Roleplay Area

Zack sighs heavily before rubbing his face, looking back at Ren. He could understand how Ren would feel knowing that something he created for ending this war was instead going to be used for a plan as vile as the Obsolescence project. The idea of Eclipse and TESS being used by Neo BAHRAM to carry out Project Obsolescence was a thought Zack couldn't even bring himself to imagine...

"So, anyways...there wasn't really any other details in Project Obsolescence's file that I could remember aside from the specifics. I mean, if I still had Adalia's data pad, I could read more of it at my own pace without at risk of being caught by Adalia or her guards, but I had to give it to the captain of the guard unit that brought me into this cell."

"We already knew about Project Obsolescence." Ren said. "But those Orbital Frame plans you handed over will definitely be helpful."

Ren put a hand to his chin, thinking over the plans in his head, the blueprints still fresh in his mind from being memorized.

"I'll have to sort through the data with technicians to develop a proper countermeasure to them..."

Zack simply nods his head, since he wasn't one who was into technician work and such. He was just a Runner, not an inventor.

"Mmh. Hopefully, you and the Space Force technicians can create something that can stand toe to toe with that Skoll unit, or at the very least give it a challenge."

Zack's mind then wanders off to TESS, thinking back to her and speaking in a slightly concerned tone.

"Aye, I just hope TESS is doing alright right now..."

Ren nodded.

"Alright... I guess they're going to decide what to do with you when we get back to Earth... I have some things I need to take care of, so I'll leave you alone for now."

"Ah, alright. But please, when you can, can you please go to the Eclipse and tell TESS that I'm still okay? I doubt she'll trust any of the Space Force guards, but I know she'll definitely trust you since she knows about you and how you came and escorted us to the Space Force ships just before we escaped the Deimos Base."

Zack spoke in a genuine tone of concern, clearly showing how serious he was with his small request.

Ren nodded before leaving the room, heading back to the elevator and taking it up. As a matter of fact... this would be a good opportunity to analyze Eclipse up close and see how it compared to Tsukuyomi and other Neo BAHRAM frames, as well as the Space Force's Dulahans.

Zack sighed a breath of relief before letting himself slump against the back wall of the cell, tilting his head down at his still cuffed hands. He spoke quietly to himself in a grateful tone.

"Thank you, Ren..."

Meanwhile, TESS remained silent, patiently waiting for Zack's return. However, she was uncertain if Zack would even come back, because even if they had defected from Neo BAHRAM and helped the Space Force by getting Adalia's data pad for them, that didn't change the fact that they were still responsible for things they did while she and Zack were still in Neo BAHRAM. A part of her even doubted that the Space Force soldiers or higher-ups would even forgive them for the countless Space Force soldiers they killed in the past. In many respects, they were still enemies to certain members of the Space Force...

Ren walked into the main hangar where Tsukuyomi, Eclipse and Leo's Vesperia were being held. He first takes time to inspect the frame, taking its design into consideration. He knew instantly just by the looks that it was a heavily modified Nephtis model. He then took the platform up to the cockpit, opening it up and jumping in. The console was off, but a single center light on the holographic display was still on. It was the AI of the Orbital Frame, looking to be on standby mode. Ren turned on the console, the lights coming on.

Upon detecting the lights of Eclipse's cockpit lighting up, TESS immediately makes her presence known by speaking in a relieved and joyous tone.

"Zack!? Is it-"

TESS's hope swiftly fades as she realizes that it wasn't Zack, but Ren. However, she is still relieved that it was someone she recognized, as opposed to some random Space Force soldier. She spoke again, but in a somewhat questioning tone that showed she was in disbelief that it was really Ren.

"Wait, you're not Zack...are...are you Ren Silber?"

"Eh?" Ren said, startled a bit by the voice. Though he didn't find the time to answer before becoming lost in the console. He noticed that the frame had a completely original operating system that was unlike anything standard in Neo BAHRAM. He speculated that Zack took the time to pesonalize the frame's systems to suit him better. He could recall that the old Nephtis model's OS wasn't nearly as complex as anything Neo BAHRAM could do now, and since it was piloted by a battle AI instead of a human, it was even more simplistic. However, a system and frame tuned specifically to the Runner piloting it was definitely something else...

TESS acknowledged Ren's clear answer, or lack there of, and spoke in a calmer, more formal tone.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I am TESS, the AI of Eclipse. I assume you are Ren Silber, Tsukuyomi's current Runner, yes?"

"Oh..." Ren was snapped out of his thoughts by the voice again. He was surprised at how genuinely human it sounded... he could tell it was quite an advanced AI. "Uh... yeah." He said, still going over the systems.

TESS noticed how Ren seemed taken aback by her voice, which she could understand. Being such an advanced AI compared to those of older Frame models, she sounded more human than robotic, and capable of emitting emotions into her tone. It was simply incredible.

"So, if I may ask, what exactly are you doing in Eclipse's Cockpit? Ah, and is Zack okay?"

TESS spoke the last sentence in a worried tone, keen on knowing the whereabouts of her Runner.

Her partner...

"Oh, uh..." Ren said slowly. "He's fine... he's being held in confinement right now."

TESS made a sigh of relief upon hearing that Zack was alright and spoke in a thankful tone.

"Ah, thank you for telling me. I guess I should've figured he was still in confinement. Some of those...Space Force soldiers that took him away didn't look like the kind of type that would refrain from shooting Zack for his past affiliation with Neo BAHRAM."

TESS had to refrain herself from using certain adjectives, since the last thing she wanted was for Ren to be scared of her.

"Hm..." Ren said, dozing off again and beginning to mess with the console, bringing up system data and specifications all around the cockpit.

TESS detects that Ren is messing with her console and, not wanting her data to be intruded on without permission, speaks in an aggravated and angry tone. The lights in the cockpit begin flashing red, almost as a sign of her rage.

"Hey, hey, HEY! What the hell are you doing!? Don't mess with the console!!"

Ren simply ignores her and keeps going through system data, checking out the inner workings of the frame from weapon specifications to speed performance. Ren couldn't help but have fun sifting through the data, looking through all of it and taking every piece of information in. He chuckled and smiled.

TESS notices how Ren is paying no attention to her and speaks in a monotone voice.

"Engaging auto-pilot."

Eclipse's eyes light up and the cockpit closes as the screens light up with text reading "Auto-pilot Engaged". While she didn't plan on breaking out of the hangar, she did want Ren to realize that she was very much capable of taking control of Eclipse on her own. Besides, neither she nor Zack would want a repeat of having to escape a military base. TESS spoke once again, but with a bit of smugness in her tone.

"Do I have your attention now?"

Ren only smiled, finding the game to be fun.

"I see how it is." Ren said, hitting a button on the side of the physical cockpit and bringing up a different holographic display to his side, most likely one neither Zack nor TESS knew of. It may be modified, but at the base it was still a Neo BAHRAM frame, and he knew them better than anyone. He held down three buttons simultaneously on the small keypad before a red display appeared above it, asking for an override code. Ren tapped in a sequence of numbers and lifted the auto-pilot, forcing the frame back into manual control.

"Heehee." Ren smiled.

TESS made a robotic growl, clearly showing her disdain for Ren's antics. It was funny how she first was thankful that Ren saved her and Zack, but given how he was intruding upon her data without a shimmer of respect, she couldn't wait to force him out. She spoke again, but in a deathly tone.

"I'm warning you Ren Silber...I demand to know why you are scurrying through my data without permission! Do you think that just because I'm an AI, it's okay to be searching through my console without asking me if you could!?"

"Relax, will you?" Ren sighs, bringing up deeper files in the system. "Not like I'm sabotaging you or anything... there's one thing I want to see."

He then found what he was looking for. Neo BAHRAM manned frames usually kept a backlog of combat data for analysis later. He wanted to see what the combat performance was like, not just of Eclipse, but of Zack, as well. He hit the files and brought up more data of both VR simulations as well as actual combat encounters. There seemed to be quite a few, as well. Most of them were in dealing with the Space Force's Dulahans, and the performance on display really was something. He could tell Zack was skilled... though he also noted it wasn't much compared to what he saw Fenrir's Runner doing, or the skills of Amaterasu's Runner. Still, though, he could definitely see the synergy between the frame and the pilot in their combat encounters. He went up to the most recent ones... specifically the ones that involved him. He saw one in particular that caught his interest... it was one in which Eclipse was heavily damaged. He brought up the file and looked at the performance metrics. A straight line showed full armor integrity, which sharply dropped in a matter of seconds near the end of the encounter.

"Huh..." Ren said. He then brought up the camera footage, forwarding it to the time where Eclipse was critically damaged.

What he saw confused him... he saw Tsukuyomi... it had torn one of Amaterasu's arms and kicked it into a nearby asteroid, before it moved to Eclipse. It didn't take long for Eclipse to be completely wiped out, becoming severely damaged. The data there was partially corrupted, the backup camera feed kicking in shortly after Tsukuyomi was upon the frame, signifying the AI had been damaged. Shortly after that, even the backup feed went dark... what he saw disturbed him... Tsukuyomi was glowing yellow during the encounter, flying around erratically and at absolutely insane speeds, displaying combat performance he didn't even know Orbital Frames could reach... it had disabled Amaterasu effortlessly, and then nearly destroyed Eclipse... he didn't remember any of it... he remembered part of the encounter where he was fighting Amaterasu, but... he remembered blacking out, and then waking up in the infirmary of the Space Force base on Earth... what the hell happened to him...? Why was there no record in Tsukuyomi's combat backlog of that time? Tsukuyomi's record cut off at the moment it began to display that increased performance... Ren looked at his arm, seeing the faint lines going up his arm before fading entirely halfway up his forearm. Just... what happened...?

TESS's rage subsided as she watched the battle footage as well, making a heavy sigh as she recalls what Tsukuyomi had done to her and Zack during that fight. The ferocity of Tsukuyomi's attacks and the heavy damage dealt to Eclipse made her feel something she didn't sense in a long time during the fight...fear. She could've easily imagined Eclipse being destroyed had Tsukuyomi not ceased attacking. She spoke in a shaky, almost fearful tone.

"Me and Zack had never fought such a high-powered Orbital Frame...the speed, the ferocity of Tsukuyomi that day...it was unlike anything we had ever seen before...we were so close to being destroyed...Zack was so close to being..."

TESS goes silent, unable to bring herself to imagine the worst happening to Zack. To die so brutally and without remorse...she eventually finishes her sentence.

"I was so scared that day...we were so scared that day..."

Ren scowled... seeing the bestial frenzy Tsukuyomi was in frightened him as well... especially considering he was inside the frame during the whole event. He had no memory of it... ARAI didn't either. He found himself worrying about ARAI... what if something had affected her? He had performed multiple full system checks afterward and couldn't find anything... but then... how could something like that happen? How could an Orbital Frame attack someone for trying to pilot it like it had done to Leo? Was the frame acting on its own accord? He had no idea... and he didn't have very many ways to come up with an answer...

TESS goes back to being silent, the memories of the battle with the high-powered Tsukuyomi flooding her memory banks. A light whimpering sound can be heard emitting from her, a sign that she was clearly in distress. The memories of fighting Tsukuyomi...the fear of being destroyed...the fear of losing Zack...