FalloutJack

NCQuest - A Mecha RP: The Defense of Darwin (BeeNCQuest)

It seemed that while her proposal was not fully-accepted, the idea of her teaming up with at least a pair of others under her command was possible. The reason for this, although unspoken, was due to the loss of Zahra in the last battle. NC Ursa Nova had gone right for the mecha giving every one support-fire, and - whether or not the operator even knew she had been coordinating their movements in the field - silenced it. To Terra, this meant that they were attempting a somewhat-decentralized form of organization to keep the enemy from compromising their command structure. It was possible for them to succeed, although the main thing was to be certain that everyone was properly ready for the next assault. Hisako and Tabris had to be ready, without question. Grand Sword Star needed to have all remote access by Red Star removed, and as much defense from Osamu as possible, where possible. The artificial's abilities were uncanny and difficult to handle. But in any case, Terra's response to Theodore's answer had been...

"Very well, Commander. I will coordinate with all others, as needed."

The meeting continued and, among other things, another Denver-Vegas volunteer was among them, it seemed. Funnily enough, and...this actually caught Terra off-guard for a moment, she seemed to have...a similarly-energetic way of being to Kxeyun. She looked from Anna to Kxeyun and back again, wondering if this was just how people were in Denver-Vegas. She had no idea. Kxeyun had been sort of a benchmark based on her being the only 'sample' from the area. This made Anna something of a corralation. The only difference that Terra could see was that Anna probably didn't have the same traumatizing escape that Kxeyun did. Perhaps they should talk. Perhaps they should all talk...

While a few of the introductions were taking place, Adam Philips wanted the room. They couldn't exactly say 'No', and he cut the holo-link to the room. He umm...actually forgot that Terra was IN the room, as Commander Narra had asked her to show up in person. No big deal. The only thing was that he seemed somewhat red with impatience or irritation being barely contained. It seemed to show when he spoke, but Terra could not see why. She left with the others, and then proceeded to walk nearby to Anna Mustang.

"Commander Narra has said it's important that we all know each other to some degree, and I felt my last meeting with someone of Denver-Vegas went well, so I might as well. I'm Terra Laedo."

She extended a hand for shaking.

NCQuest - A Mecha RP: The Defense of Darwin (BeeNCQuest)

@Psychic Loser:

As Anna is a fan of the Reality Games and Kyexun was one of the NC Pilots hunting 'lawbreakers' down, perhaps that can be a reason for them to interact?

@Letter Bee

Personally, I feel this is likely. Kxeyun is suppose to be rather good at those games, so her name would be circulated widely.

EDIT: Actually, Terra is perplexed by the way Anna is energetic like Kxeyun. I could have her initiate conversation too. That'd be another in.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

With Eren being not particularly threatening and Captain Levi confident that he could end him if he really needed to, Commander Erwin's proposal was easily accepted. The MPs assumed that killing Eren for some fruitless disection and their own peace of mind was a foregone conclusion, but in no way was it this. An advantage, a resource, had to be cultivated properly. They had so very little, on the grand scale of things. They needed this, and they needed the incentive towards a particular goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the dungeon, right before Sara and Kate left Eren's cell...

"...the basement!"

The basement?

"There's something in the basement of my home in Shigenshina. My father told me there was something important there, and I have the key!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An incentive, a clue. Eren seemed convinced that his father held something important in his basement. Kate remembered it, vaguely. She remembered the key around Grisha Jaeger's neck during one of their sessions, supposedly the same key that Eren had now. It was a longshot, truth be told, but suppose... What if there was something really there? What if, besides the notion of sealing up Wall Maria, they could learn something new and important? Kate had, of course, no idea what Grisha did in his spare time. He was a doctor and he helped cure her of her trauma from when she was younger. If Shigenshina were targeted because of him...

No matter, for now. We'll have to reach it first. Now...wait a minute. Where'd it go?

People had started getting up and leaving. Eren was being taken away. In the shuffle, Kate noticed that the tooth was gone. Someone must've picked it up, and the only real answer to that was...

"Of course she did."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Eren was still sort of reeling from the trial, or from the blows inflicted upon him by Sara. He was actually kind of surprised he didn't transform. When Erwin greeted him, apologized to him, it was a little hard for him to contain himself. He took his hand almost eagerly. And why not? Erwin Smith was a man of rank, courage, and determination. He was someone to look up to, believe in. Sara, on the other hand, was a bit scary.

"It's okay, though... I understand why it was necessary."

And this was where Hange pulled out the tooth he lost. Good god, she was keeping that? If she did that, you have to wonder...did she have his arm from before too? Probably. Hange seemed to want to test it, and him, for alot. She asked him about the pain he felt and even wanted to see the inside of his mouth, where it was revealed...he had a full set of teeth.

"Commander, are you sure I'm not going to be disected?"

Before the man could even try to reassure him, Hange got in first by a mile, shaking her head wildly with those glaring eyes.

"No no no no! I would never take apart someone as vitally important as you! How could you even suggest such a thing when there's so much more to learn while you're alive? Run some tests, make some notes - certainly. But I have other subjects for the really deep stuff."

Eren was taken aback. He saw several things familiar about this woman. Like he'd seen a face like hers that was alot more calm, but still blessed with that same mad spark of genius. And those eyes. He'd seen those wild eyes before. That was when Eren had the 'Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?' look, for sure.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

Everything went silent as Sara started beating up on Eren Jaeger. Well, mostly silent. You could see the shock on Mikasa's face right before she was about to go out there and do something about that. Fortunately, Armin stopped her, probably because he saw where this was going. It was a good thing too because...in all honesty, it was impossible to tell just how dangerous that girl really was. She'd thrown herself into training and come out a vicious killing machine, something that surely came out in the battle of Trost. The problem was her singular devotion to Eren, which could lead her into unreasonably...well...wanting to basically kill anyone here, to be honest. The thought of anyone trying to disect her didn't even bring a reaction, since she'd probably just take the knives out of that person's hands and...yeah, let's not dwell on that.

For now, they were all staring at this one-sided slugfest, where Sara was beating the everloving shit out of the boy. Kate was frankly shocked, as well. Everyone was, but for her...she didn't expect this.

Sara didn't...mention this...earlier. Was that a tooth...? Did something just SNAP?

Not everyone was reacting this way. Probably not Commander Erwin. And Levi? He looked impassive enough, but was there just a small smile of approval on his face? Of course, he'd've done the same, probably would have, if Sarah hadn't. Eren continued to take a beating in front of everybody, until the man who'd ordered a gun pointed managed to chime in "Hey, stop it. You might make him angry, turn 'im into a Titan.". Did it seem like his heart suddenly wasn't in it, like he didn't really believe his own words? It might've been more like he couldn't take watching Sara at work, while Kate noticed that Aunt Hange was both shocked and facinated by all of this. Honestly, though, Kate wanted to speak up, as well, stating that Sara might do irreparable harm soon, which would slam home the impression that Eren was still a fragile human, not an indominatable Titan.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

Wasit a good thing or bad that Katherine was this smart, that she was bright enough to figure out confidential matters? Hard to say, but it got Sara to speak to her about the plan and more-or-less reassuring her since...in her mind, there was no way that it could fail. The trial would be a trial, no matter how much the MPs might be howling for blood. There would be a judge, and there would be order. Under those conditions, the right course of action would be followed instead of the wishes of the mob. Kate was able to rest easy on that thought.

The next day, court was in session. She'd slept right up to the point in which she was told to gather. Well...yesterday was exhausting. She hadn't taken REAL rest that day, not with Eren's situation, but now at least Kate had proper energy about her, grabbing food quickly and making her way to the courtroom. Just slightly late, she found things to be tense already and Eren hadn't even shown up yet. Then, after taking her seat and even spotting Sara in there, the doors opened and - Surprise, surprise! - Hange Zoe came in, escorting Eren to the pole in the middle of the room that he was soon chained up in.

She got here so quickly...

Of course she did. It's what she always did, as a woman who excitedly pursued all interests with both legs running and both arms gripping. Aunt Zoe was more of an extremist than her mother, the calm and calculating one who could see a problem for what it was, and - with great detachment - shove a three-foot pipe through its neck- Katherine shook her head, forcing that image away. That was unnecessary now. With Eren chained up, it was time to do her duty, as did they all. One thing that surprised her was the presence of the Order of the Wall, that crackpot religion that made the walls out to be sacred... What was with them, lately? They'd been faiirly quiet and unimportant for years, and then suddenly they were getting extremely vocal, ever since the Colossal Titan kicked in the gates. But that wasn't some sign of higher powers, only bigger feet.

Nevertheless, the court session began, and what it began with was the facts. Witness testimony from all different people, for and against Eren. Eren was there when the Colossal Titan struck. Eren ordered the immediate attack and got nearest to its neck. Eren saved Armin's life. Eren lashed out at Mikasa. It went on and on like this, and they had her reporting her own findings to the court as she had done last night. It was only the fact that Eren were prepared to hear this now that kept him from being freaked out. One thing she refused to do, however, was give the MPs the benefit of untested theory on 'What Eren might do'. For the reason that there was simply no further evidence, she refused to comment further, and was allowed to step down so that the trial could continue. They asked Mikasa about Eren punching himself in the face, something that actually made Kate snort with amusement. She almost lost her composure entirely when the cadet insisted he was swatting at a fly.

Of course, the prosecution was being incredibly damning, painting Eren to be to great a threat to be kept alive and even considered him a conspirator to destroy their way of life, which naturally got everyone - Eren included - riled up. Kate frantically made gestures at him like 'No no no, don't give them what they want! Oh hell, here come the rifles.' as the MPs started pointing guns.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

She followed Sara until she would stop, noticing that the Lieutenant seemed very distracted for a moment, possibly over the situation overall. Patience eventually bore out, as she noticed that Katherine was following her, and then she asked. This led to the Brunette raising her hand slightly and saying "Many.", as this whole thing was very loaded. And so, unaware that she may be inadvertently speaking OF the plan while asking about the plan, she unleashed her torrent.

"Eren, Armin, and Mikasa are all friends. We came from the same district, the very one that had originally been attacked, five years ago. It seems likely that I will also be a witness, to report on the facts. I would like to be used to help Eren, not condemn him, if at all possible. We should learn from him, make it a matter of all-important study, like I do, or my Aunt does. Let me get Commander Zoe in on this. She'll fight tooth-and-nail to study him, no question."

Kate was kind of a protege to Hange Zoe, and that much could possibly be guessed by her actions, although she was obviously better at machines and materials than biology. Still, it wasn't a widely-spread fact that Hange was her aunt. Generally, if people knew anything about Katherine's family, it was about her mother, the engineer, Myra Bellows... Still, Kate wanted to know the plan and aid the plan, not even aware that she may have just figured out the plan without even realizing it.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

That was one fact thhat she wanted to withhold from him. She didn't want Eren to hear that, as well, righton top of everything else. But now, he had and Kate said nothing when his eyes searched her for some kind of confirmation or denial. It was better that she didn't speak. She'd already said that he seemed berserk and even in a daze. It couldn't go worse than that. Well...except for the fact that the MPs wanted him dead. Stupid, short-sighted idea... People were already calling the Battle of Trost the first human victory over the Titans. They'd stopped the Titans from crashing through the second wall. They couldn't just kill him. He was too important.

Hence, the plan... Katherine had no idea what it was. She hadn't been told anything, and nobody had had the chance any, since she'd been doing her job, down here. This was all Sara's game, at this point, or rather it was Captain Erwin's. They were gonna find a way to keep him, to battle the titans and maybe retake Wall Maria. Just think... If they could take that all back, and then somehow take on the Titans who caused it all... Not only would that be a great human achievement, but they might finally get some answers.

At any rate, Eren seemed to believe Sara's words - something in the way she said it or that powerful look in her eye - and he agreed to...well...basically hang in there, really. All he could do was not go flipping mad and turn into a Titan or something. That'd get him killed. Katherine was going to wait until the two of them were out of earshot, though, before asking what this plan actually WAS.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

Upon receiving her approval, Kate turned to Eren and used her fact-telling voice. This was the even-toned one that seemed to detach from the world and speak what is known. Carla Jaeger used it a couple of times when Eren had done something wrong and she needed to know what it was. So then, she looked over her notes and then spoke them to him.

"Eren, Armin reported you having been eaten by a bearded Titan, and then somebody else saw a 15-meter Titan burst from such a creature later on, and that was the first time that everyone in Trost heard it roar. From there, it was witnessed in beating the life out of any Titan within range, and even taking a few swipes at anybody too close. It appeared to be completely out of control, a berserk sort of Irregular. Even still, it didn't seem to pursue humans nearly as much as Titans, and for some reason any nearby Titans wanted to devour its flesh. After removing a number of the creatures had been taken care of, because a Titan that was keen on killing its own kind was too good to give up, it was decided to use this Titan to seal the gate of Trost with a large stone, a plan which was successfully carried out."

Kate's hands fell to her sides as she began to speak normally, once more.

"I didn't see all of this, myself. I was too busy killing any Titans that might be nearby. However, the facts and even the admittance of your friends lead up to the conclusion that you somehow became a Titan shortly after being eaten."

The whole time, Eren's features became both more intense and more shocked, like he was living a nightmare. What he was being told did not make anymore sense to him than it did to others. This idea of a human being turning into a Titan was terrifying, as though the enemy could be standing right next to you and you wouldn't even know. It made alot of people worry for that reason, and because it would seem fairly likely that the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan had to BE somebody. What's worse, though, Eren thought this fill-in of the gaps almost made some kind of weird sense, like he should know it to be true somehow, and yet...and yet how could it?

"You have no memory of any of this, do you?"

"I don't...think so. I don't know... I honestly don't know anything!"

Katherine's shoulders slumped, head lowering down, as though defeated.

"He was in a daze, just like all the others..."

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

You might think that pointing a gun and spraying bullets everywhere was easy. You would be wrong.

Truthfully, every gun in the world was easy to a point, in that it was a machine that did what it did until it was empty or broken. Beyond that, they were hopeless if you were hopeless. The idea of that tiny explosion in a barrel, shooting forth a piece of metal out the tube and into somebody's face... You have to control that, no matter HOW easy that sounds. A machine gun will hit nothing if you don't manage it, control it. Because you're beyond mere explosions, by that point. You've been handed an eruption machine and told to go kill a dozen men. If you don't figure out the rhythm by which the bullets flow and hold it REALLY steady, your machine gun'll go all over the place and be of no use, whatsoever, except maybe as a distraction until you're dead.

Today was the first time Isaac actually saw who he was killing, how they folded before them, how they spasmed and died or cried out as they bled out. Before then, it was just somebody falling over in the trench and then seeing the bodies lying around like he'd always just been there. This was the first they'd seen their faces, seen the look of 'Oh Shit!' as the bullets came flying in. Is this what they looked like on the charge? Could they see all this from that far away? Isaac had questioned that for a bit...and then he'd gotten hot under the collar when he remembered the cavalry charge, which he didn't even want to look at. Oh, they knew alright. They knew every last detail.

The last time he had this ear ache, there'd been a massive headache associated because of the mortar dropping so close. This had been a grenade that landed outside the window after it hit his helmet. The last thing Isaac remembered before telling everyone to duck was hearing some Imperial out there going "Oh, come on!" because of how he'd missed. He and Britta were on the floor, separated by a few feet. They were largely unhurt, just concussed a bit. Isaac managed "Britta?", and Britta confirmed "Ow.", which neatly described the situation. The wolf trainer then put his finger to his lips and slid towards the wall, indicating that she do same, in case somebody came to attack when they'd been disoriented. He'd actually heard what looked like an argument about that, possibly from the guy who'd thrown the grenade, but it was difficult to hear because of the car engine ticking away When he'd definitely heard a "Stop, don't!", Isaac came out of hiding and caught the man charging right out in the open and hit him with an eruption of gunfire.

A machine gun likes to spray wildly, but a firm hand will keep it centered. Isaac remembered when he slipped during the charge and while he was nearly hit, and coldly - soberly - thought 'There but the grace of god goes me.', as he fell. Britta tried to catch his friend, but he ran off into a building. It was about this time, as they were pulling back under cover, that they noticed Gwyn and Ines were gone from this room. Well...he had told them to secure the area around them, and there'd been definite sounds of fighting. It was pretty loud, in fact. Pretty sure a grenade went off, unless that was just the shock and memory from the last one.

"You think they're okay in there?"

Gunshots, screaming, sounds of people dying...

"I think they'll try to be. I don't know anything about either of 'em, of course. We'll just have to wait and see."

Alot of noise there, hard for Britta to hear him.

"What?"

"I said, they'll be fine!"

That would eventually die down, as would the outside. It was quiet out on the street now, except for the armored car. Didn't sound like anybody else was out there. It was almost tempting, that car, tempting to climb aboard and try to force it open. But no one would be stupid enough to do that, not without confirming things first. But then, the car was out of there, pulling out. Question is...was it a trick or was it a legitimate bug-out? That machine gun had range, and it was steady, being hooked into that car like that. The weight of the vehicle kept it from really bouncing around, so you could just fire accurately over a distance. Isaac waited...waited...and then Ines appeared! Isaac started to say "Welcome back.", but they all heard someone call out to them, saying it was safe.

"Alright, we're going back. Gwyn, if you can hear me, we're rejoining the squad!"

After having a look around, Isaac hopped right out the window, giving the others a gesture to follow as they crossed the street and into the waiting company of Squad One, where things were...yeah. Isaac walked in with the rest and stared for a moment, sort of at a loss. Jean looked like hell, Freya looked like someone killed her puppy, and they had a few wounded here, mainly Michael, Luke, and Marathon. Lucia seemed like she'd been worried over Michael, which was understandable. Isaac liked the short guy. You had to have serious strength if you could make it in the army while being undertall. He didn't wanna see him shot up, not at all. At least he was alive. Isaac stepped towards Jean now and reported.

"No casualties I can report. ...plenty of Imperial casualties, of course. That car, though..."

He shook his head.

"Untouchable. We'd need explosives, or mortars, or something."

Isaac was trying not to notice that Jean had obviously had another one of his moments where the war took out a nice big knife and slashed it across his sanity again. It wasn't the car or the wounded that did this. Jean obviously had something a bit more personal happen to him. Dammit, he'd only been gone a little while. The Lance-Corporal then looked him in the eyes and asked...

"What happened here? Tell me."

Meanwhile, Britta had overheard Ines and Freya talking. The thing that stood out about the Oceanic soldier when she walked in was that she'd had that look on her face, but she wasn't even hurt. That's what drew Ines over. That's what drew Britta to listen, as well. When Freya drew attenntion to Jean, though...Britta noticed Franz didn't have anyone while Jean was to be occupied with Isaac Yeah, even though he was a corporal and he'd been with the company since the trenches, it DID seem like Franz was overlooked, sometimes. That was wrong. Britta said to the other two "I'm a friend. I'll go." and headed on over to him to talk. Hoisting her gear on her back, she approached him with a calm tone.

"Franz, are you alright?"

She kind of hated that she didn't talk enough with some of the people around here. Work as a Gunner was sort of constant. If you're not laying down suppression fire, you're covering everyone's backs. And rest time? More chances than not, you're the one making sure they can rest, since you're the one keeping a lookout for the enemy. Becoming a Gunner is hard work, and being one in the field no less-so. She knew Franz was having a hard time of it. Britta herself felt like she was so busy making sure the people around her don't die that she didn't have the time to think about the things they were doing.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Cleansing Amongst Man { Jack & Angel }

Eren reported the facts as he knew them, starting from the sudden appearance of the Colossal Titan, as it had five years ago. (No mention of the theft of meat, of course.) The way he spoke, it would be clear to Sara that he was a former resident of Shigenshina, and had seen Wall Maria destroyed and the initial invasion of the Titans, firsthand. He knew that skinless horror, he'd seen that armored juggernaut, and he'd watched the town of his birth get consumed. So, he ordered the attack on the Colossal one as soon as it appeared, though it seemed like it was smart enough to defend itself from having its weakpoint struck. Once it had done its part - smashing in the gate - it was gone, like the last time.

The description of events continued as pretty much as Kate had heard from him earlier, except that Eren was a bit less informal, phrasing it more like a report. He was less disoriented, even if he was still confused. Kate herself remained perhaps just as confused. There was no explanation, as of yet. If it wasn't for his apparent shifting ability, you'd just classify him as an Abnormal, an Irregular, and be done with it. But no, he was uniquely dangerous, wasn't he? Like the two who started the invasion to begin with. Eren stopped once he finished the part where he pulled Armin out of a bearded Titan's mouth. It was practically a superhuman feat, doing that. The fact that Armin had still been coherent later was nothing short of miraculous, given what happened. Still, Eren stopped and he looked between Sara and Kate right now.

"I don't remember anything properly after that. I thought I must've cut my way out, continued fighting. I don't know what happened. What she said..."

He was becoming agitated again. If either one of them had to guess, it would be that Eren must have seen or thought or dreamed something in all of this, some kind of disturbing imagery or even memory relating to this. He was trying to make sense of things, but the sense wouldn't come. It was at this point that Kate spoke up.

"May I tell him what happened now?"

After all, it's not like he wasn't seen...