at the very least.

[Shimmer]

Lucia winces as pilots swarm the Captain some more politely then others. Not that she shouldn't be among them, but quite frankly with most of her crew either in the medical bay or in their quarters till given the by your leave from herself she didn't exactly know what state her mobile suit was in. Moving towards the catwalk lift she rode it up taking a moment to observed the hubbub from afar and letting her eyes trail up the looming frame of the MSN-04 Sazabi.

Her mobile suit... Thinking of it as such simply felt strange. Not unnatural mind you. She'd always thought of Sazabi as hers like most engineers thought of their mobile suits. Yet it was a possessiveness that came with the understanding that one would need to share and form a relationship or bond with the pilot as much as the mech. Knowing that once the mobile suit was out the hanger doors there was nothing more you could do other then pray it came back in more or less one piece. Lucia hadn't been looking forward to that part. Apparently neither had Sazabi. While she wasn't certain if the AI could feel pain or not she knew he had some sort of dissonance in regards to the destruction of it's physical body that could almost be called the same thing. More then that however, was the fact the AI didn't like to be disregarded and used. He was more then a tool now. He wanted to be treated that way. Something Lucia hadn't been able to guarantee in a pilot before.

Now though, she mused, she could be certain of such.

"Sazabi..." Lucia greeted, cautioned, asked, too many emotions flowing through a simple name as the lift came to a stop at the mobile suits head. Reaching out she placed her hand against the red metal her features cast in a strange and eerie light of the mobile suits one great green eye as it watched her. Closing her own eyes Lucia let her mind open feeling her senses slip into the mech like a second skin as she felt the brush of the AI against her mind and wondered if the cockpit would open.

Welcome. The words rumbled through her mind like thunder as she heard more then saw the cockpit latch release revealing the mobile suit controls. Lucia wanted to say she was surprised, shocked, thrilled or disappointed, but truly she was numb. Settling into the seat like she was always meant to be there she held out a hand to stop the cockpit from closing.

"Leave it open." She ordered, not quite trusting her mech not to lock her in once more. Then turning back to the controls she began to run her diagnostic. Logically she knew why Sazabi had done what he had done. Lucia was a familiar constant, she wouldn't let him be erased or needlessly destroyed unlike others. She wouldn't let them erase his sense of self, but she had only been an engineer and in war time pilots could make any demands and see them done if it meant survival. So the AI had eliminated the threat from the equation.

"You didn't have to kill him." Lucia murmured soft and low as she read through the scan checking for anything that might prevent the mech from entering active combat. This time Sazabi's response came not through their link, but scrolled across one of her screens.

War makes monsters of us all.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Athrusa: The artifical Ragalian manages to catch the tail end of the conversation in the hall thanks to her ears, despite the other noises in the area and the bandages on her head. The voices are unfamiliar; both female, though neither is Nurse Celeste.

"...so she's awake?"

"Yeah, or, at least, she was. Dr. Tram gave her a dose of painkillers, and they might have knocked her out again. Her injuries are really complex. She's lucky to be alive. Being awake and possibly able to move is nothing short of miraculous."

"Poor girl. But if she's recovered from the surgery this fast, hopefully she'll heal quickly, right?"

"I'm not sure. These engineered folks can sometimes be tricky with their biochemistry. We may not be able to do much more for her until the ship can get to a station with a more advanced medbay, but it really depends on those diagnostics they did while she was in surgery. We'll know more in an hour or so."

"Well, hopefully she can get some rest, at least until then. Celeste said she would check on her in a little bit, hopefully, she's been able to go back to sleep." The voices fade into the distance after that, and Athrusa can hear quiet footfalls receding away. If nothing else, these people seem to be friendly and caring, and they don't seem bothered by her appearance or "augmentations" other than how they might affect helping her to heal. This ship might be a place she can start to feel safe around other people, if the rest of the crew is like the medbay staff.

Mobile Suit Deck - Captain's Pow-Wow:

Captain Brighton raises an eyebrow at the Haro unit reporting in on the Gai-Sura's status, as Tim, its lead tech, rushes up behind the little robot, somewhat embarrassed. He salutes her quickly, and somewhat awkwardly.
"Ma'am, what Xaia says is true. The Gai-Sura could be made combat ready relatively quickly, we just need to cover the exposed sockets and run a few calibrations, then load the vulcans."

"Hmmm, alright, noted." She makes a note on her datapad, then looks between the two. "How long will the process take?"

"About an hour, ma'am. My people have been working on the covers while we've been waiting, we anticipated the Gai-Sura might be needed for combat before we reached the next port."

"Good man. Alright, get it done. I'm assuming X14-er, Xaia, here, is the pilot?" She gestures towards the Haro, and Tim nods. She looks to her datapad, scrolls a bit, and nods. "Once the Gai-Sura is ready, you're to assist the other crews in prepping their suits. Get to it."

She then turns to Agrias, and returns her salute, before scrolling a bit more on her datapad, and nodding once again.
"I'll have the chief forward it to your terminal once everyone's in and settled, though that might not be for a few hours yet. Hopefully, you won't have to sortie before you get it, but I can't make any promises on that. On that note, have your crew load Freedom out for possible scramble. Your suit is one of the few that seems to be in good working order; if the enemy finds us, I'd like to be able to have something to throw at them. Dismissed." She seems to have caught the movement of the pair moving up behind her, and turns towards them, making another few notes on her datapad.

Captain Brighton's eyebrows shoot up at Yuuki's declaration, and there's a moment of confusion, until Tana mentions she's from the Axis Allied Forces group. She eyes Tana, obviously catching the doubt in the Coordinator's expression, before looking down to her datapad, and smiling in a friendly manner at Yuuki.

"Your friend is right, Ms. Itano, though to be fair, I know you're not a soldier. You and your father are a part of the civilian tech team." She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment, having noted that the pilots for the Shura are both missing and Yuuki was the one who piloted it onto the ship. "I'm in a tight spot; I don't really have any pilots I can put into your, or any suit, for that matter. From your team's report, it seems you're the most qualified. Let's not jump the gun just yet, though; can you tell the rest of your team to load the Shura out for sortie, and we'll work out who'll pilot it afterwards? While your team prepares it, I'll double check with my crew and see if there's anyone who's combat certified that you might be able train quickly. Fair enough? I can't promise there will be someone, but it's been a hectic day, and you might get lucky." Perhaps not the most military manner of handling things, but Yuuki isn't full military. Not yet, anyways, and Captain Brighton is quietly hoping she won't have to make the teenager full military, even in the dire circumstances they're in. She takes the disc Tana hands her and slots it into her datapad, then glances at the Coordinator, between skimming the info that comes up.

"Well then, I see your suit is more or less ready for sortie, correct, Ms. Akaishi? I realize it's not as specialized or durable than the other suits, but it is usable, for the time being, and that's what's important. Is your team currently busy, then, or are they just standing by as you are?"

Lucia: Sazabi's systems all check out green. The blood red suit does need fuel and ammo loaded, but it could be ready to sortie in under an hour if the tech team is pulled back in to aid the process. Lucia might note the entourage of the crew chief, several of the Vengeance's own mobile suit techs, and the team for the badly damaged Gundam in the next bay making their way past Sazabi, no doubt on their way to the wrecked suit. The crew chief and one of the suit's team seem to be deep in discussion. Are they seriously thinking about trying to sortie a suit that badly damaged? It's hard to say from this distance, though Lucia can probably try and find a way to listen in if she's terribly curious. Then again, perhaps staying focused on making sure Sazabi will let the rest of the team work on it now that Lucia's been made its pilot would be a more preferable course of action.