2011-01-28 - Plans To Steal Cake

The hangar doors of the NUT Facility are currently open, expecting a visitor of some sort. The sun is low over the horizon, and quickly dipping further, as it announces the night over this hidden away BAHRAM facility. There has been a lot of activity as of late, and movement in and out of the facility at this point is hardly rare with the A-LAWS having shown their ugly mugs again, with intents of taking down the Martian rebellion.

One such rebel, Ascian, is currently stuck in a wheelchair. His chest bandaged off, one side of his face too wrapped in bandages, it doesn't look like he's doing too well. He is situated on top of a large metalic platform that runs in front of the six large Orbital Frames which have become somewhat of the regular forces here. Two AlterNeiths, Hathor, Selkis, Amenthes and the Ancalagon. The Amenthes is still undergoing repairs it would seem, as wires hang out of its cockpit into large and thick computers which a series of mechanics are working on.

Looking over the railing, the blue haired framerunner is situated between the Ancalagon and Amenthes, staring out at the landscape before him. The large dip down from the facility's hangar doors, down at the long and winding road that leads into the distance. A woman is standing next to him, looking outside as well. A brownhaired woman in a labcoat; a doctor, who is writing something on a little noteboard, is on his right. A technician, leaning over and trying to get the man's attention while pointing at a datapad is on his left.

The sounds of the giant mechanical beetle called the "Migarder" can be heard approaching the hanger soon enough. The beetle would settle down to dock immediately, the hanger doors likely closing behind it. A bit of steam comes from the migarder's bottom, as several blast doors on the inside slowly open, before finally extending a ladder. The sound of someone coming down the ladder is heard almost immediately, as the lone pilot of the ancient balmarian unit comes out of it. The ladder immediately retracts after the man steps off of it.

The man turns and begins to take stock of the people in the area. The men, the women, and... a guy in a wheelchair? Hm. He's probably one of Oi's allies, then. Oi begins to walk towards the man in the wheelchair. Hmm. Has he seen him before? Nah. But he thinks he might recognize one of those orbital frames that the man's wheelchair is on. "Good afternoon." Oi says, giving a light bow towards the man. He glances towards the technician and doctor, checking to try and make sure that they aren't going to shoo him away from their ward.

When the machine lands, the technicians walking on the floor of the hangar quickly give way - some of them giving curious glances. One man in particular suddenly runs away, thinking the Balmarians are invading - shouting as such. Which... just has others erupt into laughter. With the kind of force that is present, most of them feel particularly safe. And most of them knew, through Ascian, of the machine already.

When Oi Shinda finally makes his way up the lift, onto the level where Ascian is situated, the bluehaired framerunner moves his hand over the wheels of the transport and shoves one hand at the technician to push him to the side. "Not now. But thank you." Who knows what they'd been talking about. He then begins to wheel himself towards Shinda, until they meet in the middle and Oi bows towards him. Ascian bows his head back at him. "Good evening, you must mean. The sun is almost down." The young man reminds the Balmarian machine's pilot.

"Thanks for coming." Apparently it had been Ascian who'd requested for Shinda to come here. "Sorry to drag you all the way out here." He moves his hands over the wheelchair again, and begins to move past Shinda - obviously wanting him to follow along... then stops only a few feet further away and turns towards the brownhaired youngster. "Ah sorry." He extends his arm with a hesitating motion, a bit in pain. "The name's Ascian Luddite." He smiles kindly.

Oi doesn't pay any particular note to the man who runs off yelling about Balmarians. He's used to that sort of thing, especially since the beetle is in fact an experimental balmarian mech. Not that he says that often. He rests a hand on the back of his head, rubbing at it a bit at the mention of it being evening. "Yeah. I'm still adjusting to the mars time, I guess my inner clock isn't fully adjusted yet." He doesn't mean that literally of course. He's not some sort of crazy cyborg.

"It's no problem, I was on break today anyway." Oi replies with a goodnatured smile, though somewhat tired. Even if he tended to be relatively safe inside of the Migarder, there's always the stress that accompanies fighting in a machine that could potentially explode if someone attacks you just the wrong way. "And it wasn't too far out of the way." Or if it was, the Migarder could get around mars relatively quickly, at any rate.

Oi reaches to take the extended hand when it's offered. "It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Luddite. I'm Oi Shinda. I have to admit that I'm curious why you've invited me here." He says, slipping one of his hands into a pocket relaxedly.

"Ah. Yes. You would be." Ascian smiles somewhat mysteriously at the man, drops his hand back to his side after shaking Oi's, and begins to wheel himself out of the hangar, into a hallway that is further along the metalic walkway. "I won't try to beat around the bush. You aren't the only one I've contacted."

With Oi following Ascian, they soon get to a room which he opens with an id card pulled from his pocket, and reaching around for the lightswitch; it is soon revealed to be a small meeting room. Paperwork is laying all around. The man in the wheelchair wheels around and gets to the end of it, where he drags a document from underneath a pile. "Come over here."

Who wouldn't be curious. A random message sent to you by someone you barely know, asking to see you? Yeah, Oi's definitely curious. He'd be wary if not for Ascian being of the Divine Crusaders, as well. Hearing he wasn't the only one contacted only gets his curiosity even more. "Well, that will make this go that much swifter, likely." He says, in response to the comment about not beating around the bush. He walks calmly after Ascian as he wheels down the hallways, glancing at the security door. Hm.

So this was probably something important. Oi looks around the meeting room briefly. He was almost expecting there to be a large group of people in there, but instead he finds a large amount of paperwork. He doesn't pay much heed to it though, as he follows Ascian over to where he's pulled the document from the pile. "Looks like there was a meeting recently." He comments, possibly just a little dumbly for a lack of much else to say, though his eyes have trailed to the document. Hmm.

"Correct!" Ascian points the folder straight at Oi Shinda, giving him a serious look. "The A-LAWS have been commiting themselves to surpressing the rebellion on Mars. And after having saved the people on this planet from their oppression over the last years, we cannot have them take away everything we've worked on." The man sounds extremely passionate about this subject. "Look at this." He then tosses the folder to the other end of the table - the side at which Shinda is standing.

"Look at that, and tell me what you think." He'd promised not to beat around the bush, but still he intends on sizing up the young man before him. Inside of the folder, Shinda would find photos of a series of freighters launching from earth, documents of their routes, and clear maps drawn with their intended direction: Phobus. "What do you think those are?"

"That's a good reason to fight your strongest." Oi can get behind passion. Passion tends to spawn the most beautiful displays of bravery and heroics. The most elegant of deaths, the wildest of stunts. It was all wonderful to him. "The A-LAWS are also a problem for the Divine Crusaders." He murmurs, looking to the file as it lands in front of him.

He looks through the images, reading the information for a good long while. "I'd hazard a guess that they're supply freighters. Either bringing weapons, supplies or maybe even new mechs to Phobus. " Oi says, as he pulls a few of the freighter images out of the file, looking at them closely for several long moments, searching for markings to hint at who's they were. He doesn't expect to find much of anything though. If they were smart, they'd have hidden their tracks by using unmarked, or unaligned freighters.

"Correct." They were indeed using unmarked freighters, yet somehow, Divine Crusader intelligence had picked them up. Ascian wheels his way back over to Shinda, grabbing the report back from him and holding out his hand to retrieve the photos which Oi had picked out of it. "The A-LAWS are far away from earth. They don't have any good bases here, or supply stations. So guess what would happen if some of those freighters..."

Ascian gives Shinda that same grin as he'd before. Somewhere between mysterious and evil. "... happened to get misplaced." His upper body suddenly heaves, as he holds back laughter - seeing as that'd probably hurt his body. "With other words." He smacks the back of his hand against the folder. "We're taking out these bastards before they get a chance to resupply the Blanc Rival - and with that, all of their forces on Mars. He is keeping his eyes on Oi - wanting to know the response not just by words, but by his entirely expression.

Hmm. Supply freighters for the enemy. Unmarked so definitely suspicious. The DC's sensors had picked it up, and the A-LAWS were an enemy to the DC as well as the private organizations working with it. Even if he wasn't inclined towards helping the DC, this would be an opportunity to hinder people who had damaged his Migarder as well. Oi looks up towards Ascian.

And then Ascian suggests just what was going through Oi's own mind. His face is pretty neutral and relaxed at first, keeping a 'poker face' for now. "And you're looking for people to help you in taking out the freighters?" He asks, looking to Ascian. Even trying to keep a poker face, it would probably be obvious he's already accepted if that's the case. Hindering the enemies, getting to put the Migarder to it's full use, and possibly salvage of various things? All of those were rather appealing.

"That is right. I am looking for people to help me take them out." He turns his wheelchair around, with the folder on his lap, and makes his way to the pile he'd drug it out from. "If you accept..." He picks out another folder out from underneath the stack of papers, marked clearly with 'For Your Eyes Only', as well as 'Oi Shinda'. "I'll take you." The young man holds it out for the youngster - assuming he will walk over and take it if he'd accept.

"The fate of Mars may potentially be in your hands, mister Shinda. Will you accept?" He asks, shaking the high-clearance folder at the long brownhaired youngster. Ascian's grinning. Oi might not realize this, but this is the first time that Ascian is leading a party. He's green, but he's also very dedicated and passionate about this entire thing. He wants to do it well, and with style.

A file is offered to Oi. Hm. Very official. He wonders a moment if the slight waving of the file was supposed to be to tempt him. He doesn't dwell too much on that though, walking over towards Ascian. He reaches to take the file without much hesitation. "Well then. If we're going to be working together, you can call me Oi. I find familiarity helps people work together." He grins back at Ascian.

"I'll do my best not to fail you with this mission. I'm sure if nothing else, if I believe the Migarder is about to go down... hm. Well, Ragnarok may be enough to at least heavily damage or destroy one of the freighters." He says, nodding to himself. Ascian's greenness may not be that much of an issue overall, as Oi has largely went on solo missions before this so far. His Migarder has made it so some people simply don't want to work with him, for obvious reasons. But really, the Migarder -would- work best with others. Either to defend them, or to stand back and bombard the field while others fight.

"I'll have none of that." Ascian suddenly comments. "I am not intending on losing anyone on this mission." Where he'd first let go of the file, he suddenly is holding firmly onto it again. "Is that clear, Oi?" His expression is serious. He doesn't want anyone to die. Especially not on his first mission. Having made himself clear, he lets go of the yellow folder however and wheels himself past Shinda.

"Inside of it, you will find the date and time of the assault in there, as well as the meeting. We have some basic information on the freighters, but do not know what kind of potential convoy they may have." He points at Oi now. "So be ready for anything. But if things get too hot, I want you to pull out."

"Of course, sir. I meant if it seemed the battle seemed it would not go well, I would attempt to activate the Ragnarok and then retreat." Oi responded. He had no intention to be lost, or to die. Retreat before death, but only if you absolutely have to. "I will not allow myself to be lost." He says, looking at the folder a moment after it's released again. He looks back towards Ascian as he wheels around.

"So we're going into a situation where we may or may not be heavily outnumbered and outgunned, depending just how fervently they want their cargo to arrive... hm." That means that probably there would be a large amount of DC members recruited for this. "If I might ask a question; do you have an idea of who I might be working with?" So that he can research on them. And see if there's anyone he might need to specifically keep an eye on in the battlefield. Just in case the Migarder needs to be a shield. Not, mind you, that he intends to sacrifice himself. "I will, sir."

"You'll be working with me, and who-ever decides to heed my call. You are the first to come, but also the closest. I'll keep you posted on who else is coming as I have people come in." Ascian replies, and opens the door to the room again with another swipe of his ID card.

He then continues on out and keeps the door open. "But I am glad you will not allow yourself to be lost. To me, that's more important right now than finishing this mission. If you understand what I mean." The BAHRAM framerunner raises a hand and moves some hair out of his face while he waits. "Another option is staying here and finding out who is coming with us."

Oi nods slightly as he begins to follow Ascian out. "So far just us two, then... hm." He frowns slightly. They're definitely going to need more people. "You might consider contacting the Trailors if things don't go quite as well as you hope with the others." Oi murmurs, as he steps out the door. He's not sure how well the suggestion will be received, since mercenaries are always questionable.

"If we lose a hundred men on a freighter that isn't captured or destroyed, then that would be 100 people no longer useful in the possible defense soon to follow. Losing people is never a great idea." Oi replies, looking to Ascian as he waits to see where he's lead to next. Waiting always had ups and downs. Good things, bad things... waiting until the last minute can be terrible. "I'd like a vague idea of your frame's capabilities for the battle. I'll have the Migarder's specs sent to you as well."

"My frame's capabilities are as good as whatever mood I am in." Ascian replies somewhat mysteriously, not giving a very good expaination of the unit. "She specializes in long-term combat, and balances between long ranged and close range, and mostly tries to stay away from attacks coming in. That's it really. I cannot give you more specifics due to this being... well..." He points at his chest, where the BAHRAM logo is situated.

"They like to keep their secrets. Especially with the Divine Crusaders currently being so... split up. We're barely holding together as a faction, Oi, and trust is at an all-time low." He continues to wheel his way to the hangar again. Just in case others would arrive.

"That's enough information." So if Ascian has a large attack coming in, it might be a good idea to get in the way if it's been hit badly in the battle recently. "More I wanted to know what I'd be working beside." He nods a little. "The Migarder's specs are somewhat classified as well, but largely because of just how alien it is. It's basically as if we'd captured a Balmarian drone. Only much more powerful." He runs a hand through his hair. "That man who ran off screaming wouldn't be that far off if I wasn't in the cockpit."

Hmm. The news about the DC gets a slight frown on Oi's face. "Is that so? It did not look it when I was on the battlefield before. But then, I suppose we were fighting together at that point. In-combat, people can be entirely different from how they are out of combat." He says, as he follows after Ascian. "But then I've not been around for a good while."

"I admit, I wasn't around when Bian Zoldark was around. But after his death, this faction has seen a great amount of decline in trust, and a rise in backstabbery. I'm just hoping that, by creating more operations between us all, we can join our hands together again. Because if we don't..." He doesn't finish that sentence, he believes that Oi Shinda will get the point.

They soon arrive back in the hangar, and Ascian places himself between the two Orbital Frames he'd been settled between before. He ends up looking over the basister again, before pointing somewhat casually... without looking... at Amenthes. "I'm sure you recognize her."

"I was around then, but I ended up temporarily reassigned somewhere... well, less than nearby." Oi says, shaking his head. It wasn't anything special. He just was off in some far corner of the world, probably doing some boring guard job. "That's... a pity. I was, and always have been a very loyal member of the Divine Crusaders. I grew up in their lands, and am proud to be their soldier." Oi says, shaking his head slightly.

Back in the hanger, Oi glances towards Migarder quickly, checking to ensure that mechanics aren't trying to pick it apart or something, before looking towards the frame that Ascian points at. He looks up at it and gives a slight nod. "I do recognize her." He pauses. "Do you just call your mechs female, or does it have an AI, like my Migarder?"

When Oi asks Ascian about the Amenthes, he kind of just... gives him a somewhat questioning look. Like, this wasn't a question he was asked too often. He moves his hands against the wheels of the wheelchair to turn around and looks up at the machine. "No. Amenthes just happens to be a woman. I... think." He thinks. "I mean, the creator attached breasts to it." He points up at the mech's chest. Indeed... boobs. "Perverted father..." he mutters, then looks at Oi. "But yes, it does have an A.I., but the A.I. is just an 'it'. Amenthes however, is definitely a woman."

It is hard to pinpoint if he's talking about the machine or... something else with a similar name. Because the way he speaks of it seems to imply that there is more to the Amenthes than meets the eye. "Duat is my A.I." Ascian adds.

Huh. It does indeed have breasts. Oi looks at his Migarder again. "...In my case, the Migarder has a somewhat feminine voice to it's AI." Oi replies, before looking back up to the Amenthes. He begins to look over it slowly, admiring the frame's overall look. In it's own way, it was rather beautiful. His look isn't perverted, more slightly admiring. But it passes after a while.

"Duat -- ah. I remember that radio signal, it provided me with a source of water to park my Migarder in for refuelling and repair." Oi says, grinning slightly. "You ordered that, didn't you." He looks towards Ascian, beginning to feel even better about the thought of working with him. "Thanks for that, otherwise I might have had to take much longer to get my Migarder to safety."

"Actually, it did that on her own volition." Ascian replies. "She does that sometimes." He accidentally refers to Duat as a she, something he doesn't normally do - but sometimes it is hard to escape the reality that his unit's Artificial Intelligence is slowly growing smarter. Especially when he remembers the things between Samuel and Duat.

"Anyhow." Ascian shakes his head and scoots towards the side of the Amenthes, along its cockpit, and lays his hand on it. The black cannopy immediately opens up, pieces seperating, until the empty cockpit shows. "You can look at the control mechanism." He points at the two half-orbs in the rather roomy cockpit that could easily hold two or three people.

Oi nods a little. So it was intelligent. Interesting. A fully thinking machine. How interesting. "Hmm." He looks towards the frame, stepping a little closer, attempting to rest a hand on it lightly. "Thank you then, Duat." He says, smiling a little towards the orbital frame. He looks back towards Ascian as the cockpit is opened. "Hmm?"

He looks towards the slowly opening cockpit, before nodding a bit as Ascian talks about him looking at the controls. He steps over a bit closer to lean in and see inside of the cockpit, to look at the control mechanism. "I... hmm." He frowns slightly, tilting his head. "Is the Amenthes mainly controlled by Duat?" He asks, looking towards Ascian.

The unit suddenly responds, with a somewhat metalic-female voice, "You are welcome, Oi Shinda. Please, do comment - if you require further assistance." The entire cockpit is slightly aglow whilst it speaks, in a crimson radiance.

Ascian watches Oi looking at the cockpit and interact with Duat, before he actually replies to the somewhat... difficult question posed. "Actually, it depends on how you see it. Duat takes care of a lot of the precise numbers, keeping the shields balanced, keeping the output at a certain level... things that would be too much to control simply with the current control schematics." Without him linking directly to it. But that'd require the removal Duat. "But you can assume that I control most of her. Through my very will."