[center][h2]Elise Kim[/h2][h3][i]The Horizon[/i] — Command Room[/h3][/center]
To Teodora's comment, Ms. Morrison simply brought one hand towards her chin and nodded, her eyes lightly closed as she considered the younger girl's words.

"Hmm... Well, a core would not actually be all that unlikely, given the general composition of the Warped as we saw from the combat footage," she spoke, opening her eyes again before gesturing towards one of the cameras. "The creature seems to see the world through a bunch of eyes, or so the scientists said during your initial engagement—and as Kim surmised mid-combat—but the sheer quantity of them makes it unlikely that they are priority targets. A centralized core, however, would seem more likely to be your target. This is not to speak before the experts have, though; once Selene is repaired and we've examined the Warped some more, though, we will call you two back in before your next sortie. You may spend the interim as you wish. Dismissed."

With that, the blonde woman simply rose from her seat to leave the room, leaving the two Pilots as they were. Elise simply glanced at the continued video feeds for a moment before sighing and rubbing the back of her neck. It was one thing to retreat to gather more data, of course, but retreating as a result of her own failures and almost dying for it...

Needless to say, that didn't feel great.

"So... I guess we're free for a few hours," she said before glancing towards Teodora. "You going to do anything for the moment, or...?"

[@Medili]

[hr][center][h3]Perth — Sewers[/h3][/center]
The sounds of metal crashing against concrete as Louisa charged into the fray meant that any remaining attempts at secrecy were all but abandoned, and whatever enemy lay before the group was now fully alerted to the Frame Pilot stampeding towards them. The scant footsteps became swift and scattered, their frequency increasing with each passing moment.

Of course, with a lack of light in the sewers proper, figuring out how many of the enemy was present was easier said than done.

The screams that had pushed the young woman into action, however, seemed to turn into more of a chorus—mangled screams, cries for help—that, upon closer inspection, was distinctly [i]inhuman[/i] in nature. A mocking mimicry of the cries of the dying—but to what end?

It was in the middle of that din, however, that beasts would begin to spring out from all directions—doglike Warped with fins began to leap out from the sewage beneath, attempting to claw and bite at whatever drew near, while frog-faced humanoids attempted to fall upon the group from above.

Under the cover of darkness, an ambush like this could easily change from 'manageable' to 'dangerous' with a single misstep.

[@Laduguer][@VitaVitaAR][@Mole]