Ammokkx
Crusader Lord
AtomicNut
Mokley
Love Dove
Neziul
Simply Not Real
SkyeOfStars
VeilsightArrish
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+}Noble Notations{+
It was Tuesday evening. The end of the first actual day had just come to pass. It was… an adjustment to be sure. But Aurora had managed well, she would like to say. Thus she was taking her well earned free time to once again look out at the Frames.
Yesterday she had only spent time getting a feel for them. Today she had plans on trying to understand them a bit better. Part of her itched to truly dig in and find out how they were put together, but she refused to be like the Professor at this moment.
Thus she restricted herself to the catwalks out in front of the Frames. Today she found herself before Horst Mark VII “Hello to you Good Ser.” She greeted the Frame as she pulled out her Pad, a note app already pulled up. She would then start noting down anything that caught her interest or eye about Horst. Humming an odd tune to herself as she worked.
Arrish was quick to adapt to the new surroundings and all the pretty faces that had come along with it. I mean, surely he wasn’t the only one that thought lieutenant Ritsu had been a total babe and felt lucky to actually work beneath her. If only anyone could tell him what they were actually talking about during the introductory speech because he had felt pretty helpless afterwards and no one had told him a damn thing; Granted, he still needed to work up the courage and actually talk to somebody.
Well, it's not like it was too important. Those introductory briefings were just full of buzz words and fluffy information made to make the new arrivals feel warm and welcome. If he missed anything that he should know then someone would just tell him, or else, he would hear about it again. Besides, right now he felt like checking up on his girl. It had been awhile since he had seen her and was itching to get a good look at her after all this time apart. She was a girl that deserved to be treated like a Queen, and deserved the sort of respect beheld of ladies like her.
He was, of course, talking about his Mark VII. He had been offered between the Horst and a newer model of framewerk some odd years ago when he was obligated through blood to do service under the name of the Duval household. It was true love at first sight, a noble lady with long legs that went all the way up and were tapered at the end in mighty hooves, like stiletto heels. She had this noble look to her that he had never seen in a machine before and it was then, at that instant, that he wouldn’t ride anything else. Sure, he might dabble around in simulations and what not, but he was loyal to her and her alone.
So, when he gathered up his things to head on down to the framewerks so he might really give his princess an armor polish with one of those maintenance machines that were usually set to autopilot, he was taken aback by the sight of one of his new squad mates standing in front of the Horst Mk.VII. He didn’t know how to react. Should it be anger because someone was meddling with his framewerk, or should he saddle up with a flirty remark because it had been that cute girl, Aurora. He settled on something different.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she? The framewerk I mean. She’s the Dame of the stars.”
“She is.” Aurora would agree without looking away from the Frame in front of her. “Her craftswork is incredible. I only barely noticed the Shining Finger armament. And the laying of her armor is so intricate! Even without her Bastion it would take dedicated firepower to crack into her.”
“And her balance is breathtaking. I didn’t notice that she was unguligrade until I got here. And there aren't any additional supporting struts which means she probably turns smooth as silk.” Aurora let out a soft sigh. “I’d love to be able to open her up and look at her internals and diagnostics. But It would be rude to do such without talking to her Pilot.”
He stared at her for a moment, uncertain how to feel, but then smiled gently.”You really know your way around a machine, huh? Yeah, my Dame is a real dancer on the battlefield, you should see her in action sometime. The extra armor means she can afford to take a couple hits if she needs to and the Multiform rod is just about the perfect weapon in her capable hands. Honestly, if I got that sniper training awhile back I think I could even get a rail gun to work.” He frowned and shook his head to dismiss the memory.
”What about you? You’re one of the squad, right? Which one is yours? Of the framewerks I mean?
“Oh!” Aurora finally turned towards Arrish. Bowing her head slightly, blushing softly at realizing she had gotten caught by Horst’s pilot. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she was yours.” She was infinitely glad she had already decided not to dig further without asking first. It would have made this all the more embarrassing.
“It’s just that I’ve always loved how machines work. And then Sleeping Thunder saved my life.” She would go on answering the question posed to her. “It felt only right to learn even more about them ever since. They are over there.” Pointing towards the behemoth sized hexapod housed across the way and two bays down. “Their railgun was the second armament they ever got.”
Gosh, what a cute girl. He thought to himself, and one with such a lovely blush. Then he looked up to where she was pointing and found himself freeze in place, his eyes widening and his mouth becoming agape.”That one is yours!? They’re absolutely gigantic.” He slowly drifted his head back to Aurora, and then back to Sleeping Thunder, and then back to Aurora again. He muttered quietly to himself, but enough that she could pick up on it if she wanted to. What’s with all the women on this ship being strong and scary.
He cleared his throat and managed to switch gears.”Well, uh, lets dial back a little bit. Did you say you wanted to open my Dame up and check out her internal parts? I uhm… its not that I don’t trust you, you sound like you know a lot, but are you y’know allowed to do that? Cause if you’re certified for it I don’t see any reason to say no, I mean uhm, as long as you don’t plant a bomb inside of my girl.
“I would never!” She would say almost insulted at the idea. Though she did understand the worry regardless. It was one of the reasons why what the Professor said got to her as much as it did, and still does.
“And…” She would stop for a moment and actually consider the question. “I haven't been told one way or the other. Actually. At least not as far as the Project is concerned. But before we got selected I was Sleepy’s primary mechanic. I was the one who added in most of their weapon systems as well as their targeting arrays.”
“But! It's not as if I want to do anything that invasive. Nothing more involved than a Diagnostic really. I just want to get to know her better right now.”
He considered for a moment, he didn’t really know this woman and although she was admittedly very pretty, he wasn’t really sure that he wanted someone without certification messing around with the insides of his beloved Horst. The consternation was visible on his face as he thought of a suitable reply.
”I… am not entirely against the idea.” he began and thought for a minute longer. ”But I’m hesitant to agree immediately because we’re talking about opening up my beloved Horst and we haven’t even shared names yet. He held out a hand towards Aurora with a smile. ”That one is a pretty easy fix, you can call me Arrish, or Arri if you’re feeling cute.”
There was a subtle loss of tension when Arrish introduced himself. And Aurora was quick to reply in kind. “Aurora Briars. A pleasure.” Smiling politely she offered her hand, but it wasn’t quite intended to be shook. It was more akin to a noblewoman offering it for a handkiss.
“And if you are worried about the Good Ser, we can use the mechanics station rather than opening her up.” She would offer as a compromise. “At least until I can more readily answer your fear about my certifications.”
There was a little jolt of surprise to his face from how she offered his hand to him. Did Aurora know of his noble standing, or worse yet, was she of noble standing herself. His mind tried to dial in the name Briars, but stopped himself. Etiquette was in order here. He would gently lift her hand up and then with a bow lightly pressed his lips to the offered gesture.
If Aurora had been less tense then Arrish had grown ever more so. He spoke with a deeper voice and it took on a tone that was more fitting of the son of a Marquess. ”Please, Miss Briars, the pleasure has all been mine. He then took his eyes off of her and up towards the framework. If she was a noble would that complicate matters if he told her no? He didn’t want to be pressed into agreeing as a matter of politics. He considered quietly for a moment before looking back at her.”Dame Briar, your ambition suits you rather well, I should think. I find myself agreeing to your proposal with the given promise that you should answer my doubts in kind, when next we cross this path.” Gods he hated talking like this, he felt it made him sound all stuffy and pompous. He hoped that Aurora didn’t think less of him for it, or for that matter more of him for it. He hesitated with his next question, as it wasn’t something he would ask as a noble or in polite company, but he was curious. ”Forgive me, may I observe this affair alongside you? I find your presence delightful, and must admit some interest in my part about the method of your diagnostics.”
Unhelpfully Aurora didn’t seem to have a strong reaction one way or the other to Arrish adopting a more befitting tone. She did similarly adopt a more formal tone however. “My Lord, you have my most sincere promise that I shall educate myself on the matter as soon as we are finished here. Indeed I must thank you for raising the concern, as my passions had blinded me a touch in regards to such a possibility.”
She offered her arm for Arrish to take before gently guiding them down to the mechanics stations housed in the bay below. “I have little doubt that I would be denied the right to work on my own. Seeing as that I had inquired about it during the briefing yesterday. But if such allowance would be afforded to me towards others Frames? Even with your approval I am unsure if the Professor would acquiesce now that I ponder it.”
“Nevertheless, A diagnostic changes not, and effects less. In truth it is not the most exciting to watch, but you can learn much from what is shown. Though I doubt it is much you’d not already be aware of as their Pilot. Even if you’ve not the words to explain.”
Arrish took her arm as though it was a practiced and even familiar notion, and kept up alongside her as they went down to the mechanics. It had been quite a long time since anyone had referred to him as lord. The whole process reminded him of home in its own little way, prancing about ball rooms and discussing among nobles and military men the intricacies of politics and society. In a way it made him miss his family home, and in another he was glad to escape it.
”Dame Briar, I cannot help but agree to your words; It is true that as her main aviator I know intimately the details regarding her maintenance and wellbeing, but in my eyes you are a skilled and aspiring machinist regarding the eponymous framewerks.” Something about this made me chuckle lightly.”I put my trust in you to treat her well, possibly even better than I treat my dear Horst myself. I am but only a man with some knowledge of the machines, afterall.”
He motions for her to continue and thinks about the other part she had talked about, how the professor wouldn’t allow her to work on other frames. Well something about that made him mad. It felt like an injustice. Well, if she could prove herself an ample engineer on his own framewerk, why wouldn’t he try to make a case for her. He had a reason to talk to the professor now.
When they arrived at the station that Aurora had been looking for, it looked much like any of the various computer banks hosted around the area. There were some mechanics here already, though none working on any of the Frames. But such was always the case when it came to well staffed grease pits. The confidence in which Aurora strode to the station, plus the fact that Arrish was with her, stalled any of them coming over to bother them.
It took only a moment for Aurora to pull up the correct prompts, though she did note that her credentials were needed to log in. Which lent credence to the fact there were things she’d likely be locked out of without permission. But navigating to and starting up a system diagnostic wasn’t one that threw any errors or denials at her.
From there it was as she warned, not very interesting to watch. As on the screen lines of text denoting which of the various performance tests were starting. Every now and then Horst would make some minor noise as small test firing of its systems cycled through.
But Aurora still watched the screen with open fascination. “Oh. She still uses an older code base?” She would remark at some minor text notation before it flickered out of view as the system continued its progress.
“No, just an extension to allow for older code readings. Ah The Multiform is refurbished and updated.” She would nod a few moments later, once again seemingly noting something from the string of data in front of her with starling ease. “Hmm, there might be an energy loss there. But I’d need to see the source code...”
And on and on Aurora kept murmuring small thoughts and realizations as the data came in. Never once having any difficulty parsing what she was seeing.
“The Bastion is exceptional, as I thought. Oh, They even made sure to offset her native balance to account for it. But it looks like they are using a mechanical offset rather than a coded system? That seems shortsighted. It would only take a few thousand lines of code…”
“That Leaper system is elegant. And they tied the Orbital escape system into it as well…”
“Heavy assault. A reliable enough secondary. Hmm. I wonder if any of the smoke shells could be placed behind the Bastion. With her jumping capabilities it would be an easy way to break LOS and reengage before she could be locked onto again.”
“Ah, I’m almost disappointed. Standard range of articulation for her hands. Guess I shouldn’t be though.”
“The engine work… It's not standard but nothing outstanding. It fits her needs perfectly I suppose.”
“And the Shining Finger… Hmm… Another standard installation. Might have something more in the servos and projectors I suppose. It’s rather conservative with the tolerances though.”
All in all it took about forty minutes for the system to finish the diagnostic. And never once did Aurora’s attention waiver. And even after she spent several more minutes reading over the output from the test.
“She is excellently crafted and cared for.” She would say to Arrish once she was satisfied. A polite smile on her face, and pained gratitude hidden in her eyes. “Thank you for allowing me to take a closer look at her. She is a tribute to your House.”
Arrish smiled at her. Although he didn't understand most of what he said and had at one point given her a far away look during her analysis of the framewerk, it was another one of those familiar feelings. The long often forced conversations he had among other nobles about subjects that he himself had little knowledge or interest in. It has taught him a sort of skill, paying enough attention that he could repeat when asked, but in on something he knew or add to the conversation when he had to.
But this was different too. She had taken her time and energy to do what was asked and allowed him to observe the whole process. Plus there was something so cute about a girl like her being a total machine nerd. Plus those curves, wow. A tutting inner voice reminded him that Briar was a noble to be respected, and not ogled at. His inner pervert frowned. ”You need not look so pained, miss Briar. You did as I asked and with such zeal that I find myself touched by your influence. Anyone can see that you've a great deal of love for the inner workings of framewerks, a love I believe, lost among many nobles who do not interact with the framewerks as we do.”
He looked beyond at his Dame, the Horst mk.VII. “Thank you for the compliments. I'm sure that if she could hear you speak and could act with influence, she would bow at your words and your service.”
He thought about adding: I'm going to talk to that asshole about making sure you're certified, but thought against it. He needed to think about that awhile longer.
Aurora merely nodded in acknowledgement of Arrish’s words. The pain wasn’t because of being limited in some fashion, or worry of having bored him. It was thoughts of her home, of what was, and would never be that hurt.
Her Pad would then start to ring. An alarm she had set much earlier in the day going off. She silenced it swiftly enough. “It seems I must take my departure now. An earlier engagement has come due, and I must be off.” She would explain taking a step back. “Fare thee well Lord Arrish.” She would bow lightly, only barely not curtsying due to the lack of skirt. Before turning and venturing back towards the pilot cabins.
