MechA cademy [IC/PG-13/Co-Hosted by Skaia/Not Accepting]

[LordCowCow 839]

Kelsey Fionne woke up and immediately rolled out of bed. Had she been in her bedroom at home this wouldn’t have been a problem, given she slept on a mattress, but this wasn’t her room.

She woke up in one of the, incredibly tiny and cramped, cabins aboard the military transport vessel, the Finback. The rooms were so small there was barely room to walk with the bed taking up most of the space.

Said bed was the main issue with Kelsey’s actions. For each room had a bunk bed and she had chosen to sleep on the top bunk.

She landed on her back and stared up at the ceiling. Contemplating how she could have forgotten this two days in a row.

The first day they, her and the dozens of other students being transported to MechA cademy, woke up in this place it was understandable. She was in a brand new place. Forgetting where she was made sense.

The second day? Not so much. With a groan Kelsey struggled to sit upright. Pushing with her single arm to a sitting position she looked around the room. There were her and her roommate’s, her best friend Stella, bags shoved in the corner. There was the foot wide window that showed the vastness of space outside of the ship. And there was the clock. Which read 1300.

“Ah, crap, missed lunch again.” She grumbled.

Despite being a military vessel the students being transported were given fairly free reign. Allowed to sleep when they wanted and wake up when they wanted as well. Unfortunately the cafeteria was only open every six hours starting at midnight and only for half an hour at a time. If you missed one of these windows you had to wait for the next one. Which, in Kelsey’s case, was five hours from now.

Her eyes moved towards the other bed and, of course, Stella was already gone. She smiled fondly as she shuffled her way to the wall where she opened up a panel. This is where she had put the school uniform before bed. The technology inside cleaned and folded it for the morning, something Kelsey was quite happy about.

They were told that they would only need to wear the uniform on the ship, opening ceremony, certain events, and missions.

Given that the uniform was basically a standard grey tracksuit, with the words MechA cademy in blue along the side, Kelsey was pretty happy about that too.

The girl spent several minutes pulling off the T-shirt she had slept in and, with a sigh, unlatched the metallic arm from the edge of her bed. She fumbled with it for another few minutes before latching it onto the device attached to the end of her elbow and flexed the device. Wincing, still unused to the uncomfortable tugging feeling it made, she got dressed and stepped outside.

---

The Finback was a massive transport ship. It was lightly armed with a pair of turrets under the ship at the bow and stern. The main form of protection the students had were a trio of Mech pilots who were tasked with defending the ship as it traveled to Ardualf and MechA cademy. Where the students aboard the vessel would train to become Mech pilots themselves.

Being a military vessel it was fairly bare when it came to entertainment. However the principal of MechA cademy made sure to outfit it with several things for the students to pass the time during what would be a three day journey.

A small library had been installed. However as the president was certain teenagers didn’t read the library also contained a pair of massive televisions.

Ping Pong tables were set up in an open room that used to be used for weapon storage. Along with a pair of ancient arcade cabinets.

One was for Pick-Man. A maze based game where the player was a small yellow miner who would go through the maze breaking rocks to uncover gems and avoiding color-coded tentacles that would sprout from the ground to give chase.

The other was the classic Back-Alley Brawler. A fighting game where various unusual characters from around the universe compete in fights in various back alleys of large cities to be the Back-Alley Champion.

That is where one could find Kelsey, mashing away at the buttons as she tried to remember all the combos.

A large window was located next to the machines and Kelsey noticed that they seemed to be flying into an asteroid field. Something that she was pretty certain they shouldn’t be doing. As the ship rocked back and forth and she struggled to keep her combo going she wondered if perhaps the pilot was drunk.

By this point most of the students were up and about, going about various business, though each of them would notice the rather shaky motions of the ship.

This would be the final, full, day before they arrived at their destination and the nerves and excitement was at a boiling point.

In one more day they would officially be students at MechA cademy.

OOC

Spoiler

So basically you’re on board the Finback, a slightly modified military vessel transporting you, the cast, as well as various other first year students to MechA cademy. The day is Thursday and you’ll arrive at the school on Friday.
There are some forms of entertainment aboard the ship but if there’s something else you might want your character to be doing just ask me and I’m sure we can add it.
I tried to give what info I thought was necessary but if there’s anything else hit me up.
Something I didn’t add was that the mecha were stored in the hanger at the back.
The idea is to introduce characters and such. It'll just be a day before we get into the school stuff so if people are lingering I'll move on. Don't worry about the roommate thing unless you care. Just there's a bunk bed in each individual cabin.

 

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica was looking at the window while the ship shook with each maneuver. She saw the asteroid field and, mentally, tried to match the movements with the debris. She was not an expert in that area, but if it was like avoiding projectiles, it was gonna be a tough ride. She went to the ping-pong table, looking at it and then went straight to the library. Erica had already missed a full day, as the first day she actually spent the night prior in the room listening at her box and crying. It was a pretty lonely ride for her, first day of school and nobody who she actually knew was gonna be there. Ice queen broke pretty early in her trip and she didn't want to actually be seen crying. She decided to go to the library and check if anyone was seeing any news on TV about why the asteroid field and also went to the library, wondering about the books they had in there.

[Thar 502]

---

Julian couldn't sleep. Ever since he left home, nothing felt right. His home was in a quiet, peaceful place away from the hustle of modern civilization. Next thing he knew, he was on a giant moving ship in space, sharing stiff military bunks with others as if privacy was a luxury that they couldn't afford. Either way, his dreams haunted him and the food that they served did not sit well with him. He loved the freshly cooked game that he would bring home that was served with vegetables picked right from the garden. Now he was left with his slop. It was almost insulting. During the second night, he merely laid there without any desire to drift off and accept the fact that his insides were twisting like balloon animals.

"Am I in hell?" he muttered under his gas mask as he pressed a button on the front to release another hit of painkillers in a gaseous form, which was stored in a pack that he had tucked alongside the bed. There was a slight, sharp hissing sound followed by a flinch. It was bitter, but the feeling of relief that followed was the compromise, much like black coffee in the morning. It wasn't until then when he was able to relax and catch up on the sleep that he missed.

It wasn't long after when a sudden shake of the ship nearly knocked him out of bed the following afternoon. He instinctively reached to grab his medpack, not realizing until later that he wasn't actually falling. With a sigh of relief and frustration, he composed himself enough to sit up and stretch, eventually getting up to walk amongst the ship. Clipping his pack into his back, he made his way to the library, passing the entertainment room on the way. He could hear another shipmate mashing what he assumed was one of the arcade machines, but Julian was too tired to care much. He just wanted to unwind with a book, let alone a good one given the limited supply that they had. He found the farthest possible place in the room from a TV as he grabbed the first thing that caught his eye. Flipping to the first page, he hit another puff of PK and lost himself in the mediocre plot, only barely noticing another person entering the room in his peripherals.

[Skaia 578]

The girl tapped her finger on the table looking at the clock mounted on the wall. 

12:25

Looking down, the girl's gaze fell to a half finished plate of food. Moving a spoon around it, the girl sat by herself at a table, seemingly killing time as her gaze went back and forth between her food and the clock. 

12:28

The girl sighed, seemingly defeated. "She's not coming." Scratching the back of her head, the girl began to pick the food off of her plate, putting it instead into a plastic container that she had brought with her. Closing it and sealing it tight, the girl stood  up from her seat, making her way out of the cafeteria. 

---

Stella had briefly walked around the ship, trying to see if her roommate had finally roused from her slumber. Though they were however many miles from home, though they were about to embark on the first step of a new kind of life, it had seemed that things still remained the same as always. Stella had no trouble getting up in the morning, nor did she have any real trouble getting around the ship. Of course, she should have expected that the getting up part would be harder for some than others. Or, rather, she had already known that this would happen. 

Opening the door to her room, the girl looked around to see that no one was in at the moment. Glad to see that this was the case now, Stella now had the next trial of figuring out where her friend had actually gone. Thinking about what she had seen on the ship, it didn't take long for her to figure it out, though as she began to walk through the ship. Looking out the window to the vessel, the girl saw that they had entered an asteroid field, the ship beginning to experience  some manner of space turbulence. With the rocking of the ship, Stella had practically fallen over several times, her precarious balance being constantly thrown off, and forced her to hug the wall of the ship. 

Eventually, though, she managed to come across the arcade room. Seeing the blonde haired girl at one of the machines, seeming to struggle to keep things going, Stella had made her way over to her. Raising up the plastic container, the girl gently knocked it against the head saying, "it's not nice to keep others waiting." Were she to turn around, Kelsey would see the somewhat stern yet pouting face of Stella. "Eating is just as important as classes, so you shouldn't sleep through either." Though she was chiding her, Stella then sighed, presenting the plastic dish of food to her friend. "Take it." 

[LordCowCow 839]

Kelsey was leaned forward close to the screen of the game. One hand hitting the buttons almost violently. Other one gripping the control stick as if her life depended on it. It would seem as though she wasn't paying attention to the world around her. And then she heard familiar footsteps and a smile crossed her face.

"it's not nice to keep others waiting. Eating is just as important as classes, so you shouldn't sleep through either."

"Sorry Stella overslept. Then I heard the call of the cabinet and got a little bit distracted." She looked over at the girl and gave her a wink. Then noises from the game caused her to turn back in a panic in order to try and get back on track.

She sniffed, smelling the food that Stella had brought, and her stomach grumbled. "Hey, Stella, can't really use my hands right now." She turned slightly. Keeping one eye on the game and glancing over towards the other girl. "Might need a little help with my lunch." Then she opened up her mouth and let out an "Ahhhhh."

---

As Erica entered the room she would get spotted by a couple male students hanging out on the couch by the television. They waved her over and called out. "Hey there, you didn't come here for those boring books did ya?" One of them said.

The television had some cartoon playing. However not long after Erica came in the screen would switch over to a man sitting on a high-backed chair. "Oh damn it's the president." One of the boys muttered.

"People of the Democratic Space Alliance. It has been many years since the attack from the evil Heliosians. We fought them back with some cost and stopped their threat. However I come to you with grave news. We have had signs of renewed activity. While this is grim news indeed I have come on not to frighten you but assure you." He made a fist and slammed it down on the desk. "I will do everything in my power to make sure this threat is contained. Even now we are sending our soldiers to the area to make sure none of those monsters reach any of our cities."

-----

Meanwhile Julian's line of site was currently being blocked. A young girl with amber eyes and her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Excuse me, that mask. You know all illnesses need to be reported to the staff correct? Do you have the clearance to be around others right now?" Her voice had a hint of haughtiness to it as she frowned down at the young man.

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica looked at the young boys watching a cartoon and she simply ignored them as she wasn't into that kind of cartoons... she was, surprisingly, into more romantic affairs. She, of course, didn't let that last part to be unveiled. "I am not into entertainment, gentlemen." She then remembered she was gonna miss her show during her time in the cademy unless the cademy was able to get transmissions from Asari. Her thought train was interrupted by the news informing of the Heliosians reappearing. She had heard a bit about them, mainly from the army mentioning them when discussing the making of her mech. She felt the coincidence of the cademy doing a massive call and these old beings reappearing was too much of a coincidence. She kept around to see if there was a report on the asteroid field they were passing right now, as it was interrupting her meditation.

[yui 574]

The nucleus is the "brain" of the cell.

That was what it said. While Sammi would have preferred to research something a bit grander than invidividual cells, being thorough with her research was important, and she had to start somewhere, right? Might as well start with the building blocks of organic life. Hopefully the other units didn't have the same idea. She'd already long since woken up, or so she'd claim. The reality was that Sammi needed no sleep, and was able to research biology non-stop since coming aboard the Finback. This vessel would be taking her and a number of others to Mecha Cademy, where she'd begin training to be a mech pilot. It wasn't the most conventional means of worming her way into local society maybe, but it was certainly a convenient one.

It would probably be good to get to know her schoolmates. And as it happened, there were some in this very library. A boy with a gas mask, or at least it looked like one, and some girl asking if he had clearance to be near others right now.

"If he was ill, wouldn't he more likely be in bed or something?" Sammi interjected. "And those aren't even the types of masks people wear when they're sick. His would be better for a gas leak or landing on a planet with a toxic atmosphere."

[Zai 26]

 "nm...nmn..n.."

His head was burning again. There were too many people, too close together. Even through the walls Aston Ainsley could feel what they were feeling; nervousness and excitement, but also boredom, sadness, and even a twinge of lust: his absolute least favorite (feeling someone else's jollies affect your own mood was quite possibly the most unnerving sensation he'd ever experienced). He knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up feeling manic: a telltale sign that he'd been feeling the emotions of every dreaming person within a 50 foot radius of his bed, and that had, as it always did, given way to the burning within an hour or so as the rest of the students awoke and went about their days; feeling more normal, everyday things that put a far greater strain on him. Reflexively, Aston rubbed the four rings on his fingers in sequence, left to right, with his thumbs, and that cooled the pain in his temples slightly. The plan was to stay in his room all day, and hopefully avoid this, but obviously that ship had sailed, like it had yesterday, and the day before- he hated transport ships. With no other choice, Aston sat back up, and walked out of his room. If he was going to suffer, he might as well suffer with some company.

---

Sometime later, Aston found himself in the library. Social spaces like this often made for the best vantage points from which to feel people, and if Aston focused hard enough he could tell who was experiencing what, and sometimes even toward whom. The easiest was, of course, when a girl (or occasionally a guy) looked his way, and as the gears turned in their heads and their instincts came alive he'd get a pang in his chest and a little heat in his temples. Other times someone would be angry, and the thoughts that most people keep to themselves would be running through their head, and a painful cold sensation would flash over him. Today though, the vibes were good- normal; boring. He could handle it, at least for a little while.

After a few moments basking in the sea of banality, a twinge of annoyance caught Aston's attention, and he turned his head just in time to catch some girl scolding a guy wearing... was that a gas mask? And Aston thought he was a weirdo.

"Excuse me, that mask. You know all illnesses need to be reported to the staff correct? Do you have the clearance to be around others right now?"

Then something peculiar happened. Another girl appeared from his peripheral vision and interjected in the conversation- not weird in and of itself, but the fact that Aston noticed her, not felt her, immediately stood out to him. His senses hadn't worked that way in years.

"If he was ill, wouldn't he more likely be in bed or something? And those aren't even the types of masks people wear when they're sick. His would be better for a gas leak or landing on a planet with a toxic atmosphere."

Slowly, and as subtly as he could, Aston inched his way closer to the three of them, his curiosity piqued.

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Xa'tok had probably adjusted to the conditions aboard the Finback better than most of the other prospective students. True, space being at a premium was something of a difficulty for him, considering his height, but he had spent the entirety of his life aboard spaceships of some kind or another. Even the cramped conditions of their quarters were not entirely new to him, much as it had taken time for him to adjust to such. Sharing quarters was a bit new, but so far his bunk mate, whose name he was having some difficulty remembering, had not objected to the ritualistic aspects of his life. Rituals which, thanks to quite a few pieces of legislation guaranteeing religious freedoms, he had been permitted thus far to perform aboard the ship.

So this, their penultimate day aboard the transport vessel, had begun much like every day did for the young shaman. He rose at 0743 precisely, which gave him enough time to prepare himself for the first ritual of the day. A ritual which involved burning an offering, in this case foul-smelling incense which substituted for the usual meat or other organic products that would have composed it aboard a Chapaayan vessel, for the spirits of the local region of space. This was in turn followed by throwing the contents of a small sack, which appeared to be made of leather or at least a leather-like substance, across a hard surface. The surface in question had been the floor of his room for the past few days, as he lacked the appropriate resources to create a proper tablet upon which to do this, and the sack contained dozens of irregularly shaped pieces of bone. These pieces were, in turn, inscribed with runic sigils that really only meant anything to a Chapaayan Shaman. In this way he sought to gain insight into the state of the local spirits, and learn what they would tell him. Afterwards he collected the bones, returned them to the sack, and sat in meditation surrounded by burning incense until lunch was served in the ship's cafeteria. There was more he wished he could do, but much of that required permanent facilities which he would have to establish when they reached the Academy.

Afterwards he had dressed himself in the Uniform, though he had already made certain adjustments. Dozens of strings of charms made of bone, strange gems, or the ever-present Chapaayan Smelt hung from where he had affixed them to the garments, and of course the ornate hood still covered his head. The ornately-decorated charms that had been made of his own horns hung from this hood as well, and swayed ever so slightly as he walked about.

---

After lunch, Xa'tok had made his way to the library where he had been browsing through books on the history of the Democratic Space Alliance and the species which were loyal to it. He did want to know as much as he could about the people he was going to be around in the place of his own after all. That and being in the library meant that, thanks to the large televisions, he could keep himself apprised of the news as it came in. That would serve well to give him some idea of what they could expect at the Academy, and with news coming in about renewed Heliosian activity he could only imagine that their education would be accelerated. This was good. The sooner he could get real experience instead of simply learning, the better.

A subtle whisper in what he recognized as the language of the spirits caught his attention, and he turned his head to once again regard the black haired human boy who also seemed to be touched by the spirits. Though the way in which this Aston, he thought that was the name, was affected by their touch seemed to differ in some way. Even so, he felt a sense of familiarity in the boy. It seemed the spirits flocked to him as much as they did the Chapaayan.

Of course the confrontation between the trio of others in the Library, a girl with beautiful golden eyes, a boy in a gas mask, and a third girl whom the spirits did not seem totally aware of caught his attention. For now, he resolved to simply observe and save his enlightened words in the case that they would be needed. He expected to be leading his peers among the student body eventually, and he needed to know how they would interact with each other in order to do that most effectively.

[Thar 502]

"Excuse me, that mask. You know all illnesses need to be reported to the staff correct? Do you have the clearance to be around others right now?"

Not a couple minutes into some quiet morning reading, Julian looked up from his open book - held open by his thumb on the fold - to see someone looking down on him, presumably condescendingly and disappointed. With a slightly frustrated sigh, he used his other hand to reach around his chin and unlatch the strap that held the mask up against his face, letting it drop to hang around his neck.

"I thought the library was where people went to enjoy some peace and quiet..." Julian's voice was slightly hoarse, mostly because he hasn't talked much recently. There was also a hint of agitation, but that was mostly because he was taken away from his book for the moment. "...but If you're wondering if I might get the whole ship sick, then you're mistaken."

"If he was ill, wouldn't he more likely be in bed or something?" Another person showed up behind the first one, adding a layer of frustration for Julian.  "And those aren't even the types of masks people wear when they're sick. His would be better for a gas leak or landing on a planet with a toxic atmosphere."

"Hazardous environments, including epidemics..." he added, shooting a facetious glare at the one with amber eyes, "that's part of it, but I assure you, I'm not ill, nor am I contagious. It's mostly for-" for a second, Julian noticed two more people observing the conversation. A vein in his forehead bulged as he softly grunted and lifted the mask up to his mouth, pressing the button to release another hit of painkiller. With a quick moment of relief, he continued, "...it's for pain. It helps ease the nerves, though it's not debilitating. If I can't wear it, then I don't have to, though I prefer to have it on."

Without another word, or at least he thought, he raised the book back up to try and get a few more pages in. However, seeing as he was flocked with attention, he merely slipped a piece of parchment between the pages, closed the book and set it down, sighing. "My name's Julian, by the way, if anyone wants to know." Making eye contact with each individual in the room, including the onlookers, he snuck in a subtle smile as a sign of forced welcomeness.

[VCR_CAT 19]

Rosha

Rosha's time aboard the Finback was soon going to come to an end, and she couldn't be more excited. So much of the way the ship was run infuriated her. For starters, the sleep schedule was a problem. Rosha was used to how people slept back home, which is to say, mostly during the day. While the Finback was pretty lax on how the students went about their day, Rosha had been reprimanded a few times for her boisterous "night-time activities". The Finback lacked a full track and its space for exercise was woefully limited. The only place where Rosha could really run around and cut loose were the ship's halls and spaces, but these were usually full of people during the day. So, to solve this problem, Rosha took to running around the halls at night. But this presented another problem: the metal flooring of the ship made terrible sounds when her claws scratched against it, and when she put on shoes instead Rosha found the banging made from her running to be just as loud. Once the noise complaints started rolling out, the ship's command was forced to find its source and, in turn, address Rosha's little noise issue.

So, for the past few days, Rosha was forced to remain more still. The crew suggested she use the exercise room to burn off the excess energy, but lifting weights was never good enough. She needed to run, climb, and leap, and there was no room around to do it. This caused her to become quite antsy and irritable around the other students. To make matters worse, the ship made all kinds of terrible noises that none of the other students seemed to be able to hear; high-pitched whines and low thrums that echoed down the halls from the engine room that made sleeping difficult for Rosha whenever she wanted to. Thankfully, the crew was able to provide noise-blocking earplugs that made a world of a difference for her.

On the penultimate day, Rosha had awoken from her second morning-nap within her bottom-bunk mess of blankets, peering out from a makeshift curtain she had hung from the top bunk with a spare blanket she had stolen from the laundry services to block out light. She made her way to the cafeteria, scarfed down a hasty lunch, grumbled about being on a space ship for the fifth time, and then made her way to the game room. The Hangar staff had already gotten after her about getting in the way of work when she was practicing acrobatics there, and the library was for quiet and boring people, so this left only one space left where she was officially allowed to be.

A couple students were playing ping-pong while some were at the arcade cabinets already, much to Rosha's chagrin. Rosha walked over to a pipe that ran up the wall and scampered up to the high ceiling to climb along the ventilation that lined the roof. Eventually, she clambered over to the arcade cabinets and, by hooking her legs on a pipe, let herself hang upside-down just over the cabinet while one of the other students mashed on the buttons furiously.

"Are you almost done?" Rosha nagged, gently swinging from side-to-side. "I wanna play! Hurry up!"

Edited March 22, 2019 by VCR_CAT

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Rec room... Kitchen... The bunk rooms... He could've gone anywhere, anywhere at all in this ship. But still, he found himself enjoying another day in the ship's hangar, where all the mechs were. And once again, Chase Weller found himself slumped against a cargo box that was placed to the side of a mech known as the Aegis Weiß Mk XI. Of course, this ship had rules about not being allowed anywhere near any other mech that wasn't their own...so...he had to find a work around on this...namely: sitting beside his own mech and observing the other mechs from afar.

At the moment, Chase was staring down one particular mech. The design of it was...almost too much for him to comprehend.

"Jeez, that design is fierce looking." he said, the eraser end of his pencil tapping at his opened notebook slightly. "Haven't seen a design with anything like that claw...it's pretty interesting. Strange that you would only have them on one hand. Honestly, would've thought that having them on both hands would've been good...then again, the designer might've had a reason."

Spinning the pencil in his hand slightly, Chase began to write down some extensive notes from his observation on this mech that was known as: Zu'ul-pa-tok. Single clawed hand...most likely for tearing a mech asunder...reason for only one claw...?  He shrugged, putting a few more question marks after that last sentence, before making another notice at something else it had...shoulder tentacles. Shoulder tentacles...okay that's actually interesting. Thooooough, not sure how practical those could be. Honestly at this point it makes me think of that scarf design a buddy of mine showed on one mech...that was terrible. Eh, I'll save judgement on that though. Shoulder tentacles - Verdict: Undecided.

With a sigh, Chase began to stretch slightly before closing the notebook and running his hand through his hair slightly. "Yeah, it's obvious that thing is of another world and culture. Heh, no way something that fierce looking could've been designed by my type of people...man, I need to pick the brain of the pilot who has that mech."

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica keeps looking at the information in the TV as she momentarily takes a glance a lot of people surrounding the guy in the mask. She stands up after a while, not having seen any info on the astroid field they were heading through, though she probably didn't expected much in that notice. She stands up and walks to the crowd. "It is absolutely impolite to interrupt someone-no-reading, specially by this amount of people." She looks at everyone in a pretty stern way. "And the staff is likely aware of the mask and its content, given we had been a couple of days in this ship already. So I would not be worried about it." She goes to the library shelves and picks a book on Advanced Sensors, then leans on a wall as she reads it. "Remember: The cat dies when it feels curious." She, of course, tried to say 'Curiosity killed the cat', but the language barrier is still there and it's still strong.

Edited March 22, 2019 by ZetaRESP

[Skaia 578]

It was clear that Kelsey was only partially listening to Stella as she was talking, clearly focused on the game before her. Sighing as she had asked to be fed, Stella began to slowly open the plastic tub of food. She wasn't entirely surprised that it had ended up this way, instead saying, "fine, but once we're at school you'll have to feed yourself too." Grabbing a potato wedge from her tub, the girl held it up and began to move it towards her friend. As it reached Kelsey's mouth, and the other began to eat it, Stella started to reach in one again and was about to feed Kelsey once more when suddenly another voice entered the conversation. 

"Eep!" Letting the wedge go free as she was startled, though surprisingly still into Kelsey's mouth, Stella looked around to see where the voice came from. Looking at the person just hanging around, the girl let out a sigh of relief to see that it was nothing to be worried about. Of course, as they were likely breaking some kind of rule, her expression got more stern and she said, "if you want to play you shouldn't be up there...or swinging." It was at this point that the girl realized something as she was looking up. They had likely been there the whole time and had likely seen what had just happened. Looking to Kelsey for a moment and then back to the other girl, her stern expression then broke way for a moment as she looked down. Her face now reddening a bit from embarrassment she said, "um, Kellz....we should - uh - go somewhere - you'll need a fork for some of these so...um...." The girl at this point felt like ejecting herself from the ship at present. 

[LordCowCow 839]

"Oh come on." One of the boys said towards Erica as she blew them off. "Just a little while is fine right?"

"Don't bother." The other said. "Chick's clearly stuck up."

The girl that had confronted Julian seemed to grow a bit nervous as a crowd started to form. A crowd of what seemed to be all older than her. "I-I wasn't asking you!" She said towards Sammi and Erica, a slight blush on her face. She looked back towards Julian and cleared her throat. "Well fine if it's not going to be a problem...but you didn't need to get everyone to gang up on me!" She huffed, storming off and trying to keep her head held high. Before leaving she turned back towards Julian and, almost aggressively, "I'm Bianca."

---

Kelsey smirked as Stella agreed to feed the girl. She nodded as her friend lectured her on being able to feed herself. "I 'ill make zure to membr tha." She responded with her mouthful of fried potato goodness.

"I wanna play! Hurry up!"

Kelsey looked around in confusion a moment. Only realizing where the voice came from when Stella responded.

"um, Kellz....we should - uh - go somewhere - you'll need a fork for some of these so...um...."

"Fork smork." Kelsey said. Then, looking up at the girl who had arrived. A girl who looked to be of a species she hadn't seen before. "Sup? How about a match instead? Don't mind Stella here, she's just bad with people." Kelsey nudged Stella with her hip. "This is a two player game for a reason." Both Rosha and Stella would see a competitive spark in the girl's eye. "Who are you anyway? I'm Kelsey. This sweetheart here is Stella."

She turned her head to said "sweetheart.", completely oblivious to the reason for her awkwardness. "Hey, can I get another?"

---

In the hanger Chase would soon realize that he wasn't alone. Though the other person hadn't seemed to notice him just yet.

Art by asa (y-asa)

The young woman had her hand in her chin, covering her mouth, and was staring blankly ahead while muttering. "Doesn't have enough acceleration. Where can I transfer the energy to get more. Suppose don't need that many escape pods. But then how to connect..."

She passed by him entirely without noticing. Then, shortly later, she came back from the other side. "Toaster still can't toast rye bread. Why just rye? What's in rye bread? I need to examine some rye bread."

Once again she passed by. On the third pass however... "I suppose a thousand meter tall mech is impractical after all...hm?" She paused in her pacing and looked blankly at Chase for a while. "Where did you come from? I didn't get told I'd have an assistant. No. Not an assistant. Who are you?"

[yui 574]

"Hazardous environments, including epidemics... that's part of it, but I assure you, I'm not ill, nor am I contagious. It's mostly for-" Suddenly, he stopped talking. Then did something with his mask. "...it's for pain. It helps ease the nerves, though it's not debilitating. If I can't wear it, then I don't have to, though I prefer to have it on."

"My name's Julian, by the way, if anyone wants to know."

"Well fine if it's not going to be a problem...but you didn't need to get everyone to gang up on me!"

But we didn't gang up...

"I'm Bianca."

Organic thought processes are unpredictable. And flawed. Bianca may be brain damaged, and that's part of the reason? But while everyone was introducing themselves, Sammi was supposed to do the same, right? That was how these things went if she knew well enough. People started sharing names with everyone else, then everyone tried to remember all of those names and generally forgot some. Not Sammi, of course. She was taking notes in her mind even now on these people. "Surveillance An-- er, uh, I mean, Sammi. That's my name. Sammi." That was close.

Sammi glanced around at the other onlookers. One of them didn't seem that focused on Julian or Bianca though, instead putting their attention toward... Sammi herself? Odd. He must have suspected something was up! Some sort of anti-robot spy or something? Whatever he was, she had to clear up any misunderstandings with this boy first and foremost. "And you are?" she asked, a bit more bluntly than she'd intended.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Doesn't have enough acceleration. Where can I transfer the energy to get more. Suppose don't need that many escape pods. But then how to connect..."

"Hm?" Chase perked up slightly, hearing someone speak as now he saw a girl lost in her thoughts...and by lost in her thoughts...

"Toaster still can't toast rye bread. Why just rye? What's in rye bread? I need to examine some rye bread."

She was DEFINITELY lost in her thoughts. However, Chase just sat where he was as the girl finally caught notice of him...then again, it wasn't like he was actually trying hard to not be noticed to begin with. After all, it would be sort of difficult to miss the orange hair like that...oh well.

"I suppose a thousand meter tall mech is impractical after all...hm? Where did you come from? I didn't get told I'd have an assistant. No. Not an assistant. Who are you?"

"Assistant? Heh, well I'd love to be called that, buuuuuuuuuut that's unfortunately not the case." Chase chuckled, standing up as he tossed his jacket back on, putting his notebook under his arm before extending a hand towards the young girl. "Apologies. I'm Chase Weller, a student...well, future student, of MechA cademy. Annnnnd general lover of mechs." he said, as he looked a bit more around while speaking. "Sorry if I'm not allowed back in here, just really couldn't help myself, cause I really wanted a good look at the other mechs and ya know, observe them. Since I've been told to only get close to my own mech." He pointed a thumb towards the Aegis Weiss.

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica did catch up the slip a bit, but she assumed... "<What a weird first name she has...>" She said lowly to herself in her more natural Asarian language. She didn't pressure the matter any longer because she was not interested in that weirdness. She kept focusing on her book until she was tired of it and closed it to focus more on the others. "I am Sahira Rika. Actually, my legal name Erica Katorian Sapphire..." She is aware she screwed up her second name a bit, but she couldn't care less about it. "... but I am not used to be called in that way." She thinks a bit. "Have not gone around to fix the legal issue either. I have not had the time for that."

Edited March 26, 2019 by ZetaRESP

[Thar 502]

"It is absolutely impolite to interrupt someone-no-reading, especially by this amount of people." Another voice broke through the crowd. Julian looked over to see whom he recalls being the first one to enter the room after him, also to read a book. "And the staff is likely aware of the mask and its content, given we had been a couple of days in this ship already. So I would not be worried about it. Remember... The cat dies when it feels curious." As she sat down to start reading, Julian noted the mutual interest... and the humorously broken English.

"I-I wasn't asking you!" Bianca retorted, seemingly nervous and humiliated as she faced Julian once more, "Well fine if it's not going to be a problem...but you didn't need to get everyone to gang up on me!"

"I didn-" Julian began to respond before the amber-eyed girl began to storm off in humiliation, "...okay." With a sigh of both relief and acceptance, he went back to return to his page before he turned to say her name.

"I'm Bianca!"

"Oh, nice to m-" After noticing she had already left, Julian simply stopped speaking and sighed once more, rolling his eyes.

"Surveillance An-- er, uh, I mean, Sammi. That's my name. Sammi."

Julian only barely noticed that Sammi was referring to herself, but enough to acknowledge it. Despite his curiosity peaking at how she was about to address herself, he merely shrugged it off, "Sammi, huh? You one of them roleplayers? Heh, I would walk around pretending to be a cyborg back in the day. Not really as fun or charming nowadays cause reality always kicks in, but it's good to know you still have an avid imagination." He felt a lot more comfortable now that the ice has been broken a bit. He scanned the room once more; there were a lot of people in here. A lot more than he had expected. However, if there was any time to get to know the group he was recruited with, it's now.

"So where you all from?"

Edited March 27, 2019 by Thar

[LordCowCow 839]

"Sorry if I'm not allowed back in here, just really couldn't help myself, cause I really wanted a good look at the other mechs and ya know, observe them. Since I've been told to only get close to my own mech."

The woman took a deep breath and let it out through her nose. Her hand rubbed at her temples. "You talk a lot." She muttered. "I don't think there's any rules against it. I didn't really read the notes though so just keep out of the way and don't let anything fall on you." She looked up. "Pieces fall off. From that height could cause damage."

A few moments passed and the girl tilted her head back towards Chase. "Losing a student this early would be a new record."

Then she glanced up and down the mech that the boy gestured to. Without missing a beat she said "Balance is off. Need to distribute the weight better." She sighed. "I have to figure out the toaster problem." Then she began to pace around the hanger once again.

---

As the ship continued its travels the rocking started to get more frequent. Bits of debris bounced off the hull of the ship and it seemed they had hit a more dense area of the meteor storm they had entered.

"God what is the pilot thinking." One of the boys on the couch complained loudly.

"Maybe he's high." The other responded. "I was up there earlier and the dude seemed way too chill."

The first boy turned around on the couch and leaned his elbows on the back of it. "Hey, witch doctor, did you cast some kind of spell on our pilot?" He joked, clearly speaking to Xa'Tok.

His companion tugged on his shirt. "C'mon man, don't." He muttered.

[VCR_CAT 19]

Rosha

"This is a two player game for a reason," Kelsey said. "Who are you anyway? I'm Kelsey. This sweetheart here is Stella."

"Kelsey, eh? Well my name's Rosh--" As Rosha spoke, debris began to strike the ship's hull at an increased rate, and the room shook violently with each hit. As the ship rocked, Rosha's grip on the pipe above the machine came loose and the small alien girl fell to the floor with a loud thud. "[Xa'shaya!!]" Rosha shouted, with universal translators neglecting to interpret the harsh expletive. "I hate being in this stupid space ship!! Why does anyone bother to not have solid ground under their feet?!" Growling, Rosha pushed herself into a sitting position on the floor, rubbing her shoulder where she had landed. "My name's Rosha Ta'Megn, strongest warrior from my tribe!" she lied. "And I would be happy to compete against with your silly human 'videos game'!"

Rosha leapt to her feet and took the player two side of the arcade cabinet. She cast a glance in Stella's direction her face betrayed her confusion. "Also, why is the dark-haired one so flustered? I can hear her heartbeat a mile away! All you said was that she is like a sugary heart."

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica also feels how the things seems to be getting rougher. "This is not right at all..." She heads to the nearest window and can see the rocks are actually increasing in size and quantity. "Kuso... I shall be right back. Do not summon despair onto your heart." After accidentally butchering a simple "do not panic", she runs and leaves the premises and tries to find one of the staff to tell them the issue with the pilot. She's just a student, it may not be polite for her to tell the pilot how to do his job, but maybe she can find some teacher to make the situation get under control. She heads towards the hangar, to see if there's a staff in there that can help her get through the pilot... also, she wants to be in her mech in case things get rough.

She reaches the hangar without having met any teacher in the way. She arrives the place and sees a couple of people in there, one on top of a mech, the other one pacing around. She right away sees none of them should be a pilot, so she looks at her own mech. "There is a storm of shooting stars attacking us. I will seek for seclusion inside my mech. I recommend to be the same as safety me." She... really meant for them to do as she does for safety, but her standard language is worse than the weather.

Edited March 29, 2019 by ZetaRESP

[Skaia 578]

Stella only fidgeted in place more as Kelsey seemed to insist they were fine where they were. As she then introduced the both of them to the strange new girl, Stella then seemed to be all the more stunned as she was casually referred to by the blonde haired girl. With her face growing redder, only to then face anywhere but towards her friend, Stella only started muttering, "idiot, idiot, idiot- " which was then cut off as the ship shook yet again. Nearly falling, and worse yet nearly dropping her tub of food, Stella found the jostling reprieve to do good in helping her regain her composure. Looking at the girl her expression going to a more neutral and letting out a small, "told you so," allowed the girl to almost return to normal. 

Of course as Rosha, as she had introduced herself as, asked her again what it was that was wrong with her, Stella's flustered expression only returned in full force. Looking to the girl  and back to Kelsey Stella simply started, "that isn't what she- but then also- all she- aaaahhhhhhhhh!" Clearly confusing herself, with her brain seeming to whir about as she tried to figure out any coherent statement to say to either of them. With her thoughts racing about, Stella seemed geared to just book it and leave the room before letting out a defeated sigh and simply pulling out another potato wedge for Kelsey to eat. 

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Things seemed to be going well, even without the Chapaayan needing to directly involve himself in the situation. That was good. A commander should not involve themselves over much in the affairs of those serving under them, even if their ways were strange. He had to remind himself that all of their ways were strange, these people whose lives had until recently been tied to the gravity wells of one of the many planetary bodies across space. A momentary thought crossed his mind as to whether or not planetary spirits affected people differently from those in the void of space, and he shook it aside. The spirits preferred to be left to their own devices more often than not.

"Well fine if it's not going to be a problem...but you didn't need to get everyone to gang up on me!" Now that was the only response in this conversation that had given him reason to be concerned, or else had been a source of confusion.

"They hardly ganged up on you, Bianca." He called out as she left, "and remember, I entered this library an hour ago. You complained about my talismans being a violation of uniform standards, and then became flustered when I commented on your lovely golden eyes. Only two of the 'group' you were speaking to arrived in such a way that they could have been such." He was very matter-of-fact about all of it, his tone of voice calm and a strange timbre about it that was, in a word, alien. It was obvious that there was something profoundly different about him, even with as little as hearing his voice. Chapaayans would have said it was because he was almost as much a Spirit as he was Living, and he thought he remembered some of the sphere-dwellers calling it "dreamlike" or something to that effect. It was hard for him to say for certain what exactly the others would say about it, but with Bianca leaving and the others around him making their introductions his attention had to go elsewhere.

"My name," he began as he looked over at Julian and Sammi, who has asked who he was and was presently looking at him, "is Xa'tok, and to answer the other questions," he turned and nodded towards Julian this time, "I am of the Xul-Tuk tribe, whose fleet travels through the void of River of the Gods- that is to say, the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy." He might have had more to say, but the ship shook a bit more violently from meteor impacts, and a grimace crossed his face. What fool of a navigator was charting this course?

"Hey, witch doctor, did you cast some kind of spell on our pilot?" He chose to ignore the mistake over his nature, for now, and turned to address the pair on the couch.

"I doubt my magics could do much. The spirits outside of this ship are angry, and not inclined to let any ship pass easily through this part of the void. It is why my people do not travel this way."

Edited March 29, 2019 by Asriel Dreemurr
Forgot to put the banner up.

[LordCowCow 839]

"My name's Rosha Ta'Megn, strongest warrior from my tribe!" she lied. "And I would be happy to compete against with your silly human 'videos game'!"

Kelsey was just about to point out that there is something solid under their feet, when you weren't hanging from the rafters, or whatever it would be called, but the girl introduced herself and accepted her challenge. The girl let her game end so they could go into 1 v 1 mode and rolled up her sleeves. Which would reveal more of her metal arm. Not that she even realized this at the time.

Kelsey laughed a bit at the "told you so" from her companion. "Hey, you didn't lose it, alls well and all that right?"

"Also, why is the dark-haired one so flustered? I can hear her heartbeat a mile away! All you said was that she is like a sugary heart."

A smirk slowly slid its way onto Kelsey's face. Which only widened as Stella awkwardly gave the girl more food, perhaps to try and shut her up. To no avail as Kelsey continued right after swallowing. "I dunno, oh, hot, hot, hot, but it's pretty great isn't it? One of my favorite hobbies is watching her reactions." She fanned her mouth with one hand as thought that would help cool it off.

"But enough of that." Kelsey said, dramatically gesturing towards the game. "It's game time! All or nothing! Life or death! The fight of a lifetime!" She paused. "Or something like that."

She started up the game and quickly chose her character. The afro-having, unorthodox fighting, 'groovy dude' Afro Sam. "It's on." Kelsey said, bouncing from excitement.

No, wait, that was the ship again.

 

---

 

"There is a storm of shooting stars attacking us. I will seek for seclusion inside my mech. I recommend to be the same as safety me."

The young woman in the hanger paused mid-step as the unusual girl came in. She turned on one foot and finished the step. Now moving towards her and shaking her head. "Not shooting stars. Asteroids. Small ones." She tilted her head to the side, muttering, and anyone listening would hear what sounded like mathematical calculations. "If one was big enough to do damage a hit from it it would cause the ship to explode. The force would be more than a mech could handle." Upon saying this grim thought without much inflection the girl continued on with the pacing. "Never figure out this toaster thing at this rate. Wish I was in my workshop."

 

---

 

Bianca, stomping off, her face red, chose to not reply to what the boy had said as she left. "Stupid weirdos making me look like an idiot." She muttered. "Who do they think they are, hmph." She found herself stumbling into the area with the arcade and winced as she heard the noises of the machines. "Everywhere is so noisy today." She said. Then, as another volley hit the ship, she fell onto her face with a loud enough thud for the people in the room to hear. "And what IS that pilot thinking?" She shouted in frustration.

---

"I doubt my magics could do much. The spirits outside of this ship are angry, and not inclined to let any ship pass easily through this part of the void. It is why my people do not travel this way."

The two boys looked at each other and even the one who had tried to stop his friend had to force himself not to laugh. The other one didn't have such an issue. "Yeah, I'm sure, spooky ghosts are hurling rocks at us. Guess we better call the Phantom Crushers."

As he said that the other couldn't hold onto his laughter anymore. Though through laughs he tried to say "C-c'mon man, not c-cool."

"What? It's serious business here. What if the ghosts grab a planet instead of these asteroids! We could all be doomed! Oh, magic man, please save us from the spooks." He declare, over-dramatically, towards Xa'Tok.

OOC

Spoiler

Sorry if you wanted more interaction with Bianca I mostly felt it made sense for her to storm off.
Also, Zeta, make sure not to post until Chaos has.