Post by Nyarlath on Nov 20, 2010 22:16:11 GMT -5
Try as she might, Emily Ward could not contain her beauty. She wore business casual clothing, glasses, and put no effort (well, hardly any effort) into her daily beautifying routine. If you ask her, she's not there to make friends but to do her job. Unfortunately for her she no longer has the task of research and development or mechanical design. Instead of doing what she'd gone to college for, she had to see to the needs of a boy trapped in a man's body.
Luckily for her, though, he didn't need constant supervision. This allowed her to delve back into the work she knew and loved, helping out various team members or other researchers. Emily no longer had the sense of accomplishment that she used to, but diving into this work eased her mind. She hovered over Dr. Kagan, standing, but with one arm on his desk as she leaned forward to the display screen. She was happy.
Slap.
Suddenly, she was steaming. Emily didn't need to turn around to see him, but did anyways. Brian Thorn was jogging around the facility, something that had become fairly typical since he became a team member, and apparently couldn't resist the urge to smack her on the rear end as he ran past them.
"I'm going to sue you," she shouted at him.
"No you won't," Thorn turned and jogged backwards so she could see his smile. "You love it!"
Emily hoped that something would happen and he'd fall over backwards over something. If she were really lucky he might break his leg and she wouldn't have to deal with him for months. Then she saw it, a tech was rolling a toolbox across the way. She hesitated, but Thorn easily back-flipped to safety.
With a hand on her hip she sighed, he was always showing off. Thorn smiled again, tapped his head with his index finger, and then turned to continue his jog. Dr. Kagan looked up at her, completely in tune with her frustration. Brian Thorn wasn't exactly the easiest person in the world to get along with.
Still, the people of this facility would have to figure out how, considering his apparent mastery over skills it should have taken a lifetime to achieve. When he was inside that Mech, when he was defending Tokyo, he was good. Damn good. A few of the other pilots would take it for test runs here and there, in case something happened to the star, but none of them really compared.
It didn't stop them from working for it, though. The other pilots on the base were there not only to help test the Mech's functionality, but also train. Other pilots would take out jets and would simulate battles against the Mech. They always came back and nearly collapsed, exhausted from the physical and mental toll that operating a machine like this could pose.
Then he'd show up, just like he's doing now. None of the pilots knew how long he'd been jogging around the station, but he'd been there before mornings practice runs and was still going. As they struggled with some of the commands during piloting tests, he just jogged. And now, as the third and final pilot brought the mech in and seemed obviously gassed from handling it, Brian Thorn side stepped and leapt inside the cockpit.
"What the hell?" Kagan shouted from his terminal. Everyone watched as techs scrambled off the vehicle and ran to safety. He was firing it up for another run. Each of the pilots noticed the look on the other, and decided it was time to show this punk a thing or two.
The pilots who were already inside their jets turned them around and took off again. The other three bolted to their planes, ready to join in on the fight. Brian Thorn was going down, and that's all there was to it. Mrs. Pryor watched on from her office.
At first Thorn was just enjoying himself, flying around in the machine like he enjoyed. Sure, he was great at it, but to him this was all just a lot of fun. "Nothing like a joy ride in a Gundam," Thorn said, but was immediately cut off by a beeping noise. There were bogeys out there and Thorn was going to take them down.
Now normally the pilots will take on one or two planes at a time. The maneuverability and speed of these things makes defending yourself against them nearly impossible. All of the other pilots ended up getting "shot down" as the blotches of paint on the hull would indicate. Thorn couldn't help but grin when he realized all five of them were coming at him.
Over isolated mountains in Japan they flew, swerving this way and that. Just as the pilots would get a lock on, Thorn managed to slip away from it. However these guys were experts, and before he knew it paint pellets and missiles were flying at his hull. Thorn escaped most of them, only taking a few pellet shots, before mounting an offensive.
His forward thrusters fired and stopped him near in his tracks, and he lifted himself above his enemies, coming down with strafing shots from his own weapon, taking out a jet and nailing a wing on another. They scrambled and tried to get back into position, and one pilot shot blind. Thorn avoided the blast but another of the jet pilots didn't manage it and went down to friendly fire.
The chace was back on and Thorn was enjoying every second of it. There was nothing these guys could do to him. He climbed and they chased after him, he banked and they tried to stay on him. When he dove they tried to take advantage of the positioning and blast him out of the sky, but they kept missing. Suddenly they realized he was going straight for the water, as this battle had made it's way to the ocean.
The two pilots chasing after him pulled up hard as Thorn splashed his Mech into the ocean. Unlike their vehicles his was perfectly capable of underwater travel, though not at the same speeds as in the air. The third jet caught up with them and they circled, waiting for Thorn to show up and blast him.
That's when the missiles hit.
Two of them splattered all over the undersides of the jets, taking them out of the game. The last one, with paint on one wing, managed to avoid his missile, but as he flew off to regroup he noticed a strange thing. Water was dripping onto the windshield of his cockpit. He looked up and there was Thorn, or Thorn's Mech rather, with his gun aimed straight at the pilot.
After he covered the windshield with paint, Thorn drew a smiley face in it and jetted back to the base.
All of the other pilots were winded and fatigued, but Thorn leapt out like he'd still been jogging the entire time. Every jet plane was covered in paint, while the Mech, save one finger, was sparkly clean. A female technician walked past both groups, shielding herself from the pilots odor, yet she stopped and shuddered at Thorn's alluring aroma.
***
It wasn't long before he was in the General's office. Apparently taking off with the Mech on an unscheduled run was a no-no. Both of them realized that Thorn really didn't care, and that made the General even more furious. He stood up and leaned over his desk to emphasize his speech.
"We have rules and regulations at this facility, Mr. Hotshot!"
"Mr. Hotshot?" Thorn's face contorted in near disgust. "Is that really the best you could come up with?"
That was it, General Grant was pissed. "You sniveling little," he cried as he reached for Thorn, who easily slid out of his reach.
"Boys, boys," Mrs. Pryor said as she entered, eying Thorn quickly and making sure he noticed. "Can't we all play nice?"
"He started it!" the General shouted, realizing at once the words that just left his mouth.
"Are you finished?"
"Yeah."
"And you?" she asked Thorn.
"Sure thing," he said with a cocky grin as he looked her up and down. He too made sure she noticed as his eyes wandered her body.
"Good," she said, reasserting herself as the boss and getting down to business, "because a large, paper mache monster is terrorizing Tokyo."
"Well then it's time for you to suit up," the General said to Thorn, swallowing his pride and allowing the ace pilot to do what only he could.
"I guess so," Thorn said back, nodding in approval of the General's decision. He took a step and looked back at Mrs. Pryor. "You wanna come help?"
Sophia Vasquez Pryor noticeably gulped but stood her ground and didn't follow after the cocky, smiling pilot of the machine that would save the city. She and the general shared and awkward stare, and an awkward silence, as Thorn rushed to defend the city of Tokyo once again.
Luckily for her, though, he didn't need constant supervision. This allowed her to delve back into the work she knew and loved, helping out various team members or other researchers. Emily no longer had the sense of accomplishment that she used to, but diving into this work eased her mind. She hovered over Dr. Kagan, standing, but with one arm on his desk as she leaned forward to the display screen. She was happy.
Slap.
Suddenly, she was steaming. Emily didn't need to turn around to see him, but did anyways. Brian Thorn was jogging around the facility, something that had become fairly typical since he became a team member, and apparently couldn't resist the urge to smack her on the rear end as he ran past them.
"I'm going to sue you," she shouted at him.
"No you won't," Thorn turned and jogged backwards so she could see his smile. "You love it!"
Emily hoped that something would happen and he'd fall over backwards over something. If she were really lucky he might break his leg and she wouldn't have to deal with him for months. Then she saw it, a tech was rolling a toolbox across the way. She hesitated, but Thorn easily back-flipped to safety.
With a hand on her hip she sighed, he was always showing off. Thorn smiled again, tapped his head with his index finger, and then turned to continue his jog. Dr. Kagan looked up at her, completely in tune with her frustration. Brian Thorn wasn't exactly the easiest person in the world to get along with.
Still, the people of this facility would have to figure out how, considering his apparent mastery over skills it should have taken a lifetime to achieve. When he was inside that Mech, when he was defending Tokyo, he was good. Damn good. A few of the other pilots would take it for test runs here and there, in case something happened to the star, but none of them really compared.
It didn't stop them from working for it, though. The other pilots on the base were there not only to help test the Mech's functionality, but also train. Other pilots would take out jets and would simulate battles against the Mech. They always came back and nearly collapsed, exhausted from the physical and mental toll that operating a machine like this could pose.
Then he'd show up, just like he's doing now. None of the pilots knew how long he'd been jogging around the station, but he'd been there before mornings practice runs and was still going. As they struggled with some of the commands during piloting tests, he just jogged. And now, as the third and final pilot brought the mech in and seemed obviously gassed from handling it, Brian Thorn side stepped and leapt inside the cockpit.
"What the hell?" Kagan shouted from his terminal. Everyone watched as techs scrambled off the vehicle and ran to safety. He was firing it up for another run. Each of the pilots noticed the look on the other, and decided it was time to show this punk a thing or two.
The pilots who were already inside their jets turned them around and took off again. The other three bolted to their planes, ready to join in on the fight. Brian Thorn was going down, and that's all there was to it. Mrs. Pryor watched on from her office.
At first Thorn was just enjoying himself, flying around in the machine like he enjoyed. Sure, he was great at it, but to him this was all just a lot of fun. "Nothing like a joy ride in a Gundam," Thorn said, but was immediately cut off by a beeping noise. There were bogeys out there and Thorn was going to take them down.
Now normally the pilots will take on one or two planes at a time. The maneuverability and speed of these things makes defending yourself against them nearly impossible. All of the other pilots ended up getting "shot down" as the blotches of paint on the hull would indicate. Thorn couldn't help but grin when he realized all five of them were coming at him.
Over isolated mountains in Japan they flew, swerving this way and that. Just as the pilots would get a lock on, Thorn managed to slip away from it. However these guys were experts, and before he knew it paint pellets and missiles were flying at his hull. Thorn escaped most of them, only taking a few pellet shots, before mounting an offensive.
His forward thrusters fired and stopped him near in his tracks, and he lifted himself above his enemies, coming down with strafing shots from his own weapon, taking out a jet and nailing a wing on another. They scrambled and tried to get back into position, and one pilot shot blind. Thorn avoided the blast but another of the jet pilots didn't manage it and went down to friendly fire.
The chace was back on and Thorn was enjoying every second of it. There was nothing these guys could do to him. He climbed and they chased after him, he banked and they tried to stay on him. When he dove they tried to take advantage of the positioning and blast him out of the sky, but they kept missing. Suddenly they realized he was going straight for the water, as this battle had made it's way to the ocean.
The two pilots chasing after him pulled up hard as Thorn splashed his Mech into the ocean. Unlike their vehicles his was perfectly capable of underwater travel, though not at the same speeds as in the air. The third jet caught up with them and they circled, waiting for Thorn to show up and blast him.
That's when the missiles hit.
Two of them splattered all over the undersides of the jets, taking them out of the game. The last one, with paint on one wing, managed to avoid his missile, but as he flew off to regroup he noticed a strange thing. Water was dripping onto the windshield of his cockpit. He looked up and there was Thorn, or Thorn's Mech rather, with his gun aimed straight at the pilot.
After he covered the windshield with paint, Thorn drew a smiley face in it and jetted back to the base.
All of the other pilots were winded and fatigued, but Thorn leapt out like he'd still been jogging the entire time. Every jet plane was covered in paint, while the Mech, save one finger, was sparkly clean. A female technician walked past both groups, shielding herself from the pilots odor, yet she stopped and shuddered at Thorn's alluring aroma.
***
It wasn't long before he was in the General's office. Apparently taking off with the Mech on an unscheduled run was a no-no. Both of them realized that Thorn really didn't care, and that made the General even more furious. He stood up and leaned over his desk to emphasize his speech.
"We have rules and regulations at this facility, Mr. Hotshot!"
"Mr. Hotshot?" Thorn's face contorted in near disgust. "Is that really the best you could come up with?"
That was it, General Grant was pissed. "You sniveling little," he cried as he reached for Thorn, who easily slid out of his reach.
"Boys, boys," Mrs. Pryor said as she entered, eying Thorn quickly and making sure he noticed. "Can't we all play nice?"
"He started it!" the General shouted, realizing at once the words that just left his mouth.
"Are you finished?"
"Yeah."
"And you?" she asked Thorn.
"Sure thing," he said with a cocky grin as he looked her up and down. He too made sure she noticed as his eyes wandered her body.
"Good," she said, reasserting herself as the boss and getting down to business, "because a large, paper mache monster is terrorizing Tokyo."
"Well then it's time for you to suit up," the General said to Thorn, swallowing his pride and allowing the ace pilot to do what only he could.
"I guess so," Thorn said back, nodding in approval of the General's decision. He took a step and looked back at Mrs. Pryor. "You wanna come help?"
Sophia Vasquez Pryor noticeably gulped but stood her ground and didn't follow after the cocky, smiling pilot of the machine that would save the city. She and the general shared and awkward stare, and an awkward silence, as Thorn rushed to defend the city of Tokyo once again.
