"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Chie's response to Christine's answer was a brief nod. Of course, it was too much to expect anyone to recognize the buried mobile suit, even if they were not some kind of run-of-the-mill idiot that Chie felt most people were. There was a lot to a mobile suit that helped you identify it, but with Zakus, well, they shared some characteristics. And if all you saw were those characteristics, it was difficult to recognize what variant of zaku you were looking at. Moreso when it was mostly underground.
Chie would speculate further on what this meant for the mobile suit's condition, but it was about then that Christine asked her what "onee-san" meant. Chie paused. Well, obviously she knew what it meant, but explaining it in English was far more difficult. Chie would normally have blown off anyone who asked her what anything she said meant, possibly with a sarcastic remark thrown in for good measure. She felt Christine deserved more than that.
"... It's... It's like I'm calling you 'big sister'," began Chie, "In a respectful manner. It's not a word reserved for blood relations."
Chie paused for a moment, then made a quick addition.
"It's just because it's respectful and you took me away from that crazy idiot."
There. Chie didn't dislike Christine, but she felt a hasty explanation was necessary to prevent from any misconceptions. Like thinking Chie actually thought of her as a big sister. It wasn't like that even though that was one meaning of it. These things really were hard to explain if you had to do it in English.
edited 6th Mar '13 11:12:25 AM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Pattern Select : RHB
— Christine Hepner —
"I see," Christine said as the two reached the hanger. "Well, about that crazy idiot, what do you plan to do? Are you going inside or will you go back to your dorm?"
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"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
At this question, Chie looked to the hanger door, then back to Christine, then in the direction of her dorm room. For several moments, the small girl was silent. Yes, the student council president was a complete idiot and totally insane. On the other hand, mobile suits and a save-the-school plan. Chie had to admit that she disliked the notion of the school being shut down, and what better way to prevent such a thing then using mobile suits to do it?
Just... not ones like the hunk of scrap metal in the hanger.
"I will attempt to endure the idiot," said Chie, finally, "After all, she isn't that stupid or crazy."
Chie paused for a moment.
"If your standards for such things lower then a mental patient with a single brain cell. However, I feel the mobile suits are a big enough draw to offset the crazy moron."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Pattern Select : RHB
— Christine Hepner —
"Alright then," Christine replied, opening the door.
"Ms. President? We're back."
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Ysanne poked her head out,
“Oh! Awesome! Joshua also found a machine so we have three so far!” Then, from one of the mechanics who was looking through a side door into another of the hangers,
“Hey! Uh...I think we have number four here!” Ysanne whirled,
“What?! I send out the others and we have another Mobile suit here?!” As Christine and Chie would be coming into the hanger, they would notice tables and coolers set around with drinks for the students. Apparently Ysanne was planning some sort of party.
But now the President had her head stuck through side door and was looking at something. She yanked her head back,
“Huh. That's odd. Not a lot of room in there. Can't really see...” Then she got an idea,
“Hey Chie! You're a bit smaller than the rest of us. Could you take a look?”
If Chie ventured inside, managing to crawl under the junk which was blocking the way, she would find herself staring at a massive armored...uh block with a single long tube running down its length.
◊
edited 7th Mar '13 8:37:35 PM by RevenVrake
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"Oh, yes, of course," Chie began, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She folded her arms and raised one eyebrow as she regarded the hole. Like hell would she be going in there. "I'll just crawl into some small dark hole in a run-down hanger with no knowledge of what's inside. I'm sure there's nothing that could possibly be dangerous inside that dimly-lit and totally safe hole. Bakayarou."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"I also found a mini-fridge someone didn't want anymore." Joshua added from his side of the phone conversation. "Still works too. Think we can keep in in the hanger?"
One of the mechanics whispered into Ysanne's ear,
“I don't think she's falling for it.” Ysanne rolled her eyes and muttered,
“And how exactly are you supposed to gift wrap a mobile suit for someone? I don't have all that much wrapping paper.” Well, that kinda shot her plan for presenting this thing to little Chie for her to pilot...
Throwing her arms up she cursed,
“Fine! I was just trying to be mysterious and then show you your own mobile suit but...gah!” Turning around, she picked up the phone and responded to Joshua, much more sedately,
“Sure. We could use that. The way this day is going we could have a party here. Bring the fridge.”
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Chie froze where she stood. The revelation of the truth... well, it almost immediately turned her attitude around, to be entirely truthful.
"Ehhh!?"
Almost immediately, Chie went down on her hands and knees and began to crawl through the hole. Normally she'd have more reservations, but... her own mobile suit?! There was no way she would just leave it like that!
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Chie would find that inside the room was the massive shape of her mobile suit...which quite frankly dwarfed everything else that had been found so far in the colony. A small note, reading “To Chie” was attached on the back of the thing. It was painted a dull brown color, which didn't really help.
Despite initial impressions the hanger was actually usable, and wasn't as much of a mess as the Tieren's was. Everything did have a thick layer of dust on it though.
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Chie stared up at the massive mobile suit. It was... huge... and amazing!
"Waaah..."
Chie's normal attitude of mild derision, her usual taciturn behavior, all was gone as she gazed up at the immense robotic construction, eyes wide with wonder. She was really going to get to pilot it! In spite of her awe of the immense mecha, Chie's mind was already working rapidly. It was quite clearly a YMS-16M Xamel, that was plain to her. It was a heavy artillery mecha, which meant it caused huge explosions and was generally fantastic.
"Kore wa subarashī!" cried Chie. It truly was amazing, she couldn't believe that she was going to be able to pilot this.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"Alrighty. Be back in a few."
With that done, Joshua turned to leave. A few steps down though he stopped and glanced back up at the GINN. Seen in the proper light as a giant fighting robot and not a giant lamppost it did look significantly more cooler than he'd originally given it credit for. Perhaps this would be pretty fun after all.
"See you in the hanger!" he said to the robot and waved his hand in farewell. Soon enough the others would come to collect the big guy. In the meantime Joshua headed back to the school.
Ysanne reached inside and righted the locker which had been blocking the door. Walking inside she said,
“Well, now that you've seen the suit, it might be best to turn in for the night. Read up on the Xamel. We're going to have to jury rig something so you can use it without a co-pilot.” The mechanics would be working on the mobile suits and getting them ready to work so that hopefully in the morning they would be able to run.
Next morning, with each pilot being given time off to work on this, the various pilots would find the mechanics club, not in the hanger where they were thought to be, but rather at one the air locks leading to the outside of the colony. They were all sitting in chairs with clipboards in hand, looking out through one of the windows. More suspiciously, Ysanne was no where to be found.
Pattern Select : RHB
— Christine Hepner —
Finding the hanger empty, Christine walked in the direction of the airlock. It was the only logical place for the other pilots to be at the moment.
Upon reaching the area where the all the mechanics were standing, Christine found a chair and sat down, pulling a tablet e-reader out of her bag. After scrolling around on the device for a bit, she asked a question to one of the nearby mechanics nonchalantly, without her gaze leaving the pad in front of her.
"I'm assuming you're running tests on the mobile suits, and that Ysanne is outside somewhere at the moment, correct?"
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Almost at Christine's own words, the Tieren went cartwheeling past the windows as it tried to right itself. One of the mechanic's dryly said,
“No, we're watching and taking bets on when she crashes into the colony.” He held up a bucket of popcorn.
“Want some?”
Outside, Ysanne was struggling to get the hang of the Tieren's movements. It was both very simple and very complex. She had to wear the bulky helmet mounted screen, so she had to feel around for her controls. As a complete newbie, she was proud of the fact she hadn't crashed yet. Yet being the word. The Tieren came around and she zoomed the camera in on the window where the mechanics were. She managed to make the big suit wave when Christine came into view.
"Five bucks says she hits something in less then five minutes." Joshua quipped after following Christine into the airlock.
Much to his surprise, Joshua found out the school library really did have Mobile Suits for Dummies. After checking it out latter that day, he spent the night skimming the pages on his e-reader trying to absorb the basics of the game. At the very least now he felt confident he could turn the robot on when he had to.
The upside to all of this was that he got out of sixth period to mess around with giant fighting robots. It was like his elementary school dream coming true. Now if only he could get a basketball autographed by the Lakers back down on Earth and get tickets for a Dead All Along concert his life would be complete.
Taking a handful of popcorn as he passed, Joshua headed for the chair next to Christine's. He began popping popcorn into his mouth as he dropped his backpack and took a seat.
"Can she at least move in the direction she wants to yet?"
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Chie placidly walked into the room, and held up her juicebox. She sipped it peacefully, and watched as the Tieren flew about outside. So far, well... seeing the mobile suit move around was impressive. Ysanne's skills with the mecha were not. Chie strongly suspected that the student council president would be crashing into the colony any minute now, to be entirely truthful.
"The student council president is an idiot," she said, plainly, before taking another sip of her juice, "She's going to crash if she keeps floundering like that. Bakayarou."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"That or float all the way to the moon." Joshua said. He held up a handful of popcorn in Ysanne's direction. "May you die as you lived, Boss Lady!"
The Tieren turned around and zoomed out of view for a moment.
Then it flew back into view as it rocketed right towards the window at maximum speed. It's entire bulk was filling the window when suddenly Ysanne swung both legs up and shot 'upwards' and out of sight again.
Ysanne's voice came over the one radio a mechanic had,
“I think I've got the hang of it. Now that everyone is here I'll bring it back inside. Someone hold Christine, she's going to have a heart attack in a moment.”
It took a few minutes for Ysanne to maneuver the bulky brick of a mobile suit into the airlock again, but it went more smoothly than launching had according to the Mechanics.
The Tieren was standing as Ysanne got out in her ugly piloting suit. The cockpit was tiny as all hell and she stretched, working the kinks out of her arms and legs. Pulling the bulky helmet off, her hair poofed out and she shook her head.
“Whoever designed this thing didn't have the comfort of the pilot in mind.” The other suits were standing in front of the hanger. The GINN was colored its usual green, the Xamel was an ugly brown...
The last unit was blue...and it wasn't a Zaku. It was something else....
The student president made her way to the rest of them, rolling her shoulders as she tried to work something out.
Ysanne walked up to Christine,
“Congratulations Christine! You get to pilot that deathtrap since you found it!” Ysanne pointed at the blue unit.
Pattern Select : RHB
— Christine Hepner —
Christine stood there, rather confused. She looked the machine over once, not noticing any obvious signs of damage or something that could cause the mobile suit to be dangerous. Christine could tell it wasn't a standard Zaku I or II that you see in history documentaries or dramas, but beyond that it was just a blue mobile suit with a commander horn in her eyes.
"And what exactly makes this mobile suit a death trap?" she asked, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this particular model. The Zaku I and II have historical significance, so I know those two from various history classes. Does this machine have a notable history?"
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“This?” Asked Ysanne in a very dangerous tone of voice.
“This is the EMS-10 Zudah.” She pronounced the name very carefully.
“It was the competition for the Zaku I, which had a nasty little habit of exploding if you pushed the accelerator too hard. For that reason it was rejected from consideration, until Zeon was so strapped for mobile suits it hauled them out of mothballs and gave them a makeover and put them into use.” She held up a digital pad, playing a series of short videos where the Zudah...well exploded in various poses.
“It is quite fast for a mobile suit I must admit, especially one from this era. It's Jupiter engine is exceptionally powerful. But it doesn't have any limiters...or even room for them to be installed. You pushed the accelerator too hard and BOOM!” One of the mechanics spoke up at this point,
“Uh...actually I don't think this one will blow up.” Ysanne deflated like a balloon,
“What do you mean it won't blow up?” The mechanic said dryly,
“They wouldn't allow a mobile suit that would kill its own pilot into the competition, so likely if it does fail the engine would just die and Christine will be left floating in space as a big fat target for anyone to shoot to bits.”
Pattern Select : RHB
— Christine Hepner —
Christine's eyebrow did a motion that was half quizzically raise, half twitch.
"I see. Well I suppose it's better that someone with a bit of discipline be in control of it then," Christine replied, doing not quite hiding her displeasure in being assigned a rejected prototype. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and Christine did like the color.
"So, what did you plan to have us do today? Are all the machines in working order?"
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"We gonna do cartwheels in space too?" Joshua joked. "And what happened to the floodlight that one was holding for God knows how long?" he added, pointing at the GINN he had found the previous day.
The mechanic actually nodded in Ysanne's direction and whispered to Christine and Joshua,
“She's been at it since about five AM. Called us all in cause she didn't want to wait for the regular school day. So she has a bit more practice than the rest of you...” All the mobile suits (minus the Tieren, which was still in front of the airlock) were standing in front of the hanger, all not nearly as grungy as before.
Ysanne shrugged to Joshua,
“Oh, we put it back in place. Somewhat...” Moving on, she gestured to the stairways which were rolled up to each mobile suit's cockpit hatch.
“Why don't we see if you can avoid pancaking in the first movement?”
— Christine Hepner —
"I see," Christine said flatly before hanging up. Somehow Christine doubted the taciturn, antithesis of energy that was Chie Hasegawa would make a good mascot. There was also the fact that the young girl didn't exactly seem interested in doing so. But who knows, maybe deadpan sarcasm from a 10 year old was someone's idea of cute or funny.
"I don't know exactly what kind it is either, it's not really my specialty. Most of what I know comes from history books, not from technical manuals or material of that nature. I'll probably have to read up on this stuff," Christine answered Chie, stretching her arms during the last sentence, which was more Christine musing than a continued answer to Chie's question.
A bit later on the way back, Christine popped a question.
"By the way, what exactly does 'Oneigh-san' mean? It didn't seem rude or anything, so it wasn't of paramount importance while we had a task to complete."
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