Nova: Big Damn Robots

As Kaz wandered the tarmac, he watched idly as a young pilot walk up. Most would've confused him for a mechanic, the stained overalls and greasy skin, but Kaz knew better. He knew his walk and the attitude he brought with him as he strode towards him. 

He looked young, but so was Kaz. That's why what he said next gave the merc the strangest mix of ego-boost and confusion.

"Sir, good day, sir!"

The grease monkey saluted, and almost from instinct - Kaz saluted back. It'd been forever since someone offered him that gesture, almost unfamiliar but not unappreciated. Once he dropped his hand, he cracked a friendly smile. "You can drop the 'sir' stuff. I'm just Kaz, man." He stuck out his hand, offering it to the other pilot. 

On the far side of the airfield, a large carrier was touching down. It held twenty defense suits, and a half dozen custom jobs belonging to other gunners who'd picked up this contract. They'd all become best of friends soon enough.

Operations?

| All reports nominal. Inbound frames shipped and mounted with no faults. Inbound pilots arrived at launching strip with no faults.

Lyra walked among the milling soldiers and mercenaries, maintaining a mental checklist of everything that needed to be proper - there was a hierarchy, of course, some things had a higher priority to be proper than others, but for the moment, everything seemed to be in order. That was a good feeling. It made her feel good. When things were in order, it meant jobs could be done without setbacks, which meant she was serving her purpose well.

Safety?

| No observable hazards. No observable breaches of protocol. All reports nominal.

This was a good purpose. Protecting the colony from outsiders who wished to hurt it. Lyra didn't know who, exactly, they were set to defend against, but the fact that her superiors thought it necessary to establish a defense here meant that a danger was plausible, if not inevitable. She was a part of that purpose, now, told to serve the stationed company to the best of her abilities. To ensure their wellbeing, and to ensure that everything was - of course - in order.

Weather?

Beautiful, she thought.

| Comfortably habitable. Light wind, north by northwest. Predicted clear skies and a slight warm front.

The sky was lovely, here. She'd seen other skies, before, lovely in their own right, but it was nice to appreciate such a thing in the moment - even if it wasn't quite inside of protocols to do so. Tilting her head back, she watched a lazy cloud drift by, running background checks in her head on fuel reserves, inventory, clerical upkeep. She thought, maybe -

| Proximity alert.

Lyra stumbled, almost bumping into an obstacle, a moment early enough to not cause any serious breaches of balance. Not an obstacle. A man. Jumping back, she looked around, quickly, processing the scene that had only been in the idle portions of her mind a moment before. One of the new pilots - Gespenst, she thought. And talking to him -

"Sir!"

She stood upright, not saluting, but certainly at attention. If Kaz had already given her the 'Just Kaz' bit, she didn't show any sign of having listened.

"All reports are nominal. Loading and staging is proceeding with no issues. No safety violations either. Everything seems to be proceeding smoothly."

Lyra smiled, lowering her eyes.

"Today is a good day."

"I don't think you should be. They are mass produced because they are effective, and if you made it into captain of an entire squad with a machine you think inferior, doesn't that mean you're an ace among aces?" Ray nodded at Kaz, his gaze following the line pointed by his squadron's leader. It was an old machine, certainly, but between a decent mechanic overhaul and skilled pilot behind it's controls, it could certainly live up to even greater expectations. It was quite the opposite of him and Atlas, while the cutting-edge machinery inside his mech was enviable by pilot and scientist alike, the rookie couldn't quite shake the feeling he was a burden to his partner. That he couldn't draw an ounce of what it was capable of.

Luckily for Gespenst, his customary pity-party was broken apart when a moss-green shorty almost shoved their head against his retreating elbow. "OH GOD!" He exclaimed, immediately bowing his head. "My apologies, si- eh?" As his eyes rose from the ground to those deep, enthralling emeralds, exuding cheerfulness, any words about to leave his lips scrambled back into his brain.

The metallic edges of her hair certainly gave away the manufactured origins of her presence, yes, but for a man so accustomed to the gruff mercenary, to so abruptly be greeted by those silky, alabaster features, charming gaze and bewitching smile on puffy lips, it momentarily fried his own circuits. "Um... Er... Sorry, ma'am." A flustered attempt to calm down, play it coolly.

Ray's eyes sharpened as he moved on from the android Lyra's face into the vast azure stretching beyond the sprinkled verdant of Manifest's jungle, a jovial smile of his own pursed on his lips. "I think I get you, ma'am. It's a lovely day indeed."

An ace among aces, the kid said. "Heh, maybe. I guess we'll see once orders come down." He was no ace. There had been stronger and faster pilots in his wing, but he'd had something they didn't - luck. Kaz was just lucky, that's all you could be to survive nuclear bombardment and to find yourself lost out here in the colonies. Life seemed intent on dealing him a bad hand, but no matter how the dice fell Kaz always seemed to get back up and walk away - something was telling him to keep going. Maybe he'd find it here - maybe it didn't exist.

The tarmac wasn't exactly the place to be contemplating such things. Especially not when they had company and things to attend to - although it seemed Gespenst had already found himself distracted by Lyra's approach. Her response revealed some of her thought process and while he was certain she had been programmed to be predisposed to optimism, part of Kaz felt that it was more than just reassurance for him and the team - maybe she believed it too. 

"Keep an attitude like that and we'll all be alright. Thank you, Lyra." 

Gespenst was smitten at first sight and despite his attempts to keep cool, Kaz could still read him. "Are you going to be alright, soldier? You look a little flush, is the heat getting to you? Maybe Lyra should show you to the doctor's tent."