• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Roleplay Area

Alrize tilted her head.


"Hey, are you alright? You're fazing out. Heeey."


She waved her hand in front of his face.
 
Ren snapped out of it and sighed.


"Oh... sorry, um..." Ren rubbed the back of his neck, looking the other way.
 
"Oh, uh... no, this is my first time hearing about anything like that..." Ren said, taking another sip of his drink. "I mean, I was just on transfer from Jupiter, I must have just missed something like that..."
 
Alrize furrowed her brow.


"Well it's pretty big news, even though close to no one knows much about it. Big enough that now I'm stuck down here for a while."
 
"I see..." Ren said, suddenly receiving a call on his phone. "Hang on a second..."


He picks it up.


"Hello?"


"Hey, Ren? It's Leo." Ren heard Leo's voice from the other end. "Sorry to drop in on you, but we've got a problem."


"What kind of problem?"


"It's Tsukuyomi." He says. "You'll need to come down here as soon as you can."


Ren sighs heavily.


"Alright..." He says, before ending the call. "Hey, um... I gotta go. Boss just called me in."
 
"Oh, I see. Strange how the waitress hasn't come by yet. I'll see you around, Ren."


Wait for him to leave, then follow him.
 
"Yeah, uh... gonna have to bail on on her... sorry."


Ren quickly jumps up and walks away, back towards the Space Force base.
 
Alrize waved Ren off, then hurriedly sneaked out and followed him under the cover of the crowds.


Water's free in restaurants on Earth, right? Let's hope so…
 
Ren hurriedly got to the front checkpoint of the base. He gave them a special ID card that let him pass that was issued personally by commander Weinberg then headed further into the facility, down the, unfortunately a bit long road to the main complex.
 
Security checkpoint. No way through. Servers are probably too deep for me to handle. I'll have to retreat for now then, I guess.


Alrize marked the location on her phone GPS as the Space Force HQ and started to walk back.


Wait, do I know where my apartment is? Oh, right, GPS. And my list. Let's get that first.


She located the nearest convenience store and electronics store and proceeded to find the things on her list.
 
Ren quickly made his way to the hangar where Leo was waiting for him, as well as a few engineers.


"Ren." Leo said. "Great, you're here."


"What's the problem now?" He asks.


"It's, um..." Leo starts. "Well... I tried to pilot Tsukuyomi."


"And?"


"It wouldn't move."


"What do you mean it wouldn't move?"


"I had the controls, I was giving the commands, but it wouldn't respond." Leo said. "I mean, it wouldn't even budge... and then when I tried to bypass any restrictions..."


"The Orbital Frame forcefully rejected him." An engineer said. "It... you could say 'attacked' him."


"It attacked him?" Ren asked.


Leo brought up his hands, some burn marks on his palm and fingers.


"What the hell...?" Ren said, looking up to Tsukuyomi.


"Not even ARAI knew what was going on." Leo explained. "The biometric lock you had on it was released, she triple checked... but the frame itself..."


"There is nothing in my programming that should have resulted in this outcome." ARAI stated. "I... don't know what happened."


Ren sighed, going over to the elevator next to the frame and taking it up to the cockpit. He jumped in and booted up the system, starting up the frame with no difficulty, releasing it from the hangar clamps and moving it with ease.


"What the problem, ARAI?" Ren asks.


"I don't know." She responded. "I could not operate the frame with Leo. It just... something prevented me from executing any commands he gave to the frame."


"And then..."


"A surge of energy was sent into the cockpit and focusing on the pilot." ARAI stated. "It was not under my control..."


Ren didn't know what was happening... why would the frame itself do something like that? How could the frame itself act on its own accord? That should be impossible... Ren looked to his own hand, the lines still visible... something happened... he didn't know what... but Leo couldn't pilot Tsukuyomi...


"Ren?" ARAI says slowly. "What's... happening to me?"


Ren sighs and puts the frame back into its hangar clamps, shutting down the system.


"I don't know, ARAI." He said. "We gotta figure something out, though..."
 
Raven was sent a message by the R&D team to come and visit one of the hangars, and to bring Rowan with her. The two walked side-by-side in silence, Rowan walking casually with his hands in his pockets while Raven kept a brisk and serious pace to the hangars. They arrived at their destination where some engineers scanned before entering for security purposes. Upon entrance, the two runners were greeted by the sight of two LEV frames in a state of construction. The base of each frame was completed, with some armor attached while some armor was being positioned for installment. Weapons were stowed off to the side, some already installed in the limbs of the units.


"Is this what you showed me?" Rowan asked Raven about the frames.


"Yeah. These are the Vasu Specters. You're going to be assigned to that one," Raven pointed to the frame on their left, which featured crimson and dark silver armor and a significant resemblance to the current Specter unit Rowan was already assigned to.


"That looks like the current Specter..."


"It's an upgrade that you'll be using in the future. You'll continue using the current Specter until that one is hopelessly demolished or if that unit's capabilities become obsolete against enemy forces." Raven explained Rowan's situation regarding the frames he needed to pilot.


"What about you?"


"I'm gonna use the other one," Raven gestured to the frame on their right, which had emerald green and dark silver armor and appeared to have thicker armor. "That's my new unit, which I'll be using until your Specter becomes obsolete in the face of Neo BAHRAM's forces. But the best part of these units only happens when both of them are in combat together."


"What's that?"


"The R&D team want to keep that a secret until the frames are finished and you've been fully assigned to pilot the crimson frame there."


"What a tease..."


"Yep. But hey, it's their call, not ours."


"Can't really blame them for wanting to surprise us. They're the ones who made the units, after all."


"Mhm. I think we're on a time limit for this sneak peak."


"Really?"


"Yep. Time to go," Raven lead the way out of the hangar as the R&D team bid them a good day before the two went to explore the city.
 
In the amount of time that they had available, Zack and TESS talked mostly about miscellaneous, ranging from how Eclipse's repairs were going to how much Zack loved the spaghetti the Mess Hall managed to serve up. For them, it was just a relaxing conversation, without any serious topics being interjected from either side. Little did Zack know, though, that TESS had seen him and Adalia earlier near the entrance to Eclipse's Hangar with the help of Eclipse's functioning visor. She noticed how Adalia was up close and personal with him, and how uncomfortable he looked. She knew something was up, and eventually decided to ask Zack about it.


"Zack?"


"Hmm? What is it?"


"What was Adalia talking to you about?"


Zack looks up for a bit absentmindedly, as if trying to avoid the question. Shortly, however, he sighs as he slumps back in Eclipse's Runner seat. He can vividly remember the look she gave him when he defended TESS after Adalia called her an AI.


"She was asking me about what I was doing, and I told her I was coming over to simply talk to you. She then questioned me, asking if I was attached to despite you just being an AI...I replied, telling her that you were my best friend and comrade for more than two years, and that if anything were to happen to you...I couldn't imagine living for much longer without you..."


TESS remained silent for a few short minutes, taking in Zack's words with heavy consideration. She knew how much Zack cared about her, from grieving over Eclipse being heavily damaged to arguing with one of the repair crew members in trying to convince them to let him speak to her. However, she didn't know Zack cared this much about her, to say how he couldn't continue living without her around. It sparked something inside her, beyond the programming and codes of data, something she, as a highly advanced AI capable of exhibiting emotion, wasn't able to fully grasp until now...empathy. TESS broke the silence at last, speaking in a tone of realization.


"Zack..."


Zack looks down at the control panel, wearing a worried look as he heard TESS's voice.


"TESS?"


TESS makes sniffling sounds before making a slightly cheery hum.


"If I had arms, I'd hug you so tightly right now. What you said to me just shows how much you care for me...I never knew you cared that much for me..."


Zack's mouth goes agape for a bit before he smiles sincerely, rubbing the ceiling of the cockpit.


"Of course I do, TESS. You're the only person I've met in the past four years of my life who I consider my closest friend. And ain't nothing gonna change that."


TESS pauses as she realizes Zack refer to her as a person.


"Person?"


Zack nods adamantly.


"Yes, people, TESS. To me, you're more than just an AI in an Orbital Frame."


"Zack...you're really making me wanna hug you right now..."


Zack chuckles as he continues rubbing the ceiling of the cockpit. He looks down at the panel for the time and sighs.


"Damn, I gotta go now..."


"Don't worry, Zack. I won't be going anywhere. Especially not without you."


Zack smiles.


"See ya later TESS. Take care."


"Likewise, Zack."


Zack hops out of Eclipse's cockpit and exits the hangar, still smiling as he walks back to his quarters.
 
Rowan and Raven spent the rest of their day out in the city. They visited one of the many large malls around the city, and spent a considerable amount of time shopping. Raven had Rowan holding bags upon bags of clothes and whatnot. Rowan was in obvious discomfort from carrying so many bags. Eventually, the two stopped at the food court to eat food. The food court contained many different options. Rowan ordered a sandwich while Raven got herself a pasta bowl. They ate in silence for the most part, until Rowan spoke up.


"Why did you buy so many clothes?" Rowan asked her.


"Why not?"


"You're probably never gonna wear them."


"You never know, Rowan. I might just wear one of the dresses I just bought to a party or something."


"Since when were we invited to parties?"


"Speak for yourself. I actually go to parties with my friends."


"You have friends?"


"That's just rude."


"Whatever the case, I doubt you're gonna wear any of these clothes. Unless you're popular enough to get invited to parties every other weekend or something."


"How did you know?"


"Wait, seriously?"


"Nah, it's only couple of times a month."


"That could still be every other weekend."


"Nevermind..."


"How's your pasta?"


"It's not bad. How's the sandwich?"


"It's good."


"... Now what?"


"Are you done shopping?"


"There's a few more shops I wanna check before we head back."


"You better hurry, it's going to get dark soon."


"Fine, fine..." The two finished eating, then continued on Raven's shopping spree before finally leaving just as the sun began to set.


They arrived at Raven's quarters late at night due to delayed transportation services. It took about an hour or so to organize all of Raven's clothes into her closets and cabinets. Rowan fell onto the bed, exhausted from having to carry the clothes and help put them away. Raven, not tired from organizing, decided to cook something for the two to eat in her quarters.


"You can stay the night if you want, Rowan." Raven offered him. "Sorry for making you carry all my stuff."


"It's fine. Why do girls always go on crazy shopping sprees..." Rowan muttered to himself.


"Don't worry about it, Rowan," Raven said as she finished cooking and served their meal. "Dinner's ready. Dig in."


And so the two ate and watched TV, Rowan falling asleep beside Raven.
 
Ren had been working on Tsukuyomi for the past few hours. It was past midnight, but he still hadn't gotten any sleep. In the cockpit of the frame in its hangar, he tapped away at his tablet, going through all of the frame's systems in order to find out what the problem is. Despite him searching for hours, digging deep into the frames subsystems, he found nothing that was wrong. No bugs or glitches, no incorrect calibrations, nothing that would lead to what happened with Leo. Nothing that would leave the frame unable to be piloted by anyone else. He checked every single system. All of them. One by one manually, attempting to find out what was wrong... but there wasn't anything. But there had to be. Nothing but would've resulted in something like that.


"Ren?" Ren heard a voice call his name. "You up there?"


Ren peeked over the edge of the cockpit down at the voice. It was Leo.


"You're still here?" He asked, his voice echoing in the empty and dark hangar.


"Yeah." He said, shifting back into the seat and continuing to tap away at his tablet, going through all the coding and systems.


Leo took the elevator up to meet him, leaning over the cockpit edge.


"You should get some sleep, you know." He said. "You've been at this for hours."


"Can't." Ren said plainly. "I gotta find out what's wrong with the frame."


"Ren, you've been looking for long enough to check everything three times by now." He said. "You think if there was something wrong you wouldn't have found it by now?"


"There is something wrong." Ren said. "How could the frame have actually assaulted you when you tried to pilot it? That's not something that's programmed in, even with a biometric lock."


"Why don't you pilot it, then?" Leo suggested.


"I don't want to." Ren stated.


"Why not?"


Ren sighed, putting down his tablet and slouching in his seat.


"I never wanted this." He said. "I didn't want to pilot this frame in the first place."


"Then why did you?"


"Because I had to get those plans to the Space Force. After that I didn't want anything to do with it..."


"Well from what I could tell, you've proven yourself to be a natural." Leo smiled. "I mean, a little rough around the edges, but you've held your own more than once."


"I'm not a runner." Ren said. "I'm not cut out for that kind of thing. I did it because I had to, that's it. I did it because I didn't want anyone to get hurt."


"A lot more people are going to get hurt if we don't have this frame." Leo said. "Look, I know it sucks, but we need this frame. And you're the only one who can pilot it, so-"


"No." Ren interrupted him, going back to his tablet. "I'll find out what's wrong, after that I'll hand the frame over to you."


"Ren-"


Ren then suddenly pounded his fist on the dashboard, causing the lights to flicker a bit.


"THEY'RE DEAD, LEO!" He shouted. "That entire fleet that ambushed Cagalli and I at the asteroid belt. They're dead. Every one of them. And I did it!"


Leo was silent to that, taken aback by Ren's sudden loss of composure.


"They're dead, and I killed them..." Ren said, biting his lip. "I didn't want that... I never wanted to hurt anyone... and I don't want to keep doing that. I don't want anything to do with any of this anymore! I'm an engineer, not a soldier! I can't do the things you do! I can't just fight and kill like that! I hated it... fighting... it scares me. I'm not cut out for being a runner... I don't want to. I just want to leave this all behind..."


Leo sighed and quickly snatched Ren's tablet from him, setting it aside on the elevator.


"Hey-"


"C'mon." Leo said, gesturing for Ren to follow.


"What?"


"Just come on." He said sternly.


Ren sighed and got up, hopping out of the cockpit and taking the elevator down with Leo. Following his lead, Ren was lead out of the hangar and across the complex, to what looked like a separate hangar just a bit away that he hadn't seen before. Leo opened the door into the hangar and led Ren through the dark room towards a control console that Leo interacted with. He turned the lights on, nearly blinding Ren, but when he looked up, he saw a frame. Another Orbital Frame. It was sleek, colored with greenish-blue and orange with black. Its head was vaguely avian-shaped, and it possessed a single arm blade on its right arm with a shield unit on its left. It took a few moments, but Ren recognized the frame.


"This is..."


"Jehuty." Leo said. "The Orbital Frame Tsukuyomi was designed to defeat."


Ren had never seen Jehuty up close... it looked a bit old compared to Tsukuyomi or Amaterasu, because it was... but it still seemed to give off an air of power and mystique, as if it was something to be revered... Ren almost felt humbled by it.


"I was Jehuty's first runner." Leo explained. "The Antilia Raid of 2172... I was 13 back then. I just so happened to stumble across Jehuty in the midst of the battle."


Ren turned to Leo, staying silent but listening intently.


"I ran away and found this frame. Not knowing what else to do, I took the controls. To save my own life I fought back. Even though I wasn't meant to pilot that frame, even though I wasn't a soldier, I fought back."


"Why?" Ren asked.


Leo turned to him.


"Because no one else could." He said plainly. "I was only 13. My only friends died right in front of me. My home was being destroyed. I ought to have freaked out and gotten myself killed... but instead... I realized that in this machine, in Jehuty, I came to realize that I had the means to save my home. I had the means to protect people. I couldn't give the frame to anyone else, because there was no one else. I had to fight, because if I didn't, more people would die. And I hated it..."


Leo couldn't help but chuckle.


"I hated it so much. The fighting... it scared me. At any moment I could die. But... I still fought. I fought to protect as many people as I could. I met Elana during the raid, too. It became my goal to get to her and the Space Force so I could give up all of that. So I didn't have to fight anymore. But even after all the fighting... even after all the times I came close to death. Even after fighting some of BAHRAM's most feared runners and even Anubis itself... even after escaping to the Space Force... I realized that I could still do more. I realized that I had the power to protect. I realized that I could make a difference; that I couldn't just sit idly by while BAHRAM hurt and killed more innocent people."


Leo looked back up to Jehuty.


"So I joined the Space Force." He said. "I joined because I realized that I had the ability to protect people. I don't fight just for the sake of it... I fight because I have something worth fighting for."


Leo then turns back to Ren.


"Leo, I'm not a soldier." Ren said. "You may be able to handle that, but... I'm different. I'm not the same as you. I can't just pass off what I'm doing to some higher cause."


"I can't either." Leo said. "But I still do it, because I want to protect those I care about. I want to protect Earth. Despite what I do and what I've done... my will to protect is stronger than my fear or my doubts. I don't fight because I have to, now. I could've just left after I gave them Jehuty. I could've left that all behind... but I saw the potential to be more than what I was. I didn't want more people to get hurt when I could've helped it. That's why I fight. I fight in the hopes that one day... I won't need to anymore."


Ren took Leo's words into consideration, sighing and looking away.


"Reminiscing, Leo?" He then heard a voice say.


"Oh, hey, ADA." Leo smiled up at Jehuty. "Did I wake you?"


"I do not require sleep." The voice said plainly.


"Who's that?" Ren asked.


"I am detached backup battle unit, A.D.A." The voice said. "I am the battle AI of this Orbital Frame."


"ADA is one of the ones who stuck by me." Leo said. "All those years ago, she supported me."


"I'm afraid you give me too much credit." ADA said.


"Heh..." Leo smiled, before turning back to Ren. "Listen... I know it may be hard. I know you don't want to. I know you aren't a soldier. But you have a gift. That frame is yours. It's your power. And with it you have the ability to protect others. You just have to find your own reasons for fighting. Right now... you're all the hope we've got."


Ren turned away from Leo, clutching his fists, staying silent before turning around, walking away from him. He left the hangar, deciding to go home and get some rest... he had a lot to sleep on, anyway...
 
Alrize brought her items back to her apartment. She tossed a frozen dinner into a microwave, before taking it out and reading the directions, then finally putting it back inside and setting the timer. Her Wi-Fi router was set up rather easily, and she plugged her headphones into her laptop. The emergency survival gear she bought remained in her backpack.


Alright, I guess I'll tell Overseer.


She connected her laptop to the internet, and contacted Overseer Adalia, who was back at Neo BAHRAM HQ on Deimos. 
 
Adalia was sitting at her desk, still recalling her conversation with Zack back at Eclipse's hangar in her head before looking at her data pad. She noticed the screen was blinking, indicating that someone was trying to contact her. She picks up her data pad and answers, seeing Alrize's face on the screen.


"Alrize. I see you made it to Earth. What's the status of your mission as of right now?"
 
Alrize relaxed when the connection was a success.


Good job with the router, it's not absolute trash.


"I've been able to set up in this apartment successfully thanks to the provisions on the credit card. And regarding Ren Silber, somehow, he seems to be…staying in the apartment room next to mine."
 
"Unfortunately, not much. He seems to be troubled, and pretended that he did not remember the annihilation of the Neo BAHRAM fleet. I did learn the location of the Space Force HQ on Earth, however."
 
"I am not well-accustomed to starting conversations, therefore this mission may be slightly more difficult than expected, but it is still entirely doable. Other than that, nothing else to report."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)

Similar threads

RolePlayGirl_2024
Realistic or Modern Looking for a one on one RolePlay
Replies
0
Views
22
RolePlayGirl_2024
RolePlayGirl_2024
Garului
Fandom Just a simple PMD roleplay
2 3 4 pokemon mystery dungeon
Replies
84
Views
466
Garului
Garului
GamerKitty205
Fandom Pokemon 1x1
1x1 roleplay pokemon
Replies
13
Views
236
locked n loaded
locked n loaded
Lucyfer
Fandom Fallout New Vegas: All Roads [Closed]
fallout new vegas
Replies
4
Views
107
Lucyfer
Lucyfer
RascalRoadkill
Fantasy Tooth, Hoof and Claw [rascal & inthesea]
Replies
2
Views
69
RascalRoadkill
RascalRoadkill
Back
Top