[IC] Symphony of the Stars

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

You've been called to the cafeteria. This probably isn't the first time you've been here. The Ballad, the homeship of the Kyle Mercenaries, has been docked in the Issucan Space Station for a week now. If you arrived within this week, you would have had to take a transport ship to the Ballad. The Ballad would never fit in any of the Issucan's ship ports. How could it, it's a massive ship! And massive is an understatement. The Ballad is a 15 kilometer long ship, with six floors. You've heard stories about this ship, and how the Kyle Mercenaries have come to own it. It's say the Ballad was a flag ship for the Terran army many years ago, until it was stolen. Still, the Ballad's size is wasted. Not even a fourth of the ship's quarters and ship ports are used, and it's crew isn't able to handle it's more complex weaponry.

However, this will be your home from now on. Your mech has already been docked into the ship, and any belongings have been stored in your living quarters. And now you are here, in the noisy cafeteria.

Until the door opens. Everyone in the cafeteria goes quiet, as a slender dark skinned woman enters the cafeteria. The atmosphere becomes tense, as if everyone is scared to speak. The woman, step by step makes her way to your table, the table where you, your partner, and all of the newly hired mercenaries are sitting.

"So you are the sorry bunch Freya hired. You looked more intimidating in the holo-pictures to be honest with you." The woman sighs, sitting down on the table with you. Her eyes a deep green, and droopy looking. Her hair is pitch black, spiky and short. Her body looks just like a Michi's, slender and nimble looking. But for all you can tell, she is Terran. "I am Captain Piper Kyle, I am the one who hired you. Look, my great grandpa used to say 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' but I'm in real need of proper pilots. I take one look at you, and I don't see strong pilots. But Freya swears you are worth the money."

The Captain snaps her fingers, and a few seconds later a Michi girl nervously comes running, a beer in hand. Captain Kyle takes the beer, drinks it in a single go, and belches loudly.

"So why don't you tell the class a little about yourselves. Who you are, and why you are here. Oh and have a beer while you are at it." Everyone sitting at the other tables seems to be just as curios as the Captain, all of them practically staring at each of you, all of them waiting for a response.

[Kurotsune]

Blackseed arrives before all others in the cafeteria, peering around the place as if seeing it for the first time.

She takes but a second to marvel at how the construction of the top-class machine came about; the Kyle Mercenaries were known for their lavish style and high-end tech, but seeing it up close, even if not for the first time, was a sight to behold.

It was her good friend, Albertus Ravioli, whom she met through a misunderstanding of identity, who pointed her and Millenium towards the Kyle Mercenaries. He arranged her meeting with Freya and consequentially brought her eventual trial for the corporation.

Albertus was a fairly famous mercenary, and his influence greatly sped up the process of her tryouts, but so did the name PANTHER. They knew who she was, and she was open about it; Despite the fact she and millenium altered the symbols in their ANGEL to no longer resemble the animal - They managed to make it look like a fox, so they named the mech BLACK FOX instead - the tattoo upon her left shoulder told a different story.

Wearing a sleeveless black tank-top which bared her midriff and arms in their entirety, this much wasn't at all hidden from sight; Neither were the uncaracteristically muscular features of the Michi.

As more and more begin to arrive, Blackseed snaps out from her trance, glancing to her companion when they approach.

"Millenium", she says with an appreciative nod and a slight grin, "I guess it's time to see what these mercenaries are made of".

After her partner's reply, a woman enters the cafeteria, eliciting silence from those within it.

She speaks, explaining who she was, and how sorry of a lot they were, the whole intimidation tactis that armies always employed to begin breaking in resistance and building obedience and discipline from their soldiers. Blackseed was well used to it, and didn't mind it. Instead, she simply stood attentively as the woman spoke, until she gave her cue.

"Ah reckon ah may as well be ta first" She speaks out loud, her heavy back-country accent showing, "so les' just cut to ta chase"

"Ah'm PANTHER, first battallion. If yer not Michi, yer prolly never heard o' us. If y'are, ye prolly hate us. Ah dun' care. Ah was trained and enhanced to fight an' ta be a spec-ops, infiltration agent. Ah pilot the ANGEL part of our mech alonside my little bud 'ere, Millenium", she nods towards the machine, "an' we'll be glad to show y'all jus' how good we can take care o' ouselves, aye?"

She readily grabs a nearby cup of beer, downing in quickly in a similar fashion to the captain. "An' I'll gladly show y'all that ah can ou'drink 'nyone who's willing ta try", she finishes offering the captain a defiant smirk, before setting the glass down loudly against the table, grabbing a nearby chair and letting her heavy frame fall atop it as she waits.

[Code: PIRULUK]

In one of the center tables was a little robot girl. Her legs dangled off the ground as she sat on the high bar stool, and her blue shoes with white stockings coloured the air as her legs waved about. A frilly baby blue skirt adorned her metal thighs, complementing a shirt-vest ensemble, a white long-sleeved blouse setting the background for a blue patterned vest.

Symphony had her eyes closed, listening to an instrumental track, humming along and tapping the table in time with the rhythm. She smiled contentedly as she listened, making a mental archive of ideas for lyrics. It had been a good idea to commission the composer; the music was wonderful.

As the door opened and the tall woman walked in, Symphony opened a secondary audio input channel, marking the music as higher priority. As the woman talked about how utterly useless and weak they looked, Symphony continued to note down possible lyrics that could go in each verse. This would be Sol Sourire's first ever single album, so it needed to be perfect! It was definitely more important than some briefing or browbeating session.

As the woman asked for a self-introduction, Symphony paused the music and looked up attentively. A good idol knows: never miss a chance to make an impression. She got the chance to go first unfortunately snatched away by the tattooed Michi woman, but she didn't let that discourage her; a good idol always keeps in high spirits, after all.

The moment Blackseed slammed down her beer glass in a show of female masculinity, Symphony jumped on to her table and waved at everyone.

"Hi~ I'm Symphony, idol-in-training! My dream is to bring smiles to people across the universe!"

Symphony twirled around, sending her skirt sweeping around her with a flourish, then struck a pose: she leaned her upper body forward, put her left hand on her hip, and held her right up to her eye level in a "V" shape.

"I'm a GUARDIAN pilot, and I'm good at blowing things to pieces, but... I think I still like singing and dancing more, tehe~"

Complementing her statement with a wink. Symphony clasped her hands together and bowed.

"I'm still very inexperienced, and I have many things to learn, but please take care of me."

Symphony looked up again and smiled brilliantly.

"Just watch us! We're going to be the greatest idol unit the universe has ever seen, me and my partner... Heavensea!"

As she said this last line, she jumped off the table and tackled Heavensea with a flying hug.

"Isn't she super cute?!"

As she said this last line, she blissfully nuzzled the Michi girl's side, her face forming a "= w =" expression.

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea's ears were laid back ever so slightly during the woman's speech, the only outward sign of her irritation. She wasn't particularly fond of being talked down to as if she was a child, though she had to admit herself and her partner weren't exactly the spitting image of combat efficacy. The Michi glanced over at Symphony during the speech - she seemed to be happy, though whether she was actually paying attention to the Captain was another question entirely.

The other Michi caught her attention when she spoke. Heavensea looked over her - the woman introduced herself as Blackseed - with a mixture of mistrust and pity. While Heavensea's family had moved to Terra before she was old enough to remember anything about her homeworld, the news about PANTHER had resonated throughout the Michi community. She supposed it was only natural to find the remnants of that unnatural project here, not that it made her any more comfortable.

Her musings about Blackseed were interrupted, however, when Symphony jumped up onto the table and began her own introduction. It wasn't exactly an unexpected move from the Nienian girl, but regardless a faint blush showed on the normally stoic catgirl's face. She was not, however, anticipating the flying hug, which caused the blush to go from "slight tinge" to "bright red." The action itself nearly knocked her over, though she still caught Symphony and returned the hug before mostly disengaging from the robot girl, leaving one arm around her shoulder.

"Ah... um, yes, as my partner said, my name is Heavensea. I am proficient in close combat with a variety of martial arts, both armed and unarmed, and I believe I am a fair marksman. I pilot the ANGEL of Sol Sourire." Though her face remained mostly unreadable except for the fading blush, her ears once again betrayed her true feelings; they were noticeably laid back. "I hope we can work together effectively." She drew her other arm back to herself for a polite bow towards the captain, placing her hands together. She accepted the beer from the Michi serving girl, but only took a sip before setting it back down on the table, a faint expression of distaste on her face.

[Hiss13]

Mira could not help but realize how…colorful… the group of other mercenaries on the team were. She looked at the various people in the group before staring back at her more lazy-looking brother.

She had listened to the musings of their captain who had seemed to be under the impression that they were more intimidating looking in their photos. While some may have taken offense at that, Mira found herself chuckling a bit.

As she listened to the two Michis' and the Nienian's odd introduction, she made mental notes about the oddities she noticed in each of her new comrades. She took a beer and stood up and make her own. "Hey, everybody! I'm Mira Thompson and I'm the pilot of ANGEL-Artemis." She said with a loud booming voice.

She proceeded to point at the person next to her. "This here is my older brother, Reggi, the pilot of GUARDIAN-Artemis. He does come off as lazy on first impression but his piloting skills and beam-spam capabilities are second to none."

With that, she chugged a fair portion of the beer in her cup, and finished off. "We may be heirs to the Ghost Rain Conglomerate but don't let that be of any value in judging us. Got it?" She said giving a mischievous smile. "It's a blast to meet all of you. Let's get along because this expedition won't be any fun if we don't after all."

[rustytengo]

Reggi was resting with his legs up on the table he was sitting at with his sister just watching the people in the cafeteria. Though to them it probably looked like he was sleeping. As the room went quite he looked up to see a woman walking to the table with the group he was with. He laughed to himself as she went on her sepal about it was the same thing he got at the academy and most other groups his sister and him worked with.

He paid attention to the group as they introduced themselves, a Michi that worked for PANTHER he knew that name but could place it (the details are for Mira to figure out anyway) , a Ninenan, another Ninenan who wanted to be an idol and her partner another Michi. (he will remember their names if only to annoy his family at a fancy party that need musical entertainment.)

Reggi waved as his sister introduced them to the group. Once she finished speaking he fallowed up.

"As my sis said I'm Reginald Thompson, but you can call me Reggi. Mira covered most of everything so there isn't much for me to add. So i hope we have a fun journey as well. It should be quit eventful from what I can gather." he said in a calm meandering voice as he leaned forward "Though if you found a picture of my sister intimidating Ms.Kyle, then you must of got one of her when she just woke up." He said with a smile before taking a drink from his glass and continuing "And trust me. Me and my sister are well worth any money that's connected to us." he finished matching Captain Kyle's gaze.

Edited February 2, 2016 by rustytengo

[K_H]

When Millennium had entered the cafeteria just behind Blackseed, he'd been looking around, observing the technology in the room. None of it had resonated quite like the tech that had been taken from him by the unknown entity, but it was intriguing to him nonetheless. After his partner's statement concerning getting to know the other Mercenaries, Millennium nodded and spoke.

"Indeed."

Millennium then waited as the other Mercenaries introduced themselves. After everyone else finished, Millennium decided to more thoroughly introduce himself.

"Greetings, fellow Mercenaries. As my partner already stated, my Identity is Millennium, GUARDIAN Pilot of the Mech known as BLACK FOX. A little bit of info about me that not many of you might know already is that I was one of the first Nienians to re-activate 110 years ago, so i am most likely older than any of you here. Additionally, I built up my aim during my 96-year-long stay in the Asteroid Belt in the Sol System while the Terrorists were a major force, so I've had a bit of time to become an expert marksman."

Millennium then folded out his hand, revealing the railgun built into his arm, and then folded his hand back in, hiding it again.

"As for my goals, I want to explore, as curiosity is hard-wired into my programming. From what the rest of you have said, this mission has a high likelihood of being interesting."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Piper's face seemed to turn into a confident grin at the first merc's challenge. Then a disappointed scowl. And it seemed to flux between the two emotions as the mercenaries introduced themselves. By the end of it she seemed more bored than anything, tapping against the glass of her beer. When her new employees were finished introducing themselves, she got up from her seat.

"Well I'll tell you this much. I sure am glad I don't have to deal with you weirdos. You are more rag tag than my own crew."

"That's Piper's strange language. It translates something like, 'You'll fit right in'." A small voice made itself known. It's source, a small snow Yousei woman. She was shorter than Piper, the Yousei's small horns barely reaching the Terran's chin. She stepped over with grace, and poise. It was almost comical how such a frail, pale looking woman could puff her chest out so much. Yet the woman made herself look as if she was larger than any of the current members. "My name is Freya, I am the one who went over your applications. I am the head scientist, and chief of staff. I also run support on most of our operations, think up strategies, lead the development teams, and do pretty much all of the work our captain should be doing. But she's a blockheaded Terran so what can you do."

As quickly as the Yousei finished her sentence, Piper smashed her beer bottle on the table. She made no vocal threats, but Freya went stiff. She coughed to regain her voice.

"A-anyway. Uuuh how about we meet. Uhm... Chief of Engineering. She was supposed to be here somewhere uhm... Over there!" The Freya points to a redskinned Yousei with her head over a table counter. Two empty bottles rolled on the floor next to her stool. "That drunk is Latis. She manages the engineering teams, and will be running maintenance on your mechs if you can't do it yourself. As much as I hate to admit it, she is actually quite talented at it. When she's drunk. Or so she claims."

"There is one last important member, but you'll meet him soon." Freya turns to Piper and gives a small nod.

"So let's get down to business. As soon as we are done with this briefing we will warp drive to star system A-42. In this star system there is a planet I've personally codenamed 'barbecue'. You'll see why. The Union is paying us to destroy a pirate base in the caves of the planet. You will go into the base and kill everything that moves. Any questions?"

[Kurotsune]

"Jus' a few, if y'all won' be mindin' answerin' me." Blackseed taps her glass absent-mindedly, glancing from Freya to Piper. "Should ah be assumin' the lack o' information is done on purpose as a part o' you testin' us?" she smiles somewhat the yousei.

"An' if y'aren't, den how 'bout lettin' us know who we're huntin'? Them pirates have a leader? A name?"

As she waits for the answer she readily grabs a second glass of brew, drinking it this time at a more relaxed pace.

"Miles," she quips, looking to Millenium "maybe ye've some info on an' planets on A-42 with presumed pirate bases 'n-slash-or 'nythin' we can use?"

She takes another sip. "'n the last question; Why would'ja need three mechs for pirates?"

[K_H]

Millennium did a scan of his database, but came up blank in terms of info concerning the A-42 system's Pirates. he then looked at Blackseed, and came out with the full truth.

"I apologise for the disappointment, Blackseed, but my records have no data concerning pirates in the A-42 System that make them unique from other Pirates. The only things the six of us can rely on would be the Kyle Mercenaries and each other. Teamwork between Mechs has a very high probability of being key to our upcoming mission."

[Code: PIRULUK]

Symphony excitedly jumped up and down, waving her hand in the air.

"Ooh! Ooh! I have a question~"

Symphony rubbed her hands together, her pupils replaced with ¥ symbols.

"If they're pirates, that means they have stolen stuff, am I correct? So... can we loot them? And keep the loot?"

She put a finger to her chin, her eyes reverting to normal, as she suddenly thought of something else.

"Oh, and they likely have some kind of broadcasting equipment on-site, so can we appropriate that for personal use if it exists?"

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"The lack of information is done because mercenaries don't need information. Just a gun and a place to point it at." Piper with that said, starts to go off. "Details aren't my strength. If you want those questions answered ask Freya. I'm going to the helm, we'll be warping in 20 minutes."

Freya let out a huge sigh. This seemed to be common occurrence too. She took out a small circular device; a holo projector. Placing it on the center of the table, the Yousei tapped the middle. The projection of a red planet appeared, rotating slowly. Fryea cleared her throat and started explaining.

"This is planet E of system A-42. Or as our Captain codenamed it, planet barbecue. It's a planet in an infancy state, and is incredibly dangerous. The surface is littered with volcanoes and the skies with ash storms. It barely has a working atmosphere, with very low levels of oxygen. A small band of pirates recently escaped a Union Fleet, and made their hideout here. These pirates are the remnants of a bigger group suspect of causing the attacks on Michi cities almost a hundred years ago." Freya sounds and looks almost like a teacher, clearly happy to spare all of the information she can. She takes a sip of one of the beers on the table before continuing. "We don't have much information about this group in specific. The Union wants them dead, but uninhabited solar systems are out of their jurisdiction. So they hire mercenaries like us. Well, like you."

She touches the hologram picture, swiping with two fingers to zoom in. The picture zooms in, revealing the red barren ground. "We have a smaller ship in orbit of the planet right now. According to our scouts, the planet is filled with complicated tunnel systems. We believe the pirates are hiding somewhere in these caves. Any loot and stolen goods you find are to be returned to the ship, for me to analyze. If they have any technology that can be adapted to our own mechs I would like to get my hands on it. However, I don't need junk. You can keep any basic broadcasting equipment." Freya looks at symphony on the last part of her sentence. Why anyone would want broadcasting equipment was beyond her. The scientist swiped her fingers again, and zoomed out. Then clicking on the holo-projector device again she went through a menu, and pressed a button. A figurine of the Ballad appeared in orbit of the planet. "Find them on foot, route them out, and force them into their ships. When they attempt to run away, we will move the Ballad into their escape route. We will send down your mechs, and you will corner them in a pincer attack. Whatever forces they have shouldn't be strong enough to defeat your machines. Or mine as a matter of fact." An evil grin spread through the scientist's face. "Anything else?"

[Kurotsune]

"Sound strategy, but aren' we missin' on some info? Like... How weaponized them bandits are?

...Ah, whatever. 'S 'nough for me. Miles, ah'll be at the fox." With a nod to the others around her and a slight tap on her companions' shoulder, Blackseed stands and moves outside the cafeteria. Should she be allowed to do so without interruptions, the Michi would only be found should anyone descend to the hangar, and which point she'd be seen, tools in hand, fiddling about the machinery of her mech.

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea raised her hand politely for a moment, to draw Freya's attention. "I would have to agree with Blackseed; knowing how well-armed these bandits are would be very helpful for the initial stages of the mission. It may not go well for us if they decide that they can overwhelm us on the ground, regardless of whether they are actually capable of such." After she spoke, she glanced over at her partner. Even though she knew perfectly well that the Nienian could defend herself, Heavensea still worried for her safety.

[rustytengo]

Reggi yawned as Freya went on about the mission. "Why would you call a planet barbecue just because its volcanic barbecue is suppose to be tasty not ash and sulfur flavor." He thought as she went over the plan of action. It was a simple plan but simple is sometimes the best thing in some situations, but there was a bit more he needed to know. The two Michi girls pointed out one of them.

After Heavensea finished speaking Reggi spoke up in his meandering voice not really addressing anyone "The kitty cats are right about needing to know what weapons they have though I'm guessing a few ships and mechs nothing I haven't seen pirates use before." He paused to yawn and adjusted his position "Do we know anything about the number we will be looking at and how are you going to stop the pirates from leaving out of another tunnel exit? Tunnel complexes usually have more then two." he finished with another yawn.

[K_H]

Millennium then spoke up.

"If you have any maps of the Tunnel Network, they may prove invaluable to us."

[Hiss13]

"I agree with the others. If we at least had a grasp on the possible exit points in the tunnel network, it would make flushing the targets out a lot easier." Mira closed an eye and held her hand out, half-closed with a single finger pointing out. "If the targets have multiple back-ups, knowledge of the exit points will allow us to far more easily corner them. Whether it's taking out extra transports or blocking off exits to squeeze them into one location, we can use that info to streamline a process that could be easily thrown off by uncertainty."

[Code: PIRULUK]

While the others were discussing strategy, Symphony was far more invested in the crucial task of scrolling through her IdolTweet feed to keep up with all the latest gossip. As she chanced upon a particularly scandalous piece of news - Ricchan was caught in public with a Nienian! - she gasped and giggled, mostly oblivious to the serious discussion going on around her. Occasionally she looked up to see if they were leaving the room anytime soon, but soon returned to her duty, swinging her legs about on the tall bar stool that suspended her feet above the ground. If there was anything actually important, she knew she could count on Heaven-chan to tell her later.

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea stiffened sharply at the human's words. Kitty cats-! Though she didn't say anything out loud and her face remained serene as always, anyone with half a brain could see her rapidly mounting irritation at the term. Her ears started to lay back against her head, and her twin tails lashed back and forth a few times, actually brushing against her partner without her awareness. I expected a certain level of uncouthness, but this already?

[K_H]

Millennium noticed Heavensea's reaction, and searched through his databanks for any previous incidents that were similar, and recognized the phrase as being derogatory in nature. He then frowned, 'eyebrows' tilting center-wards and giving him a very serious look, and spoke to Reggi, pulling out a different voice synthesis algorithm that had much more of an edge to it for what he would say next.

"I apologize in advance for saying this, but I believe you should apologize, ape. And before you call me a machine, know that it will be ineffective as an insult, seeing as even though I am sentient, it is still the truth, since I am mechanical in nature."

Edited February 7, 2016 by K_H

[Code: PIRULUK]

Symphony was abruptly shaken out of her gleeful Tweet-checking spree by a light brush of Heavensea's tails which swished into her field of vision, obscuring the screen. She looked up questioningly and noticed that at some point, the tension in the room had approached Senbatsu* levels, primarily centered around her partner, who seemed to be doing all she could not to hiss and pounce at one of the humans. Sighing, she turned her body away, holding up her screen with her left and casually stroking one of Heavensea's tails with her free right hand, hoping to calm the Michi.

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea turned her head to look at the source of the unexpected touch. Her ears moved upward and to the side ever so slightly, and this was accompanied by a faint blush. She silently berated herself for becoming so visibly upset, but it was halfhearted at best as she was distracted by her partner stroking her tail. She's so . . . affectionate . . . She almost entirely forgot the other Nienian stepping in to defend her - something she also wasn't a massive fan of.

[rustytengo]

A faint smile one that very few would notice appeared on Reggi's at the Michi's reaction to his words. Though it disappeared at the Nienian's words.

"Minus five points for attempting to chastise someone well using a insult. That's a horrible way to go about it you never know how someone will react and i could make things much worst." He said nonchalantly at the Millenium "And minus another fifthteen for thinking i would come up with such a mundane insult." he finished with a yawn while turning to Heavensea.

"Plus twenty points for having pride as a Michi. Which is good since you will be in the same area as my sister in fights and I couldn't leave her in the care of someone who would roll over and prostrate themselves at the first sigh of adversity." He smiled kindly at Heavensea. "Though I would talk with your partner about certain things if I where you. It could give some people the wrong impression." He finished leaning back in his seat.

Edited February 9, 2016 by rustytengo

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Freya grinned, amused at the bickering. After Reggi responds she intervenes. "Now now, as much as I love watching lower lifeforms argue, we have matters to attend to." She touched the projection of the planet again, and zoomed in on the planet's surface again. "The maps we currently have are nowhere detailed enough. We will not send a recon team down into the caves, if they were to get ambushed by the pirates while they are mapping the area we would be unable to help them properly. It's also hard to properly map the cave system from orbit because of all of the ash storms in the planet. For the same reasons, we don't know what they armed with either. The Union didn't disclose any information on their armory so I'm guessing they don't have anything too dangerous. You are going to have to... As the captain says. 'Wing it'"

A sound came from the intercom, a male voice. The voice announced "Starting Warp Drive systems." A few seconds later the voice announced "Warp Drive successful. Ballad in orbit of, planet Barbecue."

"I guess that's your cue." Getting up from the seat, the Kousei walked over to the automatically opening door. "Follow me, I'll take you down to the hangar. From there you will meet your field commander and depart."

[Chevaleresse]

Another flash of irritation, though this one being much lower and magnitude and suppressed much more proficiently, showed in a twitch of Heavensea's tail. Still, she was eager to be off. The Michi woman lightly tapped Symphony's shoulder to get her attention. "We're in orbit around our destination." She waited for her partner to move before following Freya at an even, graceful pace.