Before Alyssa had a chance to answer Zim's question about deployment they were interrupted with the introduction of a second new pilot. Zim could feel a nosebleed start as he watched her reach up to remove her helmet. He was ready to introduce everyone again but was interrupted by her own attitude. As Zim was about to continue talking again he was introduced by a third pilot.
"Another new Pilot?" Zim said as he wiped the potential trickle away as he turned to see her. She was tall by any standards, but compared to Zim she was a giant. Where others might see this new pilot as unsettling given her height, garb, and cultural markings, Zim had no room to talk. Where she was tall, Zim was small, where she had cultural markings, Zim was disfigured. If she was a freak so was Zim, and so he was already starting to feel a sort of comradery with the Amazon. If Valeria noticed Zim's gaze she would be able to tell that it wasn't the cautious leer of an outsider, but more of a studying eye absorbing details, there was no animosity in his eyes.
By then Katya, Maria, Jake, and Jason had all departed going their own directions despite the apparent continuous flow of new squadmates. Zim wasn't too terribly happy about that, especially for Katya to leave considering she is part of the squad leadership. Just as well, another opportunity to act as a leader in the group. "Valeria, Pleased to meet you," He continued to introduce himself and everybody else, as well as the other new pilots.
"El," Zim turned to the shapely red-head, "You just missed the XO, but he is going to be preoccupied with his new... pet. According to what he told us, CO Ritzu is busy filing reports. Squad Leader Elise Stienhart will have to suffice for the moment for who to report to as the ranking authority at the moment. Don't let her appearance fool you, she will break you if you disrespect her. Valeria, same for you."
Elisabeth visibly stiffened at the use of the shortened name. The first time anyone in the group actually talks to her and they are already acting so familiar with her that think they can shorten her name. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked away with a dissatisfied grunt.
"I can't speak for Elise, or the rest of the military, but I would say that as far as I am concerned you are both now reported for duty and now officially part of Squad Sigma. Congratulations. Also, please don't refer to us as the Heros of Leviticus IX. We are just coming back from a mission where we were cleaning up part of our own mess for those of us who failed the Joppa front. On that note, there is another member of the squad who can't be here right now for... various reasons. We'll fill you in on that a little later on, once we are maybe not out in the open so much... also, I am not sure how much of that is "need to know" at this point."
"Anyways, tell me about yourselves? Training, any deployments prior to this squad? What is your Framewerk called and how do you use it?" He resisted asking if they thought their machines were alive, he was still itching to get more information on that, but he figured it was best to save the philosophical questions for after they got to know each other. "As for me and my partner," Zim began before allowing them a chance to respond, "I pilot Black Star, we are front-line Melee combatants. Get us up close and we'll cut 'em down. I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning up the grunts while our artillery lineup cracks at fortifications or the big bad guys. Just like me, Black Star is one of the smallest Werks you'll come across."
"Okay fine, if we must, I pilot Ojo," Elizabeth offered quickly, she motioned towards the white werk in the distance, "She is a defensive machine, my job is to keep the bullets at bay. I guess I'll be spending a lot of time helping you get to the front of the line then, Zim."
"I'll look forward to it. I do alright by myself, but if you could keep the snipers or turrets off of me it would help a great deal. Alright, whos next? Who else are we going to be fighting with? Oh, while we talk who needs a tour of the base or needs help finding your quarters?"
Zim would guide the girls around as much as he could, though Allysa and Valeria had time to wander around a little on their own, perhaps they wouldn't require such assistance. However, the entire time that Zim guided them Elizabeth would be talking down to Zim like he was some sort of man-servant.