As Sean set back up in the observation room, he accepted Julianna's call. "You should support your allies, instead of talking down about them. If you believe Heartstopper has something he should change, you should confront him on it. As for his upcoming performance, I will admit he is letting his wish to impress you get in the way of his focus." He sat back, leaving it open in case she had anything more, but watched Tristan's attempt.

Unlike the rest of the class, Sean did not laugh. He shared Pellegri's anger. He would have to speak with Tristan on the matter later, but for now he looked over at Snowblind, then to Old Faithful as it was announced its turn. This was what he had waited for.

When it was Chapel's turn to head in she sighed when he mentioned Julianna by name. She then heard him announce his eagerness to impress her and she looked away,
"I can't watch..." She said to herself as she kept her eyes adverted from the screen until he had messed up. She did not hear the others laughing but she did hear Pellegri yelling at him. Their instructor knew what they were talking about, in the battlefield, there would be no one to impress but a client in ridding of the target you were being paid to rid of.

Eris's eyes lit up once she learned that it was her turn next. This was what she had been waiting for. Old Faithful lumbered into the training grounds to prove its worth. She opened communications as she did, she wanted to hear everyone's shock when she showed them what she had. She was not entirely sure what to expect but had a little more idea having seen the three before her. She did one last quick-check of her systems before speaking,
"Old Faithful's systems are functioning at full efficiency, ready to commence test, and you know I will not make the same mistakes as my comrade before me did." She said as she readied her gatling guns and once the test commenced, she boosted forward before gliding in a circular motion as some of the MTs and Normals came within view, only to be met by a hail-fire of bullets, one gun focused on one and one focused on the other. She took a little damage and turned to see a Normal coming up behind her to try to punch her, only for her to turn and boost away as she fired at it. She stopped once it was destroyed, whirling around to her next targets as she continued to fire at them until they shut down.

She then sped towards the next cluster, rinsing and repeating until another Normal decided to try its luck at punching her, she whirled around and backed up once more before firing her missiles at it. She normally saved the missiles for the big guns, like up against other Nexts but decided that at such situations, she would make an exception. Once she had shut down all of the 'enemy' machines in here, she made her way back towards the Observation area,
"Mission complete. Returning to standby." She said, making her craft lumber towards the observation station once more.

Julianna watched scene with Tristan, clouded with fascination of stupid a person could be, and the humiliating exit of being airlifted brought a small smile to her lips thought her focus then went on Eris as her own AC Old Faithful stepped up to the plate. When the test started, she noted her more simplistic movement, Eris wasn't overly stylish, but her attack method was nonetheless effective and not clouded by foolery such as Tristans.

She sat back, enjoying the show, as impressed by Eris as with Sean, once it was finally over she opened up a connection meant for the other girl, closing off the one with Sean for now as she waited to connect,
".. Well done.. You and Revanant are the only worthwhile opponents so far." She stated, her emblem glowing slightly then dimming and eventually vanishing, she looked about at what other Nexts were present, wondering who would have their turn next.

"Hm, not bad, Duchess you have been practicing but you took some damage. Three minutes seven seconds, you're raising your average." Pellegri spoke out regarding Eris' round, "Grade A, you need to work on avoiding enemy fire and making better use of your boosters to move around the field. Shinigami, you're up."
"Yes sir. This is Shinigami in AC Karas, moving into position." Raijin replied skating pas the others int he observation area until he came across Old Faithful who had been heading back,
"Good round, Duchess." He commented, "Lets see if I can keep up."

Julianna examined the build that Raijin was sporting, it was definitely a lightweight machine, but it looked like it lacked some stability, how he was keeping it standing was slightly unknown to her, he was probably constantly making up for stability issues by continual adjustments. She could see it being highly maneuverable and it proved to be such as Raijin made a job of dashing between the streets and making good use of cover, he was more liable to take damage with a lightweight body but it did give him that speed advantage. If she had to guess, he was probably moving faster on average than she did, but she made up for it with timing and precision.
Raijin was firing sprays of bullets from his chaingun just over the buildings at enemy MT's occasionally ending up face to face with Normals, skidding to a halt and boosting back, firing both his shotgun and assault rifle at close range before dashing away quickly to escape lock-on's and returned fire.
Eventually it was over and Raijin popped into view, having used some cover to obscure his last attacks on some enemies,
"Hm.. Three minutes seventeen seconds, you used a lot of ammo with a poor accuracy rating, Shinigami, but you suffered little damage, a marginal grade A."

The next two hours would have followed this format until each candidate had taken at least two turns. Tristan had managed to redeem himself by gaining an A rank second time around and Raijin had unfortunately scored a B the second time around as he ran into a snag with a punching arm that grazed him, sending his Next stumbling for a moment.
Julianna had given them yet another flawless seeming performance, even improving her time to two minutes forty-five, as typical she netted herself another S-rank.
When the two hours were over and all the candidates were out of the test Area it looked like a miniature warzone, bullet-holes and impact craters, some of the Normals and MT's had been peppered and cracked at so hard that they were in need of repairs,
"Well done, you're all showing improvement and our new candidate has proven to be quite sufficient, get aboard the elevator and report back to your hangars, your Nexts will be fitted with live ammo for the specialty tests. You have half an hours break."

Julianna, Tristan and Raijin had gotten to their places on the elevator, though Julianna was once again opening communications with Sean and Eris, this time together so that they would both be connected to each-other through her systems,
".. I have never been too sure what to do during these breaks.. Would you two perhaps show me?"

When Eris had completed her test, Sean had sent her a short, quick message. "Not bad, my rival." His second test, he dropped his time by 15 seconds, but took light damage for his increased speed.

He headed back to the elevator at a glide, and answered Julianna's call. "Um, sure. I think we can find something to do." He prefered to get some food, and sit alone with his thoughts, but perhaps some company would do him good today. "What about you, Dutchess. Join us?"

He took his spot on the elevator, waiting for a reply, and pick up his notebook and pencil, sliding them into the hidden pocket of his seat.

Average, not bad, that was a good run but Eris felt she could have done better and she knew she could have,
"Thank you Argent Soul, Shinigami." She said as she made her way back into the observation unit. She always took praise with a bowed head and words of appreciation, any type of praise. She then heard the message from her rival,
"You weren't so bad yourself Revanant." She said as she took her place to observe once more, noticing Raijin's careless usage of ammo. That will get him in trouble on the battlefield and she shook her head but he did not do a bad job anyways. She watched each student as they took their rounds and waited for her to be called out once more to test.

On her second test, she dropped her time about about ten seconds and did not take as much damage, gaining her a 'S' Grade on the second try. Old Faithful had pulled through for her. Once it was over, she was glad to be given a break, it was then Julianna had called her and she answered it, connecting with Sean and Julianna and it was here Julianna requested that they show her what to do during the breaks and Sean asked if the was apt to join them,
"Sure! I know where we can hang out too." She said as she headed back towards the elevator.

Julianna looked up for a moment, the head of her AC mimicking the motion, the elevator was moving far too slow, and Pellegri had not ordered that they keep still. Her main boosters fired up and she lifted from the elevator, flying up towards the elevator doors which had begun opening, her ascent slowed momentarily until there was enough space and she found herself topside again.
Julianna could be a little impatient at times, but that was in her nature, she needed maximum efficiency, always wanting things to be done as soon as they could be within reason. She opened up the booster ports int he back of her AC, kicking in the Overboost system again and tore towards the hangers once again, specially hers, landing outside it. She stepped her AC into the storage unit, stepping up onto the large circular plate that secured her Next in place and turned it about so that it was once again facing outwards.

Julianna opened up the back of her Next,
"All systems, return to normal mode. Run diagnostics and shut down." She ordered, the screens changing to various scanners and system checks,
"All systems entering normal mode, diagnostics engaging." The silver-haired girl turned around, clambering out the back of the Next and onto the service ramp outside where she stretched for a moment, eventually heading to the ladder that would bring her back down to ground level.

"Roger that, Dutchess, I'll follow your lead, then." He smiled, trying not to sound to serious. Sean and Dancer both glanced back, then up as she boosted out. So, she was impatient, and while he doubted she usually used her power ineffectually, it seemed she would waste it in a pinch. Not that a machine that well equiped didn't have the energy to burn.

He glanced over at Eris, smiling at all he'd picked up today. Now he just needed to have a word with Tristan, and then he'd head off to 'Hang out' with Eris and Julianna. He was tempted to open a private channel, but felt the talk a bit more personal.

When the elevator stopped, Sean kept behind Tristan as he headed for the Hanger site. He docked up, and set the console to diagnostic and power down mode. While it put a little more strain on his unit's core, it powered up faster then in normal mode. Sean prefered to only shut his unit down fully when he felt it alone, like after school. Besides, the power it drew was less then half when it was on and idle, and his heat sincs were high class.

He slipped out, and jumped to the deck, catching his hand on the ladder and swinging safely to the ground at the last moment. He headed to Tristan. "Hey, Tristan, got a moment?"

Eris remained standing patiently in the elevator, even as Julianna boosted off suddenly. She let off a sigh,
"She better not take her abilities for-granted, that could lead to her downfall." She said but thought nothing more of it as she waited for the elevator to stop. She then returned to the hangar and 'parked' Old Faithful. Once this was done she spoke the final disengagement commands before the giant robotic machine shut down. Once this was done, she got out of the chair and exited the craft. She then walked down the service ramp and climbed down the ladder that led to the ground level.

Eris then made her way to the exit and waited for the others to join her. She thought about the place she would take them to hang out until they were to return to class. Really, she could not wait to get out of the neurosuit and into some normal clothes. She hated wearing these things for too long. Still, she could not complain. She shifted, swinging her arms slightly as she waited. Where were they?

Julianna stretched when she hit the ground finally, making sure she was in top form. She eventually stepped out from the hangar that was attending to her machine, ignoring the hissing as steam blowers ran over it, cleaning away the dirt and much that had covered during the small excursion, mechanics shifting and changing, pulling away the weapons and beginning to empty their ammo, the loud ringing of unused bullets showering into steel containers barely bothered her, being drowned out as she closed the door behind her.

She looked over at Sean and Eris in particular, but mostly Sean as he approached Tristan, whom was stretching also and about to charge over in Julianna's direction if not for being stopped by Sean, to whom he turned, waving his hand,
"Yo, comrade! Whats up?"

"Hey Eris." Raijin's voice came from behind, the young man having snuck up to her pretty much, as was a little natural of him, he liked stealth tactics most, so much it reflected on his personality, and usually left him rather out of sight,
"You have anything planned for the break..? I'm just lookin' for some-one to chill with, looks like Tristan's about to get the harsh word from our Number One classmate.. Well.. After that performance.." Raijin stared at Julianna, raising a brow, "Perhaps Number two.. Is she.. Really human?"

Sean stopped next to him, looking up at his AC. "Listen, T, you've got to start using your head on the battlefield. You're not gonna impress any girls when you're dead." He pointed across the hanger at Julianna's Next. "If I couldn't beat that things run, how did you plan to? Just because we're in a simulation doesn't mean you should just do this stuff without thought." He dropped a hand on his shoulder, smiling at her. "Besides, it's break the heart of every young woman in the colony if something happened to you, so be careful from now on, ok?" He glanced in Julianna's direction, the looked back at Tristian. "And back off the new girl a little. She doesn't seem the type to just hook up with someone, so try to get to know her less directly before you actually try anything romantic with her, ya?"

Eris spun around to face Raijin as he approached her and smiled to him. He then asked if she had any plans for the break and mentioned that it appeared that Tristan was about to get the hash word from Sean then questioned if Julianna was really human. Eris shifted a little before answering his question,
"Well, I was going to hang out with Sean and Julianna, you're welcome to join us if you like. The more the merrier!" She spoke, inviting him to join their little group. She then looked back to where the others were supposed to come from. She then looked back to him,
"I'm not sure about Julianna not being human, she looks human to me." She said with a shrug.

Of course, she knew of Julianna's secret but she was not about to tell it to just anyone. If Julianna wanted to tell, that was her business but Eris was going to keep this dark secret, well, a secret. She then returned her attention back to Raijin once more,
"You did pretty well out there today. I honestly can't wait to be out there in the battlefield. I bet it is intense!" She said, trying to stir up conversation with him while they were waiting.

Tristan flinched slightly as he was told off by Sean, he supposed that the other pilot was right about it, perhaps if he hadn't been messing around trying to be fancy he wouldn't have screwed up so bad and embarrassed himself like a hopeless idiot. He rubbed the back of his head looking to the ground
"Alright alright I got it, no promises though I mean look-it her." Tristan stared over at Julianna, putting his hands on his hips, "Man.. What got her so screwed up she wont even give a guy, who worships her so much, the time of day..? Most girls crumble to that kinda treatment."

"Hey that's cool. I'll hang with you three." Raijin replied, smiling a little, though he'd been hoping to deal with Eris alone, he guessed this was better than being turned down completely though, "Thanks, you were pretty awesome too, that machine of yours really deals out the punishment. Oh also, did you get your notes on the Variable Functions and proper use of FCS finished? I've been wondering if there was something I forgot.." Raijin questioned, making small talk of his own.

Sean clapped a hand to his shoulder again, walking with him and steering him towards the hanger enterance. "Listen, man, some girls like it hard to get, you know. Just be nice to her, and do your best in the AC. She'll warm up to you, just like everyone else does. Once she like you, then turn on the charm, buddy. Turn it on to early, you're just gonna push her away again. The key is being paitient, you know? Like a sniper on the battlefield. Just got to keep your sights on her till the times is right." He stopped walking for a moment, thinking about that analogy. "But don't, like, stalk her or anything, y'know?"

He waved at Eris and Raijin as they got closer. "Sorry I kept you waiting. What's up, you two?"

"Thanks, Old Faithful may not be much, but it gets the job done. And yeah, I sure did. Do you need them for something?" Eris responded to his notes. She would have to go and retrieve them later though. It was shortly after this conversation that Sean had joined them once more and she looked to him,
"Oh, just talking to Raijin here, mind if he joins us? What's taking Julianna? She asked, looking around for the third member of their group. She then looked back to Raijin,
""I think I left the notes in my locker, but I will get them to you later.

Julianna could be seen walking towards Eris and Sean slowly, her eyes on the fourth, uninvited guest, but made no mention of it as she enclosed on them, she hadn't been here for any chatter they had, instead just payed attention to body language. The shy exterior expressions of Raijin held vague similarities to Tristan when he first started giving her attention, however he didn't seem to be advancing on Eris, or perhaps not as quickly?
She stared at the conversation between Sean and Tristan also, flinching irritably when Tristan looked her way, she knew he'd start up again and she was half a moment away from giving him a good slap and telling him to back off.
She calmly stood by Eris appearing on her other side just as she asked where Julianna was,
"I am here." She responded, turning her head to Raijin a moment but then looked to Sean.

"Like I said I think I missed something so I was just hopin' I could go over your work too," He put his hands on his hips, looking over to Julianna, though felt internally creeped out by her stare, almost wanting to back off a moment,
"Okay, cool Eris.." He looked back at her to get his attention off Julianna.

Sean smiled at everyone. "Well, you're show, Eris. What's this spot you've got for us." He looked over at Tristan. "You mind if I catch you later, Tristan? We're gonna go out for a bit." He looked at the group. "Unless you guys don't mind him along." He looked around the group, waiting.

((You guys need to tell me when you post here XD))

"Alright, come with me!" Eris said as she made her way out of the room and down the hall. She then went up some flights of steps, headed down the hallway where the other NEXT pilots could sit and chat among one another. She brought them there and took a table, gesturing for the others to follow her. She took a seat at a booth, waiting for the others to join her,
"This is where everyone likes to hang out at, the food here isn't too bad, I recommend the desserts though, they'll send you to paradise with one bite." She said, speaking about them with a slightly dreamy look on her face.