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Thanks for playing Anti! [Pacific Rim Roleplay]
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I think, I should really compile all the weapon upgrade stuff in one place
In that case I think I'd like to do that!
Also, how'd the night out with the brother go?
Buff-man Beating.
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
Also because several people have asked; although Anti's leaving does leave an empty player slot I am not currently looking to fill it. Five players plus Chiasaur was a little more than I could easily handle anyway so for now I will just continue as is and scale everything accordingly. If we end up sorely missing the extra Jaeger then I'll dig out the waiting list and see who's still interested.
I thought I'd managed to grab a Cherno Alpha figure off of Amazon but the box came this morning and it was Coyote Tango instead! I mean, Tango's cool and all but she's no Cherno. The order still says Cherno Alpha though but I have a sneaking suspicion the company has ran out of them and I won't be able to get a replacement, quite disappointing.
It was less of a 'night out' and more of a 'surprise afternoon tea.' My brother is a colossal nerd who doesn't really do nights out.
I realise it is somewhat hypocritical to call someone a colossal nerd when I spend my free time running an online game on a made up system about a film but whatever.
The room is full of people, the crowd trailing out into the corridor beyond, engineers and researchers and pilots briefly pausing their routines to pay their respects, even though Jane and Michelle had been new to the payroll and had had little chance to make aquaintances they were still willing to risk their lives for the good of others and that commands a certain level of respect.
Catrine finishes up her rote speech and steps down, vanishing behind the press of people. The commander, standing sullenly at the back of the room, leaves quickly, there are a gaggle of media people waiting for a statement in her office. There is cheap wine and chit-chat and people slowly filter back to work.
((Just a little opportunity for you all to talk amongst yourselves if you want, rather than splitting you up right away. Also present are all the various Aegis rangers and some miscellaneous NPCs if you wanna drag those into conversation.))
"I thought it would be us, you know." Ian said to Ashkir, swirling his wine around in its cup a little.
"I'm sorry?"
"The first to go. I thought it was us. After that first fight, when we got a little torn up...I thought that was going to be the trend."
"We did just lose a leg."
"That is true...it just feels odd. We have both had family, friends, loved ones die to Kaiju attacks. But this was the first time when it really felt like we could have done something about it-"
"We can't go down that road, man. That isn't healthy for anyone. We were all busted up, and no one else was faster. Jane and Michelle, they made their choice. Now it'll be our job to validate it as the right one."
Ian raised his glass a little. "I can drink to that. Come on, let us find our comrades."
They move through the crowd looking for familiar faces.
The burlier of the two turned towards his partner, a drink in his hand. "What?"
Dustin frowned. "I know you've got a pill palmed. Don't do it. Bad enough with how much you've been drinking lately, mixing won't help anything."
"Heh, shows what you know. Mixin' always makes it better." And with a smooth, practiced motion, the contents of both of Bill's hands were gone.
Dustin's frown deepened. "Well if you're going down this road, I'm going to be elsewhere. Later." He strode away, in the direction that the commander left.
With the mood I'm in, it'll be nice to hear some pasty hacks get put in their place.
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"They're pretty torn up, you know how the guilt worms its way into you." Yua looks pointedly at the both of them. "There was nothing you guys could do, and both of you are smart enough to know it. I almost lost more of my friends to this"
"Losing how?" Bridgette is suddenly seriously irritated
"Not fired, just... they want to transfer, say there are too many memories. They're new, not used to the fact that you Marshals are in a dangerous line of work, and the memories will follow them everywhere. And they'll make more no matter where they're stationed"
Bridgette's anger flees quicker than it arrived, leaving only the heaviness. "Ah, they think they can outrun what they're feeling. They'll learn." She looks at Xiang "Should we do something with the rest of the squad? some sort of private memory thing, something that feels like it actually matters? I'm no good with this."
Xiang shrugs "Some of us clearly don't want to talk about it, but we do need to know if there's anyone out there that can't handle it. The question is, what should we do? How do we remember Jane, Michelle, and Disco?" No one breaks the silence for a long time. They just lean together.
Ben and Shane are out of Junket's con-pod as soon as it docks into it's cradle at the shatter dome. They don't pause for a second, moving quickly to the director's office, adroitly dodging around or shouldering past enraged technicians and engineers gaping at the damage Junket took.
They knock on the directors door and enter without waiting for permission to do so.
Ben: Director, we need to talk.
Shane: But more importantly we need you to get eyes on Marrion's carcass as soon as possible, and keep the eyes quiet.
Ben: Somebody contacted us out there, told us about the fourth Kaiju, told us it was there, told us to put it on dry land after we took it out.
Shane: Somebody with better intel on kaiju movements then anyone here had, and ties to the black market.
Ben: Whoever it was knew that Marrion was there, and knew that it was something special. I think if we can track them when they come to collect Marrion, we might be able to track them back to their operations center. I don't know if it's related to the mole investigation we've been working on, but this is potentially worse.
Finally pausing for breath, Ben and Shane wait for the Director to respond.
"So, funeral."
"Yup."
"Bad drinks."
"Yup."
"FOUR corpses."
"Yes."
"We probably should mingle. I mean, before we find out if we got a brain."
"While we can make noises other than excited squealing and maniacal laughter."
Why I fear the ocean.
She looks up, "Oh, hey, can this wait guys? I've got press coming in..." She is drawn to silence as you say your piece, eyebrows furrowing. She runs a hand across her chin in a thoughtful gesture, "huh, you don't say. Well the recov teams have just been scrambled but it'll be a good half hour before we can get eyes on the ground, I'll tell them to step on it. Someone contacted you 'out there'? How? Any idea who? And come to think of it why didn't you report it immediately?"
@Farangu
She reaches the door to her office, swinging it open and gesturing for the media representatives to enter. She glances across the hallway at you with a quizzical look, "you alright fella? Need anything? I'm a little busy right now unfortunately..."
Chicago Megagame group
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Ben: He said his name was "Mozart", pretty obviously a pseudonym. Went through the closed band com system. A third tier backup of a backup that we didn't even knew existed. Said he was the one who shuffled some funds around after the previous drop, helped us upgrade to MkIII before we went back out, said we owed him one.
Shane: Figure the debts paid off now, and then some considering he failed to give any warning about the one that took Disco out...
Ben: Yeah, and as for not reporting it immediately, we tried to warn the rest of the team in as subtle a manner as we could, but at that point Junket had been compromised through a system we didn't even know she had. We had no way of knowing how Mozart had got that signal to us, or what else he had access too.
Shane: And it didn't seem like the kind of thing you'd throw out over an open channel, you know?
Ben: Especially considering the investigation we had been working for. I doubt "Hey, Commander, a strange voice just told me that there are four kaiju out here, not three. Also he'd like me to hide one of the corpses for him" would have been an ideal quote to start a press conference. Seemed like the kind of thing that should be kept secret in case it was related to the mole hunt.
Shane pauses for a moment and looks nervously around the directors office "How sure are you that this room isn't bugged, Director?"
"Hey, Mozart!" Ashkir hailed him from across the room, he and Ian making their way towards him. "How are you holding up?"
"And how is the Commander holding up?" Ian added. "Does this...sort of thing happen often?"
OOC
She walks into the room, leaving the door open for you, "alright then, let's get this done. This is one of the rangers who was on the drop today, he's gonna sit real quiet like at the back and look professional."
She sits behind the empty desk with a blank expression and recites an official press release, it's fairly standard stuff vis a vis the bravery of the Aegis staff, unfortunate circumstances surrounding the drop, overall success of repelling a significant Kaiju threat etc. etc. All very familiar to anyone who's spent anytime with news footage of K-attacks.
"So, any questions?" She opens the floor to the jostling reporters.
((If you want to have a reporter ask anything specific you're welcome to do so, I don't mind, might be a good chance to get some info Lei wouldn't tell you personally. Or just generally provide a bit of world building, if not I'll just write a quick generic Q&A myself.))
@see317
There is a Mozart on staff though: skinny guy, one of the interchangeable aides, he wasn't in command this morning though.
I appreciate your discretion sure, but if something like this happens again I think I'd rather now sooner over later. Saftey has to come before publicity, I can fend of an enraged pack of reporters easier than a Kaiju hitting the beach.
@SirEtchwarts
Mozart seems pretty pleased, or as pleased as anyone can be at a funeral, he inclines his head briefly, "Hey. How am I holding up? Well, seen as I wasn't out risking life and limb stabbing various unpleasantries this morning pretty good. Sorry about your teammates, it's always a bit of a nightmare, but it's a dangerous line of work I guess.
The commander? Ah she's pretty tough, I'm sure she's fine. Probably just beating herself up over losing your friends out there, I hear she's a decent pilot, damn near perfect drop/kill record and all that. Never seen her machine though.
But, yeah, anyway, how're you two doing? Sounded like it was pretty rough out there."
@Fencingsax
Chicago Megagame group
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"I got to look at Disco once or twice. She was a good machine. Some really gutsy tech in the neural bridge. Unfortunately, also the kind of machine where she has her team and won't work well with, well, anyone else. Don't think there's much chance of making use of the tech going forward."
Why I fear the ocean.
"As for how we are holding up...it is hard. For some reason this caught us by surprise, which is foolish in retrospect." Ian answers Mozart's question. "Even though I know there was nothing we could have done, there is a feeling of irrational guilt."
"Well, we could take Shane up on his offer of training. Maybe get better at grappling so something like that can't happen again." Ashkir chimes in. He voice drops to almost a whisper as he frowns. "I really don't like something like that to happen again."
They watch the press conference for awhile, mostly disinterested, and after nothing interesting happens, they head to Lediem's office, wondering what the proposal will entail.
She smiled a little. It was sadder than her usual.
"Even on the winning side."
Why I fear the ocean.
Shane: But at the time, we had bigger concerns. Namely, giant monsters that needed to be punched, shot at, stabbed...
Ben: But I'd bet the two Mozarts are just a coincidence of names, or possible a red herring to throw us off the trail. Doesn't seem likely that one of your "interchangable aids" would have access to the kind of intelligence that would tell them about a new kaiju as well as information that it was unlike anything that we'd seen before.
Shane: By all means, call him in for questioning, but unless there's a lot more to him then you've pegged him for, I don't think he's our man.
Ben: Thanks for hearing us out on this, Commander. Sorry to have interrupted you prepping for what's sure to be a fun time in front of the press. Let's schedule a meeting later, after the service for Disco's crew, to go over what we've found in the records.
Shane: If we can be of any help in the mean time... Just let us know.
@SirEtchwarts , @Chiasaur11
He glances across at Shelley, "Oh hey, yeah, did you hear that the boss had the Disco crew working on some top-secret engineering project? I guess that'd be in your wheelhouse?"
@Fencingsax
@see317
I don't wanna put the pressure on Mozart just in case he is our man, if he's got the contacts and influence your mystery voice seems to I wouldn't want him to do anything rash. I'll try and keep an eye on him though.
Sure thing, the service is in Mess 4, I'll be down in a few. Best make sure I clear out anything incriminating before the press show up..."
Shane: Sir.
Ben and Shane head back to their quarters and change clothes. They didn't bring any formal wear, or anything particularly well suited to a funeral, but they have enough dark colors in their wardrobe to look fairly respectable, and amongst the shatter dome inhabitants that's about all that can be expected. At the actual service, both stand near the back, not notably apart from the group, but not mingling with others. Each has a look or implication that says they're here because they're expected to be here, and would like very much to be elsewhere.
OOC: @Halos Nach Tariff, I've updated Junket's icon. I'm not sure if it's hubris that lead me to leave room for so many more black stripes, or optimism...
She shrugged.
"Jon and I picked up what we could. Might make something of it. We've got some ideas."
Jonathan began laughing maniacally halfway across the room.
"Some... bigish plans. Maybe. No promises."
Why I fear the ocean.
@see317
The service itself is mercifully short and sweet, there are a fair number of faces wearing similar expressions to your own about the place. Once the talking is done and the wine levels dropping people begin to filter out of the room.
@Fencingsax
"Ah, it's you, glad you could come so quickly. I apologise for involving you in this but it is a matter of some urgency. I shall be brief. Earlier the Commander tasked the pilots of Cyclopean Junket to surreptitiously investigate a string of suspected sabotages within Aegis, for the record this is an action of which I did not approve. Ben and Shane were selected as we cannot trust any of the long-serving Aegis staff for fears of compromise. That said after today's drop I remain unconvinced that the pair are completely trustworthy, there were suspect maneouvers and radio transmissions on their part and I worry that, at best, they have attracted some unwanted attention or, at worst, are themselves working directly against Aegis. I need eyes on them, and again I cannot trust my usual sources in case they too are compromised, so I turn to you as uninvested newcomers. I ask you simply to keep a secret watch on McCune and Reilly, just as a precaution."
@Chiasaur11
The reporter glanced towards Dustin's way while emphasizing the word 'professional'. He bit his lip, and looked towards the Commander.
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"Is this a good 'you'll want to see this'?"
_______
Shelley shrugged.
"Advanced neural link systems were the main project. Real risk of seizures, brain damage, and death if they had any problems, but they would boost response time and sync levels. I've been playing with the designs."
Why I fear the ocean.
Shane watches him go from where he's sitting, as the room empties to the last few occupants who, like him, have nowhere better to be at the moment He gets up and walks to The Memorial. A shrine of smoothly machined steel standing 8 feet tall and easily half that wide, the top end a jagged crown of shattered metal, supposedly a salvaged structural component of Yukon Brawler, the first Jaeger. A similar piece stood in each shatter dome, some massive armor plates, some titanic blades, each updated by the head engineers of the dome as unfortunate news reached them.
Shane runs a hand across the names engraved in the surface. Each grouping of names listing the crew and jaeger to have fallen in battle and engraved next to it the a kill marker for each Kaiju the crew had taken down themselves.
Some near the bottom of the engravings are solo names, single crew members, killed in battle but leaving their jaeger salvageable and their partners technically alive, though the psychological trauma generally left them damaged and unable to pilot again. They'd be added when they passed on, regardless of how they passed.
Some just jaeger names, crews who had managed to eject or otherwise escape before their jaeger was taken to pieces. They'd be added, along with the name of whatever new jaegers they had piloted, when they fell.
Higher on the memorial list, the first names to be engraved, are the names that are known around the world. The first jaegers, cheered around the world as they fought and won, until they lost. The early crews regarded as rock stars or savior gods by a terrified planet faced with an incomprehensible foe.
Brawler Yukon, Horizon Brave, Tacit Ronin, Romeo Blue... and more names, spiralling around the massive piece of metal.
As the list continues though, Shane struggles to remember the details of the Jaegers listed, let alone their crews. So many Jaegers had fallen, and so many more had risen to take their place on the front lines.
And there, at the bottom, shining from being freshly engraved, Disco Neon: Michelle Tallon, Jane Walker, and the 2 stylized kaiju head kill marks.
Shane runs his hand across the names, feeling the roughness from the hurried engraving, roughness that would be smoothed down by time as people just like him sought to remember and connect with the fallen in some physical way.
Shane leans forward resting his head against the cool metal surface, and with a whisper speaks to his fallen comrades "We may not have known each other well, barely at all, really. We may not have been friends, but we were allies, comrades in arms... I can't change anything that's happened, I can only promise to keep fighting as long as I can. And that the next one of these bastards we take down will be in your name."
Shane stands and steps back, regarding the memorial for a moment longer before he turns and walks out of the room. He pauses and gives the memorial a last glance, and shudders as a chill crawls down his back.
The engravings fill barely a quarter of the memorial's surface. There was more than enough room left for them all.
@Fencingsax
Personally I agree, I very much doubt Junket's crew are the perpetrators here, but if they are embroiled or involved in any fashion I, we, need to know."
@chiasaur11
@chiasaur11 , @SirEtchwarts
@see317
"Even knowing you," Ian chimes in, "I've learned an awful lot. Some of those things are more embarrassing than others."
"You have no idea, Ian." Turning to Mozart, Ashkir asks "So you've never been in the drift? Not even once in an attempt to try and be a pilot?"
"Right. Let's see it."
____
Shelley shrugged.
"I like to think of the pilots as just less aware of their own mortality. Also, could your laugh be more suspicious? I mean, I've been told I have a creepy laugh, but wow. Have you considered growing a goatee and a handlebar mustache?"
Why I fear the ocean.
"It's part of the job. Every pilot knows it. Heck, I'd bet everyone on this base knows it. When you're great, you win. When you're lucky you lose people. When you stop being lucky, people lose you.
I mean, you never really hear about Jaeger pilots retiring, do you? The good ones keep fighting until they're on the post, those who aren't as good... well, pretty much the same end for them, just comes sooner.
Disco went out like a champ though. Took that beast straight on and dragged it back to hell.
Shane shakes his head, and the corners of his mouth perk into a small, sad smile.
"...I'm sorry, I tend to get a bit maudlin at funerals. I'm Shane, pilot of Cyclopean Junket. And you are?
Xiang seems confused "I get easier, because it means we don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back, but how does this make it more difficult?"
Bridgette replies "Because if they don't know they are working against us, they can't reveal it. We'd have to watch them much more closely and comprehensively, which is much more difficult, not to mention it risks revealing that we suspect them, which could have...untoward consequences. Especially if they truly believe they are innocent and not responsible for any of this."
She turns back to Lediem "Do you have any leads on where to start, or is this just a blank slate?"
But nah, I've never tried out for pilot testing, I don't have, you know, the necessary qualities: bravery, selflessness, fighting spirit and all that. Not big on the whole 'risking my skin thing' either, but that's why it's lucky there's plenty of folk like you willing to step up to the alien menace I suppose."
@Chiasaur11
@see317
@Fencingsax
As for leads I do not know much, whoever is behind this is crafty, crafty enough to evade me anyway. I can tell you that the first suspected sabotage was around a year ago, with repeat suspected incidents every few month thereafter, the latest being only last week. McCune and Reilly know this already and have been following leads which, so far as I can tell, are legitimate. A few hours ago, just before the memorial service, the reported directly to the Commander concerning a mysterious message from an unknown source during today's drop; the message used the alias 'Mozart' and both warned them of the presence of the fourth Kaiju Marrion and instructed them to drop it's corpse at specific co-ordinates; which they did. They also kept this information quiet during the drop for reasons unknown."
As Jonathan departs, Ian steps a little closer to Mozart.
"How's our little pet project going? Any news on the delivery of barstools, or paint?" his voice falls to just above a whisper.
So, Shivali, is there any post death drop tradition at this base I should be aware of? Or do we just all go our separate ways after the service to think about what we could have done better?
@see317
@Fencingsax