The klaxon nearly took him by surprise. A ghostly image of Lyn Snider that appeared shortly after did. Ekyll was already heading for the hangar and he rushed as fast as he could. He saw the machine he was to pilot. Right now it was stuck in a humanoid form but he was told that it could shift in to a form more fitting of an aircraft. He tried clambering in to the c*** and stared awkwardly at the controls that seemed to mimic his old aircraft. It was much simpler though, with none of the dials and instruments of a Bf109 proper. Then there was this cable that seemed to writhe with a life of its own as he grabbed it. As soon as he did, the end of it drove in to his forehead, stirring up a side order of blinding, paralysing pain. Once it subsided, Ekyll started to see things around in the c*** as if it were familiar to him. He made a note to try and remember what the c*** was like in between battles and perhaps ask for a manual, if one existed, of his machine.

Sam sighed as he wasn't heard. He slowly made his way back to his room, and jumped at the alarm. He placed his hand on his chest, as a hologram of Lyn appeared, giving instructions. He ran to the hanger without thinking, though as it turned out, his machine wasn't ready. Perhaps it's because they didn't really expect him (which most people don't) or probably something they're not telling him. He stayed in one place, wondering where he should go now.

An alarm rudely shook Josephina out of her walk through memory lane. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as the hologram appeared before her, and she went to grab the holy water that she usually kept at the side of her bed, only to find nothing. She panicked, phantoms belonged to the devil, and there was one standing in her room and she could do nothing about it. She then remembered that she wasn't in her own room, she was in a strange conjured room. "It's time...get to the hangar..." she muttered, disappearing.

Jo got up from her bed and left the room, longingly looking back at it as the door slid shut behind her. She walked briskly down the metal corridors not liking the thought of being alone in metal contraption. Other members already seemed to be there, and she looked at the giant machines that were being readied to be deployed two of them were already occupied and something told her she wasn't to go into the last one, it didn't seem familiar. She walked over to the boy who seemed a bit lost.

"Good tidings." she said politely "It appears that both you and I have not been summoned for combat"

Nadya was busy sliding on the suit as the hologram appeared to her left, quickly giving her her objective before disappearing. She was busily extending out her fingers in the rubber-like camo-colored glove, a stern look of indignation across her brow. Her hands then went to her raven black hair, combing her fingers through the silky smooth strands.

Moments later she emerged from her chambers, the suit tight upon her figure, perfectly contorted. She made way for the hanger, eerily knowing well where it lied. Indeed, at some point in the past she was introduced to this all before, she may even recall it at some point, but it hardly mattered now. Reaching the hanger bay, she came upon the familiar site of her unit, dressed in her very own colors. Oddly, the sight of the machine brought her a form of comfort. Smirking, she made her way towards the opened c***, and pulled herself within. Lieing back in the seat, the hatch closed over her. When it shut, the cable dropped from overhead and the c*** came to life in an array of lit gauges, meters and graphical displays. Her hands took to the appropriate handles, the full system of the G.A.P turned on with the mighty roar of its engines and gears. She grasped at the cable, bracing herself as it forced its way into her forehead; Offering no more than a silent grunt as the pain surged through her. To her right, a monitor displayed her logged in status with her unit, as well as the layout of her very own body in a non-descript 3D model. According to the system, she was healthy, well within parameters for combat.

She relaxed now, left hand seamlessly pressing at buttons and flicking switches here and there as the other grasped firmly upon the machines operating handle. "Nooting to it". She remarked to herself, the main visual display opening before her, viewing the hanger from the inside of her unit. Several smaller displays featured the conditions of the units varies parts and weaponry, as well as remaining ammunition. Now set and ready for deployment.

Almost immediately after finishing his previously unanswered question, a holographic image of Lyn Snider appeared behind Ned.
It went unnoticed until it began speaking, to which Ned replied with a startled shriek.
Luckily, Lyn couldn't see him as he acted like a fool, and the young man quickly silenced himself and listened to the orders.
Indeed, his stomach turned with every word the image formed, as if the order was made to be everything he didn't want to hear.


A few minutes after the messenger finished ordering him to the hangar, He stood outside of his room, fully dressed in the comfortable, plain-gray clothes he had found folded neatly in the dresser. The outfit souted him well, complementing both his laid-back personality and his messy brown hair.

Ned gave a quick glance up the hallway, confirming that he was the only one there at the moment.
The man's steps acquired a hurried spring upon seeing this.


As soon as he reached the hangar, he noticed the Russian woman from before disappearing into the c*** of her hulking machine.
As always, the object filled him with a sense of awe.
Ned's machine was nowhere to be found, however, and two other people were in the same situation. He recognised them both from the briefing earlier today.

Ned approached the pair, his confused gaze replaced by a cheerful smile.
The blonde woman was already speaking, so he waited until she was finished before answering.
"Yes," He concurred. "We seem to be sitting this one out!"

"By the way," He announced. "My name's Ned. (ooc: forgot to add a last name, lol) Nice to meet you!"

"And to you." Sam replied to the woman, finally finding something to do here. "Shame we couldn't go, but that's the kicks." he shrugged, replying also to the new participant in the conversation. "Nice to meet you too, Ned. Name's Samuel, but Sam's good." he brought his hand towards Ned, in a sign of a handshake. "So you're the newcomers eh? Well, newer than me anyway."

The "OK for launch" light lit the hangar up brightly, signaling the pilots to start their machines and engage in the mission.

Akiva switched his machine active and immediately and carefully activated the boosters to launch himself. He saw no joystick for movement, quickly understanding that they calculated the movements in their mind. all movement and weapon controls were coded into the system to react like the muscles react when a signal is given by the brain. The cable latches on to the same control lines and directs the signal to the machine instead of the body, enabling perfect performance by a novice pilot.
Once he exited the hangar, he noticed the barren landscape around them. The Walker machine had continued to move, the legs working as if clockwork. The other machines stated as enemy by the computer system were dancing carefully between the legs. There were several units, five in all. "Five enemy units. He is sending us to the slaughter." Akiva stated with no emotion like a machine should; but as of right now, he felt more human than ever.

Lyn appeared on the screen before him. She acted the same as always, but instead of angry, she seemed on edge. "You three need to take out those bandits. They're piloting older machines like most bandits do, so they shouldn't be too much trouble for you. If you're feeling trigger happy, feel free to shoot at anything besides each other."
With that the small image of her slid over the the far side of the screen, leaving more than enough vision for the pilots.
____

Graff smirked. "YYY should reach the battle zone in about five minutes. I've given Ganap priority kills on any left over when he arrives, as well as letting him kill whatever gets in the way. Friend or foe." He said aloud. Graff then turned to a view of the hangar, setting up a direct com-link. "Will the jumper named Sam head up to the bridge. I'd like to have a conversation with you."

Lyn was in the bridge as well, holding her com-link with the pilots. She turned and watched Graff, feeling uneasy about this entire situation and the plan he explained to her the week before.

((Is she talking to everyone or just Akiva?))

As the launch light lit up, Ekyll started to wonder how he could move his machine. The instant he thought of stepping forward, the machine lurched as he thought. Quite intuitive he thought inwardly. He quickened the pace as his machine stepped out of the hangar and in to the mission area highlighted by the glowing screen. Fly, he thought as he cleared the hangar. The machine he was piloting suddenly shifted from its humanoid configuration to the flight mode. It was a harrowing experience driven in by the unknown. Now the screen changed and Ekyll picked out the altimeter, attitude and heading from the icons. Gripping the controls in front of him, he shot up in to the air once more.

OOC: Everyone.

"Aye" she said with a confused expression "Thy kicks art rather...formidable?" Another participant joined their groups, he too was also left behind, and introduced himself as Ned. She waved her hand gracefully and bowed. "I am Sir Josephina Corrigan" She instinctively knew that it was quite awkward to have the title Sir with her birth name. It was improper, and a bit odd, but she had earned her title and would use it as she wished. It was then that Sam was called by the man whom she had had the displeasure to meet earlier. "I wonder, what shalt he asketh of master Samuel?" she pondered out loud.

She listened diligently to her directive as she readjusted herself to her unit, Once again growing accustom to the controls and indicators within her battle mech. As Lyn's image shifted from the priority of the screen, Nadya quickly began battle procedures. The thrusters starting off, pulling her up from the walker and beside the mech of the one named 'Akiva'. With her left hand she engaged the communication systems. Appearing along the side of Akiva's monitor, to the side of Lyn's. "I suppose we should talk tactics" she stated in her accent, her image flickering somewhat on his screen. Her eyes seemed to pan around as she gazed out into the wastes and at the archaic units swarming around the walker's feet.

With her free hand, she engaged the combat system, her unit bracing its M90 Assault Machinegun with a whirring of motors and a hologram of gauges appearing beside her in her c***. Information on the status of the weapon. "I've no problem taking the initiative if you'd rather play secondary" She continued, her voice stern and cold, perhaps she hadnt been told he wasn't exactly real. Not that it mattered to her. Her thirst to work her unit ached, she surveyed the enemy units scurrying around with attentive eyes, as if a cat anxiously awaiting the moment she might leap upon the mouse. One could wonder just how ingrained the mentality of the warrior was to her conscious. His demeanor masking what feelings lie beneath.

As of right now, all she wanted was to be active again, feeling as if she had slept for an eternity, she wanted nothing more of rest.

"Why yes," Sam nodded, amused at her confusion. "Josephina, nice name." he told her, smiling as he did. Before anything else, Graff told him to come to the bridge. He didn't dislike the man, but something about him made Sam not to invite Graff to any party he would host (if he could anyway). "Hopefully not something crazy" he muttered, and strolled to the bridge.

Akiva listened carefully to what she had to say, but he was hardly the tactical master, due to his origins. "I would prefer not to worry too much about tactics at this point. She mentioned only five units, and that they were old version models, so we should not have too much trouble." He answered, watching the machines dance. One had already begun to move towards them. It was holding a shotgun type weapon, most likely beam infused for better range.
-
The bandit inside the machine began to laugh. "This'll be easy boys! I'll take the GAP, the rest can split up between the ART and the Virgola!" He relayed to his allies. All their machines were old bipedal cruisers; pretty much weak with their scrawny arms and legs, but the body usually was a better alloy than the limbs and could take more shots. He increased his speed towards the GAP and took aim with his gun.

Two of the cruisers retracted their legs and shot up into the sky to strike the ART, while the other two followed their leader, but instead heading for the Virgola.
-
YYY slowed down on a ridge that overlooked the battle zone. "They took their sweet time starting the fight." Ganap remarked. "I can take most of them out quickly." YYY's sword on the right arm activated, glowing a deep orange. He set up the chain gun on his back, and rushed down the cliff at high speeds, heading straight for the battle.
There was a muffled sound from the sack behind the seat. "Settle down, we'll be there soon..."
__________________
"Ah, hello Sam." Graff said as Sam entered the room. "Let me just get straight to the business at hand. I read in your files that you're a spacial jumper. Is that true?"

Lyn watched the conversation, ignoring the battle at the moment. She was more worried about what Graff had up his sleeves.

Ekyll saw it, two bandits coming up on his six. Ah, it felt just like the good ol' days again. Ekyll petered out the thrust as he pulled back, the nose coming back down towards the ground. Once he did, he let gravity do most of the work, steadying his fall as the missile launcher started to lock on to the bandit to his two o'clock.

To Ekyll, a missile that homed in to his target was a veritable Godsend the moment he heard of such things. Back in his time such things did not exist. It was a logical leap from unguided rockets and missiles. Of course they were not always on the mark but the percentage significantly high so it was not much of a problem.

It was then the lock rang in his ears and he reflexively depressed the trigger, loosing a missile at the bandit.

"Yeah, I just got here recently," Ned replied simply. "This is all pretty confusing, so try to bear with me, okay?"
As he reached to complete the handshake, he was distracted by the woman's response.
It took him several seconds to decode what she was saying through her Old English, but he noticed the peculiar use of "Sir."

With that thought, Ned remembered to return Sam's handshake, but was too late, for he was already gone.
"Too bad he couldn't stay."
"Anyway, Josephina, you seem to take pride in your title. Are you a knight or something?" Ned suddenly asked. Although he was already sure of it, Ned still wanted to carry on the conversation.