Jake saw the data pop up on his personal device; wave-forms and graphs that gave detailed fluctuations of their synchronization levels.
The device made the appropriate calculations, and the resulting percentages were then shown. Of particular note was the massive drop within the infiltration team, as well as the increase with Mai.

"It's...gone...right?"

Jake and Jason suddenly heard a weak voice from the bed next to Serah's; the person lying there had their head wrapped up in bandages save for the mouth, so nobody recognized them. However, the voice was unmistakable.

"Can someone...No, wait..."

Elise slowly sat up, and groaned in pain.

"Shit, that hurts."

She reached for something left on the table next to her, and began unwrapping the bandages. A medic overlooking the room began to panic, and reached for Elise, only to be punched and sent reeling back.

"No, I got this-Ghh!"

With shaky hands, she began unwrapping the bandage around her head.She looked away from the others, and into the small pocket mirror which was also on the table.

"...Fuck. I guess I'll have to wear this after all.."

She placed something on her head, and then turned.

"So...How do I look?"

Was there a Soul within the Steel? That was the question that had been plaguing Zim's mind of late. He was starting to believe that it was true, but he still wanted proof, something that was more definitive, more tangible than the fickle experiences that he and the other pilots have had up to now. To accept that there was a living sentience within the Framewerk meant accepting what happened with Paladin and Ariin was true and not just Ariin going into some sort of shock from the radiation poisoning and subsequent therapies... probably. What had happened with Serah and Atty with the infiltration team on this last mission also presented a number of other questions towards sentience and what it meant for us as pilots. Not only that, but it seems like most members of the team seemed to live on one extreme or the other. For Ariin and Katya, their names together brought back a quick pain of jealousy, but for them, there was no doubt. Whatever it was that happened with Ariin, to him it was absolutely true and that Paladin really did do what they are claiming it did. Serah, too, seemed to view Atty as a living thing, a friend, as much as anything else and that the thought of Atty not being alive was as silly of an idea as believing that we could eventually cohabitate with the Cruxi. Yet Roger and Devors didn't think that thier Werks were alive, and had dismissed the thought outright and had accepted what they had been told in their field manuals. They were good soldiers... well, maybe not, but all the same, they took the answers given to them and hadn't doubted them, or if they had, they found answers that quieted their questions. And there was Zim who seemed to live somewhere in the middle. He wanted to believe, and he knew that the truth was out there, but he hadn't yet found the answers. No... that wasn't right. Zim did believe, what he wanted was to know.

With a sigh Zim sat up from his bunk, he hadn't slept, not really, his mind was too preoccupied with these thoughts and others to really fall asleep. Maybe going over the battle data would either distract him or provide him with a clue to guide him on his way. Reaching for his datapad, Zim queued up the combat footage recorded from each Werk and from the safer distance of NOAH and its myriad of sensors and navigational equipment working to record the events of combat as they unfolded outside of the occupied space station. Zim could have gone into one of the simulator pods and emersed himself even further, rendering the combat in 3D around him, he could move amongst the action viewing the rendered combat from all angles. However, Zim didn't need to see that much detail, not yet anyways. He skipped through the initial deployment other than to make note of his Sync rate. Swiping through the video feed a few seconds at a time Zim came on the first real interactions with the enemy forces. Zim recalled what was going on inside the cockpit, but just to be sure he accessed his audio logs to see what he was saying when he was saying in real time in relation to what he was seeing happen.

"You ready for this, Partner?" Zim heard himself asking, he heard no response, and there was no change in the Werk, but there was a small increase in the Sync rate shortly thereafter. Zim made a note of it, bookmarking the moment in the video feed before continuing the video. Things stayed where they were even as his made liberal use of the ATS and the additional thrust power he had on him. Looking at the video feed of the maneuvers he pulled off, Zim wondered how he had mustered up the ability to keep control of Black Star as he tested the limits. Then it happened, he got too close to the turrets. As the plasma blasts approached the shield was activated. There was no way that Zim had time to activate the shield. Not only that, but the sync rate dropped 4%. Zim didn't notice it when he was in combat, if he had, perhaps he attributed it the damaged leg. Zim placed another flag and continued on through the video. He continued this process of recording the ups and downs in his sync level, he went through and viewed it a few times, looking for any other indicator about what was happening that might debunk the theory he was starting to grasp at.

Zim went back to the moment that Black Star deployed the shield, Zim verified the patterns, the movements, the reaction speed, the chain of events. There was no way that Zim could have hit the control to activate the shield. Zim thought back to the previous battle on the planet, recalling the wave surger blast at the end of combat that took out the sniper. The weapon wasn't fully charged yet and they were still out of range of the sniper. There was no way that the controls would have even let Zim pull the trigger, yet even as Black Star's head was blown off, the wave surger discharged a partial charge and still somehow reached its mark with deadly accuracy. There was no way that Zim could have accomplished either of those two things. Zim would request a control diagnostic to get a readout of what he was doing in both of those moments, for further evidence or to discredit the theory.

So using these two examples of autonomy as the basis for the theory that Black Star is, in fact, a living sentient thing, Zim then wanted to understand the fluctuation in Sync levels. So if it is a living, breathing, thinking thing... well, not breathing, probably... anyways, if you say encouraging things to it, it connects with you better, it lets you make the decisions and not fight against you. If it takes damage it draws away from you. The stronger the sync, the deeper and more real the pain feels. So there were two thoughts that came to mind for Zim as to why a sentient autonomous machine would draw away and close the link a little. Option one, the Framewerk draws away to take back more control because it doesn't trust your judgment, after all, what you did when you were in control lead to it getting damaged. Option two, the Framewerk is attempting to block some of the damage from transferring through to the pilot. It is attempting to protect the pilot.

If we follow through with option two, that could explain the aberrant behavior seen by Paladin and Atty. When the MIST detonated, Ariin was at least partially caught in the blast. If Paladin, a defender through and through, did a data swap on Ariin's brain and personality in order to protect his mind and to maintain his body without the brain functionality, it would explain why that happened. If when the Cruxi triggered Elora's ability, if that somehow had the ability to force the Framewerks to close the connection down completely, then Atty's behavior could be seen as an attempt to protect Serah from all potential threats, or as what a Framewerk could do when it no longer is restricted by the Pilots will. Of course, it occurred to Zim, that if these machines were living things that there was also an argument that they had personalities. So if there were personalities then it is entirely possible that either of the above options is correct, depending on the situation.

This was enough, for now. Zim had enough evidence to support his belief that Black Star was alive. He didn't need to understand the personality variants of the other pilot's Werks. All Zim needed to worry about was his connection with Black Star. Zim threw the datapad to the side and hurriedly threw on pants, not even bothering to grab a shirt, and rushed out into the hallway, making the shortest route possible to the hanger and ignoring anyone that he didn't have to salute as he passed. Zim pushed his way through the bulkhead doors leading to the hanger repair bay. Black Star was there hoisted into a massive cradle. Rudimentary repairs were underway, but more than likely they wouldn't have Black Star back up and operational until they made it back to base.

Zim saw Black Star in another light now. He couldn't get any closer, the massive plasma cutters sending sparks the size of Zim's forearm scattering, so he looked on from a distance.

"Thank you, Partner."

---

The moment he saw Serah starting to move, Jason grew hopeful that she had begun waking up. It tore him from his dark thoughts about everybody else he had cared about, all those the Cruxi tore violently from this world. Then she turned and looked at him, speaking softly. He couldn't stop the stupid smile from appearing on his face. One of them had finally come back. Then the other boy spoke first, and Jason shot a glare his way. But that wasn't important right now, as his attention turned back to Serah."Yeah." He said, a little lost for words for a moment. "Told you I wasn't going anywhere before, didn't I? So here I am." He said, and almost immediately regretted how cheesy the line sounded. He gently reached out and tapped her hand for a moment, then pulled away, unsure if Serah wanted any contact so soon after waking up. He was about to ask her how she was feeling, if anything felt off, tell her he was worried. Anything really, but then he heard sounds from the bunk nearby. Turning to see the other person turning to look at them, asking how she looked, it took the boy a few slow moments to connect two ends.

"Red, Sarge. Red but it seems you're alive, glad to see you're feeling better." The boy said before looking around for the drunkard in the hall from earlier. Not seeing him, he frowned slightly. "Devors... was it? He was in hall talking about something. I think we tell him you're doing better, Sarge." Jason added, thinking back about how the man had mentioned not wanting her death weighing on him. After the brief words to Elise, Jason turned back towards Serah, studying her for a bit to make sure she was truly alright. He still remembered how her Frame had looked in the hangar. He wanted to ask her what had happened on that station, but figured Serah would bring it up if she wanted to talk about it. He understood if somethings in combat were a bit too much to talk about. After a small sigh, he forced himself to ignore that thought process. Focus on now, on her.

"How are you feeling, Serah? Are you alright?" He said softly, concern evident in his voice. He tried to control his expression to keep it calm, not wanting to cause any undue worry on her part. If he looked overly worried, then she might for a moment fear things were bad. As he waited for Serah to respond, he looked once more towards Elise and the others in the room. For a moment the drunken words of Devors from earlier played in his mind. About how they would be named heroes, yet these three had suffered to some extent to ensure this. Perhaps the man had some sort of point, but Jason wasn't sure that was a topic that needed to be addressed at the moment. For now? Focus on Serah waking up, make sure she was alright before anything else.

Ariin groaned and slowly rose from his seat as pulled the plug from his head, having been in medical letting them run checks on his implant and brain activity. He got up slowly and blinked his eyes tech watching to make sure everything was still synced. Finally, they released him letting him head back into the main medical bay groaning as he entered. "Ugh, Paladin did you have to constantly adjust things? You know they hate it when you correct them, especially when you don't justify it." He grumbled and paused. "You know that's not a bad idea, granted I will install mute button if we do put a speaker in for you... No, I want to able to shut you up occasionally."

However, Ariin stopped when he received a message on his data slate. He heard a scuffle from one of the medics, looking up from the message he saw someone unwrapping their head. He knew all the people here were from the team, slowly and quietly Ariin walked over, catching a view as she pulled an eye patch on. "Well, you could always try it my way, cybernetics do quite well as a replacement," Ariin spoke looking at the girl, he didn't know her but he knew exactly how she felt. "Ariin Sorus, don't think I've met you... Just got my head back from my Werk before the mission." He stopped looking over at Jason offering his hand.

"Also the first time we've met in person... I'm the guy with Werk in his head and the massive coil gun on his mech." He smiled and his eye flashed an explosion, that was a neat trick.

“And how are you Serah? I’m actually just checking out myself... More brain scans since they just love to watch my argue with the rogue intelligence leeching off my brain.” Ariin’s eye displayed the word ‘asshole.’ “Bite me you hyper-intelligent toaster you are living in my brain I’ll call you what I like. Anyway if you are all okay, I’m going to check on Katya I came here with her.” The eye shut off then it came back up with a new request. ‘Punch him, hard.’ Well, Paladin obviously enjoyed his new freedom and the fact Ariin didn’t know what he was telling others to do.

Voices overwhelmed Serah from all sides, despite expecting the usual tranquility of a medical ward. She was sure she heard Jake speak up before Jason did, with his voice coming from the other direction, though it didn't really register in her mind as to what exactly he said. Serah clutched the mattress underneath her, pushed herself up straight on the bed and let out a sigh of relief. Her body was exhausted and her throat was sore but the girl didn't have much time to think on it. She heard Jason talk again, turning back and listening attentively to what he said.

"Told you I wasn't going anywhere before, didn't I? So here I am."

Serah felt comforted by the boy's words and wanted to throw her arms around him for a hug, but fatigue got the better at her and she settled for smiling at the comment. Before Serah had any time to think, her attention was grabbed by the voice of the 'new' squad leader. Serah slowly looked around the room in response, seeing everyone else who was in the ward. She spied Jake, Elise and even a still-unconscious Mai.

Seeing the sight in front of her made everything click in Serah's head, the memories of what exactly happened in the battle before flooding back to her like a tidal wave. It didn't have the same effect on her now as it did then, though, as the stress of battle wasn't weighing on her anymore. It just made her face sink for a bit and the girl bit her lip as a knee-jerk response. Serah couldn't afford to look somber for much longer, however; she needed to partake in the relief everyone felt about people waking up. Forcing out a smile, the girl tried to catch snippets of what happened from the people talking all around her. Somewhere during this, Serah noticed Ariin was suddenly in the room. She must have missed the moment he entered. The boy was talking to Elise, which gave Jason a chance to catch Serah's attention again.

"How are you feeling, Serah? Are you alright?"

Serah turned her attention back to him again as she tried to gather her thoughts. Right as she opened her mouth to try and reply, Ariin had decided to address Serah as well. Like a bobblehead, Serah turned around again in surprise, briefly listening to the boy.

“And how are you Serah? I’m actually just checking out myself... More brain scans since they just love to watch my argue with the rogue intelligence leeching off my brain.”

Ariin confused Serah. Not the part about asking how she was, of course, as that was slightly reassuring. It was everything else he said that didn't make any sense. It even looked like Ariin started talking to himself afterwards, scaring the girl off from answering. Ariin had become pretty insane after what happened back at Troas. Serah decided to ignore him for now and turned her attention back to Jason.

"I'm fine, just a little sore..." Serah said with a strained voice, giving him the most reassuring smile she could. She reached out her hand to grasp his, wanting to feel his warmth for just a moment. She was a little lost for words, a mix of emotions swirling through her. She was relieved Jason was here, but also remembered what she saw inside Atty. Serah didn't really want to think about it, but it nagged her in the back of her head.

"Hey, I may be a little silly but... can I get a hug?" Serah asked, trying to lighten the mood for the sake of the both of them. She giggled and raised her arms up, waiting for the boy to lean forward and wrap his own around her. Besides, she's been wanting one for a few minutes now.

Elise let out a tired sigh upon hearing Jason's response.
"Well, I'll take comfort in the fact that you didn't mention the gaping hole in my head." The redhead turned to Ariin when he spoke to her.
"Well, cybernetics might interfere with my energy system, so-" She then blinked. "Wait, you seem different now. You sound like a normal person now. Oh, you stopped being crazy. Awesome."
She then gasped upon hearing Devor's name. She touched her eyepatch, and blushed.
"Crap...He can's see me like this..." She mumbled to herself.
"...I'm an ugly cripple now...Ugh..." It was at that moment when Serah regained consciousness. She made a little wave of her hand, and gave a weak smile.
"Hey, you're alive, too. Ain't we some lucky gals, huh?"

---

As Zim expected, Black Star stood motionless in the hangar, like a massive statue worked on by the workers as they made repairs to it's chassis and inner hydraulics. It had been a day or so since they began their return trip, and things seemed to have settled down. However, Zim couldn't help but feel a bit strange after thanking the Framewerk. And then, he saw it; A single finger on the massive Frame twitched once. Nobody else in the hangar noticed this, and continued working around the Frame as if nothing happened. And then, an announcement came on the loudspeakers:

"This is Captain Ritsu. Team Sigma, report to the containment sector on Delta-4 for a special briefing. This excludes Sergeant Steinhart and Pilot Gene."

The squad stood in a single row before Ritsu, who waited for them by the entrance to the containment cells. She saluted them.
"Squad Sigma, I have summoned you here to discuss a private matter. That is, the special circumstances surrounding the P.O.W you have extracted, as well as pilot Liu'un. Now, before we-" She was interrupted by the squeak of a rubber tire rounding the corner; it was Elise, sitting on a wheelchair. "Captain! Sergeant Steinhart, reporting for special briefing!" She saluted, and gave a wide grin.
Ritsu blinked. "Oh, I did not expect you to make a recovery this soon, Sergeant. I checked the medical records, and they claimed you were still bedridden."
"Not a problem, Captain!" She responded sternly. "Some broken bones don't stop a soldier's duty!"
Ritsu shook her head in disbelief. "Very well then. Pilot Devors, assist Steinhart in pushing her chair. Now, follow me."
She first wrote a keycode in the door, followed by hand-print and retina scan. Finally, after the multiple identification scans, the door opened. Inside, there was a room with a round metal sphere, with a work station in front of it. The screens on the terminal showed what looked like a robed alien floating inside a green-lit spherical room. "As you can see, the P.O.W has been placed in solitary confinement. Executive Officer Lorenzo has described the device as a 'detainment field'. He has claimed that neurological dampening caused by the field is enough to nullify the...Well, 'abilities' the Cruxi may possess."
Ritsu looked unsure as she said those words. "Now, your squad has been exposed to this Cruxi, so you must exercise absolute caution once the P.O.W is relocated. Understood?"

Ritsu then showed the next sphere, and sighed once she checked her personal device. "Now, I am aware that some of you are personally acquainted with pilot Liu'un, so to silence any possible rumors, I will be showing you her current condition." She opened the screens of her terminal; they showed Elora sitting on a bed while wearing a hospital gown, looking down at her hands on her lap.
"For security reasons, she will be kept in containment for the rest of this trip, but I will allow visitors to greet her under surveillance." She glanced at Katya's direction. "I am sure that would be beneficial. We will soon arrive in Solaire, so prepare to depart once you have returned to your barracks."

Zim smiled when he saw Black Star acknowledge him, but the moment washed away quickly as Commander Ritsu's voice was heard over the PA called for the pilots to join her in the containment area. Delta-4 was about as far from anything important as possible, so it took Zim a while to get there, and since he wasn't exactly clothed for a briefing he had to get some clothes on. Thankfully he kept some training clothes in with the rest of his gear by the Hanger in the simulation area. As such, he expected to be one of the last to arrive, however, it turned out to be just Zim and Ritsu in the briefing room for a moment before others started to arrive. He saluted as he entered and took up a spot to start forming the rank and file.

Once the briefing started up, Zim looked to the screen when indicated. It was what he suspected, they had managed a number of impossible-never-done-before things during this mission, including capturing a Cruxi Elite alive. Despite this, Lorenzo seemed to think that he knew how to contain such a thing. Zim shared Commander Ritsu's hesitation.

Elora, well this was the first time Zim had seen her since before the mission where she was taken. Zim wasn't sure what to expect. His imagination told him to expect tubes and wires and gizmos attached to her, that or unsightly physical mutations. Too many of the old sci-fi movies, apparently. He was surprised to see that she, at least, appeared normal. All the same, Zim had not grown close to her, so he would leave the visitation for some of the others who had a more urgent need to see her. He too glanced at Katya and then at Ariin, Zim swallowed hard to shut the pain of jealousy out. 'You are being stupid, again,' Zim thought to himself, 'You don't know that there is anything there. You don't know if Katya has any feelings for you, and you don't know if there is anything going on between Katya and Ariin. So just chill out, idiot.'

When dismissed, Zim saluted and started heading back to his room.

---

In the medical bay, the doctor that approached gave Katya a quick examination. While asking Katya how she was feeling.
“I have a headache, and I feel like my body heavy. It’s a bit difficult to stand.” she spoke in answer to the doctor's question as he examined her. Katya really hoping it was nothing major, just little fatigue nothing a quick injection and nap would fix. So as the doctor finished his examination of her and walked away. Katya could not help but wonder what he was going to do and recommend.

After a few minutes, the doctor came back and gave Katya an injection. Telling her, it should help with her headache and should help her body feel a little less heavy. Katya nodding giving a sigh as she hated having injections so looked away as the doctor did his thing. Once done the doctor told Katya to take it easy preferably to go get some sleep. No piloting no strenuous work until she’d had some rest. Katya nodding before being told she could stay until her injection kicked in. Katya doing that just that laying on the bed till the pain in her head started to fade and her body started to feel a bit more normal.

So got up and left not wanting to linger where she might get in trouble. Katya finding herself a little unsteady on her feet but able to walk on her own. She just needed to take it slow and not rush. Katya making her way back into the hanger. She know she was told not to do strenuous work, but she still had a few things she could do. After all, she promised her werk a full overhaul, and she wasn’t going to let engineering crew do it for her. Well provided they didn’t get redeployed right away, or she got distracted by her duties or other matters. She had made the promise, so it was her job to see it done. She would conduct the repairs herself, and once she had new Eden’s assigned she would use them to assist her.

Even if she was told not to do any strenuous werk she could still run system checks and make of list of repairs that needed to be done. Katya just wanting to keep herself busy even if she was sort of pushing herself. She didn’t want to rest to let her mind wonder what was going to happen to Elora. She didn’t want to think of it as it only made her feeling like she had failed her friend.

In the hanger, Katya took a moment to sit on the foot of her werk before making the trek into the cockpit. The young woman partly powering the work and starting a system check along with dislodging her own data storage device. Before climbing out of the werk setting it to send the data to her before shutting down. Doubting she’d be still around by the time Caretaker onboard computer had scanned every system in detail. Given she hadn’t planned to stay long just enough to find out what she’d need to do when she was in better shape.

With Caretaker set Katya turned her attention to her sole surviving drone. Which was powered down by the werk where she left it. Katya approaching it running a hand over the metal casing.
“You did good today. I hope you will continue to serve me well in future missions.” she spoke popping an access panel of the rear of the drone showing small screen.
“I hope this thing still works.” she muttered tapping on the screen. Flickering twice before surging showering Katya in sparks.
“It would be too easy for the diagnostic panel to be working.” she muttered as looked back up Caretaker. Knowing she kept a repair kit stashed in her cockpit.

She retrieved the kit and using it set to work trying to get the panel working. Finding that task that was more difficult then she frist anticipated. The drone having taken substantial damage to most of its systems. The woman thinking maybe she should just leave it for now and find something else to occupy her time with. However, that something else found her in the form of Zim who approached her asking if he could speak with her.

When the conversation with Zim ended Katya noticed Zim him fidgeting with her hair tie. Part of her just want Zim to call in her debt to him so she could earn it back. Missing it greatly and not overly happy to have it in possession of someone else. Even if that person was a friend. When Zim had left Katya could not help of think of the conversation she had with Zim. Finding it a little odd, but overall she hoped it helped the man answer whatever it was she was trying to answer.

Thinking it was not a good idea to try and restore the drone in her current state Katya climbed back into Caretakers cockpit and promptly shut her eyes. If she was going to rest she’d do it in a place she felt comfortable. She didn’t care if she got in trouble. She liked sleeping in her werk as she found it comfortable, as it made her feel safe and secure. Plus there was a lower chance anyone would bother her.

Katya slept for quite some time and when she awoke, she felt a lot better. Climbing out of her werk. She figured she’d change out of her plug suit, shower and eat along with send a copy of the video to Zim like she had promised. Having not gotten around to eat before getting some sleep. By the time she was done Kayta was eager to try and fix her drone. But just as she made it back to the hanger she heard an announcement over the loudspeakers. Katya giving a loud sigh as she turned around and headed to location of the briefing.

Arriving to the location of the briefing Katya could not help wonder what was going on. Finding it rather odd to have a meeting at the entrance of the containment cells. Just what did the Captain want? Was she planning to show them something? Katya pondered this until everyone had arrived and Ritsu started to speak Katya focused on the captain. Only looking away when Elise showed up, Katya feeling quite impressed by the girl's endurance and attitude. As to Katya Elise looked like she had seen better days.

Katya watched as the captain unlocked the door. Following her in when instructed. Greeted to the sight of a large metal sphere with a workstation in front of it. Katya looking away from the sphere as the captain continued to speak. The young woman feeling a pang of anger as Ritsu explained the P.O.W inside the sphere. Katya having hoped that Cruxi inside that machine she had brought back was dead. It leading to Katya thinking she should have shot the thing in the chest a few times to make sure it was dead. Still, it was too late for that now so Katya merely hoped that it could provide some useful information or at the very least something on how to counter psionic attacks.

When they taken to the next sphere, Katya wondered what it might contain. Then as the captain spoke, Katya felt a pang of relief more so when she could see Elora sat on her bed. Katya pleased to see Elora seemed to be okay. It was good to know that dropping her in the hanger had hurt her.

The moment the captain of letting Elora have visitors to greet her while under surveillance. Katya knew she had to be one to visit, pretty sure she was the closest to Elora. Even if the visit lasted for a moment Katya was sure it would do Elora good as well as herself. Even if the thought brought up that Katya still blamed herself for Elora’s capture. Which made her look away from the image of Elora. Letting Katya notice Ritsu glance in her direction.

When the briefing was done and they where dismissed Katya approached the captain.
“Ma’am. I would like to visit Elora. But I have the feeling you knew I was going to ask.”

When the accouncement came for all pilots to report in generally, Jake was about to leave the medical ward when Maria suddenly rose from her bed, her hand now on his.

"...Jake...take me with you", she suddenly said.

Needless to say, even Jake was a bit creeped out. And she wanted to go even in a hospital dress?

"...uh...Maria...you do know-"

"Yeah. I was listening to you butting in on Serah by the way", she suddenly said, cutting him off.

"...man...my percetiveness is getting rusty if all you did was nap and not dreaming", Jake said.

While the nurse didn't approve at first, she then relented. Though she quickly gave Maria a pair of white sweatpants she had on hand in the room. Quickly putting it on while still wearing her hospital gown, she then let Jake escort her out.

During the walk, she had noticed Elise and her new eye patch look. Maria had a sad look on her face when she saw it.

"...Elise...I'm sorry...even if was on infiltration, I should have gotten the job done sooner...", she had said along the way when she had pulled up in her wheelchair.

Honestly, Maria was still reeling from what Elora did. For a long time, letting "Seven" do most of the work gave her the mind set of simply being quiet and only coming out in certain social situations. Or not come out at all.

All that has changed now...but feeling guilt, depression, happiness and every other emotion that she tired to throw away now came back. And it was difficult re-embracing them after all her losses in her life and perhaps the more that were about to come.

Either way, she was keeping herself in check...that is, until they were led into the containment cell block and Maria got her first look at a Cruxi inside it's cell.

...the one she THOUGHT she killed. The one she was shown to have killed her mother.

And as if to rub salt on the wound, she then saw Elora in a similar cell.

Jake was the first to see it. Maira was clenching her fists.

"...uh...Captain Ritsu...heads up...", Jake suddenly said tilting his head towards Maria.

Maria then looked at Ritsu with a controlled expression on her face but the anger was clearly shown.

"...it's...bad enough...that..."thing" is still alive...but now your treating Elora the same way...tell me...with the combat system I use and now my perfect sync, will you throw me into containment as well?...I told you...bringing that Cruxi in isn't worth it...", Maria suddenly said in a low tone.

---

Whenever Serah spread her arms and asked for a hug, Jason gave a quick smile. "Of course." He said and leaned in to wrap his arms around the girl. Taking care to avoid hugging too tightly to avoid hurting her. "I'm glad you're doing alright, Serah." He added as he hugged the girl.

Jason could feel Serah's embrace tightening as he spoke those words, followed by her hair brushing against his neck as she nodded once. The girl was silent for the few seconds they had their arms wrapped around each other, looking a lot more relaxed once she finally pulled away.

"...Thanks, Jason."

It was then that the announcement rang through the hospital ward, urging all pilots except for Serah and Elise to head to the briefing room. The girl looked surprised for only a moment before her face sunk ever so slightly. She still tried her best to smile for Jason, but it was clear that Serah's heart wasn't fully into it.

"Haha, guess I'm stuck here for a little while... you should go ahead. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble because of me," Serah spoke, averting her eyes.

The boy noticed how Serah's face seemed to sink slightly. Despite the smile he knew her heart wasn't into it. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry. I can come back once the briefing's over. So long as you want to deal with me, that is. For now though, get some rest." He said, starting to get up before pausing to consider something. Quickly Jason leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek before going to head out. "Hope to see ya back on your feet soon, Serah." Before heading down the hall towards the briefing.

Behind Jason, Serah was still processing his quick moves. She tapped her cheek with her index and middle finger, then clutched her hand. Somehow, in some way, the girl wasn't reassured at all. She couldn't let Jason worry, though.

"I will, don't worry!" she called out behind Jason, putting on her cheeriest face and voice as she waved him out from the bed. Once he'd gotten out of sight, however, that cheerful display quickly vanished as the girl sunk back into the bed. She forgot to respond to Elise and forgot there were other people still in the room as Serah's world was dominated by only a single person. She drifted to sleep, still hung up on Jason and everything related to him.

---

Jason stood among the row of pilots, going through the usual routine of saluting and all the fun stuff that being in a military unit mandated. In all honesty, he wished he could've been back with Serah. She had been acting fine, but occasionally she did seem to be a little off about something. When he had left, Serah seemed back to her normal self. Still, he worried that maybe something was bothering her and she didn't admit it. As these thoughts ran through his mind, Jason tried to keep his face completely blank but for a moment a troubled look would be shown on his features. Though his attention was soon grabbed by the sound of another entering the room, and he looked back to see none other than the sergeant. Now in a wheelchair, despite having just woken not too long ago in medical. The boy had to give her respect for that, seems she was more stubborn than he was. Moments later they would be finding out exactly why they were summoned as went through a door unlocked via multiple security measures. Inside? Something that seemed to have a cruxi floating inside of it.

They should have killed that thing. The boy thought to himself as the whole situation about it was explained. Then they moved onto the area housing Elora. Inside he saw a girl that he didn't exactly recognize, never having met her before. However, he had heard about what happened to her, and was well aware of the fact that their mission had been to save her from the clutches of the Cruxi bastards. It was good to see that she didn't seem to be some freaky alien hybrid, and more or less seemed to be normal. Not long after that they were dismissed, and Jason made his way to get some food. It'd been a while since he ate, and he doubted Serah would be overly happy with him for coming back to visit her with his stomach growling. That, and he figured she might like some time alone to get some rest without having to be bothered. After eating, he let out a long sigh and decided to quickly go by his room and grab a small datapad. Stored in it were some side projects he was working on to pass the time. That, and to change out of his plugsuit into more casual clothes. After that it was back to check on Serah, and work on his projects until she was awake.

---

Krista had scarcely put her own hand down from returning the Captain's salute when the Sargent entered. Krista snapped to attention, her relief at seeing them alive tempered by the phantom burning her arms from the last time she didn't show her proper deference. Still, she was at the back of the group and seemingly unnoticed by the rest of the group, which suited her just fine.

She stayed in the back as they were shown the containment area, moving forward enough only to get a good look at the first screen. The creature just radiated unease, even through the screen. The idea that it was so close by unnerved her, and she found herself glancing between the screens and the sphere, half expecting it to try punching its way out like a comic book monster. Her gaze lingered its cell as the rest turned to the other. Like before, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a stranger to the proceedings.

She was one of the first to leave, having no business with the cadet she'd never met. However she made a point of approaching Elise, and saying "I'm glad to see you made it in one piece, Sargent." She kicked herself and quickly added "Or made it out alive, I mean."

On his bunk lay an exhausted Devors, right arm flung over his eyes and the other hanging lazily next to him. The man, in some miraculous way, had not yet passed out despite every molecule of his body suggesting he should. The thoughts of just what a clown show the day had been kept him awake, alongside the fact that Zim guy had decided to ask him a stupid question like machines being alive. Honestly, Devors was drunk enough to believe just about anything at this point. Not like he remembered what was actually said, anyway. Finding peace with that resolution, his body finally decided to let him-

"This is Captain Ritsu. Team Sigma, report to the containment sector on Delta-4 for a special briefing. This excludes Sergeant Steinhart and Pilot Gene."

A loud noise resounded when Devors' fist, followed by the rest of his body, collided with the floor from violently rolling himself out of his bunk. The man pushed himself up from the floor and let out a groan, looking around to see the world spinning like a hamster wheel. He ran his hand across his face, brushing away the golden locks that had fallen to cover his one remaining eye. He really, really hated this job.

After stumbling and tripping through the hallways for a solid twenty minutes and delaying everyone the man had finally managed to find the place of gathering. He didn't even bother to hide his inebriated state as he shuffled up next to the rest of the crew, his lone half-open lazily scanning the environment. The hot captain started blabbing about something Devors didn't care about, making him struggle to stay awake through the whole spiel. The only time Ritsu managed to grab his attention was when she mentioned his name, making him blink twice.

"Wait, what?" he let fly, though everyone looked to be too occupied to notice. He tried to recall what the captain had said, something about a chair? Also Steinhart... wait, wasn't that Elise? Why would Elise have been in a chair? Wasn't she in the hospital?

After blinking a few more times and looking around in confusion, Devors finally managed to spy the tiny commander in a wheelchair. It took him a few seconds to put two and two together, eventually coming to conclusion that Ritsu wanted him to push Elise's wheelchair. Wordlessly Devors shuffled around and got behind Elise. His first attempt at grabbing the wheelchair's handles failed and he missed, causing him to stumble forward and lightly bump against her back.

"Wait, no, shit, hang on, I got this."

Trying again, Devors managed to actually grab onto it. Paying no mind to Elise's condition he mindlessly pushed it forward to follow the rest of the crew, half-heartedly listening to the rest of Ritsu's spiel. At some point a funky-looking alien popped up in front of everyone's faces, causing the man to snort. Everyone else didn't seem to find it as funny as he did. He didn't hear them snort, at least, and he was pretty sure one of them looked like they were about to hit Ritsu. That'd be a funny sight.

Wait, shit, didn't the captain say 'prepare to depart' or something? Did that mean that Devors could go back to passing out? He looked down, seeing he was still holding on to the handlebars of the wheelchair. Right, he was supposed to be pushing this thing. This thing with Elise in it. In thinking about it, Devors remembered that she was in it because of... him. He couldn't leave yet after remembering that, something inside of his spinning brain told him the least he could do was stick around for a little while.

"...So, uh, Elise, do I still need to push you somewhere or something?" Devors asked her, disregarding everyone else.

Roger sat on his bunk, a half smoked cig tucked between his fingers as he pored over an old aviation manual he had managed to keep with him from home. He'd had the book since he was 8 years old, having received it as a gift for receiving high marks that year in school, and the paperback showed its age and use well. The spine was wrinkled and in places non-existent. Its cover was faded and worn away at the edges. Several pages were warped and discolored after an ill-placed beverage was knocked over onto it. Yet it still hadn't quite fallen apart just yet.

It was a book he'd read many times over the course of his adolescence; he knew the thing well enough to recite in backwards in his sleep at this point, but still he couldn't stop himself from going through it time and time again. It used to be a way to facilitate his fantasies of being a pilot, heroically braving storms to make impossible deadlines. But now it carried a different context. It was his way to remember his home in a way that felt productive to him. Sitting around reminiscing about the past getting sad and homesick was a waste of time, but a pilot had to be well aware of the physical forces at work on their vehicle. A plane was nowhere close to a Framewerk, but the same principles still applied.

It was in the middle of this reading that all the pilots were called to briefing. Already? What could this be about? Roger snuffed out the cigarette currently in hand and placed it into the book to act as a makeshift bookmark before he scrambled to make himself presentable for active duty.

Rooney was one of the last pilots from Squad Sigma to show up, but that wasn't surprising, just a bit frustrating. For the briefing he did as he usually did and kept his stupid mouth shut, but he couldn't keep his mind from keeping a running commentary of the whole thing. For instance, when Elise decided to come along despite her grievous injuries, he wanted to cart her back over to the infirmary. Yes, broken bones do stop a soldier's duty. That's what the entire point of having a medical ward in the first place was. He might be a chronic over-worker, but even he could spot an example of egregious work ethic that was liable to do more harm than good. But as long as she didn't try to get into the cockpit of a 'werk, it would probably be fine.

When he actually saw the Cruxi, a great deal of dread came over him. It was obvious why they'd try to keep an elite alive and in human possession. The tactical advantages were just too great to throw away. But there was the inescapable feeling in his gut that this was wrong and would only backfire. Either the thing would escape, be a target for rescue, or mess with things behind its container. No amount of reassurance of neural dampening or similar safeguards would change that. Everyone would be better off if the so-called POW were just exterminated right there and then.

Elora being kept in a similar sort of barrier also made a degree of sense. Who knew what the hell the Cruxi did to her. Until this was known, it wouldn't be safe to leave her to her own devices. But it still wasn't right to isolate her like an animal with rabies. She was a human being, dammit. But he bit his tongue to keep it in check, literally. Unlike Mai/Maria, he knew it wasn't his place to make these sorts of judgment calls. Top brass could have just as easily kept them in the dark about the nature of their "cargo," it was a privilege to even be told this much, and acting like a child who knew better about the way things were wouldn't help anything. All he was able to do now was get ready to depart, try his best and hope that things didn't blow up in their faces.

"...Elise...I'm sorry...even if I was on infiltration, I should have gotten the job done sooner...", she had said along the way when she had pulled up in her wheelchair.

Elise blinked in surprise from her single eye, and then looked at Maria's hospital gown. She sighed. "It's not your fault, pilot Twilight, so no need to apolog-Ouch!" She reacted to Devors accidentally stumbled onto her. "Hey, watch it, Devors!" She screamed, her cheeks slightly blushing. She saw how Captain Ritsu looked at her, and she bit her lip when the drunk(?) pilot finally got a hold of the handles. "Ugh, what am I gonna do with you..." She mumbled, her arms wrapped around herself as she was pushed into containment.

---

"...uh...Captain Ritsu...heads up...", Jake suddenly said tilting his head towards Maria.

Maria then looked at Ritsu with a controlled expression on her face but the anger was clearly shown.

"...it's...bad enough...that..."thing" is still alive...but now your treating Elora the same way...tell me...with the combat system I use and now my perfect sync, will you throw me into containment as well?...I told you...bringing that Cruxi in isn't worth it...", Maria suddenly said in a low tone.

"Silence, Pilot Twilight! You were not given permission to speak!" Elise lashed out, having slightly risen from her chair to look at Maria. She then saw Ritsu lift her hand, and the Sergeant sat down. She cleared her voice.
"Pilot Liu'un has committed hostile action against our forces while operating a Framewerk modified by the enemy. Under regular circumstances, she would be tried as a defector, and executed." She let those heavy words hang in the air. "However, Executive Officer Lorenzo has explicitly ordered for her to be brought back safely despite the consequences."
Ritsu's expression turned more stern, and a sharp eye could notice her grip no her personal device strengthened.
"To answer your question; no, I won't throw you into containment for that reason. But if you show disrespect to your superior again, I may have to resort to such disciplinary action. But for now, I will let you off with a warning. Dismissed."

She was one of the first to leave, having no business with the cadet she'd never met. However she made a point of approaching Elise, and saying "I'm glad to see you made it in one piece, Sargent." She kicked herself and quickly added "Or made it out alive, I mean."

Elise laughed out loud upon hearing the joke. "Haa, that was funny. Reynolds, you aren't half bad." She slapped her on the back, or as far up her lower back she could reach from her sitting position. "Hey, thanks for rescuing me. I was pretty stupid back then..." She leaned her head back against the chair, and looked up at Devors.

"...So, uh, Elise, do I still need to push you somewhere or something?" Devors asked her, disregarding everyone else.

"Hmm..." She thought, and then a small smirk appeared on her lips. "Let's go to the rest area. Drinks are on me." If she was going to be a cyclops, she might as well make the most out of it.

When the briefing was done and they where dismissed Katya approached the captain.
“Ma’am. I would like to visit Elora. But I have the feeling you knew I was going to ask.”

Ritsu's stern expression turned warmer when Katya volunteered, and she made a couple of presses to her device.
"I did, pilot Romanovna. Request granted." Some armed guards walked in, and stood on either side of the sphere as it was opened. "You have five minutes. Dismissed." When Katya walked in, she didn't see Elora's face first as she turned away, shivering. "Please, don't-" She turned towards Katya, and the older woman saw how much she has changed; her eyes have turned duller, and her complexion has turned more sickly. Though she appeared normal from the camera feed, Katya saw that there were faint signs of scars on her hands and legs, masked by medical care.
"K-Katya?" Her lips quivered, unsure if what she saw was real. "Is it you?"

Elora sat down on the side of the bed, and wrapped her hands around herself. "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you..." She was on the verge of tears. "They...Tested me. They gave me strange objects with many parts, and made me play strange games with some kind of virtual interface. They gave me bugs, fat bugs as food...Blghhh!" She reflexively reached for her mouth, and had to breathe hard for a bit before she could continue. "They put the hat on me, and...I understood them. Not words, but...Feelings. Emotions. Direction. I resisted, for weeks upon weeks. Then, they finally put me in Logic Gate...Oh god, what did they do to her...She screamed at me. I heard her scream, like I didn't belong in that cockpit. That's why...I had to scream too."

Elora then hugged Katya, and buried her sobbing face against her. "I'm sorry! I was weak...I gave up. ut please...forgive me." She released her hold, and calmed down. "I've missed you, Katya. I still can't believe I got out of there. But...I still hear him." Her expression turned serious. "I hear the Son. He speaks to me...No, wait...It can't be-" The sphere was opened, and Ritsu spoke: "Alright, time's up, pilot. Don't worry, you'll get to talk to her again in Solaire."
Elora began to panic as Katya was taken away. "No! You have to listen! You have to kill the Son!" But she was locked in the sphere, and only the silent screen of her screaming could be seen. Ritsu lifted an eyebrow, but decided to ignore it, explaining it away as Cruxi-caused PTSD.

An unspecified amount of time later, after the squad had gained an opportunity to rest, the ship had arrived in Solaire. Not long after they have gotten through hyperspace, various machines flied away; maintenance droids, labor drones, including two who carried the Cruxi Elite, and of course the Framewerks, who were ordered to keep a formation around the detainment sphere before it was received on ground. Lorenzo was at the hangar, full of barely held excitement as he saw the Frames, or rather, the package they delivered to his doorstep.
The pilots greeted him in a row once they got out of them, with the exception of Serah, who was handcuffed due to having committed war crimes; as a result, her Framewerk had to be carried by drones down to the surface. Lorenzo smiled in a creepy manner, his yellow teeth on full display. He rubbed his hands together, and snickered. "Hahaa! At last, I got my hands on you! Oh, I can't wait to read about your brainwave patterns! We're making history today To the laboratory with you!"

He then noticed the pilots were still standing there, their arms numb from the salute, and he scoffed. "What are you waiting for, some pieces of junk metal you can stick on your clothes? Ritsu will handle that. Alright, dispissed, or whatever." He turned to follow the droids, but then finally turned back as he saw a certain someone walk towards them.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Due to the losses you have sustained in these past couple of operations, Ritsu assigned new pilots to your squad, but is currently too busy to hold a proper briefing for it, and said she'll hold it later. So here's pilot Cam...Camden?" He squinted as he tried to read the crumpled piece of paper, before he gave up and looked at his own device. "Anyway, make sure to train the rookie, Sargeant. And pilot Gene, you will be tried for your crimes, and will be under surveillance until then. Disnissed." He walked past Alyssa Camden, who was ordered to meet with squad Sigma upon their return, and she could hear him grumble about his handwriting.

Zim tensed as the altercation between Maria and Ritsu traded back and forth. Zim could understand, as best as he could anyway, why Maria might have such an opinion. In fact, Zim assumed most of the squad and personnel on board the NOAH would happily have offed the Cruxi Elite if they were given the chance, however, most people on board and in the squad knew better then to display such an outburst against a superior. Zim's jaw clenched even tighter as Ritsu reached for her personal device, her grip tightening. However, just as quick as it started, it ended. It seemed as though CO Ritsu's words of warning snapped Maria back into the right frame of mind... if such a thing were possible for the pilot.

Once dismissed Zim went back to his room and continued to pour over the data, how many other times could instances like what Zim experienced with Black Star have happened with the other pilots? Zim couldn't exactly tell for sure, not like he could with his own and Black Stars actions, but it might reveal some sort of information that he missed to observe the other pilots combat maneuvers. It was in this manner, and in various simulators, that Zim spent all of his downtime on the remaining trip back to Solaire.

As the group descended in a formation around the detainment pod, Black Star was still under repair, so a repair platform was used to assist in bringing Black Star back down to the surface in place of the various thrusters that had been removed in order to work on the underlying frame of the leg. The entire time Zim looked at his sensors and at his squadmates, waiting for signs of activity. They were ordered to escort the pod to the surface, but that didn't mean that Maria or someone else was necessarily going to let it get to the surface, so Zim kept an eye on the squad while the squad kept an eye on everyone else. Once landed and disembarked, Zim quickly made it to rank and file and fell in with the salute. Once dismissed to great the new girl Zim held back a moment, hoping that someone else who was more cheery might step in and begin introductions. It didn't happen, either Zim didn't wait long enough, or everyone else was waiting for the same thing. Either way, it seemed to fall on Zim to break the ice, as it were.

"Hello, I am Zim Hero, Zero for short, nice to meet you Camden," Zim said with a quick salute, "This here is Squad Sigma, there's the namesake, there's the squad leader, Elise, and there's..." Zim went on down the list point at each individual person and stating their names. Nobody would really expect her to remember anyones names, not right away, anyways.

"So, have you seen combat before, or are you green under the collar, too?"

---

As Maria spoke up and Elise and the captain dealt with matter, Katya tried her best to pay it no mind. Finding it hard to believe that military would lock up one of its own soldiers for displaying powers that may be considered by some to be unnatural. Well provided the person in question could keep them in check. Well, that is what she hoped. Even if she wasn’t biggest fan of Maria, it would be fair to lock her up in one of these containment spheres.

When the captain turned to Katya, she noticed her expression warmed and said she did expect Katya to ask. Unsure how to feel the captain had already predicted she would ask. Then again … Katya knew no matter what it took she had to see with her own to eye that Elora was okay. That merely looking at the girl though some monitors would not be enough.

As the guards took their position by the entrance to the sphere, Katya could not help but frown at them. Wondering if armed guards where really necessary Use she knew guards were part of protocol but armed guards. Did they really see Elora as that much of a threat? Katya had her doubts Elora would do anything to hurt any human on the ship of her own free will. Katya positive while Elora was more them capable of fighting it wasn’t in her nature to harm others. Heck, she still recalled the younger pilot asking them to stop play fighting in a shower after what Katya had come to recall as the test battle.

Still, she was not going to ask why there was a need for armed guards. Not wanting to risk having her permission revoked. So merely stepped inside. Katya seeing Elora the older pilot noted how Elora turned away. Katya feeling sorry for Elora and slowly started to move towards the girl. Aware he time was limited but didn’t want to rush things having no idea what state Elora might be in. Worried come at her quickly and hugging her like she wanted to might be a little too much too soon.

As Elora turned face Katya, the older pilot got a good look at the condition of her younger friend. Katya’s feeling incredibly sorry for Elora as she looked liked she been put through something horrific. Katya’s heart sinking a little a pang of guilt crept into her mind. The young woman still blaming herself for failing to protect Elora initially. But Katya tried to bury those feelings as Elora asked if it was really her.
“It is.” Katya answered giving Elora a small smile.

Katya watched as Elora wrapped her hands around herself. Katya having to look away for a moment when she noticed Elora was on the verge of tears finding the sight hard to look at. But as the younger pilot spoke Katya slowly look back at hear and listened to her words. Unable to imagine how horrible it must have been for her to have to endure such torment. Whatever things they had given her what games they made her play could not have been pleasant. After all one only had to look at Elora to see that she’d been through hell.

When Elora hugged Katya, the older pilot returned the hug. Hand’s tightly wrapping around Elora. As she apologised saying she was weak and gave up and asked forgiveness.
“It’s okay Elora the Cruxi didn’t give you a choice, it’s not your fault.” she said softly hoping it would provide the younger pilot with some small level of comfort. Katya having no idea how hard it must have been for Elora to been forced to harm her comrades.

As Elora released her hold on Katya did the same. Although she kept a hand on the young pilot's shoulder. Katya aware any minute now she’d be told to leave. Pretty sure her 5 minutes was very close to over. That thoughts however quickly got shoved aside when Elora spoke again Katya perking up when the words “But… I still hear him” where spoken. Katya more then a bit surprised to hear those words. Katya listening to ever words Elora spoke until the sphere was opened Katya glancing behind her before looking back at Elora. Katya feeling a hand firmly grip her arm and start to pull her towards the entrance. Katya make no effort to resist the guard as he pulled on her arm. Merely mouthing a I’m sorry to Elora.

Outside of the sphere, Katya ripped her arm free of the guard's grip who had already started to let go of her. Looking towards the captain with a look an annoyed look.
“It was not necessary to pull me out like that. Another moment to bid her goodbye and I’d of left. To stress her out like that i … nevermind.” Katya stated trailing off the young woman realising that what she wanted to say at the end of that sentence was not a good idea. Given the captain had just done her a favour. Leaving that sentence unfinished she walked off. Stopping a few steps past Ritsu turning to face the captain
“Thank you, ma’am. If you are able, please let me know when she is released. I’d like to be there if possible.” Katay spoke giving her a quick salute before finally leaving the room.

After seeing Elora, Katya spent quite a bit of time dwelling on what the younger pilots words as she was removed from her sphere. Katya unsure what to make of them. Katya knowing Elora what something dead. That much was obvious. But what was it? Just who or what was this Son? Katya willing to guess it was some sort of Cruxi. But what exactly? Was it the captured Elite? Or something else entirely? Something they had not seen before? Whatever it was it Katya had no idea and dwelling on it made it hard to focus on repairing Caretaker and giving her a headache. Katya thinking until she had a proper private conversation with Elora about it. That she should just keep quiet about it.

When they arrived back at Solaire and had landed. Katya was pleased to back at least for the moment they’d get a little break. Feeling like she needed one after the base mission. Too much had happened and Katya found the nap fallen took before being woken to change and bring her werk to the surface was not restful her mind replaying the events of the base mission.

Seeing Loreno’s creepy smile sent a shiver down Katya’s spine. Finding what she deemed to his him as excited to be something she would rather see anytime soon and prayed she would never be the object of his excitement. The idea sending another shiver down her spine, which made it hard for her to maintain the statue which was starting to make her arm ache.

Hearing the word dispissed. Katya mentally sighted pleased to be free letting herself enter a relaxed stance as she lowered her arm. Jumping back into attention when he turned back around and attempted to introduce a pilot who be joining the squad. Katya eyeing the newcomer for a moment before turning to leave the hanger. Katya of to change out of her plug suit, before heading to the mess hall. Finding herself feeling a little bit hungry.

As the group of pilots escorted their payload down to the surface, an observant pilot may notice that there was a non-military transport ship nearby as well. Its design was regal and smooth, thick with aesthetic and with little in the way of utilitarian purpose.


Once the very brief briefing with Lorenzo was started, someone who wasn't paying attention to what was being said might notice a Framewerk with a huge ring disembark from the transport, strike a graceful pose and proceed to descend to the surface, landing nearby Squad Sigma's collection of Werks. Everybody would be able to notice that the landing was not nearly as graceful as the pose, but all the same, there was no damage done. A small group of ground crew would gather nearby it and start ordering drones to get to work to get it into the hanger along with the rest of the werks. An officer stood nearby on the ground waiting for the pilot to come out. Once on the ground the Officer would great the pilot in the strange plug suit a salute, which was odd as the pilot couldn't have outranked the officer but how else was the officer to show royalty respect? Words were exchanged and the officer quickly escorted the pilot towards Squad Sigma.

The officer once again saluted the group, "Excuse me, this is Cadet Fullbright, she has just arrived but has been assigned to your unit. I will leave her in your care." He saluted again before taking off to assist in other tasks.

"Hello," the new pilot said as she reached to remove her helmet, a mass of red hair tumbling out around her shoulders, she shook it briefly before continuing, "As you were just told I am your new Cadet, Elizabeth Fullbright, "El" if you can't be bothered to say my whole name. And before you ask, yes, I am the crown princess of Praxis V, you have seen me before in the holovids, and no you may not have my autograph. Who is in charge here? Apparently, I still need to report for duty, officially." She stood there expectant, with her chin held high, her pretty nose sticking slightly up into the air.

After Maria was put in place by Ritsu, she had just watched Katya go in to visit Elora on the video feed. While she didn't hear what was going on, she did see the amount of distress Elora was in throug her body language...even more so after Katya was escorted outside the pod.

While she couldn't hear Elora again, she did "mind link" with her during that fight with the Cruxi back at the Cruxi base...so she was sure she felt the same way about their P.O.W...

Some time later, she was lined up with the other pilots saluting at Lorenzo as he explained the situation...and didn't take kindly to what they did with Serah. And after hearing what Ritsu said they COULD do to Elora if Lorenzo hadn't stepped in, she had made up her mind.

Sure, she was concerned about the P.O.W. Cruxi still because it could STILL try to pull one last mind trick of sorts to turn this base or Solaris into a living hell, she was just too emotional right now. Her worst fear...the same fear that Neo Angel showed her...no...she would embrace it...all the goods and bads that came with it.

Maria also knew that Lorenzo wasn't going to help her after he heard him use the word "Dispissed". He was too busy licking his chops on grilling the P.O.W. Cruxi. So it looked as if it may come down to her and whatever help she could get to help with making a case to help Serah and Elora.

She didn't stick around to greet the new pilots. Even more so with Princess El herself...their history wasn't exactly great the last time they had met but that was when she was "Seven". Still, Maria didn't want to deal with her at the moment.

She then saw Jake walk towards the princess before she grabbed him by the arm and away from the general area.

"Whoa whoa easy", Jake quicky said as he started to follow her.

"Jake. I need help", Maria said as they continued to walk.

"Ah. I know where this is going. Don't even have to say boing."

"No Rhymes. Just help."

"Ok ok sorry. It's about Serah right?"

"Yeah. I want to mount a case in support of her and Elora."

Jake looked deep in thought after that as they walked.

"Cafeteria Jake?", Maria then offered.

"I'd perfer somewhere more private. I don't think everyone on this ship is going to want to support them."

"I know but I'm...stressed...I need food right now anyway", Maria admitted.

"Alright then. Meanwhile, I'll start seeing what we can use for evidence. I had looked at our sync rates during the last mission and saw the drops everyone on Infiltration had taken. That could be one piece of evidence to use depending on how we present it", Jake then said.

"What about comms? Was that recorded?", Maria then asked.

"I'm sure it was but...not sure if that "screaming" I heard briefly before my comms temporarily shut down was recorded. That Cruxi really did a number with it there", Jake then said.

During the walk, Jake had taken out his tablet and started getting the data together to see what they could use.

They soon made it to the cafeteria and after waiting in a line, got their food and sat at a table far in the corner of the cafeteria.

"So Jake...we need to get support. First off, who can we use?", Maria then asked.

"Well for one, anyone at the site of the "incident" would be a start. Commanding officiers too but I doubt they'll help. Your temper before didn't help you with Elise even though you felt guilty about her eye and apologized to her about it beforehand", Jake then said.

Maria just closed her eyes on that and shook her head. Taking a bite of her sandwich while Jake took a bite of his hotdog, she asked, "Ritsu?"

"Let me think-uh nope", Jake flatly responded.

"Jake. Seriously", Maria then said.

"I am serious. She personally told you the score with Elora. She's a sticker to the rules. Trust me on that", Jake said.

"Not from what I've seen. She is compassionate when necessary."

"WHEN necessary Maria. But I can tell, she doesn't belive in out-of-control frameworks nor mind-controlling Cruxi."

"Stupid question but Lorenzo?"

"Ha. That guy only cares about Elora and the P.O.W. Cruxi at the moment. He could care less about Serah right now."

Maria let out a sigh after all that.

"So no high ranking officiers...unless Katya steps up", Maria then asks.

"I...don't know her mind set too well but it depends on what she felt happened in there. Remember though, were trying to get support. Talk to the wrong person about what were planning to do and they could well turn on us and support Serah and Elora's execution-"

"I know I know!", Maria suddenly said. Taking a deep breath, she then said, "Sorry. I'm just-"

"I know Mai. Still trying to get used to "feelings" again. Sorry but...no matter what type it is, a courtroom is still a courtroom. If it goes that far, this is what most likely is going to happen...not everyone is going to be behind us on this...", Jake then said.

They then ate a little more of their food while Jake continued to get data that could help them out.

Alyssa had just barely managed to arrive as Lorenzo was turning to leave, panting slightly as she hurriedly saluted Lorenzo and the other pilots. She opened her mouth, about to apologize for being late, and was cut off by Lorenzo introducing her to the other pilots. She tried again to apologize for being late but Lorenzo simply walked past her, grumbling about his... handwriting? All this tech and he still uses paper? How old is he? She thought to herself, forgetting for a moment the anxiety she had felt.

At least, until one of the other pilots greeted her. He introduced himself as "Zim Hero", which Alyssa thought was a strange name, and this Zim continued to introduce the other pilots as well. Once he introduced everyone he asked if Alyssa had experienced any combat yet, but before she could answer another officer and pilot arrived. Though, as this "Elizabeth" introduced herself, Alyssa couldn't help but think she was a bitch.

---

As Squad Sigma had been returning from the attack on the Cruxi base. A transport ship had arrived to Solaire and had unloaded supplies and new personnel for the base. Mostly food and framewerk parts along another framework and it’s pilot for squad Sigma. Who had been getting familiar with base while waiting for the squad to return. Although the entire time she hoped this squad Sigma that she had been assigned to would return quickly so she could begin her duties with this new squad. Valéria not used to waiting and found that without have to get her squadmates and duties to families herself with. She found herself far too aware of those around her casting glances her way. Valéria aware it was rare for people to see someone from her world even in the military. Still, it bugged her a little and she hoped it would come to an end soon enough. After all, it not like this was a short-term assignment. That and she was only one of several Haath being assigned to the base. So why did then need to look at her?

As Squad Sigma landed, Valéria watched from a distance having learned where they going to land. Able to recognise some of them form the award ceremony after the Cruxi invasion of Leviticus IX had been beaten back. Valéria was also quick to Notice the werks where escorting some sort of sphere. Valéria wondering what it was and what it contained. Thinking it had to be something important if the squad had been assigned to escort it down to the surface. But was sure whatever it was something classified and if it concerned her, she’d be made aware of it when if and when it was needed. For now, however, she would just settle for wondering as watched Lorenzo who she already knew the squads “commander.” address the assembled pilots. Valéria barely able to hear what the man was saying not that it was important. She had meet the man only for a moment soon after she had arrived and had a feeling he cared little for the soldiers he was in charge of. Which didn’t sit right with Valéria. In fact he had seemed quite distracted in organising something.

She watched the Lorenzo leave giving sigh. Thinking she really should go over and say hi and introduce herself before the went to find the one called Captain Ritsu and report into her. Then again she didn’t see why after all she was positive this captain would hold a meeting and introduce the new pilots. It was a choice and Valéria wasn’t sure if she was ready to deal with her new squad mates yet. Make her think for a moment and miss Elizabeth land and introduce herself. Only noticed when she had made up her mind and focused back on her squad mates.
“Another? Interesting…” she muttered to herself tailing off as she looked at the other newcomer. Recognizing the girl form a few propaganda films she had seen.
“So much hair how can she tolerate it?” Valéira asked herself giving another sigh. Before turning to leave and slowly starting to walk away they could wait.

However she only get a few steps when she changed her mind stopping and turning to look back at the collected pilots. Turning around she adjusted her hood to better cover her eyes. Touching her mouth gently to check the zig-zag line she had drawn painted across it when she had awoken.
“I’m sure I will regret this but oh well. Better to get the staring over and done with.” she muttered to herself. Taking in a deep breath, she began to approach the gathered pilots. Stopping just before the group.
“Excuse me. Squad Sigma right? I am another new pilot assigned to the squad.” she stated doing her best to speak clearly and show nice welcoming tone. Although it came out mostly as the typical partial monotone anyone who had worked with those form Haath with be familiar with. Having said that she cleared her throat.
“I am Valéira Jarmila Pleased to make your acquaintance. It is an honour and I look foward to working with the hero's of Leviticus IX.” she spoke giving a slight bow to the head followed by banging left fist into the upper part of her chest as she spoke the word honour before lowering it.