trans_9 | Back in Business [Open]

Asuka wasn't sure how long she'd been running that maze. It had seemed like forever to her. Just endless circles, following the commands of an AI, trying to get out. She could handle the puzzles and traps. She'd hated the isolation. Finally, she'd been spat back out into the welcome (the fact that she'd been relieved to see them disturbed her) corridors of Stacy again. She ran a hand through her hair with an irritated huff. How long had that taken, anyway? She needed to check up on her training and she needed to get back in the saddle. Quickly.

She headed off on the run - the sensoriums were calling her name. Grounded or not, she intended to take a virtual X-Wing out for a spin. It was the work of a few moments to call it up. She spent a few minutes circling the virtual craft, the virtual hangar deck stretching out white and empty around her. Yeah, she'd get in trouble if she got caught, but she wasn't going to get caught (although part of her was afraid of that and part of her wanted to go and see Arha). She shoved those feelings away. She wanted to have some fun first.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Distracted from her homesickness by the need to keep tabs on Asuka, Deunan followed sedately behind her, taking the beginner obstacles like they weren't there, not to show Asuka up, but because she didn't realize it might be construed as such. She perched her landmate atop one of the higher walls in the beginner section to watch.

"You're doing well for a first time out," Deunan offered.

Asuka huffed inside of her landmate as she finally got back on her feet. She tried not to let Deunan annoy her. Antilles was better than she was, but that was because he had more experience. It was the same way here. She could ignore it for a little while.

"Easy for you to say," she muttered as she began to go up the wall, hand over hand. She was in decent physical shape from training with... with... someone. She frowned. Weird. It was like there was a blank where a person ought to be.

She wondered in passing how annoyed Asuka would be when Deunan finally told her about the Guges D's flight capability. ...Still, you had to be able to use the suit under all conditions. No shortcuts.

"I already went through all this. Everybody did, even Bri." The idea of an appeal to destructive impulses occurred to Deunan. "Once you clear this section, we can go down to the range, if you want."

"I'm not everybody..." Asuka grumbled as she swung over the top of the wall and experimentally let herself drop. She stuck the landing, although there was a bit of a stumble as she tried to keep her balance. She eyed her readout expectantly.

"Weapons? What of load out does this thing carry?

"The Ericon bullpup assault rifle is standard," Deunan replied, omitting for the moment the spine-mounted vulcan cannon--it was designed to be used in flight, and she had the feeling Asuka wasn't quite ready for that. "You can pick your ammo by situation."

She considered the weapon, and then her landmate was holding the enormous ESWAT-issue rifle. The thing was at least two meters long, and without the suit, it was unlikely either of them could have even lifted it.

Asuka stumbled for a moment as the rifle suddenly appeared in her hand. She regained her balance quickly and examined it through her suit's display. It reminded her of the rifle her Eva used, only much, much smaller of course. She hefted it experimentally. "I used something like this with Unit 02."

Only it was the size of a small building. She glanced over Deunan's landmate, confidence in her tone. "What's my target?"

"Nothing on this course," Deunan said in alarm. She had no idea what the ricochet would do. Concentrating on the landmate rifle range (and its thick backstop), she shifted the scene, and hoped Asuka had decent range discipline.

Asuka eyed the range as the environment shifted around them. She'd gone through basic firearms training aboard the ship already, so she knew what not to do, at least. She kept the rifle barrel pointed safely down-range and resisted the temptation to just start blasting.

"Let's see how this thing's targeting systems match up!"

Back in Business [Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Dear Databook: Thank you for existing.

Huzzah!

no subject

no subject