The arrival

[srwu_mods]

Three units have taken refuge in Sakihama's hangars. One of them is a Gespenst mk II Kai, but the two others are new. FightSaber and ShotSaber - the former is red, equipped with a long chainsaw sword, the latter is blue with two beam pistols wielded akimbo. And yes, they have the large gun (graviton cannon) as well.

In addition to the units, their pilots are here as well, hanging around FightSaber's feet.


"Alright guys, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Apollonius Gavin, Loni for people who know me. And these two are my precious friends, Desta Mlakar and Ilinka Venczel."


"Hmph. You're awfully happy to be here, Loni."


"It's good to cooperate with you, Unity Group."


"Yeah, you see, we're not really going to join Unity Group or anything. We work best in a small team, we don't really follow orders from Major Ingram either. But we know a lot about 'the Lady's Good Men' or whatever these weirdos like to call themselves. So, ask away?"

Going to ask Loni's group about the mysterious enemy faction? Or are you just here to say hello and get to know them better? Or perhaps confront Desta about him shooting the retreating and immobilized enemy pilots during the mission?

Comments

[ugyuuya]

[Yuuya enters the hanger in an unusual detour from his return to Alhambra. There is a fair amount of anger in his expression as he approaches the new pilots.]

"Okay I think we deserve an explanation of exactly how your little espionage op gave you the right to cut us off from command for any kind of situation updates. You blaze in taking down the terrorists that were out there and killing captured and fully disabled pilots against standard operational doctrine and then waltz into a Unity Group base to use the materials and personnel with a "Hey we aren't going to join you or report to anyone in you organization but hey if you want to ask we'll tell you a bit about an enemy organization even though we've known for some time and the intel could have been useful before now."

"I know that independence and initiative are a big deal for pilots in some situations but you put all of us at risk with your stunt. I know for a fact there are other ways to mask a unit from detection and radar so don't try that one on me without a damned good explanation.

[srwu_mods]

"Oh boy, here we go again... listen, we're not a part of any military so maybe you have standard procedures and regulations, but I don't. And I said the truth, we're not going to join you, there's no need to hide that - but that doesn't mean we can't help each other. I'm not looking for a fight or anything, okay?"


"Loni couldn't get in contact with you earlier because we were still busy investigating the Lady's Good Men. Please try to understand."

[ugyuuya]

"I don't mind the lack of contact prior to this most recent operation, what I do mind is the interdiction of communications during a combat operation. If this had been against the BETA then that interruption in data and situation updates could have had us surrounded and overwhelmed. There were other options to pursue for stealth, please be mindful of that in the future."

"Now as for the cult, were we lucky that he was the head of the organization or are we going to potentially have more fun with them now?"

[srwu_mods]

"You'd wish it was that easy. That was just a leader of one cell, not the whole cult."

No further comments from Apollonius about the communications jam, it seems.

[ugyuuya]

[Annoyed about the group clamming up in regard to the communications issue Yuuya decides to drop it rather than have his head rattle. Let the commands deal with that fallout.]

"Well if he was one cell leader can we expect similar abilities from the others? Just how many cells are there and how often and where are they typically active?"

[tiger_ken]

[Ken's hopped out from ScarleTiger, and is striding along towards the new arrivals. When he stops, his helmet is hanging in his hands, and he's got a none too friendly glare.]

Answers. Now. Specifically: Who the hell are you? And who the hell is that clown who keeps popping up? Considering you cut us off from intelligence in the middle of a Kaiju attack, you owe us that much.

[Seriously, even Ken knew that was dangerous. A false positive on a downed Kaiju could be lethal, without verification from elsewhere.]

[srwu_mods]

"He won't be popping up anymore, that's for sure."


"We're just a group of friends who have been through a lot together. That guy was one of those cultist leaders, and a high ranked one too."

[tiger_ken]

A 'group of friends' with military grade hardware, including custom units. Unless your grandfather was secretly a mad genius and built it in your basement, there's more to tell there - especially on how you got involved fighting this cult.

[srwu_mods]

"You're not too far off actually. My uncle made FightSaber and ShotSaber, and when those crazies attacked I jumped into the cockpit to save everyone. Desta followed and it turns out we have a real knack for this!"

"It's another story on how we met Ilinka."


"..."

[abugslife]

I appreciate your assistance during the fight. However...

[Hetepheres turns towards Desta.]

There is a multitude of reasons why shooting disabled opponents is something you simply do not do. Understood?

[srwu_mods]

"Reasons like what? They'd do the same to us, you realize that."

Desta shrugs, unimpressed by the bug alien woman.

[abugslife]

First, you cannot interrogate a dead man. And there are many questions I wanted to ask them.

Second, and much more important, enemies you disable become your prisoners. And executing prisoners of war without a very good reason is a war crime. Do that again and there will be repercussions. There might be repercussions even now, depending how ESUN decides to look at it.

I do not care they would do that to us. We are better than them.

[srwu_mods]

"I'm not a soldier and this is not a war. I couldn't care less for 'rules of engagement'. These guys will stab you in the back first chance they can, I won't give them that opportunity. They don't know anything useful either."

[majestic_keiki]

[While she hadn't been called out for the actual mission, Kei had still taken the time to go to Sakihama for the pilots returning home to make sure everyone was alright, which was when she ran into the new people. Lacking any real information on what actually happened out there.]

You know a lot about them? Like who they are and what they're trying to achieve?

[srwu_mods]

"Not everything but we know a lot, and much more than you Unity Group people do, I assume."

[majestic_keiki]

Go on.

[srwu_mods]

"Okay, so. They are a cult that worships the Lady, who is their god of sorts. They're after her gifts, which is rare technology. I don't know what makes a gift but some are not in their hands and they hate people who have those and want to take 'em back by force."

"Also they work in small cells but there's some kind of big headquarters, or a church maybe, somewhere out there."

[genericbiggerbrother]

Yancy has a few bones to pick with these guys...but decides to stick with the cartilage of the matter for now.

"A few questions, if you don't mind. For one thing...why in the heck was that Cicero guy defending the Kaiju? Was he some kind of twisted groupie?"

[srwu_mods]

"More like he tried to use the kaiju to fight you, and it can't do that if it's dead. Thinking monsters like that are your tools... that asshole was the worst!"

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Yeah." Yancy agrees. "People who treat everyone else as disposable tools and obstacles to be pushed over are kind of the worst."

He coughs loudly and dramatically. "So...how'd you get roped into the fight against those Lady men?"

[srwu_mods]

"They attacked my uncle's place where he was developing FightSaber. Me and Desta moved in to fight off the bad guys, that's how ti started." Said like it's no big thing.

[way_of_vengeance]

...Was it really worth it?

[srwu_mods]

"Say what?"

[way_of_vengeance]

You know, killing all those disabled pilots. This isn't the GHQ, there'll be a court martial for that sort of thing.

[srwu_mods]

"I always tell Desta he'll get us in trouble... but you know. In the end he's a friend, and those guys are our enemies. Only one side's trying to kill us here."

"Also don't worry about us, we're not in the military so no one can court martial us."


"..."
Desta ignores the conversation very pointedly.