Rose heard them before she saw them, shambling into RADAR range well before the range at which she could squint through her smoked aluminum glass and gawk at the team manually. And she must have noticed them before they did her, as their conversation continued with no real regard for her presence; unless, of course, [i]everyone[/i] in this squadron was as rude as that Gan guy ... The terrain was becoming pebbly and uneven and low, her mech swaying as its leg actuators adapted to new deformities in the moon rock.[hr][table][row][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545161317134366/fairytale_bubbly.gif[/img]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Okay, Chlotho. Your turn."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"I gotta go with phở on this one. No question."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545161317134366/fairytale_bubbly.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"I've heard of that. It's Vietnamese, right?"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Yeah, but you don't know until you've had it. It's ambrosia."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545184796864572/grizzly_japing.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Well? Spit it out already."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"So it's this murky, beefy broth, right? So hot it's almost boiling. Sometimes it's spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and all sorts of stuff. Cilantro, mint, and chilies are negotiable. Onions and glass noodles aren't. And beef. So much beef you could choke. Total harmony."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545166367084544/fairytale_intrigued.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Whoa! That sounds scary good!"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Right? At your typical noodle shop they'll be serving flank, brisket, maybe eye round. Shaving it so thin it's like paper. But if you're lucky——or you know where to go——you can get it loaded up with juicy chunks of tendon, oxtail, even tripe and tongue."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545171744174111/fairytale_unamused.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Aaaaaand you ruined it. Bleck."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545161317134366/fairytale_bubbly.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"What about you, Commander? What's your favorite hot soup for braving the frozen wastes of Triton? ... Commander?"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Huh? Oh. I dunno. I like tomato."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545189125373992/grizzly_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"That's our girl. Something finally leaves her mouth which ain't an order, and it's the most boring thing to ever come from a bowl."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Hey! ...... Okay, maybe the one from a can. B-But I think my dad makes a really good one!"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/888483437739122769/fairytale_calm.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"How's that?"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Well, he'd start by roasting the tomatoes and some onions in a pan, to give them some char."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545166367084544/fairytale_intrigued.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]![/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"And since that would cook out some of the acidity, then he'd deglaze with a little vinegar, usually red wine or balsamic ..."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545168443273257/fairytale_emotional.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]!!![/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"As for the spices, I haven't figured it out 100%, but I know it involves cumin seeds, caraway seeds, some paprika ... all dry-toasted and then——"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545184796864572/grizzly_japing.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Hey, chief. Maybe you should cut it out before ya kill 'er."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545200013799555/whiskeysour_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"... Ana?"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545168443273257/fairytale_emotional.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code][incoherent drooling][/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545189125373992/grizzly_calm2.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Heh heh ... Yeah, MREs and DFAC cookin' don't really cut it when your heart hurts for homemade, do they ..."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"That's for sure. I'd go on a massacre for a plate of my old man's stroganov right about n——"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545177574277210/romeo_action.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"BOGEY ON MY TEN."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/888457834717655080/whiskeysour_calm.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"What?!"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545194171133952/grizzly_action.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Strauss, you sister-fucker, you better not've jinxed us just now."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545177574277210/romeo_action.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Shut up, I didn't."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545171744174111/fairytale_unamused.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"And you're not kidding this time, right?..."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545177574277210/romeo_action.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"NO!!"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][/table][hr]In stark contrast to the Quickdraw which (through no intent of its own) had stomped past Rose out on the plain, the fireteam's [url=https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/8/89/Rifleman_RGilClan_v08.png?timestamp=20210120223155]A3-37 Phalanx[/url] didn't need to take even a single step to zero right in on her figurative forehead. With a scalpel's precision, hip pivot and shoulder pivots collaborated to aim two enormous autocannons dead-on at her center of mass. Supposedly they were for long-range aerial shootdowns, but who was to say they wouldn't tear through a [url=https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/8/8d/3050U_Falcon.jpg?timestamp=20101225083721]Fire Ant[/url] at point-blank?

The others, despite their banter, practically leapt to Strauss's callout in their deadly earnestness. They emerged from their defensive [i]testudo[/i] formation. A (relatively) small, agile [url=https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/7/75/Gargoyle_RGilClan_v11.png?timestamp=20210610205558]Fessler-Bagwell "Hellion"[/url] was first to appear from behind Strauss's Phalanx, quickly leveling its own arm-mounted guns and missile racks; and so did a weightier, slower [url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbtSoyCVcAAIYyc.png]AV-84 Hunchback[/url], hobbling forward much in the manner of its namesake, or of an armored tortoise, [i]dragging[/i] along under its iron cowl.

But in the center of this formation—its impenetrable iron core—stood the true titan. The thickness of her armor was measured not in inches but in feet, her withers towering over their heads. As for her four cannons, after a certain point there was no point to counting, but comparing the bore of the barrels to the size of the cockpit at a glance, Rosie could estimate that the shells came at least up to a girl's knees when laid lengthways on the ground. Maybe her waist.

Of course Rose had always [i]read about[/i] the Armageddon-class mechs, like the Horn of Gabriel, the Apotheosis, the Oubliette, and of course, the [url=https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/8/8d/Crucible_RGilClan_v10.png?timestamp=20210701000625]MkII Sword of Damocles[/url]. But those ... those things had to be at least 900mm in caliber!

Was that mech truly a weapons system, or an artillery fort on legs?![hr][table][row][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910558232764882944/whiskeysour_deadly.gif[/img][color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Unidentified pilot, this is R-TAX Three-Zero-Fiver-Fiver-Three with the 5th Airborne. You are ordered to jack out of your 'mech, call out your serial number, and——"[/code]
[color=2e2c2c]a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a[/color][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/888457834717655080/whiskeysour_calm.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"... oh."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545161317134366/fairytale_bubbly.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"It's Rosie!"[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][/table][hr]Somehow, even the mechs themselves looked slightly bashful as they all lowered their barrels in unison.[hr][table][row][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545194171133952/grizzly_action.gif[/img]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Nice going, bud."[/code]
[color=2e2c2c]a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a[/color][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545174676008960/romeo_casual.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Gimme a break. I only said she was a bogey, not a bandit."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell][right][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/617914243760783381/910545171744174111/fairytale_unamused.gif[/img][/right][/cell][cell][code]"Great. Now I'm hungry AND wound up."[/code][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][/table][hr]