MS Hellhounds Saga: Children of Mars (Discontinued)

[RedArmyShogun]

As the group finally gets its affairs in order and makes its journey to the field, it was clear that the recreational and training field, was indeed a grass covered field with a huge domed ceiling with artificial sunlight and a rolling LED style display that showcases a clear sky. A number of dirt trails, warn away by running men, the telltale bald spots, where obstacles or supports were marked for all to see. Or so they would be had there not been around eight thousand souls in some form of fatigues, jumpsuits or piloting uniforms standing about at ease. Elsewhere in the ship at various points the scene was recreated, as various formations and units began their own inductions. The Ceremony finally began on a large section of the "sky".

First up was Admiral Zhang;
​

Tilting his cap and wearing his unorthodox gear, he tilted his hat in form of salute as camera views shifted to the star field with Mars in the background as a few officers gather on a platform in front of the formation, most at attention or in the at ease stance themselves. Erika as she took notice of the group joins a chorus of squad and flight leaders yelling "ATTENTION! Present Arms!" As a few men on stage unveiled a flurry of flags, most prominently the planetary flags of Earth, Mars, Luna, Jupiter, The Dominion, the official flag of the Fleet and a small handful of divisional, fleet and airwing divisions and groupings. As the old man eyed over the crew, seemingly seeing them or at least being well drilled in the Custom, he holds his hand in salute, then lowers it. "At ease."

The salutes could be ended, and more casual stances resumed as the senior officer began his own speech.

"I am Admiral Roland Zhang, Commander of this fleet formation and the Silent Night that you stand upon, Sons of Sol, be you of Mars, Terra, Luna, The colonies or the Jovian Moons, I full well intend to take you into harm's way, while you may settle within my fleet, or be but a passerby to some other world or back home, make no mistake, this is my ship. I have a mere two thousand men to the one hundred and twenty-five thousand passengers aboard, but if one of my officers tells you to move or needs to go through your sections, you will do whatever they ask, or you shall see if you can breathe vacuum.

For now, you may familiarize yourself with sections that are not for Naval Personnel only, but in the near future we shall drill your crews in helping with damage control. If this cruiser falls then that means death for a great many of you and two thousand men alone cannot prevent that during a battle situation. We all are in this together, various rules and regulations will be given to you by your commanders.

Now, I'll leave you to your commanders, while the Fleet performs the Salute of arms." With that the Admiral's face vanishes from the screen as myrids of smaller light cruisers, destroyers, frigates Traveling by squadron and formation, plasma batteries discharging into the depths of space as swarms of fighters and bombers travel in formations around them all, the whole process lasting a full hour, eventually joined in by Army Support vessels and landers and gunships. It was then that the main screen finally died, as a gruff looking old man in grey and gold walked front and center, his face being brought up on the display, as he looked out upon the crowd.

​

"I am Lieutenant General Alexander S. Wainwright. Under my Command is you Lot, the First MS Division. While it's unlikely we'll operate as a combined formation, there is a level of Respect you must have for the division, its history, its future. I am hard, but I am Fair. Do your job and we'll have no problems. Fuck up and I'll send you back to Mars or before the firing squads myself. We are the Sons and Daughters of an Ancient God of War, but we've put that son of a bitch out of a job. We are War incarnate, the best at what we do, and the falls of our metal feet, the roars of our reactors, the thunder of our guns will make lesser men break and run. Those too stupid to run will be killed. We are the Hellhounds, the guardian hounds that drag idiots into the Gods Damned afterlife." With that he stared out at the crowd and slapped a horse crop into his open right hand.

"Even if we are Free Privateers we are still bound to the Dominion, never forget that, nor the tithe we owe to Mars, if you wish to curse fate, then use those curses to silence the enemy and earn some coin for the doing so. Hold your heads up with pride and never forget who we are. Colonels Review your Regiments so we can all get out of here."

With that a group of men and women in various styles left the stage, breaking up over various portions of the assembled troopers, when a woman with a handgun at her hip and a Dress Uniform walked the line, stopping to exchange words with the other Team Elements, the conversations largely unheard as she paused at the 15th MS team.

​

A bit stern looking, with blue gloves, a great coat and an over coat, the blonde stops before the squad as Erika slapped up a salute, followed in kind by Sandra, and the rest if they had good sense. Looking them all over and directly in the eye, she begins to talk. "Ah, so you have new meat for the grinder. Do you think they'll all make it? Though I guess that doesn't matter." Returning the salute she grinned a bit and speaks some more; "I do wonder if you'll break out from Captain to Major this deployment. Who here will be your XO?"

"I've still yet to decide that." Erika answers in short reply, as the woman seemed to accept this answer and continued, "Hmm. Well, decide by tomorrow. Also, I am your Regimental Commander, Colonel Steiner. Juna Steiner. I'm sure we'll meet again... Some of you at least, still better here than the Factories and Mines... Though..." Her gaze pointedly met the new officers and the convict, leaving what she had to say unfinished as she walked on down the line to finish her review.

About thirty minutes later, the Colonels returned to the stage, one final Salute was given from those in the field and returned by those on the stage as the Flags were hoisted high and walked off stage in the wake of the officers, the ceremony over.

"Well... So, did you enjoy yourselves?" Erika asks when the coast was clear.

"Like fuck I did, let's go find some place with free or cheap food for the idiot boots, ninety minutes of standing around is a pain in the legs." Sandra said in short order, looking at the rest as the various formations left or mingled together.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Speeches were never Sev's strong suit. Whether it was listening or on special occasions, giving them. In most cases, he found the practice to be pretentious more than anything else, especially when you're giving it to people who don't really care about the topic they were talking about. But nonetheless, Sev had learned to put on the farce of a good soldier and simply remained silent throughout the entire ordeal and presented a salute when appropriate. He took a look at the numerous flags being presented, all so colorful, so vibrant. To think that so many people were willing to kill and die for their respective flags, was so amusing.

The Admiral was nothing too remarkable, Sev himself doesn't know much about him, but since he's the boss, his orders would be absolute...most of the time. His speech was pretty generic as well, something about this being his ship and how respect was to be expected and demanded at all times, we are all cogs in the machines, and so on and so forth. The lieutenant general seemed a lot more forthcoming with how he was going to treat everyone, a trait that Sev respected. He also seems to have a high opinion of the martian people, something Sev didn't think too much about. Whether it was Martian, Earth or even Super soldier, everyone dies the same, it's all about how many you'll be able to bring down with you while you're still alive.

The Regimental commander looked a bit to high and mighty for her position, at least more so than he is used to, but nonetheless, still an authority figure that demanded respect. Sev gave her a salute, like any other soldier would, showing little to no emotion in that action. He had a feeling they were gonna butt heads in the future if he did things in his usual style. The way she smugly implied that some of them were going to die in the first mission did earn a small smile from Sev. Sure maybe some of them will, but he'll leave everyone one hell of an impression if he does.

"It was about what I expected," Sev replied to the captain, with a nod and a small smile. While it definitely was one of the grander venues for a speech, the content of the speech itself was nothing that he himself had not heard about, whether it be from other figureheads or even the movies. "Yea I could use some grub as well. Though I am curious about how you will decide on your commanding officer." Sev wasn't really the type to push for the leader position, and the only reason he if often thrust into that position is because he tends to outlast his commanding officer in battle.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Stef stood at attention, moving between the salute and rested postures with a sharpness and coordination that showed she had done this before. The fancy speeches and posturing was something the Corporal was greatly familiar with, and deeply apathetic to. A tithe to Mars and pride in the faction, but the woman cared little and less about all that. She was here for the paycheck to send home.

As the dandy woman in white approached their team, Stef stared in front of her. Eye contact was an invitation for more bullshit. Thankfully, the suit said her piece to the Captain and then left. It was clear she had little and less expectations for the newbies to survive. The Captain had some of the red-head's respect, at least, being down in the trenches with the rest of them. Those snoody types though...

Rotating her shoulders and neck as the ceremony came to an end, Stef let out a long sigh at Snow White's inquiry. "The pole up the ass is real fun," She replied gruffly.

 

[Thalia_Neko]

Like the others, she was pretty accustomed to listening to long-winded speeches given by superiors, though perhaps not as used to it as some of the others. Still, Lind stood in line with the others just like any good soldier. Although she had never really considered herself one. Nonetheless, she had learned her place early on in the mines, and wasn't about to ruffle any feathers at such a grand event. So the woman held firm, pretended like she was listening, and saluted when everyone else did. Truth be told, she looked every bit the part, and was impressive in her own low-ranked right. Not that Lind, inwardly gave a damn.

As the woman officer walked by, Lind saluted, and had her eyes trail along with her. Lookin' sharp, ma'am, she thought privately. She wanted to say it, but the look that woman gave them... well it deterred her from doing so. Plus, she'd kinda have to shout it to make the woman hear -- and that would be kinda dumb given the circumstances.

"Shrimps got the right idea," Lind commented with a grin, when all was said and done, eyes gleaming under her bangs at Sandra. "And, Idunno, a pole up the ass is needed in some situations."

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Eagerly a pair of eyes followed the Colonels as they returned to the stage while the assembly began to wrap up, Endel Moseley, assigned on short notice breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that these types of situations in general stressed him out, it was less exhausting than monitoring a 1024 TB flight simulation while recording all margins of error manually for 48 hours, it was just that...

"This is the 15th right?" The young man asked the others who were in the line, a few of them seemed at least...marginally familiar with each other.

"I wasn't sure as I was barely given a warning before my transfer that I was still around in the hanger according to the official map of this vessel it appears that I would have needed to start from the hanger then turn right from exit #2-"

As if finally realizing that he was ranting at a rapid pace to himself again Endel finally looked at the others. "Oh my bad where are my manners or perhaps it's better to call it discipline seeing that is the military jargon version."

He took a good look at the others having some conversation about getting food and something up the ass, it made enough sense if one did not consider the context, food does eventually end up related to the ass after all. There was a tall red-headed woman who seemed more like the quiet type, a tall light-haired woman who seemed less quiet and interested in ass, and a tall blonde man who seemed even less quiet and interested in food. The military was an interesting place, it was different from the factories and the MS manufacturer HQs, but for Endel it was a valuable experience. Hands-on experience with the demographic you are designing products for was actually quite important, he had never considered that. If it weren't for the kerfuffle with the Army he would have never learned about the flaws in his designs and himself.

"Specialist Endel Moseley, I have a modicum of experience with MS engineering so please allow me to take a look at your machines I promise they will be in good hands!" There was a particular excitement in the man's voice as he asked about that, the way he spoke was clearly an entire tempo faster than anyone else in the conversation. "And please don't give me any of that 'you should be a logistics officer' deal I have hypothesized that my placement in this unit is actually a long drawn out execution as a part of an inconspicuous plan to get rid of me without needing to deal with any related bureaucratic obstacles, but please pay that no concern, it is only a theory after all and I also do not have foreseeable plans of dying as of right now so please leave any necessary battlefield support to me." Endel gave a salute even though he wasn't sure of any of his (likely) teammates' ranks, but the respect was there, it was a learning experience after all.

 

[Stros]

Contrary to the demeanors of his fellow MS pilots, James found the Silent Night's induction ceremony to be somewhat amusing. While it lacked the general pomp and flare of the Lochmann style, he could respect the honored military fashion and tradition that no doubt had been preserved for centuries. Though, there were always small additions that made their place after countless decades of battle. Inspecting the various units around them, it was clear to him at least that the command of the ship was very relaxed when it came to regulations. Many regiments had mismatched uniforms other than the 15th MS, and their individual banners were of varying size and quality. While otherwise unacceptable when compared to the Lochmann standard, they had their own unique charm and personality that most likely went missed by the broad majority of people.

As the speeches commenced, James kept himself busy by recalling the details he had read about their Commander and his numerous aides. It seemed that a few things had been omitted from official files, and some of what the various media reports had mentioned proved to be true. At least, in terms of personality. In between speeches, James executed his necessary salutes and kept his dress with almost instinctual ease. Crisp in his movements, they displayed no unnecessary haste or delay, and were clearly the result of route perfection. It helped that he had gone through the trouble of memorizing the faces and names of those most important to begin with. It was only a matter of spotting them among the crowd and headed their way to respond.

Ignoring the subconscious anxiety that arouse from their mistimed movements and salutes, James kept his mouth shut when the Regimental Commander approached them. He had read several unofficial article's about the woman, and most if not all of them had little positive to say about her. It was a common trend that her Regiment tended to suffer more casualties than her peers, but the blame had never been directly pinned on her conduct. In spite of the numerous attempts by enlisted and journalists alike. It seemed she either had a guardian in high places, or merely that the grim reaper enjoyed her company. In either case, it was best not to make trouble for his unit, which could easily come about even with the simplest of remarks if taken the wrong way. As such, James simply remained a statue among his formation. Waiting for the inevitable conclusion to the mandatory military service.

"It wasn't a bad little ceremony." He said in reply to the Captain's remark.

Donning his characteristic smirk from earlier at the Sergeant's words, he further added.

"I've time for a snack."

 

[Azurian Dream]

Everything was rather on par the course of what Ico expected of the briefings form the big two hellion's in charge though his eye was partially caught by the Regimental Commander, and her passing comment. He watched her instinctively as if triggered by a familiar sense of someone who walked very thinly on deaths doors. No doubt this was the expected response clearly this team was expected to have a death from the get go. Yet he knew to keep his thoughts of her to himself as he returned to a calmer mentality rather quick once she was gone. No shock given this groups reputations earned them their title after all. Ico didn't think much on it more so giving a soft chuckle to remembering general Zhang's words.

"Breathe vacuum huh. Interesting," Ico was about to follow the other for grub before Endel made his intro... and what a intro it was.

"Well to be fair your in the military that alone makes you a target of basically everyone. As long as your good to the Alt. I don't mind you going over it," Ico smiled patting Endel on the shoulder as he passed by giving the young man a thumbs up to check his unit though he would clearly need to take that up with the engineer team. Ico had his fair share of energetic folk on his team so someone like Endel was only a nice breath of fresh air. They were excited to do something, and damn was it intriguing to watch them be intrigued.

"How about we talk theories over food Specialist Mosley, I am Corporeal Ico Caliburn. You wanna join Lt. I assumed you wanted to swap oddity stories, and things about our prototypes earlier. I am sure we can all pitch into these conversation topics," Ico offered to James as well as the rest of the crew. Knowing full well had Lind not abruptly distracted James earlier that the conversation would have turned to a questions on mobile suits. Regardless of why Ico was willing to attempt to further know these people he would be serving with.

"Ah one firecracker for another it seems," Fulke commented to Erika as he watched Specialist Mosley get snatched up by the others real fast. Which was alright he would get his chance to talk to a fellow MS mechanic later. he did smirk as both Lind, and Stef shared a silly thought together that would have gotten their asses whooped real fast had said person heard it.

"Don't worry there's a reason she's in her position she's not your normal stick in the mud. Yet at the same time I do recommend avoiding her," Fulke commented softly in a whisper himself with a smirk clearly remembering something as he looked to the Captain.

"So shall we join the rest and chat over some sludge," he offered his time to Erika or anyone really who wanted to chat with a veteran Mobile Suit pilot particularly to Erika, but all were allowed to join in as well..

 

[Thalia_Neko]

Her eyes swept the others. There was a mild frown on her face. Did no one catch her ass joke? Was it not funny? Or... did they just not have funny bones? Her frown wrinkled with discouragement. Oh great. A humorless bunch, this one was, huh? Not good. Lind, ironically, thrived on humor. Not only was it her fall-back, but it was what she used with the kids in the Vagabonds. Or.. was... she.. just not funny..?! No.. No.. couldn't be that. No, of course not.. Phew. Mild self-reflective panic over. Oh, good, someone smirked. Her gaze then focused on the hyper-active kid who just joined their ranks.

"Uh-huh.." Began Lind with a not-so-enthusiastic huff. "Well, sure, knock yourself out," she replied. "Though, I don't know if it's up to me; my machine's owned by the military-or-something, right?" She vaguely questioned, with a lax glance around. To be honest, she wasn't so sure, but whatever. Lind, unlike most, had no real connection with her MS unit. If anything she'd operate any, so long as she could use it well in the field. She didn't want to just hop in a machine she was unfamiliar with and hit the battlefield - she had no deathwish, unlike some she ran across who piloted these things. Her eyes glanced those in her group, like some here, she figured.

"Oh, uh, hm. Nope, had no concern over that whatsoever, wouldn't've even known to, if you hadn't mentioned it. But, uhhhh, good to know? I guess?" The woman's tone never changed, indicating somewhat that she didn't seem to into the current conversation at hand with the random boy who just showed up and started chatting up the line. But hey, look, he was one who also didn't have a deathwish, would you look at that? Or so he said. Though, it was likely true, if he was the sort of MS nut that he was making himself out to be. Likely preferred tinkering rather than actually piloting the things.

Cresion Breezes

 

[RedArmyShogun]

"Hmm..." Erika says in regard to the series of events unfolding before her. So far none of direct interest, or need for intervention, minus a couple. The issue of Sev of note. "Executive Officer. Not Commanding. I am the commanding officer; this job will be for who I want the rest to listen to if something happens to me."

"Yeah, and it isn't too serious. Hell, been a few times we just let it go by with a game of chance or get rid of who isn't suited as we go. Not like it's a rank so much as a position." The Blonde Sergeant chimes in, crossing her arms and making a "Heh." sound at the remark from Sef.

It was here that the focus and attention of both women was separated. First was Lind calling her a shrimp, to which the now shortest member of the party took some offense too, with a fiery temper. "Fuck you say? Better not get your head lopped off in the trees, be a shame you lost that eye again. Me and you are gonna be right good friends on the fighting ring. Oh yes indeed. Hell, I like you." She said, stepping closer to Lind, peering up as she did so, a challenging grin to her face.

For her part, Erika couldn't care what the two girls got up to, neither were in her consideration for a second in command, though this new fellow, he was more or less replacing, well no, he was replacing the shorter girl. Giving her new marching orders she turns her attention back to Endel. "Moseley. Endel, Private, which do you prefer? As to messing with the machines of others...."

"Fuck that, science boy, the techs and only I touch my baby." The Sergeant cuts in as things spiraled once more. At least James and Ico were being sensible with the later trying to be chummy and the former wishing to get a snack. It was then that Fulk got the attention of Erika and then Lind chimed in with a question.

"Firstly, while the machine doesn't belong to you, it is assigned to you. There isn't much that can change the later. I encourage you learn the bells and whistles as well as the little quirks of your personal machine. In terms of performing maintenance, all pilots are expected and required to help the MS crews with repairs and adjustments to their own machine. So as to you helping with those of others, that's up to the individual pilot." The Captain says in summary, turning her attention back to Fulke.

"Yes. We all should do that, though, no sludge."

With that the Sargeant scoffs and turns on her heels, arms crossed up and behind her head, as she turned back to stare at them, head resting in her arms like a pillow. "Well, you all going to stand there like slack jawed jackasses? I know the perfect place, is Terran East Asian themed restaurant on C Deck, hab block seventeen, it's pretty cheap and has ramen, various types of bowels, dumplings, fried rice, orange chicken, pretty much anything, though up to you guys if you want to spend some of your money there."

"Yes, Old man Wu's place, you can use your ration cards there at least on most of the menu. Though if you want something else, there are a few other places around of different cultural groups in the area. Speaking of other places, I should look at your room assignments. Well lead us off Sandra."

And with that the group would be left to talk as the former swoop rider leads the formation off, down some side corridors and along a few elevators and stairways, whistling as they walked.

 

[Thalia_Neko]

"Oh, you know?" Lind questioned, her eyes focusing on Sandra with an intense stare. "Was that a tall joke? Hm, speaking of eyes, you need to get yours checked." She pumped her thumb over her shoulder towards one of the blonde boys. "That's the tree. I ain't one. Wanna talk to a tall person about the clouds and trees, try him." Lind grinned. "Ah, I'm liked, feels good. Heh, tend to be liked by the kiddos." Lind winked, her own challenging smirk glinting. "Right 'bout one thing tho'. We can play in that fighting ring all ya' want, shrimp."

"Ah, there you have it!" Lind chimed towards Endel. "Sounds like you got free reign on mine. 'Pilots help', and what not. I've never been great at all that technical stuff. Best I can do is carry some parts, or something like, around. I mean, right, I'll learn all I can about the sweet machine. Ya, will do."

"East Asian..?" Lind remarked, with a furrowed brow. She hadn't ever had that. "Money? What money? Some'us are flat broke, sister."

 

[RedArmyShogun]

"Hmm? Ah. Poor choice.."

Erika hearing what Lind had to ask watched with great interest for a change of things as the Sergeant went a bit ballistic with an angry snarl to her face and eyes, lunging across the line at the other one she screams out, "I DON'T NEED A BLOODY RING TO FIGHT YOU! I DON'T NEED MY RANK! CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I'LL FUCKING SKULL FUCK YOU WITH MY KNIFE! YOU THINK YOU'RE FUCKING BETTER?! THINK YOU CAN JUST STARE AT ME LIKE THAT?!"

For better or worse, Sandra seemed to roll back to the Ganger she used to be, the one that was finally captured by the law and demanded some form of respect. It seemed just some parts of her, the one that needed to always be strong, to always be ready to fight, the part that killed other humans with a laugh across the comm lines, did in fact have something of a complex and Lind had pushed on it, not once, not twice, but three times. The yellow hand grenade took this all a bit personally as her right hand darted for the knife on her hip.

With that the Captain held up her own right hand singling for Stef to grab her, as she turned her gaze upon the penal soldier. "Private, I suggest not pressing on those which have a higher rank... More so when we are irregulars. Sandra, if you want to fight her, do it without the knife... Though I do think I'll keep you two out of the same room." In an attempt to distract and calm the situation with a bit of tried and true distraction.

"As you may or may not know, the crews and units we have are drawn from planetary forces, Earth being one of them. While we operate in joint formations it's just not worth the time and effort to gather troops from across the sectors and then cross train them with others... Though historically this is what unmade the Terran Dominion... History aside, East Asia was a region of semi like cultures that short of some sleeper ships became blended or cut down in regional differences over the past two thousand years. Old man Wu as I called him is from Earth with the Naval forces... Or was it the Naval Air Group? Either way, the food they serve is mostly rice, root type vegetables, sauce, noodles, some meat, it differs from Martian food and the decor is interesting, a relic of a bygone age only remembered by Earth.

Though if you rather have something akin to Mars I know of a place for that as well. Keep in mind, you all may go as you please. Orders will come tomorrow, for now all that is left is your room assignments." With that all said, she waited to see what the rest had to say or would do, if anything, the bored expression coming over her again.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

"What you do in your quarters is your time," Stef replied with a blank tone to Lind's response.

Stowing her hands in the pockets of her fatigues, the scarred woman looked over to the rambling newbie that appeared, apparently to replace the other newblood that had just transferred out. This one was a boy, around her height, and seemed to be a talker like the rest. He offered to take a look at everyone's mechs and help maintain them. The red-head shrugged.

"You can look, maintenance, sure... Just don't touch my config or settings," Stef replied, turning her eyes slowly to look at Lind again. "Knowing how your shit works and what does what will save your ass, girlie. Be a smartass if you want, but don't brush it off."

Giving that piece of advice, it mattered less that she acted like she didn't care if she actually could pay attention. The former prisoner didn't seem to understand subtle, or didn't care, so Stef spoke straight out. The only reason she didn't for Sandra is because some Privates just needed a good smoking to understand how shit worked. If the shrimp slapped her a bit, it would probably be to the girl's benefit. However, she was pushing too many buttons, and the wrong ones too.

Having known the blonde for long enough, Stef spotted the signs and was ready before the Captain even made a motion. When Sandra lurched, the red-head was swift to move in behind her. Using her prosthetic to grab the hand going for the knife, Stef reached her other arm around the smaller woman's arm and body while pulling her back.

"...Breathe... Breathe. Smoke'er without the knife and she'll learn. With the knife, she won't have the chance to," Stef calmly urged the angry Sergeant. "May want to keep them out of the same wing while you're at it..."

 

[Thalia_Neko]

"Who~oa!" Lind began, taking a step back, holding up her hands. "'Lil firecracker, here! Relax, I was ju-" The purple-haired woman glanced at the other woman who spoke up. "Huh? Sorry, Cap. I was just messin' around." She looked back at Sandra and grinned. "Right? Just light teasin's all. But if you really wanna go. I'm all for it~" Lind sing-songed, raising up fists, a lazy look in her eye, lips dancing with a playful smirk.

Hearing Stef, Lind snapped a finger at her. "Right, got it. Will do~" She then turned to Endel and shrugged. To him she said, "You're the brains, I'm just the muscle."

Then she looked back at Stef, this time with a slight frown. "You don't have to hold her back. Knife's fine, too, sweet (note, she's calling Sandra 'sweet', like sweetie, except so cutesy). If you got it, you flaunt it. Down in the dregs we fight with what we got. Raw and dirty. Knife's smart. Very smart."

 

[Cresion Breezes]

"Hmm...is that so?" Endel didn't really feel like talking more to someone if they would refuse his offer, after all, he had little interest in generic machines whose schematics were mostly publicized anyways. "It's just an offer anyways, it frees me up more time to spend with my honey." He shrugged and smiled at the rather rough-seeming blonde girl. "But personally I'd prefer to be just put in front of a firing squad than let whatever imbeciles you call technicians on this ship touch my dear Pirouetta as it would grant me a much swifter and less painful death overall since I saw them fumble for half an hour to recalibrate a six-cylinder fusion coil engine component and if cringe can kill I would have been dead ten times over, if this keeps up the only thing that would be fusing is our flesh and the machine frame." He added rather cheerfully yet with a concerned undertone, without even pausing to take a breath, the latter half of the sentence seems to have merged into a melting pot of syllables as the young man's words sped up the more he spoke.

The quiet woman didn't seem too thrilled about it either, though she didn't straight up refute any of his words either, Endel smiled at her, attempting to be slightly reassuring. "There's no need to be concerned, I've learned that demographic is important with designing and configuring control systems, if I ever go back to Eton or Fujiwara-Dyson I'll absolutely make sure that all my engineers know that they should be designing control systems that even an eight-year-old can use after one afternoon of training, your configurations will be safe with me, it's not like I'm interested in it anyways, what I'm more concerned about is..." Endel looked around, he couldn't tell who was the one he was looking for, he was pretty awful at reading people. Although the few rather rowdy ones can be immediately taken out of the correct answer pool. "...There's prototype technology here, I can smell it, and whatever that is I'm extremely interested, haha! Those idiots sitting at their desks would never get this experience, I'm so glad I almost got executed! This is ab-so-lutely the opportunity of a lifetime!" Endel laughed, or more like giggled to himself as he gave a little clap while the blonde woman was threatening the purple-haired girl with a knife. "A-maaazing!"

"Ahem. Apologies, I got too excited, but that's just what happens when I meet new data points— I mean, people." He nodded to the captain, who seemed at least calmer than whatever these people serving under her were, good enough for a leadership position all about managing lives and resources. "Personally I'm not a huge fan of Terran Eastern Asian food I've had the opportunity to learn about it during my time at the spires but to be fair the sodium content of that particular brand of cuisine is absolutely horrendous even if you can justify it with flavour it is simply not something I can tolerate after all my blood pressure level goes up naturally whenever trying to explain anything to those goddamn 'senior' engineers I simply can't spare to burn more of my health on intaking food like that." Side-eyeing the others and the unrealized brawl that's going on, it seemed like that people were a bit angsty to leave after the formalities.

"Ahem, right, never mind any of that, I'm just personally more attuned to healthier options." He added with another smile.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

"Tch." Clicking her tongue and turning her head to the side, it seemed the words of the three defused the situation, as she looked Lind with slightly less malice than before. Spitting off to the side she speaks. "Used to run circles around you chuckle fucks with my swoop. So yeah, I'll give you your fight, but after we eat. Might as well put on a fucking show."

With that and the knife going away the captain sighs, turning her attention to the eccentric. Not wanting to speak just yet, she watched as Sandra stared at the man and gave a shrug. "Don't go saying that shit, I sit on top of my reactor. I don't mind a hot seat but I'm not about to want to meld man and machine." As his rant went on she snorted. "Figures, fuck'n spire kid."

"Hey, don't lump me in with him, not all of us are that strange." Erika said in her own defense before letting out a soft chuckle. "Sodium worries you huh? You picked, well were placed in the wrong place then. Well, least you'll find your prototypes and some rare units aside, provided the others will let you look... And speaking of the others,"

With that a pause broke out as she pulled out her pda, showing there names. "So options time before I finalize this. James, Sev, you'll be sharing Room C2, you both are junior ratings, command has privilege but you aren't that. Fulke I trust you, pick one of the hellfire girls to bunk with, if you touch either, well I won't threaten you, both are the murderous types on their own, you'll get C4.

Stef you share with whoever he doesn't, least you want to jump the gun and pick in C5. Ico, Endel, that leave you two sharing C3, I'll be in C1.
James, Sev if you want either of you can swap with Ico. Times ticking and my hand is getting sleepy." The Captain says, hovering her hand over the PDA to place the final room allotments.

"Meh, fine, I'll just fucking see who wants me around, and heh, science boy worried about Sodium, though huh if thats the case, well fuck, I dunno..." Pondering to think on this the blonde taps her right hand against her knife hilt, "Well they do have some steamed stuff there, but other than that uh, maybe some of the officer cantina's, course I'm not allowed in there, fuckers.."

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Stef shot a sharp gaze back at Lind as she held onto the "firecracker". She certainly didn't seem to agree, even if her expressions were hard to read past being drilling.

"We ain't in the dregs, sweetheart," She replied, though the term of endearment didn't sound all that with the red-heads gruff tone.

As Sandra calmed, Stef's grip loosened. The arm wrapped around her pulled back and the prosthetic that had gripped the wrist going for the knife moved upward, giving a light squeeze of the bicep before stepping back. Running a hand through her own hair in frustration, the woman glanced over to the mech-obsessed, Endel. 'I'm so glad I almost god executed' he said. They had a convict and whatever the hell that one was. Was this turning into a Penal Battalion?

"Spire kid huh..." She mused, a look shooting between the two of them, as if wondering if what the Captain said was true. "I don't particularly mind bunking with whoever... To be honest, I'm more worried about any of the boys than the girls."

 

[Stros]

James had been expecting the outburst from the Sergeant since the team had first met up. Lind had been testing her own luck since the first two crossed paths, and it was only a matter of time before the firecracker's patience grew thin. Though, it would have been more apt to refer to the Sargent as a hand grenade, given James had seen the woman in the field, and when she really did let loose, there was hardly anything left in her wake. For his part, James merely watched the situation defuse as other members of the team stepped in. He could already tell it was going to take some time for everyone to get accustomed to the new personalities. A phase that usually was accelerated after a few missions in the field and one got a sense if they could rely on you.

Recollecting memories of his past unit, and their own heated arguments, James smiled to himself but was deft enough to conceal it from the others. Brushing the memories aside as he had to do often, before he could say anything on the topic of prototypes it came time to pick rooms. Casting a sideways glance at Sev, James merely shrugged before turning back to Erika.

"That's fine with me Captain."

Personally, James had bunked with his team in the past and wasn't so spoiled as to expect a room all to himself. Though, he did wonder at the prospect of his future roommate being able to comfortably maneuver in and around the room. Ship's weren't exactly known for their luxurious living spaces, and from his experience upon the Silent Night, James noted there was hardly an exception to that rule for ships in space. Regardless, it would offer the two plenty of down time to chat about their prospective future match.

 

[Thalia_Neko]

Lind shrugged with a half-smile. She didn't actually want a fight. In fact, she was mostly just playing a character at that moment, but Sandra seemed to take things a bit more seriously than the woman had originally thought. Lind had thought they were just having the typical back-and-forth.

With the same shrug, she turned to Stef and raised up her hand, completing the shrug. "Aren't we though? Personally, I've never left." She said with a slightly darker tone.

"Wait, what was that Cap? The dude's gunna bunk with one of the women?" Lind repeated, turning Erika's way, a question on her raised eyebrow. "Hm.."

 

[TreasureSniper]

Looking at all these sudden commotions over rather harmless jokes and comments, Sev couldn't help but think just how unstable some of these people are. While the super soldiers themselves do tend to have breakdowns every now and then, it's at least not over some trivial matters, usually. For someone that came from a penal colony, this girl really had a nack of antagonizing people, it's amazing she had survived this long. Maybe that's how she lost her eye in the first place. "Chill out blondie! Would it make you feel better if I let use me as a punching bag?" She obviously has some self-esteem issues if she was not comfortable with her height. But he wasn't exactly one to talk considering he was bred to be an optimal weapon.

The one called Stef seemed a lot more level-headed than he thought she would be. She had a pack-mother mentality, keeping the team from hurting each other. A very admirable quality. "You best watch your mouth, one-eye. Wouldn't want to anger to wrong people." Sev stood in front of the small girl, his eyes looking a lot more serious than usual. This lasted a few more seconds before laughed to break the menacing silence. "Just messing with you." he reciprocated her shoulder touch by giving her a pat on the head. He listened to what she had to say about flaunting it and getting raw and dirty. "You sure you're talking about fighting, and not something else?" This girl had a very interesting choice of words.

And then came this other character, who called himself Endel. He came in talking about how he would rather die than let someone else pilot something that Sev could only assume is his mech. Sev has dealt with many "oddball" type characters in the past, but this guy might just take the cake. So much passion, so much energy. And then he went on about how he didn't like a certain type of food and how it wasn't healthy. From the way he talked about machines, people would think he was attracted to them or something. Maybe this was what they referred to as a technophile. "Feel free to have a look at my machine. Just don't do anything weird with it." He was already trying to scrub the cursed image from his head.

Upon hearing the captain assigning bunks, he nodded in acknowledgment of his new placement. "No objections here captain. Though would it be possible for me to modify my bed? My feet tend to stick out of the edge." One of the many downsides of being this size was there were many things that simply didn't fit him. He had feeling this James guy would make an interesting bunkie. Surely someone with his demeanour and scars have interesting stories to tell.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

"Hey hey!" As Endel heard a the few rather scary women in the group call him a 'spire kid', he rejected this title, although not for reasons one might expect. Technicians should pride themselves on precision and accuracy, this type of terminology just won't do. "I wasn't officially adopted into the spire until I graduated, by that time I was a teenager by definition, technically speaking I'm not a 'spire kid', I'm more of a 'spire teen'. So your statement is technically inaccurate, although it is mostly within acceptable parameters I prefer more precision in my day-to-day life." He quickly added the explanation cheerily.

When the giant blonde man gave him permission to look at his machine, Endel's usual demeanor changed as the man's tone was...questionable at best. Of course, none of these people have met him before, but such blatant doubt of his capabilities still rubbed Endel the wrong way. He wasn't a really prideful person in most situations, however, he hated it when others questioned his abilities when it came to MS engineering, especially if it was from someone who didn't know him at all. "What?" His voice was a bit angry, but also partially in disbelief. "What 'weird' thing do you presume that I can do to your machine? What gave you such ideas in the first place?" Endel stopped to think for a moment, perhaps this man was the untrusting type, perhaps similar to himself, when it comes to his MS. "I have over twelve years of experience in MS engineering and development and was a Fujiwara-Dyson external consultant for three, it's my professional pride and duty to work on these machines, and I would sooner take death over purposefully botching my job. Let that be known to you, good sir, hopefully we can come to trust each other in the future, sooner or later." It was a more serious tone this time, still with a slight undertone of anger. Endel turned his head away from the blonde man rather quickly and began to ponder about the room assignments.

"I don't mind regardless, just don't make a ruckus, it's not healthy to be sleep deprived."

 

[Azurian Dream]

"You would be correct Endel there are in fact two prototypes amongst our ranks. The Altesien, and The Zero piloted by Ico, and James respectfully. Your Co Mobile Suit is the PAK-FA Erika's model obviously," Fulke expressed out in a chuckling at Endel's passion as a Mechanic to be able to tell by so little alone that there were special models on the ship. Not only that their were some other in different special units on the ship.

"We also got some oldies like a Corvus MK. II, a VM-111, and two modified custom units like a Blackbird IV Custom War Shrike, and my very own Zeonic Custom Desert Punk," Fulke spoke filling in Endel what was on the team, and what he could expect to be working with. Even handing the report booklets for all, but the Altesien and the Zero since they were to unique to have their own common access booklets.

"You can hound Lt. James, and Corporeal Ico for their prototype units over food," Fulke spoke turning around walking backwards as he raised a mischievous grin.

"I'll take Sandra. I think Stef will be a good model for Lind, and we both know its to late for our favorite hellian to be saved. unless you want to spend your time with me Captain," Fulke laughed a bit allowed as Sandra did in fact prove his point with her immediate switch to murder Lind without notice... though to be very fair Lind had triggered in full. besides Sandra was fun to play cards with, and gamble the day away with. he also played further with his mischievous comment winking at Erika in a small tease as he turned back around.

"Officer Cantina does allow weekends to be explored by the enlisted, but Sandra lost that privilege's after giving a officer a piece of her mind... straight into his pelvis... guy couldn't walk for a month," Fulke deviously smiled making hard to tell if that story was true or if he was adding to Sandra's Evil aura.

"Lind how about we separate you two love birds temporarily. If your that bad for money I'll treat ya to something nice," Ico softly interjected lightly placing a hand around Lind to slowly corralling her away from Sandra before a secondary trigger could be pulled. It was clear Lind was just naturally going to fume at Sandra's pin so best for now to let there be a cool down to let both parties get more use to each other for a bit before allowing a second trip.

"Ya whenever you like Endel I can show you the Alt. just be careful of the cockpit I have some gear that juts out with some special triggers. Dont want you to get wacked by a sheath katana by accident," Ico expressed as he brought himself, and Lind to the front of the group to chat with Endel removing his hand from around Lind as any longer would probably give the wrong message.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

As things mostly calmed back down, it seemed neither of the LT's were keen to swapping rooms, which was to be expected, though there was a surprising bit of backlash, or questioning rather of the co-ed aspect of the roommate system. And there was some discussion about pay and Fulke being Fulke. In turn the Captain coughed into a clenched fist to get the attention of the rest.

"Lind, I highly doubt your prison was all that immune to co-ed minus maybe the fact there were gendered bunks or a private cell. In training you should have slept in a common bunk with several other men and women. There are no strict regulations in keeping relationships from developing. Anything resulting from it however is the responsibility of the parents. There are civilians aboard this ship and a good portion of the crewmen and civilian staff in the fleet were born aboard these ships. Twenty to thirty years to wait for the Dominion to release you is a bit long for things like family, and on return to Mars it is possible to move your family there with one family member serving the Tithe... Though in your case they won't be letting you go so easily. I myself was born aboard one of the Fleet ships and early in my youth returned to Mars."

"Point is, Fulke I trust to not make a surprise family, and I also trust Sandra to cut most of those who would try. He's been here for many years and in the changing rooms you will likely see the other sex naked even if briefly. While we get more room than the standard enlisted, we are not afforded the luxury of separate changing rooms. We also will be fighting and likely injured to one extent or another and those wounds will need tending. We are soldiers before we are men and women. Abandon such notions. There are showers with stalls at least. But so much water is on the ship and most of that goes towards coolant, what limited hydroponics we have and for drinking. So, showers are brief and in two cycles." With that out of the way she turned her attention towards Endel, listening to his explanation with some amusement.

"And Spire teen if you prefer, though, I'm sure we'll make up another name for you soon enough, either way, you'll be rooming with Ico. And with that out of the way, she is a penal soldier, till she proves herself like Sandra, she'll only be collecting 1/4th what the rest of us do, with the other 3/4ths going to Mars. Provided we don't have to kill her with the bomb collar for desertion or hostile acts, she will need some help in getting anything more than the most Martian of meals."

For her part, Erika did not bite at the flirt from Fulke, but rather stared at him detachedly as her focus shifts to the two LT's, James and Sev. One of them would have to be the XO, while her nco's were better adjusted to a life of battle, most of them were not suitable personality wise. Stef would be a good choice personality wise, but she wasn't even a noncom just yet. It was then her attention was taken by Sev. "I don't care what you do with it, just clear it with the sector Quarter Master, the Fleet will aid in things like that. Just don't damage the hull or interior."

For her part Sandra grins and has her own reactions in regard to all of this. "Eh, you get used to it, doesn't even bat an eyelash as time goes on. Heh, bet she blushes, or maybe she's a peeper and likes to watch?" She said of Lind as she rolled on to what Fulke had to say. "Yeah, I'll get along with Fulke, play some cards, and I didn't hurt the fucker that bad, they mostly don't let me in cause I like to sample the liquor and punch a couple of them." At the mention of pay she clicks her tongue.

"Don't remind me, was a pain in the ass for the first couple years. Though uh, you all done asking questions or can we fuck off and get some food, or just go do what you do?"

 

[Thalia_Neko]

"Hm, wrong people? No idea what you mean. We're on the same side here. Seriously wasn't trying to do anything like that." She glanced between them. At the headpat she frowned a bit, feeling condescended to, but held her tongue. Who was this young man, thinking it was cool to act like this? "Something else? What else would I mean?" She paused, then continued. "No really relax. I didn't mean anything by anything." So it was a tough crowd, huh? Eh... boring. Guess that meant she needed to lighten up some. "Sorry, if I offended," she said to the blonde girl. She apologized, though she hadn't meant any offense. Lind doubted she could truly offend anyone here, she just wasn't that special of a person, nor did she have so much merit that others would be bothered by her. She was just some slum kid who went to prison and then got drafted. How her words could mean much of anything to anyone here was a mystery to her.

Hellion? Whoa, they really had the wrong idea. Model? These military-types were super serious, huh? Lind overheard the boy's slightly enlivened tone. "Just like the boy, I hope we can trust each other. Hope you can trust me. That's all." She followed that up with a gentle smile to the group. Though it looked rather out of place on her angular face, distorting her sharp features and mysterious eyes.

Lind glanced at the guy beside her. "Treat me? To what?" She looked down at his arm around her. Was he one of those types? She had dealt with them before... Back in the slums they were annoying. So she was feeling the sensation of becoming defensive. But when she dealt with his type back at the mines.. well, that's where it went really wrong, so she held back.

The Captain explained the situation. Yeah... but that was a prison where they didn't give a fuck. This was the military. Oh, crap. Maybe they weren't that different. Lind felt a bit deflated at that. Fighting of unwanted pursuers was always a hassle, but maybe the military took that a little more seriously.. Maybe.

"Ah, right," Lind began, lightening up again, waving her hand and smirking. "The collar. Don't worry, I won't desert. It's more a fashion statement, heh.. Looks cool right?" Lind had grown up running from such situations, but now that she was caught, she was determined to not die. Being blown up by a stupid collar was not on her to-do list. If it was, she woulda just let it happen a long time ago, instead of playing the good behaved prisoner back at the mines. And she certainly wouldn't have agreed to fight in stupid wars for people who never gave a shit about her.

 

[TreasureSniper]

"My apologies Endel. I did not mean to doubt your area of expertise." Sev didn't think his small throwaway comment would anger the person so much, leading him to retract his previous statement. Apart from that, Sev was also surprised at how knowledgeable Fulke was about the machines the team was using, including casually name-dropping a machine that has brought terror into the hearts of its enemies for several generations. While Sev himself didn't mind too much, the people in headquarters would be losing their minds right now knowing some random pilot was able to access that information so easily. But then again, even if they knew the specs of Sev's machine, his skill alone would likely greatly overshadow whatever technological advantage they have against him.

Super soldier or not, all this idle chatter was making him hungry. Hearing Sandra's talk about moving onto the mess halls was essentially music to his ears. Though, he would likely have to order multiple portions just to be satisfied. "Let's hope they have enough for me to eat." And hopefully, they taste better than normal rations as well. "Thank you, captain. I'll work things out with the QM." The adjustments shouldn't be too complicated nor would they be permanent. Hearing Lind's circumstances, he couldn't help but feel some level of sympathy as some of the more rebellious vat born soldiers were also subjected to similar types of devices. "I hope you last long enough to get it off. I have a feeling you'll look better without it." He offered the girl a few words of encouragement since she seemed like an entertaining enough personality to have around longer.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Stef looked onward with a dead stare at Lind's response. It wasn't as if the adversity she went through was doubtful, but the woman was preaching to the choir here. No one here had it particularly cozy, either present or past. The redhead herself was Mars-born and while never arrested or convicted, she wasn't a model citizen either. Her family was always poor, but when her dad became sick, her life became consumed with toil. Hell, it still was, except more dangerous in some ways than others.

She had given up a part of herself for this, and at her own persistence was she allowed to remain here when such a sentence would have otherwise been a one-way ticket to being discharged or reassigned to a less burdensome, and less paying, position.

If the girl hadn't left the dregs yet, she'd need to finish saying her goodbyes. The sooner the better.

Nodding a bit at Fulke's comments of the units available for the aficionado, Stef added. "Corvus is mine. Older model and it's had its hull breached 'n patched. It was a high-end variant for its time though. Like I said, don't mind if you look at it so long as the config ain't messed with."

Stating that, it seemed she was rooming with the dregs girl, not that Stef minded. She didn't think Lind was bad, just came on too strong, too fast. She spoke in the same way that Sandra and Stef spoke to each other, but in their case, they had known each other and fought with each other for a long while by this point. She'd settle in, that Stef was sure of.

As for the Captain's co-ed lecture, the whole thing was uninteresting. Stef was no stranger to co-ed facilities. Even in the mines there wasn't that much emphasis on segregation. You worked until you dropped or your shift was done.

Patting the white-haired girl on the back, Stef began heading toward the aforementioned food. "He means eats, and if he tries anything you don't like, I'm sure Sandra will let ya' borrow her knife," She remarked jokingly, but her dry tone almost sounded matter of fact.

"It'll get cut. They let Sandra off her leash, after all," The red-head remarked again, nudging the blonde as she continued on.