NorikSigma

IC: Glass - Gym This was it. Final round. Exxan, huh? Funny we should be in the finals. As Glass climbed the steps onto the arena, he allowed himself a brief moment of reminiscence. The first lesson in the academy, the original headmaster and his assignments, meeting/assassinating Xara, Naming Day raid, the death of Omega... Omega. Exxan. The days of the young, well, younger, Exxan was long gone, dying on the same staff that took the murderous Omega's life. Glass looked out over the cloud. In the corner, he saw a Rahk that looked awfully similar to Xara, but it couldn't be her, no, she was with the escapees, plotting a way to free the students from Miserix. Xara. Their unlikely friendship, budding... romance? ... seemed so long ago, a life time and years ago, though it had been mere months since she'd left. He turned back to his opponent, unslinging his staff. Exxan. How have you been? The question echoed in his mind, unsaid. What could he say? The fellow Rahk's life had been plagued with would-be killers for that one mistake that wasn't his to make. A greeting like that would be rude, to say the least. Glass settled for a simple, polite greeting. It was the least he could give. After all, Glass grinned slightly. I'm soooo gonna kick his . "Hey."

IC: Hassan Hassan put on the aprons as ordered, and tried to see through the goggles. They were scratched, and a little smudged, but they would do. "Got it," he replied, clipboard and box in hand. "Let's see... the clipboard says we got an internal Vulcan CIWS in the chest, a GL-04 Falchion Blade, Federated Arms TB-101 90mm Machine Rifle(oh, I remember those from my time in the Sahara) and a shoulder-mounted STech PB-12A Grenade Launcher." Hassan mentally noted Kimberly's surprising lack of sidearms for a Scout, though the vulcans and blade probably made up for those as far as close-combat went.

It's fine fam Mecha won't die that easily

IC: Hassan Hassan was a little embarrassed at the yelp of excitement he almost let out despite his slight disappointment at being unable to detect the scorch mark. Just a little. Despite being a veteran and seeing his fair share of battle and death at the hands of these war machines, he couldn't help but look forward to weapons testing. The armaments of the Arsenal Walkers were one ###### of a power trip, for sure. Hassan flipped open a small plexiglas safety cover and pressed down on the master safety switch, watching as the indicators for the weapon safeties lit up, before climbing out of the cockpit and down the ladder. "Fun part, huh? Let's get going then," he let himself smile a little as he said that.

IC: Glass Well, should be fine now. Let's go back before they start. Agreed, and before he starts he lashes at us in this state. Glass slipped out and jogged back to the gym, spotting Thurisaz near the doors preparing the last round's announcement. Can't believe we're in the finals! We're not completely stupid! No thanks to you...

IC: Hassan Hassan brought the leg back and locked the controls, moving on to the right arm. Flexing it, he didn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. "Nothing seems off," he called out, flexing the left arm too. "Arms look good," he called out, though he was unsure if his assessment was right. Man, it would blow if I screwed this up after she let me spot the problems myself.

I don't even remember my characters anymore

IC: Hassan "Got it! Returning right leg to original position." Hassan moved the leg back, and moved the left forward. He heard a weird whirring sound from the gears below as he moved the leg out. "You hear that?"

IC: Hassan "Got it!" He called out, booting up the user settings and setting it to "maintenance". He set the locomotion to manual with a few button presses. An indicator on his left flicked to the right, signalling the change. Setting his foot down onto the contoured pedals and adjusting his legs into the now smaller leg compartment of the cockpit, lined with touch-sensitive panels, Hassan counted down aloud, so he wouldn't accidentally crush Gwen if she was still in the joint. "Three... Two... One... Flexing," Hassan pushed his leg down, mimicking a flexing motion. "Holding position," he said, activating the motion locks.

IC: Glass Big and red and evil and- His Makuta?! "Did Checkers happen to have shadow powers? And, like, forty plus other powers?"

IC: Glass Err who? "What was Master Checkers like?"

IC: Glass "I see... Who was this other master, if you remember?"

OOC: Yikes, likewise for me! Busy with work and stuff IC: Hassan "On it," he said, still wondering about the repeated shoulder taps. Not that he minded. He squeezed through the half-open canopy and sat himself in the cockpit, his arms instinctively reaching for the controls. As the Scout frame shared similar control mechanisms with the Warrior, he immediately felt at home. "What next?" he called out.

IC: Glass "Your... master? How did he come to be that?"

IC: Glass, helping Tube carry Paladin to the Infirmary "Hey Tube, how did you end up as Thurisaz's... assistant?" Glass asked as the pair carried the unconscious Paladin to Palma.

IC: Zekev [Reaver] Zekev mumbled under his breath as he pushed himself up. He considered attacking her from behind, but dismissed the notion. She didn't kill me. I guess I shouldn't push my luck too far.

IC: Zekev - [Reaver] Zekev heard the column collapsing, and shut his laser vision, a little too late, the column already toppling towards him. Karz! Zekev dived to the side, but the collapsing column fell on him, a portion of it trapping the Skakdi. Vision still swimming, he barely made out the knives flying toward him, burying themselves into the column. How convenient. Zekev struggled to drag himself out, but it was too heavy. There was no doubt that his opponent had him at a severe disadvantage, and even if he freed himself, there was no way he could do it in time before she came up to him. "Alright, alright, you win," Zekev grumbled, shifting his body density to painstakingly ease his way out of the rubble.

IC: "Not just that," she said. "It's Kimberly, bro. You can see where the letters were right here, y'see?" Her fingers tapped against the chipped paint. "Who's Kimberly? Was it the pilot's name? Was it their mother's? Sister's? Girlfriend's? Daughter's? Was it a name they read in a book somewhere that they couldn't forget? The name of a great-great-grandmother on their uncle's side that they heard stories about growing up?" She laid a hand against the cold metal plating. "I don't know. But whatever they named this mech after meant something to them. Because this mech means something to them. It'll be their best friend out in the field, out in the fray. They'll be closer to this Scout than they might be to their actual best friend. Know it more intimately than a lover. It'll be their lifeline, their rock, and their only hope when push comes to shove and they're staring down the barrel of an Ark Union gun." "What you see here, Hassan," Gwen said, "is someone's life. And it's in our hands right now." -Void IC: Hassan Woah. Hassan was completely enraptured by the genuine care and reverence in Gwen's voice. It wasn't that Hassan had never thought of a mech as something more than a tool or weapon. He certainly cared for Djinn much more than that. He'd brought Hassan out of numerous battles, his guardian genie, and he'd always made sure the old heap got the best care Hassan could find. Heck, that was how Hassan had met Gwen; he was complaining about shoddy maintenance work, after all. Hassan looked back at the name, the myriad possibile triumphs and defeats throughout the Scout's life unfolding in his mind's eye. All of that could disappear into a thermonuclear pile in a second in war. Gwen was right. The techies were entrusted with a life, but it wasn't just the pilot's. "Got to admit, I never realised the gravity of your work Gwen, apart from its obvious essentiality. Real glad to have someone like you taking care of our other, mechanized halves."

IC: Zekev - [Reaver] Taken cover... Must be careful. Zekev crouched as he ran to pick up his axe, laser vision activated again. He kept his gaze trained on the column. Either it would cut in half and fall on the other Skakdi, or she would be too concerned taking cover from the beams to throw knives from her vantage point. He scooped up his weapon and jogged forward at a brisk pace, keeping the lasers trained on the column.

IC: Zekev Zekev very quickly noticed that Sting was gone from her spot. He spotted Stigng several boo away, half-up and knife in flight already. The Skakdi flinched and dodged without thought, which would normally be disastrous, but the movement was enough, as he tilted his weapon so the knife bounced off the blade. Alright, time to switch strategies. Zekev thought, seeing how predictable his movements were. He leant back... And threw his axe. He'd done this before, and was better than most(as most did not bother with something as impractical as axe-throwing), but he wasn't hoping for a bulls eye hit. He fired off a long, aimed burst at Sting as the axe sailed through the air, before charging her, shield up.

IC: Glass Hey, we won without Terrortooth! Glass carried the unconscious Rahk off the platform. He'd won! yay.

IC: Zekev [Reaver] Zekev noticed Sting furrowing her brow in concentration a little too late. He yelped in pain as the blade impacted his calf. "Yow!" he let go of the laser blast involuntarily while still looking at Sukiru, the beams at the very least stinging am stunning her. He turned around and saw the blade lodged in his lower leg. He didn't know if it had cut into his leg or not, but there was no time to find out just yet. Zekev looked back at Sukiru. "Didn't want to do this..." Zekev brought the flat of his axe down on her head with all his might intending to knock her out.

IC: Glass "I... can't... back down," the other Rank mumbled as he struggled to get up. "Don't push yourself friend. Your armour's all broken, and you're exposed from your armour." Glass offered a hand to help him up, making sure to keep his legs away from Paladin's, just in case Paladin decided to repay the favour. "Yield?"

IC: Zekev - [Reaver] Zekev felt his weapon inexplicably nudged away for the briefest of seconds, but it didn't matter. He fell upon his foe with all his weight, shield smashing into his opponent, her knife guard giving away. He braced, and landed hard and ungracefully. Nonetheless, he counted himself lucky that he did not fall flat on his face and leave himself completely open. Zekev got up and kicked the knives away, before standing beside the fallen Skakdi's head, keeping out of reach of her limbs and positioning his axe over her neck. His eyes glowed softly with built-up laser energy. "I would say something witty, but I gotta admit, I'm pretty winded from the obstacle course and the fight. Concede?"

IC: Glass Come on, there's no way he can aim properly with all that blood. All that what? Glass backpedalled, staff out front, moving back, letting the blinded Rahk uppercut the air unwieldily with his heavy shield, before moving in and swiping his staff low, hoping to knock the other Rahk off his feet and end the fight.