Crusader Lord

Pokémon Dreams Revival

Still workshopping the specifics of my character. But they will probably be from Kalos.

@Renose

POV: You're From Ka-

Disclaimer: I am a silly goose.

Pokémon Dreams Revival

Either Clarissa and Sir Lopsalot are making a return, or Clarissa and a Ralts, or something else as I ponder the options.

Pokémon Dreams Revival

....Tempted. Definitely tempted.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

The rather jarring vision seemed to somewhat linger in the worst of ways as the debrief began, in his nose, in his ears, and in his short term memory. Past? Present? Future? He hadn't a clue, but from what little he could tell he didn't recognize anyone he'd seen from it at the very least. Not that what he'd percieved was 'recognizeable' in the ways that counted most. Ugh. It made him somewhat look forward to the scolding he'd likely recieve for his actions, though given that some had exited the simulation before him it would be interesting to see what had occured while he'd been trying to get to cover and observe Mango's actions. Hmm, though for some reason his thoughts also went back to how the girl he'd spoken to, the pilot of Logic Driver, had seemingly just blushed suddenly and run off after-

“FOOLS! All of you! I’ve seen primeval ooze with more brain cells than you lot! Even Cruxi shocktroopers would laugh at your lack of tactics…And they have been cybernetically lobotomized to have no emotions aside from rage!” He then started coughing violently, and after a short break and a swing of medicine from Liisa, he recovered.

The Old Fruit Bat

Lobotomized to only feel rage? Hmm. If true, that made the Cruxi even stranger and more evil seeming than he'd already heard before. But why do that to your own pilots? Expendable troops, then? Or had they-....ah. Well he'd keep those thoughts to himself for now, but suffice it to say that if it proved correct in any way it'd at least not be a total surprise. Even so, the older man would go on to begin his beration with the first person: Cadet Gene. Or, as it were, it seemed to be the blue-haired girl he'd seen after getting out of the simulation. High speed scouting and harassment unit, hmm? A smaller and much lighter unit than his own, wielding a hot blade that seemed to be like energy or plasma or something (based on the shows he used to watch back home at least)? And-...wow that was one heck of a self-immolating explosion.

But if the old man was saying one thing that stuck out to the younger man-

“If you really want to kill yourself I won’t stop you, but such cowards are not welcome in my project. The only true victory is an overwhelming one, with casualties minimized when possible. You fight to live, not to die! Never forget that!”

The Old Fruit Bat

...That was true. This war, ultimately, was a war to live and not get swallowd up by some peculiar and alien outside power. You had to fight like you wanted to live, despite the danger, despite the odds. Though bringing up an 'overwhelming victory' was certainly something that seemed more of a stretch to bring up. Not unless you were one of those bigshot war heroes of which so few had seeminmgly popped up since the beginning of the conflict. Well, based on something he'd looked up once out of curiosity one late night back home after his recruitment to the Pilot Preparation Program.

Still, it went even ebyond being a war to live in ways as well. Behind the anger at the droves of deaths, entire lost worlds, frustration at the struggle to get ahead, and other things one could hear online and in the media, that much was the goal: End the Cruxi threat, and not become extinct. Even then it was being corrupted the moment one moved just far enough from the battlefield....if even then. Some rallied it around huge political movements, others tried to jostle political peers in the news over 'being to blame' for certain failures, among other things people already did to spite each other and more, as well. Yet the core, the very root, of this all remained a fact whether some wanted to keep it a clear-cut message or not. Whether you liked the Federation or otherwise, or had other problems: The Cruxi were poised to be a truly exestential crisis that would end them one way or another if not pushed back against and eventually defeated.

Next, however, the older man would move on to a red-haired man in the room. The pilot of Horst. Cadet Duval, it seemed? Yet the first thing the old man did was show how the man dove in to save Logic Driver from the enemy, a thing even he had noticed several of Team Apple doing after exiting the sim in his own brutal fashion. Part of him wanted so badly to open his mouth in retort against the point the old man made about 'saving a liability', and yet part of him simultaneously felt as if it...agreed with the assessment really. It was enough to make the younger man bite his lower lip at first, though he'd soon enough push himself back to an expression of neutral analysis of what was being said. Not a peep left his lips, all things considered.

His own sacrifice was one thing, as an independent party working with Apple in the end, but so many of Apple had run into help Logic Driver that it had exposed their entire backline to destruction and concentrated them in one plce. Yet Lucius himself was guilty of the same actions, to enough of an extent, and that much wasn't something he was totally blind to. He didn't regret his actions, but it was also something the enemy could exploit. What was the old saying his old CO back home had said? 'They won't be afraid to cripple one to take out many. Avoid killing one, and you take out two others who come to help drag them off the battlefield.' Something like that. Had this been a realm battle, Lucius would have had to choose between sacrificing a comrade and potentially getting a kill in on the enemy. Save one life...and maybe lose many others because of that one.

...

...

Then again, on a slightly lighter note, he raised an eyebrow and looked over in the direction of Arrish as it was mentioned that the man had been the one to turn Mr. Pink's mech into...well...being pink. Meddling with the simulation. That much felt like a breath of fresher air. Stupid. Funny. Yet also strange and peculiar as a choice as far as he knew about anything and anyone here thus far. Enough to piss off the brass as well if this had been a more strict training simulation to boot.

Next came Cadet Liu'un, the pilot of Logic Driver, who seemed to hold back tears or such after an initially somewhat shocked-looking expression (to his eyes at least) at the footage being displayed of her movements. Stealth. That had been her forte. Stealth and intel. Get in closer, get information, relay to allies, and then retreat or such. That was what came to his mind. And yet she had charged far ahead, and the pinkified mech that had then taken her legs after exposing her using-...hmm? A drone self-detonating on the ground? Perhaps a disruptive measure to help disable her stealth, yes? It was clever of Mr. Pink...same voice that had made him the offer from Team Mango as well. Sharp. Brutal, but effective. And the pink mech had survived much until closer to the end.

Though as Lorenzo moved on, mainly to the grumpy man he'd seen playing a game outside of the sim who was also one 'Cadet Zel-Ghin', he did feel some measure of agreement with the assessment between the roasting and the footage displayed. A vanguard was someone near the front, but go out too far from your squad? It would spell disaster if the enemy could surround and bog you down. That much he'd been taught prior to this, and gotten to witness firsthand in the simulations back home accordingly and in the very practical sense. But recklessness, which seemed to be something Cadet Gene had been chided for, was something she at least seemed to recognize here in hindsight versus how the actions of Zel-Ghin spoke for themselves.

And now that he looked at the next person to be addressed, the brother of Zel-Ghin and the man who he'd spoken with for Team Apple, one 'Cadet Mema-ka'. Another who had run off to rescue Logic Driver, it seemed, and yet he had indeed made a similar mistake in the simulation. Recklessness. Less so overall, it seemed, and yet enough that he had also contributed to the Sleeping Thunder's exposure to Mother Goose. And recklessly charging in to suicide into Mr. Pink? It shocked him more that Mr. Pink would have done such a thing, even if it did look rather cool to see the hijacked Kattai make him into a pink octo-mosnter to some extent, but even the seemingly more level-headed and noble-mannered Mema-ka seemed to be just as reckless when the situation was right perhaps. Hmm. Then again, it was all a simulation, and perhaps that had also been in the mind of those being roasted for their actions thus far as well.

Noted.

Meanwhile the winner of the simulation, the sole surviving who had piloted the Guinevere, one 'Cadet Quinn', seemed to not be any less roasted despite his 'win' in the end. Indeed, he'd sustained the least damage by hiding about with stealth and so forth, but he had been restrained. Held back from the looks of it. While it made sense to not expose one's self as a stealth unit and attempt to help from there as Logic Driver seemingly should have done, he supposed, if you didn't do anything to assist the team then it the burden was being concentrated on a smaller portion of the team. There was perhaps a difference in 'helping from farther back' and 'being unable to take an action due to actual circumstance' and frankly 'total inaction' perhaps. Not doing something, hesitating, that could get you killed as much as-...yeah. What he and Duval had done was reckless enough as it was. At least it was for a cause, unlike what seemed to be the sitiuation for Zel-Ghin, but it was still something to keep in mind.

And the muscular, complaining blonde man that he had heard rather clearly upon the man's exit from the simulation? Somehow the least-roasted of them all thus far. Somehow? It for some reason felt off, but given he'd kept supporting and not run off like Mema-Ka and Cadet Duval had? He had kept to the strategy it seemed. Solid, as far as putting it through the filter of what training he'd had thus far.

Meanwhile the winged alien woman seemed to be just as little-roasted as the prior 'Cadet Burnhardt' had been. Stayed in closer, kept in range, and yet her positioning had been part of her undoing it would seem. Battlefield was a place rife with the unexpexted, it would seem, so even doing things 'right enough' could still see you taken down perhaps. Another important fact to take note of, it seemed.

“Cadet Sterling-"

The Old Fruit Bat

As his name was called, Lucius' eyes snapped tightly onto the older man. This was it. This was the moment to use to emphasize the other critiques that had been delivered thus far to some of the others. He felt it in his bones. He had not only cast aside his own primary stated goal, but had flung himself at what Lorenzo continued to dub a 'lost cause', both to his acknowledgement and partial but still real internal frustration at it all, and gotten split in two. Literally. So it was only time to brace himself for-

"-you failed your mission objective of staying alive as Team Banana. However, you performed adequately when faced with overwhelming odds. Your drone setup was commendable, as was your vantage point for taking on team Mango. You likely would have done better with a proper team backing you up. Ten points and a parrot sticker for you.”

The Old Fruit Bat

...Lucius' bottom jaw visibly dropped open without a sound. He tried to restain himself despite his failure, and yet it was clear enough to see: Genuine shock, for what time it lasted, until he managed to pull himself together again shortly thereafter. Y-Yes he'd tried to get a good position, get things in place, arrange his drones for an assault on two targets, etc, but he'd-...and Duval had-...but-...HOW WAS THAT ALL THE OLD MAN WAS GOING TO SAY TO HIM?! Where was the angry roasting of his white-knighting? Where was the flicker of condemnation for his goofing off in taking one deal or othe other or not? Of trying to help a 'lost cause'??? Sure it would have been better if he'd had a team backing him, er, if he'd been on a team in the first place and not alone really. Sure, that did make sense.

A right hand came up to the younger man's own head for a moment. It made the lingering sensations of the prior vision seem to go away like it was a cloud of faint dust exposed to gale force winds. Yet it felt like a sudden shock to the system. Or perhaps he'd become accustomed to being fussed at over mistakes enough that this just felt strange as it is. Did he want to get yelled at? Er, he had come in expecting the worst. Perhaps too much so? Not that he didn't need to continue to recognize the faults in his actions all the same, whether he held regrets for some of those or not. Made his head hurt a little, it all did, even if breifly.

Still, things moved on from there well enough it would seem. Cadet Briars, the woman he'd first approached, the pilot of the Sleeping Thunder, made some sense as well as he tried to refocus on the critiques once more. She had performed well on the backline, providing support and then having to deal with half her team leaving in a heartbeat to elsewhere without protecting their high-firepower backliner. Lorenzo even commented on what had been visible even to him on the simulation: The fury she had dumped out onto the battlefield when approached by certain death in the form of the Mother Goose. He couldn't fully know what had been going through her head, though he could at least attempt to imagine it at least, and yet while his gut panged with genuine empathy again he also could recognize what was being said to her as well. It was another thing from his lengthy 'preparation' for being sent here that he'd been told over and over again alongside the others there.

Meanwhile the stoic-seeming man with the black helmet had his own critique, as short and having some amount of praise in it as it was still brutal to have seen him squished by the Goose. Then again, where one was standing and positioning was important. This reinforced that even more so alongside a need to be 'aware' on the battlefield. Beyond that, the critique of the Lilim piloting the Mother Goose was even more succinct and a note of her being tricked, apparently, by the blue-haired girl to-...wait she'd gotten the Goose to toss her in the air before going kamikaze on the Electric Dragonfly? Huh.

Cadet Lane, the woman who had killed him, at last had more to her critique than the prior two. Skillful, maneuvering and handling herself well on the battlefield, and yet taking seemingly unessecary actions like retreating back when she could have pursued. Hindsight was certainly a teacher, yes, but the heat of the moment also left a person having to think on their feet. Same for him and everyone else. Sticking to a general strategy, battle goal, and plans were good, that much was all true it seemed, but getting too focused on one thing could be blinding as well. Right. That would be yet another mental note he hoped to, if he was lucky, begin to internalize before he got himself and others killed out there...

Manwhile Mr. Pink himself, one 'Cadet Bugatti', seemed to be the last to be addresed properly. Well, after being reminded to make a passing remark about the Argo's pilot as if he hadn't seen her there in the room with the rest of them. Sure the man was older, maybe a touch senile for all Lucius knew, but to totally ignore a pilot in the room despite it all hadn't been a thing he'd done prior to Cadet Minerva here. It was almost thoughtless what he'd said. A mere compliment and being seemingly happy to move on. Now that, that much was also rather strange. Seemingly more deliberate, perhaps?

At least Mr. Pi-, er, Cadet Bugatti seemed to be the old man's favorite for everything he'd done it would seem. The mess before battle, the taunting, the crippling of the Logic Driver, the mechanical mosntrosity (that was still kinda cool), etc. It made part of him feel a reflexible burst of something in his gut, something...unpleasant. Judging. Dark. Perhaps disgust? Ritsu seemed to be a bit opposite of the good doctor's judgements as well to some extent, from the looks of it, and yet all the same Lucius had seen the man in action. He'd survived, thrived, and made it much farther along than Lucius himself had. Pragmatic. Ruthless. Yes. Effective, something some CO might praise under the right circumstances, and yet it felt just as sketchy a set of traits as Lorenzo said it was useful out there 'had they all had a bit of that' in them too as it were.

...Just breathe. If he was going to live, if any of them were, it would be good to learn from all of this. Not just the parts that sounded good, or the people he felt a closer initial liking toward thus far with the most meager of first impressions. Not that some impressions hadn't made a more notable one that is.

Even so, it came as no surprise to him that Cadet Bugatti was the secondary squad leader. What surprised him most was Cadet Lane being given the main position as the primary squad leader. Then again, he didn't know her as much. Nor did he know Mr. Pink as much, though he'd gotten more of an impression of him than Cadet Lane at least thus far for what it was worth.

Everyone's responses afterwards, then, seemed evident enough as they either erupted out or popped up bit by bit. Cadet Burnhardt congradulated the captain, only to erupt into a retort against much of what was said. A very much human response that partly spoke to his own sensibilities, and yet sounded in some part ignorant and prejudiced enough so at the same time to a certain extent. Blind to the reality. Meanwhile it at least got him some more of the other Cadets' first names, if nothing else, though the buffer man's almost-tearing-up eyes certianly spoke to his own emotional volatility in turn. Seemed compliments to his own performance mattered less than the critique of teammates. Meanhile Serah, Cadet Gene it seemed, was at least responsive to her critique as she tried to assuage the muscular man who had said he was literally going to walk himself to the brig now.

"Just one thing, though, professor,” Serah would cast her attention to Lorenzo, intending to follow up with a remark of her own. "What's the point of making us fight each-other, if you don't want us to get ourselves killed? We had a rrreeeeeaaaaaallly close match there.”

Serah

"Er, may I perhaps comment about my thoughts on that for a moment?"

He tried to be polite about the matter, raising his left hand to try to respond after Serah had made her last comments. He didn't mean ill by it, and hoped it wouldn't come off as such. He did look between Serah, Lorenzo, and Ritsu for a moment to see if it would be ok in this scenario. But if he was allowed to speak, he would rest his elbows on the table before them, let his hands cross each other in a relaxed maner, and say the following:

"Getting an idea of how everyone behaves in a combat scenario could be one important thing to learn. Seeing how people react, take action or don't take action, what kind of strategies they use thinking on their feet, actions they take under pressure, and so forth. Sure it's a sim, and we don't actually die, but the feedback and actions taken can be very telling of what people do in various situations and under pressure. See how well some people work together and all of that as well.

I don't doubt the real thing will be a lot more pressuring than this, but this sort of thing is perhaps meant to help us figure out how to better work with, and around, each other out there. And perhaps even expose potential issues, ones to try to iron out a bit as a team at least, before we get in the field properly and could die for real."

Though Lucius would lean a bit closer toward Serah's sitting position before dropping one last hushed line in this scenario, the tiniest pull up on the edges of his mouth occuring as he would do this.

"_{Pretty cool exit you made, by the way, despite what I just said. Big BOOM good.}"

...Sure the serious ramifications were something to keep in mind, always, but it didn't mean a giant explosion didn't look very cool in the simulation all the same. And he didn't want to sound like just a Lorenzo-enjoyer or something of the sort. Plus he wanted to know if his own thoughts on the matter were valid enough as it was in the official sense, maybe, or if he also needed more of a reality check as it was. That and it would be nice to not be too serious all of the time. Today was already stressful enough for him, as it perhaps could have been for the others, so why not appreciate a bit of BIG BOOM for what it was worth in the simulation too? Just on the side.

Then came Mema-Ka, erupting into his own more lengthy thoughts and reactions to the critiques given was its own small novel's worth. Not that it didn't seem as if he had some points, as he tried to listen to what was being said on the side, but at the same time someone else would gain his attention more so as the reactions to things continued onwards.

"BAHAHAHAA"

"... A Parrot Sticker! You've got to be pft-snrk-pft-bahahahahaha"

Well someone was getting a kick out of all of this, more or less, and it seemed to be one "Arrish Duval" if he'd managed up properly pick up the pieces of others' names taht had been mentioned by now. Man seemed to then hold himself like a noble, similar to how he felt upon seeing Mema-Ka outside of the simulation thus far really, and flirted with Cadet Briars before addressing the room at large. But a steak dinner?! Wait, could this man cook a steak dinner? Or was he going to have someone come in and make one? For his part, though, Lucius would raise a hand for Arrish to see. A silent nod would be given thereafter. Steak dinner? Could be a good chance to see and talk and learn more about his new teammates, if not at least some more of the Team Mango side depending on what the other Team Apple members did.

...Plus steak was a rather rare occasion for one such as himself too.

As for others? Cadet Lane seemed to shut herself up from speaking as he glanced around the room once more, before taking her armband and tasers finally before semingly speaking to Ritsu, Zel-Ghin seemed as self-absorbed as he could, and the Tevranian woman seemed to get exxited at the prospects of steak as well. Meanwhile the sole survivor of the sim seemed to want to ask something of the professor as well.

All in all? All of these things felt more lively than the seriousness of the simulation battle at the very least. But it was a lot to process, a lot to think on, and the fact remained that he'd barely just gotten here before all of this. Literally. And he-....he had a chocolate bar waiting for him once he changed back. A mint condition, non-pocket-melted, safe and sound, guava-filled chocolate bar from a decent brand at that.

Heh. Perhaps it was something to enjoy now, or perhaps to share with another late, or perhaps to trade for a story and someone else's time. Who knew, but he looked forward to it all the same now! But the grumpy old man still needed to give him that parrot sticker as well, unless his Lilim had to hide them so he couldn't try to eat them or something. Ha.

@Ammokkx@Ariamis

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

Returning to the simulation being visualized before them once more, Lucius' eyes scanned over the action in silent contemplation. He was just in time to see Mema-Ka outside of his unit in the simulation, trying to make his way over to a Team Mango unit that had been stealthed and hidden away. Clever, and yet....he would watch as the Guinevere zapped him, frying the maser-using, exposed pilot like a bug zapper back home. As if he was some pest insect lingering during the summer months, cut short in life by virtue of being an annoyance. Perhaps the Guinevere hadn't intended to seem like such to the others, but even so it brought the old nostalgic memories of happier summers to mind in a more gruesome light than before.

It was but a simulation, and yet had that just been real then they-....he....no. This wasn't the time to imagine it. He didn't want to, not even in his worst nightmares.

"You must be the pilot of the 'Obscure'. Good to see you made up your mind quick regardless of what followed. Well done. Good to have you aboard. I shall look forwards to getting to know more about you." Mema-Ka said in a soft manner, holding out his hand towards Lucius in a polite manner, offering a handshake then turning to Elora.

Lucius accepted the offered handshake, nodding to the man whose voice was familiar to his ears from the simulation. The one who had given him the offer and orders, though he'd lost contact with him after Logic Driver had mostly gone down. Likely due to whatever was jamming up the frequencies at the time perhaps? Ah. That would be something to look at later if he could find some public enough things to get a rough idea of his new team members here. Well, unless he got a chance to talk to them each first, he supposed.

The other man even so proceeded to talk to Logic Driver's pilot and the so-designated 'Mr. Pink', whose voice was that of the Team Mango member who had spoken to him with an offer before. Hmm. Even then, casting his eyes about seemed to tell well enough where the old man's attention was actually at after what had happened with Logic Driver's pilot in the simulation. Thinking on the matter still left a sense of familiarity, a vague one, lingering like an aftertaste in Lucius' mind. Even so, he seemed much less attentive to people than the data at hand....and with that came some things into his mind that left a sour taste in his mouth.

“R-Really?” Elora reminisced on the battle, and remembered the frightening sight that befell her once she was down on the ground, crawling with her Framewerk.
“That drone then…It was yours, um, Lucius?” She asked, starting to gradually regain her composure, as she was distracted by the technical topic. “I didn’t see any drones like that when I read through the profiles…Thank you,” she spoke, and a slight blush emerged on her cheeks.
“For helping me there…I appreciate it.”

The younger man was snapped back to reality by the girl near him at the time, and he rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. Even if it wasn't the time for a full technical disclosure necessarily at the moment she did seem genuinely curious about his drones at least, though upon her giving him thanks Lucius simply smiled back softly in turn. If there was one thing he knew-

"Do you-...oh! Yes that was mine. Experimental type Attack Drone actually, has a medium particle beam instead of a small laser.

And...it's no problem. I'm happy to help."

...it was that he'd take the same action again under those same circumstances. He knew it. Part of him didn't reget it one bit and held firm in that, and yet something in the pit of his stomach also sank at the thought simultaneously. His recklessness had gotten him killed. Saved Elora for a bit longer, but even then she'd eventually succumbed in turn. Staving off the seemingly inevitable just a moment longer. Something about it spoke to him in a way that felt most...human. Yet it also spoke to him in a way that felt like it wanted to crawl down his spine in a much more unpleasant fashion.

Had this been a real battle-

Looking back to the simulation after he'd spoken to the girl, Lucius' warm smile turned into a gaze of focus upon the ensuing turns of the battle back and forth once more.

-he and all of Team Apple would all be dead. Them and most of Mango.

This was soon followed with a greater clash of blows, his killer and Team Apple's last hope diving into a melee that had two conclusive results. One was that a shining hand pierced through the cockpit of his killer, ending her outright in much more quick and simplistic fashion than had the other Team Apple pilot prior. Yet even then, the winner was cut in half....sitting there, just as Logic Driver had, defenseless and a sitting duck.

A man would have been roasted alive before his very eyes reduced to dush and charred carbon right there and then.

It was then only a matter of one more Arklight Thunder being fired at the downed Horst before the end came in kind, leaving the Guinevere and its pilot the sole surviving victor of the simulation battle.

...At least the pilot of Logic Driver seemed well enough to go thank the pilot of the Horst for helping, before Ritsu addressed them and he snapped to attention and gave a salute in turn out of pure drilled habit. Still, he felt some tension release from his shoulders at the thought that the other girl seemed more ok now than she had been. She'd almost been the first casualty of it all, save for the actions of her teammates being the deciding factor. Albeit a few too many of them all had perhaps jumped in from the looks of it, and yet some part of him felt okay with that. Almost a bit reassured.

She did overextend, you know? Ruined the approach for her team. Was a distraction to save her. Would have been better to leave her for dead and-

Shut. Up.

The younger man's right hand suddenly flinched in a spasm, though he paid it no mind himself or looked down at it. To him it was as if nothhing had happend, at least externally speaking, but internally he felt something spit out of his thoughts. Blasted thoughts. Uncomfortable, but still important. Unpleasant, and yet bearing some truth perhaps. He still didn't want it all to linger like it was. The silence that followed from it all, however, felt more stilling and welcome than a lot of things at the moment.

At least the muscle man who had been complaining was staying entertaining enough with his ourbursts watching the end of the sim, and even afterwards to boot. The blue haired girl stuck out her tongue and jotted off. Aurora, the one name he'd really gotten thus far among his new teammates for sure, walked over to speak to the readheaded man who had piloted Horst and still sat inside of his simulation chair at the moment. The blue-haired man who had emerged from the simulation after winning, he assumed, was the Guinevere's pilot then. The red haired woman who had emerged was his killer, then, and pilot of the Argent Wings that Horst had taken down in the end. A skilled pilot to be sure.

From here, not much registered too much to him for some seconds. The man who had shaken his and and Horst, then Horst's pilot and Mr Pink, spoke. The doting Lilim, he really still needed to confirm if she was some daycare-type model for that matter, moving over to the Logic Driver's pilot. He then began to make his way toward the breifing room, or at least what he could gather was the proper direction, his breaths becoming more controlled for a moment as he went along. Even so, Lucius felt once again drawn outside of himself from his thoughts as he barely managed to parse a set of four words as he passed a conversing Mr. Pink and Argo's pilot.

”I will never break.”

...Lucius kept on walking without pause. He needed to get to the breifing room, or so he told himself that was his imperative at least, and as he was so new it was unlikely he'd be further approached for the time being perhaps. Maybe. But for a moment, the younger man would be forced to again take a pause as something flashed into his mind, touching his senses and leaving a-...a....o-oh.

The flash of an image of a blackened exterior with cracks of seared red and pink he shouldn't be seeing like this. A face, indiscernible now, broken off from the explosive heat of what had happened. A body, sitting in his arms. The open air, arid and almost desert-like in nature. Twisted, burnt metal right next to him. The poignantly vivid smell of flash fried-

Without warning, and a little distance from most of the others, Lucius leaned on the wall with his left arm and grabbed his stomach with a clenched right hand. He silently heaved, even as he was fighting against every fiber of his body to not draw attention. His eyes darted to see from the corners of his vision. He held his breath for a few moments. He tried to push his mind off to other things.

It was nothing....not for now at least. Yeah. He hoped so. Please, please let it be far, far away from now. Not soon. Not here. Please, I'd give almost anything to-

If left uninterrupted, the new pilot would work to compose himself again and pretend as if nothing had happened. From there, he would finish his path to the breifing room without skipping a beat or making a sound.

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

"Acknowledged mission parameters." She said to Lucius. "Procuring relief." Stella then broke in a brisk sprint, before steading herself before someone.

"Please hug eachother for comfort." She indicated. "Soft and cute parameters within threshold. Serah's punishment is therapy." She said to both Aurora and Serah, before adding. "Resuming material gathering mission." Stella droned, and then zoomed away, at full speed, before doing an impressive frontflip to avoid a certain terminal and a distressed technician in her search for water and blankets. They had to be provided.

He...she....eeeeeeeh?! He'd seen Lilim before, but this one seemed rather peculiar and apt to attend to the humans she was...well that she was working alongside now that he thought about it. She'd been in the VR sim, and that meant she was a 'comrade in arms' as it were on this project. A pilot, selected for one reason or another to pilot a-...wait, yeah, she was the super heavy he'd seen in the sim. The one with the giant hammer. He knew this already! Still, it was an odd situation nonetheless such that it had made him forget for a moment all the same.

Lucius looked between himself, Aurora down in the pod, and the blue haired girl he'd seen before but which now had been pulled over to them so suddenly...with instructions to hug Aurora? He thoughe he'd gotten that much right in the blur of motion and words the Lilim had thrown at them. But at least the woman in the pod seemed to be doing 'ok' enough, given her short responses, but drained from the looks of it. Or hurting. In any case she was right, the matter of helpful supplies seemed handled well enough if the Lilim was of any indication. Neat.

“I. Aurora. You?”

"Ah-"

Cut off from his current thoughts by the other woman's brief interjection, the younger man turned and smiled warmly back at her as compared to the more blank expression of focus he'd taken on when looking at the display once more.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aurora. I'm-"

Oh yeah! I haven't seen you before either,” she'd say, and if Lucius had been paying attention, he'd notice this was the same voice that said she had seen him earlier. "So... you're the new person? Like, uh, what was your name... Mr. Banana Split?"

The word choked up in his throat into more of a 'pfftlkhadlkhasd' as the other girl also piped in to talk to him as well, the one the Lilim had pulled over. The one that had emerged seemingly from the sim around the same time as himself, no? He hadn't the idea which Framewerk she'd been in at the moment, but he recognized the voice immediately. She'd been one of the team mango people who had talked to him! Not the one that had made the deal, but still her voice felt pretty recognizeable as it was to his mind. Chipper. Upbeat. Head-pattable, if that worked as a descrptive term. Heh. Ahem, but....well techynically he was a banana split, given what happened in the sim, after a moment of recollection and his right hand unthinkingly coming up to where he'd been cut in two in the sim.

Scrambling to get his composure back, Lucius lightly coughed into his hand to clear his throat and-

"My name's Lucius, though I did get turned into a Banana Split when you really think about it. Huh.

What's your name?"

Shortly thereafter, as the blue haired girl seemed to get distracted with yet another face, another Lilim walked over to where they were and offered a rather familiar vial of liquid to Aurora. Buran-X. Stuff he'd been given AFTER his first time in the VR sim chairs elsewhere and-....ugh. Yeah he was getting a bit more deja-vu than not from his memories, and it wasn't a good nostalgia as much as it was thinking of the slipping and falling and....and it was ALL OVER THE POD AND FLOOR AROUND IT for pity's sake! Why hadn't the staff at least warned him! Or his commanding officer? Anyone? Hmm? But that was in the past, as much as the memory stung again, and he didn't need to....stay there. Quite...and in more than one way if he were to be frank.

Still, other pilots were becoming disconnected as the simulation continued as numbers on both sides were rapidly whittled down with each round that continued to go on from his personal observation. His gaze would return again to the simulation to this end, mostly as one pilot with a familiar voice seemed to suicidally run into the fray against another enemy as both ended up finishing each other off in the process of their climatic clash. A rather violent little clash there, if he were to put a descriptive term to it.

Then came the part that intrigued him the most on a technical level, in his mind, mostly as the pink mech made a rather innovative move with one of the Framewerk sim wrecks to 'kattai' with it using the....using the systems of the downed Framewerk, yes? It seemed so from the looks of it, as if the remains 'came to life' and merged with the pink Framewerk. Otherwise the pink Framewerk would have had its own kattai to use, yes? Not the most common system to have from the looks of it, yet the move of hijacking one was u seful, and rather clever at that. Helped compensate for sustained damage, from the loooks of it, and it brought a thought to his mind in a more poignant sense.

Yes, something like 'that' could perhaps work. But it'd be a whole other beast, like a secondary system more than a mere mod, but lacking the skills he'd not be able to replicate it at his current level of technical knowledge. But...hmm...if he found a teacher and got some skills under his belt more than he had, perhaps, then could he eventually create a 'monster' like that? Well, less monster than purpose built tool, mayhaps, something capable of repairing damage actively in the field. Not that the idea didn't already perhaps exist, but in theory it could be achieved through a concept known in its most base form as 'recycling' but which worked in effect by the means of-

”You got me, nice work out there.” she stated in a genuine praise. If not for her rampage, it would be her slowly whittling down Team Apple with her speed after all.

Another person approaching Aurora to talk to her, this time one of the two pilots that had most recently been disconnected in that violent melee and clash. Tall, hair going white despite her visible age, with the brown of her hair being visible as clearly as the white was. Seemed to carry herself well, with confidence, but something also felt...'off' when looking at her, even if he couldn't tell why off the bat, to his eyes. Didn't react much to her exit from the sim, or the effects of the feedback thereof, which spoke to experience with the sim at the very least perhaps. She'd also survived this long into the simulation as well, which spoke for itself in kind, to boot. Skilled.

Lucius gave a small but polite wave at the new arrival, but would do so after any potential reactions from the addressed Aurora if nothing else. She had the right to react first, and he didn't want to intrude. Even so he did want to at least introduce himself again.

"Hey there, name's Lucius. You're the pilot of the...Argo, right-"

"No! I can still fight! Get back here!" His voice that of anger and frustration

Lucius' gaze swiveled immeadiately over to the anger nearby, even as the man's own eyes seemed to pause on Lucius himself for a moment in turn before moving on to the silent, helmeted fellow who had emerged from his own pod prior to this point. Then he moved on to a number of the others, hailing with praise and a booisterousness that was almost infectious in the heat of the moment. Not that the response of the similarly musclebound and grumpy 'Zel-Gin', the man playing a video game instead of looking on at the simulation after barking at the blue haired girl nearby, seemed to be any bit as familiar or friendly in its nature....and maybe this 'Griffith Burnhardty' wasn't the most apt to notice such hostility either. Noted in all cases, at least.

The arrival of sippy cups of water and so forth was still somewhat welcome as the eccentric Lilim from before finally returned, however, and the headpart was less than unexpected by the time he noticed her doing it to others on the way back. Reminded him of the Lilim helpers at school when he was much younger. Familiar, warm, but as she drug off a grumpy Zel and and Griff and literally put a note with 'Naughty' on things was the actionhe finally couldn't help but snicker silently at for a moment. Then a realization made him pause visibly. Wait...had they actually brought in a literal daycare Lilim here? Even Griff being pulled away was...he...this was uncanny really. Too uncanny. He almost went pale for a second at the thought, even, before his eyes returned to the display of battle.

A clash of blows, a flare of light, and-...and...as he watched the legless Logic Driver shoot, he felt a familiar tingle at the back of his mind. A hint. Not that he was going through it, but it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end all the same. Even if the angry angel that had split Team Banana in two was amping up her power, similar to how Aurora had done before as the idea came to mind, that moment of brief recognition tingled inside of his nerves for but that moment in time more than anything. Soon thereafter, with thin treails of smoke coming from the headset, the pilot of Logic Driver emerged from the simulation in a manner that felt far closer to Aurora and...crap.

As Ritsu moved over to confront Griff and the Lilim from before, and the latter Lilim having moved to attend to Elora, Lucius silently cursed at himself in his mind as he glanced back at Aurora and those near to her with a midly apologetic look before he began moving again with haste. Feet whirred along with rather human intent, even as the amalgamation'd pink mech was blown to bits and the pilot emerged from the simulation with a frightening seizure and he rapidly tried to divert that way, yet as the younger man forced his body onward and wipped blood on his sleeve as he came over and-

"No. You did not fail. You will live and learn." Bug said, solemnly to Elora. The prince stood up, shakily. "And you bugged the simulation. That is a major...feature." He said, as he recalled the earlier chatter. He let out a deep breath. He reached for a handkerchief, his hands still shaky, but determined, as he handed it to her.

Lucius' mouth halted, stopped before he could emit any cohesive words or thoughts. Yes. That was the voice from Mango that he also remembered from the simulation, but-...hell, the guy was just on the floor, bit his lip, and-....crap. Crap crap crap. Here he was being almost as fussy as the Lilim without really doing anything but wanting to offer help that others were already doing. Yet his gut shouted at him, and he couldn't ignore it if he tried. Like a compulsion. A blasted, stupid-...stop. Breathe.

It made him bite his lip for a moment as he stood there, silently trying to refocus himself, before be finally, slowly, made the rest of the way over the Elora's pod while the rich-looking guy was speaking to her and the Lilim moved to assist her. He sought to give her space to breathe in kind, and not get in the way, but listened on as things continued to spout from the younger blue haired man's mouth.

"Wipe off your tears. You need to keep seeing. You're an intel officer aren't you? I guess there will be a chewing of this after all. So learn. Take the torch of those before you." Bug said to Elora. "Lorenzo thinks you can do it, and I think i know what he has seen in you. And look..." He added, his shaky finger pointing at the screen.

"That stupid horse maniac is still on the fight, and he's not going down easily." He added, pointing at the screen and the comms.

That was right, even as Lucius' eyes went back to the sim display, there were still two pilots in the simulation. The one that had messaged him when he'd moved to help Logic Driver, it he had things pinned down right at this venture, and the pilot that had slain him prior. He'd walked right into that one indeed, and he wouldn't deny it even now. Same stupid gut instinct that had just pushed at him again a minute ago, same one that told him the guy talking was still a bit of an asshole for what he was saying and yet was...right. They did need to bite the tongue and learn, and Team Apple had one person left to fight as well even as his former slayer also seemed injured by Elora's last hurrash, but....damn it all. The old man was even simply seeming amused by the 'data' he'd gotten from what happend with Logic Driver.

It was...frustrating. Vexatious. Part of him wanted to scream and shout something singular at the blue haired man and Lorenzo, almost, but biting his tongue so hard left the mild taste of blood in Lucius' mouth on the right side. Breathe. He knew this wasn't the right thing to do, so he had to do something to himself instead. Center yourself. Think on the facts. Analyze them. Think on what he'd seen Logic Driver doing. Think on what he'd seen the others doing. Collect the data. Process. Emit a resulting conclusion, and let the carefully processed words out rather than some outburst.

Swallow your humanity pride. Sink the erattic empathic impulse jarring response far under the waves that rolled about within the sea of his mind. Bury the light the reflexivness from before deep within, deeper than the light of the sun could pierce. Deeper. Deeper. Let the cool water sink in over it all and quench the hot blade. See the trails of steam. The flickers of the fading heat. Let it fall down like a heavy boulder, and quench the gut instinct until you can contain it in the palm of your hand like a ball of cooled steel. Let the process of military drill and discipline they'd pushed into him for a good while by now settle into the empty space, then, and let the newer habits kick in. Let them take up the space inside the mind that the shouting wanted to come from. Let the sea reclaim its own...let the sound of crashing and settling waves come over his ears and the roaring became softer and softer...

...good.

His features would dull more as he worked to push himself internally, until Lucius would again be able to provide a warm and attemptedly-comforting smile towards the crying Elora. He dared not reach out a hand initially, however, though he would let words come from his lips all the same. He pretended as if the jolt of internal turmoil at seeing her state, and of seeing the other guy on the floor before he'd come over and spoke those wordds, hadn't happened. It was his blasted first day, of all things, and here he was. Laughable. Yet thisn't wasn't all laughable, and neither was this simulation as real as it felt like. Yet the results? The actions taken under pressure? They'd be very real, and just as tragic if they didn't learn in all of this. If they didn't gain the control and experience needed to work together on a battlefield.

That? That much was made real by this simulation, perhaps, and he couldn't forget that due to his own impulses of all things. He couldn't, not unless he wanted himself and the others to end up actually dead out there. So in that vein, he would soften his tone to speak to the crying Elora, even as he tried to keep his heels quenched and be more actively mindful of his actions in the heat of the moment.

"There's a reason VR is used for practice and training, really, so...hey, this guy's right. You didn't fail, heck you made your opponent pay for coming after you a little AND glitched the sim a bit it seems. And you helped push one Banana-split-in-two idiot to think about his actions a bit more at that, heh, so you've my thanks as well.

Never know what our actions might lead to sometimes either, but...Mr. Pink here said you're a comms officer? Right? Information is your forte then. With that in mind, perhaps we really oughta' see this through to the end yeah? Even if its hurts, it's part of how we learn. Its how we move forward and try to make ourselves better."

His head would gesture to the screen showing the ongoing simulation in kind, trying to get a read on his words and how she'd handle things being said, before his gaze moved up to watch the ending moves of the 'show' before them. If the end came this round at least. Raptor was gone, but its pilot was ooutside of the cockpit and moving. Not a good sign for Apple. Mango had two Framewerks left at that. Would Elora's actions, his own, or those of the other now-defeated Team Apple members help the situation any at this venture though? Only the ensuing minutes would tell, and either way....they indeed had something to learn from this.

However, his eyes would flicker to the blue-haired man for a moment, simply taking him in again, before looking away back at the simulation without a word. No more words. No judgements now. Just observation, and trying to help despite him trying to cool his own heels and keep them cool. Bleeding hearts were the first to die out there and get people killed....right? So he had to take this time to, well, try to learn as well. He had to.

@AtomicNut@Ariamis@Digmata@Ammokkx@Shifter_Master

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

As he watched on at the simulation, the situation didn't dissapoint....well, in terms of spectacle that is. As the titanic Mother Goose Framewerk hammered in on the vulnerable Sleeping Thunder, both unleashed attacks that shone brilliantly in their effectivness. Yet only one of them looked to him as if a second sun had erupted into being right before his very eyes. The Sleeping Thunder and its attack both went down in a blaze of fire and kinetic impacts, and even the Framewerk moving to protect it had been tossed aside by the Mother Goose. No. it would have taken a concentrated effort to relieve the Sleeping Thunder, and yet most of Team Apple was cast about the battlefield separated and disunited in the face of what was going on. The Raptor had little room to retreat to, given the loss of their highest firepower backliner, and the loss of the Angel Zero was only going to further push Team Apple into a corner.

Had the group united against Mother Goose? Well, they'd have had vulnerabilities, but at least their higher firepower would be still online and able to support them in the face of oncoming attacks. They'd have been able to 'circle the wagons', as a very old Earth saying might call it, providing support to each other in a defensive formation that it would be harder to pierce. But, however, that was just his thoughts. He, after all, was literally new to this. Further all this theory and thinking on matters mattered little when the chaos of the battlefield wouldn't always facilitate a 'plan' like that one anywho. In that sense....it was terrifying to think of himself being in the real thing, enough to make it breifly harder to swallow as the thought crossed his mind.

But at any rate, it seemed to his eyes that Mango had quite the opening for a potential comeback. Enemies without a united front, their own smattered about with speedy movement seemingly able to harass or take out isolated targets, and whatever the pink Cockroack and the support-like Guinevere and those drones were trying to do could be among the more clever moves to win them the fight if it panned out well enough. In dire situations, though, he supposed a gamble was something that had to be made when thinking on one's feet. And he....well...they'd have to see how it panned out, but that cry of pain from Logic Driver and her sorry state of affairs had been enough to push him to action without hesitation.

Speaking of people, however, Lucius turned to see the newest VR pods to 'die' in the simulation open.

The first seemed to be a quieter-looking sort, with tousled-looking hair and a stoic-seeming disposition to his eyes. The Angel Zero, he presumed? Something seemed odd about the man, as if dark or more dour, but at the same time less of a sour mood and more simply an...absence? Eh, he was likely reading too much into the man for a first glance, and more importantly-

Two more pods cracked open, the first providing the form of-....a Lilim?! A literal Lilim, just a robot sitting there and operating a Framewerk from a VR pod and everything. She seemed expressionless, and yet simultaneously the stilted movement she made spoke of something else. VR simulations like this gave plenty of feedback to synchronzied pilots, and even for a robot it'd likely be the same he reckoned. Even so, the Lilim seemed more apt to go toward the other pilot to emerge at the same time, which he would assume was Sleeping Thu-

Dry retching movements

closed eyes at first

messy breathing

Now that hit home in a way he didn't have time to think about to remember, emapthy pain groaning in the pit of his stomach and his legs moving quickly as he moved over to the VR pod of what he assumed was Sleeping Thunder's pilot. He didn't doubt the Lilim seemed concerned, but...geez, he wasn't too good at this sort of thing, was he? He'd gotten blown apart trying to help one pilot, just noticed a Lilim was one of his comrades (it was unexpected at least, still had to process that) and yet....he was currently remembering his first time in the VR simulator back home was fresh enough to remember at least.

More importantly-

"Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say that both of you have pretty amazing units from what I've seen up there, but...hell the piloting was even better in my book for both of you given the situation. Still...,"

The brown-haired younger man's eyes flicked between the two as he introduced himself, trying to maintain some level of warm friendliness and some sense of professionality alike. He wasn't lying, those two had done a huge number on each other and the spectacular display of firepower had been, in the words of one other cadet he'd met before who had a peculiar accent of his own: glo-ri-us. On that he'd be able to agree, no doubt. At the same time, though, his glance flitted over to Aurora's face as he halfway squatted and leaned over her pod partly, very much human concern leaking into his expression despite attempt to approach them in a more friendly and open manner. That much he couldn't hide. Seeing someone in pain just....crap.

At least he tried to let her have her space in this case, not wanting to get too close. Wanted to be mindful of that much at least, if he thought about how he would have felt about it in his own situation some time ago. His tone would soften, however, a bit as he continued his speaking-

"More importantly, ah, no rush for you to move or anything from the looks of it. Can I grab you some chocolate, water, or a nurse or something? ...Even a barf bag if push comes to shove, though I'd have to improv that one really fast if I'm being honest."

A half-smile crossed his face as he mention of the barf bag, attempting to inject something of a bit of light humor as much as he was trying to be sincere really.

But in hingsight, yeah, how he wished they had given him a barf bag after that first VR sim, though, or a bucket for that matter. Maybe some seasickness meds? Something. Even a warning to not have breakfast on his stomach before his first simulation death ever would have been nice, though apparently he'd been in the 'minority' of pilots his immediate superior had seen have issues after their first VR sim death to 'that' extent. The medic had at least been a touch less judgemental at the very least afterwards...

@Shifter_Master@AtomicNut

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

The pain was hot, searing, and yet so swift his brain had little time to recognize it as the Rex Artus was bisected in glorious fashion within the bounds of the simulation. Before that, though-....it had been a peculiar blur. As if time had wound back to show him who would be where, and even then his visions and notable Awareness....hmm. A mystefying set of events to be sure, and yet his opponent had seemingly been just as on-point as he had. Were they also-? Ah, that didn't matter much in the heat of the moment at the very least. He was, after all, dead as a doornail and kicked out of the simulation after failing to adhere to his bare minimum given goal in the simulation. Yet with what he had felt go through his head...it was still worth it to enough of an extent. That much he knew in his gut for a surety.

That being said, as the VR helmet lifted automatiically off of his head the black-clad pilot-suited Lucius would be greeted by the face of one grumpy old fruit bat and his cane alongside-...a Lilim? Hmm. Given the older man's age, she'd likely be a caretaker for him is he had to place a first guess. Not that he needed clairvoyance to hear what came next-

“First blood, huh…As punishment for dying earlier in the mission, you will now observe the rest of the battle. Perhaps you’ll learn something by watching how other pilots fight.”

He had no arguments or retorts for that. He'd gotten killed, and now he needed to watch and learn from the others. In that vein, it was much like the simulations back home that he'd been put through all over again. Yet right before doing that the younger man would cast his eyes about himself as he got out of the VR chair and looked to see who else had been booted out of the simulation. If anyone else that is.

The first thing he noticed was a head of rather distinctive blue hair, a bit messy looking yet bound up with a pink bow that reminded him a touch of his older sister from old photos he'd likely never see again. In that sense it was a touch endearing as much as it was....well, he'd not dwell on such matters for now. Said girl seemed unsteadier on her feet, not that his own simulation feedback didn't feel rather fresh on the mind and body alike, but was moving over to talk to a peculiarly alien woman with wings of some sort. Wings? Seemed familiar to pictures he'd seen in the news at some point or another, but she was certainly an alien from the looks of it. He couldn't put a word to the physiology, though, which brought a sheepish feeling to mind as he made a note to 'look up the species name' to at least mayne not look stupid before talking to that person at least.

Not that he'd ever seen an alien in the flesh before, so that much was still rather new.

"Ahaha... sorry about that one, Rhylaen. I think I got a little carried away...”

"You did good."

While those two seemed amicable enough, the other man who woke up along with them seemed to (to his eyes) simply shout out to the blue-haired girl to toss something at her-...eh? Was that candy? Candy was good, but he'd left his chocolate bar stored away safely rather than hide it on his person for the simulation. Who wanted sweaty chocolate half-melted against your pilot suit and body, after all?

It was then his eyes glanced back at the old man and Lilim, and then off at the sounds of Ritsu shouting at a technician or scientist it would seem. Poor guy. What'd he do to get the earful from a superior? Eh, that was also less important in the heat of the moment really. Because ultiumately the brown-haired man would silently turn his attention up to the same central pillar of the VR chamber to watch what unfolded as well as finally get a view of the wider battle for once. That much would be invaluable, given he'd had little access to anything but comms back there.

Logic Driver seemed to have been evacuated in good enough time, so his efforts hadn't been totally in vain in trying to save her in that vein at least. Whew. Yet...ah. He hadn't been the only one to rush in over there, though he did recall a comms message he'd been unable to respond to before getting jolted from the simulation from elsewhere on Team Apple, but between the deployed Bastion and two team members there it had depleted some of the Team Apple numbers over to the right. His killer was also still in that general area of the map, and likewise the enemy who had charged in toward Logic Driver was on their left. A bad positioning for the clustered Apple members, that much was for certain.

Yet one person was moving to try to get to where his killer was, and another was carrying Logic Driver while retreating slightly farther back. Good moves to intercept possible problems, and someone was moving to U-18 without trying to intercept the titanic Team Mango mech that was walking toward Team Apple's backlines-....never mind, blitzing into Team Apple's backliner from the looks of it. And another was positioning themselves between the Argo and the Goose for some reason? They needed more people to protect the rear, and another person was moving to go help-

Oh. That wasn't good overall by any means. Their backliner was a giant weapons platform, from what he'd observed prior, and if that was hit that'd leave them without backline fire support. And given two of the Mango mechs were placed partly behind cover, and how big that towering enemy mech was, it would spell disaster from the looks of it. Yet even so, the backliner that had seeingly been left to their doom opened up with a move that drew his rapt attention. An overloaded barrage of fire, laid out to level half the map and what Team Mango members it could reach before potentially getting smooshed by its immediate opponent. A brilliant flash of light, fire, sound, and fury, signifying a lot more than mere 'nothing' as something inside of his gut was indicating to him.

Indeed, now it was hard to imagine pulling his eyes off of the action to come even as his right index finger came to his chin in and his eyes would remain glued to witessing the ongoing events with care. Of course this went beyond simply coming an entertainment perspective, but to see how the teams' strategies either panned out or fell apart at this stage alike. Well, if they still had any remaining strategies going on at this venture that is. He hadn't been privy to things for obvious reasons anywho, and reasonably so of course.

@Dezuel@shylarah@Ammokkx@Ariamis

Nerves In Carbonox Reforged: A Roll-Your-Own Giant Mecha Roleplay

Lucius

...Why was the mech pink? Why did it turn pink in front of his very waking eyes? And why did it look like a giant cockro-

“W-What, how did it turn pink? Is the VR buggy?” She wondered with a tilt of her head and a concerned look, and then glanced at Argent Wings, blinking.
“Wait, it’s not advancing. Rather, it looks like it’s…Sweeping for me!”

Logic Driver

He had heard over the Apple comms that Logic Driver had gone in too far, which likely meant this voice, the same who had messaged him, was the-...oh that wasn't good. Diving in like that was a bit of a foolish decision, risky business even based on his prior drilling and training, but even he was questioning what in the world was going on with the visuals there with that mech as well. Had the old man dropped some fruit peel in the machine or something? Yet as Lucius would turn his attention to do a quick check over the simulated Rex Artus' sensors, mostly to make sure, something hit the ground and let loose a shockwave that shook the Rex Artus and its drones.

"What in the-"

From his point of view, the Team Mango Framewerks then simply began letting loose attacks. Whatever that impact had been, it had managed to give them a target to go after. Or it had revealed one perhaps? He could see the attacks in any case, between the Marker Light rounds being fired, to the telltale glow of a three-turn charged Particle Cannon being unleashed, to the follow-up of rapid Gatling Gun fire lighting things up. Looking to the view of his corner-camping drone for a moment with a flick of his fingers, though admittedly it wasn't a recon drone so it was just a visual feed he was going to get in a lesser sense, a visage on the ground caught the younger pilot's eye.

“Mayday! Critical damage sustained!” Elora screamed into the comms

Logic Driver

A legless Logic Driver, clutching its Battle Rifle and pointing it in the direction of enemies who were advancing towards it. A pained scream that he knew well enough from sim battles held during his training time. The synchronization with a unit sure had its upsides and downsides, and yet...

It was like something clicked inside of him at the scene, or a switch being flipped inside of his mind. His breathing changed pace, and his hands went to the controls in a practiced manner and renewed focus. Commands were given to drones and to the Framewerk itself, and without hesitation Lucius would take action at this point in time.

[The Attack Drone at R-25 is now moving out to quickly begin attacking the Argo from the front to defend Logic Driver]

[Another one of the Attack Drones with Lucius is moving to the top of the building at P-25 to begin firing downward at Argo, while the third one moves to get around to O-26 to fire upon the side of the Argo to assist the other two drones.]

[Lucius is simultaneously quickly stepping out from his cover into O-27, as quickly as he can at least, and will be firing the Energy Crowd Control round already loaded into his Moonbreaker Railgun at space K-24 trying to hit the Argent Wings.

At the same time, the last Attack Drone will be kept hidden and in reserve in the postion of Q-27 to defend the Rex Artus and try to hide it from enemy fire for this turn.]

New Dawn of Civilizations(Always Open)

@Theyra Ah! tTanks for the ping.

At this point in time I will have to sadly bow out, after much thinking and deliberation on the matter. Eliza was fun to write with at first, but eventually I've gotten to the point I can't think of anything for her in a post. Even with time and tinkering a bit with ideas. So I'll make a call rather than sit about like a ghost being indecisive and the like any longer.

I do hope things go well here, though! It is a rather cool RP concept.

o7