2022-07-07: A Show of Hands

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<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

As time flies through space, so do the ghosts.

There are those who have garnered the ability to see those ghosts. The spirits that live within one-another. And as of recently, a certain Lucky Rabbit's Foot - a certain Flamingo - has come to terms that perhaps, people around her aren't like her. She has always known she is a Natural, certainly. It would be hard not to notice that she is different from the Coordinators. Reading their emotions more easily, as well as sometimes impressing her emotions upon others.

But now that she's been piloting for a while, and her father has granted her a machine that works off of her psy-waves... things have changed. She has come to terms that she is different, and that learning from Coordinators about how to pilot a machine is perhaps the very reason she has always struggled so much.

This leads us to this moment, as the Psyco Zack floats in the midst of space, with Lily white-knuckling within her machine.

She had requested, politely, if the Sleeves could perhaps offer some guidance for her. Within the old looking former-Federation machine, her Haro pipes up about approaching units.

"I know, Kuma. I don't know what they are even fielding. But if we don't learn from them, how are we possibly going to help during this war? And now /aliens/ are showing up again! We won't survive if we don't improve." She remarks to the Haro. 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Palau is, aside from the Garancieres, the place that Marida calls home. For now, anyway. Both of them serve as a base of operations as well, but thanks to her upbringing, origins, and the purpose she was crafted for, there is no meaningful distinction between those two things. Right now, her mission is to assist an ally in learning more about piloting and the capabilities of some pilots, which can be expressed through a machine on a larger scale than otherwise. Especially machines equipped with a psycoframe.

        Large, dark-green, looming, the Kshatriya floats into view, a small blot against the starry background. Marida is performing system checks and guaranteeing all is well so that she can perform at her best. Even if this is only a mock battle, there is no reason to treat this mission less seriously than any other. Looking at the screens surrounding her through her helmet, Marida issues a message through her communications array.

        "Master, the Kshatriya is fully operational. Marida Cruz, ready to begin operation." 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Overseeing this mock battle is an ordinary freighter, its rounded, trapezoidal design and dark olive-green colouration a familiar sight to the residents of Palau.

Aboard the Garencieres, its captain, Lieutenant Suberoa Zinnerman, coordinates the readouts he's getting from the three mobile suits intended to be deployed in this mock skirmish, the freighter currently situated on the dark side of a large enough asteroid to mask its presence from any Londo Bell scouts getting overly inquisitive. He keys the comms. "Understood, Marida. Launch when you're ready. Lieutenant Garvey, how long has it been since you last piloted in space? Miss Jung: Please signal when you're ready to begin."

In a live combat situation, he would have allowed the Unicorn to be deployed. However, given that a previous sortie had seen the Key to Laplace seize control of the psycommu weapons of a pilot participating in this skirmish and caused her pain, he and Banagher had agreed that the pure-white, horned Gundam should be benched. With Banagher's permission, the cockpit had been opened so that the freighter's mechanic Tomura could get to the computer and try to figure out the new systems underpinning its fearsome weaponry.

As far as the rest of the crew goes, Kwani, the team's field surveillance specialist, is on a long-term assignment on Earth in Area 11 at present. 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

After what happened with Lily the last time Banagher took the Unicorn out to fight, he doesn't mind waiting this mock-battle out, not a bit. Besides, being able to watch Marida in action would be exciting -- surely, just observing such an experienced pilot would teach him a lot.

"Good luck out there." He says, to all combatants. "Be careful."

Banagher stands close to the Captain, looking out over what would soon be the battlefield. "They'll all be okay, right?" He doesn't bother trying to disguise his slight nervousness. Even in a mock-battle, so much could go wrong. Banagher hugs his Haro close to his chest.

Letting Tomura inside Unicorn was admittedly making Banagher anxious, making him fidget slightly as he waited for the fight to start. If no one else picks up on this, Haro does, waving his little winglets. "Banagher!" 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        The Kshatriya is decades removed from what Loni has been piloting since she began training to fight the Federation. She has been stuck with the leftover military equipment from the One Year War, so the Dreissen she is piloting now is likewise quite a bit better. But that quad-wing... She doesn't know all of its specs, from what she has seen it is an absolute monster. And Loni is more than slightly envious of Marida having access to all of that power. But stronger than that is just being glad that she has strong allies on her side.

        "Not since I was deployed to Earth, Captain." Loni answers as she gives a once-over of her own systems to make sure she set everything up properly. She knows she has, but she's not about to screw up a training battle over something as simple and stupid as not having some boxes ticked.

        The thrusters flare to life in the Dreissen's back as it moves to get closer to the Kshatriya while assessing the Psycho Zack in it its... Interesting war paint.

        Not the sort of thing Loni would be caught dead in back on Earth, conducitng guerilla warfare against the Feddies, but not her problem.

        "Loni Garvey, ready for action." 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily's entire body drops into proper posture when Suberoa Zinnerman speaks up and comes in through her commlink. The EWAC system of Lily's Psyco Zack is automatically running a laserlink along all units marking as friendly. Her hair lifts just a bit within her helmet, and her energetic eyes quickly scan the periphery as her unit starts to be approached.

"I hope you don't mind the use of live weaponry - at low output settings and non-lethal rounds. My daddy will of course pay for any repairs. I just want to learn from you wonderful people." Lily chimes with a sense of childlike innocence to her request. Or perhaps it's less innocence, and more just this infectuous 'positive'... vibe.

Her comm-link then establishes with the Kshatriya as it comes closer like the strange green winged thing it is. There's a certain... presence coming from it. A pressure that Lily feels like it pushes her back into her seat.

Then there's Loni in her Dreissen. It lacks the Psycho-frame to boost her presence, yet the young woman no doubt has quite a bit of experience over Lily. The young woman grips her controls a bit firmer.

"Please don't go easy on me. I earnestly wish to learn from you." She communicates with the two pilots. "Please, begin." She notes, and then hits the thrusters, her slower unit beginning to approach! 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

MEANWHILE, ALSO ON THE GARANCERIES!!

There's a decidedly piratical looking gentleman reclining in what appears to be a lawn chair because he doesn't technically have an official seat available on the bridge.

He seems to be sipping a zero-g-friendly smoothie packet--

Nope that's a margarita. In what used to be a zero-g-friendly smoothie packet. But hey, all's fair in space and moonshining.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Of course she's not going to go easy on her. How is Lily supposed to learn if Marida isn't a useful role model? She wants to keep this girl alive after all. Not adequately instructing her would lower the chances of that outcome. So, wordlessly, once she has been granted permission to engage, Marida dips her fingers across the left control stick, tapping a pair of buttons in sequence to que up her weapons, and then the Kshatriya begins its approach.

        It might seem as though it would be a lumbering, ungainly thing, but as its wings spread wide and the blue-white of thrusters flaring to life inside each of the binders that assumption is immediately tested. The quad-wing surges forwards, seemingly on an easy-to-predict straight-line vector. But then it rotates and roils off the side, while releasing a pair of shots from the mega particle cannons in the wing that remains flared open towards the Psycho Zack. 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        "No way will I go easy on you. The Federation pilots won't. It's my job to make sure you're prepared for that fight when it comes." Loni transmits as she draws the Dreissen's heat saber, trying to circle around the Psycho Zack in preparation to take advantage of an evasive maneuver attempted against the Kshatriya. She'll look for an opening either way, and then dash in to slash with the glowing blade. Even if its output has been turned down, it's not pleasant to be hit with. Especially not in the back.

        Loni can feel the pressure from the other two women, but without the augmentation of a Psycoframe she's mostly just detecting the mix of unease and optimism from Lily and the cold, crushing weight of determination that seems to surround Marida like a comet made entirely of Intent.

        She is, again, comforted that Marida is on their side. 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Marida is one of the two top pilots aboard the Garencieres. Her alone would be an intense test and learning experience for Lily; adding a second pilot into the equation is going to very quickly teach her where her limits are and maybe even push her beyond them. "They'll be alright, Banagher. We're here in case anything goes wrong, remember."

He nods in approval as Marida opens with a long-range barrage while Loni goes in close, forcing Lily to defend on two fronts simultaneously. "Pay close attention, kid. The thruster configuration on the Kshatriya allows Marida to trivially change her angle of approach, and the wing shields can be brought in close to camouflage the suit body's movements."

He glances over at Trevor, smiling wryly. "Enjoying the performance?" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher nods, his feelings of anxiety easing. "Right."

"Should Marida be worried about accidentally hitting Loni, attacking from long range like that?" The young pilot's eyes watch the mobile suits clash, studying them calmly. "The Unicorn's Beam Magnum is so strong, I've been worried I would hurt an ally with it in big fights. I've tried to stick to my Beam Sabers because of it, but the gun is so much stronger.."

When Zinnerman addresses Trevor, Bangaher turns to look at him as well, blinking in surprise. "Should he... be here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

It's only thanks to her EWAC systems that Lily can even get a good scan over Marida Cruz' Kshatriya at this range. As it begins to approach, the quad-wing using its thrusters, Lily can't help but be impressed as it begins to roll and noticing the wings opening up.

The girl presses her shoulders against her seat, and ensures the straps are well engaged, before the Zack begins to turn, rolling a bit from side to side, and keeps its movement towards Marida Cruz's position while Loni is coming from the side.

Initially, her plan is to swoop underneath the incoming attack from in front of her. Her typical military training trying to deal with the situation one-thing-at-a-time. Loni, closer to her, can feel this sense of a tremmor. As if she is trying to do too many things at the same time. Following the book to the letter as her machine turns away from the first flash of light coming from the Kshatriya, right as Loni's Heat Saber comes in. The Psyco-Zack quickly tries to turn, using its left-handed Longblade Rifle and activating the Blade section of it to hold the blade from just cutting through her unit, but instead the interaction pushes the blade back and the Dreissen sinks its blade into the shoulder of the Zack!

Lily is immediately made aware of the difference here between herself and Loni. Where Lily is still trying her best to do the battle one thing at a time, Loni and Marida's movements seem... clean. Practiced. Like they don't have to think before they do.

She tries to push the blade back, but the driving force of Loni's attack pushes her unit into the wake of Marida's beam assault, causing the Zack to spin out from the force of heat across its armor. Lily quickly directs her unit to swing its blade at Loni to get her to back off! The moment it finishes its initial slashing flurry, the right side Longblade Rifle suddenly turns as the Psyco-Zack takes a shooting position and aims down its line of fire for Marida's position.

She's far enough away, that normally such as stance doesn't harbor much risk. But being a NewType, she might realize just how much Lily is... extending herself.

It's like a hand reaching out towards her. As if it were trying to grab onto her hand, and keep her within her range as the machine aims for her.

There's a flow of pink light from the Psyco-Zack not a second before a brilliant purple beam flashes towards her position with an almost paper-thin line, aimed for one of the wing-binders. Only afterwards, does Lily transition and turn her left weapon upon Loni's position again, and engages a wide-bore blast, creating a sudden shockwave of Beam-energy that tries to shot-gun push the Dreissen away from Lily's position.

Within the cockpit, the girl is already panting, noticing the damage readout on her machine. She's only just begun, and already the Zack is having a rough time of it. If this were a /real/ battle... who knows if she might already be dead now. Yet, her eyes are set before her, trying to keep track of the battlefield.

As this sense of this warm 'sun' eminates from her position. A sense that things will work out somehow...

Connected to the laser-link, the two pilots can hear her heavy breathing within her pilot suit. As positive as she may be, her body is already feeling stressed. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"Eh? Why shouldn't I be here?" Trevor asks, slurping at his tasty, frosty margarita. "I live here! Among other places. What are you doing here, Mr. Unicorn? I thought Gundams were supposed to be symbols of the Federation."

Technically speaking, Trevor does in fact live here, though his business has him coming and going often. Gotta keep looking for that box, after all.

"Sure," he answers the Garanceries' captain, "I'm always down to watch some Newtypey warfare goodness when there's no risk involved! Funnels are always fun to try and follow, you know?" 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        The sensation of Lily reaching out towards her, guiding the incoming beam attack to increase accuracy, reaches Marida the same way that her own presence must be reaching Lily in turn. While Marida isn't 'extending' herself, she is hardly a small target to a fellow Newtype.

        As a consequence, the pilot chooses to have the Kshatriya continues its roll, drawing its wings in close to protect the main body. The thin beam attack flares against the I-Beam Field that surrounds the Mobile Suit, and the remaining energy is enough to pierce through and scour one of the wings on its exterior.

        Not bad. Lily is already starting to acclimate to sensing her opponent out instead of just trying to see them. The rearmost of the quad wings open, view obstructed by the fore wings, as a collection of funnels begin to pour out and mass behind Marida, before zipping off on their own while she flies laterally across her opponent's line of sight to draw her attention.

        Meanwhile, the funnels move into position. It's time to teach Lily about the kinds of weapons that only Newtypes can use.

        The lesson comes in the form of the funnels suddenly seemingly to appear all around the Psycho Zack, and begin firing sequentially or simultaneously in clusters, alternating shots and patterns between them, but all of them focused on the unit at the center of the maelstrom.

        With Loni knocked away, there's now no chance of the sustained attack becoming friendly fire. 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        Loni made the mistake of expecting her opponent to be caught off-guard by the joint attack by the Dreissen and the Kshatriya. While she did damage the pink MS, the reaction time of her target was enough to reduce the damage dealt and retaliate against Loni in turn. She is pushed back despite attempting to bring up the heat saber to parry the slash from Lily, the Dreissen hurtling away, end over end, while Loni lets out a low cry of surprise and effort between her teeth.

        She grits those same teeth as she regains control of the MS's flight, flying along an arc perpendicular to Marida's. Only Marida has just cut a straight line across the battlefield, to Loni's right. What...? Then she spots the beams start to emit from the funnels, and decides to keep her distance for now. Dashing into the center of that would do her no good.

        Instead the Dreissen raises its arm, the tri-barrel beam cannon stored there popping up, and tries to keep Lily's movements restricted by attacking from her position to minimize the chances of a successful retreat. She feels a bit annoyed that she was thrown clear by a newbie, but it just means Lily has potential. She'd rather nurture that potential than see it lost forever. 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

"A proper pirate lives anywhere that'll give him a berth," Zinnerman remarks, "and as it happens, Mr. Teach's contract obligates any Sleeves vessel to provide him with accommodation. The Garencieres just happens to be not so different in terms of role."

He watches Marida deploy the by-now familiar funnel attack pattern, bombarding Lily from as many angles simultaneously as possible, while Loni goes for the more direct linear beam fire. "Managing to dodge a direct attack with mobility limited from a funnel cage definitely shows potential," he murmurs.

As for the topic of the Unicorn, Zinnerman answers. "That Gundam was originally meant to be delivered to the Sleeves as the 'key' to Laplace's Box. We're helping Banagher understand how to control its new weapon and just what it being the 'key' means."

Tomura, meanwhile, is staring at his laptop, hooked up to the Unicorn's computer, in bewilderment. 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I... didn't know that." Banagher says to Trevor, looking surprised. "And my name's Banagher. I guess I'm surprised the Captain's okay with pirates at all."

Banagher turns his gaze back to the battle, wondering briefly if the Unicorn would be able to steal away Marida's funnels, as they had Lily's Remote Weapons. Would it hurt Marida, too? He frowns. "Captain... I had a vision, when I accidentally hurt Lily. Her mobile suit was used for something horrible, in the past. When I tried to tell her, she started talking about how her father gave it to her, to keep her safe. I didn't have the heart to hurt her, not again, but -- Do I owe it to her to tell her the truth?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily has seen Funnels and Bits before. In fact, while it's not well known, she has her own Remote weaponry on board her unit. A fact that Banagher Links perhaps is intimately familiar with, having been the one who'd 'let' the NT-D system take a hold of them and wrest their control from Lily Jung's Psyco-Zack.

Yet, when the small ones come in, the girl's head almost spins. There's so many of them. Moving so freely! The Psyco-Zack manages just two large weapons, and uses a different - though related - system for their use. The stars of light positioning around her. The unit quickly releases one of the Longblade rifles it is holding and engages its thrusters!

It quickly becomes apparent just how modified the Zack is. It's got many Verniers stuck all across its body. Lily begins to use them to try and get away from the Bits as they haunt and hunt her. Trying to zip between them, as they follow! Zip after zip of light searing into the Zack!

Loni's assault from her tri-barrel beam cannon pops up and starts rippling across the field, following Lily. Causing her to have to expend so much more energy from her machine. Her heart is beating hard within her chest as she tries to get out of the cage! But each time she gets to a corner where she thinks she can break out, Loni stops her - or a Funnel suddenly shows up right in the middle of her sight and sears across her armor!

Her heart is beating. Frustration welling up amidst a feeling of desperation...

How does she deal with this!? How SHOULD she deal with this?! Nothing that she learned prepared her for this constant assault. She feels like she can't move... she feels like she's...

        A trapped bird. Its wings being clipped!

Sweat runs down her neck, as warning lights go off within her machine. She tries to shoot down a few of the Funnels with the single weapon that is equiped. Tears well up at the edges of her eyes. Is this her limit? These amazing people can cage her like this, holding her at back. This is a mock battle! Yet, there is a beauty in their actions. Veterans driving her to the brink...

When she feels this sensation again. This 'far touch'. The other Longblade!

<"FUNNEL!"> She commands, reaching out, looking to her side as the Psyco-Zack shifts to the left, ducking under another one of Loni's assaults, right into the path of another of Marida's assaults, when... it moves. The connection forms. Within her machine, pink light swells up, and deepens the hue of the cockpit. A sudden pulse, then...

A sudden FLARE of light comes from the 'abandoned' Longblade Rifle, creating a temporary high heat attack straight for Marida. And with that, a window! Forcefully blasting a 'tunnel' through which the Zack can move, with the Longblade Rifle rushing after her on the way out, before it suddenly arcs off!

        The bird, out of its cage, flies!

The Remote Longblade Rifle rushes straigth for Loni's position, firing a few shots, right before it connects, slamming its snout to her unit not a second before it creates this ominous... WAVE. This sensation left over. An imprint of a moment in time. As a massive looming black 'box' floats through the city streets of Hong King. Enormous finger lasers blasting, tearing down houses! Screams of people!

All while Lily starts firing on Marida's position, trying to approach her, engaging the blade emitter on her unit. <"Let's go, Kuma!!"> She cries out. Her Haro happily chiming, "Ready, Lily! Ready, Lily!" As the blade emitter extends and the thrusters on the Psyco-Zack rage, blasting her for the position of the Kshatriya, and the now large extended blade tries to come down upon her position! 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"Trevor," Trevor answers with a shrug and another long sip of saucy drink. "If it's got some kind of key in it, I guess that's fine. But that Mobile Suit doesn't feel like something designed to open much of anything but Newtype chest cavities," the pirate peers over Tomura's shoulder, scanning the code flooding across the screen with an idle gaze, but his attention is soon pulled back to the battle again.

"What's wrong with pirates?" The Pirate asks, "We do an important service, you know. Ain't like many people out on the rim could get nearly as much cheap loot as they do if it weren't for folks like us busting open the occasional freighter. That kinda loss is a drop in the bucket for the powers that be, but for rimmers, it's a lifeline!"

At Banagher's question, Trevor again heaves his shoulders. "I mean. You pilot a pretty terrifying thing too, buddy. Most mobile suits are made for killing people. Some of them for killing a /lot/ of people, in the most efficient ways possible. They're war machines, s' what they're made for. But whatever a machine used to be used for, does it really matter? The person who uses it in the here and the now, that's what counts."

"Your call though," he cants his head to the side, "I ain't the one with the vision of the past swimming around in my brain." 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Lily manages to escape the traveling laser circus, taking out a few funnels in the process. Marida withdraws them with a simple command and a flex of her will. <"Funnels, return!"> But as she continues her attempt to get closer in order to provide Loni a break and some cover fire, while simultaneously changing the dynamic of the fight by altering the range they are fighting at, Lily produces a large beam blade from her rifle, and brings is down. Even with the output reduced, it looks like it could cleave through an undefended ship.

        It's fortunate, then, that Marida feels the intent directed towards her, and flares all of the Kshatriya's wing-thrusters to bring her up short, coming to a halt meters away from where the tip of the beam blade ends, before the MS swings wide, using the glare of the Psyco-Zack's own weapon to hopefully blind Lily to the huge dark shape that is now swooping towards her like a great horned owl, talons ready.

        The 'talons', in this case, are high-output beam sabers (tuned down, of course) that slide forth from the cover of the wings, held in both of the Kshatriya's primary hands, with a second pair of arms emerging from where they were folded inside a pair of the wing binders, and that second pair also wielding their own beam sabers as well!

        All four of these blades are brought forth to slash at Lily simultaneously, bearing down on her with the sheer mass that may only just now be becoming clear now that Marida is up all nice and close.

        The eye cameras in the face of the Kshatriya glow an ominous green as energy seems to split off in either direction like it has so much of it that it can't contain it all.

        "You've done well so far, Lily Jung. But what about THIS?" Marida asks as she begins leveraging the Kshatriya's height combined with its thrusters to seemingly attempt to press the Psyco Zack down into the side of Palau. 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        Despite her best attempts to keep up with her team mate and her opponent in this mock battle, Loni is not accustomed to space combat, and the feeling of falling behind the two of them continues to grow stronger alongside her failure to meaningfully contribute (in her own estimation) to the fight. When she is hit with the image of some black cube laying waste to a city, she is thrown completely off the mental track she was in, and halts for a moment as she FEELS the images invadinbg her awareness.

        She shakes her head to try to clear them, blinking repeatedly at the memories that remain in place behind her eyelids. Somewhat shaken, Loni dips into her anger to try to push back into relevance. She managed to evade the shots from the flying rifle, but not the flash of pink energy when it stopped suddenly.

        Growling lightly under her breath, Loni has the Dreissen rush towards the rifle, if it's still within range of her, and projects her own feelings towards it. She isn't trying to convey any specific message or image. Just the frustration, anger, and hate seething under the surface at all times, roiling off of her like searing steam made out of PAIN and LOSS.

        She actually screams out a bit from the effort as she just SHOVES it all towards the enemy. Who was the enemy again? It doesn't matter. As long as she can make them hurt like she does. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily's Psyco-Zack, compared to the powerful Kshatriya, is a light weight. It has all these verniers for small bursts of movement. But they are not meant to make for the heavy and powerful thrusts that Marida's unit can bring to bear.

As the glare momentarily blinds Lily, causing the screens to darken automatically, it leaves her temporarily confused as Marida's machine shifts. She can feel where Marida is coming from, she can feel the Intent, but that doesn't mean she can react in time. The Psyco-Zack, which had only just failed to properly connect, is overshadowed!

The talons slam into Lily's Longblade, and push the Psyco-Zack back, straight towards Palau. The back of the unit crunches nastily into the stone sides, and the machine starts warping a bit, its joints being stretched as it is being scraped through. The Longblade rifle keeping up its energy blade, as the other one is rapidly returning, flying past Loni.

She can feel the heat of feelings coming to her from her 'left'. That sudden heat, anger, and hate seething and searing out! It becomes a heavy pressure against her shoulders. The pink light within her machine warping and starting to almost be infected with a crimson pressence.

The girl bites down, gritting her teeth and furrowing her brow. "Come on Zack - you can bear with this!" As the machine continues to be scraped and rattled further. Verniers being torn off, until they come across a small 'valley' in the asteroid, allowing Lily to suddenly engage all thrusters and forcibly 'falls back' into Palau, and quickly bursts away from there, not wanting /ANY/ risk of a stray bullet or beam hitting any of the internals of the mining asteroid, as the unit turns and comes about for Loni's position.

<"Don't let yourself drown! Don't become like the countless Veterans who sink into despair!"> That feeling... that feeling, she recognizes it. That particular brand of hate and pain. This sense of being unable to let go!

As the Zack's Longblade Rifle that was following it remotely begins to fire on Loni Garvey's position from multiple directions as she tries to slam the blade into the Dreissen, before seeking to kick it away and turns to aim at the Kshatriya with a swelling beam assault.

<"This isn't over yet! I've still got more to give!"> She calls out towards Marida. 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Attention suddenly brought back to the battle by the spike of frustration and aggression, Zinnerman focuses on the Dreissen carefully, watching the indigo mobile suit slide into a much more aggressive posture. His lips thin, but he doesn't immediately move to call the fight, instead watching to see how Lily handles this sea-change in the battle. Marida he has absolute faith in, but he signals Alec to prepare to move the Garencieres in for pickup.

"If you think your vision is important for her to know, Banagher, then you should tell her. I may look up the history of her unit, too." He might just have contacts in the right places to get that information, after all.

To Trevor, he shrugs. "Apparently, the Unicorn will reveal Laplace's Box to us as long as we don't cleave to an old ideal like the revival of Zeon. I don't know how true that is, but that's why Tomura here is looking over its onboard computer."

"The best I can tell," Tomura pipes up, "is that this 'La+ Program' is tied to two things: A coordinate reference, and the activation of the NT-D system, which... well. From field experience, it seems like it hijacks quantum brainwave tech, turns psycommu weapons used against it on their owners, and responds to aggression and fear." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Wincing at Trevor's words, Banagher can't help but nod. The pirate... isn't wrong, about Unicorn. "I don't mind the stealing. But I don't like innocent people getting hurt. And the two usually go together, don't they?"

Banagher's shoulders tense at the feeling of hostility rolling off Loni. "Something's wrong..." He murmurs, stepping forward. "She's so angry, she's losing herself in the fight."

"Maybe... I'll wait until you look up Lily's machine's history." Banagher replies, distracted. "I don't know if her father was the pilot that... did those things, or if he just acquired it afterwards. But she clearly idolizes her father, and I don't want to take that away from her."

Blinking as Tomura speaks, Banagher turns to face him. "Will it always hurt the owneres of psycommu weapons, when it takes them?" He hesitates. "We have to use NT-D to find the Box... That's going to be dangerous." 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Marida, too, can feel the aggression from Loni, even if not specifically directed at her. She was close enough to the one who did suffer the brunt of it to be caught in the edges. She withdraws from close range as Lily returns fire, slashing and firing with that powerful beam rifle of hers. The Kshatriya halts pursuit, literally falling back as its wings close around it and it allows its other verniers to propel it away at a sedate pace.

        "Master," she transmits leadingly back to the Garancieres, the question unspoken, as she orients the Kshatriya so that she can watch both Loni and Lily at the same time. Hounding Lily at this point might be a good tactic, but she also has concern for Loni's condition. And, more militarily-mindedly, it might be useful to see how Lily deals with this sort of conflict between Newtypes.

        It's something both Loni and Lily are likely to encounter again in the future after all. Best they be able to deal with it when it happens.

        She does, however, not just float there like a big green melon, and the Kshatriya opens its wings to propel itself, hopefully gaining some distance regardless of the directions she receives from the Captain. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"The other option is that a lot of innocent people starve," Trevor answers, plainly. "Or they go without medicine. Or something on a station breaks down and there are no parts to replace it. I'm not sayin' what I do is glamorous work, or the /right/ thing to do, and it's not like we're doing it for charity-- we get paid nicely for our work-- but it also keeps people I care about alive. The people on those transports, they signed their contracts. They know what the risks are. Mobile suit teams are employed to protect them. All it is is a contest between us and them-- whoever wins gets to go home alive with the loot."

"Ideally we don't kill /anyone/," he explains. "We don't go into this looking to murder. Smaller shipments, ones that are less protected, easy targets-- those sometimes decide to just surrender all they've got and let us go with it. That's best for everyone involved. But sometimes there's a situation where they think they can take us and give us a fight. Sometimes, we lose people. Sometimes, you have to hold innocent folks hostage to make sure that your people make it home alive. Other times, you need to cut and run and leave a friend behind because there's no saving them."

"Being a pirate's not easy," Trevor shakes his head, "But we're human. We do what we need to in order to survive. Some of us are born with no docs, no possibility for gainful employment outside the grey and black markets. It's complicated, Banagher. Life's not so simple for everyone to get by without ever getting their hands dirty."

Trevor glances aside at Tomura, then nods, "Aggression and fear, huh? But whose? The pilot's, or the target's? If it's the latter, that's rough. If it's the former..."

Can Banagher muster the aggression needed...? Someone who's so worried about hurting others with his weapon...? Or does it simply feast on his fear...?

"Well, anyway. Even if her dad did kill a lot of people, maybe he changed as he got older. Maybe his circumstances made it necessary. If she loves her dad for what he was to her, then... that's fine too, isn't it? All the blood on his hands doesn't change what he did for her. Though maybe it'd help to have a realistic view of the man he was...? Hard to say, t'ain't like I exactly had a normal upbringing to compare."

There's a lot of beams flying out there. How long can this keep up without someone getting seriously hurt? Especially with the kind of emotions flaring up out there... 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        The response from Lily, as though the other pilot KNOWS her and what she has gone through, ticks her off even more. But though the surface has cracked a bit, Lily is not her Enemy. That is, and always will be, the Federation. So she gathers up her animosity, sticks it in a trunk to compartmentalize it, and then sinks that trunk into the blackness with the others. Those memories will leak eventually, poisoning her very soul, but for right now the problem is dealt with.

        She measures her breathing, as she only now realizes the state of the Dreissen. Though it's not recked thanks to them using lower level attacks than they normally would, it's definitely on its last legs as useful for a mock training exercise. She can get one more good attack off, most likely, and then it will be up to Marida if Loni can't manage to evade those insane beam attacks properly.

        Hey, why is the Kshatriya falling back? What's going on? Getting range for some attack? If that's the case, Loni should probably try to pin Lily down, right?

        Her head is clearing gradually, and she's starting to think again, like she was taught to. "I'm fine." she responds in a dull voice that still rings of haggard tones in the echo. Like the sound of a hammer striking an anvil, and the point where the high-pitched note can no longer be sustained and dies in the darkness.

        Her own voice in her head repeats softly that she can do this, she's not worthless, she can contribute to this fight, that she'll make a difference in the war, that she can change herself and everything, that she won't be another casualty... A poor attempt at positive 'self-talk' that she has to actively engage in because her own brain doesn't provide it otherwise.

        "You should be more worried about yourself in the middle of combat, not your enemy!" she calls out as she raises the Dreissen's bazooka and fires shot after shot, launching rocket-propelled explosives at the Psyco-Zack with everything she has left. 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Zinnerman relaxes as Loni gets hold of herself. "It looks alright, Marida. Keep an eye out, though."

He watches the bright pink EWAC-Zack now. "Miss Jung has a lot of potential," he murmurs thoughtfully. "She's holding out well against these two very different approaches."

"War does cruel things to all of us," he adds to Trevor's commentary on the nature of piracy. "Having to fight just to eat and make food for others... It can scar the soul."

Tomura taps a few more keys. "... This technology is interacting with and hijacking quantum brainwaves... I think it might be both." 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily does... not feel good about the current situation. Something feels off about Loni. Lily is highly sensitive, so she picks up on this 'change'. Like a net were pulled over all those feelings and reeled in. Certainly, it's better than letting them all spill out. But there's an abruptness to it. Almost a practice.

What's more, the Kshatriya is backing off. She isn't sure what is going on. But the hairs on her neck are rising!

<"Are you okay?"> Lily inquires with Loni Harvey - who says they are fine not moments later. That dull voice makes the young woman bites her lip a bit. That isn't the voice of someone who is okay. That is someone who has had to say 'I am fine' a few too many times. Lily however doesn't engage further, not wishing to pry.

<"I'm... but my enemy isn't you, Loni."> Lily admits, revealing that while she is going all-out skill wise, she can't seem to get herself to bring that 'killing instinct' to life that Loni has so often felt. It isn't like Lily has never killed... but those kills were those bugs! Those aliens coming in.

The greatest weakness Lily has, is that she still has yet to feel the touch of death by her own hand upon a human. Upon a spirit that would leave.

The battle though! The call comes, pushing against her, and Lily presses her hands upon the controls, pressing down against the pedal as she tries to make a High-G maneuver as the Bazooka comes out! Her entire suit swells in that moment, pressing against her small body. She grits as the maneuver rapidly adjusts her position, veering around the attack, right before the detonation comes!

The blast slams against her unit, causing her entire body to be shaken within her unit. A large airback rapidly deploys, preventing her head from slamming into anything sensitive, before retracting as Lily's unit turns; "FUNNEL!" She calls out once more, releasing the other Longblade Rifle, as the two of them spread out. She practically feels her arms spread within the cockpit.

                A vision of a bird taking flight! Small pink flakes falling like embers...

Rising up from Marida and Loni's position, before the both Longblade Rifles begin to fire beam after beam down on both of their positions, trying to suppress the both of them. Without knowing what Marida plans to do, she must assume that this isn't over yet! 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher listens to Trevor, still for a long moment. "You're right. It isn't as simple as I'd like it to be." He holds Haro a little tighter. "Thank you for -- helping. Where you can. I misjudged you. The world is... more complicated than I ever thought. I've been trying to learn the truth of everyhing, so I know what to do with the Box."

Agression and fear. For both him, and someone else. He hunches his shoulders, moving closer to Zinnerman. 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        Upon getting confirmation that it's fine to continue, Marida prepares to resume combat. But she's keeping a careful eye on Loni. Or at least her awareness. Her eyes are on Lily. When that barrage of powerful attacks comes tearing up at her while the Kshatriya floats against the void, the cosmos itself the backdrop for the dramatic, looming form it presents, Marida makes a decision. Two of the wings are brought forward, the four beam sabers she has had out all this time being turned off and stowed away. The I-Beam Fields from the forward wings, scarred as they are from Lily's attacks, conjoin to project a stronger barrier.

        The Kshatriya doesn't otherwise move as the beam rifle's pink energy slams into the defenses, pushing the MS backwards and leaving more burns on the armor. It seems Loni is likely out of the fight after taking on the same type of attack without anything as convenient as a beam barrier.

        So it's up to Marida now to continue -- and conclude -- this lesson.

        "You use your own remote weapons well. You are quick to adapt and improvise. That's very good. However, your ability to multitask needs work. Keep working towards it, and one day you can do this too."

        Then all four wings of the Kshatriya spread wide open. Funnels begin pouring forth from all of them. So many funnels. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. More than that?

        When the Kshatriya is surrounded in a cloud of Newtype-controlled remote weaponry, the bits begin to charge up their beam guns, glowing brighter and brighter, until Marida gestures with one arm and calls out, <FUNNELS! FULL-POWER BARRAGE!"

        Space turns emerald as the funnels fire as a single unit. It is a very good thing that the output was turned down. For all of them. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"It does," Trevor answers Zinnerman quietly, "Hunger's just the tip of the iceberg." Famine, sickness, poverty, hatred, vengence, so many awful things are left in the wake of war. And it's the vultures that feast from it all-- but are the scavengers to blame for scavenging?

Probably. But everyone's got some responsibility in all this.

"Both, huh...?" Trevor mutters, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin. "...Listen, Banagher. That machine of yours feeds on aggression and fear-- both things that are unavoidable when you get into a scrap. But if that's the case, then it's being guided by those emotions too, and if that's true, then /you/ should be able to guide /it/. This'll sound a little cheesy, but it's something my cap'n used to say," The pirate reaches out to pat the young man's shoulder, "'Courage is the key to victory.' I'm not going to tell you not to be afraid, or not to fight to protect yourself, but if that thing's supposed to serve as a compass, then it ain't going to work if its needle is pointing at anything and everything. If it responds to fear and aggression, then you need to learn to face your fears and focus your aggression. That'll work better than any computer program, I think."

"But that's only half of the equation," he crosses his arms, peering into the distant void where the battle seems to be winding down. "You also need to beat out the noise-- the aggression and fear of everyone else around you. To guide that machine, you need to trust it with your emotions. The one thing you can't be afraid of is the Unicorn. It's your partner, isn't it? Something you don't want to give up to anybody else. If that's the case, then you need to trust it-- if Tomura over there is right, then all it's doing is putting into action what you're feeling. On some level, it's an extension of you." 

<Pose Tracker> Loni Garvey has posed.

        Even after firing shot after shot, she can't manage to hit Lily at all. She isn't angry about it. She just sharpens her aim further, trying to predict her target's movements, all the way up until she runs out of ammunition, and the Psyco-Zack blasts her poor Dreissen with a wall of pink energy. When her vision returns, Loni realizes that, mock battle or no, this unit AND herself are not in a condition to keep fighting. She reports, "Loni Garvey withdrawing from battle due to damage sustained. Returning to the Garancieres." and then moves to limp her way back to the ship once she gets clearance and directions on where to go.

        She saw that rain of green fire from the Kshatriya. This fight is over now, one way or another.

        ...Right? 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

"Tomura, it looks like you're up for your actual job," Zinnerman remarks. "Alec, start maneuvering to pick up Lieutenant Garvey." The much younger man in the role of the Garencieres' chief mechanic sighs, says "I hope that's helped some," to Banagher, and closes his laptop, kicking up off the bridge floor to head down to the Garencieres' cargo hold/hangar and prepare to receive the first of the beat-up mobile suits. Alec, meanwhile, starts making the calculations for the retrieval course, and the freighter begins to gingerly move.

Zinnerman watches Marida concentrate all her funnel fire on the bright pink mobile suit at the other end of the mock battle, shielding his eyes against the blinding green glare, but... He reaches out carefully with his other senses. Something is not what it seems. 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Unicorn is a part of me." Banagher says to Trevor, "Do you really think that'll be enough? Everyone's told me how I need to be ready to hurt others, to be ready to kill and -- do whatever's necessary. I don't want it to come to that." He smiles faintly to Trevor. "...I'm glad you're here. I'll remember that... Courage being the key. Maybe it'll have a two-fold ending, by the time we find the Box." He tilts his head slightly. "...Are you going to try and steal it? Laplace's Box?"

Banagher moves forward to close the Unicorn, sighing softly as it locks. Safe once again. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily feels this sudden fuzzy sense of... awareness running through her, being pressured like this. That sweat that she can feel dripping along her body has turned from cold to warm. The prickling sensation that she feels feeling, this 'static' in her mind slowly fading.

Pressure is relinquished as Loni's unit is 'disabled' as far as the mock battle is concerned. But the Kshatriya is still a dangerous enemy she has to contend with right now.

<"I don't really know how to multi-task. How... how do you do it?"> Is that really something you can even learn from someone? The girl feels light. As if she can feel a pair of wings open up behind her...

                The flamingo takes flight once more.

Out comes that green. Those beautiful emerald funnels. Like crystals as there's this 'pulse' from the Psyco-Zack. Its arms along its sides, narrowing its frame. Flying towards the cloud. Then... one hand reaches up.

<"They are beautiful."> Lily tells Marida, as the unit begins to move amongst them. Her Funnels maneuvering with her, firing rapidly at each funnel that gets nearby. Some of the beams sear into the unit, but the EWAC of the Zack begins to engage, Minovsky particles spreading, making it harder and harder for Marida to get a reading on the Zack at her distance.

        But she can see it clearly.

        Banagher, Trevor, Loni, Marida, Zinnerman.

        Those of Palau who are looking out of their window.

This graceful ascent of the bird as she reaches out. This glimmer of pink light from its verniers, almost like a set of wings, fanning out. Moving amongst them, even as some of them sear its armor. This warm sun. In a moment, Lily loses sight of the battle itself.

And instead just seems to 'fly' within space. Amongst all the lights of the Kshatriya's weaponry. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"Hah! It'll never be enough till you figure out a way for yourself," Trevor laughs. "Of course. People can give you all kinds of advice, but if it isn't right for you, then it'll never work. If you don't want to kill people, to hurt people, then you'll need to just need to make sure you have enough power to stop them without killing them."

"That, though," he admits with a sigh, "Is /way/ harder than just shooting someone until they stop moving. Stopping people without killing them, in space? That's hard as hell. And from how it sounds, unless you're more afraid of letting other people come to harm than getting killed yourself, the Unicorn might not help you out too much. If you're up for it, if you want to be the kind of hero that can pull that off, then more power to you for trying. To be so strong that you can stop others from fighting to save their own lives-- is something I can't even imagine. That's some 3G shit, that is."

(As it turns out, the whole /thing/ GGG did out near Jupiter is not exactly unknown to Asteroid Belters)

"Anyway, I don't mean that-- not being afraid to kill, that is. Just, courage is the power to face your own fears, you know? Not to stop being afraid entirely, just... to look fear in the face and keep going, to be in control of it, rather than the other way around. That's what I mean. And if your fear's in control, then you might end up doing something you'll regret, you know?"

"That said," Trevor admits, "I'm just sayin' all this stuff, but it's not like I practice what I preach either. I'm a regular coward in a lot of ways, heh!"

But then Banagher asks if he intends to steal the box. Trevor... shrugs!? "I'm on contract to find the box for the Sleeves. So, probably not? My name'd be mud if we found the box and I decided to stab everyone in the back to get it for myself, wouldn't it! Neheh~" 

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

        The wave of beam energy flows over Lily's mobile suit, or the majority miss, or... Something. Pink wings seeming to appear behind her like a... A swan? No. A flamingo? Marida doesn't know. Do those birds even still exist after everything Earth has been through?

        As Lily flies towards her, Marida feels the warmth that comes with the other Newtype. A faint smile plays on her lips, as memories coil back to a different time, and the feelings of that time flow up along the 'wires' that connect her to her funnels.

        "Well, Lily Jung, you have to begin by recognizing those you rely on, and realizing that you aren't controlling them. You're asking them for help, and they're responding to you." The funnels have expended their energy charges and withdraw, flying and zipping around the Kshatriya like excitable pets. Or like...

        Twelve others, just like her. Fiery orange hair, and purple eyes, and the same face but it's not strange it feels normal. Natural. Right. And they can all feel each other even when they're not together because they're--

        Small children or something.

        Or at least that's the feeling that covers them in Marida's mind. She sees them not as tools, or weapons, or things she controls, but as something much closer and more dear to her. A replacement, perhaps, for something she lost, but...

        But even so.

        "Even so, it will take time. You have great talent, but you cannot expect to form that kind of bond immediately. That bond, that spreads and strengthens to many, many other funnels, bringing them all into alignment with each other, has to be built. The more time you spend with them, the stronger than bond will become, and the easier it will be to coordinate with them."

        The Kshatriya continues to float there, Marida watching the still-approaching Newtype as though she can see the girl inside of it transposed over the machine. And perhaps she can. She is quite likely such a luminous existence in the perception of Lily, after all, and her presence might be felt all the way inside the Garancieres, sharpened as it is right now to its strongest output.

        "So," Marida begins, "Did you want to continue? Or would you prefer to end things here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Jung has posed.

Lily listens, as words wash over her. As she feels a smile lift up from Marida. She can sense that, if this battle were to continue, her own defeat would be inevitable. And it's exactly for the reason that Marida suggests. While Lily has never seen her allies as pawns or the like - right now, the weapons she wields...

The weapons she wields, she still sees as extensions of herself. The weapons are like her hands. The Zack itself like her body. It isn't something she lend... something she opens herself up to. No, it's something she 'takes control of'.

Is that it, is that the thing she is missing?

The Zack slows down, and it touches a hand forward, while the weapons return to its back, just below the EWAC dish. Touching its hand against one of the Quadwing's wings. She lingers there for a moment, smiling.

<"I think this is a good place to end it. I feel like... I am not there yet. Even without fighting, I cannot reach you yet, Marida. What you have, I think I saw a glimmer of it finally. The way they move with you... it's not like what I do.">

Her spirit reaching out, touching against Marida's shoulder, before the machine - before Lily - pushes off, and the Zack turns.

<"I have a lot still to learn. Thank you Loni... Marida."> Lily professes to the two of them in the deepest of warm and heartfelt earnesty. Like a warm sun beaming gentle light upon them.

<"It's my loss."> 

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Zinnerman speaks up at this point. "A mock battle isn't about winning or losing, it's about learning from each other. In that regard, all three of you did exceptionally well. Come on back."

As the ship closes in to pick the three mobile suits up, he turns away from the comms to look to Trevor. "The kids these days have such strong wills," he says quietly. "I almost envy them."

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