Temperaments in Tempest

[Beans]

The mind is a terrible thing to waste and just as terrible to lose. While it is a terrible thing to damage, this damage makes it more exploitable... and, with the proper outlets, something to be feared.
If one is made to focus their rage, their mania, their despair, their paranoia... there is great power to be had.
((OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11815652)))
~~~

The silver-haired young woman had a good deal of things in life.
She had this room---not exactly a mansion, but there was a bed and a desk and a place to keep the small stack of CDs she would not part with.

She had her art---people would say it was good, but they didn't understand. There was always something wrong, and if they didn't see it then they were lying to sound nice. However, she'd learned to stop destroying things after making them.

She had... teammates. They could work her nerves into a screaming frenzy, but they weren't all that bad. One in particular was very good at getting her hackles raised, but she probably didn't intend to. Most of the time.
Or maybe she did.

The young woman tossed away the softworn, oversized shirt she'd slept in and pulled on a black t-shirt, grey khakis. A moment of consideration and she pulled on a grey sportcoat, plain and dull. She had her reasons, though she'd always lie and claim it was to have more pockets.

Sketchpad under her arm and pencils in an inside pocket of her jacket, she stepped out into the hall, brushing silvery hair from her rainy grey eyes.

Black Irukandji headed down to the common room; Miss Harker had mentioned there were things to talk about this morning.

[Lady Serpentine]

A young woman is sitting at her desk. Her face is obscured behind a lupine mask, though she has no-one to hide it from. She's taller than normal, and thin.

After a moment, she pulls off the helmet, and shakes out her dark blue hair. The minor adjustments she'd made had fixed the problem with the HUD giving the wrong location on the rest of the team.

After changing into a brown t-shirt and black jeans, Red Wolf headed to the common room. Miss Harker had told her that there was something going on this morning.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé lazed about her routine this morning. She just wasn't into it today, lackadaisically going through her daily exercises. Something special was happening today, and Madame Harker was probably already waiting for the team to assemble.

To the outside observer, the albino woman in the gym was flipping and tumbling about in incredible form, quickly switching between tasks with clockwork perfection. She stopped, toweled herself off, and went to the locker room to get ready for her day.

Hiding behind her long, white eyelashes, Chloé left the locker room after a quick shower. She wore leggings, long wool socks, and a plaid skirt. This weather was much too cold for her, so a jacket was mandatory as well.

She then made her way to the common area.

[Dorizzit]

Bam. Bam. Bam. Jenna's fists and legs slam repeatedly into the punching bag. She's been at this for hours, since well before sunrise, working off energy. Jenna doesn't sleep much. Having spent most of her life in danger, she could never afford to sleep long, or deeply. Even now, out of trouble in an isolated base, sleep does not come easily, or for long. It doesn't matter much; she only needs the minimum amount of rest to function. Once she's pounded the bag for long enough, she runs a few laps, then practices forms of several martial arts, her movements flawless.

Jenna looks over at the entrance of the woman she knows only as "Green Chameleon." Jenna nods in acknowledgement, but says nothing, and immediately goes back to her routine. She soon finishes, leaving the gym, showering, and changing before her compatriot.

Today was the big day. Clad in a dark yellow tank top and black sweatpants, she heads for the common room.

[Beans]

Vesa's walk has a gliding, snowflake-like grace to it. She sees her teammates come in shortly after her.

The room is of moderate size, with three couches arranged in a semicircle around a coffee table; in front of a screen stands Ms. Harker.

She is a woman of average height, with average brown hair and average brown eyes. Her skin tone is average for a Caucasian, and she has a nondescript sort of prettiness, looking to be in her early 30s. Her jeans and cardigan are unremarkable; all in all, she is not the sort of woman you could pick out of a crowd.
And that's just how she likes it.

She smiles at the operatives as they enter. Good morning, ladies... welcome to your first major operation briefing.

[Lady Serpentine]

"Morning."

Alia sits down on one of the couches, and smiles at her teammates and Ms. Harker.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna pads into the room cautiously, sizing up its other inhabitants as she does so. She isn't expecting trouble, but old habits die hard. Moving forward, Jenna vaults over the back of the last unoccupied couch and lands in a sitting position. She sits forward, hunched over a bit, and glances at the other two members of her team before fixing her cold, intent stare on Ms. Harker.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé purposely allowed the other woman to pass her in the hallway. She had really, really wanted to say something to her, like bonjour, but --

Wait. What's bonjour in English!?

Okay, maybe it was good she didn't say anything to her, then. Dodged a bullet. But, she really wanted to impress her -- she was so cool, and confident. All the other girls here were; they even looked better than her. Chloé looked down at her chest in disappointment. Nope. Still nothing.

She walked into the room a little lost in thought, her posture poor, here steps light. Gotta say something to that girl. Gotta say something to that girl.

Then, she froze. All the couches were taken. Where would she sit?

Ooooh, non, non, non!! She blushed bright crimson -- all the more apparent on her stark white complexion, and kinda awkwardly stood in the doorway.

Hello. That's what bonjour is in English.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia, seeing the newcomer, smiles at her, as well.

"Hello. Please, sit down. I may be Wolf, but I don't bite."

She indicates the couch she's on. Also, she's sitting on one end of it, so Chloe could sit down on it and still keep some distance between them, if she chooses to sit.

Her voice, since I forgot to describe it before, is fairly nice, with a mild accent that may or may not be identifiable.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna rolls her eyes in exasperation and sighs angrily, but keeps these actions out of Chameleon's sight. She was clearly already feeling intimidated by them, and it wouldn't do to make that worse. They needed to at least get some level of connection or trust, or they wouldn't last ten seconds on the battlefield, fancy suits or no.

When Jenna glances at Wolf when she speaks, then nods almost imperceptibly in approval before directing her gaze back to Ms. Harker, resting her elbows on her knees and folding her fingers in front of her face.

[Beans]

Good morning, Chameleon. You arrived just in time; please have a seat.

Vesa looks back at the blushing albino.
... Jeez, Scales, don't have a heart attack.
Scales. Her nickname for the girl she knows as Chameleon.
The other two habe nicknames ascribed to them as well, the strong-willed one and the horribly perky one.

The silver-haired girl scoots over to one end of the couch.
Have the whole rest of the couch or whatever.
Her voice is tinged with the last remnants of her Scandinavian accent, making her aspirated consonants sound a little harsher. She notices Wolf making the same offer and shrugs, idly sketching a snake on her drawing pad.

Now that we're all here, ladies... your operation.
The screen turns on, showing a map of New Mexico. It zooms in, way in, until it focuses on a blocky-looking series of buildings.
Our contract is to infiltrate these labs. Once inside, there is only one objective: extract this device.
An image comes up, a sketch of a device shaped like the top part of a question mark with the concave side facing up; suspended in the air in the curve is a reddish sphere.
This, the Milo device. This sketch is the best lead we have on it so far, but we know it's in the main lab complex.
If you have to leave a high body count on your way out, that's fine.
But we'll be heading in tonight.
Any questions before I go on?

[Dorizzit]

Jenna's social skills might be limited, but Ms. Harker was talking in military terms. That was a language she spoke all too well. Her whole body seems to change when the briefing begins, a little stiffer, a little straighter, a little more focused. A retrieval mission. She had always hated retrieval missions; it was all too easy to let the target be destroyed in the crossfire. And the target was in New Mexico. Interesting. She had never been to America before.

Jenna has questions, but Ms. Harker isn't done yet. The Mongoose decides to wait and see if the answers would be revealed without prompting.

[NotScaryBats]

Standing in the doorway with her head down, everyone started talking at once to her. She could understand them well enough, but it was just so hard thinking of something to say back.

Instead, she took the first seat that was offered to her, by the girl who called her 'Scales.' She couldn't quite muster a 'mercy,' but managed to smile weakly. Chloé took a moment to seat herself, then finger-combed some hair over her face and stared at the Madame's presentation.

She was still blushing furiously.

[Beans]

Vesa ignores the mute albino for the most part.

Alright.
That orange sphere is apparently a liquid, suspended in place by some property of the device. You'll be taking a sample before moving the device, so you'll be supplied with syringes.

Most of the staff are tech operators, but there will be armed guards.

They're running a sleep study in a nearby sub-facility; you'll be taken there by 20:30 hours local time.

By 21:15 hours, you are to make your way out of that building and to the parking lot; we'll have your suits in a truck there.

You will then take a route through the enclosed walkway to the main complex. From there, you'll need to locate and extract the device.

[Dorizzit]

All had been revealed. Jenna listens intently to the rest of Ms. Harker's briefing. To the observant, there is something off about her. She doesn't twitch, rarely blinks, and totally ignores her surroundings. Even her teammates were ignored once Chameleon had been offered a seat. From this, it would be easy to assume she was eager for the coming battle, that she couldn't wait to be deployed. The truth, as it always is, is more complex. In Jenna's old life, she had been through many similar briefings. She had learned to absorb every piece of information she could. Inflection, tone, and posture could matter just as much as the words themselves. It could be the difference between life and death. To Jenna, survival is everything. Still, Ms. Harker was difficult to read. That was concerning.

As Ms. Harker finishes the briefing, Jenna resumes her (relatively) more relaxed demeanor and leans back against the couch, crossing her legs in the process.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé was back to a reasonable shade of pink, and seemed to have relaxed a bit. She cast constant sidelong glances at her sisters in arms, wondering if this mission would be able to bring them together -- all of them laughing and sitting on the same couch. Maybe someone would ruffle her hair? She'd like that.

But, for that to happen, the mission would have to go off without a hitch. Oui.

There seemed to be something off, here. Chloé was confident she could complete this assignment on her own -- but why were all four of them being deployed? Maybe the others would be diversions?

Hmmmm.... I hope she discusses the attack plan in more detail than this...

[Lady Serpentine]

"That's not much to go on. Do we have blueprints of the building? Anything else on their security?"

[Beans]

Blueprints will be supplied, at least the ones we've got.

And as for their security... it's not quite an army, but it'll be good to divide their attention. The best course of action involves Chameleon being the one to go in and get the thing, with Wolf on hand---there may be computerized systems to get through.

Irukandji and Mongoose, meanwhile, could stage a diversion.

Vesa has finished sketching the snake and is starting to draw... Chameleon.
Been a while since I've set some bombs.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna throws one arm behind the back of her couch. She was less concerned, now. This first operation would be easy. It made sense; the others didn't have much combat experience, as far as Jenna could tell. Tempest could save the complicated ops for later. A little impatient, Jenna speaks for the first time. Her voice is rough and deep, although not enough to be unusual. Her companions haven't heard much of it; Jenna speaks only when necessary, although she has slowly been growing more talkative.

"Alright. Simple enough. When do we leave?"

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé nods to herself, glad that she didn't speak up and make a fool of herself again. This plan made sense. Also, she'd get a chance to bond with that girl over there...! They were going to become best friends, she was certain of it.

The Green Chameleon smiled to herself, looking at nothing in particular.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia notices that Chameleon is smiling, and while she doesn't show it, she's pleased that the other girl is getting more comfortable.

Sadly for Chloe, Alia has some fairly major trust issues, for obvious reasons*, so it's going to take a while before she actually becomes real friends with her.

*In case there's someone reading this that hasn't read Alia's backstory, finding out that the person you thought for eighteen years was a loving father only kept you in the house because of your mother does tend to do that to you.

[Beans]

You'll be leaving at 15:00 hours our time. It's 10:00 now, so...

Ladies, go suit up---your things are ready in the gym. Get some practice in before you go.

Vesa stands, taking a page from her sketchpad and letting it fall to the couch.

On it.
She nods, turning to leave.

The paper has her sketch of Chloe.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna nods curtly at Ms. Harker's command. She stands and heads out for the gym, taking confident strides and ignoring the other three girls. She quickly reaches the gym and begins to suit up.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé looks over at the dropped piece of paper, then back to the tall, silver haired girl who left it. Promptly, she picks it up and scurries off after her, attempting to catch up with her and tap her on the shoulder.

She is a very talented artist -- something Chloé could never be -- and deserves her picture back.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia heads to the gym, clearly somewhat annoyed that Ms. Harker decided to take her suit out of her room. It wouldn't have taken that much longer to go get it from there than it would to have it waiting.

When she arrives, she'll put it on, and start practicing.

[Beans]

Vesa turns to see Chameleon trying to return the drawing.

Huh?
Oh, that? Don't want it. Keep it if you like, Scales.
She shrugs.

[NotScaryBats]

"M-merci..." is Chameleon's one-word response. Her voice is very quiet, and it may be the first time anyone at the complex has heard it.

In a thick accent, she continues hesitantly, "You are very talented, Mademoiselle Noire..."

She clutches the picture to her breast, smiling faintly, blushing slightly.

[Beans]

... You... can talk?
Vesa blinks, then snaps out of it.
Thanks, but 'm not that good.

She does manage a little bit of a smile, which is nice.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé bobs her head shyly in response, then runs off to put her new picture in her room. Afterwards, she heads to the gym, a little late.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia, seeing Chameleon enter, heads over to the other girl.

"Hello."

[NotScaryBats]

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Rouge." Chloe answers softly, looking at her feet, then up at the girl she's talking to, then down again. "you and I ... Will be on mission together, non? We should be good friends..."

Okay, Chloé, you said it -- and probably correctly, too!! You'll be braiding her hair in no time, just like with Monique. Oui.

[Beans]

By the time Chameleon is talking to Wolf, Vesa is already suited up.

She hovers a few feet from the floor, her sensacles going through training motions. She can't help but notice the French girl talking to the other one.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia smiles. Sadly, the motion is hidden behind the wolf helmet she's wearing.

"I hope so."

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé looks at Alia's impassive helmet nervously. Sure, she had said 'I hope so' but ...

Ah!! She'd better go suit up! With an apologetic smile and a 'un moment' finger, she rushes off to get geared up.

On her way, she smiles and waves at her new friend, Vesa.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia waits for Chloe to be suited up.

[NotScaryBats]

When she returns to the gym, fully suited up, the Green Chameleon is scarcely recognizable. Her skintight armor suit is made of a dark gray leathery substance. It seems to bend light around itself, making it difficult to look directly at her.

She calmly and confidently walks up to Alia, spreads her arms in a 'Qu'en pensez-vous' (what do you think) and says, "Do you 'ave a plan?"

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia notes that there's a rather large difference between her behavior in and out of the suit. Hopefully she'd get more confident without it at some point.

"Woah. That's a nice suit."

And then Chloe asks about the plans.

"Not really. I'd need to take a look at the blueprints we have first. As far as just general thoughts, I'll need to see what you can do, and how our abilities work together."

[Beans]

Vesa practices setting bombs (she uses fake training charges) and combat maneuvers, still watching everyone with stray sensacles.

She hovers over to Wolf and Chameleon, listening to their conversation.

[NotScaryBats]

"I am not so... Built for the punching, oui?" Chloé begins, "but, I am very sneaky. Regarde ça!" With perhaps more pride than she should have in a room full of ladies in impressive armor suits, the Green Chameleon begins to 'show her stuff.'

Starting with her legs, she slowly begins to activate her active camouflage. While standing still, it is difficult to tell just where her body is going; it looks like she is vanishing into thin air. But, as she slowly starts to move, the imperfections in the design become apparent -- she isn't really invisible, just difficult to find.

[Lady Serpentine]

"That's pretty useful. And very, very, cool."

Alia thinks for a moment

"I think that I should probably hang back while you scout the area, and then you can do ghost-stuff as a confusion tactic while I take down the guards. Sound good?"

[NotScaryBats]

"Oui. Maybe this will be quite simple." She looks at the other two girls, impressed, "with such a team, I am certain; c'est pas grave!"

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia takes off her helmet, revealing her smile.

"That would be good."

She pauses uncertainly.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé had forgotten that she was in camouflage mode, and deactivates it when she sees Alia's uncertain expression. She follows suit, unclipping her face protector and grinning out of it. It really does feel nice to be in the suit, but it's even better to have friends.

Alia's hair looks dangerously in need of some braiding. Oui.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia smiles back at Chloe.

"So... Would there be any way to extend the camouflage to a pair of cameras? It would probably help if I could pretty much see what you see..."

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé does not really understand the question, but does her best anyway, "oui, the camouflage is cameras. You are smart to see it so quick." She nods and smiles. "To me, it is like magic; too difficiles."

[Lady Serpentine]

"That's not quite what I meant. I was wondering whether or not the field would extend to another pair of cameras attached to your suit, so that I could see what you saw as you scouted."

Her voice is soft, and the tone isn't harsh; it should come across as a gentle correction. Though how Chloe takes it is up to you, of course.

[NotScaryBats]

"O-oui, Mademoiselle Rouge..." the girl responds, coloring returning to her cheeks, "maybe if not so big ones. We can try."

She is ready to try whatever Alia wants. She glances out of the corner of her eye at the hovering demolitionist. Has she been watching them? Before long, every night here will be like a slumber party. Chloé smiles to herself as she thinks about that. Just make sure the mission goes perfectly.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia notices this, and smiles reassuringly at the other girl, trying to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax. It was just a misunderstanding. There's nothing wrong with that; they happen."

[NotScaryBats]

The other girl's hand feels nice on Chloé's shoulder; it feels reassuring. She stops herself from resting her cheek on it.

"Oui, you are right, I think. Thank you, for this. You need to work on cameras?" Chloé thought for a moment, then added, "Do you know how to do all this? I am no good with these things like cameras."

[Beans]

Vesa watches this odd closeness between Chameleon and Wolf; she hovers silently, just watching.

And trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy.

[Lady Serpentine]

Well, that's Vesa's fault for not talking to them. :smalltongue:

"Yep. I can do the tech stuff."

[Dorizzit]

"Not that I want to interrupt your little bonding moment, (this is a blatant lie) but shouldn't you two be working on getting used to your suits? You'll have plenty of time to chat or whatever on the flight over."

Jenna pushes herself into the conversation between Chameleon and Wolf with her usual degree of gentle tact and subtlety, that is to say, none. Having finished suiting up finished adjusting to the armor's augmentation of her physical abilities, Jenna strides over to her two teammates, coming to stand next to them.

[Beans]

Vesa glides out of the way as Mongoose breaks up the cute moment.
Still amazed she can talk.
Mild hypocrisy, seeing as Vesa is pretty laconic.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia puts her helmet back on.

"We were discussing modifying her suit somewhat, to better fit our plan, actually."

Through the comm system, so that it can't be heard by anyone besides Alia and Jenna, she says "She needs the confidence boost if she's going to of any use on the mission. Now that you've ruined the work I was doing, back off before you make the problem worse."


She actually does like Chloe, though. But that wasn't the only reason she was being nice to her.

[Dorizzit]

When Jenna realizes that Alia was broadcasting her voice solely to Jenna, she snaps her hand up to put it over the front of her helmet, showing her exasperation in a very non-verbal manner. She takes her hand back down as Alia finishes, then snaps back a reply, still on a closed channel.

"Why don't you back off? She's clingy. If you suddenly start making nice with her, she'll get distracted during the mission thinking about her new friend. You know what distraction means in the field? I do."

In her own way, Jenna is trying to help. She just isn't a very nice person.

[Lady Serpentine]

Still using the closed channel, Alia replies with "Yes. It means that it's considerably more likely one or more of us will die. However, I disagree with your assessment. She's hardly going to be useful if she's constantly second guessing herself, and sending back for orders every few minutes."

[Beans]

It doesn't take a genius to read body language; Vesa gets the idea there's a bit of a tiff going on, though she's not sure about what.

She hovers down to Chameleon.
... Leave 'em, Scales. Let's practice stuff.

[Dorizzit]

Still using the closed channel, Alia replies with "Yes. It means that it's considerably more likely one or more of us will die. However, I disagree with your assessment. She's hardly going to be useful if she's constantly second guessing herself, and sending back for orders every few minutes."

Jenna hisses in irritation on the other side of the comm link.

"What she needs is practice. If she sees herself being competent, she'll get confident! Chatting her up will do as much harm as good, and it wastes training time!"

Her voice is rising, but not enough to be heard out of the helmet.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia glares, though the action is lost behind the lupine helmet she's wearing. Her claws flex slightly.

"We're both quite familiar with our suits, thank you very much. She's sure of her capabilities; it's her decisions she needs to become confident about."

[Dorizzit]

Despite the concealment of Wolf's helmet, Jenna is excellent with body language (at least when it related to violence) and Wolf's posture and the twitch of her claws is not lost on Mongoose. Her voice becomes deadly quiet.

"You wanna go, Wolf? Wanna see just how 'familiar' you are with that suit? Complacency is death."

Jenna's own posture grows more aggressive, hunching over slightly and raising her claws an almost unnoticeable amount. She begins to circle Wolf, not unlike a predator.

[Lady Serpentine]

She also starts circling.

"You seem to have chosen already."

[Dorizzit]

Jenna growls softly, continuing to circle.

"Well, aren't you smug. What do you know? What makes you any better than me?"

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé's helmet is back on very quickly when egos begin to collide. Though it might go unnoticed, her legs and feet begin to disappear, and she reaches into a small compartment in the curve of her back. When Vesa hovers over to her, she looks at her uncertainly, but nods slowly and holds out her hand.

She drops a small, metal ball to the ground. Anyone familiar in such devices might recognize a smoke bomb. Should it reach the ground, it will begin emitting smoke in a 10 meter radius.

The Green Chameleon rushes off, activating her camouflage. Maybe this is some 'stuff' to practice? Certainly all those tiny ropes coming off Mlle Noire's suit are not just decorations? If she can avoid them when she's actively searching for her, then she should do fine against guards.

Remember, Chloé: perfect mission, hair-braiding slumber party. Maybe cake and ice cream.

[Beans]

Vesa sighs. Ugh, these two.

Oy.
Snake-Eater. Lassie. Cool it.

Mongoose and Wolf, that is. She has a low opinion of infighting.

Dunno what your issue is, don't care, just save the fighting for after the job.
Her Sensacles spread to get a better range of visual angles on the pair.

Suddenly, smoke bomb. Vesa curses, Sensacles now looking for Chameleon.
Dammit, Scales...

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia leaps now that there's smoke, trying to get over Jenna. If it works, she should land silently behind her.

"You're emotionless, or almost so. Harder to manipulate... But you don't seem to understand other people. Which means you can't manipulate them as well, either."

[Dorizzit]

Wolf jumps over Mongoose and lands without a sound. Jenna's posture has changed, standing straighter and looking around through the smoke.

"Yeah, sure. I don't get weepy and I don't get people. I don't want to. But you know what I am good at? Fighting. And when you've fought as long as I have-"

Mid sentence, without warning, Mongoose spins around with lightning speed and levels a powerful and fast kick at Wolf's helmet.

"-tricks like that don't work so well."

[Lady Serpentine]

Wolf's helmet is hit... But it's a helmet; it's only mildly damaging. Though she's going to have to recalibrate the location sensors again. I mean, she just did that this morning.

Really, Jenna, you didn't think that kicking something with a really nasty maw on it was a bad idea?

Alia tries to chomp down on Mongoose's leg, attempting to grab it with her claws at the same time.

[Beans]

I said stop fighting!
Vesa hears the sounds and can pick out vague motions, and she is not happy.
You're wasting time and being stupid!

Vesa's got a certain snapping point, and she's getting pushed...

[Dorizzit]

Jenna scores the first hit. It wasn't damaging; after all, it was directed at the most heavily armored part of Wolf's suit. Damage, however, wasn't the goal. It was dominance. A strike to the face, no matter how little damage it dealt, is difficult to achieve.

The leg is withdrawn with the same speed with which it lashed out, slipping away from Wolf's jaws and claws. In terms of arm strength, Alia has the advantage, and Jenna isn't about to let herself get pinned. In the same motion that she retracts her leg, Mongoose drops to a crouch and spins with a leg out, trying to sweep Wolf off her feet.

She either doesn't hear or doesn't listen to Irukandji.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia jumps, avoiding the spin. She aims a kick at Jenna's helmet from her position above her.

Vesa should suddenly get locational data on them both; though it's not as precise as it could be, it should make the search much narrower. It seems Alia decided to help her out.

She should also get a private communication.

"I'd love to oblige your request Irukandji, but she doesn't seem amenable to that."

[Dorizzit]

Jenna twists and bends out of the way of Wolf's kick, then lashes an arm forward and tries to grab her leg. If she succeeds, she pulls Wolf forward and down while trying to deliver an uppercut. If she fails, she flips and handsprings away to regain her feet.

[Lady Serpentine]

Wolf lets her grab her leg, and is pulled. She takes the hit, though her armor absorbs much of the force... Unless, of course, the kick that Alia aims at Mongoose's chest, using the momentum from the pull, prevents Jenna from hitting.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna is indeed forced to abandon her punch in order to block Wolf's kick, mentally cursing herself for allowing her opponent the room to pull off such a maneuver. Unfortunately for Wolf, this puts Jenna in a perfect position to grab her other leg and hurl her into a nearby wall.

[Lady Serpentine]

Jenna's move is successful, and Wolf is going to have quite a few more bruises tomorrow because of it.

Though Alia seems to have been able to make use of it despite this; she's dug her claws into the wall, and is using them to climb it.

[Dorizzit]

Mongoose takes a few steps away from the wall, unsure of Wolf's next move and not willing to risk following her. She watches her opponent warily.

[Lady Serpentine]

Wolf watches Mongoose from her perch, but doesn't make a move yet.

[Beans]

Click.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.

Irukandji is holding a live, armed explosive.
Her broadcast volume is cranked up.
THIS IS COMPLETE HORSE[words]T.
STOP... EVERYTHING.
She's not very happy about this little tiff.

Best to listen to the lady with bombs.

[Dorizzit]

Even in her current, furious state, Jenna retains enough presence of mind to recognize the sound of an explosive being armed. She whirls to face Irukandji, her body language going from predatory to shocked and...scared isn't the right word; concerned would be a better way of describing it. Unfortunately, Irukandji's attempt at halting the conflict merely serves to escalate it. Mongoose reaches into one of the pockets in her suit and withdraws a pistol with almost superhuman speed, then levels it at Irukandji.

"Shut it down, Jellyfish. This thing is powerful enough to blow a hole right through your helmet. You try to use it, and you won't live to see it blow."

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia shoves off from the wall, aiming to tackle Mongoose from behind, and hopefully end up with her helmet's jaws at the other girl's throat.

She should be moving rather fast, as legs also have enhanced strength.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna turns and growls in frustration as Wolf attacks her. She faces the tackle head on, but is forced to drop her gun. The two go down in a tumble, rolling across the floor. Jenna, on the bottom, twists in a seemingly impossible way to get her legs up between them and launches Wolf off of her with a powerful, two legged kick. Rolling onto her feet, Jenna looks back and forth between the two others, her enraged glare palpable behind her concealing visor.

[Beans]

At least somebody's listYOU STUPID BINT.
Her grudging, sullen approval is cut off by Wolf leaping at Mongoose; she doesn't make a move for the detonation button.
I HAD HER PAYING ATTENTION TO ME AND THEN YOU CAME IN LIKE A STUPID COWBOY, LASSIE.

She flips the bomb off and shoves it back in her kama.
Whatever. I don't care any more.
Vesa begins to hover away, sullen as all hell.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia quickly gets back to her feet.

On a private channel to Jenna, she says "Are you insane? You don't threaten to shoot other members of the team!"

[Dorizzit]

Jenna turns her full attentions on Wolf, her face bearing an unseen expression of bewildered exasperation. She replies on the same channel.

"Are you JOKING!? Or did you miss the part where she had a f[colorful] BOMB!? Which she was threatening to use on US!"

[Lady Serpentine]

"You'll note that she didn't use it, even when I went after you again. But I can see your reasoning now, and it makes a fair amount of sense. At that point, you could easily have been right."

[Dorizzit]

"One of my rules is that you don't mess around when someone has an explosive."

Jenna, sensing that the fight may have been defused, relaxes her stance and walks over to her dropped gun. She bends down and picks it up, carefully fitting it back into the pocket it came from.

Alia might notice that Jenna never touches the pistol's safety during the process. For the meticulous soldier, such an oversight would be impossible, and she would never leave a weapon that could go off that near her body.

"Not like it matters, now."

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia relaxes, too.

"That makes sense. Sorry about jumping on you. Figuratively and literally."

[Dorizzit]

"We...both could have handled that better."

That's probably as close to an apology as Alia is going to get; Mongoose is not one to admit wrongdoing.

"Alright, why don't you keep talking to Chameleon. Just...try to keep on task, alright? I'll go and get Irukandji to stop sulking, yeah?"

[Lady Serpentine]

"Sounds good to me."

Alia tries to find Chameleon.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna follows after Irukandji, switching her helmet to normal external speech at the same time. She catches up to Irukandji from behind, and grabs her, gently but firmly, by the shoulder.

"Hey, hold up. What got you so pissed before?"

Jenna may not "get" people in the traditional sense, but she has a solid knowledge of emotions and how to control them due to her leadership experience.

[NotScaryBats]

Still in hiding, Chameleon watches the goings on with bewilderment. The smoke has thinned considerably by now, and it seems everyone's anger has, too.

Maybe she should come out, now, but then again...

Maybe she wasn't wanted anymore?

...

[Beans]

She may have to reach up to do that (she's still hovering), but Vesa turns around.
Fighting like two gradeschool kids. Waste of time.
Had to pull a bomb to get anyone to pay attention and stop.
She has her arms tightly folded and the featureless mask of her helmet turns away from Mongoose.

She slowly, stiffly reaches up to put her own hand on Mongoose's.

[Lady Serpentine]

As Alia probably cant find Chloe if she's hiding, she should get a message on a private channel after a bit: "Chameleon? Where are you?"

[Dorizzit]

Jenna, not for the first time, curses her lack of height as she stretches up to grab Vesa. Still, the action proves effective, at least in so far as it makes Vesa willing to listen to her. The progress might be undone when Irukandji lays her own hand over Mongoose's: Jenna stiffens up and recoils, pulling her hand back. She turns her face away from Irukandji, looking in the opposite direction.

There is a pause.

"Look. We were just working off energy. Tensions run higher before missions, that's how it is. Neither of use were really trying to hurt each other."

Truth, at least to a certain degree. Jenna hadn't been trying to inflict serious injury, just prove superiority. She isn't as sure about Wolf.

[Beans]

The hand can be withdrawn; Vesa's partly hurt expression is hidden by her mask.
'Kay.
She will, unless stopped, turn back around to face away.

[Dorizzit]

"...Right."

The conversation dying out, Mongoose walks to the very other side of the gym and sends her wrist blades out of their sheaths. She begins swinging them around in a practice routine. They are unusual weapons; she still isn't quite comfortable with them.

Well that sucked.

[NotScaryBats]

Of course it was silly to think no one wanted her around any more. Chameleon smiled as she watched Alia looking for her. She tries to sneak up on the girl, quiet as a mouse, and tap her on the shoulder.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia jumps a bit at the tapping, then turns to face Chameleon.

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon spreads her arms in a 'so... what now' shrug.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia shrugs, and takes off her helmet.

"I just got all of the practice I want with my suit, but if you want some more time, then that's fine. Otherwise, I guess we work on the extra cameras?"

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon nods with Alia. She removes her helmet and falls into step with her. To the workshop?

[Lady Serpentine]

To the workshop!

Which I guess is Alia's room? Unless Beans says otherwise when he gets back on; there might be a specific place for this sort of thing.

In any case, they should arrive fairly soon either way.

[Beans]

There's a workshop set by itself.

Finishing training, Vesa desuits and heads to her room to shower, feeling churned-up inside about all this.
Stupid Wolf and Mongoose and their fights. Stupid Chameleon and her cloaking and the drawing. Stupid Mongoose touching her and recoiling.

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon enters the workshop and removes her helmet from her head, laying it carefully on a workbench. All of this stuff in here was nonsense to her, but her friend seemed to know her way around, and that was enough for Chameleon. She sat down, feeling unnecessary but not unwelcome, and smiling vaguely. Looking at her friend expectantly, she traced circles on her legs with an idle finger.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia retrieves a pair of small, but high-quality, cameras, and sets about attaching them to Chloe's helmet, in such a way that they won't fall off, but can be removed if Chameleon wants to do so.

When she's finished, she'll say "So, you ready to test it out?"

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon nods, activating her camouflage to ensure the new cameras are indeed covered -- they are.

She smiles at Alia, a disembodied albino head floating in the air.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia grins.

"This should work fine. Now all we need to do is hook up the feed from the cameras to my helmet."

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon ***** her head to one side, confused.

She gets up, looking like she thinks the pair are finished with their modifications.

EDIT: HAHAHA!! It got censored -- that is hilarious. Not 'phallused' her head to one side, but 'tilts' her head to one side. Sorry.

[Lady Serpentine]

((Don't worry about it. I saw the same thing happen yesterday in Mallside.))

"Hang on. I'll need you here so that I can tell you if we need to change something once I get them hooked up. Right now, the cameras won't actually broadcast to my helmet. Okay?"

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon gives an invisible thumbs up, then realizes her mistake and uncloaks herself.

She nods, ready to do the tests.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia messes with her own helmet a bit, and, after a few minutes, the sensors should be fixed and the camera's hooked up.

She puts her helmet back on, to see if they give an image.

If they do, she says "Okay, I'm ready. Turn on the field."

[NotScaryBats]

Here goes nothing...

...

...

Chameleon turns on her field, cloaking herself and the newly installed cameras. She smiles, relieved that the modifications seem to work.

[Lady Serpentine]

If the field still lets the camera see out of it, then Alia will say "This will definitely be useful. Thanks for letting me install them."

[NotScaryBats]

It works? It works!
Alia must be good with machines; that was no simple procedure.
Chameleon remains cloaked, thinking about what to do next.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia is quite good with machines.

She removes her helmet, and smiles in Chameleon's general direction.

[NotScaryBats]

Now that the camera has been tested, Chameleon uncloaks.

She nods to Alia, then makes her way out of the workshop, feeling like the two of them have bonded. Perhaps she should remove the suit and get ready for the mission? How long has it been since she's eaten...?

Oblivious and lost in thought, Chloé makes her way down the hall and back to the locker room.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia presumably changes as well (though she probably heads back to her room, as that's where she prefers to keep her suit); armored suits aren't exactly the sort of thing that you wear to breakfast. Speaking of which, I don't think that any of them have eaten yet. At least, Beans said nothing about breakfast being available at the briefing, so far as I know.

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon enters the gym, interested to see if the brusque girl from before is still in here. She makes her way to the locker room to change, keeping her eyes out -- that girl probably doesn't like her too much...

Her stomach rumbles, looking forward to the midday meal.

[Dorizzit]

Mongoose, at least, is no longer in the gym when Chameleon arrives. Wait, no, scratch that: she emerges from the locker room just as Chameleon is about to go in, now dressed in civilian clothing. She gives Chameleon a cool glance before heading out of the gym, on her way to get food.

[Beans]

Vesa is still showering; her pale legs can be seen in the gap from floor to shower stall door.
She hears people walking in and listens, turning off the shower to listen better.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia leaves her room, heading to wherever they eat, as it's getting near time for lunch.

If there are bathrooms attached to each room, she showered first.

[NotScaryBats]

Chameleon peels off her suit carefully -- the thing is difficult to get in and out of. Since no showers are going and Jenna passed her on the way in, Chloé stretches out and relaxes a moment, before heading into the shower area.

Turning into the line of shower stalls, she sees what looks like one of the girls. Caring little about nudity, she goes to see who it is.

"'ello? Is that you, Mademoiselle Noire?" she calls, peaking around the door.

[Beans]

Vesa comes out of the stall as bare as Chameleon is. Oh. It's you, Scales.

Her eyes flick up and down, not seeming very interested in what is revealed there. What's up?

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé smiles at the other girl, trying her best to be happy. "So much excitement this morning, I need to bathe."

She opens up her own stall and turns the water on.
"Do you feel alright, mon amie? You seem ... Upset, oui?"

[Beans]

Just bothered with Snake-Eater and Lassie and their dumb fight.
And Snake-Eater, she...
She had reached out and touched her. It had been so hard not to clasp that arm to herself and cling like a limpet, but even her response of laying her hand on the other girl's hand had elicited a poor response. Offer and take away, that was her game, was it?

Vesa frowns, looking at Chloe's back.

[NotScaryBats]

"Hahaha." Chloé's laugh is quiet but genuine. "I do not understand your nicknames for them, but I like it. You are very funny, Noire -- Eh, it is black. Noire. I cannot say Irucagree..." Chloé makes a pitiful attempt to say 'Irukandji' and mutilates it.

She continues to wash herself, since she showered this morning, also, she's nearly done.

[Beans]

Think it's funny? Her tone is thoughtful, not angry---as if she'd never considered the nicknames humorous.
She probably hadn't.

If the door's open, she watches her wash with minor interest---more because Chameleon's the only other person here now.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé finishes up and turns the water off. She smiles at her friend and says, "I am going to get lunch after now. Will you join me?"

Chloé dries off quickly, leaving her short, black hair spiky with wetness. She changes into a light jacket and sweats.

[Beans]

Vesa changes into dull, faded jeans and a hoodie, following her for lunch.

[NotScaryBats]

As the pair walked the hall on their way to the dining area, Chloé turns to Vesa and speaks suddenly.

"If we complete this mission, will we all be best friends?"
She asks it sincerely.

[Beans]

... What?

... Don't know. Maybe. No idea.
She frowns, confused.

[NotScaryBats]

"I think so..." she says mostly to herself.

The pair have just about arrived at the dining area's entrance by now.

[Beans]

Vesa shrugs, getting herself an apple and a pear. She sits down at the table.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé has smile on her face as she loads a plate up with fruit and bread, cheese and a large glass of milk. She takes a seat near Vesa.

"'ave you ever been to Paris? We 'ave very good food where I come from." The food before her begins to disappear with remarkable quickness.

[Beans]

Vesa eats methodically.
Never been there.
Sounds nice.

She looks around for any of the others.

[Dorizzit]

Mongoose is already there when the pair arrives; she's keeping to herself and is working her way through a second plate of food.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia is here as well. She's finishing a sandwich, and waves to Chameleon when the pair enters.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé waves back at Alia, and when she sits down with Vesa, motions for the other girl to come over.

She smiles at Jenna, and continues to eat.

[Dorizzit]

Jenna doesn't even seem to notice. She looks pretty focused.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia picks up her plate and starts to go over. Whether or not she actually does so will depend on how Vesa reacts.

[Beans]

Vesa glances over at---aw, hell, Lassie's coming over.

Noooo reaction.

[Lady Serpentine]

In that case, it's Vesa's fault. Alia would have stayed there if Irukandji had shown she didn't like it.

Wolf will probably sit down next to Chameleon, if seating allows.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé smiles at the two girls sharing the table with her, looking happy as a clam at high tide. She sizes the two up for hair braiding potential, even trying to touch Alia's hair after she has settled in.

Perfect mission, hair braiding. Her mantra continues.

[Beans]

Vesa gives Lassie the barest of glances, eyes moving back to her food and briefly wandering to Scales.

She sorta missed the quietness.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia smiles back at Chloe.

She looks a bit surprised when the other girl touches her hair, but she doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

She doesn't give any signs of having noticed Irukandji's glance, though she did.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé is oblivious to the glances and whatnot going on around her. She gently feels Alia's hair for a moment, then seems satisfied and stops.

The plate before her has been demolished, and she breathes a contented sigh. This was going to be a great day.

[Lady Serpentine]

Alia, having finished her sandwich, gets up to put her plate in the dishwasher, or wash it, depending on whether or not they have a dishwasher.

[Beans]

There is indeed a dishwasher.

Vesa finishes her food; the time of leaving will be soon.

[NotScaryBats]

Chloé seems excited. Soon, she would be able to prove herself and become worthy of these wonderful girl's friendships.

[NotScaryBats]

Feeling a little restless suddenly, Chloé cleans her plate and puts it away, excusing herself from her friends to finish getting ready for the mission in her room.

[Lady Serpentine]

After Chloe excuses herself, Alia walks back over, to where Irukandji (presumably) is sitting, and says "I'm sorry about jumping in back there. I probably should have listened to you."