Roman stood alone in the locker room. The rest of his team, both the new and old, had already headed into the changing stations to get outfitted in their interface suits. Roman was planted firmly outside his own room, hand raised and hovering inches in front of the gel pad that would allow him entry. He was scared. Not of the mission ahead, but what would happen after. This would be the first time in over a month that Jack would be interacting with anyone besides Richard and Thessalia. The last time he had been introduced to new people, instant enemies had been made, and hell brought upon Roman for it. Of course, since then, there had been a few changes. Thessalia being the biggest of them all. The addition of her presence seemed to effect Jack in a way that Roman had not predicted, even past the point where she had agreed to 'become Roman's friend'. She was the only person that Jack seemed to not regularly insult every time he opened his mouth. He was always as close to polite as Jack could even manage. The most strange, is that he actually followed [I]any[/I] of her directions, given to Roman or himself. At least, he did when it came to personal relationships. Of course, that had been during the time in which Miromi, Karl, and Douglas had still been on the team. Jack had managed to cause quite a lot of damage before he finally mellowed out with Thessalia's guidance. Now though, was a different story. There wee three new people for him to abuse, and despite Thessalia pulling Roman aside to give Jack a warning earlier in the morning, Roman didn't think it would be of much help. 

With a loud sigh, Roman finally let his hand connect with the gel pad. The familiar hiss of the door allowed Roman entry and he begrudgingly stepped forward. With a small hop, Roman jumped onto the raised circular dais and moved to place his feet in the proper places, indicated by two small grooves in the floor. None of Roman's usual nervousness was present as he waited for the machine to start up. His worry about Jack managed to kill any of his usual dislike of this process. A crystal clear mechanical voice rang out in the room as the changing machine was finally ready to begin.

"SCANNING NOW."

A thin stalk with a small camera lends descended from the ceiling and came to a stop just in front of Roman. A razor thin blue light was emitted from the tip and projected at his feet, before slowly rising up his body. Upon reaching the top, the small camera moved with the light, going up and over Roman's head to travel down his backside to the floor once more. Once finished, the light cut of, and a small beep echoed throughout the chamber as the small camera retracted into the ceiling. There was a brief moment of silence.

"THE SUBJECT IS JACK ROMAN. FIRST YEAR. HEIGHT 1.86 METERS. PLEASE CONFIRM."

[B]"Affirmative..."[/B] Roman answered in his usual mutter.

'CONFORMATION RECEIVED. PLEASE LIFT YOUR ARMS TO YOUR SIDES."

Silently and obediently, Roman lifted his arms out and aloft and held them there as the machine went to work. Numerous ports in the ceiling opened up, as mechanical arms descended from them, some holding pieces of the black carapace that was the interface suit, while others were there just to help get it on. The first to be put on were the gloves — the small electric wisp that was the emblem of Spirit shone on the back in it's full glory. Once his hand was inserted inside, Roman wiggled his fingers to insure a snug fit. Following the gloves was the rest of the interface armor: a chest plate, shin guards, arm guards, boots, and numerous other small pieces. They all overlapped together with an underlining of connecting mesh to create a tight fitting body suit that was both mobile and protective. The primary job of the suit was to allow the pilot to directly integrate with his A.W.E., allowing completely control with minimal effort, but in a pinch, the suit was strong enough to withstand small arms fire in the event they were forced to leave their machine. Once all the pieces were firmly in place, the arms retracted once more, only for the small camera to appear again. A second wave of scanning took place for the machine to make sure that the process was perfect. With a second beep, the camera vanished once more into the ceiling as the mechanical voice rang once once more.

"COMPLETED."

[INDENT]***[/INDENT]

Roman held a hand to his head as he lined up next to his teammates where were adorning their own interface suits. The group was very quiet and polite, despite the loud argument that had taken place the night before. Something about tea versus coffee. Roman hadn't payed it much attention, instead using it as cover to slip into the kitchen to make dinner for everyone in piece and quiet. That, of course, didn't stop the new Chinese woman from popping in, insisting that he eat once of her cookies, but she was easy enough to brush off and she didn't come back afterwards. Dinner had not halted the argument either, which was lucky, as it meant that Roman had been able to keep himself unnoticed there too. It hadn't stopped afterwards either, although at this point, Roman wasn't sure if it was about tea anymore, and just general banter. Not that he cared; it allowed him to head into his bed and do the required reading on his new teammate's machines for Jack that would be needed the next day. Now though, the air between the team was completely different. It was charged with the anticipation of what was to come. It came with a loud hiss, as the blast doors to the simulation area opened, showing a lone figure standing in the hallway. Colonel Lansfeldt, standing in his full uniform adorned with countless medals of his bravery and skill, called for attention as he clasped his mechanical hands behind his back. His speech was short, and simple: none of these missions were to be taken lightly, and most importantly, work together as a team to get through them. It was an obvious jibe at their previous lack of teamwork, but it was nonetheless completely true. Once sure that the message had sunken in, the old man stepped to the side, allowing entry to the arena. 

[INDENT]***[/INDENT]

Roman's hand was still pressed firmly to his head as the spikes of pain shot through it. Jack was doing his best to assert his influence, but for now, Roman wanted to make sure he kept his mouth shut. If the only way to do that was the pain, he would take it. The brilliantly white flash of the arena that was the changing of scenery caused Roman to shift the hand momentarily to his eyes, only for it to return a second later as his surroundings took form around him. It was a familiar one. The pain stopped as Roman and Jack both took in the scene of the frigate battle room that was the drop ship for a mission he had nearly been on before. This was the same room he had been in right before Karl was taken away to join Douglas' team. It was also the same room that had appeared before the horrible argument with Miromi that had cemented her and Jack's relationship of mutual dislike. It was a surprising choice from the Colonel, considering the previous first mission the full team had been given was a simple battle with another team to test their skills. Scarlett had been on the team back then, although she had been pulled shortly after. Perhaps someone would be this time as well? 

A loud clang made Roman's eyes snap towards the sound in the center of the room where Richard had kicked a large table set in the center of the command room. The pain once again blasted through his mind in full, as Roman could feel Jack burning to say something. Roman kept up his guard. Not yet. With the holo-table now working once again, despite all logic that it should, Roman looked down at the map of the mission area. It was only a breif glance, as Richard then began to talk. The jab of pain that shot through Roman's head was too much. Reluctantly, Roman stopped fighting. His eyes began to roll upwards as the switch began to take place. After a second, they snapped back down, although his pupils were much wider for a brief period before returning to their usual shape.

A sarcastic smile made it's way onto Jack's face, directed firmly at Richard. [B]"As usual, violence is your go-to solution,"[/B] Jack said, his tone equaling his expression, [B]"And that idea is incredibly stupid, and you know it."[/B] Jack could feel the eyes of Thessalia on the back of his head, which prompted a small chuckle, but nonetheless made him go silent once more. She then began to relay her own plan, to which Jack listened, although it didn't appear as if he did. His gaze was focused on his new teammates. So, these were the people he was to be saddled with? Well, at least they didn't seem to be a second Karl or Miromi. Well, the German could possibly pull a decent impression of the former, but something told him that he was at least smarter than Karl if nothing else. Once Thessalia stopped talking, Jack broke his stare at the newcomers, and turned to look at her. Her own returned gaze made him laugh.

[B]"Well, aside from the laughable team names, the plan seems decent enough,"[/B] Jack said once his chuckle died away, before jabbing a thumb over at Sasha, [B]"That being said, I'm not sure why I'm saddled with Twinkle-toes in terms of a 'team.' Our jobs are just a [I]little bit[/I] different, considering all information I can give is going to be redundant, and my role at this point is going to be more of an assassin."[/B] Jack shrugged. [B]"But, whatever; it's a minor thing. A more important one at hand is this."[/B] Jack once again turned to look at his new teammates. [B]"I don't believe I managed to introduce myself properly yesterday. My name is Jack and my hobbies include piloting A.W.E.s and living inside my own head."[/B] Following his cryptic words, an exaggerated bow was accompanied by another quick laugh as Jack watched to see their reactions. Hopefully this group was going to be an interesting one.