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[@Plank Sinatra] [@GarlandDaHero] [@Crimmy]

[i][color=a0410d]Enemies.[/color][/i]

Anju was robbed of Hazel's attention rather quickly. Her response registered; the mute was appreciative that she had taken it in stride, rather than getting angry. It wasn't personal; any complaints she had about the former Crusader as a person had very, very little to do with her side in the war. The pad was not good for articulating complicated opinions. Perhaps she would write it out, when the mission was done. Silence might still be better than the monotone of her text-to-speech program.

But that would wait.

The girl extricated herself from underneath Corinne's elbows, with no small degree of effort, and double-timed back to the Taus. She tossed her bag unceremoniously back onto her seat on her way to the docking bay; her new machine was waiting. It looked like her old Mk. II M, is you swapped the colors. It blended in with the dim interior of the transport, gunmetal grays melding with the bay around it. The red glint gave it away. Even if she hadn't known where it was. The way the visor caught the light, reflecting it a deep crimson. It looked much like her old Gespenst, but it wasn't. She could [i]feel[/i] it. The M had come to feel like an old friend, one she had endured alongside. It felt welcoming, but not soft; a familiar tool that could still turn upon her if she failed to respect it. The TT made her feel drafted all over again. It towered above her; heavier than the other units in the transport by far, emanating gravitas. It demanded respect. It would not guide her along like her old Gespenst, it would demand her concentration and her utmost respect. It was a towering marvel of mechanical design, a machine that had personally seen conflict worse than she had. Even powered down it was almost intimidating.

But she couldn't allow herself more than a moment to think about it. She wasn't drafted all over again. She had survived the war on [i]her[/i] merit, not on her machine's. It was a Gespenst. She could pilot it. She would.

The mute climbed up to the cockpit, apprehension quickly overtaken by excitement. She couldn't forget her glee, either, at finally piloting one of the machines that she had spent so long admiring. She had no reason to be worried. This machine was more potent than her last one, something she could feel even in the first moments that she had spent inside it. Now she could test it for real.

[color=a0410d][i]Systems online...[/i][/color]

The PT came to life under her touch, the familiar hum making its way into her bones. And something else with it; a feeling she had come to associate with the T-Link System, an phantom sensation she couldn't quite describe. A broadening of her senses, perhaps, though she was loathe to try and quantify it so. 

But the machine was ready, and awaiting her command. 

The Gespenst stomped clear of its housing, the ground shuddering faintly beneath the impact of its heavy feet. It might not have been as lithe a machine as that of her colleagues, but it was [i]proven[/i]. In the right hands, immovable. Even without Hazel's own upgrades. The Tesla Drive came to life as soon as she was clear of the Taus, bringing her machine to a hover a short distance above the ground. She would not go higher until she needed to engage. 

[color=a0410d]"Hazel Ada Stoll. Mk. II TT. Deploying."[/color]