[center][h1][color=silver]Lucius[/color][/h1][/center]

The instructions were clear enough, though it seemed that Admiral Cain was unavailible at this time. Hmm. Either way he was going to get to meet the Executive Officer himself, the peculiar (if the rumors were to be believed) Professor Lorenzo. In that sense, it still bode well enough for him to make a proper introduction of sorts. Didn't want to anger the new boss, as it were, before he'd even done anything. A bad start, that'd be, if the lead of Project Framewerk didn't even want to keep him around for that matter. But all things in due time, yes? So he simply had to take his time properly to-

Hmm?

As a lone uniform-clad pilot walked by him in the hall, a potential peer of his no doubt, Lucius tried to give a somewhat friendly one-handed wave along the way. Yet at the same time, she looked back at him with...surprise? Wait. He hadn't seen her before in person, at least, but something felt oddly familiar about the girl, mostly as he got a good glance at her face as they passed each other in the hall. Like a sensation in the back of his mind, a sense of recognition but without having prior knowledge. It was strange, alien even, and yet it wasn't a totally unfamiliar sort of thing he'd felt in life either. Like a...gut feeling, but stronger? Hmm. 

In any case, his eyes would linger with a raised eybrow for a moment as Elora passed, before snapping his head back to look forward with a soft and quiet sigh aimed at no one in particular. Last thing he needed to do was look like a weirdo, but then again maybe the girl's surprise was something rather normal now that he thought more about it. Another pilot, and one sent in so late as to be interrupting some kind of training exersize from what he'd heard? Perhaps they'd sit him out to the side, then, and give him time to gague things a bit from seeing his fellow peers in action (or something of the sort). Or maybe he'd be debriefed on the trip he'd taken or such like, superiors did like to ask enough questions as it was sometimes in his limited experiences over the past years. Though with instructions from a nearby janitor, he would at least get to the right door of all things. 

Walking in the door indicated to him, Lucius would scarecely step inside of the room in his uniform before his own eyes briefly met the gaze of a seemingly silent and surprised older man with a suspiciously trademark-looking eyepatch on his head. Wait? Was this Professor Lorenzo? And next to him seemed to be the Lieutenant that he'd been told about before his-

[quote]The professor stared at him for seconds that felt like hours for the pilot, before he snapped:

"Who the hell is this? I thought the helmet lad was the last one!"

Lieutenant Ritsu sighed, and checked her own device. "Looks like...The Galactic Fleet Board of Members also sent a pilot to the program."

"Damn scheming snakes!" Lorenzo cussed, and walked over in a fast pace, looking like he was about to trip with how violently his walking cane shook. "Laddie! You will be taking a special assignment! Head to the virtual training sector, and plug in."[/quote]

Eh? Well the old man seemed at least to be more animated than the military usually had been around him, so that much was at least a 'good sign' in his eyes. The comments on the GFBM was certainly not something he was going to comment on either, internal politics were not a new a thing and seemed  to be everywhere (even back at the program HQ he'd been at back home), but the command to report to the virtual trianing simulator was certianly something of a shock to the cadet in kind. Well, not a 'total' shock, but he'd been about 50/50 on the odds of such a thing as it was before even entering the room. 

[quote=The Grumpy Old Fruit Bat]He pressed a button, and the projector display updated for the final time. To the new cadet's surprise, his Framewerk Rex Artus was added in to the list of Framewerks that would participate in the simulation mission. However...

It was under a new team: Team Banana.

"You're on team Banana. Your winning condition is not getting disconnected before all members from one team are wiped. Maybe one of the teams will spare you, hoping they'll get an ally out of you. Or maybe you'll just be used as bait to draw the other team out. Either way, try to avoid getting blown up, haha!" the professor cackled, and walked out of the room, not giving another glance at the pilot.[/quote]

So much for a good first impression, eh? 

Not even a situation outside of his control seemed to mitigate his reception, though he would hold his tongue on the matter. Nor was he here in time to talk to anyone else among his new peers, it seemed, and now the project lead was making him a walking target dummy in a suitably well-named team label for the occasion. He would not care to explain why he felt that way, or how it felt fitting, though some good fruit would be nice now that he thought about it. Good taste in all the team names, really, though as the old man and his violently-shaken cane staggered off without so much as looking at him again (or asking for an introduction), the Lieutenant would at least give him the time of day if naught else. 

[quote]Lieutenant Ritsu gave her trademark sigh with an adjustment of her glasses, and greeted the pilot with a salute.[/quote]

Lucius would greet her with a proper military salute back in kind...though she seemed to be a touch exasperated by the Professor there. At least he knew what she looked like from the intel given to him before his shuttle trip. 

[quote]"Cadet Sterling. It seems you have caught the Executive Officer at a bad time. I apologize on his behalf. Now then, here is the necessary data such as your training schedule," she added, and sent him the same information she had given to to other pilots, as well as the same introductory speech she had given to the first group of pilots.[/quote]

Taking in the information, and pulling out his own datapad from its belt-mounted 'holster' on his right thigh, the cadet would glance over the information in quick summary as Ritsu gave him the data and a speech following this. It was useful information, so that much he could work with for sure. Maybe better improve his chances of at least trying to get to know some of his peers after all of this was said and done (hopefully) or something. He'd need to look it back over, but for the time being he looked back up at the Lieutenant and gave an appreciative nod. 

[color=silver]"Thank you, mam', for the information and assistance. I'll make my way to the virtual training sector straightaway."[/color]

He did at least try to get a read on the Lieutenant's bearing, albeit it was obvious that she was more formal and drilled in her mannerisms thus far than the Professor seemed to be. All that in mind, though, he'd move with a bit of haste in trying to get to the locker room...or, well, get directions to there for the first time at least. That and making his way to the virtual training sector as quickly as he could at this rate. The Professor seemed to be in a mood as it was already! 

[hr]

To say the darkened room of the training sim room was familiar was, at least, something that gave him a mild sense of comfort given the circumstances. He'd been in a room much like this one before when doing training sims, though such had different naturally from the live-piloting sparring matches and training in kind during his tenure in the "Pilot Preparation Program" of sorts. It didn't take much to acclimate a bit to the room, though, as he sat in one of the simulation seats in his all-black piloting attire and pulled on the familiar-seeming type of helmet therein. From there, it was as simple as the shimmering cockpit of the Rex Artus forming around him as his senses were pulled into the simulation itself in a likewise familiar sort of sensation. 

[quote=The Grumpy Old Fruit Bat Part 2]"Cadets, report on your deployment status once ready, and wait for further instructions. System checkups and communications are permitted." Then Lorenzo's voice boomed in at an comfortably loud volume.

"HOWEVER! If I see anyone move out prematurely with their Framewerks, they will be disqualified immediately. That is all. Also, Logic Diver's enemy data will be set to zero: can't have you cheat, can we, haha!"[/quote]

As Lucius took a look around himself from where the simulated Rex Artus stood, getting a lay of the land visually and via sensors in a usual Framewerk-startup systems checkup as he'd been drilled to do before a battle, he would make note of team positions and his own alike. It wasn't a...good thing overall for himself, not one bit, and he was now a wildcard sat in the middle of a match whose only goal was 'survive' in a field where everyone else likely had the time to get to know each other. Still, he followed the professor's instructions to 'not budge an inch out of place too early', to give his own summary of the older man's words, but two words came to mind the more he got a lay of the land from his position.

[color=silver]"...[sub]Oh balls[/sub]."[/color]

Seemed the Professor really had it out for him in this case, taking the frustrations out on him by placing him in this sort of position. He sat in the middle of some serious firepower on both sides, no one knew him, and for all he knew everyone would blast him out of the way as 'practice' on their way to gun for each other and 'more important targets'. If such a thing happened, of course, he'd be humiliated in a futile effort to particiipate and be tossed out of the way of the day's activity before he could really do anything, potentially, and all for the Professor's amusement and gratification he imagined. Not that it was a guarantee this would be the situation either, he had enough of a head on his shoulders to see that, and if he played his cards right he could perhaps make it as close as possible to the end without getting knocked out right out of the gate (if nothing else). 

His Framewerk's head barely poked up above the building as it was, enough for him to have gotten a look around himself of course, though with a little testing of crouching in-place Lucius found that his Heavy-weight-class Framewerk was at least not too tall as to be totally and utterly exposed. Or perhaps he was simply on the shorter-end of Heavy weight class Framewerks maybe? Hmm. In any case, his comms were closed and silent as ever, not a word being said to him as the teams around him prepared likely some kind of strategy or another. 

...There were two silver linings, however, to the parameters of the simulation battle in his mind. 

One, the penalty seemingly only came if any of them move out prematurely or such things, which he wasn't going to do. Systems checkups were permitted alongside comms, though, and his weapons systems were automatically prepping for battle as designed in turn. That wasn't breaking the rules, as far as he was aware, unless automatic systems in their simulated units counted. Albeit it was not that he either had comms with the teams or access to that, as far as he knew, or vice-versa. Or did they have access to comms with him and vice-versa due to his wildcard position? Worst case scenario he was stuck in silent with the other pilots and had nothing to do but operate the simulated Rex Artus. Best case, he could talk to both teams perhaps to negotiate or the like. Maybe. It was something to consider at the very least. 

Two, he could make other preparations, however, in the meantime. Little preparations without giving away things or moving out of position early and being disqualified, but ones he'd hope would be helpful in his...er, 'potential' survival past the first few seconds of the simulated battle. The Rex Artus was still standing in place, albeit he'd have it now crouching a bit to hopefully mostly keep out of the view of the two teams, with its legs ready to begin running to boot. Second, his weapon had automatically loaded a starting round, a HECC round as he could see on his internal cockpit indicators, and his drones were going through startup routines. He would not deploy the latter into the air, but he would prepare two drones each (as he ran then through startup mode) to deploy upon the battle's start to stay close to him and defend him automatically on either his left or his right. He'd need that whenever he began a dead dashing sprint to the side, as he'd be unable to take action with his primary weapon in the process, but the drones would at least be able to automatically respond to threats, or at least they'd be able to. 

Beyond this, the Stargazer and MFCS were finally finishing their checkups to boot, and he hadn't moved a thing out of place for the Rex Artus save for his crouching a bit in-place. Didn't want to give away what direction he'd be running in as well, though his intention was (at the start of the simulation battle) to dart straight east in a direct line to get behind the far-middle-east building near the edge of the simulation (Aka: [@Ariamis] [b]PQ, 27.5[/b] on the grid) and crouch behind it for cover as fast as his unit could manage. Good cover, good position, got him out of the direct way of things, and...well that was if he even made it that far!

[color=silver]"All systems are nominal and in the green. Team Banana [s]Split[/s] is ready to go."[/color]

He reported back in to the Professor that he was ready, at least, though out of curiosity Lucius would try to see if he had comms with the other two teams at least, and in that vein-

[color=silver]"Testing testing. Just testing to get an idea of my comms situation here. Can anyone on either team hear me?"[/color]

Would be good to double-check that, at least, before things kicked off.