2023-03-02: Tetra Formation
- Cast: Seolla Schweizer, Sousuke Sagara
- Where: Pacific Ocean - TDD-1
- Date: U.C. 0097 03 02
- Summary: Seolla fully acquaints herself with the Uruz squadron she'll be fighting with going forward! A distressing amount of that acquaintance involves contingency plans for if her brain turns to mulch.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
The planned and estimated recovery time for handling withdrawals and adjustment symptoms of your usual high intensity ex-project combat drug regimen is usually around 6 months, in the fields that deal with rehabilitation of this kind.
...But it's only been about two months, and Seolla Schweizer is already getting on peoples' case for something to do. After all, piloting is really all she knows. She's more comfortable soaring in the air at mach speeds than down here on the ground. Down here, she's just Seolla - up there, she's a bird who can fly as free as can be.
She's already been insistent for two weeks now that she feels 'totally better' - partly pent up from waiting around so much. Unfortunately, she got a liiiittle betrayed from a failed test of somewhat delayed reflexes, but that was totally just Kurz being a bully and throwing something at her suddenly!
...at this point, though, Dr. Goldberry's sighed and confessed that on pretty much every major level, Seolla's doing fine as anyone is aboard this ship - it's not like she's lacking for energy, given how pushy she is.
...and so here she is now. In the TDD-1's hangar room - uniform all spiffy and tidy and immaculate, eyes razor sharp, posture...a little too stiff for the atmosphere here. One hand over her eyes as she tries to get a look on where exactly she was told to meet with the Uruz team...
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Seolla's probably wearing that uniform better than anyone else here. The Engineering team's navy blue jumpsuits are frequently dirty but mostly worn properly; the actual mobile team, though, does just about anything they feel like. The first person to walk up she probably knows, by now - Gail McAllen, Uruz 1 and therefore the leader of the mobile strike force Mithril calls the Special Response Team. He's buttoned up, with the gold pin of an SRT on his chest. His accent reveals the characteristic twang of a man who once hailed from Texas Colony. "And there she is," he says, with a warm grin. "Seolla Schweizer, good to see ya join us down here. Wanted to make sure ya met with Mao's team myself. Should be here any second..."
"Oh-hoh~" a probably-familiar male voice croons. "It's Sousuke's newest princess~"
Mao punches Kurz's shoulder as the two emerge from around a corner of piled boxes, and doesn't even verbally reply. The Chinese-featured group leader has her middle buttons undone, letting her generous bust fill out a black undershirt. "Schweizer. So you're coming to the front lines, huh?"
Sousuke stands behind both of them, his serious expression finding Seolla swiftly. He says only, "Are you certain you're prepared for it?"
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
McAllen's met with a diligent little salute on Seolla's part. She's trying a little too hard here. Even after it's been a few weeks, the less formal vibe of Mithril hasn't quite sunk in, even though it should be incredibly obvious to literally anyone.
...a formality that quiiiiickly goes out the window the moment Kurz's teasing comes online. With a little stamp and balled up fists, Seolla insists, "If anything my job's protecting princess types, mou mou mou! Probably the most important things I've been doing are making sure Tessa is doing fine when she's out and about, so that Sergeant Sagara doesn't have to do all that himself!"
---If you leave these two at it, it will never, ever end, so it's grateful Mao and Sousuke are around to reign it all in...though Seolla's still a bit red in the cheeks. "...ngh, I mean the issue's never...being prepared for it. ...I've been prepared my whole life, that much is sure. I pushed it in Tsutsujidai, but even there, when I was in the thick of it, I was still able to hold off a Ruin Apostle in a sorta unfamiliar machine."
One boot scuffs against the floor, one hand cupping her own cheek, Seolla assesses the submarine's hangar and its Arm Slaves. "...really, the only thing is that I'm not used to the little guys you keep in here, I hear they're way way different, so I've got learning to do. And I promised that if I'm starting to get uneasy or unfocused, I'll inform it. Really, I've been recording just about everything I'm eating, feeling, and doing in this logbook, at the captain's behest."
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Kurz gets the biggest grin anyone's ever seen on his face. He glances to Sousuke and just chimes, "Oh, this is great!"
"It seems out of your usual preferences," Sousuke notes, unwittingly playing along.
Kurz snickers into his hand. "Ah, so much still to learn, my young disciple."
"Weber, if you turn that boy into a weirdo I'm stuffing you in a mail sack and shipping you to Abu Dhabi," Mao sniffs, and then gets a serious look on her face as she regards Seolla carefully. "Don't think that's what he meant. Or me," the black-haired woman says, stepping around Seolla to consider her posture. "Your credentials are perfect, I'm sure your training is immaculate. You could probably run rings around anyone in this room except maybe the three of us. But..."
"Skills aren't the only thing that matter on the front line. Tessa trusts you and that means a lot to Gail and I, but..."
Mao gives Seolla a hard look. "There's every chance the people looking for you will find you out there. Or we may even be sent against them. Can you handle that? I want to hear it from you."
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
...Seolla does balk, slightly, at that prospect...but only for a moment. She knew she had unfinished business with Adler and Aguilla, she just...tried to avoid thinking about it, to the best of her abilities, until she was more ready. Would it just be Ouka and Arado she has to fight - or would they send others? How much of G-Hound is she considered stolen goods for?
"I have to be able to handle it. That's not really my choice - like it or not, if they're after me, they're after me," Seolla admits, leaning up against a crate - slightly evasive to Mao's piercing gaze, awkwardly looking more at Sousuke even when addressing Mao's concern. "But in another sense, I have to go after them. The two most important people in the world to me are still there. I'd regret it forever if I just ran away. I know there's a lot of effort to search and rescue people trapped in those ordeals in this organization, but...I can't just wait for it. I can't just assume things will work out if I don't do anything. That's not the way the world works."
"...something I do want to work on, while I'm in your group, is...uhm..." Awkwardly pressing the back of her hand against her lips, Seolla tries to put into words exactly what she's...fearing, right now.
"...what we'd do if...the things they say get to me. They have this...obnoxious way with words, and the idea of hearing their voice...I don't know how badly they could...make me do things I shouldn't."
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
That's the catch, isn't it? The frontline is the one place you can't have outstanding business, can't be vulnerable that way, or you bring far more than just yourself down. Removing that completely from a soldier is impossible, but...leaving a gaping hole isn't acceptable, either.
Sousuke's gaze is if anything, even more intense than Mao's, if mostly by virtue of he always kinda looks like that. He hums an agreement, though, saying: "Indeed," and then glancing to Mao. "Of course, the optimal approach is to defeat the enemy swiftly."
"Yeah, yeah, you would say that," Mao grunts, and screws up her jaw, visibly thinking with a crooked look. Fortunately, Seolla breaches the elephant in the room herself. "There's what I'm worried about," Mao says with a sigh, and turns a look on Gail. The old friends trade some silent thought. Is this a rejection...? Sousuke doesn't seem to react either way. Kurz, even, for all his friendlier grin, watches them think with furrowed brows.
But Gail doesn't step forth to intervene. "That exact thing is why Mao and I decided you'd work with this group," he says. "Mao's an engineer on the side and runs EWAC for whole battlefields. Weber's the best overwatch I've ever seen. 'n' if they send something special after you, Sagara and the Arbalest are the best skirmishers we have."
Mao nods. "Trick is...if we put you back with Weber in the sniper positions, he alone won't be able to stop it if they get into your head," she says, and scratches her cheek.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
"That's true, especially when it sounds like you take somewhat more specialized roles in combat - guess it makes sense when Arm Slaves are as small as they are. To pack a punch they need to be pretty particularly equipped to do their thing, so you can't just go casually giving the guy in the back CQC equipment..." Seolla's at least in the right tactical mindset, before-
"Ggghhh, no, wait, what am I saying!? I can't believe I'm having to plan around that, it sounds awful when you lay it out that way, like I'm a time bomb waiting to go off! Ugh, no, we're not letting it get to that point, that's for sure!" Gritting her teeth, Seolla's fist drums and wobbles against a crate metallically, eyes squeezed closed in thought. "I mean honestly, a simpler safeguard is just that I could be...I don't know, ejected out by someone else's switch in an emergency if I start acting funny or saying stuff that sounds contrary. ...Aaaagh, I...it should at least be obvious if that's happening. Those bastards lay it on so thick and I'll...probably...be like...making a lot of not great noises about it."
The fiery nature that so flushed Seolla's cheeks earlier has sapped from her a bit, replaced with a clammier color. "Damn it. Maybe I said too much. ...no, no, we can not have things like this sneaking up at bad moments. I need to say everything, even if it's bad, or embarrassing. That's...how it gets fixed. But if it is bad for me to say too much, it's Kurz's fault for being a dummy!"
Arms crossed over her front, Seolla opens one eye finally, letting loose a sigh of tension, finally directing her gaze exactly at Melissa's. "Well. At the bare minimum, I gather I'm not being thrown in the deep end tomorrow on that front, barring any nasty surprises. If I can get into the routine of being with you all on the battlefield, recognizing that your voices are the ones I need to listen to, then it shouldn't be a problem if that terrible thing ever happens. It just needs practice and discipline. I'll do whatever sorts of drills and tests I have to, to get back in the swing of things, of course!"
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
"Oh, Kurz has a monocutter, they're standard issue, it's just, ehhh," Mao says, smugly grinning in Kurz's direction.
Kurz huffs, and then manages to recover himself into a grin, miming pointing a gun. "I much prefer to reach a lovely lady's heart...with one shot <3" he croons, and Mao makes a face like her beer is warm.
Sousuke chimes in, "You are correct that there are specializations. Kurz's loadout heavily prioritizes long-ranged combat, with an assault rifle for mid-range and closer. I prefer mid-to-close range skirmishing, with a shotcannon and monomolecular knife." He nods to Mao.
"And I'm the boss, so I get a sword and the countermeasure suite," she says, puffing out her substantial chest with pride.
Though, Seolla realizes this line of questioning is not SUPER relevant (they'll circle back around to it) and proceeds to seriously worry about what exactly to do.
"Hey, 'neechan'," Kurz says, to Seolla's worrying, but he's clearly looking at Mao. "Think some customization work would help?"
Mao grunts, her lips crooked but thinking seriously. "Might be the best bet. If we set the AI up with an override lock...but, that'd require switching out of fail-safe mode on the joints. If the joints lock in a power emergency, she'd be a sitting duck."
Mao turns her eyes back to Seolla, nodding. "You said you're not familiar with the M9 platform? It's complicated. So complicated an assist AI is required to manage the calculations to make the thing usable properly. We could rig it up to lock you down if we send it certain signals, maybe even if you give one. But if we did that, it'd beat the whole point giving you an unlock option."
"Once it's triggered, you'd be stuck until we get there. I'm not gonna guarantee you you'll never be alone, either. It's a fight. It'll happen. But if that works for you, I can rig it up."
"That said," Gail says, because he's still here, "Obviously yes, you'll have to train with the team here for a while. Gather you and Sagara already makin' a nice team over in Jindai, so just keep close ta him for now. Understand, Sergeant?"
Sousuke salutes. "Yes, sir!"
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Pushing her arms outwards, Seolla shakes free the worries about that hyper specific situation. "Really - this is something to only think about down the line, but...I guess it's good that the air's cleared on it. For now though! Oh gosh, please, I really just want to get in the swing of figuring out how this unit operates. ...I mean, it's kind of a stretch to say me and Sousuke were acting as a team out there...he bailed me out and I spent most of the time feeling sick as a dog really, but I trust him with this sort of stuff, and we're way more similar than it might look..."
Seolla pushes herself off, clearing her throat, and offering her hand to Gail, Sousuke, Kurz, and Mao with a much more stable look in her eyes. "I look forward to working with all of you! And don't feel like I need to rigidly stick to long range combat! The thing I'm most used to is high speed aerial sniping-" (that is apparently a thing!) "-but since these M9s are on the ground more often, I can adapt! If anything I might be maybe best at kind of the space 'between' Sergeant Sagara and Weber, but we'll find out the tactics that work best for us down the line!"
A long breathe out her nose later, and Seolla can finally manage a soft little smile. "And we'll make sure we all get along fine and don't fight with each other, even if all of you are a little...eccentric down here!"
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
"Her dedication is impressive," Sousuke answers, at a few looks of his opinion. "I've not witnessed her in combat much."
"Aerial, huh," Mao says, and shares another look with Gail. "...we can discuss that once you're a little more comfortable. An ARM Slave is mostly a terrestrial machine, but we've got a few options we can explore."
Gail has the handshake of an officer, strong and firm. Kurz, of course, winks and grins, but does not actually attempt to do any sekuhara today. Sousuke gives a firm nod. "We'll be counting on you." Mao's is more delicate, but still strong, and her face fades into more of her usual smile. "Gonna be a real pain in my butt, aren't you, Schweizer? I'm looking forward to it."