Maelstrom of Darkness

"Well...you're supposed to use 'em both together, but I guess if you can only lift one..."

Kira slowly walked up to Minare, weighed down by the immense density of the shields. She set one down against a container and turned the other one so that its backside was facing Minare. The shakala would be able to see a hand grip and an open, clamp-looking thing half a foot below it, among other things.

"Grab the handle and squeeze it tight. That'll close the arm grip to make the thing easier to keep a hold of."

Unless Minare was able to wield the strength of at least three well-built men, she would not likely be able to lift the shield before her.

The android stood, rolling her head and flexing the artificial muscles running her body, thousands of diagnostics in progress as her body and head made sure the connections between the two were optimal.
"Always another gadget, eh?" She let the mistake regarding proper terminology slide, "Y'know the city may run better if you're well-rested, Kira. Consider letting others carry some of your burden when the sun comes up, and get a full eleven-and-a-half hours of sleep, alright?" Armelle had quietly suggested to her and others that they should watch over the Neko inventor, make sure she wasn't fraying too much. The Commander was probably in no better shape herself, but seemed to have practice operating under sub-optimal conditions.

She walked over, attempting to heft one of the shields Kira had laid out. Her synthetic muscles could handle the weight, but she questiond their practicality in the hands of most humanoids. "Just who were these made for, Kira?"

In the meantime, the metal woman examined the ragtag group, trying to figure them all out.
The one called Bale could be called odd, offering to heal in one moment and unsettling others the next. Minare was eager, at least, if not in this for selfish reasons. Leila was interesting as well, rather more mature than what Steel Blood had come to expect of most Fairies. Mort's arrogance could be troublesome, but self-confidence was a good thing in the right amounts. Persephone... helpful, hopefully. So this was the band that was going to try to save the world? The android would've giggled if the circumstances weren't so dire.

Outside, the ship was ready to go, cannons clean and loaded. Lydia, its' pilot, sat in the cockpit, door to the cargo hold/command center/gun cabin still wide open. "This'll be... interesting." She muttered to herself.

Leila was about to head back up to the ship when she heard Kira's name and froze. She slowly turned to the Neko. "Kira? As in...Kira?" Her eyes widened as she finally recognized the Neko and rushed over to give Kira a hug. "Kira! Oh it's been too long! I thought you had gotten killed, or worse, turned into one of those shadow things. It's me, Leila! Do you remember?"

Kira's eyes widened, her teeth clenched, and she let out an angry grunt. Steel Blood struck a nerve with her comment about getting some sleep. She was about to flip her shit and give the android a piece of her mind when the fairy latched onto her. Calming down immediately, Kira looked to Leila. Getting a look at her face, she ran through what memories her tired, haggard mind could access.

"...No. No I don't," Kira answered solemnly. She felt pretty bad for not remembering someone who apparently really liked her. One of the few who did.

She turned her attention back to Steel Blood, ready to give her a piece of her mind in a calm, cool manner. "I've been trying, okay, really, I have. But it just doesn't work for me. I can't get to sleep at all. And to answer your question, I guess I had me in mind when I made them. Heh..."

Well that'd explain why nobody else used her weapons.

Leila frowned, slightly disappointed. "You don't remember? Elliot the werewolf that annoyed you so badly? Joanna the Fairy who was the cause of the whole adventure to begin with? Rurei the Tomthumb?" She giggled, probably the first giggle she had uttered in the last year. "Oh you'll eventually remember. Especially if you get some sleep." Leila frowned at Kira. "And I do suggest you get sleep. Go too long without it and you'll end up making a mistake that will leave you and your comrads dead, or worse. You can nap with me if you like. I'll be happy to shrink you down."

Minare looked at the shield and listened to Kira as she spoke to the others. 'Must be popular person' She thought to herself about her master as she put her arm in the shields grip and held tight and attempted to lift it. She was amazed it felt even heavier than it looked. The first task assigned to her and she was failing at it! Kira would never respect her if she couldn't prove her strength. Her muscles bulged and blood pumped with her will to lift this accursed shield, she would not be made a fool of. The shield lifted a bit off the ground as Minare grunted audibly than with a clang it fell back down.

The Shakala panted, looking to see if many people were watching and trying to take note of those who would now know she wasn't strong enough. "Forgive me....I'm not strong enough to lift this shield and make it of use. Yet." Minare sounded ashamed looking for something she could use to work out with.

There it was again! Someone was telling her to get sleep!! AGAIN!!!

"What the f*** did I just say?!!" Kira shouted, turning to give Leila a furious glare. "You don't think I've been trying?!! Do you even know what I've had to go through since this whole f****ng mess started!?? Do you care at all about the people who depend on the work that I do every hour of my existence?!!!"

Kira knew she had to get away before she wound up hurting herself, or worse, someone else who didn't deserve it. She turned and began to stomp off towards the exit of the armory, turning back once before she left to yell, "And don't you DARE even think about shrinking me!"

Leila flinched and let Kira go. 'Yup, same exact Kira...' She thought to herself. Out loud, she spoke in her most calming tone. "I understand how important your work is to the survival of everyone here, I also know how difficult it is to sleep now days. I just want to help you Kira." As Leila watched the Neko leave she sighed, then looked up. "Commander I-" she looked around and realized that Commander Armelle wasn't in the room with her and shrugged. "I'll tell her before we leave."

(Sorry for not posting for such a long time. Got caught up in serious business and forgot about this completely! ^^; Relax, I'll bring Mort up to speed.)

Mort watched Minare walk away from him after she declared that she no longer wished to be his student. He frowned and felt a tinge of disappointment. It was true what he said, that his abilities would require more than simple teaching to be aquired, but he was starting to get used to the idea of being a teacher. He might be an abomination, but he was occasionally susceptible to human emotions. As he watched Minare walk away, he opened his mouth and began to apologise.

"Look..."

But before he could finish, Minare was offered to be taught lightning. By two others no less. Mort shut his mouth and sighed. Fine. Whatever. He might as well let them teach her after all.

He followed the others to the armory and began to browse the limited stock of weapons and armour. He already had a sword. One that he had no intention of parting with. But armour was another story. Usually he relied on his abilities to keep opponents at bay, but on a mission as dangerous as this, wearing some armour couldn't hurt. He began to look through what was here. There was some leather, some metal. Due to his tall and thin body shape, there were very few suits that actually looked his size. Eventually he settled on some leather armor. He checked to see if it would fit. It would, but the straps would have to be tightened a bit. He took a hardened leather chestgaurd, a pair of leather shin gaurds and a pair of leather gauntlets. He then promptly began to put it on. Of course, he didn't ask permission.

He pulled the final strap tight and then examined himself. Not the best quality leather, but better than nothing. He didn't like wearing a full suit of armor because it was too restrictive. And he preffered leather because metal was too heavy to fight in. However, he felt that this armour would just slow him down in the end. He un-equipped it and put it back where he found it. In a battle he believed that not getting hit was key. And he accomplished that with agility. But for the most part, he had other tricks up his sleeve. The others would see soon enough.

Mort then noticed Minare trying to lift a rediculously heavy shield. What a useless hunk of metal. You'd have to have inhuman strength to even lift that thing, let alone use it in battle. Minare had no chance. Or so he thought. The shield lifted a little off the ground, before slamming back down. He was certainly impressed! Sure she couldn't lift it for long, but she could lift it! Clearly her physical strength was far beyond his own. But there was something else...

He wandered over to Minare and knocked on the shield, making several loud clanging noises. He looked at her and then looked back at the shield.

"I have to say, you sure can lift!" He said to her. "Your physical strength is impressive. And you have a fiery look in your eyes. You remind me of someone I once knew. A long time ago..."

Mort's eyes appeared distant, as if he was seeing into the past. After a few moments, tears began to build in the corners of his eyes. But he suddenly snapped back to reality and wiped the tears away before he could cry. He looked at her and hesitated, before speaking again.

"Oh. And uh... sorry about what I said before, about the whole master-student thing. Good luck learning lightning. I'm sure it'll come in handy..."

Mort pulled his eyes away and walked over to the corner of the room. He began to gaze past everyone again, with a sad expression on his face. His red eye didn't seem human, but if one were to look into his gray eye... They would see suffering.

Ditto what Mort said. Now where was I... Okay, to make sure I'm not mixed up about anything: I'm still next to the ship, and Armelle's still talking to me, and she's the giant dridder who's in charge of security or something?

(Your recount holds water, Zeph. Sorry, Nergal, I misinformed you earlier. X.x)

That works for me!
"I'm a captain," Persephone responded, "a 'capsuleer' as it's known where I'm from. I've been through more battles than I can count, in a wide variety of ships. Before that I used to go on these kinds of 'quests' on a regular basis, both alone and in groups. As it stands I specialize in heavy artillery and the like."
Just to make sure her point was well-made, she went on: "I've driven everything from tiny frigates to huge battleships, and defeated thousands of adversaries flying similar. I won't say I'm an expert specifically in the field of ground warfare, but more likely than not the intense focus and proficiency with machinery I've had to develop would be more effective from a command standpoint, wouldn't you agree?"

Minare was shocked at her master's out burst and leaving. 'Why does she care so much that people are telling her to sleep? If she doesn't wish to sleep then who cares what these soft people think is right? You do what you can while you can.' She thought to herself until Mort talked to her and pulled her out of mind. He apologized? Hm that's strange why? Why don't people just say what they mean?

Before she could answer him he left and to the corner. Minare didn't like the look in his eye. Not the one that was inhuman but the one that held sorrow. Reminded her too much of herself. She groaned and moved closer to him and said. "You know...if you have anything to get off your chest I think you should Mort. You never know when you'll be the next to die and never have a chance to say it." She did her best to sound nicer than usual but she wasn't accustom to dealing with people's emotions.

After a few moments of watching Kira he froze completely, staring into space. His head slowly tilted back and his eyes snapped shut. He began to breathe lightly then slumped forward onto his pack. He barely moved, even his breathing was suppressed.

"Well..."

Mort hesitated before answering Minare's question. Just the mere memory of the event was enough to send a stabbing pain throughout his entire body. Luckily for him, one of their comrades seemed to collapse for no reason, offering him a perfect excuse.

"It appears that one of our companions is down already..." He mentioned to the rest of the group.

Leila chose to follow Kira. "Don't worry, I won't shrink you. Unless of course I have to...but I doubt I'll need to here. So how have you been? And are you coming with us on our trip?"

Kira stopped, hearing Leila speak to her. She turned and leaned her back against the wall of the corridor, looking at Leila. She already seemed a lot more relaxed than she had been during her outburst of anger, though she still looked tired and irritated.

"I've been a lot better, sorry to say. I won't worry you with the details," the neko answered. "And no, I have to stick around here. I'm the only one who knows how to make the SunFlow-- Ugh....SunFire Bombs. 'Cuz all the men around here are fucking incompetent...."

Leila looked down, disappointed. "That's a shame, I was hoping we could go on another adventure...oh well..." She sighed, then grinned. "I wonder...do you think you could give me the route we're going to take?"

"Falling so soon?" Minare said amazed at the mention of a companion down. "I don't have the means to treat anyone who just falls over and if I did I wouldn't waste it someone so weak."

Commander Armelle's eyes darted about to see how this group would operate together, and was less than impressed. Individually, they seemed competent, if a bit rash, but this mission was to be the first of many, and they would need to learn to get along to some extent before this was all over.
"You seem qualified for the position then, Persephone." She smiled to the up-and-coming leader, then turned to the rest of the group. "When you're all ready, mount up. Lydia will be your pilot tonight. The ship's ready to take off at any time." What she wouldn't give to be going with them, to feel the rush of battle again... but she had diplomats to talk to, resources to allocate: the night was still young.

Steel Blood walked up to Kira cautiously, making the sound of clearing her throat to get her attention. "I'm sorry for troubling you like that, Kira. Is there any way I can help you right now?"

"No," Kira answered Leila flatly. "I didn't study the mission specs like, uh....like I was told."

She felt pangs of guilt and shame at the fact that she disobeyed her commander, but she brushed them aside as Steel Blood caught her attention.

"Yeah, actually. You weren't there, but a little bit ago I chucked a little steel ball out into the courtyard. I was, uh...aiming for one of our volunteers. But the fact is that it has that thing I was working on inside it, and I was planning to give that to them just in case, since I know how to make more now."

Mort had no real medical experience either. But they were leaving soon and he didn't have time to mess around with this guy. He walked over to him and lightly tapped him with his foot.

"Wake up will you? Demechrelle isn't going to defeat herself..."

He kicked him a little harder this time. No response.

"Whatever. Stay down there then. Come on lets go."

He turned toward the entrance and headed towards their transport.

Leila nodded, then looked at Steel Blood. "Do you know where the Commander is? I have a question about the route we plan on taking."

Armelle walked right up to the Fairy, having heard her easily. "Would you happen to be able to guide the ship more precisely than sifting through three separate areas?" Maybe they could catch a break, now.

"Alright, Kira." The android would have suggested not throwing important work around in addition, but chose not to, opting to leave things on a high note and get out before more awkwardness could arise.