After she left the briefing room, Yumi paused in the hall. She rubbed her temple gently, her eyes hooded. Wake up, Alspaer. We have people to save. The mental link stirred the mecha from its slumber in the hangar. Kingslayer raised its head slightly, stood upright as power surged through its systems again. Pilot Mercury, there were no dreams, nor nightmares. Good to see you are well. Kingslayer Alspaer standing by. Alspaer had an unsettling voice for an AI, it had been intimidating at first. Yumi was still getting used to it. They told her in the pilot program that she was a special case, getting an old AI that had been reprogrammed, patched and upgraded extensively. She didn't know Alspaer's full history and wasn't sure did she want to know. In the hangar the Kinglsayer's AI settled into running diagnostics and calibrations of its own systems, evaluating the latest mission data as he did so. Optimizations were being done for jungle and urban warfare. Yumi felt the tingle of the link in the back of her head, travelling down her spine like gentle electric current. She clenched her hands into fists and sighed. Only thing that remained was pick up her weapons from the armoury. When Yumi stepped inside she was met with Vern ranting into his wrist. She grabbed her assault rifle from the rack. "You know my parents had counseling when they started arguing more than usual." She pulled back the slide of the gun a few times and rechecked the sights by aiming at a point in the wall. "Just...letting you know. AIs can develop quirks." @Uriel1339
Vern smiled when he heard Yumi and nodded. "I fear I know that too well firsthand. I'm sure you had your fair share of experience. But I have literally seen anything from Rhinelands first AI to their most up-to-date one." He stepped away from the lockers and just stayed passively there, arms relaxed next to his body hanging, rifle pointing at the ground and held loosely with one hand. "It doesn't help that I have to deal with two AIs that differ so much. I just hope Kira is not teasing you too much. And be glad you don't have to deal with Rhiner. All that being said. No matter how personal an AI might appear, they are just programs. Remember that." Vern said matter-of-fact with an awkward smile. Maybe he wanted to remind himself more about that than anything else. He was not even sure if anyone got briefed on Kira's origin. The Starlexian Agent might know. Vern made a mental note to talk to her in private sometimes. "One question though, serious question. What do you hope to get from this joint operation?" Wolff tilted his head in curiosity.
Yumi grabbed a rifle clip and slapped it in, pulled one in the chamber and put the safety on. The rifle was maglocked on her lower back. She then grabbed her Uzi next, doing the same slide check and trigger response test. She leered back at Vern at his question. "This is about protection. I see us as peacekeepers, at least we should be if you ask me. None of that black ops shit, not here to bleed for some fat fuck in a suit or make some politician's career." From the tone of her voice and look in her eye she was more than certain of her stance. "There's enough bickering between star systems without us adding to it." Alspaer noticed a spike in heart rate in Yumi's vitals. The AI logged it. @Uriel1339
"I see." Vern said, thoughtfully and nodded in understanding, putting a thoughtful finger to his chin once again, much alike as in the briefing room earlier. He kept the thoughts that popped in his head for himself, following the various strings of pros and cons, having a monologue for a good while. He nodded again and put his finger down. "Thank you for being honest." He stood there for a moment, although he was ready to go. Giving Yumi a moment to add some last words or maybe ask him something in return. Or maybe, just maybe, he was gentleman enough to let her walk out first, as he stood next to the door. Although it didn't need to be held open as it was an automatic door, he was just old school in that regard.
Hearing the announcement, about being within the hour of there destination, deciding to get ready crow went immediately to the armory already gearing up his armor and weapons he was silent as he did his bionic eye shifting through the files that was transferred to him before immediately going to his mech to wait for deployment since it was only a half a hour away. Shifting through his files Crow would connected to his mech as he contained shifting through information and letting more info go through his eye and brain thinking on it and making likely hood of casulaitlites and chances of success needed and possible risks to take and whats the best way for survivial.
"I see...." Kaeleen said with regards to Kingslayer's name, before heading off to the Armory to get her gear set up for what would happen soon. Meanwhile Gideon was already stirring within their Core, mulling over the data that Kira had provided. Suffice to say to Kaeleen Gideon was pretty much the closest thing she had to a confidant given the nature of her work. After all, the independence that most Starlex AI core users swear by as a quirk was certainly present within Gideon. A text message soon popped up on Kaeleen's hack-tool from Gideon: <Received data from Kira: Shall I request a more historic analysis to see if SSP targeting is a trend? And as a corollary, any likely sources of support for the Pirates?> To which the Starlex woman replied <Agreed, I'd like to know if we may end up chasing leads that could lead to a.... Potential conflict of interests.> With that exchange, Gideon passed on an inquiry to Kira with regards to prior targets of the pirates, any data for a likely lead on how they had acquired a Halcyon-Class Cruiser, such as sources of funding. Meanwhile, some combat programming started running up, given the urban and jungle nature of the zone of operations. Kaeleen meanwhile arrived at the Armory, seeing Yumi and Vern who she merely nodded a greetings at while she collected both her submachinegun which was very much a stealthy tool of the trade, and well, something a little more overt. Namely, a micro-rocket launcher, something of a hold-over from her military days. There was the Warsuit to pick up as well, but that was sitting pretty in the Hanger.
Yumi loaded her SMG and put it to rest on her thigh holster. Last piece of armament was her dagger, bigger than a regular combat knife but not too big to be ridiculous. She nodded to Kaeleen and went to leave the armoury. She paused by the door, next to Vern. "Don't think that was an exclusive interview, you got to spill some thoughts too over your motivations. Only fair, don't you think?" She looked at him straight in the eye, arms crossed with her weight on the other leg still holding her stabbing implement in one hand. Then she saw what Kaeleen was handling. Seeing a woman holding a micro rocket launcher was badass, no matter how big of a corporate goon she seemed to be. Could turn people into pink mist with that. Her facial expression spoke of approval. In some things, Yumi had simple taste. "Niice..." She remarked quietly.
@Wata "Whenever you want." The older, more serious man said straight faced, his eyes following Kaeleen with caution, if anything because the Rhineland emblem on his left shoulder pad. He met many people before who had preoccupied thoughts on his trips to Arlex Prime. @Maleth "You are from Arlex Prime." He stated matter-of-fact, trying to gauge her initial reaction, his stare potentially overly pinpointed right at her. "In light of our goals as the JSOC, a united operation, I just want to express my hope that the tensions between Starlex and RPS or Rhineland and Arlex Prime will not create personal tensions between us." Vern knew to keep it short and simple, not to sound like a stupid-sounding old man. He was still trying to piece together how he ended up in this situation. Or rather, how a chain of events from a lifetime ago caused him to be here. He had a decision to make, but in reality - there was no option but this one.
Paul meanwhile had gone directly to his tank, the Snapping Turtle and opened up a console on the side of the chassis causing it to open up as it brought a rather heavy suit of armor out. The Diamondback Omni Purpose Industrial frame, normally called DOPI was his suit for both infantry combat and piloting the Snapping Turtle. The suit itself was practically a vehicle in its own right by some standards but to Paul it was just his driving suit. The empty suit was left to stand by the as of the tank as some mechanical arms retracted back into the vehicle. Paul walked around back to open up the suit so he could get in but the release refused to work. Immediately knowing what was to blame he looked at his tank and the communicator in his pocket buzzed as the AI inside spoke to him. "You aren't just suiting up without talking to anyone Paul." The female voice of the his personal AI told him calmly. Paul shifted his jaw a bit, a small sigh of protest the cameras the AI saw through picked up on rather quickly. "I'm not letting you in until you talk to your teammates, I am responsible for your physical and mental health you know." Paul grumbled but complied, heading towards the armory, he had to get his hammer anyways he had left it in his locker.
@Maleth (CC: Everyone Else) ~~~~~~~~~~ }}Begin Search{{ }}Priority I - Prior Targets{{ }}Analyzing{{ }}Total number of suspected transport attacks perpetrated - 47{{ }}Estimated Percentages - SSP 60%, HEM 10%, DHC 10% NAIA 10% Civilian 9% Starlex 1%{{ }}Priority II - Possible Sources of Support{{ }}Sub-priority - Origin of Halcyon Cruiser{{ }}Analyzing{{ }}Open Ops Report Y-2331-b{{ }}Probable Black Market Connections for funds and other supplies{{ }}Possible Starlex Collaboration?{{ }}Scanning{{ }}ERROR - Not enough data{{ }}Origin of Cruiser - unknown ; suspect salvaged from Starseed Rebellion-era ship graveyard{{ ------ }}Deep Scan{{ }}Halcyon Cruiser{{ }}Starseed-era Cruiser, common yet powerful HEM-Tech led design{{ }}Medium-Class vessel ; outdated ; Relevant{{ }}Armor Class - Medium/Heavy ; Weapon Specs - 6 heavy broadsides ; 3 forward cannons ; Flak-defense systems ; Fighter Compliment - 150{{ }}Danger Class IV{{ ]]Number Created - 175 }}Number Still in service - 0{{ }}Number Decommissioned - 134{{ }}41 Units assumed lost or destroyed{{ }}Conclusion - Incomplete Data. Conclusions Inadvisable{{ }}End Deep Scan{{ ------ }}End Search{{ ~~~~~~~~~~ With the results tabulated, Kira sent on the report to Kaeleen, with the others listed as recipients as well should they desire to look at her compiled data. There was little that one could tell from this data alone except for the fact that most hits were suspected to be against SSP, whatever that meant. That and the Halcyon Cruiser was a beast - probably was a good thing that they'd be fighting while it was grounded.
