With a lumbering gait Sleeping Thunder began its merciless march onto the battle field. Each step rumbled the ground as its titanic bulk ambled forward. With no need for any of its guns to retort, and announce its presence to the world, Aurora pushed the Frame’s throttle to the max. It wouldn’t add much, but it would all be worth it soon enough.
[Dash: (4)15 -> (2)15]
Aurora would also set her Railgun to load an AP round, and set it to charge up to the safety. She also cycled the Particle Cannon to spool up the next level of charge. Her slow march into range wasn’t the most beneficial, but the time it took for the battle to be met did give her time to make sure her arrival would be remembered.
[Moonbreaker; Anti-Battle ship Anti-Battleship Armor Piercing. Charging to standard safety] [Particle Cannon; Two turns of Charge] [Artillery Mortars; Artillery Mode, HYDRA Shell Loaded]
She kept an eye on the updating sensor map next to her. The flow of tactical data from Logic Diver proving invaluable. All it would take is a few moments more, and one spot of opportunity and someone would have a bad day.
Aurora spent almost no time in the Locker Room after storing her outer wear, she had long ago gotten used to the feel of her pilot’s suit. She wore it everywhere, and at nearly all times after all. It was as much a second skin for her as possible. One of the few things she did do was exchanging her glasses for contacts. The other was to take a moment to ponder if her paints were needed for this.
She decided against it. Invoking the Ladies was not meant for these occasions.
She spent another moment standing outside her designated with a faint grimace. But she quickly shook it off and climbed inside.
Once she was seated and her helmet on the intimately familiar cockpit of Sleeping Thunder was before her. It was an older layout still, even with all the work that Lorenzo and other had done to it. There were dozens of dashboards before her, multiple joysticks and command leavers, hundreds of switches and dials. And just as many displays for all of Sleepy’s arsenal.
But the artificiality of it itched at her. As it always did.
Never the less she hooked up her suit to the Nural jacks, the dozen or so cords linking up along her spine calmed her in a way that went beyond words. Still, she was meticulous, bordering on obsessive, as she brought her Frame online. Flicking switches, and turning dials. But when she felt its engine rumbling roar reverberate through her. She knew this would be different from her other experiences with VR.
‘Seems they found a way to actually bring you in here at last Sleepy.’
The behemoth crouched and stretched as they came online. rocking forward and backwards and side to side as their numerous guns cycling through configurations and test runs. In a final showing the centeral core would rotate around fully as sensor sweep went out. Only then would Sleeping Thunder tag Atty, Logic, Raptor, Shiva, Horst, Dragonfly, and Zero as Friendlies.
“Sleeping Thunder is five by five and ready to roll out.” Aurora would reply crisply, as she set her Particle cannon to start charging and for the HYDRA Shells to be loaded.
Aurora would treat this as a full mission. Which meant no mercy for her enemies.
She then began to tab through her comm settings “This is Sleeping Thunder, we read you loud and clear Logic.”
“And Shiva the Professor is enough of a bastard to keep something like this from us. But I agree caution is warranted.” At the same time, she sent a pair of beeps at Mema-Ka. Acknowledging and thanking him for taking the task of first contact with the unidentified Frame.
She also heard, and dismissed the incoming comms chatter from Mango. Absently deleting the data packet sent along side it. They were the ‘Enemy’ right now. Nothing they had to say was worth the air spent on it.
Penny wanted to shake her head at the ridiculousness of watching a Dragon kidnap an ally and fly off with her, only for most everyone to just shrug off the event. But most of her levity froze when The Cheshire Cat opened a doorway into the Bastion, into Sanctuary. Without asking.
The Queen of Penrose had to wonder if the cat Mahou knew that the last time someone did that. Penny started preparing for war.
But she kept her rage quiet. Her trust would not be earned back so easily though, and she would have words with them before long.
Without a word she followed the congregation into the Bastion.
The ship seemed to physically breathe a sigh of relief as Penny entered. One that Penny herself felt in truth. She spent a few moments reintegrating with the data feeds pouring through the Bastion. But even as her Prime body stalled the rest of her copies moved about directing people to where they wanted to go. Or shadowing those that Penny didn’t trust as much in her home.
Off in the command center Penny’s voice would ring out softly. “We are back. But we have some uninvited guests. They should be ready to leave soon, but keep alert any way. With luck no one will noticed I’m keeping them away from the rest of Sanctuary.”
Rachel, and everyone else more focused on the danger currently facing Penrose had been led to an empty command room not far from the Meeting room they had arrived in. There were a few monitors with various streams of information slowly scrolling across them, various updates on Penrose and the current goings on.
In the center of the room was a large holo table showing the entirety of the city in 3D, with glowing dots highlighting the various forces moving around in the city. And the locations of the five mirrors draining the Mana of the city.
And the encroaching forces of Wonderland.
“Can’t disagree with Elora’s assessment.” Penny would state as she looked over the information displayed on the table. Pulling up what information had been already collected by the army that had started to swarm in. “Seems the war has finally reached Penrose.”
Three more copies guarded the door. Eyes watching the assembled girls closely.
Alex would have found that he wasn’t the only healer in the med bay. The situation in Penrose had been kept limited so before the influx from Wonderland it hadn’t seen much use. Leaving the place stocked of supplies and bereft of patients.
But now, beyond him, there were three others. Viva, Sibrex, and Riley. And all of them were equally as focused on healing those that were brought before them in their own ways. Be it Reinforcement magic, Flesh shaping, or a mix of both.
A single Penny stood watch. Not interfering, but there in case an extra pair of hands were needed for any reason.
Brittnay had been carried here by that Copy, and had been laid out onto one of the cots to rest in safety.
Lagging behind everyone else. The Penny still carrying Violet quietly broke off from everyone. Only lightly tapping Gaia and Connie before gesturing for them to follow. As they did the wall would silently open up to another hallway letting the four of them pass before closing just as smoothly.
Through a few more corridors and walls the four of them would suddenly emerge in a familiar location to Violet. Penny’s personal room.
“Here we go. Far from prying eyes and ears.” Penny would murmur. Still carrying Violet, and would continue to do so until the girl wanted down. “You all okay? It’s safe to here I promise you that.”
One Penny stayed close to The Cheshire Cat. Waiting for a moment to ask. “Do you have a moment to speak in private?”
The final two Penny’s stayed at guard at the Cat flap passage way, and would continue to do so until it vanished.
Meanwhile, back in Wonderland, there was still actions being undertaken. As not all of the Pennybots followed the Prime back to Penrose.
Four had stayed behind in fact. Three of which went back to the truck and started pulling out the supplies Penny hadn’t wanted people to know she had brought. Leaving the castle standing had never been something Penny had planned on. And even if the current goal shifted, this wasn’t an opportunity she was going to pass up on. The castle was empty after all. Which meant it would be simply to rig it for demolition.
The last one went off to join Miko and Ronin. To further help clear away to pile of swords. Penny wasn’t sure why this was happening. She had clearly missed something during her return to the group, but she trusted these two enough to help without asking questions.
Aurora held her Pad in front of her reviewing the information that Jake had supplied to them. It was a rather interesting Frame all in all. A universal generalist, that could readily and easily find and make use of anything acquired mid mission. It was a level of tactical flexibility that was a rarity to have.
‘But they seem so exhausted. Looking for an end, rather than the future.’
She kept an open ear to the rest of the team discussing what information they could about which frames they’d be up against in this training mission as she mulled over how to fit in Angel to their current plans. A few ideas had promise and she was just about to make a decision of which she liked more, when Shiva’s pilot spoke up.
And it took more than Aurora would like to admit to keep herself from rolling her eyes at Griff. She hadn’t had to deal with such hot-headed pilots in quite a while. Her and Sleepy were too often placed in squads and formations far away from them, purely due to operational differences. And her time away had not made the type any easier to deal with.
She left it to Horst’s pilot for a moment. As she considered this new variable. It wasn’t terribly difficult to come to a plan. After all Griff did have a point, this was only a mock mission. It wouldn’t be a bad time to try and impart a lesson onto Griff.
“Gentlemen!” Aurora would state with authority as she sent both of them a hard look. “While I agree that Cadet Burnhardt was out of line. Now is, unfortunately, not the time to hash out this problem.” She also had a feeling that this was part of Lorenzo’s plans, again. Internal strife and conflict. Why he wanted all of the pilots stressed she couldn’t say, but it was the start of a pattern if she was correct. “Five minutes for us to finish the briefing and then we can deal with attitudes. Understood?” She would give the two of them another look, before refocusing on the data before her.
“Of the other Frames we are to be facing that I know something about there is Argo, Guinevere and, AA-XOTRY also known as Atty.” She would begin afterwards. “Argo and Atty are both designed for high-speed melee combat. Argo is going to be the more vicious of the frames, they are going to want to brawl. Meanwhile Atty is lean more towards hit and run tactics, he has little to no armor so a single hit is devastating if we can land it. Guinevere on the other hand suited towards a support role with repair drones and an electronic warfare suite. In addition, Guinevere also has an Ai Co-pilot by the designation Dancer.”
She would give spread her hands wide at the information before all of them. “It’s clear that we have no end when it comes to priority targets. To this end I propose a slight revision to our plans.”
“Shiva” She would point at Griff. “You wish to dive in at start thrashing away. Feel free, but don’t expect much close-range support if you go too deep. Your targets are the Squid, Argo, and Argent. So long as you are focused on them you are free to adapt as you see fit.”
“Horst” She would point at the Noble born pilot. “Your roles haven’t changed. Mid-range and mobile support. You are sticking within our deployment to assist any of us that get caught out. Your targets are anyone who breaches into our line. You’re going to have second best idea of what’s going on. So, I want you to take command if I get incapacitated.”
“Logic Diver” She would point at Elora. “Support and harassment. I understand that your Analyzer is more effective at close range, but I would insist that you stick to medium range for this operation. Mango has several dedicated CQC frames. If you get caught out there is nothing we could do to assist before you went down. Targets are getting a lock on Cockroach and Guinevere. The sooner they are gone the better.”
“Raptor and Angel” She would point to Jake and Mema-Ka. “You two are our best skirmishers outside of Shiva. I want you two to help put the pressure on the front lines. Targets are any opportunity for dealing damage that crop up, otherwise Fire and Fade is what I want from you. If it comes to it Raptor is to fall back to assist in defense with Horst. While Angel if you can find a way to infiltrate feel free, but like with Shiva do not count on any support if you get too deep.”
“Dragonfly” She would point at Rhylaen. “Mid-range positioning, while you employ your own Electronic Warfare Suite. I expect you will be seen as a target of priority so keep on alert. Targets for you to prioritize are Atty, as if you can disrupt their system for a moment any of us should be able to take them down, and also being on the lookout for Cockroach.”
“Sleepy and myself will also be keeping our original role.” She gestured at herself. “Backline fire support. We are going to be a prime target, but if they tunnel on to us the rest of you can and should capitalize on it. Furthermore, any Marker Light targets are going to be followed up on with prejudice. Otherwise, I’ll keep hammering away at Goose and anyone else that steps out of position.”
“Lastly, as Cadet Twilight mentioned we have zero intel of what we are going to be dropped in on. So be prepared for anything from a dust bowl to an active combat zone with a third faction. And don’t expect the Professor to allow things to maintain as a simple combat exercise, as Cadet Mema-Ka pointed out. So be prepared to adapt. Our enemies might turn into our allies out there after all.”
She would give everyone a few moments to digest everything she had laid out. In truth it wasn’t terribly different from what she had originally proposed. Just with added detail, and a broader understanding of what they were up against. Too rigid of a plan and it would collapse, as Griff was clearly attesting too. But not enough of a plan was just as detrimental.
“If anyone has anything to add to the tactical discussion. Do so now. Otherwise, we should meet back up at T-Five at the VR stations. Until then, you are all dismissed.”
She took a moment to add a few notes, and set an alarm on her Pad. She had a few things she wanted to take care of before the Training Mission started, and at least one she didn’t want to forget about, but she had something else to handle before all that.
Standing up once she was done. She moved over towards Griff and the Noble. “Do you two want to handle this with me as a mediator or should I go find the Lieutenant?” She would ask, her tone professional but clear that she wasn’t going to accept a third option. “I understand there is friction between you two. And for a valid reason. But I want this settled enough to not hinder any of us for the mission.”
Aurora was well aware of the saying that no plan survives contact with the enemy, but she had to admit that this was a little ridiculous by anyone standard. She was thankful that the situation was handled easily and quickly. As she herself hadn’t been sure how to handle the situation.
‘Still strange they are…’
She shook her head and pulled her attention off the retreating Lilim. And refocused back onto Elora. “You are unharmed?” She would inquire softly. Upon confirmation she would once again address the rest of Team Apple.
“Let us move out.” She would reaffirm to her team. “That includes you. Welcome to the Project and the team.” She would direct towards to the newcomer as she led the assembled Team Apple off to a different room so they could talk tactics.
“For those not aware, I am Aurora Briars. I am the Pilot of Sleeping Thunder.” She would introduce herself. “Due to the goal of the Mission I feel we as if it would be best to treat this as a defensive mission. Team Mango has more overall mobility then we do, but less ranged fire power.”
“Shiva and Type R are best suited towards assault actions. Dragonfly and Logic are best kept to their support roles. While Horst I feel would work best as a mobile defender. And Sleepy will obviously be in a role of longe ranged fire support.” Aurora would summarize her thoughts. Before pulling up a sketch app on her pad and drawing out her next idea so she could show it. “There for I feel it best if we deployed in a loose diamond formation. Keeping Sleepy towards the back and our supports at the sides, Shiva and Type R towards the front, and Horst center.”
“I’ve no information how your Frame can be included into this as I’ve not had a chance to read over things.” She would add pointing at the newest member of Project XJ9. “So, information to that end is appreciated. Any other thoughts or ideas from anyone else?” She would ask glancing across the assembled members
Aurora looked over the rather limited information that everyone had been gifted about the training mission with a slight frown. She wasn’t terribly excited to be facing her fellow squadmates. But VR at least meant that in the long run there would only be wounded pride rather than anything serious.
She was clearly examining the teams listed. Internally reviewing what she knew about the Frames, something that was sadly less then she wanted despite having read over all the public files on them in her free time. When Elora approached.
“Wise. And I’ve no issues with hearing out the request.” She would reply to the younger girl with a soft smile.
Before they could go anywhere another one of the younger pilots came up to them as well.
“I too find myself disappointed, but I assure you me and Sleepy will show all that we can out there. So, no hard feeling when you lose hm?” She would ask teasingly, and clearly in good fun. Before waving Atty’s pilot off.
Afterwards she would turn towards the room at large.
“Attention! Strike Force Apple.” She would call, projecting her voice through the room with surprising force and clarity. “From up! We have less than an hour before Mission start and I want to spend that time wisely.”
Aurora would stand with her posture straight and her gaze sharp. And with a casual ease that expected to be listened to. She would treat this like any other mission for the time being. After all there were plenty of similarities to fighting the Cruxi already. Her team was out numbered, and they had no useful information of where it was the fight was going to happen.
It was easy to draw upon her upbringing and her experience in the face of all of that. She had honed herself for this.
She would wait to see who all answered her call to arms. Matching Frames to pilots for those she hadn’t talked with, before addressing her team. “Let’s move out to another room. For a quick discussion of tactics, No longer than, say twenty minutes. Afterwards we can break to prepare in our own ways before meeting back at the VR room five minuets before go time. Understood?”
Aurora stretched her arms above her head as she finally left Sleeping Thunder’s bay. She had originally planned on leaving after her talk with Serah. But as she walked away she had noticed some of the engineers set up around Sleepy setting things up, not wrong. But in a way that Aurora knew would cause delays further down the way when it came to her partner Frame.
His age, and personalization led to some odd quirks she knew, but she was also happy to help getting things better organized and set up.
Still it meant that she had spent a lot more time in the Hanger then she had intended. Not that spending more time with Sleepy, or any of the frames, was a bad thing. Just left her slightly bereft of what to do for the moment.
After a moment of thinking about it she decided to go get some sun and greenery.
Though as she left she was slowed by the sight of yet more Frames that hadn’t been there yesterday, she couldn’t rightly say if they had been there earlier or not, the fact she was able to walk here was a minor miracle in her opinion with how bad her flashback had been.
But she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t give them a look over as she strolled out of the Hanger.
‘Oh. You’re a spiteful one. But you’ve got hidden depths don’t you.’
‘You seem confused… What you want and what your built for… Don’t quite mesh right. ’
‘Kattai and Henshin. That’s rare… But you’ve got your eyes on the horizon. And nothing going to shake you off course.’
‘Another Kattai? Oh! Brothers! That’s wonderful. Rougher then him though, and a bit more wild. But you’ve not one to get caught off guard at all.’
She would spend a few more moments on the catwalk looking out over all the Frames before starting her walk towards the ‘Green Wing’. The area of the ship dedicated towards the Greenhouses and hydroponics.
The world around her dissolved into static. Her attention locked to the video playing out in front of her. It overlapped with the one playing in the back of her mind. The screaming multiplied over, and over, and over until she could hear nothing else. She choked on the ash, on the blood, on the bile. Frozen in place as her world burned down around her again, and again. Until all that remained was the frozen void and the endless screams that haunted her nightmares.
And then with the click of a button, the video stopped, and Aurora slammed back into herself. Pale, shaking and nearly hyperventilating. She was cold again. Cold and alone. The screaming wasn’t gone but she recognized where she was, if only barely. And….
A man was speaking behind her. She parsed his words as if from a great distance. ‘He cared enough for others to let himself be labeled a fool.’ She thought in some distant part of her that had escaped the fresh horrors of her past relived.
But that wasn’t important now. So very little was important now. She needed….
‘Sleepy!’
Mechanically Aurora stood up. She gave the one-eyed man at the front of the room a regal bow. ‘I hate him… But we share a hate for them that is greater’
She turned to the man behind her, the one who had asked knowing what was to come, so that others wouldn’t be caught unaware. And gave him a regal bow as well. ‘He is noble, and kind, even if it would draw ire’
She then drew herself up, squared her shoulders and left. She did not say a word or make a sound.
She did not let herself think as she strode through the halls of the ship. Eyes locked forward, head held high. She could feel it all bubbling within her again. Fresh as if it has just happened, but with teeth edged with the vicious truth she only learned after. The screaming in her ears hadn’t abated. Nearly drowning the world in pain, that she longed to give back to the ones who caused it.
She couldn’t say how long she haunted the halls. Even with a destination in mind the entire time that she never once deviated from. She saw no one other then the corpses melted by plasma fire along the way. Smelled nothing beyond the acrid stench of burnt flesh and tasted nothing beyond thick ash, and fresh bile. Her face a frozen mask of indifference, only holding by a thread.
And then all at once she blinked and she felt something crack inside of her. She was before Sleeping Thunder. They had saved her back then, and would shelter her now. She knew it in her shattered heart.
Heedless of the now twicely concerned mass of engineers in the bays. She moved closer, deeper towards the back of the bay, before slipping into one of the gaps between the stabilizing flanges on Sleepy’s feet.
Hidden in the Frames shadow. She brakes. Crying silently as she shakes almost violently.
“We talked… Talked about them… Today, Sleepy.” She would say between silent sobs pressing close to her Framework.
“I know… I know… But there…. There was a video this time. Of… We weren’t the only ones Sleepy… I saw it happen again… It…” She breaks off, shaking her head. Uncaring of the tears streaming down her face.
“I miss home Sleepy.” She croaks softly. Knowing she will never see it again.
Penny would not apologize for the fact that half a doze of her copies all ended up pointing weaponry at the sudden appearance of a slide coming from the side of the castle. Neither would she apologize for only half of her copies actually lowering said guns when Lily and the others were spotted.
The rest of her extended selves would eventually lower their weapons, but only after Prime had confirmed the truth of the newcomers words.
“I’ll not oppose a truce either.” She would state moving closer to the end of the slide. Silently she agreed with Alicia, as she doubted Mariette would be comfortable being placed as a figure head to Wonderland after she worked so hard to get away from a Horror.
But Penny also didn’t know the other girl all that well, so she could be wrong. But it also didn’t matter in the long run.
“Penrose is doing alright, but there is very much a time limit on that.” She would say to Alicia. Nodding in acknowledgement of the Seraph’s update on the castle. “I was able to get in contact with Sanctuary a little bit ago to get an update.” She added to explain. “There is a ritual going on at the moment, but forces are at work to mitigate it. Though I’m not sure how much longer the Masquerade will hold.”
She redirected her attention back to the group at large. “I’ll not deny I’m curious as Alex is, but as mentioned we might be on something of a time crunch. So I’d prefer the Clif notes if possible.”
The various Penny copies loitering around would subtly close rank around Connie and Gaia after Rachel was done healing Violet and returned to the conversation happening at the Slide. Adding yet more shielding towards keeping Violet hidden.
”Hey sleepy head.” Penny would tease softly. Her face not once moving while she talked. Still looking out towards Prime and the rest.
“Getting you to the Bastion was already the Plan. You, Brittney, and any others that are too wiped out to continue. Seems Mariette and Iracebeth have already moved on to Penrose so staying here isn’t helpful.” She would add, catching Violet up on what little she might have missed.
“Also have an option for you back at the Bastion if you want to stay off the front lines for a bit. But that can wait until we actually get to Sanctuary.”
’The Queen did not give your arrogance it’s due.’ One of the Pennybots would state. Face and tone still flat and lifeless. ’We already know how to find them.’
There was a long pause before the middle most Pennybot spoke up. ’Surveillance found five primary points located where Magic is being siphoned.’ The Pennybot to the left raised her arms, her eyes flashing before a 3d image of Penrose appeared above her raised arms, with five locations being highlighted.
‘New intel suggested that there are focal mirrors at these locations behind the draining, and that they all lead to the Black Mirror, stored in a pocket dimension inside of them.’ One of the right Pennybots would state.
’And the Black Mirror is the center piece to this ritual.’ They would speak in sync. ’We find it. We find them.’
This was a lesson that Aurora did not need. There had been nothing new for her to learn in the professor’s slides and lecture. Nothing she hadn’t long since committed to bone deep memory. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t paying attention, far from it. The only other class she would show this level of focus was the Framewerks lessons. And those lessons evoked a much different emotion from her.
From her position sitting in the middle of the seats offered. She looked out at the images displayed with clear and open Hate. A fake smile sat poorly on her face as she burned with the ever feeling of loss that had been inflicted upon her. A longing to take Sleepy out and inflict a fraction of her pain at them simmered in her as well.
So much so she nearly missed the questions her fellow pilots were asking. She took a breath to keep her composure as she finally processed the questions, at the naivety in them. She didn’t not blame them, understanding was noble in most instances, but these abominations were not worth the effort.
“Because they do not care.” Aurora would state, answering Arrish’s question. Her tone frigid with the hate she held for the Cruxi. “Not for us. Not for any life that is not under their thrall.”
“They do not care for diplomacy, nor at communication. For at the slightest hint of defiance they resort to wholesale slaughter. Orbital bombards to glass everyone and everything. Empathy is not a trait they possess.” She nearly spat the words out. Vibrating in barely leashed wrath.
She could hear the screams in her ears again. Could smell the burnt ash and cooked flesh again.
'Mama? Mama!? Where are you Mama!?'
She could taste the fear and bile and blood in her mouth again.
“Do not give them the grace of being civilized.” She would state with chilling intensity. “They do not deserve it.”
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