Power Slave Piloting Class

Thread Details
Open to: Cadet 3rd Class. Cadet 2nd Class. Cadet 1st Class. Piloting instructor (Mao). All Companies. Students must be part of Piloting Program.
Plot: The 2nd years are piloting a slave system for the first time. In first year, they were trained on armored vehicles. Upperclassmen are there to help show them how it's done, and to practice more advance techniques separate of them. Power Slaves are used for construction type work. They are using the Dai Dara.
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Kaname was nervous. She stared at the doors that led into the hangar their class was called to assemble in. Not for the first time, she wondered if she had maybe gotten ahead of herself by entering the armored vehicle training program, though so far she had proven that she belonged there. Even so, the idea of piloting a Power Slave left her nervous. What if she stepped on someone!

Taking in a deep breath, she reached out and rested her palm on the handle, steeling her nerves. She didn't know if anyone was watching her battle her anxiety about the upcoming class, and at that moment she didn't care. She was too lost in thought as she tried to figure out if she wasn't cut out for the combat programs after all.

Standing quietly behind her, Sousuke wondered to himself why Kaname had yet to walk through the hangar door. After being excused, he had noticed her walking toward the hangar for their next lessons, and had been following quietly behind her since they had left the main building. They were in the same class after all, so it was only natural that they should walk together. Glancing back and forth between her grip on the handle and the side of her face, Sousuke had to wonder what exactly was keeping her from entering.

Was there perhaps something wrong with it? Could the instructor not have arrived yet and the door was otherwise locked to prevent students from messing around with highly dangerous equipment with no supervision? Or had she noticed something else wrong with the door? A trap of some kind? Perhaps that was it! What if she had noticed a trap set on the door, but had yet to do anything about it because any movement might cause it to spring! Coughing to clear his throat of the anxiety his thoughts were causing, he leaned forward slightly. "Chidori? Just nod if the door is booby trapped. Don't make any sudden moves, and I'll see what I can do to help you..."

She had stiffened when Sousuke spoke up, never having realized he was there. That was an annoying habit of his that she wasn't sure she would ever get used to. He always seemed to be lurking nearby, and he was so silent and unobtrusive that she always overlooked him until he made himself known. At least it no longer scared the wits out of her, but it was still irritating.

As he spoke of traps, Kaname let out an aggravated sigh and banged her head against the door. She repeated the action a few more times, her grip on the handle tightening with her mounting ire. "You...," she grumbled in a strained voice. Face bright red, she faced him quickly, "There's nothing wrong with the door, why would there be!? Can you think of a more secure place than a school like this, I mean really, what goes through that crazy head of yours!?"

Taken aback at her rather ...loud...response, Sousuke was at least thankful that it seemed the door was indeed, not booby trapped in some way. Feeling a slight chill rush up his spine at the anger now directed his way, Sousuke gulped, swallowing past the lump in his throat before trying to explain himself. Putting up his hands to try and show her that he was in no way trying to threaten her person, Sousuke leaned back from her before speaking, just in case he had to make a run for it and attempt coming back to class from another entrance.

"Ch-Chidori, you misunderstand! I wasn't insinuating that the school's security has been compromised at all. If you remember correctly, the purpose of this academy, above all others, is to train civilian students for the possibility of joining some kind of military service. We were all assigned teams and given objectives to meet, just as normal military squads would. It wouldn't surprise me if one of our rival teams were to set a trap or two in an attempt to take out a valuable team mate."

The last three words he spoke kept that furious blush from fading away from her cheeks. Lips pressed tightly together, she tried to figure out a response to that. She hated it when he made sense. It happened so rarely and usually to her embarrassment. Feeling like a string wound tight, she felt the pressure of a thousand responses bubbling and then deflated all at once. Sighing, her shoulder sagged and she begrudgingly nodded. "You're right. That makes sense. Let's go," she mumbled her words with no energy, turning her weight back into the arm still holding onto the handle, and pushed open the door.

Time to embarrass herself even more, she thought, not so sure anymore why she had been looking so forward to the class when she signed up for it.

Watching as he shoulders slumped, Sousuke had to wonder what he may have done wrong this time. As opposed to only moments before, she seemed so completely defeated, for reasons he couldn't even begin to understand why. It wasn't as if he had said anything insulting to her, he had only spoken the truth. Chidori was indeed a valuable team mate, as her ingenuity and quick thinking often proved that the most obvious and simple solutions could be the most useful. Following behind her into the hangar, he kept silent, not wanting to upset her any further.

Placing his bag into the cubby in the corner and retrieving the necessary notepad and pen, Sousuke took a seat near her on one of the side benches. Chidori really was quite capable with everything she did, but if one's confidence faltered, so did their performance. Even if he wasn't very good with words, perhaps the least he could do was listen. That he was good at, and Kalinin had told him before that sometimes you just needed someone to be around to listen as you vented. With that in mind, he took a calming breath, ready to face another dose of her wrath if the situation called for it. "Chidori? Is something bothering you?"

At once grateful and annoyed that Sousuke sat beside her, Kaname tapped her pencil against her notepad, cheek resting in hand and staring straight ahead, waiting for class to begin. When he asked if something was bothering her, she had no idea where to begin, or even if she should. For a few long moments, her only response was to chew on her lip, not even looking at him. He seemed genuine enough, and she had learned in their first year that he often just wanted to help, he was just socially awkward. It didn't help one bit that she was prone to over-the-top responses.

Finally, she gave a slight nod, and leaned her head in close as she dropped her voice, not wanting anyone to overhear. "Yeah. It's just, this is so out of my depth. I don't even know why I signed up for this class. I'm no fighter. Not like you, and so many others here. I feel like the only one who's actually learning here, seems like everyone else already has experience. And I hate being bad at things. I'm going to embarrass myself, I just know it." She finished off with a grumble, realizing she had just unloaded on him. He probably hadn't expected a speech. She hadn't expected to give one.

Sousuke blinked in surprise at the response she had given him. She actually thought she was no good? Didn't believe she belonged there? It had only been because of her that their team had even passed their introductory classes the year prior! Had the answer been a grenade, it's shrapnel would have killed all of them had she not said something and pointed out the obvious to the rest of them. "Chidori, that's just not true. Even the most experienced soldiers are never done learning, and you pick up on things very quickly for someone who has never had any experience."

Turning on the bench to bring up a leg and face her more directly, Sousuke lowered his voice, not sure just how many people might be nearby listening, but not wanting to spread information on others any further than it's intended target. "Yes, I have had experience with machinery and systems like this before, but even that doesn't mean that since then the systems haven't been improved upon. The systems I knew could be completely different, for me as well as everyone else. Even Kurz has said that he's never even been in the cockpit before, and he's older than us, despite being in the same class. This will be a learning experience for all of us, regardless of where we come from. Just keep that in mind, and you'll be fine."

Hearing him say that even he might have trouble with the upcoming class cheered her up. She smiled timidly and nodded, her shoulders squaring back unconsciously with the return of her confidence and enthusiasm. "Thank you. I think I needed to hear that. I just get a little overwhelmed sometimes, this isn't exactly the kind of thing I ever expected to be doing," she laughed lightly. Winking at him, she grinned and resettled the notepad on her lap. "I'll get through this, even if I have to do extra training and studying to get ahead! And you'll help me if I need it, right?"

Walking across the courtyard toward the hangar, Kurz yawned widely. Five in the morning was waaayyyy too early to start such a long school day, especially with everything they had to accomplish in it. Slinging his backpack over to his other shoulder, he kicked a small stone that had been on the sidewalk. Approaching the large building, he pushed open the door, glad to know that he wasn't as late as he first thought he'd be. Still, he'd rather be dead than miss a class taught by the luscious Ms. Mao. That woman was the whole package and more! She had the brains, the body, and heaven help you if you made her mad! 'One of these days,' he promised himself. 'One of these days, she will want me as much as I do her.'

Placing his bag in the cubby wall and grabbing his pad and pencil, he caught the sounds of people and began heading toward it. Staying on the other side of the cubby wall, the closer he got, hear realized that the voices were his team mates, as well as his favorite 'couple'. Catching only the last part of what Kaname had been saying, he guessed that she was perhaps having doubts about herself in regards to the class materials. She'd had the same fears their first week too, so it wasn't so surprising that when this class was supposed to be more difficult, that she was second guessing herself. Kurz felt his smile widen when Sousuke took to encouraging her. The boy never was a man of many words, but when it was something he was more than familiar with, it was sometimes hard to turn him off. When it seemed as though Kaname was finally back to her old spunky self, Kurz slid around the corner, placing himself not more than five feet from the pair with a wide, amused grin on his face. "You know, if you two wanna ditch the first half and go make out in the equipment closet that badly, I'd be more than happy to cover for ya..."

It was barely a moment after Kaname had stopped talking that Kurz had come out of hiding, making some comment about ditching class and going to the equipment closet for....making out? Making out with what? Was there something valuable in there? And why would Chidori need to be there with him? Whatever was in the equipment closet could be very large, or heavy, and in those cases it might be favorable to have another with him to help.

Then again, if something valuable was in the equipment closet, why had it not been moved to the faculty only section of the school? The more he thought it over, the more questions he seemed to come up with, so rather than allow himself to go in endless circles, Sousuke decided to actually voice his inquiries in the hopes of receiving an answer. "Why would Chidori and I have need to go to the equipment closet Kurz? Everything we need should already be available to us right here in the hangar."

What was it with her squad mates popping up from nowhere!? She barely contained the jump at Kurz's unexpected interruption, having learned in her first year not to react. As he spoke, however, 'not reacting' went right out the window. She gritted her teeth at the insinuation and turned around with mind to yell at him when Sousuke spoke up first.

The blush on her face now made the ones earlier seem like nothing at all. Sputtering at his comment, she shook her head quickly, willing him to never have spoken though it was much too late. "SOUSUKE! KURZ! BOTH OF YOU ARE DEAD, DO YOU HEAR ME!?" That was it. She had nothing but indignant rage left. All sense was gone after those two spoke their piece. Grabbing Sousuke by the collar, she used him as a weapon against Kurz, tossing him over her shoulder at the perverted blond. Huffing in anger, she fumed, advancing slowly on the pair with murder in her eyes.

"GYAH!" Both boys went crashing to the ground, the unforgiving concrete floor their only cushion as they lay sprawled in a heap of what used to be two people amongst random tools and equipment that had been knocked loose with their fall. Coughing in an attempt to recover the wind that had been knocked out of him Kurz smiled hopelessly up at the furious girl slowly making her way over to where they landed, trying to shift into at least something of a sitting position. "Aw come on Kaname! Honestly sweetheart, it was all in good fun, I swear! Besides, you know Sousuke would never string you up to the rafters like that!"

"What? Kurz, that would be dangerous!"

"Well no shit, I was defending you!"

"Defending me from what?"

"Ugh! You see Kaname? You got nothin' to worry about with this guy!"

"Why would she be worried about me? What did I do?"

"I think at this point it's what you have yet to do that's got you in trouble man."

"Somehow I'm guessing that whatever it is you just said, is what's going to get the both of us killed."

"Yeah, probably...but what a way to die, huh? Meh, I've lived a good life."

"You're only 19..."

"I said 'good' not 'long'..."

The way they contemplated their deaths was do endearing for her to carry on with her outburst. Laughing at the pair, she held out her hands to the two of them to pull them to their feet as a sign of good faith. "At this rate, there'll never be a 'yet,'" she chuckled with a shake of her head, never noticing what she had said. "Let's get this cleaned up before the instructor gets here, she'll have our hides if we don't."

"Affirmative, thank you for sparing our lives for the time being Chidori." Both boys took her offered hand, standing just long enough to stand upright. After making sure that nothing had been dislocated or broken from their collision, they both bent back down to begin picking up the fallen tools. Surprised when a sledgehammer was discovered among the fallen tools, Sousuke took hold of it and dragged it over to set up against the corner. With everything picked up and put back where it was supposed to be, Sousuke retreated back to the bench he had sat on earlier and took a seat, making sure to once more have his notepad and pen in hand for when Ms. Mao and the rest of their class finally decided to show up.

Helping the boys clean up, she retreated to the bench when the area showed no signs of having been messed up. Smiling to Sousuke as he came and sat down beside her, she leaned in once more, eyes darting around the fairly empty room as she waited for people to come in with a bit of remaining nervousness. "So, tell me honestly... How hard are these things to figure out? I mean, I know how they work from a mechanical perspective, but I also knew how a car worked long before I ever got behind the wheel, and you saw how well I did my first day of defensive driving!" By 'well' she meant 'badly.' The amount of stalling she had caused in the poor vehicle had earned her quite a lecture after class. She was grateful Instructor Yan was kind enough to wait until after class and give her a dressing down in private, but it had still hurt her pride a considerable amount.

Something told her that Instructor Mao wouldn't be as forgiving.

Pleased that Kaname had begun to show her enthusiasm for the class once more, Sousuke gave it some momentary though before answering. Sure, he could break things down from top to bottom as he usually did, but something told him she was looking for something from a more personal experience type of explanation. "Well Chidori, in all respects, the handling systems are not very difficult to understand. It is more that it takes time to get used to how sensitive some of the controls can be. For instance, since the operator has to have all of their limbs in use to fully operate the unit, most of the operations come in the form of vocal commands. Also, if there is an issue with a part of the machine, the operating system will normally alert the pilot so that they are aware, and can make adjustments to what they are doing so that the machinery will take less damage until a time that it can be repaired. Though I can hardly speak for the operation system used in the Dai Dara, I would theorize that since it is supposed to be for civilian use, that the systematic output wouldn't be as demanding as say an RK92, which would need to have a higher level of sensitivity in order to allow for more precise movements when in militaristic operations use."

Realizing how long his explanation had been, he stopped himself before saying anything else. Kaname had only just gotten her interest back in the class, and the last thing he wanted was to bore her about it before it even began. "I-I'm sorry Chidori, I must be boring you. I apologize."

"Hmm," she pursed her lips together, listening to him explain. He went on a little too much, not that it surprised her at this point. She caught the important parts, though, and when he finally stopped prattling, she nodded and smiled in appreciation. "Thanks," she said with a bit of dryness in her voice, chuckling lightly after a moment. "Hopefully it's a bit more intuitive than a car," she grinned wryly. "At least if it's based off my own movements, I might have a bit more luck. Maybe. ...Time will tell, hahah."

Putting away the last of the tools that had fallen near him, Kurz rolled up the sleeves of his uniform and grabbed a chair. Dragging it over to the bench, he turned it backwards and mounted it, leaning forward on the beck rest as his pen and notepad dangled from his fingers. Hearing more trepidation from his team mate again, Kurz smiled encouragingly at her. "Eh, you'll probably do fine Kaname. You had some of the highest grades last year when we were just talking about the systems on paper, so now all you have to do is apply it. You already know this stuff, so just keep a clear head and you should get it no problem!"

"Now if only some other people would have done their class work, I wouldn't have to worry about anything." Nearly tipping over in his chair, Kurz turned to find the gorgeous Ms. Melissa Mao staring down at the group. She didn't seem upset at all, but he knew exactly what she had been insinuating. The year before he hadn't exactly been the most...attentive...student, and she was probably still a little ticked about his most recent advances. Showing up in her room with a wine bottle he had snuck on campus and covering the floor with a trail of rose petals had seemed like a good idea at the time...

"Well, well...Ms. Mao, may I just say that not even Aphrodite could ever look as amazing as you do in those fatigues-ACK!" She had leaned over and decided to dig her pointer finger knuckles into the sides of his head, supposedly for his punishment of once again, hitting on his teacher. 'Oh but what a smokin' hot teacher she is...'

"You just about done Weber?"

"Gyah! YES! UNCLE! UNCLE!"

"You gonna listen and keep that mouth of yours shut?"

"YES! YES, OKAY! I SWEAR I WON'T HIT ON YOU DURING CLASS!" As soon as the words left his mouth, she pulled back and smiled, tilting her head slightly as her hands came up to rest on her waist.

"Good boy."

Kaname smiled at the encouragement, though she bit her tongue on the obvious-to-her reply of 'Yes, and I knew a gas pedal made a car move and a brake pedal made it stop and that didn't prevent me from crashing into a wall!' Well, they would find out soon enough if she was as bad at using a slave-system as she was driving.

Instructor Mao always seemed to show up at the perfect time, and Kaname had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing when Kurz was called out on his lack of class work completion. She shook her head as he dug his grave, and when Mao finally released him, she grinned wryly up at the instructor. "Notice he only said 'during class'?" she said with dry humor, amusement dancing in her eyes. For all that Mao was a tough teacher, she was also one of the most approachable, at least to Kaname. Certainly, if at any point she felt like she needed a woman's advice, it was Mao's door she would be knocking on.

Leonard checked his watch as he walked. He was very nearly late for his piloting class, and that was quite unacceptable. Especially considering the rumors he'd heard: evidently, Instructor Mao was quite hard on Amalgam Company students. It was hardly his fault, though; that sociopath that Uncle Borda had hired was beyond reason. The man, Gauron, had kept most of his company's personnel up all night with his lunatic ranting.

If push came to shove, he would simply explain the situation to the instructor. Surely she would understand if he told her that he - and most of the other students in Amalgam Company - had only managed about an hour of sleep last night. Even then, it was a case of pure luck. Most of the newer students had managed not even a wink thanks to Gauron's insanity. Luckily, Instructor Mao had been a United States Marine before her tenure at the Academy. Fooling her would be child's play. Leonard smiled at the thought as he opened the door to the hangar.

The smile died at the ruckus that assaulted his ears. So the Jindai Company resident loud mouth was already present. That moron Weber would take most of the heat off of Leonard, despite his arriving very nearly late. He quickly and quietly took his place at the back of the class. Unlike most students, Leonard didn't need to be at the front of the class to absorb the maximum information; in fact, most of what Mao taught was likely to be information that he already knew. This class would be beyond easy. As he took his seat, Leonard spared a glance and a knowing smile at Miss Chidori. Regardless of what she thought, she would, someday, be his.

A small grin played on his face as he watched his friend and team mate literally getting it drilled into his head that he was not to continue his attempts at advancing on Ms. Mao during class. It was amusing whenever she had to do such things, and though he didn't always agree on Kurz's logic, he was far more in touch with gauging the people around him than Sousuke was, and if he had felt even a sliver of something from Ms. Mao, then Kurz was likely to go head first into finding more. Still, Sousuke only wished that he would actually be the person Sousuke saw him as when they did some of their homework in the dorms. Kurz was incredibly smart, even giving him assistance on some of the more difficult theoretical scenarios to the point that they seemed simple. The man was just lazy when it came to doing things he didn't want to but knew he had to.

Turning his head to the door when it opened, his grin faded somewhat. Noticing Leonard approaching the area to wait for class to start, Sousuke nodded slightly at the boy, acknowledging his arrival though certainly never expecting it to be returned. For some reason, since day one, he and Leonard had never even been able to be in the same class amicably. That first week, Sousuke had thought long and hard over what he could have possibly said or done to make Leonard think so little of a man he hardly knew at all. It was only later that Kaname had told him that some people just didn't mix, no matter what happened, and he had to admit, after hearing that, he had felt a little better about the whole situation. Still, that didn't make having to be friendly to someone who constantly looked down on you was easy. "Good Morning Leonard."

Frowning when Leonard walked into the hangar, Kaname muttered under her breath, "Great, here comes pretty-boy." She forced a friendly smile, though the expression didn't reach her eyes, and acknowledged him with a nod as he took his seat. "Nice to see you, Leonard." Though the words were pleasant enough, and she even managed to make them sound as such, there was still that touch of sarcasm she couldn't quite shake that insinuated she was making at jab at his nearly tardy arrival.

"Hey Leo! How's it hangin' man?" If there was possibly one thing that Leonard hated more than Sousuke being...well, Sousuke, it was when Kurz called him 'Leo'. But considering how he always ran around with his little 'holier than thou' complex, Kurz figured he could stand to be dragged down a few pegs every now and again. Besides, it was just a name. Name's didn't make you who you were, you made your name. The look on his face right then was also probably something of a mixture between actual friendliness, and the cat that ate the canary. Leonard could piss and moan all he wanted, but it wasn't as if Kurz was deliberately calling him anything derogatory, so there wouldn't be any reason to get him in trouble for any of it. 'Hooray for loopholes...'

"Good morning Leonard, it's good to see at least half of my class has arrived before the warning bell." Finally moving around where Kurz sat in his chair, Mao walked over to her small podium that was set up against the wall as a small desk and took hold of her clipboard. Handing it over to Kurz since he was closest, she turned to face the rest of the groups present. "Alright guys, we'll give the rest of your class a few more minutes before we start. Until then, sign your initials next to your name on the clipboard to confirm you attendance. You will be doing this each morning you arrive, and only after class has ended will I check off your name. Go ahead and get started on that and just leave it on my desk when you're done."

'I could think of a few other things I'd like to use your desk for...Melissa...' Kurz had to practically bite his tongue to keep from saying it, but he had made her a promise, and if nothing else, he was a man of his word. Still, Kaname had been right to point out that he never said anything about not hitting on her outside of class. 'Until then sweetheart...' he thought to himself, smiling before signing his initials and handing the clipboard over to Kaname.

Leonard was taken slightly aback. He couldn't guess at what made Sagara feel the need to speak to him. The simple bow of the head that he had given was more than enough. In a perfect world, they would never speak at all, never see each other, never be forced to interact. It was a mystery. Weber's motives were infinitely more clear, however: he was just being his typical annoying, petty self. How hard was it to say Leonard anyway? The cretin made it seem impossible.

In response to them, Leonard merely looked from one to the other with a frigid gaze. He couldn't be bothered to waste his time speaking to the pair - they probably wouldn't understand even if he tried. The look thawed considerably when it landed back on Miss Chidori. Her greeting, while courteous enough on the surface, had something extra in it. A hint of sharpness, almost enough to sting. He decided to ignore the small barb. "The pleasure is mine, Miss Chidori."

His attention was drawn to the front of the class by Instructor Mao speaking to him. Perhaps she was less strict than the hearsay held. According to rumors, she was borderline-hellbent on ruining Amalgam Company's collective days. "Good morning, Instructor," he replied as he decided to place less stock in similar cases. He was sure that the rumor had come students in his Company behaving poorly and being justifiably punished for their actions.