Once back at their assigned base, Sealure entered her hangar; a specially modified aircraft hangar that had been retrofitted to support Novarai maintenance and equipment changes. However, Sealure was not the only Novarai in the hangar. A second machine, colored white and purple stood dormant on the opposing side of the hangar supported by a service gantry. As Sealure stepped backward into her gantry, Terra couldn't help but quietly stare at the second Novarai. Several workers continued to work tirelessly on the metallic giant; welding panels and installing hydraulics. What the finished product would look like was impossible to tell given there was a tarp covering part of it and several of the external cowling and armor panels had yet to be put into place.
"It seems Gato is nearly finished with her retrofit..." Sealure observed as she opened her cockpit. Several panels of armor pressed outward before moving horizontally as well as diagonally to clear the way for Terra to exit.
The human removed her arms and legs from their interface sockets before climbing down Sealure's leg, using the slivers of space between her armor as handholds to get down. "Yeah, but something tells me that finding her a pilot will be much harder than the actual retrofit. She just seems so... independent..."
"Perhaps," Sealure admitted as she tilted her head down to regard her pilot with her green electronic eye, "But I have faith that she'll be able to find a pilot that suits her."
"You know I can still hear you, right?" An impatient and slightly irritated artificial voice asked.
"Sorry Gato, we thought you were offline..." Terra admitted as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"I rarely ever go completely offline, I always leave partial power running... just in case. Keep that in mind the next time you decide to gossip about me right in front of me."
"We'll be sure to keep it in mind," Sealure assured her ally, "Terra, if there's nothing else I'll be shutting down. Unlike Gato, I prefer to go completely offline to allow for a full restart and diagnostic... I'm do for maintenance at 15:20 hours anyway."
Terra nodded to the mech before giving her a wave, "Alrighty then, I'll see you later... Bye Gato~"
"Whatever...." Gato replied.
Terra left the hangar to report to the GDF commander center that sat at the center of the base in the form of a special air traffic control tower. Terra entered the tower before ascending to the command deck in one of the two elevators. Upon reaching the upper level she found her commander issuing orders while updating an electronic map that showed the movements and deployments of both Novarai and human forces. As she approached, she couldn't help but wonder how accurate the intel was.
The commander; a middle aged gentleman from England, turned to see Terra approaching him, "Ah, Terra! Just returned from your sortie I take it?" he asked.
"Fresh from the hangar," Terra replied with a small smile and a nod.
"Splendid! I heard from our observers that you did a bang up job taking out those Novarai..." He added as he moved a blue dot on the screen from one spot to another after glancing at a sheet of paper in his hand.
"Sealure made it easy for me," Terra replied plainly.
The commander stopped and turned to face the pilot, "Something tells me that you and Sealure don't feel as successful as the reports say..."
Terra sighed, "A group of human resistance fighters engaged the Novarai before we could and it wiped pretty much all of them out, save for a few stragglers that were lucky enough to avoid the attack."
"I see," The commander nodded, "But, you must carry on, don't let it weigh to heavily upon your mind."
"Sir?" Terra asked, "How can you say that? Those people died!"
"Mmm... They did. But they did so knowing that there was a high chance of that result after we expressly warned them against engaging the enemy. We also told them that we were sending you to aid them. Yet, in the end they decided that they wanted to fight for humanity in their own way with or without our help. All we can do is respect their decision and save as many lives in the future as we can..." The commander then placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder, "Your mission was a success, don't let anyone; including yourself tell you anything different."
Terra smiled and nodded, "Yes sir."
"And call me Charles, I detest formalities when they aren't necessary. We're all soldiers fighting the same enemy!"
"Yes sir- I mean Charles...." Terra chuckled.
"Very good then,,,, Is there anything else?" Charles asked.
"Actually, I wanted to know how finding a pilot for Gato was going?" Terra asked.
Charles sighed and furrowed his brow, "That Novarai is more temperamental and demanding than anything or one I have ever encountered."
"She can't be that bad..." Terra laughed, "I know her personality needs some work but-"
"It's not just her personality," Charles explained, "It's her physical and mental expectations and her design."
Terra gave the Englishman a perplexed look, "I don't follow..."
"Gato was designed to be a mid to close range ground combat unit and she still will be when the refit is finished. Long range combat for her will depend on how much she can physically carry and her pilot's skill depending on the weapon chosen for long ranged combat. The problem is that Gato is largely driven by her personal feelings as well as her physical combat capabilities. More often times than not she'll pit herself in extreme close range combat with her opponents, forcing the pilot to attempt to keep up with her both mentally and physically. We still haven't found a pilot that has been able to endure the fast paced and constant combat style she uses. And the ones that can endure, can't keep up. They just end up making her stumble around the battlefield and every simulation ends with her frustrated and the pilot exhausted."
"Sounds like we need to broaden our search for her pilot," Terra mused.
"If you find someone who you think fits the build be sure to give me a ring will you?"
"Will do," Terra replied as she left.
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