It's a bit of walk from the recovery zone to the edge of the canal. Just about every working vehicle in the defense group is busy moving people and materiel towards Expedition City, while even more heavy vehicles are en route to pick up the Titans and damaged tanks. Aside from a single Titan Carrier used to bring the Titans from the western side of the canal, the Silent-Ones are letting the Knights get their equipment back home on their own (via the railroad).
There's still a lot of heat coming out of the crater, which now sits where the canal was originally. A lake is forming, although there's still a lot of steam as well. Once the water reaches to the old height of the canal floor, it should start flowing southward again. The upper area around the crater is also steaming, as a lot of water and molten rock have fallen from the impact of the shot from Bellerophon's mass-driver weapon: the linear cannon.
With her Titan nearly devoid of energy, walking and flying under her own power became the only practical way to check the canal. Even if there were vehicles available, she didn't want to ask for assistance -- she decided the Knights have enough to deal ith as it is. Thus, confirming the weapon's success came down to Tasha alone.
Faning herself against the heat of the still cooling crater, she walks to the cliffside and peers downward. The whole thing reminds her of the first time she met Harmonia, albiet with a human cost this time. It also makes her feel guilty: Could she have done better? Could Balthasar have been saved, allowing this problem to have been addressed in safety? The nagging doubts push at her mind, but she tries to keep them at bay as she searches the crater for signs of life.
The landscape below is almost volcanic in appearance. Water still turns to steam when it hits the fissures near the center, and the floor of the crater is twice as deep as the original canal. Aside from some shiny spots that might be molten metal, there doesn't appear to be anything left to Tesla, and certainly not of the canal jungle. The heat and blast traveled up and down the canal, sterilizing it for some distance to the north and south.
Tasha considers what she sees, deciding the crater definitely reminds her of the time she met Harmonia and also that there's little point in taking risks by not being through. She scans the cliffsides, then the crater side and finally the water below. Mentally mapping the layout, she takes wing by dropping off the cliff, aiming to leapfrog from one bit of solid ground to another in order to have a safe approach -- and a safe detour should any of the platforms prove unstable.
Down and closer in, details show up hadn't been apparent through the steamy fog. There are bits embedded in the crater walls and floor, which must have rained back down after the initial impact. They might be fragments of the daikaiju's bones or other exotic elements.
"Hrrm," goes Tasha, who perches on a ledge fanning herself with hand and wings as she eyes a nearby fragment. Mission and curiosity getting the better of her, she dons her helmet and takes wing again, aiming to land beside the fragment.
It's fairly large, with over a foot it protruding from the ground. It isn't shiny due to the layer of soot, but it does still have a few fragments of recognizable bone embedded within some sort of metal or ceramic matrix. It must be very strong to have supported a monster like Tesla.
This could be useful, Tasha considers as she steps forward and pulls out her datapad. Connecting to Harmonia, then to gabriel, Fred, and Dr. Zerachiel, she then links her suit's communications through the pad and finally she's through. "Guess where I am?" She holds up her datapad so that it displays her suit, then pulls it back to show the steaming, lava-filled apocalypse behind her.
"Hell?" Gabriel guesses. "There's a lot of ionization there.. that's the crater?" Fred asks, sounding harried.
"I bet you were wondering when I'd show up here, weren't you?" Tasha moves the camera again, so she can barely be seen to wink insider her helemet. "No, not Hell but I came close to a visit earlier. Fred has it right: I'm inside the impact crater. And over here ... " The camera pans again, showing the peculiar chunk of ex-Tesla, "Is the target; Or what's left of it anyway. Are you getting the spectrography?"
"There's a lot of gunk in the air, move closer if you can and switch the feed to mode C," Fred notes.
"You got it. Good work on the linear cannon, by the way. You probably saved quite a few lives -- mine included," Tasha notes as she walks towards the wall. When she gets close, she leans in, placing a hand on the material to help steady the camera before switching modes. "How's this?"
NOTE TO SELF: Removal Tasha italics.
"Okay, calcium, tungsten, carbon, silica.." Fred rattles off. "Similar to what they've harvested for testing around Tartarus. Nothing to get a genetic sample from of course. There must have been some ceramic sheathing as well for it to have survived the heat."
"Did you break my ship?" Gabriel asks over the link. Fred is quiet for a bit, before admitting, "Only a little bit. It'll buff right out, I promise."
Tasha steps away from the sample, turning back towards the crater. "Want me to look around for other samples? This doesn't appear to be the majority of it and I haven't found the main body yet -- if one even exists anymore. And Captain, I'm exceeding my rank by a lot here, but, be nice to Fred please. His hard work has helped a lot of people, and the JEF as well."
"Yeah, but I'm the one who has ultimate responsibility, since I'm the one who is technically alive and can be punished," Gabriel notes. "I'll talk to Vesuvius after this, see how bad things are."
"If you can find something small enough to bring in for analysis, that would be best," Fred offers.
"Not just you: I'm surrounded by an army. If things had gone wrong, I'd have been either dead, routed, or faced with an angry city and combined military force. Besides, I'd hardly let you face any punishment alone. You know that." The camera goes black, then pops back in with a picture of Tasha's face; The men can see her eyes flick as she searches the ground, but there's something off: Her fur is a mess! "This debries cloud is playing havoc with visual ranges, and of course thermal is out of the question. I can't even use EM." She frowns and continues to fly.
"You can always go back later," Gabriel suggests. "It won't all be underwater."
"I like the challenge. Besides, I'm trying to stay out of the Knights' hair. They suffered some casualities and, well, an outsider probably isn't welcome right now -- especially an offworld one." Several seconds later, after Tasha exits a cloud in to a relatively open area, she spots an island below and descends. "I'm going to check along side the crater itself, while it's still filling. If there's any trouble there's so many updrafts here I can get out quickly if I need to. Heading in."
The ground isn't particularly stable on the island, since it's probably from a post-impact landslide. The upside is that it carried a lot of debris down with it, and is loose enough to dig through. There are more organo-metallic fragments scattered about, some that might be bone chips and others that look like part of Tesla's armor.
Having little idea which are the important ones and which aren't, Tasha simply starts gathering whatever she can and putting it in one of her empty belt pouches. It reminds her of when she was a child and used to gather shiny stone when The Rake was moored on the surface.
Creepy, monsterous shiny stones, she thinks in a sing-song voice. My life has is really strange, annnd, I'm in a pit. Soon she's back in the air again, moving from island to island and collecting whatever looks interesting.
There isn't much more of interest on the island, which beginning to sink anyway as the water level keeps rising. The influx from the canal river has cooled things down considerably, causing a lot of groaning and pinging as the stone reacts to the rapid temperature change.
Time to go. Tasha decides. Exiting is considerably easier than entering, thanks to the significant therma updrafts caused by the smouldering crater and rising steam crater. A couple of minutes later she's out, and another ten sees her back at the camp.
The injured have been moved out.. well, the biological ones anyway. Heavy machines stand inert across the plain, waiting for crews to see if they can be recovered. Huge flatbed carriers have arrived, and the Titans are being moved or loaded onto them, depending on how much power and mobility they still retain. An Eeee waves to Tasha from the back of one such truck, where the odd looking Vastille sits.. in an almost fetal position, curled up to make as small a figure as possible.
"Hi, Viceroy!" Tasha calls to the Eeee. She hurries after him, catching the side of the truck before pulling herself up to sit next to him. "I'm glad to see you're alive," she tells him as she removes her helmet, legs hanging off the side of the truck. "How's Vastille?"
"He needs to have his cooling fluids flushed, but otherwise performed quite well," Villem says, leaning back to pat one of the Titan's legs. "I was worried about his knees, but everything looks good. Nothing he can't heal from. How is your mighty Gryphon?"
"Damaged and running system checks. We were inside the blast radius when the strike hit, which I'm not happy about. There was some miscommunication and a lack of clear direction, which I intend to include in my report. Otherwise, he's still functional and I don't think the damage will be severe, but I don't like to see him injured, either. I'm sure you understand," the cadet answers as she leans back, putting her head against the Titan.
"I do not know how you would even attempt maintenance on such a machine," Villem notes. "But I am sure you have a way of doing so. I am looking forward to some rest when we get back to the city. What are your plans?"
"Well, I confirmed the destruction of Tesla, so that concludes my part of this operation. I'll probably be heading back to the Templar Academy with Captain Frane and the others, but, honestly, I'd almost rather just stay here. At least here I feel useful, like I can do something and know what I'm doing; Even if I do rely on Mel for a lot of it at least I feel like I belong here. Like I can excel," the young woman answers, her arms folding under her head as she looks up at the sky. "I think I made a mistake. I've been urged to keep at it, but, I don't know. I wasn't prepared for what it was really like, and I honestly don't know if I can succeed."
Tasha sighs, head shaking. "No, succeeding is too grand a result. I'll be doing well if I can keep limping behind the others."
"Ah, so you see the academy as.. ah, a competition?" Villem asks. "Are you learning nothing of use to you?"
"Everything is a competition," Tasha notes, her fingers tapping against her arm in a steady clunk-clunk of metal. "Whether we do it together or not. But mostly, I'm competing against myself and the future." She makes a face, half wry and half disapproving as she looks over. "I know what you're thinking, that it's a group effort. I know that. Frane has pushed me to see it and I know what he wants -- but I can't accept it. I don't know why! I used to feel it. I used to ... "
Tasha shakes ehr head again, turning back towards the sky. "Tactics and strategy. Vocabulary. History. I'm learning a lot -- and yes I know that's worth something to. I know."
"But you feel that perhaps it is not the right time for you to be learning it?" the bat asks. "You are still just a girl, and sitting still and listening is difficult for the young. I would often trick my tutors into letting me go play when I was supposed to be studying."
"Tutors?" Tasha looks over again, brows raising. "Oh, that's right, I forget that most people on Abaddon have gone to school, but I didn't realize everyone got a tutor too. Or, is that something you got along with your rank ..? I assumed 'Viceroy' was a rank of some kind, but now that I have time to think about it, I really don't know which. And to answer your question, maybe you're right. It's hard to go from adventure and exploration to listening to someone talk about things for hours and hours. And the procedure! The right pencils -- I'd never heard of pencils before! -- and be here by then and do this this way and ... and ... " The young woman heaves a sigh, thumping her head back against the bioroid. "Maybe I'm just angry."
"Very few have private tutors," Villem notes. "It is only because my family was wealthy. You might do well with a tutor, as they only have the one student and can tailor things to play to your strengths. What have you to be angry about, if I may ask?"
"Um ... Well. See ... " Tasha pauses, clearly considering her words as she stares up, brows narrowing in thought. "I failed, you know? I failed in a really big way. It's what cost me half my face. When it was just me, I couldn't do anything! I couldn't even die right! I had to be saved."
"Yes, that is something mere mortals are often susceptible to," Villem agrees. "Are you angry that you failed, or that you survived?"
"Failed," Tasha replies, at least at first. She then frowns, brow narrowing a moment as something occurs to her. "Well, ... Maybe both."
"I can't afford failure. Not major failure. Maybe not even the small kind. The price is too high," she murmurs a second later.
"And have you gained wisdom?" Villem asks. He flexes one of his wings.. which looks a bit wrong somehow. "I shattered my wing when I was young. I was being foolish, of course. Now I am not so foolish. Was the price too high for that lesson? I do not know. It's the price that I paid. There is always a price. But you get what you pay for, yes?"
"It is up to you make it worth the price you paid," the bat adds.
"I'm not sure what I got. Maybe wisdom, but my friend is dead, my faith is dead, and one of the paths to a better world is gone, too. I mean, yes, good things happened because we won, very good things, but if I had been more ready, or, capable, if I had been in more control, things could have been better. Should have been better!" Tasha balls her right hand, thumping it back against the bioroid. "I don't regret that we won, I regret that we had to fight that battle at all. That I didn't see it coming! That I couldn't stop it when it did! I don't regret that we won ... I regret that it went that far. If I had been better ... smarter, whatever, no one would have had to die today. But they did. And he did. And the price is too high to have happened at all, even though there was a gain in the end. It could have been gained anotehr way. Somehow."
"You believe you could have prevented the battle?" Villem asks. "You speak of the Titan battle, yes? Not many know of it, but I am 'in the business' as you might say."
"Yes ... A Titan battle. This world, something ... a being, an evil spirit ... It occupied the Titan I was entrusted with. The Titan I promised to show a better path, that I believed could be used for the good of Abaddon. And what happens? It's manipulated, turned against me, tried to consume me, too. Mel saved me, dispatched ... Um. remotely. But as I sat in the cockpit watching the Titan be twisted, waiting for it to devour me, too, I couldn't do anything. I tried! I fought it, I confronted it, I tried to destroy us both, but nothing! I couldn't do anything, even as the being I had made a promise to turned on me under its control!" Tasha pushes off the bioroid, eyes wide and hands clenching the air as she grits her teeth, stricken. "It rubbed it my face! It made me a liar, and a killer, and ... and ... I wish I could kill him again. And again, and again ... He didn't even say anything when he died. He just hid in the machine, like a coward!"
The Eeee's hand comes down on Tasha's shoulder. She can barely feel it through the armor, but it's still a reminder that she's here, in the present. "So, what could you have done to prevent this?" Villem asks. "I hear that often, you see. When someone snaps and goes on a rampage. When a critical machine suddenly fails. When anything bad happens. It is a trap, you see. There is nothing that could have been done. Oh, maybe something would have postponed the tragedy.. but without foreknowledge that it was going to happen in the first place, how would you know? Is every action you make leading towards or away from disaster? You do not know. So, what could you have done? Never used the Titan, perhaps? That might have worked, for a time. But is there really something, something definite, that would have preventing things from happening as they did?"
"I did know," Tasha mutters as she lays her hands on her knees, hunched over and staring as the red sand rolls by. "No one believed me. Even I wasn't sure. But there were signs. I was too fixated on the Titan to suspect an attack. But how could I have ... " She pauses, frowning, ears back, and suddenly looking very tired. "No. No, I suppose there wasn't. Maybe if I were a mage? How do you fight a spirit? A Sifran ... thing. It lurked in my mind, and in the Titan, but it wasn't anywhere else that I could touch. Like a ghost, or, a demon. It wanted me too, but I refused, so at least that I could stop, even if just for a few minutes. I ... I think I understand now, why the people of Abaddon fear magic so." She lets out a breath, head shaking. "I'm sorry, Viceroy."
"Sorry for what? And please, call me Villem," the bat says. "Viceroy is just a.. I don't know the term. Like Mister or Missus or Officer.."
"Sorry, Villem. I'm so used to addressing people properly that I forget the names, some times. Well, except for Captain Frane." Tasha leans back, pushing herself upright as she steadies herself. "Frane. He scares me in anotehr way. That's probably why I don't show him the respect he deserves. But, anyway ... " The woman glances over and smiles. "Thank you for letting a dumb girl ramble about her problems. I hate being mortal, you know?"
"I quite enjoy it myself," Villem notes. "After all, the alternative is being dead," he says with a wink. "And you can't party if you are dead. And I am going to have a party when I get back to the city. I imagine there will be many."
"A party?" Tasha asks, ears perking. "I hadn't even considered a party."
"There is always a celebration when the city is not destroyed," Villem notes. "Something of a tradition."
"Really? I had planned to just go back to the Citadel, but if there's a party we'll probably be delayed until after, won't we?" Asks the cadet.
"There will be the big public one, and I do not think the heroes of the hour will be allowed to miss it," Villem notes. "Everything will be on display, although there may not be time for a parade. Lots of alcohol will be consumed, food will be cooked out in the open, and several babies will be conceived."
"I guess I'd better go, as a JEF representative. The actual heros involved are too far away to come. I'll need to think about what to wear, and, um ... I've never been to a Abaddonian party before," Tasha admits, looking and sounding quite self concious as she scratches her left ear and glances down, thinking.
"You may wish to wash out your armor, but if you have a uniform you could wear that," Villem suggests, as the motor of the truck roars to life. "You should also see to getting your Titan loaded up. Many will want to see it."
"I didn't bring my uniform -- we left too suddenly and I didn't think I'd need it. Maybe I can borrow something? But the arnor is more obviously a JEF item ... " Tasha twists her muzzle, ears flicking. "I'm going to need to think about this! And hurry, um. I'd better go get Mel ready. Maybe I can use the gorge to clean him off ... " She looks up and waggles her fingers to the Eeee. "See you there? Hey, can I visit your Titan factory some time?"
"Certainly!" Villem calls over the noise. "And you can always party in your underwear if you have nothing else!"
"I don't that kind of public support," tasha says with a laugh. For a moment she smiles awkwardly, then she reaches over and shakes the Eeee's shoulder with a hand, fondly. "Let me know if you see Katherine Vesuvius!" She stands up, spreading her wings, "See you there!"
There is quite a bit of fanfare already happening by the time the last of the Titan transports roll into Expedition City. Being Abaddon, there isn't any confetti or other parade staples that might show up on Rephidim, but it's made up for by shouting and cheering. There are a lot of hastily-made placards bearing the emblems of the participating forces as well. Since Tasha is on one of the last carriers, the crowd closes in behind her and starts marching alongside. A few of the Naga aircraft buzz overhead, trailing smoke as they do aerobatic maneuvers.
Too distracted by the battlefield and her struggles with the education system, Tasha never thought to be prepared for a parade. After scrambling to clean her Titan, her armor, and make herself as presentable as possible there was little time to do anything but load the Melchior and be swept along with the tide.
She stands now on her Titan's carrier, idling rbbing at the wrist of her upturned right hand. It's quite unnecessery, but between the anxciety of the battlefield and the sudden clamour of the crowd, she finds herself a lot more bewildered than she would have liked.
Even so, she tries to mask her lack of preparedness by keeping her face a mask, her helmet tucked under her arm as the carrier rolls along. What matters is that I'm seen, Tasha insists to herself. Fred and Gabriel can't be here, so I need to make up for that.
The carriers seem to be making a loop through the city, rather than heading directly to the train yards. Some of the carriers are already host to impromptu parties, as locals clamber onto the flatbeds carrying food and drink. And while the marching band is not in town, there are plenty of others - way more than seems probably, but then it is sort of a college town, and so there are a lot of small amateur groups. Passing out of range of one just puts you in range of two more. During the parade, Tasha does see a big stage being erected outside of the University though, so something more must be planned.
When it becomes apparent that the carrier crews are the source of interest, Tasha is sure to wave to the crowds as the other groups do. At first she does it because it seems the thing to do, but after a while with all the cheering, smiles, and things being tossed her way, she finds that she rather enjoys it. She almost misses the big construction in the pagentry of it all, glancing over when she catches it during a turn and watching it for a moment.
Eventually, the Titans do turn off the main circular road and head for the depot. There, giant cranes and other heavy equipment wait to greet them (and to transfer them to train cars) except that they are still for the moment. Work comes later! Open-backed vehicles are starting to move in the other direction, carrying everyone healthy enough to enjoy the festivities. A clearly private vehicle stops near Tasha's still-parking transport, with Villem in the rumble seat waving to Tasha. The car is three-wheeled, with two seats on either side of the powered rear wheel and an enclosed cab up front. "Need a ride?" he calls.
Tasha's grin is broad. "I thought I was going to have to walk," she admits as she races over, then vaults the door and lands in the passenger seat. "Thanks for coming! Hey, do you the armor is scaring people? Is it my face?"
"They may not be sure how to approach you," Villem admits. "Our Titans are distinctive, as are we. Larger than life, and all!"
"Is that it? I would have never guessed!" Tasha barks a laugh as she settles in, then waves to a nearby group waving to them. "I really wasn't expecting, well, this. It's all very exciting! And a bit intimidating."
"People don't need much of an excuse to party, but this is a good one," Villem notes. He hasn't bothered explaining where they're headed though. "How are you handling it? Have you ever spoken in public before?"
"Um, well, I have attended Council meetings and treatise before. And spoke to the, um, press? That's what they're called, right? I spoke to them once, when I first arrived in the Pit. Usually the Captain handles politics and public speaking," the young woman answers. With all the excitement, movement and the glittering of alcohol-filled glasses everywhere, her head turns and tilts like it might be on the verge of avian focus overload. "I figured I'd have to some day, but, um, I-I really wasn't expecting it to be, um, today."
"So I'm pretty nervous," Tasha concludes as she blinks away a sudden bulb flash from a camera.
"Well, you might be asked to say something, since it your group's cannon that ended Tesla's threat," Villem notes. "Unless there are more of him, of course!"
"O-oh, well, of course, I mean, I can do that." Tasha shifts her gaze again, her ears flicking as she redices she's never been to this part of Expedition City before. "Where are we going anyway, Vil?"
"To the big stage of course," Villem notes. "Katie Kaboom will probably be there! I bet she smooches us!"
"K-katie?" Tasha asks, eyes widening. "Oh, b-but of c-course she'd be there. I m-mean, she is katie Kaboom, and, um, a-all." The woman makes a a nervous giggle, ears back.
"Ah, are you a fan?" Villem asks. "I have one of her posters. For inspiration, of course!"
"Oh, I, um, do t-too. For um, inspiration," Tasha confirms, grinning a little despite herself. "I, um, I like her. I saw her at the ... The track. Urm, racing. She's very popular, isn't she?" Then she bites her lip, looking off in to the crowd.
"I'm hoping she'll sing, but with all the noise and short notice that may be too much," Villem notes. "I mean, an hour before the battle ended most of these people were in evacuation mode."
Blinking out of her reverie, the red woman glances back to the Eeee. "I'm still in war mode, so I sympathize completely. It still seems strange to me that there'd be so much happiness after such a tragic event, but, that's the point, right? I think somewhere in all the drive to establish the JEF, I forgot things like this. Did you know I used to wait taverns?"
"Was it fun?" Villem asks. "I don't get out to them very often - bit of a lightweight in the drinking department! And how else do you burn off all the adrenaline and whatnot still swirling around in you after battle?"
"Um, it was something, all right. My mother owns a tavern, so when I wasn't on the ship I got stuck serving drinks. I think my mother thought it was funny. I though it was a pain in the butt, in more ways than one." Tasha makes a face, rolls her head to watch the driver. "I used to be a different person, you know? Really different. How about you? Is being a viceroy any fun?"
"Well, I did have to marry someone I'd never really met before," Villem notes. "But that actually made things so much easier and stress-free I think. I'm certainly happy with it! And I don't have any sort of public duties or anything - I don't hold a government office or such, it's just more like.. ah.. upper management. I do get hands-on in the running of my family business after all."
"Really? Upper management? I suppose it's like being a commander, or maybe a captain, but somewhere below the very high flag ranks? I've heard of arranged marriages, too: Mostly the nobility on Sinai, but you're of that sort too, so, maybe it's the same? Me, I'm just a cadet, and probably will be one for a long time at this rate." Tasha laughs wryly. "Oh and to answer your question, I, um, don't. Apparently. Mostly I just break down, but I don't break."
"Well if you're going to break down anyway you may as well make the fall enjoyable, right?" Villem asks with a big grin, as the pull in with the other vehicles behind the big stage. There's still a huge crowd filling the area.. it's just not focused on the stage yet. There is a lot of cooking and eating and drinking going on - but then, maybe they were all ready to go 'camping' anyway as part of the evacuation, so everything was just on hand.
"Keep it orderly," the familiar bellow of Captain Frane commands. "At least try to stay with your own battalion! You can trade cigarettes afterwards!"
Tasha giggles rather profusely at the mention of breaking down and enjoying it, still grinning as they pull in to the lot. "Busy, isn't it? I could use something to eat, but will they mind if I walk around in powered armor? I don't want to startle anyone after what they've been trhough -- a lot of them look like civilian-" She pauses as a familiar voice carries over the crowd, ears canting back and grin ebbing. "Hm, Captain Frane is here. Lets, um, lets get something to eat and head for the stage. I could use a drink, too."
There are plenty of stalls (and one mobile kitchen-in-a-truck) with fresh-cooked food for the soldiers, although the ones offering beer or stronger drinks are being closely watched by sergeants and other officers. There's quite a lot of 'deep-fried stuff on a stick' available, for some reason.
Being a big fan of 'fried stuff on a stick,' this is Tasha's first stop. She steps in line to wait her place in line, tunring to her companion to ask, "I guess we fall in with the soliders, as far as food goes? I doubt we have drinking restrictions, either, but I might as a studet -- another thing I wasn't expecting!"
"I think it is more that they do not want anyone to be drunk on the stage," Villem notes. "Drunk comes afterwards."
The stuff on a stick even comes with dipping sauces! There's red, orange, blue and green. And very watered down beer (but there's supposedly beer in the batter, even though the alcohol is long gone).
"Good point, I'll limit my intake. I haven't been drinking like I used to, so I need to be careful anyway," Tasha notes before she sips her beer -- then promptly ruins the effect by stuffing the end of her skewer in her mouth. She chomps on it with a merry grin and a content wag of her tail; Together, they make their way towards the stage.
Officers are there at the ramps to direct people to the proper places. Tasha and Villem are sent to stand with the Titan pilots, who are all grouped together whether local or from the Winged Citadel, if only to make their group seem a bit less small compared to the others.
They still manage to stand out, seeing as only three of them aren't Silent-Ones (a few of witch are sporting casts, arm slings and bandages, but nothing to keep them away from being on stage).
After both figuratively and literally wolfing her food down, Tasha throws back half her drink and puts it aside for the stage. "I need courage to face Katie," she insists to the guard as she passed, heading for her spot with the others.
Once she's in place, she glances back at her fellows and smiles before turning her attention forward again.
From up on the stage, the crowd looks huge, and there's no place to hide except behind a taller pilot. The metal stage vibrates with the steps of the Templars and others still filling it up.
"That, um, that's a lot of people. I didn't know there were so many people," Tasha murmurs to Villem as she stares at the crowd, fixated.
There's a gap between the Titan crews and the artillery folks, which is eventually filled up by several Nagas, all wearing fur-lined leather jackets and goggle-equipped leather helmets. They're all big and somehow.. square-jawed. The fancy jackets have stylized dragons on them with insect wings.
As she stares, it strikes Tasha that others she may know could be here: The people she met when she came to speak to Hakeber, for example, and of course Hakeber herself. At first she doesn't look, instead watching the pilots arrive both out of curiosity and nervousness, but eventually she returns her gaze to the crowd and looks carefully. She's not certain what her relationship to the diminutive scholar is, and part of her doesn't want to find her, but she decides it's better to be surprised now than later, when she's before the mic.
There are just too many in the crowd to pick out any individuals, and that view is then dimmed a bit when the stage lights come on. A silhouette passes between the lights and the warriors, and then an amplified voice calls out, "Let me hear you howl, Expedition City!" It's Katie, and her request is answered by hundreds of Karnor throats.
Tasha almost howls too, and only by a sudden burst of self control avoids it. Embarassedly, grins at her fellows, shrugging a bit. If they only knew, she wonders as she turns back. Even the red woman isn't sure she nearly howled because every other Karnor was doing it, or because Katherine told her too. She does her best to suppress her giggle as the thought crosses her mind.
"Before we get started, I have an official request from the mayor!" Katie says. "She asks that you please not cause any more damage by celebrating than Tesla would have if he'd reached the city!" There a roar from the crowd, and Katie continues with, "But that's not what you want to hear, is it? You want to meet the men and women that made it all possible! And while not all of them can be here on stage, there haven't been any fatalities! How's that grab you?" She waves her arms like an orchestra conductor to bring the cheers up to a new level of loudness.
No fatalities ... Tasha can feel a wave of relief surge through her, along with a heavy weight lift that she didn't realize was there. Both feelings as manifested in a long, low exhale as she listens to the crowd cheer.
"This was the largest cooperative military mobilization in a generation," Katie claims. "Forces from the Celestial Empire, Silent-Ones, Expedition, Confederates and Knights Templar all took part, including the new Joint Expeditionary Force. And Expedition City wouldn't have it any other way right?" More cheers from the mixed crowd.
At that, Tasha smiless. It's good to know we're not the only ones interested in cooperation, she decides. From her history lessons, she knows that was not always the case, or even the norm. Instead it is result of a new era that began with the arrival of the Pit of Himaar, and the activiation of the Crystal Tower. Nothing brings people together like mutual gain and mutual fear, I guess!
"Now let's meet them!" Katie cheers. "You should all know our locals by now, but in case you forgot, here are the Expedition City Armored Cavalry!" The group on the far end of the stage steps forward to the cheers.
Tasha claps right along side everyone else. She wasn't sure if she should or not, but decided to take the gamble favoring honesty -- and hoping she doesn't come across as sarcastic or any other emotion she'd rather not be attributed.
It takes awhile to introduce each group - the engineers have to be done in several sub-groups because there are so many of them. The Fireflies slither forward, the smallest group there, to quite a bit of fanfare. Everyone loves a pilot, it seems, and the Fireflies are the Empire's elite (and coincidentally most photogenic) squad. The Titan pilots are up next!
"Eeee," goes Tasha under her breath once she realizes they're next. She has since folded her arms behind her back, but the pilots behind her can see her fidget.
"And now, from the Winged Citadel, Expedition City and Star City - the Dragonslayers, Kaiju Knights and Star Hammers Titan Squadrons!" Katie introduces. "With the pilots of Melchior and Vastille from the Joint Expeditionary Force and Confederate Vasterlion Bioroid Corporation!"
Grateful she doesn't need to talk, Tasha happily smiles and waves to the crowd. Glad to love, and be loved.
"And a final special shout out to the ultra-long-range artillery support from the JEF!" Katie says. "They can't be here, and probably have a huge mess to clean up, but we should all raise a drink for them tonight as well!"
At that, Tasha claps all over again -- but then she pauses. Quickly she fishes out her datapad, rapidly punches things in and whispers urgently, "/Bellerophon/, computer, connect ship intercom, all channels and play recorded audio!/"
It takes a moment, but the indicators come up showing the data transfer was successful, so that the cheers are heard aboard the Bellerophon.
Tasha smiles all the broader to see the link work. She decides to leave it recoding, so Fred and the others can listen as well, but quickly readjusts so that Eli and Gabriel recieve the recordings as stored data on their own datapads.
"So let's show these people some hospitality and appreciation!" Katie announces. "And make sure they all get to sleep in a soft warm bed! Fire up the pizza ovens and stoke the generators, it's time to light up the night!"
"Safe. No speeches," Tasha murmurs to herself once she sees that she may have dodged the bullet after all.
This seems to be the signal for the crowd to rush the stage! And even more bizarrely, Knights and soldiers are actually running forward and throwing themselves off the stage towards them!
The sudden rush of the crowd completely takes tasha aback, leaving her as the only person who actually backsteps at the oncoming press. As the others walk off or rush past her, she's left standing in the back and blinking, feelings quite silly. It makes her ears flatten to the side as she frowns, but after a second, she has to laugh at it all anyway.
The Nagas don't jump, since it takes a lot of people to support one.. so they wait until enough people show up to carry them off. Villem is tackled by a rather plump Eeee, whom he happily scoops up and kisses. And Tasha feels a hand on her upper arm. "Shall I throw you to the mob, or do you want to have a quieter party?" Katie says right into Tasha's ear, so she can hear it.
Tasha goes red -- redder, even redist if there could be said to be such a thing. Her ears shoot up and her eyes widen all at once; An electricity runs through her, up her spine and and to the ear that Katie whispers in, making it tingle.
At first she can only mouth words, and when that fails, she simply nods slowly, glancing over and smiling.
And then, she giggles.