Ambrosia looked at Suke a moment as he asked if there was anything else. It seemed like an open invitation to speak, however before she did so, Yamato said something about getting it over with. She normally associated that with getting the job at hand done. But on his words, the blond-haired male of the squad burst out laughing, with Jerry almost following closely behind, he was fighting it, he really was trying hard not to break down entirely, but hearing Trigger laugh was weakening him as tears rolled down the side of his face as he snickered uncontrollably.

Ambrosia looked at Suke once more before staring up at Destro and aside to Claire again. the woman gave her a strange look, because Ambrosia wasn't looking directly at her face.. She then looked forward again, holding up on hand, almost like a child, to garner attention before she looked up at Destro again, hesitating at first but then took a firm stance,
"You are the largest man I have ever seen." She stated initially. Jerry seemed stunned at first, having to look around the older man a moment at Ambrosia. He had barely even expected a line like that, but what came next more or less broke the internal dam entirely. She turned to Claire quietly, again hesitating before she asked out loud,
"Will my.. Breasts grow as large as yours..?"

Jerry snapped, finally bursting out with laughter, he laughed so hard that he even found difficulty breathing, let alone standing up. Ambrosia, meanwhile, looked clueless. Claire was staring at her, utterly dumbfounded. Even Shirley was stunned at what she'd just heard. Ambrosia meanwhile looked past Destro at Jerry and Trigger, clueless and unsure of what exactly had made the two laugh so much before she looked at Suke again, head tilted ever slightly,
"Do they have a medical condition..?"

Claire covered her mouth and her nose, now she too was having some difficulty not laughing, though she was nowhere near as uncontrollable as Jerry or Trigger, who were likely having a riot at this by now, she managed to straighten her face just enough, though it looked agonizingly clear that she had almost laughed out loud as well.This was a complete reverse from yesterday. If anything was going to make them fail whatever exercise that came next; it was that they wouldn't be able to stop.

It was hilarious, causing Trigger to be unable to stop laughing. When Ambrosia spoke up herself, the words made the man almost fall over in laughter. Diego looked away, trying to keep a serious face himself now. Suke laughed warmly, shaking his head a bit. From a doctor’s point of view, this was funny in more ways than one. Destro looked to the female, a bit surprised by the sudden mention of his height, then of Claire’s attributes as well. He even smiled, shaking his head before he lit a cigar. Yamato sighed, gently pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes closing, he could just tell this was going to be a long trip. “You may discuss this on your own time, for now everyone on the plane” they had wasted enough time, he could explain there. Stepping past them, he walked out onto the runway where a large craft was waiting for them. Suke gave Shirley a light wink, before following the chief. Diego stretched his arms above his head, “time to get this show on the road” he walked out.

Destro glanced at Claire “you can explain that one to her” he said, before walking out himself with a smile. Trigger couldn’t stop laughing, there were so many comments he could make at the moment, but most of them would probably lead to him getting hit by Claire. Instead, he attempted to catch his breath, turning to exit as well. It was not easy, all of the words swirling in his mind. He would have fun with this for a long time. Stepping into the plane, Yamato glanced around. It was a private jet, with seats to both side and a long slender metal table running down the center. A screen was at the head, next to the door that led to the pilot room. Their pilot already situated and ready for take-off, all that was left, was for the others to find their seats. Once they took off, it would be no laughing matter. Makoto hurried out to the bay, entering in time to see everyone laughing and exiting. She raised an eyebrow, had she missed something? Or did she even want to know? She ushered the remaining people out, they were behind schedule as it was.

Ambrosia continued to stare around curiously at the others. There were smiles all around her, laughter, it had begun with Shirley and what she'd said, but it seemed when Ambrosia spoke she'd inadvertently said something that only increased the effects of Shirley's words. She curiously glanced up at Destro first when he regarded Claire, then looked over at the other woman inquisitively, although it was probably too difficult to speak with the noise being produced by Trigger and Jerry. Claire simply stared over at Destroy with a wry smile and a shake of the head before she placed her hand on Ambrosia's back, nudging her forward so that they could start filing towards the plane.

Ambrosia's eyes had turned temporarily to Yamato again, he was the only one she could see with that usual stern look. She didn't really like that expression, it seemed incorrect to her, just like when she'd first seen it. She turned her head to look back at Jerry and Trigger as the former of the two managed to finally pick himself back up off the ground, having to use the sleeves of his suit to wipe at his face, yet he couldn't help but to break into fits of small giggles still. Shirley was always a source of good humor but he'd never expected to hear Ambrosia say anything remotely close to what she had, especially to Claire, it took some serious guts, or some-one amazingly oblivious to ask something like that.

Ambrosia had seated herself close tot he front, finding Claire just at her side. It was purely out of normal instinct for Jerry to find a place next to Trigger, whether they'd had a downturn yesterday or not, it always stuck that they were friends, it would have taken far worse to seperate them entirely. Shirley stuck close to Diego as usual, though a thought occurred to her. Why were they taking a private jet? Didn't they have a land carrier? What exactly was going on today anyway? She had a bad feeling that this was another of the leaders bizarrely random whims. Even if the squad got it, she didn't.

Trigger plopped down into his seat, Diego sitting near the back, so he could work with his laptop. Makoto took a seat up front next to Yamato, who crossed his arms and closed his eyes. The craft took off, everyone having to place their seatbelts on when they did, before soon enough they stabilized in the air. Once they did, Makoto opened her breiefcase, slipping out a few papers with the mission report upon them was a picture of a island. She handed one to each of them, as the chief stood up from his seat. "This mission will not be like others you have faced" he said, a picture of the island being pulled up behind him. "It will determine your future on this squad as individuals, as well as the future of the squadron as a unit" he looked at each of them.

"The island has been specially modified to act as a real life simulation of battle. This means you will be facing the elements as well as enemies. These enemies will not be like the AI units back at the base...they will be set to try and eliminate you" he says serious. "Though they will not be allowed to fully follow through, you are to treat each enemy as if they would...if your unit is damaged enough that you are unable to be of use any more, you will be removed from the exersise under the lable that you have been exterminated" he continues. Now was not the time to waste, he would allow questions after. "You have three days, to find and exterminate a nest cell that is hidden somewhere upon the island" he says, "you will not know where, or how many enemies are upon the island to stop you. The goal is to take out the cell, quickly, efficiently and maximize enemy defeat...while minimizing damage to yourselves."

Diego listened in silence, taking a breath. Makoto wore a stern expression, watching the chief. Suke reclined a bit in his seat, a faint smile upon his lips. Trigger silent, as he swallowed lightly. "You will be able to choose where to station the Land Shark, giving you acess to agents Rielsa, Martinez, Walters and Orashi. Keep in mind though, that since this is to be a simulation of the actual field.....enemies may discover and eleminate the Shark as well...rendering your help as eliminated as well" he remained serious and stern as he spoke, pausing for a moment to let all of this sink in. "A ship will be docked far out of the way of the island...those who have been eliminated during this time will be transported there with no contact or interference to the island itself" he said, "you are on your own as a team. If all of you are eliminated without finding and taking out the cell.......you can all find work elsewhere. You will be retured to your respective areas before the team for retraining, and the squadron will be disbanded."

Trigger sat fully upright now. Wait...he was serious? Man, talk about some initiative to succeed. Yamato then did something none of them probably saw coming, a light smirk lightly formed upon his lips. "Succeed however....and the data compiled within this experiment will go towards....special upgrades for each of your mechs." His eyes went to Diego for a moment, the tech specialist smiled, hearing those words. Trigger looked between the two, now suddenly wanting to know what this mystery prize was. It was going to eat at him until he knew, his eyes moving to each of them with a determined fire in his eyes. They had to win. If it had Yamato as close to smiling as he had ever seen him, they just had to.

"Unacceptable." Ambrosia responded almost immediately once Yamato had finished talking, "Unit destruction does not guarantee pilot destruction. If a pilot manages to escape a unit before total destruction it is their prerogative to continue the mission, assuming one-hundred percent failure means acquiring incomplete data and ignoring the possible variables. Such as a pilot acquiring control of an enemy unit." She stated, staring at Yamato, calm and poised in her seat, hands in her lap, there was no sign of indignation on her face, "I will approach this practice with total destruction of the enemy in mind. A condition such as them not fully following through makes this nothing more than a second pointless exercise. Unless they are prepared to kill me, I will destroy every unit on this island regardless of your conditions."

Jerry stared at Ambrosia, that was definitely the ice queen he'd heard before, but what she was saying sounded near enough insane,
"You're kidding, who the hell would try to take a mech on foot just so they could take it over?"
"I would." Ambrosia responded, glaring at Jerry, "I have successfully hijacked forty-three second generation units and thirteen third generation units in live-fire combat where I was at risk of perishing in the attempt. The unit you drive is disposable if the pilot is still able to fight." She added, staring at Yamato again, "This exercise will be a waste of time unless the risk imposed is genuine. It is an insult to a strong opponent to not offer your full strength in return." The last line she delivered was one Doctor Owens had once spoken to her, several times to Diego, in this case, the pilots were the opponent and they were being insulted.

Claire folded her arms and sighed, staring aside to Ambrosia a moment, but then to Yamato,
"She's right. I came here to be a soldier and a pilot, if I wanted to play war games I'd be sitting at home in a simulator." The woman stated firmly, actually taking Ambrosia's side in the matter. Jerry stared at the both of them like they were nuts before beginning to chuckle,
"Aw hell.. I'm being beaten to the punch.. man, I suck..!" He grinned at Trigger, "Waddya say? I think it's high time we had some real fun for once," With that he looked over at Yamato and smirked, "Fuck it, count me in, I'd rather be a dead man than another piece in some crappy little war game."

Shirley waited for a moment before raising her hand meekly at the back, hand shaking feebly,
"U-uhm.. Sir.. Yamato.. Sir..? W-where will you be during this exercise..?"

"Actually...It was nesecarry for you to state that" he said calmly, seemingly not bothered by the retalliation. "Regulation would have placed the simulation as such reguards. Seeing as we are in understanding however" he slipped a disk out of his pocket, tossing it on the table. "None of the AI units have ultimately been been fixed with any such protocol" he said. It would dawn on the others, that this had been the first part of their test. To see if they could willingly go into something as a unit that would require life or complete death. "No one actually has any idea where we are going, which is why you have not been told anything until now" he looked at Shirley then, as she spoke up with her question. "I will be within this exercise as well. I would not ask a single person to partake in something I was unwilling to do myself. As your leader, I will stand by my team as well as I always have" he said, "but since none of the units actually have safety...and no one knows where we are going...failure will mean your lives."

With that he slipped a black card out of his pocket. "Each of you has one of these...They will initially be fitted into your units...relaying everything back to a private source appart from computers related to the once running on base opperating systems" his expression once more became serious. "You have passed phase one...but the rest of this test will require working as a team as well" he says, "failure will not be an option. Pointless quarrels or failure to follow instructions will lead to the end..." He semi glanced at Ambrosia for a moment with this comment. "I will not tollerate any more insubordination once we land" he says, "I have faith and trust in each of you or you would not be here at all....Unless you do the same for me as well as your teamates you are nothing more than a liability." He crossed his arms, "there is no backing out now...If you have anything more to say, then speak now. If not and you agree......then a simple yes will suffice." The fact that he had already removed the deffence systems of the AI units, meant that he had been expecting them to say as such. And since he had told them now while they were going already, meant that he trusted them to decide to stay and stand with him.

Jerry rolled his eyes a little when Yamato spoke about faith and trust. It was a little hard to trust some-one who lied at every first corner. Having Ambrosia speak up first and practically rally himself and Claire unwittingly behind her had stripped away his initial lie. If he was going to preach about faith and trust he could put more of an effort forward in being truthful and honest with them first. Talos Squadron was his squadron wasn't it? Were they actually his squad-mates or just the closest pawns he had at hand? For the last couple of days, that was exactly how it felt. They were guinea pigs, nobodies for him to boss around and play head games with because he was in a political game with the rest of the higher-up clowns.
Jerry leaned on his hand as he listened, wondering what else Ambrosia had to say if there was anything else at all but she had fallen silent. There was something about the stare she was giving Yamato that said something about her. A solid mask that was covering some actual emotion.

He thought back to the previous exercise, the image of her shooting pointlessly at the mech with the new weapon came to mind. What had she said? The mechs not fully going through with killing them would make it a second pointless exercise? This was their second exercise as a team so he could only assume that was the first one. Had she actually been that frustrated by the last exercise? Claire clearly figured it out first when she told him to leave Ambrosia alone. He looked up when the dark-haired woman spoke suddenly.

"If you have faith in us and the rule of no more insubordination is only applicable after we land, your own words, then it's about time I say this; if our own Squad Leader, regardless of whether it is true or not, thinks out loud that his team might not trust each-other, what's his team supposed to think, hm?" Claire spoke up, glancing over at Yamato again. There were harsher, darker thoughts and questions on her mind, worse things she could say. But then she let Carl's way of thinking into her mind, she didn't want to believe her own paranoia, the truthfully dwindled faith she had in Yamato as a leader. Even with Carl gone, she could hear his blind cheer. He would have waved off Yamato's overly serious behavior and practically ignored the whole thing, although he had once said that he didn't deal very well with kids.

Ambrosia looked at Claire a moment, the woman didn't glance her way, then she looked at Yamato again. Trust, faith, these words were being thrown around so easily. She understood the concepts behind them, but the feeling behind them was still rather lost to her. Trust in itself seemed particularly difficult as she withdrew into herself some, she wasn't sure if the team would even trust her at all. Looking back on the previous day.
She was put forward by the Shareholders, obviously a despised group, Shirley acted strangely around her, Jerry showed no trust in her abilities, Diego wouldn't give her combat data, Yamato didn't even discuss it with her when she mentioned it, instead he started speaking about concepts she didn't understand fully. The first test with them made it blatantly obvious that almost no-one wanted to work with her, except for the large man, Destro, but with him it seemed more like it was simply what he did, simply how he was.

But Yamato said there was nothing wrong with her existence. So why was it that she still felt the opposite was true..? She lowered her head a little, shoulders drawn in as she stared silently at the backs of her hands. She could remember the sight of them being bandaged, and Yamato talking about the stars. Her inquiry about it went unanswered then, too. What exactly was this faith and trust if it was so pliable? Was it all a metaphor for something so much more pliable to a person's preference and personal convenience? It seemed more like a pointless concept that held no real meaning.

Yamato sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "That is precisely why we are here...why this is to be done" he opens his eyes, looking at them. "To much has happened within this organization...within this squadron for quite some time" he said, speaking calmly. "Much of it has been good....we have helped many and done a lot for the world" he says, " but some of it has been bad as well...." Makoto looked at the group of them, "look at all of you...you have all had no trouble listening to your leader in the past. He has been respectable and never done anything to betray your trust and make you doubt him. But suddenly now all of you so easily turn on eachother because of what? Foolish share holders? Some girl's presence?"

She glanced at Ambrosia for a moment. She shook her head "this team was brought about to protect people...to help the future so innocent men, women and children could live safe and happy. You all expect so much out of your leader and yet you are unwilling to put forth the steps yourself. The point of this exersise is as a new beginning, for the team to heal and get past things...as well as to work together to reach the goal. So all of you..." she stood, facing them all "please....put aside this pointless feud. No more lies, no more secrets, no more fighting" she gave a light bow, "please..." Yamato glanced at her for a moment.

Trigger leaned back in his seat, folding his arms behind his head. "We are a mess right now....kinda sad that we got this way" he said, "but if it means getting to be a team again like we were....a family....I'd go to hell and back for all of you." He smiled, looking to Yamato "I'm in." Destro looked to Claire for a moment, then to Ambrosia and the others. He gave a nod, "no one is perfect....but it takes heart and strength to also admit you are wrong and try to fix it. If you are willing to try, then as part of this team as am I.." He nodded to Yamato as well, "ok." Diego let out a breath, nodding himself, "kinda hard not to be in...not giving up on all of this just yet. We've been together so long and so close that we are bickering like an old family." He smiled, "families need to heal to right, it is not how we go into it...it is how we come out of it that matters. So let's do it."

Suke chuckled himself, nodding "no more lies and hiding anything huh?" Yamato nodded, "from this moment on, everything on the table..." He nodded, "ok, I'll give it a shot to." Makoto looked at the others, would they be willing as well?

Claire crossed her legs as she listened to Yamato begin to speak, however Makoto then cut in unnecessarily, she stared at Yamato's aide and sighed, the question wasn't exactly directed at the second in command. She peered around the plane calmly, waiting for Makoto to finish whilst she stared at the other pilots, trying to get a better sense of their own thoughts. Trigger was the first to speak, he was right, it was a feeling the team once had before and were regaining, her eyes then turned to Destro, again right, the teams heart had been broken by the death of Carl, their strength was diminished by that loss.

Diego's words brought a light smile to her lips, however once Yamato stated that everything would be on the table, she smiled further. The woman reached up with her one hand calmly, pulling her glasses away and leaning back into her chair, calmly rubbing at the lenses with a cloth,
"Now there is my trust and faith. Take away positions and titles, take away all the toys-" She saw Jerry almost open his mouth in mock protest, "-HYPOTHETICALLY. With all that gone, we are still a family. Without that; the rest is meaningless. I trust the family. Maybe there are still a few secrets between us, but the less we have, the better." She stated, sliding her glasses back on and adjusting them.

"But there isn't anything on the table," Ambrosia stated, seeming to break out of her internal confines as she looked at the table itself, then looking around curiously at the group again. Claire glanced over at Ambrosia and found herself pulling abroad smile a moment before breaking out into a brief moments laughter, no more than a couple of seconds,
"She's adorable, can we keep her?" She asked, Jerry grinning broadly again, of all the people he'd ever met, Ambrosia was one of few that made almost no sense at all, her very existence was a paradox almost,
"No no, blondie, it's an idiom, it means we're telling the truth to each-other," He made a motion with his hands towards the table, "We're layin' it all on the table, get it?"

Ambrosia froze dead in place. Telling the truth? Every truth? She recoiled slowly, seeming to shrink, which in turn made Jerry's face drop. He felt like he'd said something wrong, at least that was the feeling her reaction seemed to give off. The blonde woman turned her gaze to Yamato, that stunned expression from the previous night visible again. Telling the truth meant telling them what she was. Give her combat any day over confirming the suspicions of everyone that she was only barely human.

Just then, of course, Shirley raised her hand, along with her head as she shot fully awake for a brief moment,
"M-me too! Everyone here is my family a-and I want to look after you all and help you and do things and fix mechs and work with Diego-And I swear I've never peeped on you in my life Yamato, sir!-And I think I forgot several screws in part of the new plating on Jerry's unit-and I wanna kick those Midlanders backsides so hard they'll pee earl gray tea!" Shirley froze on the spot before her head dropped, along with her arm and she snored ever so quietly.

Jerry and Claire obviously couldn't help staring in the direction of Diego's aid, the former of the two having to cover his face to stop himself snorting out loud again,
"Diego, honey.. No more all-nighters or caffeine for her for a while.." Claire stated briefly, looking at Yamato and Makoto again, "I think that's everyone.. Almost.." Her eyes turned only momentarily to Ambrosia but then looked back up at them, she had a feeling this was one of those secrets that couldn't just be let out.

Diego rubbed the back of his neck, "ah yeah...she'll be going to bed early for awhile." Yamato nodded to the other, internally feeling at least one of the weights lift from his heart. He had to admit though...Shirley's words were a bit embarassing, it made part of him want to blush a bit. He kept his face clear however, but his body language had relaxed more than it had in awhile. He then caught Ambrosia's eye, her look like the night before. He did one other thing normally out of place then, his more serious expression softened a bit, "when you're ready..." he said, "no one will force you before then." Makoto let out a breath of relief, sitting once more. "Verywell" Yamato said, his more serious and composed deminor returning. He glanced at his watch for a moment.

"We have five minutes before we reach airspace of the island and will have to prepare" his eyes fell on them, "if you have any questions or any last minute things...now is the time." Diego paused, "oh wait.." He pulled a disk out of his bag, "I compiled this while we have time in between last night." He handed it over to ambrosia with a smile, "it's up to date now, all information you'll need...except on one mech.." He glanced at Yamato. He nodded, "you may ask if you wish to know what the data I mentioned before will be used for. Or you may leave it as an initiative to work towards.....the choice is yours." Trigger stared once more, his curiosity was deffinitly peeked with this mystery prise. He wanted to know what it was, but at least one mystery was a bit of fun.

It was not a lie if they would find out eventually anyways. He looked at each of them though, letting them get in what they wanted to do first, as well as get their questions in. They had it all on the table. "Wait....when you talked last night....you wern't really gonna fire Jerry would you?" he said, the thought coming to mind before he could stop it. Yamato glanced at him and shook his head. "No...some of what I spoke of was true yes" he says, "but others...no matter how harsh they may have been at the time, were needed." He glanced at Jerry now, "you are a strong, capable and tallented pilot...you always have been, as well as a bafoon at time. It is natural to feel uncertainty and anger when faced with situations as have happened. You need to be certain that in the end, doing something such as continuing to deal with situations where potential damages such as comrads dying or dangerous people close by is what you can handle in the end."

He closed his eyes, "it has to be your choice, and there can not be any hesitation or doubt within your mind. As well as to know that much of what was said was utterly unneeded most likely...the confidence and knowledge of yes you are capable, and would be around dispite what anyone would say in the end, or the presence of danger still looming." He did not expect it to fully be understood or accepted, but it was true. In the end, it had to be Jerry's undisputed choice to have that confidence in himself to keep going, even in the face of potential danger and enemies. As well as to know that he was good enough that foolish words in the end really meant nothing more than just that...words.

Ambrosia nodded softly, keeping her lips pursed. While Claire didn't know the nature of the exchange, she could tell it was something important from that moment alone, she had to admit it had gotten her curious, but there was a certain level of respect to uphold. Jerry was curious too, but not enough that he wanted to bother them about it. Ambrosia looked up at Diego when the data was offered to her. The information on the other units combat recordings, her focus had turned almost solely on the disk itself. Not knowing the data of a single unit would make the simulations incomplete but this was far more valuable than one poor test run.

Claire looked up when the mystery was mentioned, but she shrugged to herself,
"We're gonna see anyway, right? You already said it was something about upgrading our units/ If what I've seen so far of C.R.O.N.O.S' ability to upgrade Mechs is anything to go by; then it's something to look forward to, even on limited information," She had been there for the big Mark 2 to Mark 3 conversion and had seen many weapon series pass by, advancing further and further. And now they had weapons like what that prototype was testing. She looked up as Yamato then regarded Trigger and Jerry. He had threatened to fire Jerry? It wasn't exactly wise to throw such idle threats around. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd been talking about but she simply watched this time as Jerry stared over at Yamato, close to rolling his eyes again, his words leaning quite easily ont he edge of sarcasm as he responded.

"You know, I coulda sworn I heard this exact same speech yesterday, only with different wording. Seriously boss, you're starting to sound like a broken record, or a nagging mom, pick or choose. If I didn't wanna be here any more I wouldn't be here," Jerry replied, staring in a dull fashion at Yamato and putting his hands back behind his head the same way Trigger had done moments before, "Gimme a break, man, you gotta keep harping about it? I'm trying not to get bummed out over here, and you're killin' it. If you know it ain't needed; then stop going on about it,"

He stood up suddenly though, fists clenched, one pointed in Yamato's direction though,
"But you're wrong about one thing, boss, and if you say it again; I'll beat the crap out of you," He declared, "There ain't gonna be another person dyin', and if some-one dangerous comes along; we fucking clobber them, end of story, no ifs, ands or buts, we kick their asses back where they came from or we put-em in the ground." He lowered his fist and sat down again, folding his arms, his face suddenly stern. It probably wouldn't take long between Shirley, Trigger or the new girl to make him laugh again though.

Claire glanced up at the time, it had rolled by quickly, soon they would be preparing in earnest for combat. She wondered exactly the data Ambrosia had was and what she would do with it though. She didn't want to say it out loud yet, but she was actually taking a liking to the bizarre pilot, though what really interested her was Ambrosia's record for hijacking Mechs. She'd suggested that she'd done it while they were active and trying to kill her, was she really capable of that? While she didn't want her new squad mate under such a situation, she actually couldn't help but want to see that for herself.

Destro shook his head for a moment at Jerry. Man was still to young himself to understand points that went beyond black and white a lot of the time. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath himself. Yamato raised an eyebrow at the foolish threat. The other knew he was more than capable of handling himself in a hand to hand fight, so threatening him and attempting to sound big was childish and pointless. He did make a point though, Yamato would not allow another life to be cost, and neither would any of them on the team. Trigger seemed to sense the mood beginning to grow to serious. “Sheesh people, yall are beginning to act like a bunch of old people” he smiled, “lets get this show on the road and blow something up already!” As if on cue, a speaker clicked on for the pilot to tell them they had reached their destination.

Yamato sat once more by Makoto, folding his arms as the thoughts inside of his head began to subside. His eyes closed and he took a slight breath. It was showtime. They were lowered onto the beach, all of them let off of the plane, with their belongings. The Land Shark was there, as well as their mechs standing on the beach. For this exercise, a familiar one had made the scene. Yamato’s unit was also next to the others. A modified mark three, stood by the others. He stood before it for a moment, as the others were allowed to get their barings and say their final pieces. The plane took off, leaving them alone on the island. Makoto looked at her watch, “in precisely five minutes, the AI units as well as defenses set up around the island for this exercise will activate…and things will begin.” Trigger smiled, already getting pumped for this.

Diego supported Shirley a bit, getting her to fully wake up…or trying to. Suke and Makoto were making their way to the Land Shark, they would be keeping it operating with Diego and Shirley. Destro moved over to stand by Yamato. “Relax….ya got us this far, show em the leader we know you are” he said in a low voice as to not let the others overhear. Yamato looked at the unit once more, before nodding very slightly. He turned, they did not have long to come up with any form of plan before things began. Even now, the units would be beginning initial protocol. He turned to look at them once more. It was time to get started. “The covering of the forest will be sufficient for the Shark for now, in order to obtain an initial base sight” he began. First rule was always having to establish a base of operations.

The Land Shark would need cover and some place safe from which to begin scanning the island, as well as monitoring the units and being within close enough range if something were to happen. But seeing as no one was going to be dying, they could focus more on keeping it somewhere safe. “Destro ....you are to stay within close enough range to the Shark in order to keep any surprises off of it until it is able to reach its location. All units will be within Relay mode for the moment, which will begin sending initial data about the area back to the Shark’s computer” simple enough. They would be sufficient to keep an eye on the shark, as well as the potential for a bit of fun with doing so wouldkeep things interesting for him. “Trigger follow behind, but for the moment use of artillery weapons within the forest runs a risk of hitting the Shark, think you can handle yourself without blowing something up for a bit?” he looked at Trigger.

Trigger smiled, nodding, “I’ll bash them if they try anything!” He laughed. “Claire will maintain higher ground, our eyes within the trees…if anything approaches either sub teams, you should be the first to know and the first to be able to take them down” she would have no trouble with that, the forest would give her plenty of cover as well as ground to keep out of sight and an eye on things. “The Shark will keep an eye on the units, as well as begin taking in data sent by the units at this time” Diego nodded, “leave it to us.” That was almost everyone. He looked to Ambrosia now, the only three left were Jerry, him and her. “You desire to take the units on correct? Then that is what the three of us shall do…We will be engaging the first wave of enemies that are sure to come” this would draw more of their attention, and allow the Shark more of a chance to get into position.

“Once the base has taken hold, all of you are to join us…any questions?” Yamato finished. This tied back into what he had said before of the two sub teams being under Claire's watch. She would be able to find perfect ground, in order to see the two close enough break ups of team. Trigger shook his head, practically bouncing around. Destro knew that Yamato and this new girl would be able to handle themselves. They did not have to worry about it, their main priority right now, would be finding a safe base camp for the night for the Shark. For though it did have some defences, if it got taken out they would be loosing quite a bit of important things. After the base was secure, then they would be allowed to show what they could really do. He cracked his knuckles a bit, “what are we waiting for then hmm?”

Everyone was listening to Yamato's plan, once he assigned Claire the position she was used to anyway she nodded simply, staring over at her unit, though she rubbed her chin softly, eyes falling on her rifle. Something came to mind, especially considering the kind of position she would be looking for. She glanced over at Jerry and Ambrosia as they were assigned their positions. Jerry simply punched his fist into his palm with a grin,
"Bring-em on..!" He smirked, with Destro looking after the carrier and Trigger, he was free to let loose.

Ambrosia wasted no time once Yamato had finished assigning her orders, making her way over to her unit with her belongings, a simple duffel bag, going with her as she leaped up to the chest panel. She hung off it and reached up to the release on the side of the panel, opening the unit before she slipped inside and set her bag aside. The chest panel closed and within seconds the machine was coming to life, however it remained in a neutral stance. Inside the unit she had pulled out a computer device from her bag, hooking the wires into the mech itself, her work was quick, she installed the data disk into the device, it would take a little while to install all the new data.

Shirley had managed to stay awake long enough that she was staring over at the units, including Yamato's however she then stared at Claire as the woman turned to approach them. The tired blonde yawned, glancing over at Diego, mumbling a few words to him,
"Two-handed.. Sniper cannon.." She raised a hand to her mouth and yawned again before rubbing one of her eyes sleepily. Naturally on the Land Shark they had a selection of weaponry available, a quick change wasn't a hard job for them to do, but it showed that even in her state, she was quite clever, especially as a requisitions officer, but also that she had a keen understanding of war, she knew exactly what Claire wanted and why.

Claire finally got within vicinity of them, however rather than speaking of the change right away she smiled at Shirley,
"I'm glad to see some-one excited about all of this.." She joked, "Anyway, think you can fire up the Equipment stores real quick? I need to change my load-out."

Trigger watched Ambrosia go off to her unit, immediately cutting herself off from the others again. "So much for progress" he whispered, streatching his arms above his head. He walked over to his own unit, to get last minute looks in. Suke took Shirley from Diego "come on sleepy, lets get you fixed up.." he chuckled. Diego nodded to clair, it was fine, but they would have to work fast themselves. He took her over to the Shark, to switch out weaponary. Yamato glanced at Ambrosia's unit, before turning back to his own. It had been awhile, since he had gotten to be inside and in action. He sighed lightly, glancing off towards the forest. Destro tossed his cigar butt aside, stepping on it in the sand. "Keep an eye on em out there" he said, his eyes upon the two before them.

He then clapped Jerry on the back, almost knocking him over. With a smile, he made his way to his own unit as well. Protecting the Shark, not a problem for him at all. His unit would be sufficient. Once it was in place to be safe, he and Jerry would join the other pair, and the second would get to blow things up. He would enjoy that. This would be life or death though, he glanced at each of them for a moment in silence. They would handle it, they would be fine he knew that. They were all getting ready to get on the job. Moving into his own machine, Yamato turned on the controls. He slipped the card into the computer, looking at the screene for the moment. Being back inside here, he closed his eyes for a moment. He remembered his first time within a unit, with his father. Pushing away thoughts for now, there was little time for that. The enemies would be active, and they woule need to get moving.

Naturally, under the force of Destro's slap to his back, Jerry stumbled forward, eyes wide for a moment before he awkwardly stood up and rubbed his back before grinning over at him,
"No problem, big man. You can babysit Trigger for me." He chuckled, making his way over to his own unit and climing in quickly, it was practically the same shit, different day as he quickly flicked all the necessary switches on and brought the machine to life, moving ahead oft he others momentarily, though he knew not to advance too far, the boss and Ambrosia were meant to be ahead of him, purely because he was a ranged unit, he would cover both of them.

"But I'm not tired yet, mommy," Shirley mumbled, walking along with Suke bleary-eyed and yawning. She knew, somewhere in the depths of her consciousness, that she was going to miss the star of whatever it was that was going on, she was going to wake up confused about where she was and likely unaware of exactly what was going on, but once she'd rested she would be the same enthusiastic ball of energy she always was. God help anyone who allowed her near a caffeinated beverage at that point.

"Fire it up Diego, I need the Athena Model 2," Claire stated, nodding to him, it would be easier to get in her unit and manually change it out. She made her way over to it, opening the chest compartment and setting into place. The core closed and the machine came to life, proceeding towards the Land Shark after a brief moment of the unit's internal systems starting up. She waited by the Shark until the Athena was presented. It was a hefty rifle, far larger than standard, it was meant for fixed position sniping and its users were only ever meant to use it for guaranteed kill-shots. But given the excessive velocity and solid steel-cores, they could shred a clean hole through even a mark three if it wasn't paying attention. Being named after the Goddess of War Strategy suited it down to the ground. The first model had failed ultimately as a mass-production model because of mistakes made int he original blueprints that saw it jamming frequently and even when firing the intended velocity never reached the desired peak.

She exchanged her current rifle for the Athena, once it was in hand her unit began to synchronize with the weapon until it was fully installed whilst she proceeded to look around for a desirable location from which to fire. There were a few rock formations, but nothing too high and if she was on either side of the Shark she wouldn't be able to cover the other side and she needed a clear view of both sides. Of course there would be relayed information from the other units letting her see enemy units on her screens regardless of cover between her and them, but she still desired a high enough place with a clear enough field of vision.
The beauty of the Athena would be that she could stay even further away and rely on the sheer velocity of the weapon to strike her targets while she kept a healthy distance. The closer they got, the greater the damage she could do.

Ambrosia's unit finally moved properly again, the arms coming to life and stretching out tot he sides, a sign that she'd activated the manual controls before they lowered and she made the machine warm itself up briefly by running with no boost assist over to a position ahead of Jerry. Eventually her communication link also came online,
"I am combat-ready." She stated simply. She continued to calmly test the arms, the new weights worked like she had hoped, she could feel more upper body movement and there was less shearing towards her shotgun's side. The new head piece was operating at capacity as well, it turned a little quicker and she could see things clearer, she was satisfied with it for now.

Final preperations were made, Diego helped to change out the weapons on Claire’s unit. The rest of them were ready to go, as Makoto slipped on her headset. She took a breath, tapping the microphone for a moment. “Alright, the shark is operational” she said. Yamato glanced at his systems once more, closing his eyes for a moment. He could feel the slight rumble of the ground, signaling movement off within the distance. The enemy was ready to move. He opened his eyes, none of them would be able to see, but a fire had begun to sprout within them. “You have your orders…” the shark began moving, Destro’s unit keeping close enough to it to keep watch. Trigger followed as well. “Good luck! Knock some of em dead for us, but don’t have to much fun till we get there” he laughed. It was time to move themselves, Claire would be fine choosing where she decided to set up post. He did not need to address her to get her moving. Instead, they needed to focus upon their own advance. There was a clearing not to far up ahead.

Yamato was very familiar with the land, though to make it fair…he had not been here himself in awhile. He had left creation of this cell up to a…friend of his. So no one could accuse him of having it staged or anything. He was as much within the dark as the others…though that was not going to stop him at all. He moved his unit forward, it handled flawlessly still, even after all this time. Diego and Shirley had kept it maintained and ready to go. As they moved, Destro and Trigger slipped their cards within their computers, they were ready to get going as well. Yamato glanced at the computer, to the form of Ambrosia’s unit. Now was when she would be truly able to show herself as either a friend or a foe to the team. If she proved a friend, then all would be well. They would be able to get through this and in turn grow stronger as a team and make those who crossed them pay. But if she proved the opposite….He moved his eyes back on the way in front of him, enemies were approaching.

Ambrosia waited until the others were completely ready again before she charged forward again. The head of her unit turned several times, scanning left and right, taking in the environment as she moved. She was quite aware of the distant rumbling but her calculations put them far enough away that she could scout their initial battleground with just enough time to get herself into position. She came to a halt several times, marking key locations in her HUD and relating the information before moving on quickly. There were several rock formations that made good cover for ranged standoffs and to both sides she managed to pinpoint sniping positions, handing off that particular information to Claire's Unit.

Her approach was systematic, methodical and quick, suggested safe zones for each unit was relayed from her own, she had even gone so far as to pick out blind spots that would have forced the enemy units out of their own cover in order to fire or gain any sort of lock on one of the Squad's own units. Claire whistled briefly at the tactical data being relayed,
"Damn, she moves fast," Claire mentioned over the communications with a slight chuckle, Jerry responding with a smirk,
"And that's what she said," He quipped. Claire rolled her eyes, it was hard to argue with the line itself.

Claire skipped past the first sniping location and found herself a rock formation that had dense tree cover around it. She would be hard to spot and for the time being she would be able to take out her targets without fear of retribution. The giant sniper rifle unfolded, her unit settling down into a fixed position in order to handle the recoil of such a large weapon.
Jerry had taken on board the information though as he settled behind a cluster of short boulders, rifles held over them. His missile packs were open and waiting for targets as he kept his head on a swivel, waiting for the first machines to arrive.

Ambrosia, however, had taken the time to move out into the open at first before moving headlong into the front of the cover that would have been aiding the enemy, her unit lowering, almost as if squatting, laying in wait to surprise the first comers. She'd even gone so far as to deactivate most of the systems, it could move but the rest of the systems, even her communications were cut off. She was silently waiting, listening to the approaching sound, a soft smile crossing her features as she did so,
"Well.. She's being weird again.." Jerry commented with a chuckle, but his focus didn't remain on her, instead watching the tree-line,
"Who among us isn't weird?" Claire asked, keeping her camera locked to her scope, "Even Yamato is as quirky as the rest of us. I think she fits in better than she realizes."
"Who the hell uses the word quirky?"
"I do, and if you want to keep your ass in one piece I'll remind you that I'm holding an anti-mech rifle and I'm a really good shot."
"Eh-heh.. Forget I asked..!" Jerry laughed nervously, the idea of Claire literally shooting his ass off with that rifle didn't appeal to him, reason being was he knew she was that good a shot.

They were on the move now. The distinct sound of chatter within his ear was a bit annoying. He understood they enjoyed their chatter, but they did realize most within the unit could hear them..including him. Raising an eyebrow at being called quirky, he ignored it. Now was not the time. As long as Ambrosia followed through on her orders, it was up to her on carrying them out. But if it put the team within danger, or overstepped, he would have to deal with it. For now, his own unit moved into position. The dark coloring of it blended in with the shadows casted by the forest. It was more of a stealth unit, made for silence and the ability to get close quickly and effectively take out enemies. He was not one to waste time with flashy moves. Though he was anything but a coward who desired to merely hide in the shadows. He had little trouble making his presence known when needed to, and taking on fire just as the rest of them.

For now however, the cover provided him with a moment to prepare small capsuls similar to bugs. Planting them within various locations would begin to set up a perimeter, to relay information back to the Shark, as well as alert to anything that came within the distance of one of them. They would activate, burrowing themselves into the ground, a tree, whatever they happened to land on like little worms. They had been specially designed with their own cloaking feed, so they were invisible to most other units unless they knew what they were looking for. They were constantly changing the frequency and such to avoid this. He became still for a moment with his unit, before in quick succession, he fired one silently to the right back the way they had come, to the left in front of them and to his front which would have been anyone elses right. Immediately upon hitting the ground, the first shell began to activate. When being fired, each shell resembled a capsul about two inches in length, black and hard.

When activated though, the shell would release into three segments, connected by a metal center that allowed the little object to move like a worm. If need be, a little drill bit would protrude from the nose to get itself into place. They were remotely handled by Yamato’s unit, or the Shark if need be. The first two burrowed into the ground, while the third into a tree. The one to his left was already picking up the approach of enemy units as the three shells activated. To most, they relayed information similar to advance sonar. But what they were capable of picking up, went farther than simply moving shapes and blips. For now though, they were in place, that was all he needed to worry about. Diego, Shirley and the shark could handle it from there.

Ambrosia stayed still and silent as the first of the Mechs rolled into view. Some initial scouts. Small-fries, pests at best, annoyances at worst. They were equipped with machine-guns, so their range wasn't terribly limited. The moment they entered range they started firing at the most visible target, Jerry. However the rock cover he'd taken helped ot some degree as the bullets bounced off the boulder in front of him or scraped past him. He focused on those further away, the ones emerging still as he fired singular rounds from his rifles in a constant rhythmic fashion. Once his missile systems had gained a full lock he opened fire, a spread of smaller missiles weaving through the air and battering the incoming numbers. It wasn't guaranteed destruction for most of them, but there was definitely damage.

Ambrosia's unit finally jumped to life, all systems coming one once more and her mech moved, dashing into the forward group from behind. As she used her blade to tear through the arm of one scout she aimed with the other at the core of a second unit. The blast of the shotgun tore a large chunk of of its side, sending it to the ground as she turned back tot he one she'd initially sliced. She turned the blade in hand and thrust it into the core of the scout, using the machine as cover from machine-gun fire whilst aiming past it to fire at the closest units, calmly and methodically.

Claire didn't watch the battlefield directly, instead she kept her eyes on the bushes for the next wave. Scouts typically got into the mess first, so what would follow was slightly heavier with better firepower. Her patience paid off and she breathed in softly before slowly exhaling. A pointless exercise considering ti did nothing to steady the hand of a machine, but it felt natural to do it. The moment the first of the medium units emerged she turned the barrel only slightly and fired, the shot rang out like a giant silver bell and the bullet sang through the air before impacting with the core of the unit. The chest of the unit seemed to compact before it fell backwards entirely. She waited for the next to show itself and fired again, once more it crumpled under the power of the rifle. This felt so much more natural than the previous test.

The shark was on the move, out of enemy hands, and already had located the perfect spot to set up. Yamato looked to Ambrosia for a moment, as she moved to begin fighting the units that were coming on. Claire had begun firing as well, but even the two of them could not destroy every unit passing through, as they began to branch out. He noted one a ways off between the trees. It was painted a dark brown to blend in with the bark, and aiming a gun at Ambrosia. She was preoccupied with her own zone for the moment, and the unit was not appearing on scanners. So unless she saw it, which seemed highly unlikely for the moment, it would be able to get off a few rounds at her. He slipped around through the trees, keeping it in his field of view. Stealth units could be a plus to have…when they were on your side. When not, many of them could prove to be a pain. He moved to the side of it, as the unit tightened its finger upon the trigger.

Grabbing the handle, he forced the gun off angle, making the fired shot hit a tree instead. Following up, before the unit had a chance to react, a blade detached itself from the leg of his unit, and he was able to easily take out the other. He did not mind that it attracted attention a bit, it would offset the enemy units for a moment as well, giving them an advantage if used properly. He had little doubt the others would be able to see it and follow through, he needn’t waste breath on it. A few units turned his way, and that was fine with him as well. He would have hated to merely sit by and watch himself. In a matter of moments, his own unit was moving forward towards the enemy, taking them out with quick precision one after another. They did not stand a chance against him at all, even if it had been a while since he had been on the field himself. He was able to easily meld back into the team and perform fluently, as if he never had been missing.

Claire shifted her gaze to their Leader, watching him as he moved his unit through the trees. Her screens changed spectrum, using the beacon in his unit to follow its shape as it was highlighted until she saw the unit he was going after, it in turn had been aiming towards Ambrosia. She glanced only briefly in Ambrosia's direction as the blonde's unit seemed to turn, holding up the knife in front of itself, the flat of the blade acting as a small-scale shield that several of the incoming shots pinged onto before the gun was turned away from her. Without even skipping a beat Ambrosia turned away, while at the same time Claire lined up the shot with the unit Yamato had disrupted. It took only one shot to blow a hole in its core like the other units.

Her rifle cycled through the motion of expelling the shell-casing, with several units bearing down on him it was impressive that he was still in fighting form, she waited patiently for an opening, looking for an opponent he wasn't directly dealing with before plugging another round down the line, it seared past Yamato's unit and into the weapon arm of a shotgun-bearing unit. The weapon-arm dropped, leaving it exposed as she turned her sights away once more, scanning the field.

The only person who wasn't so conservative with his ammo was Jerry as he continued to empty shot after shot into the advancing scouts. Missiles sang through the air in brilliant patterns, impacting against the automated machines whilst Ambrosia swept through their lines. If Yamato were to pay attention, her movement style had changed considerably, as if she were a different person than in the last test, her turns and arm movements almost mimicked the dance from the night before, of course with minor adjustments that allowed her to combat her opponents with the same delicate grace of the dance.

It had been only one dance but she'd memorized the motions and come up with a combat strategy that worked alongside it. However many times she used it was uncertain, following a set rhythm and pattern for too long could become predictable but having something new to do and to try meant that for a moment she was unpredictable, especially since she could double the pace of her movements if she felt the need, allowing for a range of unpredictable attack sequences that left the computer-run units at odds with how to fight her.

The initial wave of opponents finally fell at their feet and Ambrosia's unit came to a halt. The vents of the unit opened, heat from the arms and boosters made the air visually warp around her, with a lightweight unit like hers or stealth units, they could internalise heat for some time to stay off heat detectors, but if they allowed the heat-sinks to overfill then they would simply cook inside their own units. So it was imperative to vent as soon as possible, especially if the unit was as highly active as her own,
"I'd say that was Round 1 cleared. Nice job, Blondie." Jerry chuckled, watching as the unit momentarily turned towards him, the head angling in his direction momentarily, but she said nothing and Jerry sighed, "Y'know, a simple 'thank you' doesn't hurt,"
"Leave her be, Jerry," Claire replied in her place, "If she wants to talk, she probably will, she certainly doesn't hold back when she starts." The woman added with a smirk at the last bit, whenever Ambrosia talked it did seem to be a fair bit, no matter how.. Simplistic in nature or single-minded she seemed. Claire folded up her rifle momentarily and beginning to shift position.

Meanwhile Ambrosia was already running simulations in her unit. Her screens were covered in false entities, ghost-like images on the monitors moving around the field in front of her, between the rocks, all representing their own units and units they had encountered so far in battle. It was safe to assume there would be other kinds, programming such variations in wasn't difficult with the information she had present.

Anyone monitoring her systems however would have seen how many of these simulations she was marking down as failures. Every time certain situations occurred, she marked it as a failure and restarted the test, almost obsessively running test after test as she patiently awaited orders or the next wave of opponents. The situations were all easy enough to see and understand if they were slowed down from the rapid pace she was able to calculate; any time a fellow unit was damaged, even if it was only partly disabling, she marked it as a failure and started again.

The simulations ran quickly, but in every single test where her own unit was damaged she didn't mark it as a failure, failure only happened when other units were damaged. It was a mark of her nature, it wasn't pride or concern for others, she was following a subset of rules in her mind that practically mirrored Asimov's rules of robotics. Talos Squadron were the Human in these rules and she was the Robot.

So far things were going well. They had taken out the units effectively and efficiently. It was almost immediately after however, that once more bickering sprouted up over the com. He sighed lightly within his unit, saying nothing himself for the moment. He reached a hand over, to flip a switch however and froze. “Nn…” his hand pulled back to his heart. Taking his hand off his controls for a moment, caused his unit to for a split second to slightly lean forward. He closed his eyes, sighing. This had been happening more lately. He thought back to that morning, with what Suke had asked him. Was he going to tell them? He had found it irrelevant, pointless. However, he had given his word on no more secrets. It made him wonder how they would react if they found out. He slid his free hand through his hair a bit.

A private link came over the com system “don’t stress yourself if it is getting to be too much.” Suke’s voice in his ear. “I am fine” he replied, leaving now would have rebound effects with his already faltering team. They needed him, and he would not let anything stand in the way. A slight glimmer in the sun heading towards him, he pulled back on his systems and his unit moved back. A shot hit the ground near a tree by him, and exploded. Seemed the opponents had begun attempting snipers of their own. From where the shot was coming from, it seemed that they were up on the rise of hills that was just beyond the clearing where Yamato and the other's stood. That was fine with him. His unit within the falling dust and chips of wood had a bit of an advantage, as heavier weaponized units began making their way towards the battlefield.

Some of them were carrying assult guns and autocannons. From the looks of it, they were not going to be to difficult for the smaller band to handle. A few were even carrying what looked like launchers for modified grenades, that would exploade and send out the metal pieces as extra damage in the process. They would have to be taken out first, or their weapons could risk beginning a fire in the clearing. With the cover around him, this meant he was the first to react this time, there was little need for wasting time or calculating, the movements and his own scenarios playing out through his mind. He and ambrosia were similar in that way, but he did not use a computer. He was a prodigy in many ways, especially in the mind. Information and the like were key for him. He could take the knowledge he had, and compile a strategy to react within mere moments. An eye for detail, his unit moved forward out of the smoke.

Act and react, these were key to him. "Take out the launchers and the snipers" he ordered Marston and Silver's over the com. Those were their priority at this point. Avoid a fire at all costs, while taking out those who were aiming at them from hidden ground. Turning his attention to Ambrosia now, they had to take out the enemies that were attempting to circle around to get to Jerry and on up to where Claire had stationed herself. Ambrosia was closer to the Eastern side, and he to the west. "Take out the units to your East...we need to quit holding ground and begin taking it" he said. It would do little good for them if they stayed to long within one spot, they were bound to be moved on and surrounded as more units began to get their location. Their best bet for now would be to push forward, the rest of their team should be on their way. Even now, the signatures for Destro and Trigger were heading towards their destination. That was good, that meant the Shark was stable and ready to go. "Begin analyzing the information" he radioed back. "Rodger that" Diego said, he would get to work with what the shells were sending back, as well as the information that was coming in from the cards within their units.

Ambrosia turned towards Yamato's unit momentarily but held her place as she say it move forward slightly at first, a strange motion. Here eyes flicked to the corner of her screens, seeing the glint high up on the hills, she then looked at Yamato again. Several predictive patterns played in front of her before he followed one of the recognized patterns and dodged back from a shot, narrowly missing being damaged.
The information she had gained was valuable to her. For others it was simply accumulated data, for her it was a life experience as if she'd been there for every battle. It allowed her to cut away some unnecessary priorities and focus her efforts elsewhere, the wetware in her mind had allowed her to think at what some might have considered an inhuman rate, although in actuality it was more like releasing the limitations on the mind to allow it to function at extreme levels without damaging itself by keeping the information stored within the wetware itself or in devices like th eone she had installed the combat data on.

She was able to sort out the mess of simulations on her screens from reality and decide what was a failure and what was a success, all while fighting, and once she was done absorbing all the information she wouldn't even need all these simulations. It was one of the primary methods of learning she had at her disposal. Unfortunately combat data did nothing for her social skills, as Yamato had found out.

Yamato's orders affected her simulations almost immediately as the unit turned rapidly,
"Priority set; Eliminate Heavy Armament Units." She confirmed, as the boosters in her unit flared, sending her rushing towards the opposite side to Yamato, She hugged close to terrain in order to keep her out of sight of the snipers, constantly gathering and simulating data.
"These tinker-toys aren't a match for the Silvers family marksmanship.." Claire stated with a chuckle, having found a new location closer tot he group, it wasn't as high as she would have liked but it gave her a clear enough view as the sniper cannon unfolded and she took careful aim at the hills, though she took cover again briefly as her location was grazed with some of the heavier weapons fire,
"Hey Marston, do me a favor and give those big boys something to think about?"
"All over it." Jerry replied with a grin, he'd been receiving a constant stream of clearer data from Ambrosia, marking outt he locations of the heavy units within the trees. It was up to him to set the threshold for the missiles seeking capabilities so he had to do it as precisely as possible, this was where he was considered a pro, however, The mounted missile launchers on his shoulders opened and fired an initial spread of missiles into the treelines. They hammered the lower ground forces with an array of explosions that kicked up dirt and knocked some back, stunning them briefly.
Claire took the opportunity to step out of cover again and aimed for the hills again. Every shot she made was simple, but well placed, by the time they realized her location she had already torn holes in three of them and was well onto her fourth, and this was all done to the sing-songish words of this little piggy.

Ambrosia had taken advantage of the initial distraction Jerry made and leaped out into the open, dashing hard for the first opponent she could find. She practically tackled his unit, forcing her blade deep into the gut of the unit and pushing it backwards, she angled it carefully, aiming it like a shield-come-battering ram that she rammed into one of its allied units and immediately dashed backwards, remembering the terrain around her as she effectively withdrew but dashed around, skating across the ground and strafing around swiftly to the side of one that had initially been turning her way, however it had no time to track her before she fired a shotgun blast into its arm, the shoulder of the unit exploded and dropping off before she once more retreated sharply.
As her simulations had predicted it was a good idea to be out of range as Jerry carpet bombed the area with another well placed spread of missiles that danced between the trees from east to west, quite a helpful distraction indeed, she once more steeled herself and pressed for the attack.

A sudden rush of missles came out of nowhere, striking in front of the enemy units. Some exploaded, while others were struck with bits of debrie from what the other missles had hit. They were not super heavy artillery, so they would not start a fire, but the bold explosion and what followed next, signaled the others had arrived. "Woohoo~!" Trigger laughed over the com, his unit visible a bit through the trees. Destro sighed, "subtle..." he moved his own unit closer in, since he was more fit for closer combat. Yamato looked at the screens, they were all together once more. "The shark is in position" Destro reported, "these hunk of junks are not getting anywhere near it."

Good, then things so far were going to plan. However, their location had been compromised in their current location. More and more enemy units were beginning to arrive. They would eventually get boxed in at this rate, and it was to early for things to get serious and end. If they failed here, then their mission overall would be a failure. And no matter how good any of them thought they were, constant continuation of attacks would for now cause trouble and raise the risk of mistakes. He would not give the order just yet however, knowing it would most likely upset the others at this point. They were doing a fine job of keeping the others in line. Now with the added firepower of both units that had been transporting the shark as well, things began to slowly improve in their favor.

He knew they knew he could give the order, but it was more of would they be simply waiting for him to give it, or if they would understand that he did trust them to push on. As they moved forward, pushing enemy units back, Yamato continued to give orders in accordance with what was going on around them. It was nearly afternoon when he noticed, units were beginning to fade off. "Seems their retreating for now" Destro spoke up. Yamato watched, as said, many of the units were beginning to fall back and disappear into the forest. The systems had registered that they were losing to many casualties right away, as enemy units lined the field. "I'm hungry" Trigger spoke up randomly, saying what was probably true for all of them at this point.

"Silver, scan for stray units, the rest of you can fall back for now" they had to make sure no one was else was in the imidiate area, but for now this would be considered a win. From here, it would become a more dangerous game. Since the initial attack failed, Yamato could gather they would have a short window of opportunity, as the enemy gauged their options. Now was the time if any for a quick break, before inlisting the second phase as late afternoon and the beginnings of night set in. Trigger cheered, turning his unit from the scene. "We will begin compiling the data, you should all have it in a bit to begin phase two" Makoto says. As they had gone, Yamato had continued to release the capsules as earlier.

Right now, there would be several around this area. They would pick up anything needed, including enemy units. As Claire would do her final sweep of the area before joining them, the units would wait on standby for the official call from her and the scans that all was clear. Once done, the others could streatch their limbs and eat if need be, before they continued. As per in the natural field though, they still had to be prepared for anything. They would not have a lot of time, and it would be possible for enemies to move forward while they were on standby. Yamato closed his eyes for a moment, taking a slight breath.

Numerous times as the fighting dragged on, Ambrosia found herself having to slow down, it wasn't entirely the machine's fault, it was like having a body that couldn't keep up with its mind. Int he end the unit would overheat, the generator keeping it running would output less energy and she would need a moment to vent as much heat as possible before continuing. But in some way the machine proved as stubborn as she was, even in the worst moments it managed to function just reasonably enough that it didn't put her in direct harms way, although she often lost her shielding and earned a few scrapes on her armor. Nothing truly vital to its capabilities however.
Still, with dirt-caked legs from the dust and grit being kicked up and the numerous scrapes, nicks and dings, she definitely looked like she'd just come straight out of a war.

Once Trigger and Jerry got together, it was a full-on assault, the heavy artillery strikes of Trigger's unit gave Jerry freedom to more carefully program his missiles and barrage the opposition with finer accuracy or even provide locking solutions for his friend, all aided nicely by the activity of Destro, Ambrosia and Yamato on the front lines. And Claire was the ever-watchful sentinel, her focus had shifted occasionally to Ambrosia, especially when she needed to vent heat. She forgot sometimes just how much thermal energy these things could output when pushed to the limits, so it was almost like staring at a mirage since it seemed to warp the air around Ambrosia. That she could push it to those limits and keep fighting was certainly impressive, but it almost looked like the machine simply wasn't enough.

Once the assault seemed to thin out, Yamato gave the orders and Claire continued to watch the surrounding area, she caught one final unit retreating unaware, blowing its leg out from underneath it. Her training as a sniper taught her one thing that was truly important; never shoot a man in the back, it wasn't an official code or rule, it was simply a personal conviction. Even though these things were just AI units, the training stayed firm in her mind, it was dishonorable to kill a retreating soldier that way, so disabling their unit was better. This was one aspect she enjoyed about Mechs, that she could disable opponents she had bested, rather than killing the pilot unless they proved otherwise unwilling to back down and surrender.

Ambrosia's unit returned to the Land Shark, the vents practically glowing with the head that was coming off them, but the metal wasn't warping, it was more durable than that. She pulled her arms out of the controls and unhooked the data-drive momentarily, putting it into her bag before she climbed out momentarily, reaching to her suit's personal com,
"Mr. Martinez. Do we have any external cooling units available? The unit requires a rapid heat purge," She stated the question in a straightforward fashion before turning around to look up at the machine. The chest-plate had begun to close automatically, a simple safety measure, not that there were actually any people on this island to take it over.
The overheating was an issue that needed to be dealt with, especially if they went into night operations. If her unit was putting out heat at such an exponential rate, it would be spotted on heat sensors for several miles. Cooling units were made as a way to subvert that, even if only for a little while, they also helped purge heat more rapidly, taking the load off the heat-sinks a fair bit, but they required some energy draw, thankfully, she had some to spare with her FCS completely removed.

She stood stock still in place, lowering her arm and staring at it quietly, opening and closing her fingers before lowering the arm entirely and glanced back at the machine in front of her. She looked it over several times int he moment, but for once wasn't thinking like a soldier. All the other units seemed to have a unique pattern or set appearance that made them stand out individually. It didn't matter too much technically, they were so large and the weapons they carried were so big that it was usually easy to tell what class they were, heavy weapons, a scout, a support type, a mid-range assault class, so trying to hide it behind the same uniform color was often pointless.
So for once she was trying to think what color she could have wanted for the unit.
And then it hit her; a midnight blue color, something just dark enough but still with a little color, like the night sky, while she didn't really care for stars, she could always remember that midnight blue. Though she had also liked the black of that dress.. She saw the image of it in her mind and watched as heat continued to make the air seemed to dance whilst the other Units off-loaded their pilots, Claire coming in a far dead last, on orders of course.

Another thing they all had that she didn't, it was an emblem. A personal emblem or insignia on their unit. But was that level of personalization acceptable..? She decided against it quietly.

Claire looked over at Ambrosia momentarily. She hated to admit it, but Ambrosia was a far more capable pilot than Carl, she and Yamato were on a level above what she could reach in direct combat, though she wondered if their abilities extended to all forms of combat. Carl only chose the frontline position because it was the way he had always been, a front-lines soldier. though she wondered, could he have given some-one like Ambrosia hell for a while at least? she liked to think so as she reached into her unit for one of her food rations, she nodded over to Trigger and Jerry,
"Best grab some food and eat up quick, if I know anything about battle it's that we gotta be ready for the next stage of this fight." She offered plainly, Jerry nodding, but then grinning to Trigger,
"You hear that? We get to cause a little more chaos." He offered his left fist to Trigger with a grin.

"Awwwhhh! I missed some of the fun!" The voice of Shirley ould be heard whining behind Diego, the woman rubbing her eyes momentarily and yawning briefly before she pulled something out of her pocket, a flash of dark metal and a red insignia, from her special reserves, Red Factor, an energy drink, she had already opened it and drank some before grinning broadly,
"Well! Still plenty more fun to go!" She almost cackled, but then rushed to one of the external camera screens, staring at the dirt and slight damage to Ambrosia's unit and the various bits of mess on the other units, "At least they haven't blown holes in entire limbs yet! I swear it's like looking after a bunch of children!" She almost yelled, one of the repairmen nearby staring at her and holding as straight a face as he could, but she glared at him,
"What?!"