#NERVSiberia
Episode 07

07:35:04 PM Night10194 WHEN LAST OUR INTREPID PARTY MET! OH JESUS GIANT BUG! And then there was pie!

07:36:48 PM Night10194 You were all allowed to return to quarters, with a debriefing to be held tomorrow, at 1000 hours, conducted by Major Gorky. The General is on the phone to Moscow at the moment, trying to get you new equipment as fast as possible if these things are going to keep showing up in such quick succession.

07:38:20 PM Night10194 Time to get the LCL showered off, and see if the pie's still edible, or has been stolen by Sachiel, that hobo.

07:41:04 PM Night10194 So, what do you do, Pilots? OD?

07:41:14 PM ElsaFaustus Right, right. I go hastily shower and change, wanting to be in that plugsuit as little as possible. Then investigate pie.

07:41:54 PM NathanielDurond Pie. Also make an appointment with people in tech.

07:42:15 PM Night10194 The battle wasn't especially long...the pie is actually still warm.

07:42:26 PM Dostov Hot shower, then look into this pie business.

07:42:26 PM NathanielDurond Oh, and see if the new presents for the pilots are coming in soon.

07:42:27 PM TanyaIvanova Tanya gets a shower and then goes to slouch around the common area, near the pie.

07:43:19 PM Night10194 Delicious pie, Tanya, you must eat.

07:44:16 PM TanyaIvanova She's waiting for the other pilots, seeing as it's just her and Schnitzel right now.

07:45:18 PM Griet Shower and pie!

07:47:52 PM ElsaFaustus I carve the pie into slices, seizing the initiative. Blitz and conquer.

07:49:40 PM Night10194 Delicious pie.

07:50:05 PM Dostov chews his first few bites, slowly, thoughtfully.

07:50:30 PM Griet watches everyone else eating with a slightly terrified look.

07:50:35 PM Night10194 As you all enjoy your pie, which came out quite well unless anyone's somehow allergic to apple, there's a knock on your quarters' door.

07:51:19 PM Dostov "Excellent. The flavors all compliment one another perfectly and the crust is just right."

07:51:49 PM Dostov The rest of his slice...disappears quickly.

07:52:40 PM NathanielDurond wipes a bit of pie off of the corner of his mouth before standing to open the door

07:54:35 PM TanyaIvanova finishes quickly and sits up straight, preparing to stand at attention if need be.

07:55:17 PM Griet puts her fork down and perks up.

07:55:21 PM Night10194 It's a giant of a man, about 6'2" and broadly built, giving the impression of a large, bearded bear, with slightly darker, tanned skin and the same hazel eyes as his son, save his hair is a darker brown; the honey-blondeness must be from their mother. He's still dressed in his tanker's duty suit and helmet w/earpiece and little comm-bead, having come from the hangers. He's got a Captain's insignia.

07:55:54 PM Night10194 Ivan: "There you are, my boy! I see the Vragi decided to interrupt before we could have our chat. Well done, teaching them a lesson in manners for it."

07:56:43 PM Dostov scrambles to his feet quickly and stands straight as he can, saluting.

07:57:28 PM Night10194 He returns and dismisses it before Tanya can even snap to attention.

07:58:26 PM Dostov "My team deserves most of the praise. It never stood a chance against them."

07:59:40 PM Night10194 Ivan: "I was going to come down and give you a bit of advice for your next fight, but it seems it wasn't needed." He chuckles. "Good news. Recovery teams picked up 20 of the 30 crewmen and women from Squadron 5, still alive."

08:00:58 PM NathanielDurond gives a small sigh of relief

08:01:38 PM ElsaFaustus I keep quiet, neither wanting to interrupt a family moment or annoy a giant officer.

08:02:25 PM Night10194 Ivan: "So...I obviously know your pointman quite well, but would you care to introduce me to your friends, Dostov?"

08:04:27 PM Dostov "Oh, of course!" He grins, and procedes to introduce him to the Major, Miko, Tanya, Elsa and Griet. "This is my father, Captain Ivan Pokryshkin."

08:05:10 PM ElsaFaustus "Good day, captain."

08:05:48 PM Night10194 Ivan nods, the giant bear of a man staring down at the tiny, tiny Miko, as well. "By the way, little one, the tank commanders wanted me to tell you they appreciated the cover-barrier, whatever it was. Even though the thing didn't explode, putting it up was a wise move and could've saved a lot of lives."

08:05:53 PM TanyaIvanova Tanya salutes. "Hello, Major."

08:06:26 PM NathanielDurond "Good to meet in you person captain." I offer a hand.

08:06:29 PM MikoNakamura "Eep."

08:06:39 PM Night10194 He shakes it. As you might guess, his grip is vice-like.

08:07:01 PM Dostov Miko gets a huggle.

08:07:11 PM MikoNakamura "Eeep!"

08:08:47 PM Night10194 Ivan: "Hopefully they give us a little bit more of a break this time, da?"

08:09:15 PM ElsaFaustus "One can only hope."

08:10:04 PM NathanielDurond "While we're hoping, maybe they'll pick on a different NERV branch."

08:10:31 PM Night10194 Ivan: "What, like one built in the middle of a city? Better they keep attacking us out here, in the middle of nowhere."

08:11:07 PM ElsaFaustus "Ja. Don't mind that at all."

08:12:10 PM NathanielDurond "A city built like a transforming fortress, but that's the Japanese for you."

08:12:42 PM TanyaIvanova "I won't complain if they come back here rather than a city. A break would be welcome, yes, but personally I enjoy the rush of combat."

08:13:07 PM Night10194 Ivan: "Better to build a fortress away from the city, da?"

08:13:55 PM Night10194 Ivan: "Anyway, congratulations, pilots. Two up, and two down."

08:15:30 PM Night10194 Nate, your PDA beeps, saying you have text.

08:16:22 PM Griet "Thank you, Sir. Would you like some pie?"

08:16:33 PM NathanielDurond I'll check it off to the side.

08:17:05 PM Night10194 Ivan: "I couldn't imp..ose..." He stares at the pie for a moment. Longingly. As is the proper reaction to pie. "Well...as you offered..."

08:18:18 PM Griet "Please."

08:18:20 PM Dostov nods, knowing that would happen. Still, his eyes are bright, almost sparkling. If there was anyone Dostov looked up to it was this man.

08:19:58 PM Night10194 He sits with you guys, taking a piece, though he's careful to limit it to a fairly small one. "Well done, making sure you kept your field up and acted in synergy, Dostov. Bravery is good, protecting your allies and drawing fire are your duty, but attacking in a disorganized fashion will only get you all hurt."

08:24:33 PM Dostov nods as his father speaks, listening closely, intently.

08:26:59 PM Night10194 Ivan: "Did you make this?" To Dostov. About the PIE.

08:27:37 PM Dostov "Griet did."

08:28:31 PM Night10194 Ivan: "So we've another young cook on base, hmm?"

08:28:58 PM Griet flushes. "No....but Dostov likes to cook for us, it seemed like a good idea for something to do for the other pilots."

08:30:09 PM Griet tilts her head to the left, remembering the flour EXPLOSION. "Of course, he usually manages to do it without destroying the kitchen in the process."

08:30:25 PM ElsaFaustus "We can rebuild it. We have the technology."

08:30:48 PM Night10194 He chuckles.

08:32:40 PM Night10194 Ivan: "Well, thank you for sharing your pie." He smiles. "I've got to go check in with Natasha before she panics. I...have yet to go let her know I'm alright after the battle and she's probably worried."

08:34:13 PM Griet "Happy to share, sir."

08:34:37 PM Dostov "I'm glad you stopped by."

08:35:01 PM Night10194 He gives his son a quick bear-hug, smiling and saluting the team before thundering off to make sure his daughter is well.

08:35:03 PM Griet stands up and begins clearing the plates.

08:36:56 PM ElsaFaustus grabs a broom, twirling it around a moment, then gets to work, whistling.

08:37:30 PM NathanielDurond "I see the resemblance.

08:38:00 PM Dostov "Yeah?"

08:43:05 PM Night10194 So, do we want to play out the debriefing, or skip it and get to TM?

08:44:17 PM Night10194 Oh, and the TRIDENT is coming into play soon...

08:46:09 PM Night10194 We'll skip the Debrief. To summarize: Excellent Work, Pilots. Target was destroyed with a minimum of collateral damage and relatively light damage to the EVAs. Moscow is throwing money at the program now, and the UN has agreed to increase funds and commitment on Nathanial's suggestion.

08:46:46 PM Night10194 To wit, you are being issued recently engineered and built EVA scale laser weaponry, primitive railguns are now available, and heavier armor is being fitted onto several EVAs.

08:48:28 PM Night10194 As soon as Cernobog's leg is fixed, you'll begin shakedown runs with them.

08:50:04 PM ElsaFaustus I get one, too..?

08:50:51 PM Night10194 Yes. You're being issued a Long-Laser Rifle, designed for effective sniping at 2.5 kilometers, with a maximum range of 10km.

08:51:17 PM Night10194 Griet is being issued an enhanced Long-Laser, with 50% more effective range and higher damage output. Because she's better than you. :P

08:51:31 PM Night10194 Miko's Pallet Gun is being swapped for a Lasgun.

08:52:20 PM Night10194 The lasers are an attempt to solve the range, recoil, and ammo problems faced by the EVA units so far.

08:52:48 PM Night10194 So...two weeks of TIme Management, Pilots! What are you all working on?

08:53:01 PM Griet Hooray

08:53:04 PM Dostov Physical Training. Toughness.

08:53:24 PM NathanielDurond Intelligence

08:53:56 PM ElsaFaustus I'll continue pistol training.

08:54:10 PM ElsaFaustus Don't suppose I can change it to laspistol?

08:54:25 PM MikoNakamura I'll try to learn how to use the Lasrifle.

08:55:02 PM Night10194 You may.

08:56:12 PM Night10194 Overall time...Nathaniel: 4 successes, thanks to Academic. Intelligence Improves!

08:56:16 PM NathanielDurond woo!

08:57:08 PM Night10194 Miko does super-well on rolling...4 successes for 2 weeks, gaining Basic (Las)!

08:57:09 PM Griet oh why not...lets go with more agility.

08:57:27 PM Night10194 Griet gets 2 successes for the 2 weeks on Agility. 3 more successes to raise it.

08:57:38 PM TanyaIvanova Can you focus on your SR? If yes, then Tanya's doing that. If no, then she'll focus on physical training, strength.

08:58:04 PM Night10194 3 successes on BS for Elsa, enough to convert her training to Laspistol and learn Pistols (Las).

08:58:24 PM Night10194 3 successes for Tanya on Str, which should increase her Str.

08:58:40 PM Night10194 2 Toughness Successes for Dostov.

08:59:00 PM Night10194 Two whole weeks without anything trying to kill you. It must be a wonderful feeling, Griet.

08:59:17 PM Griet Still with the nightmares though, sorry if it keeps Tanya up.

09:01:01 PM Night10194 We reconvene on Sunday, February 1st.

09:02:10 PM Night10194 There's been a hell of a lot of activity in the EVA hangers and R&D sectors in the last two weeks. So much that they barely let you in for synch testing.

09:04:49 PM Night10194 They've been expanding the hangers to have room for a 6th unit of some kind, which they claim is to be a 'surprise'.

09:05:12 PM Griet We do not like surprises....

09:05:22 PM Night10194 Today is Synch Test Day, and you also note that Major Duround has been conspiciously absent all day.

09:06:48 PM Night10194 They also have another surprise for you...

09:06:57 PM Night10194 When you go to check for your Plugsuits, they've been replaced.

09:07:08 PM ElsaFaustus With spray on latex?

09:07:52 PM Night10194 Nope. With heavy duty, armored suits, plated like actual combat armor, with heavy, protective helmets with integrated A10 Synchronization boosters. Acquired Plugsuit MKIIS!

09:08:17 PM Night10194 They're AV4 all areas.

09:08:28 PM Night10194 Defending your organs, your brainmeats, and your dignity.

09:08:58 PM ElsaFaustus "Danke... Danke Gott... I am so happy right now! New gun... new plugsuit... I think this is the second best day ever."

09:09:27 PM TanyaIvanova "What was the best day ever...?"

09:09:36 PM MikoNakamura is relieved, as she was always nervous about such a tight outfit on her...narrow frame.

09:10:08 PM ElsaFaustus I don the new plugsuit and head to the hangar. "When I was recruited by NERV, of course."

09:12:15 PM Night10194 Everyone head down for testing?

09:12:18 PM Griet pulls her suit on and follows, maybe this one will turn out to have pockets.

09:12:35 PM TanyaIvanova da.

09:12:42 PM Night10194 It does have pockets, Griet.

09:12:59 PM Night10194 It's repurposed military combat armor combined with a plugsuit, after all.

09:13:33 PM Griet More space for stashing food

09:13:39 PM Griet although that might end badly with the Tang.

09:13:44 PM ElsaFaustus Food soaked in Tang.

09:14:47 PM Night10194 Gorky is running your test...that is partly because of the enormous, giant robot in the 6th launch slot...

09:15:13 PM MikoNakamura Whaaaaa!?

09:16:55 PM Night10194 It's an enormous, ugly thing, painted blue and white and mottled with arctic camo, though trying to camoflouge something that size is pretty...optimistic.

09:17:09 PM ElsaFaustus Maybe it can pretend to be a mountain.

09:17:33 PM Griet Or a really big snowball

09:17:34 PM Night10194 It's got a huge Battle Rifle scale cannon under its chin, as well as two massive shoulder-pad like blocks, designed to provide enormous batteries for your EVAs to recharge from in the field.

09:18:16 PM Night10194 Also an advanced sensor system to allow it to monitor the battle and coordinate the defenses.

09:19:40 PM Night10194 Gorky: "The TRIDENT command vehicle is designed to provide your EVAs with mobile recharging, to allow you greater mobility in the field, as well as help coordinate your defenses and command the battle. It is not, despite its size, designed for combat. Major Duround is inside, now."

09:20:08 PM ElsaFaustus "Does it need to plug in, frau Major?"

09:20:41 PM Night10194 She shakes her head. "It has an onboard fusion reactor. The latest in power generation, intended for a new series of aircraft carrier."

09:21:09 PM Night10194 Gorky: "It will be doing field testing alongside your EVAs, today, once you have Synchronized."

09:23:05 PM ElsaFaustus "Understood, major."

09:23:49 PM Griet looks at the TRIDENT and thinks that this is a nice additional barrier to hide behind.

09:23:58 PM Night10194 Gorky: "And, of course, the TRIDENT has no organic components. And no AT field."

09:25:15 PM Night10194 Gorky: "As a result, it is considerably more fragile than your EVAs, and should be kept back from heavy combat."

09:29:33 PM Night10194 Meanwhile, in the TRIDENT...

09:30:07 PM Night10194 Nathaniel, you're being introduced to your crew. Through a lot of hard work and advanced expert systems, this entire giant robot only has a crew of four. Commander/Pilot, Gunner, Communications Officer, and Sensor Officer.

09:31:55 PM Night10194 Your crew are a young, tiny Chinese sensor officer, Ai 'Alexandra' Ming, dressed in a NERV Jumpsuit rather than Russian military gear, as she is actually an import from another NERV branch. Small, dark haired, and somewhat nervous in the cramped quarters of the TRIDENT Command Module. "All sensors seem to be on-line and working, sir."

09:33:21 PM Night10194 Your gunner, Sgt. Sasha Fyedorovna Gurlokov, is checking the turret rotation and targeting system. An older, hard-bitten Russian naval gunner, she's also wearing NERV Khakis, but doesn't look as happy about it. "Weapons are ready and should work fine, sir."

09:35:01 PM Night10194 Finally, you have you comms officer, a Russian-American woman, blonde-haired and grey-eyed, Katherine Federov, checking out the communications equipment and signal strength. She's somewhere between the other two, being in her early thirties, an accomplished linguist and technologist. "Comms are on-line. You should be able to talk to the EVAs as soon as they synch, sir."

09:35:48 PM Night10194 Meanwhile, back at the EVAS!

09:38:42 PM Night10194 Griet: SR Stable (Goes back to its base number), Dostov: SR Rises a full 19 points, Miko: SR Rises 12! Elsa: SR Rises 14. Tanya: SR Stable.

09:41:24 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Reading a 100% SR on Kami..."

09:43:07 PM MikoNakamura looks nervously around her cockpit and mutters to herself in Japanese.

09:44:13 PM Night10194 Gorky: "SRs are holding stable...excellent, pilots. You all look quite combat-ready."

09:44:45 PM ElsaFaustus "Always ready, ma'am."

09:45:19 PM Night10194 The new guns are much lighter and easier to carry than the old Battle Rifles, despite the Long Lasers being large enough to pole-vault with.

09:45:33 PM Dostov A face pops up in your plug, Miko. Dostov is giving you a thumbs-up and a smile.

09:46:24 PM MikoNakamura blinks a few times, says a quick prayer in Japanese, but eventually returns your smile.

09:46:30 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Are you all prepared to launch and commence field excercises, pilots? Major?"

09:46:38 PM MikoNakamura *thumbs up*

09:46:47 PM TanyaIvanova "Da, I'm ready."

09:46:51 PM Dostov "Ready."

09:47:02 PM MikoNakamura "Hai...yes, ma'am."

09:47:12 PM ElsaFaustus "Jawohl. Ready to deploy."

09:47:19 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Major, you may make the call when ready. Need to see if the EVA uplinks work, as it is."

09:48:11 PM NathanielDurond "Aye sir... Pilots, launch!"

09:49:07 PM Night10194 Your EVAs are...slowly launched via elevator. While the base can mass-deploy all six of you, and that's Awesome, it cannot shoot you up via awesome catapult like in the show.

09:49:19 PM ElsaFaustus Awwww...

09:49:32 PM Night10194 You can later get those installed as ambush points, though.

09:51:02 PM Night10194 Nathaniel, the control system is surprisingly simple. No mind-machine interface or anything, just simple joystick and throttle, as well as a truly enormous number of switches and dials that took all your brains to figure out.


09:51:45 PM Night10194 Also, the camera feed system is similar to the EVAs. You can see in 270 degrees around you, the only direction you can't easily see is right under yourself.

09:52:03 PM Night10194 The EVAs look a lot less enormous when you're standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with them...

09:52:37 PM Night10194 Kat: "Should I open a channel to the EVAs, sir?"

09:53:26 PM NathanielDurond "Please do so."

09:53:48 PM Night10194 Visual comms opened to all EVA Channels, letting you see and monitor all the pilots.

09:55:26 PM Night10194 It's freezing today, and there's some heavy percipitation. As in, you've launched into a blizzard.

09:55:46 PM Dostov "Now this is good weather."

09:57:14 PM Griet "Come out to the Savannah, or what's left of it, Dostov. I'll show you good weather."

09:58:11 PM Dostov "When this is all over, I'll take you up on that."

09:58:20 PM ElsaFaustus I quietly await orders.

09:58:20 PM Night10194 Kat: "Channel is open, sir."

09:58:49 PM Night10194 Ai: "Sensors are not suffering any real interference due to weather. Everything seems to be working...this time..."

09:59:25 PM Night10194 In the EVAs, you can barely see. Gorky: "Also, we designed the TRIDENT to be shielded against any mishaps with the AT field. It is completely safe to Spread in close proximity to it."

09:59:45 PM NathanielDurond "Pilots, as I'm sure you've gathered, I will be operating in the field with you from now on. With me are Warrant officer Federov, Specialist Ming, and Sg.t Gurlokov. We will be training in coordinated manuvers and ah... poor weather conditions. As you may have noticed, your visibility is rather poor."

10:02:19 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Call for training targets when ready, Major."

10:03:08 PM NathanielDurond "We however, have access to advanced technology, with which I will use to assist in your manuvers and target practice. Any questions before we begin?"

10:03:59 PM ElsaFaustus "No, sir."

10:04:05 PM MikoNakamura "Are we using our AT fields, sir?"

10:06:26 PM NathanielDurond "Better safe than sorry"

10:07:00 PM ElsaFaustus I quickly spread my field.

10:07:22 PM Dostov spreads his field.

10:07:23 PM MikoNakamura Quick spread.

10:08:00 PM Night10194 Anyone with Quick Spread, your field actually comes up so fast, it melts the snow in a 50m radius around your EVA.

10:08:12 PM TanyaIvanova spreads her field as well.

10:08:32 PM Griet But the snow was another way to hide!

10:09:01 PM Night10194 Gorky: "The Pilots seem to be getting much more comfortable with their Fields."

10:09:32 PM MikoNakamura "Fellow pilots, I think I we can we can synchronize our spirits..I mean fields, for greater strength and focus."

10:09:48 PM NathanielDurond "They are, aren't they? We're ready for target... hold on, what did she just say?"

10:10:03 PM MikoNakamura "Um..if you'd like to try?"

10:10:31 PM MikoNakamura looks nervously at her her controls and whispers in Japanese again.

10:11:05 PM Dostov "How's that work?" He starts toward Miko and Kami.

10:11:16 PM ElsaFaustus "I see what she's getting at, I think. With your permission, sir?"

10:13:16 PM NathanielDurond "Yes, please do so."

10:14:54 PM ElsaFaustus I make my AT Field more conducive to mingling, joining Miko's.

10:15:12 PM Night10194 All join souls in the power of friendship choir?

10:17:48 PM Night10194 There's a strange note that rings through the air, like someone striking a tuning fork, as your Fields slowly join together into a mass of multicolored hexagons surrounding Miko and the rest of you, an odd feeling of...closeness and warmth spreading through the LCL as you feel the calming influence of her EVA.

10:18:12 PM Griet "Oh God...things are getting weird again."

10:18:19 PM Griet "well...weirder."

10:18:20 PM Night10194 ?: "Harmony is strength." You hear that echo in your mind for a mere instant.

10:19:05 PM Night10194 Gorky: "What on earth...?" Ai: "Sir, our instruments are going a bit odd...that field is simply too strong for radar to operate in its vacinity."

10:19:36 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Sending out a training target...let the crew get clear before you do anything to it.

10:20:23 PM NathanielDurond "Major Gorky, our radar is inoperative in the vicinity of... whatever it is that they are doing. Is that true for the Base's sensors as well?"

10:20:54 PM Night10194 Gorky: "We have nothing but visual within 30dm of the epicenter."

10:22:03 PM ElsaFaustus "I see what she's getting at... Prepare yourself for a show, herr major."

10:22:20 PM Night10194 A training target is brought up, moved within 40dm of the event, and the crew quickly evacuated.

10:23:18 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Target in place."

10:23:22 PM Griet "Wow.....Miko, this is cool."

10:24:15 PM TanyaIvanova "…not the word I'd use for it."

10:25:02 PM Dostov "Kinda calming...but I feel naked too."

10:25:32 PM NathanielDurond "Pilots, target is 60dm due north. Show us what you can do."

10:26:05 PM MikoNakamura Kami touches its thumbs and forefingers together, locking the others.

10:26:24 PM MikoNakamura (In Japanese)"FIRE!"

10:27:18 PM Night10194 The beam's power is incredible, beyond anything any conventional direct fire weapon has, or ever will, produce. The hexagons form together in front of the EVA, compacting into an impossibly small space as the air catches alight around them, blazing forward in a massive beam wreathed in flame and the popping of vaporizing water and snow.

10:28:01 PM Night10194 There's nothing left of the target. Nothing at all. It was literally reduced to component molecules, and there's now a long, glassy trough in the ground, extending a full kilometer north of your position.

10:28:32 PM Night10194 A few moments later, the massive field has regenerated itself, without diminishing in strength.

10:28:39 PM Night10194 Gorky: "..."

10:28:41 PM Dostov ". . ." A low whistle, impressed.

10:29:06 PM ElsaFaustus I grin, chuckling. "Ist gut, ja? So much power when we work together."

10:29:11 PM NathanielDurond "Holy God."

10:29:26 PM MikoNakamura "...indeed."

10:29:32 PM Griet "....okay, can you do that next time one of those crazy monster things shows up. Please?"

10:29:40 PM Griet "Dostov will cook you whatever you want."

10:30:02 PM TanyaIvanova "Bobo, should you be promising Dostov's cooking without being Dostov...?"

10:30:25 PM ElsaFaustus "Mmmm... Wonder what I could do with that kind of power?"

10:30:34 PM Dostov "Take over the world."

10:30:37 PM Griet "....in this case, i think he'll make an exception. Or i'll threaten to trash his kitchen again."

10:30:55 PM ElsaFaustus "You know what they say. Third time's a charm."

10:31:33 PM Night10194 Sasha (Gunner, TRIDENT): "Bah. As though you could without your battery, girl."

10:31:54 PM Griet stares at the glassy remains and lets out a nervous/terrified giggle.

10:32:29 PM ElsaFaustus "Miko, why don't you try one of those barrier fields as well?"

10:33:22 PM MikoNakamura "Of course, Elsa-chan." Barrier Field, full power.

10:34:19 PM Night10194 It extends a full 320dm in diameter, large enough to defend an entire quadrant of the base, though none of you can possibly shoot through something that powerful. The glorious, shining field of multicolored energy is almost blinding, and would be sufficient to likely stop an N2 mine.

10:34:59 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Good God... I hope the Vragi cannot do this."

10:35:06 PM NathanielDurond "Ming, any visible strain on the pilots?:

10:35:29 PM Night10194 Ming: "No, sir. This doesn't seem to be any harder than normal Field operation."

10:35:39 PM Night10194 Ming: "It feels like...like a choir, sir."

10:36:28 PM ElsaFaustus I grin and rap on it with my knuckles. "Very good. Nice thinking, fraulein Miko. I will have to do this myself some time."

10:37:47 PM Night10194 The field even blocks out the sun.

10:37:49 PM Dostov "Got a real natural talent for this stuff Miko."

10:38:36 PM MikoNakamura smiles and blushes. "The spirits are with me."

10:39:05 PM Dostov pokes the barrier with the tip of his spear. "Huh."

10:39:46 PM ElsaFaustus I chuckle. "Is that so, Miko? Well, keep what you learn from my spirit to yourself. It's only polite."

10:40:00 PM Night10194 You almost don't get the tip of your spear *back*.

10:40:25 PM Dostov "Yikes."

10:40:30 PM Dostov He decides to stop.

10:41:53 PM Night10194 Gorky: "You can maintain this indefinitely, pilot...?"

10:42:41 PM MikoNakamura "It is no more stressful than maintaining the regular field, ma'am."

10:42:59 PM ElsaFaustus I nod in agreement.

10:43:37 PM ElsaFaustus "Just so long as none of us try to break our fields away from Miko's."

10:44:45 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Major Duround, we've got additional weapons to test...to say nothing of what this might be doing to the base's electronics..."

10:46:22 PM NathanielDurond tears his eyes away from the displays long enough to give some orders. "Excellent work pilots. Lets move onto the weapons tests. Please resume your individual fields for now."

10:47:19 PM MikoNakamura Disengage the synchronization.

10:48:30 PM Night10194 There's a momentary feeling of incredible, cold *lonliness*, as though all light and warmth have been taken from you, before reality reasserts itself and your fields normalize with an odd shattering effect, becoming the normal bubble around each EVA.

10:50:38 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Training targets for the new laser weapons and the TRIDENT are on standby. Call for them when ready. Recommend extreme range for the lasers."

10:52:38 PM NathanielDurond Ready

10:53:49 PM Night10194 Alright. Who's up first? Short range battle rifle test, lasgun, or Longlases?

10:54:16 PM NathanielDurond Lets start close to far.

10:54:52 PM Night10194 A target is dragged out, easily visible in the blizzard to the advanced sensors on the TRIDENT. Sasha: "Five rounds rapid, sir?" :p

10:56:35 PM NathanielDurond "Aye. Show the kids what a good shot looks like."

10:57:49 PM Night10194 All five shots are shack on the target, in a display of significant luck. :p

10:58:09 PM Night10194 Sasha: "Scratch one completely immobile, easy core, I suppose."

10:59:05 PM Night10194 Sasha: "Gun's working fine, sir."

10:59:58 PM NathanielDurond "Next group please"

11:00:59 PM Night10194 A lasgun target is trotted out at Extreme range, 320dm, while a Longlas X1 (Elsa's gun) and Longlas P2 (Griets) are brought out at their extreme ranges, namely 10km and 15km.

11:01:21 PM Night10194 Gorky: "We want to test if the gun loses coherency too much to be efficient at all, at extreme ranges. Can you try to hit that with aid from the TRIDENT?"

11:01:32 PM Night10194 Ai: "Sir, ready to send a clean sensor picture to the EVAs."

11:03:07 PM NathanielDurond "Aye. Pilots, targeting data is coming up. Take your shots."

11:03:30 PM Night10194 Full Aim, then fire?

11:03:52 PM MikoNakamura Sure.

11:04:57 PM Night10194 Miko hits her target on her third try. It's hard to get the beam on the target at such a long range, but it's still coherent and a *lot* more powerful than that piece of shit Pallet Gun.

11:05:21 PM Night10194 Griet nails hers on the first shot, and her gun burns a big, clean hole through it. At 15km.

11:05:47 PM Night10194 Same for Elsa. These new guns are accurate, more powerful than the conventional weapons you were wielding, highly reliable, and easy to aim.

11:06:16 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Lt Pavlichenko, Lt. Pokryshkin. Getting bored yet?" She grins a bit.

11:06:29 PM ElsaFaustus "Wunderbahr..."

11:06:33 PM TanyaIvanova "Somewhat, yes."

11:06:46 PM Griet wonders if this means she can stay behind and just shoot from where she's at from now on, instead of having to get closer to the fights.

11:07:23 PM Dostov might well be napping in his plug.

11:08:42 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Apologies, but you close-rangers don't get any shiny toys this time."

11:09:01 PM Dostov "I could throw my spear, but..."

11:10:31 PM NathanielDurond "Well, last task for the day is a run around the base perimeter and then returning to base. Unless any of you have discovered other new abilities?"

11:11:20 PM TanyaIvanova "All I've discovered is that Cernobog wasn't fond of Miho's group-synching business."

11:11:47 PM Night10194 Gorky: "Pilot, your EVA isn't sentient, we've been over this."

11:12:03 PM ElsaFaustus I take off on a jog.

11:12:10 PM Night10194 Waddlewaddlewaddle.

11:12:28 PM Griet Griet goes for a nice quick jog. Possibly running circles around Elsa.

11:12:38 PM Dostov does a circle around Elsa, then takes off, chuckling.

11:12:38 PM ElsaFaustus Okay, maybe jog is too strong a word...

11:12:52 PM Griet anyone up for a race?

11:12:55 PM TanyaIvanova Yes!

11:12:58 PM ElsaFaustus No.

11:13:21 PM Night10194 Even with your Pistons, Griet can easily outrun...basically any of you.

11:14:18 PM Griet But they don't know that

11:14:28 PM MikoNakamura lags behind a bit, stomping slowly through the snow. The giant robot seems...contimplative.

11:14:28 PM TanyaIvanova Tanya is getting in a race anyway.

11:15:16 PM ElsaFaustus "Something wrong, Miko? You're going as fast as me. That's unusual."

11:15:23 PM Griet Speed boost for running away from Tanya?

11:15:36 PM Night10194 Griet's speed is...astounding. She's around the entire base perimeter in moments. And yes, she's sufficiently horrifying.

11:16:00 PM Night10194 Unit 40 seems *terrified* of being chased about by Cernobog, and sprints like a bunny.

11:16:18 PM TanyaIvanova Tanya cackles.

11:16:38 PM ElsaFaustus I stare in amazement as Griet zooms by every few seconds.

11:16:48 PM Night10194 Well, every minute or so. Big base.

11:17:03 PM MikoNakamura "The Major said the EVAs aren't sentient, that they have no spirits..."

11:17:20 PM MikoNakamura "But I can *hear* it."

11:17:31 PM Griet ".....Lions. They make for great training when running. Sort of."

11:17:48 PM MikoNakamura "*Kami* told me how to do that."

11:17:54 PM Dostov "Lions? You're joking."

11:18:03 PM TanyaIvanova And Tanya stops racing to slow at Miko's pace. "…you do too?"

11:18:32 PM MikoNakamura squeeks in surprise.

11:18:59 PM MikoNakamura "Y-yes...I take it you can hear them as well?"

11:19:49 PM Griet "Not really."

11:20:33 PM TanyaIvanova "…well he doesn't like. speak to me or anything. …But Cernobog has opinions of his own, and things he enjoys or doesn't — he felt uncomfortable when you did the group synch, and he loves carnage, enjoyed wrestling with Unit 41...."

11:20:57 PM Dostov "Never heard anything from Pizdetz Vsemu."

11:21:37 PM NathanielDurond (Quietly) "Ming, bring up data on Nakamura and Pavlichenko's synch tests will you?"

11:22:14 PM Night10194 She nods. Nakamura has been quite high on several occasions, and Pavlichenko's has been trending upwards steadily.

11:28:58 PM NathanielDurond "Lets head back to base pilots."

11:29:13 PM Night10194 On that ominious note, cue ending theme.