RP-METAL WINGS

[Hiki]

*Vanilla looked at the battle and realised that she felt something she thought she wouldn't feel again for a long time. She thought her mother had rid her of these dark thoughts, but apparently this was not the case. Vanilla started concentrating on the feelings, letting them wash over her. Then she shook her head and mentally slapped herself before concetrating on the battle in front of her again. Vanilla wouldn't allow herself to give in to those thoughts again. Or at least not now..*

Vanilla: They're really good! That's just amazing!

[Zeratul2k]

Ryu: I have a question, though...

Victoria: What is it?

Ryu: How come Grey can handle that mech so well?

Victoria: I shouldn't tell you this... but I guess you'll find out eventually, anyway. Both Grey and Emma have had to fight in a mech before. What he knows, he knows from experience.

* Ryu hummed as he looked at the fight again. Rick had pushed Grey away and looked more conservative, trying to keep him at bay. *

Ryu: That puts the rest of the pilots on a disadvantage...

[Raine]

Maythan : ENOUGH1!!!simulation done

*The two mechs stop,Maythan clap his hands,nila got out of the ic pool and stood behind grey looking down at the pricipal she clenched her fist*

Maythan : Nila kytes....i trust will be seeing you often at school now


FLASH BACK

*a 14 year old Nina was standing in the outside field watching as the 5th pilot is being carried away,with injuries around his body,behind her the principal sigh*

Principal :They will be okay...

Nila: I won't do it anymore!!!

Principal :Im sure someday one of them will handle you

Nila: when that day comes,it will be the day i join the academy....

END OF FLASHBACK

Nila: i...i wont go back on my word

[oldwrench]

Maythen: Alright, next competition will be Tan and Vanilla against Lara and Ran. *Maythen had a bit of a wicked smile. This could be interesting, They wanted him to find out if those two would be a superior pair when working together, but it would be interesting to see how they worked out on opposing teams.*

*Tan got into his mech, he turned to help Vanilla, but she was already standing by the IC tank. She looked quite apprehensive. It was a hard thing to just climb into that vat of fluid. it went against our nature. Somehow you had to get the courage to trust it would be alright..... Tan looked over the controls, it was quite different from the older mechs he had piloted, and the students weren't supposed to know how to operate it, but it was all familiar to Tan. When he'd learned he was going to try for pilot, he'd asked his teachers for any information or simulation of the Machina. They told him it was classified, only the students of the academy saw those. But several days later, he was handed an envelope, it had contained all the pilot information, and a computer simulation of the Machina. Tan had never been in one, but he knew the control system very well. He closed his eyes and felt the controls. He had to remember, these controls didn't even connect to the mech, somehow, they connected his will to the soul of the IC. Tan had never been close to anyone, could he do this now?*

*Ran almost laughed as she climbed into the very familiar confines of the IC tank. She had been in the tanks many times at Fairchild industries. Not just the simulator tanks, but tanks in actual new Machina. But this was different, she had never been allowed in with a pilot. Now she could feel the machine inside her, but also the pilot. If this pilot's soul would just sync with hers, she was sure she would bond with the Machina.... Lara looked over the cockpit. Now she wasn't so sure, this was very different than the simple mechs she'd piloted. The basic functions were similar, but, they seemed to move very differently. Well, her opponent couldn't know any more about it than she did, and she could make any mech do what she wanted.*

Maythen: Mech teams, for this competition you will use arc rods. Each mech will have two rods. A touch to a vulnerable point on the opponents mech will be counted as a point. First to ten points wins the competition. Remember, this is just an evaluation of each students relative sync ability. We know you have no experience with Macina, so work on familiarizing yourself with the basic functions. The team with the best sync will be the victor.

Tan: We'll be alright, Vanilla, just do your best and things will work out.

[Zeratul2k]

* Ryu looked at Grey and Nila climbing out of the Soul Finder, then at Tan and Vanilla climbing into another one at the end of the field. Lara and Ran also climbed in one and the two machines slowly came to life. He sighed and sat next to Vince, who was still looking at Robert stand next to Victoria. Ursula followed Ryu, but stood next to him instead of sitting down. *

Ryu: I'm getting nervous now...

Ursula: It's going to be ok, somehow.

Ryu: What makes you say that?

Ursula: I just know!

* She gave him a smile and he laughed while turning to Vince. *

Ryu: Hear that, Vince? We have an optimist right here.

* He looked back towards Ursula, still smiling. *

Ryu: Have you ever done something like this?

Ursula: Nope. You?

Ryu: I know the basics, but I haven't ever really piloted. I mean, I did have to move Aura's arms once when we were replacing the servos, but this is completely different...

Ursula: Aura?

Ryu: Ehh... mom's machina. She's a retired Royal Air Force pilot.

Ursula: Ooh, I see.

* Ryu sighs again and leans back on the bench. *

Ryu: I don't even want to pilot one of these things, why do I have to go through with this?

[oldwrench]

*Tan easily moved the mech controls, trying to feel the movement, somehow to let Vanilla into his mind..... his soul, but he didn't know how to do it. He was relieved when the machine moved with him, not exactly as he wanted, but still, he was controlling it. He almost swor as he looked out, the other mech was already charging at them. Tan yanked the controls around trying to dodge, but the response was slow. He almost got away, but Lara scored a point. Tan tried to strike as the other mech raced by, but his strike was just behind.*

*Lara smiled, she didn't need to do any fancy maneuvers, she'd just overpower them. She rushed forward, she'd intended to strike with both rods, but Tan moved sideways, and she couldn't compensate. She did ge one hit in though....... Ran frowned, the pilots movements were to jerky, and uncoordinated. Didn't she know how to handle a mech?*

*Maythen glanced at the readouts, The sync between the IC and mech in Lara's machina was very good, but the pilot sync was weak, as was expected. Tan's machina showed slightly above normal sync for pilot and IC, but the mech sync was still behind. Looks like Lara had a definite advantage.*

[Zeratul2k]

* Ryu looked at the fight while still leaning back on the bench. He stared at the two Soul Finders, examining every one of their movements. Ursula kept watching Ryu, wondering what he was doing. *

Ursula: Do you see something out of the ordinary?

Ryu: Maybe...

* Victoria heard that and walked up to them. *

Victoria: Care to share it with us, Mr. Kamau?

Ryu: ... well... Miss Lansing's unit has a loose left knee joint, though she isn't putting too much pressure on it. I think she's noticed and is overusing the right leg to compensate.

Victoria: What about Mr. Hallyn's?

Ryu: His is ok... I think...

* Victoria smiled and crossed her arms. You taught him well, sis. He'll be ok out there. *

[Hiki]

*Vanilla realised that she had trouble trusting Tan. She figured it was her fault that it wasn't going too smoothly. Her concentration was fading but then herself from the past made her pay attention again.
Then what am I supposed to do!? her voice echoed in her head and she immediately concentrated on the fight again.*

That's right, she thought, I'm doing this for my brother..

Vanilla: Alright, let's do this.

*She let everything wash over her..*

Alright, time to give some directions.

[oldwrench]

*Lara pushed into the attack again. There was a yellow marker flashing on one display, she didn't know what it was, didn't care, they were winning. She had six points to Tan's two. He seemed awkward, always late......... Ran was becoming furious, you couldn't push the mech that hard, it wasn't a full war machine. Now there was a painful problem in the right knee. Damn, Lara was over reacting again........ As Lara tried to spin after Tan as he dodged her attack, her mech stumbled and went down on it's knees.*

*Tan was frustrated, his knuckles were white as he fought the controls. The response was always late, sometimes, the machina just didn't do the things he wanted to do. He'd tried to match the attacks of Lara, but was always to slow. Another attack and he'd even missed the stumbling mech. Ads it fell to it's knees, he backed off. What was wrong with his IC?? He switched a display to a diagnostic function that new students wouldn't know about. Couldn't she ........ Tan stopped as he looked at the readout, The mech was showing signs of acute stress..... his IC was in trouble, and it was his fault. he hadn't listened when Maythen told them to take their time, He'd been expecting the mech to react like the old mechanical mech....... Tan let loose of the controls, he closed his eyes a moment.

Tan: I'm sorry, Vanilla, I've been expecting..... demanding things that we just aren't able to do yet. I'll try to learn, and do better. Please, don't be angry with me. You've done so well to keep us in the game this far. Let's try again, we can do this, I know. *Tan lightly held the controls, no more fighting them, he realized there would be some lag time that was to be expected for the first try, but now, he would work with it. Instead of fighting against Vanilla, he had to let her in.*

*Tan watched Lara's attack, slower this time. He waited, Ready,Vanilla, he thought, it's our turn now. Tan felt a warmth wash over him, unlike anything he'd experienced. Moving smoothly, yet quickly, instead of trying to spin and dodge, he blocked Lara's attack and ducked under getting in two strikes of his own. Tan moved away to the side, feeling more sure of his movements. He watched as Lara spun around, knocked her right arm up with his and struck a blow with his right stick. He shouldered through her left arm and struck with his left stick as he moved away. He smiled, they had scored four points and only lost one in that exchange.*

*Lara was screaming, what was with that idiot, Ran. That was way to slow. She was worthless as an IC. If they lost this she'd kill her......... Ran struggled, fighting between the demands of the pilot, and the problems with the mech. If she gave in to the will of that stupid girl, the mech would fail and they would lose for sure. She had to do things her way.*

*Maythan was smiling at his display, whild the pilot to IC sync for Lara's machina was deteriorating, the decline in Tan's machine had suddenly turned around. It seemed to early to happen, but had Vanilla and Tan reached that point where the two souls touched? Very interesting.

[Zeratul2k]

Ursula: Oh, look at that~! Are Tan and Vanilla getting along now?

Ryu: Could be, but it's also true that Miss Lansing's mech isn't moving too well, either.

* Ryu sighed and got up. *

Ursula: Where are you going?

Ryu: To get ready. This is going to end soon, and the sooner I get this fight out of the way, the sooner I can get to doing what I came to do.

Ursula: Oh... I'm coming with you, then.