Machine Vision [Zalvek + TakodaVega]

[TakodaVega]

Naomi had seen things in her short life. A lot of things actually. The Federation had made sure their little pets would be able to handle the exposures of the rough and now barren Earth. Earth had become Homeworld to a third of the human population who had taken to space instead to instead of residing in what was once a beautiful planet. Wars and pollution had turned Homeworld into nothing more than a sparsely vegetated Mars.

This however was in the top five 'Oh shit' moments as she forced the outdated mech to move. If she got caught there was more at stake than just another life on the line, she was one of the experiments the Feds had tossed aside based on the comprehension of morals, of all things. She should have died had it not been for a lucky missle strike on the compound and a few fellow 'Rejects' breaking out those who would have been slaughter.

Mid way up her arm was a set of numbers. 7391. She always had thought of it as her prison number as she wheeled the mech around and raised one of her arms. The mech's following suit, pressing a button missiles shot from integrated weapons that slid out from the sheets of metal. Ice blue eyes looked through the shielded helmet on her head, the ear piece yelling at her loudly.

"Tucker, I heard you the first dozen times, I'm doing the best I fucking can with what I have. If you don't get your ass moving I really will turn you into my chew toy." She growled out as she saw another fighter jet come her way. She really hoped they finished the newer mechs soon, she wasn't even sure if this one would survive the fight as she watched out of the corner of her screen her convoy of fellow Projects move across the savanna plain. No place for them to hide in case shelter was needed. Thus why Naomi had gone.

She was one of the only ones who knew how to play decoy to the Feds while the real source of information they had always wanted went with the smaller convoy. The files they had managed to hijack from from one of the new facilities outside of what used to be the Congo were just the things they needed to keep themselves alive. Two months ago the Colonies had approached the Resistance with an offer. If they could get the information the Colonies wanted to break free from the Federation's control they would back the Resistance.

She was starting to feel like she was in a New World Revolutionary war when a mech came up behind her and grabbed her own mech's shoulder. And pulled. Gritting her teeth she used her free arm to grab the other mech's cockpit. Warnings flashed across her screen as sparks started to fly. This was not gonna be one of her good days, her feline ear flicking back as Tucker continued to yell at her to pull out. Tucker was their Captain on this escapade. She was starting to think he had a thing for her or something. Stupid dog. He was one of the few canine experiments that had even survived the first round.

Her hand tightened on the enemy cockpit until she finally saw what she had been looking for. "Gotcha." She growled as she twisted, a man's scream coming from within the metal. A scream that to human ears could never be heard. But for her? It was like hearing the pin drop. Grabbing the fallen Mech's blaster from the ground, she tried to move the damaged shoulder only to curse under her breath. "Everybody still okay?" She growled out, running after the convoy as they neared their destination. The cloaking mechanism on the base had served them well, the newer technology, thanks to the Colonies database, was proving to come quite in handy as her damaged mech went to the Bay. Cheers could be heard on the lower levels. Of course Naomi would make it. Damn males. She walked over to the empty slot for the mech, fingers flipping the switches as the steam started to rise from the hydrolic lifts.

Rising to stand, she stood on the terrace that had risen outside of her cockpit door. Freedom, god had it never felt so good as she finally pulled off her helmet. Ebony locks fell free, a hand reaching up to pull off the transmitter from her ear. A dark, rounded furred one with white spots on the backs. It was clear to see what sort of DNA she had gotten. Her white tiger-striped tail swished angrily behind her as the dock finally lowered to the floor. "Any word yet on when the new mechs will be done? I heard we get partners." She was still a little miffed about that. However she had heard that each partner had built the Mech to their partners expectations. Essentially they'd be their mechanic and training partner in the coming weeks.

Fun. More people. Exactly what Naomi wanted. Not. As if to signal a change in the tide the mech she had been chose at that point to collapse crashing to the floor. Growling softly, she fought the urge to not loose her temper, "This day just keeps getting better and better."

 

[Zalvek]

Orlan was a bit of an odd "reject" when it came to being one. He was brilliant, an absolute sterling genius easily capable of designing a way to fix the now barren Earth, or just as easily able to design deadly weapons in the world. However, he was graced with the genetic defect of being a little bit more than scrawny.

Where as many of the other experiments were extremely fit and attentive, Orlan's height was noticeably less than that of any of the others. Many often considered him to be a teenager, even though almost all experiments were genetically aged to be born in their prime twenties. Sure he received the occasional kiddie remark that agitated him, but they never went too far as the entire Resistance was well aware that he would grab the nearing brain-seeking chain gun he developed and shoot them without a second thought.

With this in mind, Orlan couldn't complain too much.

As a mechanic for the Resistance, he spent most of his time doing repairs more than anything else. It was far too inefficient resource-wise to try and make new weapons all the time, as compared to to simply patching up the new ones. So when the neko heard about developing new mechs, the entire base could see his chocolate-brown ears twitching in anticipation.

The past few weeks, all of his time was spent in the hangers, working furiously on making sure the bipedal mechanics were just right, so that they would be able to walk and even run with perfect grace. The interface for the pilot had to be tuned to every single one, and even though the other mechanics were good, this material was way over their heads and they weren't capable of understanding it. Orlan had to do all of the calibrations himself and it wasn't an easy fast process.

The old mechs had just come back into the hangers, and Orlan only grunted in reply to it. Even though his ears had picked up the noise, he was wearing his mechanic's goggles which were able to pick up signs of electrical flow, analyze structural integrity, wipe away the sweat on your brow, and make you a drink all at the same time. They were large and fit over his face snugly. As he focused on his work furiously with his tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly in concentration, he finished soldering a few points in the wrist joint one of the commanding officer's mechs.

 

[TakodaVega]

"Aw come on Naomi, chill out." Tucker's laughing voice came closer to the working mechanics, "You keep those Feds dancin on their toes and it'll be smooth sailing for us through this war." Naomi kept walking though finally pulling a cigarette from her pocket and lit it behind a curled palm. While her nails looked trim and almost ladylike they were really much longer claws that remained, mostly, sheathed for the most part until something angered her completely.

"I could give two shits less about that. If we don't get the new mechs finished soon we'll be sitting ducks. They're getting faster than we are thanks to their new models." She took a drag, the bright ember at the end lit for a few moments before she released the smoke. "However we have the advantage they don't have," Her ears perked from their relaxed position, glancing up towards the mechs being constructed still. Soon one of these would be her little baby. Unlike the others, this one was curtailed to her. Which means if someone even laid a scratch on it she was gonna kill them. "We have the smartest man there is working on something so much better." She purred out softly, knowing he heard her.

She had far more respect for Orlan, not just because of his weapon upgrade, or the fact the man could run circles around her about Quantum Physics and her not comprehend one iota of it. Rather for standing up for himself, in his own way. Her eyes never left his back, letting the cigarette perch on her lips. Tucker chose at that particular moment to open his big mouth, "What the kitten?" For a split second there was nothing but the delicate sounds of the heat touching metal in it's sparks. Tucker was about to learn the hard way his mistake.

Naomi's eyes were like steel, her claws slightly extended and almost embeded into Tucker's throat. "You will refrain from calling him that in front of me. Without him we would have been dead a long, long time ago." Tucker glared down at the female, a female who was roughly the same height as the mechanic. However her grip was solid, firm and unrelenting. He caved and held up his hands in surrender. "Remember that he does have a name." She growled out, releasing him as Tucker rubbed his throat. "Jesus Naomi, what the fuck is up with you today?"

She shot him a look, "You." She growled out a swish of her tail the tell tale sign she had moved. "I'm going to take a shower so that maybe, just maybe, I won't have to go out again on one of your almost suicide missions. The Colonies better be keeping their word about helping us with more than just the funding soon. We lost a dozen in getting to get that data. I don't want to have to double that number soon, sir." She gave him a mock salute before doing just as she said wandering off to a far off wall having the panel open into a lit hallway. Others shuffled past her, her cigarette still burning on her lips.

It was definitely one of those days. The waiting for the new Mech was in her blood now and she wanted nothing more than to know which one of the beautiful creations was hers. Hopefully sooner versus later.

 

[Zalvek]

Orlan could hear all of them. His ears thankfully worked well enough that he was able to at least keep track of the conversations of those around him. Soon the scent of nicotine was wafting through the air and filling his nostrils. He never liked the smell, but didn't mind it either. Enough of the other pilots smoked that he had grown accustomed to the scent and it rarely made him flinch now.

However, something that did make him flinch was Naomi's comment. With a twitch of his ear, and a light flush of his cheeks which was thankful covered by his goggles, he began to tighten one of the screws on the wrist panel much faster to try and drown out the noise. Orlan wasn't sure if she was just teasing him or being serious, but it often confused and flustered him. As a bit of a genius, he didn't like either of these options. In comparison, he was used to being called a kitten. It didn't bother him much as he always knew that it was coming from some of the more ignorant and numskulled members of their rebellion. All he had to do was ignore their comments, and then be sure to put laxative-micro cells into their water later on. That usually ended well enough and kept them from daring to do it again. The end result was usually fiery and explosive in a most unpleasant way.

And yet again, she came to his defense again. Orlan wasn't entirely sure why. The two of them didn't converse very often, and rarely even exchanged glances. The life of the mechanic was to be like the invisible support of the pilots, making sure every mech was tuned perfectly, with no problems or tweaks that had to be made. Most of the other pilots didn't even know the names of their partners-to-be, yet but Naomi made it a point to know most of them. Most of them appreciated it, but Orlan was just very often perplexed by it instead.

He continued working through her argument with Tucker. The yelling didn't distract him much, even though he listened to all of it. Orlan was usually on top of the politics of what was going on with the Resistance, so he could understand Naomi's concern. He heard her walk off and sighed for a moment, before standing up and closing the wrist panel. This unit was just about calibrated now, and all that was left was Naomi's own unit to finish up.

 

[TakodaVega]

The way to her quarters was rather far, and took the remainder of her cigarette to get there. Crushing the filter into the near by ashtray she placed her finger to the screen, it read her finger print and then demanded it's usual retina image. The red slid to green as the door slid open, walk inside she put in her passcode to lock the door behind her. The faint smell of incense from this morning still resonated around the room as she slowly pulled away her sweat stained clothes. It was basic army attire like, the thick strapped tank and cargo pants, boots to the top the appearance.

Her whole body ached as she went towards the bathroom area of her living quarters. Small though they were they still had a hair of charm to them. It was still hard to tell though that it was female quarters. Fiddling with the knobs in the shower she finally pulled it. Sweet heaven the water felt good as it cascaded her body. Her sensitive ears quivering with each drop of water that touched them. Pulling her long hair away from her back washing away more of the tension in her body. Ebony stripes flowed along her back curving around to her sides. Grabbing the soap and shampoo from their respected location she washed herself from head to toe. This wish her way of cleansing her stress away. The blood, the grime, all the death, this didn't bother her here. Only once she left these quarters would she return being the same old Naomi.

For now she let the water fall over every toned muscle. Her feline tail slowly tracing through the water as finally a signal overhead sounded All Personnel Please report to the Command Console. All Personal, please report to the Command Console.. Sighing softly she ran the towel through her hair before pulling on another tank and another pair of cargo pants. She was hopping to relax awhile before they did things. Do they? No of course not. She grumbled softly as she pulled her hair back into a low end bun. Entering her passcode again to get free of her room letting it shut behind her as she made it to more central area of the building.

On the central screen were the encrypted data files, one of the other girls, Matti wasn't it?, was working on it. Fingers flashing across the keys faster than most could see. She was their best hacker, if Orlan was their best inventor. Everyone said Naomi was their best fighter and should have taken the command from Tucker a long time ago. But something always made her stop. Who knows. It may not have been in her nature to do such things.

Which didn't even make sense in her own mind. Ah well on another projector however were the 3D models of the new mechs, blinking she sat with the others as she waited to hear what the big fuss was about, maybe, they'd find out who was partnered with who finally. She tried to get to know all of them on some level or another. She at least knew who was who which was better than most of the other pilots. She wanted to be on a first name basis with them. Her ears perked, anticipation flourshing in her bloodstream. Oh how she wanted to climb into the cockpit of one of those new mechs and just realize it was hers. None of the mechanics had seemed to let on which pilot would get which mech as of yet, or what design specifics they gained. Just that it was custom made. For her in mind.

 

[Zalvek]

Even though Naomi had stormed out, the mechanics bay was still quiet for at least five minutes.The only sounds were Orlan moving onto the next machine and slowly unwrenching the side vernier panels. Slowly but surely people were willing to move again, and soon the bustling machines were heard and the sound of work reappeared. Orlan was already busy at work, his goggles down and his wrench at hand.

As he continued to work busily, the minutes seemed to fly by fast enough. Soon all of the pilots were done dicking around and laughing and had eventually left to go to the mess hall or whatever it was that they did. It didn't concern him, so long as they were out of his work space and not safety hazards. Orlan always had a camera on them, lest they accidentally chop their fingers off with a dremel.

Most of the engineering aspects of the designs were complete now. All that was left was to paint them up. Now most of the units were going to be a basic shade of green. However, a few units were offered to superior officers that would be given their own unique paint schemes. Tucker's was going to be candy apple-red, Miranda was going to get a light lavendar, and Naomi was to be given a deep royal blue. Just because the Resistance was at war, didn't mean they couldn't at least fight without a little bit of style. Many would have thought that would be the last thing that Orlan would have ever thought about, but in secret he did think it was quite valuable.

As he was programming the robotic spray-painting arms and adding the last few layers of clear coating, the sirens began to ring. The familiar sound of everyone being called to the command center wrung through his ears. Thankfully, his goggles also featured a sound-eliminating feature that was quite hand. With a few clicks of the knobs at the side, he was soon free from that annoying whirring sound. He started up the painting process before leaving the hangar, the sound of busy machines behind him as he walked down the hall through the base.

By the time he reached the command room, it was mostly full. Thanks to his size, he was able to wriggle through most of the other members of the Resistance until he was relatively close to the front. At least to the point where he could see the main monitor without having someone's leg in the way of his view.

 

[TakodaVega]

Naomi watched as she felt someone's presence near her as she glanced over her shoulder to see Orlan near by, followed close behind by Tucker. Her blue eyes drifted away from them to look at the screen. It crackled and flashed a moment before the transmission came in. "Good Evening, Resistance." Came a man's voice, though he was covered in shadow in the feed. "The Colonies are in your debt for gaining the data from the Ghana center. I heard you lost some of your men for that and for that we will offer you all the assistance we can afford to give you. Once the Federation finds out we are allied with each other they will be hard pressed into finding which to attack first. The sky or the Land."

Naomi's lips twitched. She wasn't starting to like this. "For that we will send some of our men to Homeworld with their own Mechs, and their own mechanics of course. They will be arriving at 0800." She crossed her arms as she leaned against the command console, "And what exactly is to stop the Federation from just deactivating their Polarity shields on the Colonies? For all we you have Feds fucking crawling in your bases and on their payroll." She cut through the silence the others had said, though Tucker shot her a look.

"You'll just have to trust us," said the man again as he leaned back in his chair. "To reassure you, I'm closing this transmission so the Federation cannot find your base. We will be speaking to you soon."

The screen closed out, leaving Naomi with an agitated look, her tail swishing slightly behind her as she rose up from her relaxed position. "Humans." She growled out softly which continued to be given looks by the others. Naomi had been in one of the harsher Facilities there was no telling how her feelings were about somethings. Except for Humans.

Shaking her head she turned to go when one of the others, Miranda, grabbed her arm. "Don't leave yet Naomi. I heard that Orlan put the finishing touches on the mechs, one of the other mechanics said something about also telling us who are paired our so we know who to go to when the Others get here." She could tell the 'Others' were the Space Monkeys. Sighing softly she turned back around as the screen lit back up with the mechs on the screen. Her eyes were softly surprised, the colors varied for some, but it was the royal blue one that had caught her attention. It pulled to her, even in the image. She just hoped her gut instinct wasn't wrong about this.

Red screamed 'Come at me' anyway. And Night missions required stealth.

 

[Zalvek]

Originally Orlan had thought that this meeting was going to be the presentation of the new mechs for the entire base. But instead he heard an unfamiliar voice. Although it took a few minutes, it soon occurred to him that it was in fact the Colonies sending a transmission after the last mission. His interest was piqued as he shifted and leaned against one foot while looking up at the blue screen.

His ears twitched under his words as an eye peaked towards Naomi. He saw through the corner of his eye the subtle note of frustration in her facial expression. He could understand her hesitation and annoyance at the commander, but at the same time felt that she was getting slightly distracted by it as well. The Colonies had all to gain from joining them, and nothing to lose. Trusting them would be good, and signs of hostility would keep them from taking back the nice little bit of synergy they had going on right now.

When the communication link closed, the lights flicked back on and Orlan stood back upright, no longer slumping. He couldn't help but smirk slightly at Naomi's comment. There was no denying the truth and frustration behind the humans. Sometimes it boggled him to think that their entire section of mutations came from the humans manipulating and pulling at DNA strands. Perhaps it was all just a major fluke. It wouldn't surprise him very much if that were fact.

While most of the room emptied out relatively quickly, Orlan had stayed behind, and Miranda was aware of it as well. The smaller group gathered around the display screen, and when the new blue prints appeared everyone let out a small gasp or wonder or even slight arousal. Orlan couldn't help but smirk and feel a bit smug that his handiwork was as impressive as he thought it would be,even if it was just on paper.

 

[TakodaVega]

Naomi made closer footsteps to the screen until she was standing next to Orlan, "You did a very good job." She said softly as her eyes darted to him. Those blue eyes watching him before flicking towards the others, "I wish I could do something like this, but," she grinned slightly, "I don't think mine would be able to compete with yours Orlan." There was no malice, no sign of smugness in her tone. She was being completely honest to both of them as her gaze returned to the list that was slowly being pulled up by another mechanic.

As soon as the Enter key was hit, each mech had it's own screen with the Pilot's picture next to them logistics written beneath with the various weapons and capabilities, which at that moment wasn't what Naomi was paying attention to. It was the very bottom of the screen which had the picture of which mechanic had been assigned to which mech. The mechanic who was featured with hers was one of the last ones she had expected.

To be completely honest with herself though, she was glad that the man who was currently standing beside her was her mechanic. So long as he didn't too technical about things to her, she was fairly sure that the two would get along very well. Though why he had been picked was beyond her, she would have been thought he would be Miranda's, or hell, even Tucker's. The other two mechanic's stood next to their pilot's. This was going to make an interesting night.

And it wasn't even dusk yet.

 

[Zalvek]

A soft cat ear flickered while Orlan's eyes darted up to see that Naomi was speaking to him. The compliment came off as a bit of a surprise. She tended to be much more gruff around other mechanics and pilots, so this softer tone caught him off guard quite a bit. A light pink flush covered his cheeks as he averted his gaze, "W-Well, it is the only thing that I'm really good at doing after all..."

Once every variant schematic was available on the display, Orlan took a step forward to the front of the room. He let out a cough to catch the attention of the room. It took a few moments as the entire room looked to the front and saw nothing, and it took them several seconds to look down instead of straight. It irked him a bit, but he didn't think much of it and continued.

"These are going to be the new standard Tactical Armors for our Rebellion forces. As you can tell just by looking at them, they are drastically different in aesthetics. In addition to that, the internal workings are entirely different from your previous machines. The inner layer of the Tactical Armor is a type of artificial muscle structure. You may remember that several weeks ago, you were all required to take blood samples. These were for the sakes of implementing DNA matches so that each and every Armor is calibrated specifically to your own genetics."
"The purpose of matching each armor genetically is to increase reaction time. These machines will be linked to your brain's wavelengths through an apparatus attached via the back of the neck. It's mostly painless."

"Despite this, the armors will initially be incredibly sensitive and will more than likely cause not only slight mental traumatic effects and migraines. In addition to causing the pilot mental anguish, the armors will also respond in a similar violent fashion. This is why each of you are assigned a partner now. The partner is there to monitor and regulate the mental impulses that will come from the Armor itself and make sure that it does not overload your brain, or force you to accidentally rip your own Armor's own arm off. I would try to treat them a little better than you have before, lest they let you suffer a bit of brain damage." He eyed Tucker and his small group, who all seemed a bit clammy in response to his comments before continuing.

"The weapons and features will be mostly similar for the most part to your previous machines. Notable mentions include the new heat-based melee weapons. Each suit is now equipped with a kinetic combat knife, that will heat up to scalding hot temperatures, able to pierce through the toughest enemy alloys now. I would be prudent in using this new tool."

"Training and calibration of the Tactical Armors starts early tomorrow morning. Try to be awake and aware for it, as it WILL affect your calibration process."

 

[TakodaVega]

"I beg to differ Orlan," came her soft voice, "You are good at many things, you are skilled the most at this because you have had the most experience with this. I'm sure if you were given something else to put that busy inventive mind of yours to use you would excel at it as well." She gave the smaller neko a smile. There had always been something about Orlan that had made her develop a protective streak. She hadn't quite sure where it had come from.

She listened to him on the podium explain a majority of the specs to her. So the mechs were genetically tailored to them. She had wondered about that when they had taken blood samples. She thought they weren't going to put more needles into each other. Pah, she never liked needles but the purpose behind it was what had made her sit through it and bare it. Barely. She had come close to digging her claws into the seat. She wasn't terrified of needles persay It was just a bitch and a half to find a vein to actually draw blood from. Her bicep to to her mid forearm had been bandaged to hide the many times they had tried.

"Does that mean that if damage is done to the mech our bodies will mimic the damage, Orlan? Or is it all a mental thing?" She was one of the more level headed ones. She'd hate to see what would happen when Tucker got into his mech, she had a bad feeling that his panic would transfer to the mech and all fucking hell would break loose. That would be the last thing she needed. Especially if she hadn't gained complete control over her own mech yet.

Considering Orlan was her own mechanic this was going to make things interesting. Did Orlan chose? Or was it at random? She didn't know though she really did appreciate it.

 

[Zalvek]

Orlan didn't give Naomi a reply. He simply hurried up to the front with his eyes pointed to the ground so he didn't make eye contact, and so that she couldn't see the heavy red flush covering his face. Thankfully by the time he reached the front of the room it was already down to a dull tone of pink, that was barely noticeable. Plus most people were too busy gawking over the new schematics to really focus on him.

He looked over towards Naomi as she asked a question. He replied, "Your body will not feel any major physical pain. All of the interfacing with the machine goes through the brain. At most you may feel some slight soreness after piloting, similar to your previous armors. There may be potential high mental kickbacks if the pilot is not level headed, or if their partner is not aware of what's going on and not doing their job properly."

Orlan nodded softly before turning to another raised hand in the small crowd. He continued to answer the few questions idly. He was however during this time slightly distracted. He was still thinking about the fact that he was going to be Naomi's partner. It only made sense to the entire crew that the best pilot should be paired with the best mechanic. Of course Orlan knew that he was brilliant, but when put on a scale with Naomi, it was a bit flattering for even him.

 

[TakodaVega]

Naomi watched Orlan as he spoke, absorbing the details as they came up but her gaze rarely left his as she let her ears perk. "What time do you wish for us to meet at the Hanger?" Came Naomi's soft voice again. She wasn't exactly worried about the pain, most of those in Project Neko had a high pain tolerance. She said most because there were some that didn't. Those blue eyes flicked a moment as she thought. She would have to break her normal routine to do this. She would take her ritual int he morning to make her brain levelheaded, even, calm.

She might regret it but she would have to make it if she had to deal with picking up space monkeys. She snorted softly at that. She trusted humans as much as she trusted Tucker to always to have her back. Near nil. Tucker was a good fighter mind you but his panic button went off too quickly. She felt bad for whoever his mechanic was, she'd have a handful to deal with. Even then though there were some things she was worried about.

She was more worried if the Colonies would try and pull shit that humans were known to do to the Nekos. Make them beneath them. The main areas of the Neko populace was enslaved by humans to become the ultimate fighter, and the ultimate pet. They were loyal to a fault, which in Naomi's case was her flaw. She was loyal alright, loyal only to the people she ultimately cared about. However she knew that even though Orlan was her mechanic, and rightly only hers, they might cause trouble. Her feline tail flicked. She had to think of ways to help protect him. He was going to be her lifeline in that Mech if something went wrong. She doubted it would but he would be the only one able to keep it so she didn't get hurt. It was probably Naomi's greater exposure to Humans that had led her to know how they may act.

She just hoped she wouldn't scare him in the process. He was already skittish of her as was if the blush that had stained his cheeks had told her anything.

 

[Zalvek]

As Naomi spoke up again, he looked towards her direction before replying, "We'd like to start early tomorrow so all pilots and engineers should be in the hanger by 0500. We have a schedule with the colonies and will need at least several hours to block out for the calibration process." He nodded softly before looking back around the room to address any remaining questions.

Orlan continued answering questions as they came along. A few of them regarded the nature of the machines themselves, and for the sake of not making this meeting several hours long he simply told them that the machines were basically artificial flesh. A few of the other engineers were a bit concerned as well regarding their safety in their machines. It was indeed a big risk to double the personnel required per mission, but hopefully the new armors would change it so that there would be no risk to begin with.

The room soon fell silent and Orlan looks around one last time, "Well, those are the plans for the next day. I would recommend resting up and relaxing as much as possible. Any stress will make this all the more difficult of a process. If you do not know who your partner is, I would take the time to at least introduce yourselves and get acquainted. Other than that, that's all I have for this meeting. Dismissed."

Orlan watched as the room returned to the sounds of pilots talking. Engineers and pilots tended to split off into their own two groups. This would prove to be problematic as the partners would need to get to know each other and become comfortable with one another too. It could be a matter of life and death after all.

 

[TakodaVega]

OOC: I wanna rape your sig >_>;

IC~

Naomi's eyes listened to the rest until they others had split up to get to know their respected partners, leaving only Orlan and herself standing alone. Carefully she walked over to the podium area where he still stood. "Walk with me awhile?" She asked gently her feline tail coiling around her ankle as she waited for him. She offered a hand out to him to help ease him down, if he took it. If not she would turn heel and make her way out of the main sector of the building down a few corridors in silence at first until he recognized some of the hallways as they entered the hanger once more. The place was practically deserted.

Hopping on to the hood of a nearby jeep, she looked him over carefully. "I am going to be honest with you and say there may be things that I will do tomorrow that might startle you." She said gently as she pulled out a cigarette from the pack in her pocket. Not lighting it just letting it rest on her lips. She could kill her lungs later, this was important. Very important. "I need you to trust me outside of the cockpit as much as I'm going to trust you while I'm in it." She slid her hands along her pants a moment, "Humans are known to make us beneath them and they may try to force you to work on their mechs when they have their own mechanics." Her eyes flicked, "Don't let them give you shit, if they so much as lay a hand on you..." She trailed off. Honestly she wasn't quite sure what she would really do.

Considering she didn't know when along the lines of learning about him she had started to develop a protective instinct over him, she was starting to wonder if it was just that. She didn't want to think about it now though she had to put it out on the table.

 

[Zalvek]

While the room was clearing up, Orlan took a few moments to look over the schematics again that showed up on the view screen. He fiddled with the touch-screen panel before closing the program up. The buzzing sound of the others soon vanished and all that was left was the soft humming of the computer in the room. It was only when Naomi spoke up that his ears twitched and he looked over towards her. Usually Orlan was one to not miss sounds, but somehow he managed to miss this one. As she asked him to walk with him, he nodded softly while shutting down the computer. Once the whirring of the machine calmed down, he followed her out of the room.
For a while they walked in silence. Orlan looked over at the much taller female from time to time, before looking straight forward again. While they passed through the different halls, he often took the time to slip his goggles on, doing some remote work on the new TAs, while the silence continued. It was only as their pace slowed down that he wriggled his goggles back up to above his forehead. His eyes shifted once more to her face, and her gaze landed on his own. When she started to talk, Orlan was silent (Which honestly didn't change much, since he was quiet the entire way to the hanger.). He nodded softly, wondering just how in the world she could manage to startle him in anyway.

He couldn't help but speak up and reply, "Startle me? What do you mean?" But before she could reply, Naomi switched to another subject regarding the humans. Most of it was common sense enough and Orlan agreed with most of it. He didn't have much faith in the humans either, but for now this truce was essential to their military plans. He nodded to her words once more, wondering just where she was going with all of this. Most of her words were lacking structure and thought, two things which Orlan though were essential in life. "If they lay a hand on me... What?" He couldn't help but look up at her curiously.

 

[TakodaVega]

Her lips twitched slightly, it was all the warning he would have when she grabbed his chin and pulled his lips against hers, her blue eyes into slits. Though the kiss had been rough, commanding, there was a softer side of it that seemed to promise that he could trust her with this. Not like Naomi would ever harm Orlan as she gently pulled his form closer to her, feline tail gently entwining around his waist as she finally broke the edgy kiss and rested her head on top of his. Her rumbling purr could be heard as she closed her eyes. "Something along the lines of that," she said softly, her purr mingling with her words. Her hands were gentle as she started to stroke along his back before carefully pulling herself away, not wanting to make him feel more uncomfortable than he already was.

"The only things Humans normally accept are something called 'mates', around them I could act as such to you and they will leave you alone. I promise." She pulled some of her hair out of her face a moment before clearing her throat. "But if I must do so then expect more of that to be the case. It isn't like Humans can smell the difference." She shrugged carefully, "However I want to make sure that they don't treat you like something you're not." Those ice blue eyes of hers looked him over carefully as she settled back. "Forgive me...you did ask."

 

[Zalvek]

It took Orlan a moment to realize just what was going on. It was all a flash before his eyes, and suddenly there was a rough force pressing eagerly against his lips. When he looked forward, it was in fact Naomi pressing her own lips on his own. He let out a muffled cry of surprise while his ears flickered wildly. Her own warm tail curled around his own body, causing another involuntary twitch, and only made his already red cheeks turn a hotter shade of crimson. All the while during the kiss, Orlan had found his body suddenly could not recall that breathing was an essential function of life, and by the time that she broke the kiss, he was left panting heavily, hands on his knees as he looked down and tried to recover himself quickly.

Orlan was the type to analyze people and predict what they would do in the future. However, this sort of action was well beyond his spectrum of analysis, and left him befuddled accordingly. It took him a few minutes, but soon he managed to catch his breath. By the time that he stood back upright and looked towards her; a perplexed and confused twinkle was in his eyes while his ears continued to twitch madly. "M-Mates... That seems a bit excessive, I don't think that will be needed really... I mean I can take care of myself too, it's not like you need to do this you know..." His gaze averted from her own for a moment as he stared down towards the hangar floor, his own tail slowly curling around his leg.

 

[TakodaVega]

Naomi gently reached to rub his ears after the kiss, trying to soothe him as she softly purred. "I'm sorry Orlan, but you should at least expect the unexpected." Sh said softly unwinding her tail from him so he could reorganize himself more thoroughly. She cleared her throat before lighting the cigarette she had tucked away in her pocket. Those blue eyes of hers never quite leaving his face. She took a drag, the toxic smoke filling her lungs as she blew it away from him. "Humans aren't like us, they are very emotional creatures, they are also very physical creatures. We tend to keep ourselves and not get involved in such sports. However if the need arises you'll know what to do."

She rose from her place against the hood of the jeep and gently mused his hair. "You have to trust in me just as much as I have to trust in you to make sure I don't loose it. Go get some sleep Orlan. You may want to take a shower first, it will help." She gave him one of those rare half smiles of hers, just as she started to walk back towards the main quarters. Occasionally she would ash her cigarette as she walked lost in her own thoughts as she finally arrived in front of her room. The normal procedures seemed oddly slow to her as she finally entered her room killing the cherry of her cigarette into the ashtray.

What had come over her to do that? There was something more protective about her nature towards him than she had originally been willing to admit to herself. Pulling off her shirt she tossed it into the nearby as she collapsed onto her bed, looking up at the ceiling. Even though it had been only a kiss she had that strange urge to want to do it again, to want to protect Orlan as someone that was hers. No one elses. Hers. So what if he wasn't the most built or tallest among them? He had other means to tackle his adversaries that they didn't even realize. Still if a kiss was only a kiss then she had learned that this was going to become something dangerous in it's own way. She took a deep breath, counting backwards from one hundred and closing her eyes. There was sleep that she needed.

0500 was damn early anyway.

 

[Zalvek]

Orlan's ears flickered when she rubbed them, although they eventually calmed down to only slight twitches from second to second. Soon his eyes were focused up on hers as he sort of gawked. For a moment his goggles even slid down his face over his eyes, but he quickly fiddled to put them back up again. It was about then that he also realized that he was staring, and proceeded to look back down to the same spot on the floor once again. As he heard the lighter flicker and light the cigarette he replied, "W-Well that's all good and well, but this seems a bit much to me. I mean... You could have told me and I would have understood fine. Now I'm..." Orlan didn't finish his sentence. He didn't want to admit that he was confused, since he tended to pride himself so much on his knowledge of everything.

It was quiet for a while, as Naomi smoked her cigarette and spoke softly. Orlan didn't reply as he had little to say, and just stood next to her, his body slightly leaning against the frame of the jeep in the silence. When she finally stood up and fiddled with his hair he let out a soft instinctive mew for a moment before watching her walk off towards the quarters. He stood there for a while in silence, that light flush of red still over his cheeks before he finally headed back to his own quarters as well.

Once in his room, Orlan let out a heavy sigh and first plopped down onto his bed, staring at his wall idly. He always know that Naomi had a sort of mutual respect for him, but this seemed to be going a step further, and it was something that he had absolutely never calculated before. It was incredibly rare for him to miss something like that, and not only was it frustrating, but confusing. His tail softly curled around his leg and he sighed to himself. Maybe a hot shower would help after all. He stood up from the bed and flung his shirt and pants off into a nearby hamper, and much more gingerly set down his goggles on his work desk. He set the water to scalding hot and stood there in the shower for a while, silent and in deep thought.

 

[TakodaVega]

It was mildly entertaining to see Orlan so flustered. She gently put a finger to his lips, "Calm, Orlan, if I told you I don't think you would understand the emotional repercussions of such an act. You need to separate the two before hand. Besides it would be bad if you acted like this when I was trying to protect you from the Space Cadets should they prove to be human bullies." She said gently before she went on her way. Her bed would be the last thing she felt.

It would be the alarm that woke her up at 0400 that she slammed down with a groan. Sitting up she let her body stretch letting go the tension of the night before. Her back cracked, soon followed by her shoulders and neck. Today was the day she would be able to pilot a beautiful creature designed just for her by Orlan. To some the thought of someone knowing you so well as to design something of this caliber may be scary. Well at least he didn't know what she preferred to eat. Stripping from her bed clothes she pulled her normal mech wear over her head, the tank clinging to her while the cargo pants were comfortable and normally filled with whatever small weapon she could place.

Dawn hadn't even risen as she made her way to the bay, carefully looking over her mech. She itched to get inside of it, but it was still early. Not even 0500 yet. Though she wasn't the early riser there this morning.

 

[Zalvek]

Orlan didn't sleep that night. The shower did manage to calm him down, but even then the different thoughts were constantly racing through his head, only in a bit more of a calm collected way. He lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling in silent deep thought. The lack of sleep was actually normal. He was never one to sleep more than maybe an hour, if that. He had always managed to need very little sleep in order to function, perhaps it was the lack of actual physical work that made him more able to function under such conditions. He wasn't sure, but that was how it had always been.

Before the alarm even went off, Orlan's hand was already over the bar to silence it. He rose out of his bed and took a quick three-minute showers just to freshen himself up before putting on a similar outfit like yesterday's, and then placed his goggles on as well.

As a mechanic, Orlan always tended to wake up earlier than the others, since he needed to care for and attend to all of the mechs. Even though it was still dark outside with no signs of dawn nearby, he was still busy working. There was always work to do.