Zata

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

A standard soft chuckle escaped Jack as he listen to Thessalia lay down the final plans. Despite all opinions to the contrary, she had chosen her own, much as Jack had expected she would. It wasn't that the other proffered opinions weren't valid suggestions, but a matter of circumstance prevent them from being viable. The suggestions offered by the newcomers were all dependent of a highly organized team, capable of being both autonomous and coordinated at the same time. This was not something that Squad One qualified of just yet. Richard and himself were nearly on that level, and Thessalia seemed to be able to mold herself to fit, but it could hardly be called seamless teamwork. Adding in three complete strangers was disastrous. Thessalia's plan of action was a much simpler 'lets drop everyone together and see if simple instructions could be followed before anything more complex was attempted'. It wasn't the best tactically in terms of position, but it allowed for a unified strength of numbers, if nothing else. Of course, none of that mattered to Jack. That was not his job. Thessalia had already said out what he had intended to do all along, with or without her order: find the queen. Of course, finding the monarch was the easier part. Taking it out was a different story altogether. For that, he would eventually need help. Said help relied on Thessalia's plan working as intended and her ability as leader to come through. She needed to keep everyone in line, or this battle would fall apart in an instant.

Jack usual smile left his face as he turned around and began to file out of the command room without another word to his teammates; a rare occurrence for him. It would make Thessalia proud to know her counseling was taking some effect, however small. Of course, this was a tactical decision, as well as a personal one.It was his overt abrasiveness and frank attitude that had brought the complete breakdown of any semblance of teamwork among Squad One's original team. Miromi's attitude had amplified and infected the others; a state of mind that had been completely Jack's fault. Things needed to be watched it back if this team was to succeed in any way, especially since parallels could be brought up between the new members and the old. It was for this reason that he had suggested at his mental condition to the other, although there was still the factor of amusement in the way it was delivered. Thankfully the newcomers were a lot quicker to catch on and, hopefully, understand than the old. What they thought about it and how they would act was still a complete mystery, however. In either case, Roman wouldn't be happy about it. He was never happy about anything.

Jack's thought were interrupted temporarily as he came to a sudden halt. The drop bay in front of him housed something he didn't quite expect: the Nephesh. Doing a quick double-take from his machine in front of him to his wrist, Jack saw that the usual black face of the A.W.E. selector was already lit up with the Nephesh's specs. Apparently they wanted to go for full realism in this simulation. Pausing for only a moment longer, Jack shrugged before taking a step directly in front of his familiar machine. Raising his hand in front of him, Jack snapped his fingers. A short pause followed, allowing the snap to echo around the room before the proximity bio scanners detected an authorized personnel. Jack smiled as a few soft clicks could be heard, followed by the opening up of his armor. In the back of the machine, the chest, legs and arms opened, making a human-shaped space. Without a word, Jack walked behind his machine, and carefully inserted his legs into the proper places. Once secure, the backs snapped shut as Jack inserted his other limbs into the corresponding slots. Once his hand and feet were secure in their gloves and boots, Jack hoisted his body upward, pressing his chest against the armor and fitting his head into the front of the visor. With a gentle but quick whirr, the body armor fully closed, entirely encasing Jack in his A.W.E.

"WELCOME, JACK ROMAN."

The words flashed in green across the his HUD as the Nephesh's systems sparked to life. When the message cleared, the usual technical specs were projected in its stead s the boot up process took place. It was a short one, and in a matter of seconds, "FIN." flashed across his HUD, before vanishing and completely clearing the visor, save the general diagnostics located around the various edges. Lifting his arms, Jack grinned at the familiar mechanical whirrs that went along with it. Doing his usal quick check of the joint by swiveling his limbs into various positions, Jack was satisfied that everything was in order. There was just one thing left to do. "Passcode: zeta, alpha, theta, alpha, seven, zero, zero. Jack Roman, assigning you to allow Clarke access to a Wolfgang Feuer; a Sasha Ivanova; and a Hu-Shi Zhong," Jack said in a bored tone as he looked to the corner of his HUD, where his energy map was being formatted. "FIN." flashed across his HUD once more as his access message would appear on the screens on the new linked machines. He would appear on their radars now. All that was left to do now wait wait for everyone to finish, and to get in the pods. The mission was about to begin.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Roman stood alone in the locker room. The rest of his team, both the new and old, had already headed into the changing stations to get outfitted in their interface suits. Roman was planted firmly outside his own room, hand raised and hovering inches in front of the gel pad that would allow him entry. He was scared. Not of the mission ahead, but what would happen after. This would be the first time in over a month that Jack would be interacting with anyone besides Richard and Thessalia. The last time he had been introduced to new people, instant enemies had been made, and hell brought upon Roman for it. Of course, since then, there had been a few changes. Thessalia being the biggest of them all. The addition of her presence seemed to effect Jack in a way that Roman had not predicted, even past the point where she had agreed to 'become Roman's friend'. She was the only person that Jack seemed to not regularly insult every time he opened his mouth. He was always as close to polite as Jack could even manage. The most strange, is that he actually followed any of her directions, given to Roman or himself. At least, he did when it came to personal relationships. Of course, that had been during the time in which Miromi, Karl, and Douglas had still been on the team. Jack had managed to cause quite a lot of damage before he finally mellowed out with Thessalia's guidance. Now though, was a different story. There wee three new people for him to abuse, and despite Thessalia pulling Roman aside to give Jack a warning earlier in the morning, Roman didn't think it would be of much help.

With a loud sigh, Roman finally let his hand connect with the gel pad. The familiar hiss of the door allowed Roman entry and he begrudgingly stepped forward. With a small hop, Roman jumped onto the raised circular dais and moved to place his feet in the proper places, indicated by two small grooves in the floor. None of Roman's usual nervousness was present as he waited for the machine to start up. His worry about Jack managed to kill any of his usual dislike of this process. A crystal clear mechanical voice rang out in the room as the changing machine was finally ready to begin.

"SCANNING NOW."

A thin stalk with a small camera lends descended from the ceiling and came to a stop just in front of Roman. A razor thin blue light was emitted from the tip and projected at his feet, before slowly rising up his body. Upon reaching the top, the small camera moved with the light, going up and over Roman's head to travel down his backside to the floor once more. Once finished, the light cut of, and a small beep echoed throughout the chamber as the small camera retracted into the ceiling. There was a brief moment of silence.

"THE SUBJECT IS JACK ROMAN. FIRST YEAR. HEIGHT 1.86 METERS. PLEASE CONFIRM."

"Affirmative..." Roman answered in his usual mutter.

'CONFORMATION RECEIVED. PLEASE LIFT YOUR ARMS TO YOUR SIDES."

Silently and obediently, Roman lifted his arms out and aloft and held them there as the machine went to work. Numerous ports in the ceiling opened up, as mechanical arms descended from them, some holding pieces of the black carapace that was the interface suit, while others were there just to help get it on. The first to be put on were the gloves — the small electric wisp that was the emblem of Spirit shone on the back in it's full glory. Once his hand was inserted inside, Roman wiggled his fingers to insure a snug fit. Following the gloves was the rest of the interface armor: a chest plate, shin guards, arm guards, boots, and numerous other small pieces. They all overlapped together with an underlining of connecting mesh to create a tight fitting body suit that was both mobile and protective. The primary job of the suit was to allow the pilot to directly integrate with his A.W.E., allowing completely control with minimal effort, but in a pinch, the suit was strong enough to withstand small arms fire in the event they were forced to leave their machine. Once all the pieces were firmly in place, the arms retracted once more, only for the small camera to appear again. A second wave of scanning took place for the machine to make sure that the process was perfect. With a second beep, the camera vanished once more into the ceiling as the mechanical voice rang once once more.

"COMPLETED."

***

Roman held a hand to his head as he lined up next to his teammates where were adorning their own interface suits. The group was very quiet and polite, despite the loud argument that had taken place the night before. Something about tea versus coffee. Roman hadn't payed it much attention, instead using it as cover to slip into the kitchen to make dinner for everyone in piece and quiet. That, of course, didn't stop the new Chinese woman from popping in, insisting that he eat once of her cookies, but she was easy enough to brush off and she didn't come back afterwards. Dinner had not halted the argument either, which was lucky, as it meant that Roman had been able to keep himself unnoticed there too. It hadn't stopped afterwards either, although at this point, Roman wasn't sure if it was about tea anymore, and just general banter. Not that he cared; it allowed him to head into his bed and do the required reading on his new teammate's machines for Jack that would be needed the next day. Now though, the air between the team was completely different. It was charged with the anticipation of what was to come. It came with a loud hiss, as the blast doors to the simulation area opened, showing a lone figure standing in the hallway. Colonel Lansfeldt, standing in his full uniform adorned with countless medals of his bravery and skill, called for attention as he clasped his mechanical hands behind his back. His speech was short, and simple: none of these missions were to be taken lightly, and most importantly, work together as a team to get through them. It was an obvious jibe at their previous lack of teamwork, but it was nonetheless completely true. Once sure that the message had sunken in, the old man stepped to the side, allowing entry to the arena.

***

Roman's hand was still pressed firmly to his head as the spikes of pain shot through it. Jack was doing his best to assert his influence, but for now, Roman wanted to make sure he kept his mouth shut. If the only way to do that was the pain, he would take it. The brilliantly white flash of the arena that was the changing of scenery caused Roman to shift the hand momentarily to his eyes, only for it to return a second later as his surroundings took form around him. It was a familiar one. The pain stopped as Roman and Jack both took in the scene of the frigate battle room that was the drop ship for a mission he had nearly been on before. This was the same room he had been in right before Karl was taken away to join Douglas' team. It was also the same room that had appeared before the horrible argument with Miromi that had cemented her and Jack's relationship of mutual dislike. It was a surprising choice from the Colonel, considering the previous first mission the full team had been given was a simple battle with another team to test their skills. Scarlett had been on the team back then, although she had been pulled shortly after. Perhaps someone would be this time as well?

A loud clang made Roman's eyes snap towards the sound in the center of the room where Richard had kicked a large table set in the center of the command room. The pain once again blasted through his mind in full, as Roman could feel Jack burning to say something. Roman kept up his guard. Not yet. With the holo-table now working once again, despite all logic that it should, Roman looked down at the map of the mission area. It was only a breif glance, as Richard then began to talk. The jab of pain that shot through Roman's head was too much. Reluctantly, Roman stopped fighting. His eyes began to roll upwards as the switch began to take place. After a second, they snapped back down, although his pupils were much wider for a brief period before returning to their usual shape.

A sarcastic smile made it's way onto Jack's face, directed firmly at Richard. "As usual, violence is your go-to solution," Jack said, his tone equaling his expression, "And that idea is incredibly stupid, and you know it." Jack could feel the eyes of Thessalia on the back of his head, which prompted a small chuckle, but nonetheless made him go silent once more. She then began to relay her own plan, to which Jack listened, although it didn't appear as if he did. His gaze was focused on his new teammates. So, these were the people he was to be saddled with? Well, at least they didn't seem to be a second Karl or Miromi. Well, the German could possibly pull a decent impression of the former, but something told him that he was at least smarter than Karl if nothing else. Once Thessalia stopped talking, Jack broke his stare at the newcomers, and turned to look at her. Her own returned gaze made him laugh.

"Well, aside from the laughable team names, the plan seems decent enough," Jack said once his chuckle died away, before jabbing a thumb over at Sasha, "That being said, I'm not sure why I'm saddled with Twinkle-toes in terms of a 'team.' Our jobs are just a little bit different, considering all information I can give is going to be redundant, and my role at this point is going to be more of an assassin." Jack shrugged. "But, whatever; it's a minor thing. A more important one at hand is this." Jack once again turned to look at his new teammates. "I don't believe I managed to introduce myself properly yesterday. My name is Jack and my hobbies include piloting A.W.E.s and living inside my own head." Following his cryptic words, an exaggerated bow was accompanied by another quick laugh as Jack watched to see their reactions. Hopefully this group was going to be an interesting one.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

The ponderous nature of the Colonel's argument with the one named Sa'eed went ignored by roman as he focused his attention on a much more worrying event. The hiss of the common room door revealed the aforementioned teammate: a woman of Asian descent. Roman's scan-like gaze took all of her features as he tried to map out a preemptive personality profile. Her uniform was nice an tidy, her posture was straight, and with the general neatness of her appearance, it was obvious that she was one who cared what others thought of her. The was reflected is her own analytical sweep of the room, sizing up her teammates to pass her own internal guesses and judgement upon them. As she stepped forward, Roman took notice of her slight pause, as she continued to survey the room and her new teammates. It was only a short pause.

Then, her mouth opened. It was almost as if she was already in on the conversation going on in the room as she immediately started spitting out her hobbies and interests to the room at large. Hu-Shi Zhong's introduction was very thorough, although she completely neglected to mention anything about her skills on the field. That would more than likely come out later in the garages, if Roman had to guess. Once done with her info dumb, the Chinese woman then proceeded to deposit a small package onto the small coffee table, explaining the contents, then took a seat on the floor at the end. Roman never removed his gaze from the woman, completely ignoring the treats she had brought them. As everyone else ate, Roman tried to wrap his mind around some of the things she had said. She had mentioned that she was originally going to be put on the team of the original five alongside Scarlett and Karl. What would have happened to the original team is she had been there to start? The woman seemed kind-natured in general, as Roman couldn't detect any hits of deception. Though the cookies could have just been a stunt to impress, Roman didn't think that was the case. She, in general, gave off the aura of needing approval, although that probably wasn't the best term for it. Unlike his other two teammates, Roman didn't think she was going to be that hard to handle.

Of course, he would think that after his blood pressure returned to normal. The shock of a new source of interaction was slowly winding down as Roman did his best to suppress any form of shaking. Now that he had gathered what he needed to know from her, Roman turned his gaze to his hands that were folded in his lap. The slight movement to his left told him that Thessalia had taken a cookie, like everyone else. As she and the two previous newcomers conveyed their wishes for hot beverages to Richard who had stepped into the kitchen, a dilemma had manifested in Roman's mind. Should he, or shouldn't he, actually take a cookie. Both events, in the end, were unfavorable. If he took a cookie, he knew he would be expected to comment on it; perhaps even be forced to smile. If he didn't take one, the woman would more than likely notice and insist, in which case the former would take place anyway. There was though, the chance that she would say nothing. Roman decided to play the odds.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Mr. Bringer, the day 69 tag is supposed to go in your first post in the IC, not your current post.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

*Bats Mr. Bringer with the Encouragement Stick*

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Round #4 — Start!

Right then, once Mr. Bringer gets his post up, I'm gonna create a group chat on the Skype. Makes it easier to communicate, you see.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

I shall take that into consideration, then promptly discard the idea.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Alright, you have 48 hours, Mr. Rode.

Also, I haven't decided upon an NPC name; I'll edit that out later.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Roman's face held a blank expression as the talk of A.W.E.s went around the small sitting area. As he had expected, none of the information was really relevant to him, since nearly all of it pertained to stuff that would be happening while he wasn't around. There was one thing of interest, however. The German man had showed the group a piece of technology that Roman had only heard mention of, but didn't know had been completed. Spirit had only briefly dabbled in the world of direct mind integration, and the final result was the HO10 drone's AI and control mechanism. The technology itself pertaining to mind reading was extremely crude; barely able to pick up simple things such as directions and some images. However, after an extremely long time in the R&D labs, the engineers and scientist managed to get an extremely advanced AI capable of working with what they were given. After that, all further research was dropped due to cost, manpower required, and a stray of focus from what the company was truly good at. The intellectual properties and patents were sold, and there after, not a whole lot of tabs were kept on it. By the German's explanation, this was the final product after numerous years of further research. It was interesting, if nothing else. Silence then fell as everyone seemed to run out of things to mention. Roman's legs began to bounce slightly, as he waited nervously to see what the new topic was about to become. It was too early for bed; no one had even had dinner yet. In truth, if there was any other subject that could be brought up, it would have to be...

Roman's blood pressure began to spike when Richard did the inevitable and begun the one process of introductions Roman had been dreading. It was tie for the sharing phase, apparently. Richard's questioning of the newcomer's hobbies would have to be returning with explanations of their own. Roman would not be able to skirt this bit of interaction. Thessalia certainly wouldn't allow it. Roman's mind began to race as he tried to come up with something to say when it finally became his turn to speak. This was not helped by his desire to listen to the others. Finding out what they liked would let him know where not to go during the day. In the end, the need for information won, as Roman forced himself to remain calm and pay attention. Showing no signs of his internal battle, Roman fixed his gaze upon each person as they spoke.

Their actual word, however, were both interesting and comforting. It seemed as if the Colonel did a good job of picking people who would compliment the team on a personality basis. The newcomers seemed to be a near perfect reflection of the originals. This would make them super easy to deal with, as well as give them someone else to hang out with. The Wolfgang and Richard would have a field day beating the crap out of each other, while Sasha and Thessalia might start a book club. the former more likely to happen then the latter, it still helped ease Roman's worry. That is, until the silence came once again. Roman could feel Thessalia's eyes on him. He was expected to speak. What, however, was the question. If he was being honest, he really didn't have many hobbies. His general idea of a good way to pass the time was to sit alone in silence and do puzzles. Not really something extremely noteworthy. Nonetheless, he was expected to say something.

Looking around the room, Roman could see all eyes upon him now. He could feel the urge to simply get up, and bolt into the bathroom to hide rising. A wave of unbridled nausea washed over him, as the color began rapidly draining from his face. A quick glance to Richard showed that no help would be coming from him, and Roman didn't even need to look at Thessalia to know none would be from her either. He was on his own. He was alone. In the back of his mind, Roman could faintly hear the sound of Paxton's voice telling him what he was supposed to do in these situations. It would have been useful information, if he could understand an of his words. All the advice he had given him, and that Roman had been practicing on Thessalia over the past two months were now just a jumbled mess of intelligible sounds. The wave of nausea intensified as Roman realized that at this very moment, he was angry with himself. What had been the point of practicing this, if in the end, he was just going to choke? He needed to put his game face on, and just do this. If he did a good job, surely Thessalia would back him up afterwards. The silence occurring as roman fought with himself was long, drawn out, and uncomfortable. It was time to end it. "I..." Roman started, his voice weak but audible, "I like to-"

"Cadets!"

The voice boomed over the loudspeaker, drowning out Roman's voice. Roman shut his mouth and rapidly turned to look at the loudspeaker in the corner of the room where the word had come from. The voice of the Colonel was being projected into the room over the intercom. After an extremely brief quiet, it kicked on again.

"-uit yer bitchin' already Sa'eed! You can throw a tantrum at Balwin if you want, but g-"

Once again, silence.

"Ahem... Cadets! I have some good news! Despite some individuals trying to undercut my selection, I managed to get who was and is to be your third new teammate back. She should be arriving at your dorm in a matter of sec- Ah, there she is. Everyone, play nice, and make my work worth it!"

The intercom went silent for the final time, as the hiss of the dorm door could be heard. Slowly, Roman and everyone else turned to see who had arrived.

Shock & A.W.E. [Redux]

Excellent. My post will be up within thirty-six hours, and Mr. Rode will follow me to end the round.