NationStates Jolt Archive

[Kara's arriving on her motorbike, yes? If so, I have a post...]

((OOC: Yeah, Kara's probably on her bike =) Fire when ready! Though I dunno how long I can last tonight- was up early and working at the kart race today))

It’s already getting dark as Kara finally makes sense of Field Marshal Embersby’s slightly confusing directions and arrives at her house in the officer’s area on the edge of Marshall City. In view of her experience of GMC so far, she’s quite surprised at the size of the place; while it’s certainly a mansion rather than a house, it’s not gigantic by any standard. The grounds are certainly impressive in size and well-kept, although GMC’s brief summer hasn’t begun yet so everything is still covered with snow.

It’s very quiet except for the crunch of snow under her feet as she heads for the front gate. A uniformed SFAT soldier in a guard box salutes: ‘Good evening, Ma’am. Field Marshal Embersby is expecting you.’ He presses a switch in his box and the gate slides to one side: ‘Right this way.’

The drive is long and lined with large conifers, with a small, frozen fountain halfway along it. There’s a much larger one right in front of the house, in front of a pair of curved staircases the lead up to the front door. This one isn’t frozen, since, as the steam coming from it shows, it’s pumping warm water.

Heading up the steps being careful not to slip on the ice on them, Kara eventually reaches the door.

<Knock> <Pause>

The door swings open, Kara being greeted by the sight of Field Marshal Embersby in jeans and a t-shirt. She grins, ‘I was beginning to think you weren’t coming. Come inside, please.’

It’s rather more impressive inside, the hall being dominated by a huge staircase directly in front of her made of well-polished white marble, much like the floor. A number of paintings line the walls, most of which are beautiful landscapes with a couple of portraits of Anne-Marie and Elisa thrown in for good measure. After taking her shoes (and leathers, presumably) off, Anne-Marie leads Kara through an arched door into the sitting room.

While there are a few guns hung up on the walls (the largest of which is a belt-fed 50-calibre machine gun), it’s obviously somebody’s home first and foremost. Anything sinister or serious about the room is rather spoiled by the small tabby kitten playing with a ball of wool in Elisa Embersby’s lap. There's a log fire burning in the far wall, and the television in one corner of the room is on.

Anne-Marie sits down next to Elisa, and turns to Kara: ‘You didn’t have any trouble getting here, did you?’

<OOC: Have you checked your Email?>

((OOC: Yeah, I saw =) Afraid that I don't have any pictures of Kara (I can CG, but I can't draw if my life depended on it x_x) I think I'll definately take a shot of CGing Scimitar once I get my M.O.D. tools built ^_~))

Kara chuckles. "I had a little bit of trouble, but then I've been told my sense of direction is rivaled only by that of Ryoga." She rolls her eyes at what is apparently an old joke, and sets her backpack down. Her outfit is a stark contrast to her gown from the celebrations the other night- baggy jeans (presumably with sweats underneath them), a heavy jacket, and a hooded sweatshirt with "Ninj4" written on it. She peeled her decidedly damp snowboots off at the door so as not to spoil the floor. Finding a chair, Kara plops down and pulls a wrapped bundle from her pack. "So, where shall we begin? I'm oddly reminded of sleepover parties I had way back in the day."

She grins and unwraps the bundle, revealing several neatly wrapped riceballs. "Wasn't sure what exactly to bring, so I had the guys at the embassy whip up some beef onigiri and some veggie ones." She winks and nibbles on one, offering the bag to her hosts.

Elisa smiles: 'I'll have the veggie, please.' Her voice is very soft <Not quite Rei's virtually nonexistant one, but nearly>. It's actually the first time Kara will have heard it. 'I'm sorry, my name's Elisa. You're Kara, right?'
'Yes, she is' says Anne-Marie, 'And I've got our mini-fridge with some beer in. The wrestling's on, if you're into that sort of thing, otherwise I've got a stack of videos. Or we could talk.'

'By the way,' she says, picking up the kitten, 'This is Kitty, the third member of our family. She's a Permacat.'

Kara nods and hands over the requested onigiri. "I don't think we had much of a chance to chat at the celebration. Chatting is good." She grins, and cautiously pets the kitty. She's had a bit of a track record with cats in the past, and not much of it good.

"Permacat? Can't say I'm familiar with the term." She cracks a grin. "But then, I suppose we can call it even, since I doubt you've heard of our reploids back home!"

Elisa nods, 'You probably wouldn't have, it's a trade name. Basically they're like ordinary cats, only they live longer. Kitty will probably live to be fifty years old. But she's going to be a kitten for another three of them, aren't you?'
'It's ok,' Anne-Marie says to Kara, 'She's a really friendly cat, you don't have to...Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that.'
'Anyway, what's a Reploid?'

Kara blinks in momentary confusion before finding her train of thought again. "Don't worry. It's just every cat I've encountered seems to hate me on sight!" She grins.

"As for Reploids, they're a form of intelligent machine, primarily. A lot different from regular AIs, because they have full emotion and free will... and really, they were built originally to imitate organic intelligence, so their software and so on is intentionally flawed, so they don't act along pure logic or whatever- rather the opposite, they sometimes have a habit of reacting illogically and purely on emotion. Unfortunately, almost all that technology was lost in the war. For some reason, a majority of the surviving reploids are the dragons- I'm sure you've seen pictures of Tsume, our Secretary of Foreign Affairs? He's one of the survivors."

'I can't say I ever have, actually.' Anne-Marie pauses, 'Sorry, whenever someone mentions a dragon I automatically assume they're talking about the sort that we have here. I shouldn't think you'll ever see one in Marshall City, since they mostly live in the hills around Miles Bishop air base. Have you ever seen one of those documentaries they sometimes run about them?'

Kara looks thoughtful for a moment. "I think I caught one on TV late the other night." She smirks for a second. "It's amusing as hell whenever we've got some of the reps on diplomatic missions- people seem pretty disoriented when they meet one of our diplomats or aides and it's a six to ten foot long mechanical dragon!"

'Six to ten? You'd probably have a surprise if you ever met one of ours, then; they don't call them Grand Dragons for no reason. I've heard of females with a wingspan of over two hundred feet. But then, it's probably only because of them that we can call this island home...'
'Anyway, you look like you need a drink.'

Kara grins. "A drink sounds good. I think I could cheerfully maim for a good one!"

"As for the reps, they were designed with urban living in mind so... I think the largest was Ryuujin at about fifty feet, but he was killed in the initial uprising against the old government." Kara sighs. "In short, that sucked bigtime."

'I'm sorry to hear it.' She smiles, 'Have a beer. You look like you could use one.' <As I said before, GMC's beer is Czech-standard> 'Well, as far as the Grand Dragon goes we don't know where they came from. They're been on this island for longer than anyone can remember, but I can't see how something with composite bones and copper nerves could just evolve like that.'

'If you want to watch something, I have a large shelf of anime over there. I hear you're something of a fan as well...Videos, mostly, although I've got a few DVDs.'

Kara chuckles. "I'm not quite as rabid a fan as a lot of the others back home, but..." She accepts the drink and gives it a try. "Whoo, good stuff!"

"So, what series do you have, anyway? I daresay I'm partial to the sci-fi high-tech stuff. It's good for inspiration."

'Ok, you said inspiration, so that crosses off EVA right away. Orguss 02? I've always liked that one...'

<OOC note: I am a member of a bizarre and tragic species known as 'the British anime fan.' It's kind of like being a tropical fish in the middle of a desert. So you should probably be calling the shots as far as what she's got.>

((OOC: Ouch, you've got my sympathy =/ Hrm... Probably some Gundam and Macross- I personally adore 08th MS Team's story... maybe some more obscure titles like RahXaphon, Last Exile, etc...))

"Can't say that I've seen Orguss 02. Bit more of a Gundam fan, myself." Kara rolls her eyes. "Would you believe that Queen Firefury back home watched 31 hours of Rurouni Kenshin in one sitting, right before she had to attend the WMNK PACMAN Conference?"

<OOC: Orguss 02 is cool. Manga Video released it in the UK. Of course, they didn't bother to release Orguss 01, but hey...>

'Actually, I can quite easily believe that,' she grins, 'I did something similar in college one time. But then, I didn't have to go and address the WMNK afterwards.'

<Kara can choose what gets put on, since she is, after all, the guest>

Anne-Marie settles down with her arm around Elisa's shoulder, 'So, tell me a little about yourself. Have you got any brothers or sisters?'

Kara opts to give Orguss 02 a shot, since she hasn't seen it, and kicks back. "Eh, no sibs here. After Mom was killed by the Nekoites in the war, Dad never remarried. I was just a little kid then, so..." She trails off briefly before resuming. "And after the war, Dad got appointed as head of the technology recovery effort, which has since turned into RPRA Techcorp." She frowns. "Speaking of which, the Harukaze 100-S was due to begin production today, but a chunk of the plant got destroyed earlier in the week no thanks to some idiot Nekoite terrorist."

'I'm sorry. I just thought you'd noticed this,' she hands Kara a photograph from the side. It's a picture of Anne-Amire in full dress uniform and Elisa in a wedding dress, surrounded by dozens of people.

'It's from our wedding...I'm from a big family; I've got two brothers and a sister, and my dad has five brothers, so lots of cousins. Everyone there is my father's side or Elisa's. We...Didn't invite my mother's side.' It's Annie's turn to trail off, this time.

'We're actually getting some funds together to help you with that plant; we just had some trouble getting hold of your government <OOC: I lost the thread>.'

Kara nods sympathetically. "Some people need to just cool their jets and get the sticks out of their behinds. Why wasn't your mother's side of the family invited, anyway? Or is that a little too personal?"

'I guess I can tell you, it's not like it's some big secret. Basically, my mother and father never actually planned to have me...Not quite so early, anyway. My mum was only fifteen...But they both said they could handle it. Bad gran said no way, what would the Joneses think and so on, and said she'd disown my mum if she didn't go for an abortion. So, she ended up disowned. I was born before my parents were married, and they couldn't figure out whether I should be Emberson or Rigby, so my dad put Embersby on the birth certificate.'

'I've never even spoken to anyone on my mother's side. Don't think I'd ever want to, either.'

Kara nods. "Understandable. I absolutely loathe the entire idea of living for what other's think. It's stupid, and a bloody waste of time! But then, I suppose so long as people are only human, people will be idiots." She rolls her eyes and sips at her drink. "... In hindsight, that's probably why the Queen appointed Tsume to his position- the bluntly defy the norm. She's psychotic like that. A good sort of psychotic, at any rate."

Anne-Marie laughs, 'You won't get any arguement from me. I mean, I care about what Elisa thinks about me...'

Elisa smiles, 'Thank you. I thought you'd forgotten.'

'...But then, I know what she thinks about me. That's why I married her. Anyway,' she take take a sip from her beer, 'Do you have somebody? I'm just curious...'

Kara chuckles. "Actually, I haven't been looking all too hard since I got the ambassador assignment. I figure it'd be a bit difficult to find a willing partner who could put up with all the formal affairs and travel and stuff." She mock-sighs tragicly. "And I've got to watch out for all the golddiggers, since it's pretty much common knowledge I'll be inheriting the Techcorp. When Dad retires, it's all mine. Some of the young bucks find that extremely attractive." Kara comments dryly.

'Well, I know a few nice people, if you're interested I could introduce you sometime...' She grins, 'Would you like to know how I met Elisa?'

Elisa shakes her head, 'Oh don't, Annie, it's embarassing...'

'Why? You were the sensible one.'

Kara quirks an eyebrow over her drink. "This going to be one of those stories where I don't want to be in the middle of sipping anything?" She cracks a grin. "But sure, fire away!"

((OOC: And I'm out for the night @_@ Bed is calling to me quite loudly =p See ya tomorrow!))

<G'night / G'morning, Reploid!>

'Well, we have quite a few military parades here in Marshall City every year, and sometimes students hang around afterwards to see if they can pick up a soldier for the night, or sometimes longer...Anyway, this particular time was actually my parade, to celebrate them making me Field Marshal. My little cutie here had been dragged along with some of her friends from college who wanted to have some fun. Of course, Elisa's shy, so she ended up sitting on a bench on Victory Road on her own in the middle of the night. I was walking back to my old student flat I'd shared with Rachel Knight to start packing for this place, and I saw her sitting there. So I went over and started talking to her.'

'Well, it's in the nature of being psychic that you fall in love quickly, but I knew there was something special about her straight away. So I invited her back to my flat. She was freezing cold, poor thing...'

'It's just embarassing because nobody wanted me...' Elisa says quietly.

'Now come on, that's not true. I did.'

Bump.

Kara grins widely. "That's so sweet!" She sips at her drink. "By the way, being psychic... I'm guessing it's not exactly an unusual phenomenon here? I mean, we've got people with mildly paranormal abilities back home, but it's not widely recognized."

'Not that unusual, no. It's genetic and passed on in the X chromosome. That's how me and my little sister are psychic but neither of my brothers are.' She smiles, 'That's also why our daughter's going to be psychic.'

Kara, still grinning, nods. "That is really neat. When are you two expecting?"

'Well, we only went to have it done a few weeks ago, so it'll be a while yet. It's kind of handy GMC being a genetics company, really; this is our child, it's not from a donor or anything like that. Elisa's carrying her.' Anne-Marie smiles, 'I've just realised I haven't told anyone else yet. You're the first to know.'

'Anyway, I'd better get dinner on. You like spaghetti, right?'

"I'm honored." Kara grins. "And yes, s'getti's fine with me. Need any help?"

'I think I'll be fine...You know, before the Army offered to pay me through college if I joined the officer program, I always wanted to own a restaurant. Maybe I will, someday. But you can help out if you want.'

<Note: Annie is an amazing chef>

Kara gets to her feet. "Well, if you've got some veggies, I can whip up a salad to go with it." She snickers. "I wish I could cook well, but I can manage well enough on the basics!"

'That's a great idea, I need one vegetarian meal anyway for Elisa, and I've never had a problem with salad myself. Shouldn't take too long.'

It doesn't, either. Pretty soon they're back in the sitting room, eating off trays.

'So, anyway,' Anne-Marie says, 'How'd you end up as a diplomat?'

Kara finishes a mouthfull of her meal before answering. "That's a bit of a story in of itself." She grins. "Fresh out of college and helping as an intern at the Techcorp. All the boring gopher work, really. So one day the Queen and Tsume are visiting for some business reason or other- I think about the Bandit program, and I was sent to get the refreshments. Just as I was coming back with a tray full of coffee and stuff, the Queen comes out and crashes into me, and the entire tray was spilled all over her.

I was obviously mortified- I'd just dumped several mugs of hot coffee and three sodas on the Queen of my country! Thankfully she was wearing her full state armor, and that stuff just does not stain, but still... She interrupts my rapid string of apologies and looks me over for a second before turning to my dad and asking, 'Akkard Grey, what in the Goddess' good name is your daughter doing here serving up drinks?'"

Kara laughs. "My poor dad probably looked even more mortified than I did! Before he could get an explanation out, Firefury goes on with, 'Because if she's anything like you, she should be doing something more useful, rather than wasting her time on menial labor!' After that, I got saddled with a special education course for potential diplomats, and did poorly at it, at least in the stuff that involves keeping one's mouth shut and just smiling." She grins. "I've never been good at keeping my big mouth shut. And when the embassy opening became available, for some reason I was selected. I guess because of my background with the Techcorp."

She sits back, fork in hand. "So what about you?"

'Nothing quite so exciting. I'd just finished my term of service and was off to college when Field Marshal Peters came up to me and told me the Army would like to have me back as an officer. It was kind of a surprise, even though I'd seen it happen to other people, so I just asked him which post I was being considered for; he told me it was his, and he was being put in charge of the Marines. So I said yes. And here I am.'

Elisa nods, 'And I'd never have met her otherwise...I've never even done service, just basic firearms*.'

'Elisa's an artist, actually; all these paintings are hers.'

*<This is because her older sister Sabrina is an officer in Air Force Special Operations. Special exemptions are available for the families of comissioned officers>

Kara blinks for a moment. "I was wondering who did all these paintings, they're wonderful!" She turns to Elisa. "I'm guessing you paint professionally?"

Elisa blushes, and nods, 'Thank you. Yes, I do paint professionally, mostly like the ones here...I've had my work exhibited a couple of times, actually.'

'She's too modest. Elisa's got a painting in the national gallery.'

"Not bad at all!" Kara nods appreciatively. "You are way too modest, your stuff here is amazing!"

Anne-Marie looks over at the mantlepiece, 'Oh damn, I was supposed to put that away before you came. Ah, what the hell.' She goes over, picks up a small model of a ship and drops it in Kara's lap.

'You might have overheard something about this as that party. Personally, I think it's a ridiculous idea, but hey, it's not like I'm the one paying for the hull.'

Kara turns it over in her hands a few times. It's obviously a model of a large ship, judging by the parts she can scale, and the front deck has a giant turret mounting a pair of cannons on it.

'That's Nihilanth.'

Kara examines the model carefully. "Y'know, I think I did hear something about it. What /is/ it, exactly? I thought somebody said it was a joke-!" She declares with a facial expression best described as 'o_O'.

'Well, I thought it was a joke too...You see, APSD built a pair of 52.6 inch Gauss guns to gather data as part of the space program. Only now, we've got everything we need and the guns are no longer needed, so they're looking for something else to do with them. It's only a concept at the moment, but what you're holding is one of the ideas. Now do you see why I thought it was a joke?'

"Good Goddess-! Putting something like that on a /boat/?" Kara eyes the model. "A stationary defense platform, maybe, but a boat... Sheesh! And I thought Firefury's ignoretech program was ridiculous!"

Anne-Marie nods, 'Can't say it's ever going to be built, they'll probably just build the guns into ISON. Still, it looks kinda cool, doesn't it?'

<Seen the Email? Nothing to d with this, I know, but...>

((OOC: Yeah, I saw! Nifty airship!))

Kara nods enthusiastic agreement. "Very cool! Nothing quite beats the sight of a very big freaking gun for a good morale boost!"

'Speaking of really huge freakin' guns, your government might be interested in what we hope will be the end result of the program.' She goes over to her desk and pull out a couple of papers with 'Classified' stamped on them. She hands them to Kara.

'Barrel diameter is thirty-two feet, barrel length is one thousand eight hundred, vertical mount with the lower thousand underground. It's called Sabre. They think it'll be able to launch a payload of over a hundred tons directly into space, if their calculations work out. Again, I've had that plan for a while, but if we could attract some investment...It might work. Stranger things have happened.'

Kara skims through the papers briefly. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I could get the Queen's attention on this. She's been dying to get back into space, ever since the war. At the moment, the only ships we've got that are space-worthy are the ten Elite Victories the Queens of the Sky use, and even then, those fighters are getting pretty old, are built for combat, not cargo, and we've only got seven people qualified to fly 'em left!"

'I don't recall ever seeing an Elite Victory before, although they sound impressive. You know, R&D's got all sorts of things like this on drawing boards; we've even got a Aerospace Fighter project lurking around somewhere, though you don't know that and I didn't tell you.' Anne-Marie grins.

'Anyway, what're the Queens of the Sky? Anything like AFSO?*'

<*Air Force Special Operations. I have too many acronyms, I know...>

Kara snickers and nods. "Gotcha." She grins. "The EVs are leftovers from before the war. Like something out a sci-fi flick, really. They're snazzy looking fightcraft, but all the design specs are classified. And I suppose so- the Queens was actually Firefury's unit when she was serving in the Nekoite military before the revolution. They were originally twenty-members strong, and some of the best pilots in the entire military. They followed Firefury when the Amahira Uprising began. Damn good thing, too- those twenty ended up taking on the entire Nekoite Air Force in one massive aerial battle... something like twenty versus three hundred... ten of them were shot down and killed, but every single damn ship the Nekoites had sent was blasted out of the sky by the end of it."

Kara smiles at an old memory. "Only six of them are still in active service, and they usually do exhibitions and stunt shows these days- THAT is a sight to see, let me tell you, it's just mind-blowing the manuvers they pull and the tight formations they can fly." She beams. "And apparently Firefury can't bring herself to give up the skies just yet- I've seen the squadron in the air, but with seven ships flying, not six."

'Twenty against three hundred? Wow. Those are some talented pilots! You'll have to tell me when the next display is, or perhaps we could arrange one here some time? The Air Force is always pestering for their own version of Army Day, after all...'

Kara snickers. "Fair enough. The current leader of the Queens swears she was drunk off her ass before that fight, but... Only the best were selected to enter that unit, and they've been dedicated to mastering the art of the dogfight. While it's disappointed that half of them were lost in the battle, I suppose that just goes to show who the absolute best or luckiest were. I think we could probably get one of the unused EVs for display once we sort out that whole deal with what to do with Scimitar."

She grins widely. "And maybe have a display on opening day!"

<Here's some more time dialation: Much of SCIMITAR has been shipped. This is probably about a month and a half after the dinner>

'Yes, that'll certainly be worth seeing. You know Elisa's big sister is in AFSO, yes? Well, she's also in their display team. Perhaps they could come along...Although I can't say they'll be as much of a spectacle as space fighters!'

'By the way, did you see my car on the way in?*'

<*Shelby Cobra GT500, blue with white stripes, Illinois BRD 529>

Kara nods. "That speedy looking little number outside, I believe? Very nice, though I shamefully admit I'm not very well versed in car lore.

And I believe it was mentioned about the AFSO. But don't be so fast to assume space fighters are automatically cooler than jet fighters!" Kara laughs. "The EVs are closer to jets than true space fighters because they were meant to fly in atmosphere as well as in zero-g. I saw some old concept art for a purely zero-g fighter, and frankly, it was rather boring, with no real wings and lots of little manuvering thrusters and stuff."

Kara fetches some papers from her backpack and hands them to Anne-Marie. "Status report on prepping that island for Scimitar. They've got the airstrip pretty much set up for flying people and equipment in, and have started work on a port facility and on flattening the route Scimitar would be taking around the island- our best idea for maintaining the route is to leave it unpaved, but to make sure that the dirt is firmly packed down and flattened. This little themepark/military mueseum ought to be a sight to see when it's all done!"

<OOC: Make + Plate makes that Rally Vincent's car from Gunsmith Cats>

'I'm sure those Mk. 7s you bought from us will be useful for flattening the ground, hmm? The 7's chassis was originally designed as a snowplough for the wide roads we have in town, so it should be good with a roller on the front. We could given you a hand with modifications, if you'd like.'

'I'm glad your fighters aren't too spacecrafty. I don't think Sabrina would ever forgive me if I sent her just to get shown up. And I hope you've booked me and Elisa VIP tickets for the opening ceremony...'

Kara nods. "But of course! And I think they may use the Mk-7s once they've got the port ready to go- assuming they don't get deployed first. Things have been high-strung ever since the Harukaze plant blast."

'I can understand that...It's hard not to be highly strung after soemthing like that. The only reason that we don't have problems like that is the gangs in Hammer Bay control the smuggling racket, and they know exactly what the army would do to them if we found out they'd been acting against the state. Not that they'd want to, from what I'm told...'

She grins, 'I've actually got relatives in those gangs, two of my uncles are in Snake Eyes. You want to know more about them?'

((OOC: Sorry for being so slow here, the Harukaze plant thread suddenly went hot on me. Time to test out my defensive pacifism, I guess =p))

Kara quirks an eyebrow. "You've got family in these gangs? That's got to make things awkward at family reunions! Sure, let's hear it."

'Well...There's a lot of gangs that operate in Hammer Bay, but the two major ones are Snake Eyes and Dead Six. You've probably seen people with the Snake Eyes tattoo-it's very distinctive. It's of a skull with an eyeless rattlesnake coiled though the eye sockets, with two dice below, both ones. Underneath is usually their motto;

"Rattle my bones
As I cross the floor
And the bones in your grave will
Rattle no more."

'Kurt Wagner's got one, actually. Since SFAT is based in Hammer Bay to make them better able to deal with gang wars, some of their personnel are ex-gang themselves.'

'Well, those two uncles have never given me much grief; in fact they're very proud of me. But yes, they do tend to have a few shifty heavies by their side at family get-togethers. And since my little sweetie has a fairly normal family, they do tend to get a bit nervous with people roaring up on motorbikes or turning up in black limos.'

Kara quirks an eyebrow. "Very unusual... One would think that you guys could wipe out gang organizations like that, with all the military gizmos and stuff you've got."

'Err...I guess with my connections I'm hardly helping matters, but the main reason we don't goes back a long way. You know that Hammer Bay's first stones were laid by pirates, do you?'

"No, actually, I didn't." Kara raises her other eyebrow to match the first. "So it's something of an old honor pact then?"

'Something like that. You see, throughout history this island, Marshall Island, has been something of a dumping ground for people the world didn't want. Lepers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Gypsies...Whoever. They'd just sling them here and hoped they'd starve or the dragons would eat them. As I said, we owe the dragons our lives; they have this thing about being hunted by settlers, and with skin that can stop a 50 calibre bullet nobody was going to argue, so nobody ever claimed this place as their own. Seems the Dragons felt sorry for us…Since they never attacked anyone who was left here. So we built up what we could and tried to survive. The Elves from Fortune City helped us, too.’

‘Fortune’s the oldest city on the island, and it’s a classic piece of Elf architectural arrogance; they built it straddling a waterfall. There’re traces of older cities but nobody remembers what happened to them.’

‘Anyway, one day a few hundred years ago a pirate fleet sailed into Hammer Bay and built a town. When they found us, they offer to give us a share of what they had if we would help them by building a fort out on the island in the bay. Gerhart Fortress is still there. The rest of the world remembers that captain as Blackheart, a vicious pirate; we’ve got a statue of him by the military dockyards. In all that time, it was only a bunch of cutthroats who gave a damn about us…’

Kara nods slowly. "It's funny how things like that can happen. I suppose even 'bad guys' have a set of standards they adhere to."

"About the dragons... you said they felt sorry for you... are they sentinent then? If they're capable of emotions such as sympathy for another species then surely there's the potential for something there."

'Oh, they're certainly sentient, but they're happy just being dragons, I think. I've heard that when they first built Miles Bishop Air Base the Dragons used to sit on the perimeter wall and watch the aircraft taking off; sometimes they'd follow them. I'm pretty sure they're just curious about us. We've never hunted them, so they leave us alone; we've never had a substantiated report of an unprovoked Dragon attack. As far as we're aware they only eat cattle; there's plenty of wild herds in their territory.'

"That' really interesting... if contact could be established, it certainly would open the door for some extremely interesting diplomacy. We purchased a bunch of wyverns and dragons from Teritora awhile ago, and while they could be trained fairly well, they're a far cry from real intelligence." Kara seems particularly intrigued by the idea.

Anne-Marie grins, 'Personally, I think they're happy with the setup they've got, since with ISON we protect them by default. Perhaps they just don't want to have to be productive members of society!' She laughs.

'That said, they certainly have a thing for children. I guess you've never heard that story about the little girl who wandered off in a thunderstorm?'

Kara laughs. "So they're intelligent AND lazy! And no, can't say that I've heard that particular story. Any abandonned kids raised by a family of dragons type stories, while you're at it?" She grins.

Anne-Marie laughs, 'No, it's not quite that...Most people think it's an urban myth, but I've met a guy who was on duty that night and saw the whole thing.'

'Anyway, it was one night in winter at Miles Bishop. There was a bloody dreadful thunderstorm on, one of the worst they've had in a long time. Anyway, a report comes in that a little girl had gone missing, turned out later she thought her cat was still outside and had gone looking for it. So a bunch of air force MPs search the entire inside of the compound and come up with squat. Meanwhile, a convoy reports there's dragon sitting in the middle of the road leading to the base, a big female; Female dragons are about twice the size of males. They look a little closer, and this dragon's standing over the girl who had gone missing, with her wings spread around her.'

'Anyway, she wouldn't let anyone get near her; she didn't hurt anone, but a dragon that size has a certain natural 'sod off' factor about it.'

'A while later, the girl's mother arrives in a jeep, and the dragon takes one look at her and leaves. I know it sounds strange, but the guy swore blind it was the truth.'

Kara whistles. "Sounds like something you could write a movie about. Has anyone tried to raise a baby dragon? Or has there yet to be a case where the parents were missing or whatnot?"

'Dragons are matriarchical (?), from what we can work out, and fairly territorial. Basically the females look after fairly extended family groups, so if one dies another can take her place. It's the males that tend to stay behind and look after any young 'uns. So no, we've never found an abandoned Dragon, they seem to have a fairly good system for making sure that doesn't happen.'

'Anyway, dragons live for hundreds of years, so they don't actually have hatchlings that often anyway.'

Kara grins. "I bet they're adorable when they do, though! Do you suppose if somebody tried to attack the island, that they'd help defend it?"

((OOC: Just curious, have you ever read "The Song in the Silence" by Elizabeth Kerner? I suspect you'd like it if you like really good stories with dragons in them!))

<Nope. I'll see if I can find a copy. <Prints thread>>

'Well, I think they probably would. I just hope we never have to find out.'

Kara nods. "Always good to hope for the best." She grins. "Though I've come to prefer the phrase 'Expect the worst so we can be pleasantly surprised'!"

((OOC: It's a really good story. While you're at it, the sequel "The Lesser Kindred" is also out, and the third book should be out sometime this year.... I hope it comes out soon! :cry: ))

'Yeah. 'Plan for the worst, hope for the best.' That's our first rule of military strategy.'

Anne-Marie smiles, 'You want another beer, by the way?'

Kara blinks, and looks down at her drink, only now realizing she'd emptied it. "Yes, thank you. I totally forgot about it!"

((OOC: *scoots off to refill her forgotten glass of water* Thanks for the reminder! :lol: ))

<I do my best!>

'So...We got up to pirates in our history lesson. Want to hear the rest?'

"Sure thing! It's always good to have an idea of one's host nation's history, after all." Kara grins. "Prevents messy international accidents where somebody doesn't know the cultural taboos and stuff!"

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Not much chance of that!'

'Anyway, with the rise of empires pirate fleets couldn't operate anymore, so they settled down here. There's still a couple of bars on the waterfront with old ship timbers in them from Blackheart's galleons. So, for a few hundred years we built the place up and tried to keep our heads down.'

'Not so long ago, a few guys got it into their heads that perhaps it didn't have to be that way and we should stop hiding from the world. Of course, nobody listened, so they headed out and everyone assumed they'd forgotten about us. Then the money started coming in...'

'Not just money, either; oil, coal, equipment...Nobody knew where it was all coming from, but to be honest nobody really cared. They'd pretty much forgotten about Nigel Steward, the guy who'd lead those who left. Until one day his company came back home.'

'The CEO was a guy called David Nielson; said he'd come back with Steward's company to make us a great nation. So he stood up in front of us and laid it down; it wouldn't be easy, and it wouldn't happen overnight, but if we all worked hard we could be a great nation. They say the crowd went completely silent, then one man cheered, then another, until the whole crowd was chanting 'G-M-C!''

'We've never seen the Supreme Commander since that day, but everything we have now is thanks to him.'

Kara sips at her drink. "Daaymn, sorta a real-life rags to riches tale, isn't it? And now you guys are probably one of the most respected dealers of military hardware in the known world." She grins. "And I can't think of anybody off the top of my head who would want to come after you these days. Certainly a much more pleasant history than what went down before the current government was established in Reploid Productions." She rolls her eyes at that.

Anne-Marie blinks: 'Oh? It always seemed very peaceful oer there in Reploid, until this whole thing with the aircraft plant...Then again, you have mentioned this dividing war before...What was that about?'

<I'm going to have to log off soon, BTW. One more post.>

((OOC: I should hit the sack soon, too, but I hate to leave the forum without any mods present >_> ))

Kara nods slowly. "Reploid Productions was actually the name of a reploid development group in the empire of Nekoa. For awhile, the country was ruled by the Empress, but her minister of state was the one really running things, and conditions went downhill, with lots of political infighting and stamping down on people. Ultimately the Amahira clan organized the dissidents into a single force and broke away- most of the Amahiras were members of the Nekoite military, and well respected as such. Reploid Productions provided financial backing for the revolution, which was violent and full of dirty tactics."

Kara frowns. "My mother was part of the initial uprising, and she was killed in the process of securing the Nekoite's limited nuclear weapons for the revolutionaries. Those bombs are what made Michelle Richter famous in the war- she took them to the only area where the Jishin fault line is accessible from the surface, and while everyone else was fighting for their lives to the south, she had the bombs buried as deep into the fault line as possible, cleared her team out of the area, and detonated them. A few days later, the Nekoite capital was all but leveled by a 7.1 earthquake, which decimated the civilian population as well as the Nekoite infrastructure."

She smirks. "After that, the soon-to-be Queen was shot down, and managed a halfway decent crash landing in the Imperial Palace. Instead of sitting idle, she grabbed her gun and went looking for the Minister. Firefury found the bitch alright, and apparently the two fought, and Aurora Koneko was shot dead. I'm told that she was the most vicious, ruthless, immoral and cruel person ever spawned. After word got out that the Minister was dead, what was left of the Nekoite forces gave up the ghost. It's just that in the course of everything, the population was leveled by disease and supply shortages and everything, and so much of the technology was lost. The company Reploid Productions was destroyed in the fighting, but Firefury decided that since that group of people worked and fought so hard and were what really made the revolution possible, she renamed the country of Nekoa to the country of Reploid Productions to honor their memory."

'Wow...That's quite a history...' Anne-Marie smiles sympathetically, 'I wish we could have been there to help you.'

'Anyway, I think it's getting a bit late...' Her voice suddenly drops, 'And Elisa's fallen asleep. Time to called it a night? We can always carry on in the morning.'

<Waitin' for the answer. One more post. Damn, this thread's addictive. I'm probably not going to be posting at the same time as you for the next five days. Night shift, GMT. So it'll be like the SHIVA thread again.>

Lowering her voice so as not to disturb Elisa, Kara nods. "Yeah, I suppose it's high time we called it a night. I hadn't even realized it was so late!"

((OOC: LOL! I know whatcha mean, GMC! If I wouldn't be leaving the forum modless, I'd probably be in bed by now!))

'Ok. Your room is next to ours; the bed's already made and there's some basics in the bathroom for the morning just in case you didn't bring anything.' Anne-Marie gently slides her arms under Elisa and lifts her up, 'She's so sweet when she's asleep...Sleeps like the dead, too. Come on, I'll show up up. Oh, could you switch off the lights? Thanks.'

<And with that I must leave. G'night. No, I'll wait for a response. God, my resolve sucks.>

"Lights? No problem." Kara gets up and locates the light switch. She stretches and yawns. "Wow, I'm tired. Y'never seem to realize how sleepy you are until you stand up."

((OOC: Go to bed, GMC :roll: Sleep is good for you =p))

<I hear and obey...Zombiezombiezombie>

<Morning>

Kara wakes up to see Anne-Marie leaning against the doorframe.

<And yes, she has 'morning hair.' Remember Misato?>

'Sorry, I didn't wake you up did I?'

Kara yawns widely and stretches, mind apparently booting up with the same swiftness to be expected of most Microsoft products. "Huh-? Oh, g'mornin'." She sits up, with a nice dose of morning hair and a bleary I-need-coffee sort of expression on her face. "Jus' a light sleeper, s'all"

'I'm sorry...I was just checking on you. I always wake up early...Guess that's just the way I am.' She smiles, 'You look like you could do with something to eat. And some coffee.' Anne-Marie blinks, 'I'm sorry, shouldn't do that...It's just hard not to...'

Kara doesn't seem to quite catch what just happened, and nods. "Coffee, good. Very strong coffee... got the high-octane stuff with me." SHe drags herself out of bed and fetches a plastic bottle from her pack- it seems to contain a dark purpleish-pink syrup and is labeled "Skyrockets: Racin' Raspberry".

"Add a shot of this to any drink, beats coffee by a longshot!"

Kara doesn't seem to quite catch what just happened, and nods. "Coffee, good. Very strong coffee... got the high-octane stuff with me." SHe drags herself out of bed and fetches a plastic bottle from her pack- it seems to contain a dark purpleish-pink syrup and is labeled "Skyrockets: Racin' Raspberry".

"Add a shot of this to any drink, beats coffee by a longshot!"
(OOC: Heh... be careful with that...)

Anne-Marie smiles, 'It's ok, I am being a little vague about it...' she points to her head, then to Kara's, 'It's just I can't help it, when you're the only other person in the room*'

'...Coffee's no problem, though. You ok with instant?'

*<She meant this last time as well, when she told Kara not to worry about the cat. It's extremely difficult for a psychic to not read somebody's mind; their emotions, at least.>

(OOC: Heh... be careful with that...)

((OOC: Trust me, Scolo, I've ODed on that stuff IRL. I didn't fall asleep until probably noon the next day :lol: ))

Kara nods slowly. "S'alright. An' instant's good. Somethin' t'get the brain online." She manages to crack a sleepy grin. "Not much of a mornin' person m'self."

'I'm usually ok with mornings...Service does that to you. Being woken at four in the morning for a two-mile run makes anything else seem like bliss.'

She returns a few minutes later with a couple of mugs of hot coffee, and hands one to Kara, sitting down on the end of the bed with hers.

'How are you getting on here in Marshall, by the way? Been out much?'

Kara takes a gulp of her coffee and seems to brighten with the caffeine dose. "Haven't had much time to really get out and do a ton of sightseeing yet, been all busy convincin' Dad about the whole themepark thing and then organizin' it. Plus I got a call the other day about the Queen deciding to throw a huge anime convention, which I'll likely get dragged to attend... I'll need to figure out a costume for that... I was planning on taking a day off this week to hop on my bike and get lost for awhile, really." Kara grins.

Anne-Marie smiles; 'It's a beautiful city, actually. I grew up here, so I'm probably a little biased, but...If you need a guide, I'm up for that.'

'You've probably seen the shadow it casts plenty of times, but have you checked out the Tower up close yet? It's quite a sight...'

Kara thinks for a second, mind obviously still not 100% up to speed. "Don't think I have yet. Probably on my list of locations to get lost to when I sneak off work for a day or so." She sips at her coffee. "Having a guide might not be a bad idea though!"

((OOC: Can't stay up much longer tonight- got work tomorrow morning, and I'm feeling kinda bleah thanks to that time of the month :oops: ))

<Understood.>

'It's kind of hard to miss; it's right in the centre of the city. And there's that whole thing about it being a mile high, too. You can see the anti-collision lights from the edge of the city on a clear night.'

'Basically, it's our main government building; they say the Supreme Commander's office is on the top floor and he never leaves it. It's quite a feat of engineering, when you think about it, and a hell of a centrepiece for our city!'

'It's called Maiden's Tower, for some reason. Never could work that one out myself.'

"'Maiden's Tower', huh?" Kara tips her head as she ponders that one. "Got me, too." She gulps down the rest of her coffee. "Well, I'm not due back at the embassy until sometime this afternoon. Think there's time today for the ten-cent tour?"

((OOC: And I'm out for the night x_x Gonna watch an ep or two of Shaman King and go clonk out since I was up so late last night. I'll be on bright and freaking early tomorrow though. Work sucks.))

<Well then this is good morning!>

'I'm sure there is, once Elisa's up,' Anne-Marie grins, 'Plus I have top-level clearence. Can't let you see inside the Tower, unfortunately, but you can certainly stand right at the base of it.'

'Actually, Marshall's best known for it's nightlife; bars, clubs and, of course, Casino Row. Major Wagner's very proud of the fact that he's been kicked out of every single casino there. As I said at the party, never play the guy at poker.'

'So, I'll leave you to wake up a bit more. We'll go in a couple of hours, if that's ok.'

<Bump>

Kara quirks an eyebrow. "Kicked out why? Rowdiness or making the house lose?" She ponders aloud, while getting her change of clothes from her pack.

'Cheating. Kurt's psychic...And so of course, given such an incredible gift, he naturally uses it to cheat at poker.'

Anne-Marie leaves for a while to give Kara some time to get changed. When she returns, she's holding an envelope.

'Almost forgot; Rachel gave me this, it's for your Queen. It's just a few diplomatic formalities before we hand SCIMITAR over to your nation's care; a nonaggression treaty, mainly. There's our standard mutual defence pact in there as well if she wants to look over that, but that's not essential.'

Kara nods and accepts the envelope. "I was going to ask if I didn't get anything. Nonaggression's standard procedure, and I doubt Firefury will have any problems with mutual defense. Our biggest asset aside from the Queens of the Sky unit are our Nightwinds. Basically our supersonic recon fleet. Quite handy to have around." She grins and tucks the important papers into a locked pouch of her pack. "Well, I'm ready for whatever!"

Anne-Marie nods, 'Elisa's got some work to do, so it's just going to be just you and me. Although personally I think she just wants to go back to sleep.'

'I think I'm a little too tall for that motorbike of yours, so we're probably best off in my car. Ok?'

"Fine with me- the Bandit's a one-seater anyway, and I don't have a sidecar for mine." She snickers. "What's really a blast are the Humor Battalion bikes. Those things are a riot to dork around with, and they serve our propaganda crew well enough these days."

<Heading downstairs>

'Never seen of those, myself. Bike-and-sidecar job though, yeah?' She turns for a moment, 'We're going now, honey!'

'Ok, see you later!' comes the reply.

They head outside to the car, and get in, Anne-Marie starts the engine. 'So, you want to go see the Tower first, or have a wander around before that?'

"Eh, wandering is good. I've learned that you can find all the really nifty stuff by just getting a little lost on purpose." Kara grins. "There's some lovely old shops and stuff back home that made it through the war more or less intact, but you'd never find them without getting a little lost first!"

'Ahh...Then you're leading the way, I'm afraid. I've lived here all my life, and I've done a few FIBUA* exercises here. Sometimes they close off a section of the city just to do one, although obviously very, very rarely.'

'Old Town's probably a good bet for wandering. Less crowded.'

<*Fire In Built Up Area - Urban combat training.>

Kara chuckles. "Urban combat was actually the primary mission for the Bandit- it's fast enough for police chases, but small enough and packing enough firepower for dealing with jeeps or rioters or whatnot in tight areas where tanks tend to get bogged down or cause a ton of colateral damage. And it's a good cheap infantry unit, which is why we've got so many of the damn things."

"And Old Town is as good a place as any to start then." Kara smirks. "And I promise not to sing any of the road trip songs I picked up in college!"

Anne-Marie grins widely, 'You realise if you go back on that now I'll have to shoot you, right? Kidding, kidding.'

'Anyway, we're quite interested in having a look at the Bandit sometime, to see if it's worth adopting it ourselves. Who is it that manufactures them, anyway? It's slipped my mind.'

Kara cracks up. "All the more reason for me to keep my silly lyrics to myself!" After she gets the giggles out of her system, she grins. "The Bandit was actually the Techcorp.'s first offering in rebuilding our military, and then we started selling the military and civilian versions on the international market. Even signed a production deal with Western Asia on the civilian model. When we get back to your place, you're welcome to have a look at my bike. It's one of the military models, all the way, just stripped of the weapons. "

((OOC: Quick question on Scimitar, since I'm getting started on that in Doga- How wide across is it compared to the length? The side-on sketch is handy, but it'd help if I've got a vague idea of the width I'll be working with =) ))

<Width:Length is about 1:3. Did you get that telegram?>

'Great! Always good to get a view of the thing up-close. Any ideas how it does in cold conditions? We always evaluate products in our climate first. If it's urban-only, that's cool.' She smiles, 'Although yours seems to be in good order. You look after it yourself?'

'Speaking of Kurt earlier reminds me of something. Have you ever seen that gun he carries?'

"Well, I maintain the bike whenever I get the chance. I haven't had any problems with it in cold weather, and I took it up into the mountains back home on more than one ski trip without any problems, so I imagine it deals well enough with cold weather." Kara grins. "And I think I've seen the gun, though not clearly or up close. It's rude to ask a man about his gun, after all." Kara grins wider.

((OOC: Gotcha, and I think so. Shoot the pic of Kurt on over =) I'll see if I can't get some stats written up on the more human of my government guys and gals =) ))

<Sent. Err...Twice. First one's got no attachment, so ignore it. I threw in a pic of the gun too.>

'Yeah, I thought somebody had been putting a lot of love into that bike when I first heard the egine. You're not a bad mechanic, by the sounds of things.'

'That gun...It's one of a kind, we still don't know exactly where he got the thing from. He calls it 'Treasure of the Reaper'; Reaper is his old gang nickname, though I've never really wanted to know why.'

'There's a few trade markings on the gun that identify it as a Rhinemetall EMG-55, though we've never heard of such a weapon actually existing. What we'd really like to do is have a crack at reverse-engineering the thing, or at least finding out how it ended up with him.'

((OOC: *gives hotmail a good kick for being teh suxx0r* Well, I suppose I'll get through and get the pics eventually.))

Kara snickers. "Y'pick up a few things when yer old man is a former military engineer... I still don't know how the hell he managed to get one of our Razor tanks to do 120 mph... burned out the drive system and wrecked the tank, but..." She leans back in the passenger seat. "Something to do with JATO units, according to the official report."

"And that's really weird about the gun. I don't think I've ever heard of one by that name. It must have some really colorful history behind it, I bet."

'Possibly. I mean, just the parts we know of would put the cost close to an M1 tank, and Kurt isn't from a rich background. And I can't see Snake Eyes throwing four million at somebody just because they happen to be a good shot...'

The car pulls up. 'Well, we're here. This is old town.'

It certainly is. Most of the buildings around here are pre-GMC, wood and stone, with lots of winding alleys and the general feeling that moving armoured vehicles around wasn't the first thing the town planners had in mind. Some of the roads on the outskirts are even cobbled.

There's a few newer buildings, all of which stand out a mile from their surroundings.

'If you're ever visiting, the military museum is near here. It's got a great collection.'

Kara looks around as the car stops. "Wow, real homey oldskool feel to it, huh? Any recommendations?"

'Lots of bookshops around here, curiosity shops, old bars, antique dealers...Restaurants! That's a point, we haven't eaten, have we? You want to grab breakfast first? I know a nice place around here.'

"Breakfast sounds like a plan." Kara agrees as her stomach loudly states its opinion on the issue. "Lead on, as I got thoroughly lost somewhere back there!" She grins.

((OOC: Wow... this is more idle chatter and stuff than I can usually manage in real life encounters! :lol: ))

[Fun, isn't it?]

Anne-Marie smiles as she sees a slightly run-down restaurant with a faded wooden sign swinging over the door, 'I found this place back when I was in college...Me and Rachel ducked in here because there was a blizzard out. It's the friendlist place I've ever been to, including all the high-class places in the centre.'

She pauses with her hand on the door, 'You don't mind big, stupid dogs do you?'

Kara laughs. "Big stupid dogs? Dad's got plenty of 'em at the office. Never been one for high-class, mostly thanks to him." She grins. "But are they slobbery big stupid dogs?"

'Major is, but he's probably asleep. Sabre'll be happy just lying on you.' She pushes the door open.

If Kara didn't know better she's swear she'd just walked into somebody's house; only a few extra tables really tell the difference. Even the bar is just a long, flat table up near one wall, with a few kegs and bottles behind it.

True to Anne-Marie's word, a large German Shepard bounds out of a side room and sits attentively at Kara's feet.

'He just want you to pet him. He's daft like that.'

'New girlfriend, Annie?' says a jolly voice from behind the bar.

'Naw, she's just a friend. Kara, this is Admiral Floyd, former Commander of the Grand Fleet. He's the owner.'

Kara finds herself faced with an ageing, red-faced, bearded man wearing an officer's cap.

Kara grins and pats the dog. "A real sweetheart, isn't he?" She looks up at the owner. "Pleasure to meetcha, Admiral." She smiles, while scratching the dog lightly behind one ear. "Name's Kara Grey, Anne's giving me the ten-cent tour today."

((OOC: Wow, when did it get to be 3 am?))

<8 hours ago, here. Time zones are silly.>

Floyd grins, 'New around, are you? You should be careful around this lass...'

'I've been married for five years, Admiral.' says Anne-Marie wearily.

He smiles, 'You never told me that...To Rachel, right?'

'No, to Elisa. You haven't met her, I'll have to bring her along sometime. You got a couple of menus?'

'Sure. You'll be over at your usual seat, right?'

'Yep.'

Anne-Marie leads Kara over to a set of seats in one corner. She smiles at Kara, 'Don't worry, if you bring anyone in here he assumes you're together. You should have heard him that time I came here with Kurt,' she laughs, 'Still, he cooks a mean breakfast.'

Kara laughs at that. "I can only imagine what he assumes when somebody walks in solo!" She snickers. "Eh, he can think whatever he wants, so long as the food is good!"

((OOC: I should probably hit the sack @_@ Scimitar is progressing nicely, by the way, though I suspect I'll have to take a few artistic liberties because of Doga's limitations. Got the rough frame built, and I'm working on the rear section and the crane at the moment- lucky me, the Dept. of Water and Power out here's got one of those cranes set up pretty much in walking distance, so I've got a good reference for that! ^_^))

<Another good morning post, then>

'He's ok really. And hey, he's not wrong about Rachel, in college she was my girlfriend...'

Anne-Marie leans over and points at Kara's menu, 'Go for the full English, if you're really feeing hungry. Although he stopped giving people a jar of soil to go with it a while ago, guess he ran out. It's a shame, me and Rachel used to plant things in them.'

Kara quirks an eyebrow. "Soil? Rather odd side to go with breakfast, I'd imagine. Otherwise it sounds good." She finishes skimming through her menu.

((OOC: Aaand, I'm out. Before I go though, here's a shot of the Scimitar-model-in-progress (http://rpstudios.ian-justman.com/junk/CGgoods/Scimitar-rough1.JPG). It's still really rough and nowhere near complete, still lacking treads, details, textures, and coloring and so on, but it's a start =) ))

<Lookin' good so far. Good morning!>

'Ah, you see the Admiral comes from England. For reasons he's never really explained he had some soil he bought with him, so he used to give people a jar of it when they ordered the full English. Piece of England to go with it, that's what he said. I've still got one on a windowsill at home, actually.'

Anne-Marie goes over to the bar and orders, coming back with two Cokes. 'One's Diet, one's reg. Pick one, I don't mind.'

'Heh, I bet this isn't exactly what you had in mind when you came over here, is it?'

<Bump>

((OOC: Gaah, sorry, can't post tonight- I should have been in bed two hours ago @_@ I've got to be up early to go to E3 in the morning! x_x ))

((OOC: Gaah, sorry, can't post tonight- I should have been in bed two hours ago @_@ I've got to be up early to go to E3 in the morning! x_x ))

That's ok. <Gives Rep a hug for Superpower thread comment>

((OOC: I am alive! Honest! :lol: ))

Kara grins and selects the Coke. "Certainly not what I expected, but I'm sure things could be a lot worse." She chuckles. "I could have gotten the Copiosa Scotia assignment, and had to deal with the Ruenland bombing at the airport! Much as I hate dresses, I'd take a formal dinner party over that any day!"

'I'm just glad you're settling in ok.' Anne-Marie smiles.

Kara's probably noticed a couple of guys deep in conversation at a nearby table. One of them shouts over, 'Hey, Anne! Who've you got down to win on Rage?'

'It's got to be Evil Tim for me, I'm afraid.' Anne-Marie shouts back. She turns back to Kara, 'It's the tag team final in about a month. I'm inviting a few friends over to watch, if you're interested,' she grins, 'It's fairly silly, but it's good fun.'

If Kara's been paying attention to the other conversation, she's probably already lost;

'...doesn't matter, do you seriously think Cruel Chris and Evil Tim can take down Captain Merciless and The Gimp? Have you ever seen the Bandit Piledriver?'
'Bossman banned that.'
'When?!'
'On Showdown, Merciless trashed Bossman's wheels. Don't you remember?'
'Yeah, but Tim's still got that knee injury Crusader gave him...'

Anne-Marie smiles, 'By the way, do you practice a martial art? You just seem like the sort of person who would...Speaking from experience.'

Kara, still trying to make sense of the other conversation, decides to give up on that. "Well, not much. Dad insisted I learn some basic self-defense, and I did learn a form of kenjutsu." She grins at that. "I've even got a nice pair of katanas at home- they were my parting gift from the Queen when I got the ambassador assignment. What martial arts did you study, since I'm assuming you probably did?"

((OOC: Man... I finally settled on what the Elite Victory (http://rpstudios.ian-justman.com/junk/CGgoods/Arwing2-7.JPG) fighters look like. ^_^ Modified Arwing design. (And actually, the design is modeled to look like the Arwing's design from the newest Starfox game.... I got to play it at E3...! Man, that was awesomeness!))

[Not much good with martial art names, so feel free to add them]

Anne-Marie sits back in her chair, 'Well, I learned quite a bit of hand-to hand during army training, and a lot more in advanced. Armed as well; I've always been good with a pair of swords; I can show you the particular pair when we get back if you like. Maybe you'd like to take me on some time?' She grins, 'I'll go easy on you, I promise!'

Kara laughs. "Maybe a friendly spar. The style I learned is a two-sword style, and pretty dangerous, to." She grins. "So don't go to easy on me just because I'm non-military. Sakatsume Nitou Ryuu is a potent kenjutsu form."

((OOC: I'm not really good with names either. Sakatsume Nitou Ryuu is entirely made up, actually for a character for a Rurouni Kenshin roleplay. The style name basically means something like "Reverse Talon Two-Sword Style"))

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Actually, I was planning to go easy on you because you're not genetically enhanced, but it's not like I'm going to be trying to kill you anyway.'

She sighs, 'You know why I like it here, by the way?'

Kara blinks a moment at the sudden change of mood. "I've got an idea, but I'll bite. Why?"

Anne-Marie smiles gently, 'Because nobody here salutes or call me sir when I'm out of uniform...In town, the restaurant staff are usually just kids about to come up for service; they're always terrified of me. Here, I'm just Annie. I kinda like that.'

Kara nods and grins sympathetically. "A lot of our officials get that, too, since most of them served during the war." She snickers. "Queen Firefury gets it all the time, since she led the Queens of the Sky in the war, and the other 6 surviving members swear up and down that she could kick their butts in about two minutes flat. Which is kinda something to think about, since they're the absolute best in our air force!"

Anne-Marie nods, 'She must be quite the fighter...By the way, have you ever seen what an enhanced human can do? There's the odd documentary on every now and then, but I doubt one's come around while you've been here...'

"'Fraid I haven't caught any, though the concept is certainly interesting." Kara looks thoughtful. "Part of why Firefury's so strong is primarily due to the Nekoite government, actually. She's enhanced, I suppose you could say, since after she got shot down and badly wounded before the revolution, the government shelled out considerable funding to essentially transplant her consciousness to a reploid body, since she was so badly maimed, but just too good to give up. Far as anybody knows, she's still pissed off about that- reploids have incredibly long lifespans provided they don't get blown to bits in combat or something."

'Actually, the major differences between us and non-enhanced humans are similar to what's found in the Grand Dragon; strengthened bones, stronger muscle tissue, and much, much faster reaction speeds. There's some rumour that the enhancements are based on experiments with Dragon DNA, although from what I'm aware that's not true*.'

'Well, there's an easy demonstration,' Anne-Marie rests her elbow on the table, 'You can use both hands if you like...'

*It isn't.

Kara snickers. "Ah, hell, why not!" She sets her soda down. "I'll go one-handed though. Probably because I'm prone to being reckless at times!"

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Ok, three...two...one...go!'

It's fairly obvious to Kara that Anne-Marie isn't actually pushing, just holding her hand in place. It feels rather like she's trying to push over a brick wall. After a few moments, Anne-Marie's hand drops down to the table fairly slowly, taking Kara's with it

Anne-Marie's grinning, 'I'm sorry, just wanted to see the look on your face. Shouldn't think you'd have beaten me even with both hands.'

Kara's facial expression certain is a funny one as she describes an act that, upon further thought, isn't physically possible.

"Believe me, I'm not thinking two hands would have made a difference." She manages after a moment before grinning. "Play tug-of-war with a jet lately?" She jokes.

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Something like that...' she rolls up her sleeve, 'But you saw last night, it's not that I've got big beefy arms* or anything stupid like that. Oh, breakfast's here!'

Admiral Floyd come out holding a pair of steaming trays, setting one down in front of each of them. 'There y'go, Annie, Kara...See, I remembered. Enjoy.'

*Annie's probably got no more visible muscle on her arms than Kara has. Oh, and Trogdoooooooor!

((OOC: LOL! Anyways, last post then I go beddie... time somehow manages to fly... And good goddess, I can't believe how well the bidding is going on the Harukaze 100-S auction! :shock: ))

Kara eyes the food. "Oh man, that smells great! My thanks, Admiral!" She beams, grabbing her fork. "Certainly better than the toaster pastries I usually have time for at the embassy!"

[Well G'night, then. Did you ever get that Email?]

<The food is very, very good here>

Anne-Marie grins, 'Great food is the other reason I love this place.'

'Incidentally, how's your country set up for a navy? It's about the first time we've not had a major naval construction project on, at the moment. All they're doing at the docks is building Comona and Shiva's hull, so we're looking for orders. Interest you?'

Bump.

Kara looks thoughtful for a second. "I think we just placed an order for some of Western Asia's trimaran ships... we /do/ need some kind of aircraft carrier though- for both our aircraft, and as a resting point for the trained dragons we've got. I'd have to check in with Tiffany about the specifics though."

((OOC: Said I'd be slow- in the process of dealing with a guy with like, 30+ UN multies.))

'Well, we can wait. Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you a question, it's about our daughter...Her name, to be precise. We're trying to settle on one, and I just wanted to know what you thought; Jennifer Louise Embersby?' She smiles;

'Actually, I've always like Nicole, but that's Elisa's middle name, so we couldn't use that...'

[Understand you're a busy mod. Did you get the Email?]

((OOC: The one with the pics of Kurt and his gun? Yeah, got that @_@))

Kara grins. "I like the sound of it, myself. Has a touch of class to it."

((OOC: I swear, some people have NO LIFE. I'm in the process of deleting the 30+ UN multies one guy has been region griefing with x_x))

(I like that gun, took me quite a while to design it. And we love ya for your moddy powers!)

'Thanks. Kara's not a bad name, either...Maybe our second...' she grins, 'Don't you dare think I'm kidding.'

'By the way, when I offered to introduce you to a few people, you never did answer. Is that because you don't want to?'

<Up for them hittin' the town soon?>

Kara blinks for a moment before remembering. "Oh, cripes, I totally forgot about that! Senior moment. I'm game, I suppose." She grins. "And I'll have you know, if I'd been a son, I'd probably have been Akkard the Second!" She snickers, making a gagging noise.

((OOC: Sure, though I'm probably going to be heading off in a bit. Deleting forty-seven UN multis is tiring.))

Anne-Marie tilts her head, 'Can't see you as an Akkard, personally...' she smiles. 'Anyway, I know some good people; you know, the sort that would fall in love with you rather than the Techcorp's bank accounts. I'm sorry,' she grins, 'Guess I'm an incurable romantic at heart!'

After Kara and Anne-Marie finish eating, they head back outside. After a wander around the shops, Anne-Marie turns to Kara; 'So, ready to see the Tower, or do you want to hang around here a while longer?'

name of your ambassador from us...I'll have to write up a character at some point!]

((OOC: LOL! DOn't worry, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to go over stuff =) Right now, Yavin and I are aiming to tackle the /entire/ game mod task list @_@ All six pages of it. Ororororo...))

Kara checks her watch. "Eh, let's hit the Tower- not literally, of course!" She snickers. "And as for romance... well, we shall see, I suppose!"

'Ok, then it's back to the car.' She smiles, 'Don't worry, I've got a good sense of direction.'

It seems like quite a while they're driving, but eventually they pull up in a multistorey car park and start walking. 'The Tower's actually right in the centre of the island; pretty much to the foot. It was finished when I was young; we all had the day off school for the grand opening. That was a firework display, that night.'

[Here you go: <passes glass of whiskey through internet>]

((OOC: Actually, I've got a glass of wine I've been intermittedly sipping at and doing the stereotypical villain thing and holding up the glass and looking at the screen through the wine! :lol: ))

"I bet that was a firework display!" Kara grins. "Of course, a fireworks display would probably also be what the WMNK coalition did to MagicChina. Overkill, most definately."

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Well, we don't like to get involved in that sort of thing, really...But hey, we turn one more corner and we're there. Back on Victory Road, by the way; it runs all the way from Hammer Bay to the centre of the island.'

They turn the corner. Kara's jaw drops.

The road suddenly ends about a hundred feet ahead in a huge dull-grey wall that must stand hundreds of feet high, but rising far above is the monumental black Tower itself. It's circular, tapering inwards as it rises up and ending in a flat platform on the roof. Kara can just make out a crane on the roof a mile above.

'Magnificent, isn't it?'

[There's a picture, if you want it]

((OOC: Sure! =) ))

Kara remembers to shut her mouth before she starts catching flies. Remembering her voice takes a few more minutes.

"Holy sh--!"

((OOC: And I'm about to hop off for the night- Yav and I are aiming to do some more marathon modding tomorrow night.))

'Oh, that's nothing...I did notify them we were coming, and, well...Best to cover your ears...'

She give a thumbs-up towards the Tower, which is immediately followed by probably the loudest sound Kara has ever heard, even through her hands. Dozens of puffs of smoke and flashes can be glimpsed over the wall.

'And that's their whole stock of blank ammuntion gone from the storehouse...Had to do something with it. I doubt even your Queen's ever had a thousand-gun salute, has she?'

Bump.

Kara gawks, before nearly falling over laughing. "Only time she's had guns firing with her in mind was when she was the target!" She manages to gasp out between her laughter. "Oh man, that's awesome!"

((OOC: Heyas!))

<Hey. get the pic? Must be pretty awesome standing at the base of that, hm?>

'Well, we could always arrange something like this again if she ever visits...Maybe even use the Grand Fleet's guns. Now that would be quite a sight.'

They walk closer, to the main gate. A pair of giant MAC Frames stand guard; as they see Anne-Marie, they take a step to one side and raise their siege rifles to attention position, saluting with their grip arms. Kara probably notices they're wearing dress uniform which may seem a little strange on a BAV*

Inside the gates, Kara can see the dozens of heavy cannons that just fired, mainly huge 88mm flak guns and SAM launchers.

'They call this the Ring of Steel,' Anne-Marie says, 'Used to be four thousand guns here, before they built ISON. Now there's only one thousand, with about two hundred and fifty manned at any given time during peacetime. The rest of the guns were shipped to ISON's airbases; Crowne, Scion, Caranda and Gerhart.'

[*Bipedal Armoured Vehicle, aka mech>

Kara whistles appreciatively, still recovering from her recent bout of the giggles. "S'lotta guns! Man, I didn't know you guys had mecha like this though! My dad would kill to speed up our projects for stuff like that!"

She grins. "And as for seeing Firefury, I imagine when we get that themepark all set up and running, she'll be there for the opening ceremonies!"

((OOC: Speaking of that theme park thing, shall I post a thread officially announcing the project/looking for other contributors?))

[GMC has four main Mech types: COM [Two hands, light armour] MAC [one hand and elbow mounted 14-inch siege rifle] ART [two elbow-mounted 150mm smoothbores] and AA [four 88 flaks, four legged]. They're used as parachute-deployable tanks. And feel free to make that post. Probably be best in International Incidents.]

'Well, this is the base of the Tower...' Anne-Marie stands behind Kara, 'Look up.'

((OOC: Kay =) I'd best get off my lazy bum and finish that CG of Scimitar, and the island then! :lol: ))

Kara does as she's told, and looks up.

And up.

And up.

And, for a change of pace, up some more.

"That is one tall freaking tower." She comments, looking up.

'Yeah...' Says Anne-Marie from over Kara's shoulder, 'Don't mind me, I'm just here to catch you. I've seen people fall over backwards doing what you're doing.'

'Got anything like this back home?'

Kara, still looking up, shakes her head. "Nothing like it that's still standing, at any rate. The old 'Space Taxi' mass driver probably stood about as tall, but that got slagged in the war and plundered for salvage."

'Well, Sabre's upper barrel looks like this...It will when we build it, anyway. They're just starting off clearing ground now,' she smiles, 'So you should probably get that plan to Firefury as soon as you can...Time for your lift back home? I promised to show you my swords, if I recall...'

Kara chuckles and tears her gaze from the tower. "Yeah, I suppose we ought to be getting back. The guys at the embassy are probably going to start wondering where I am before too much longer. I'll fax Firefury those plans and stuff when I get back."

'Ok.' The two make their way back to Anne-Marie's car; the journey back doesn't seem to take that long.

[Back in Anne-Marie's house]

'Well, most of my stuff is in here,' she taps a few digits on a keypad next to a door, which swings open silently. 'I find this is a good place to relax. Elisa doesn't, mind'

Past the heavily soundproofed door is a small training room, and a staircase leading downwards in one corner.

'Firing range is down there,' says Anne-Marie, pointing to the stairs, 'Maybe I'll show you that in a month...You are coming, right?'

She reaches over to a sword rack* and lifts up a pair of Katanas; drawing both. One is fairly ordinary, with 'Hope' engraved into the blade, the other's blade is jet-black and carries the inscription 'Despair.'

[*Japanese type...Can't remember the name.]

"Ooooh" Kara 'oohs'. "Those are gorgeous!" She spends several moments admiring the blades. "And in a month? Sounds like a plan."

"Man, where did you get these made? They're beautiful!"

Anne-Marie grins, 'These swords are usually made to order for SFAT, the black bladed ones are quite popular with them. Kurt's got one called Nelo Angelo, usually carries it on him if you want to see it.'

'Guess you'll be heading back now, hm?'

Kara nods. "Yeah, I'm amazed I haven't been paged yet-" On cue, her pager beeps at her. "And timing is everything! It's been a blast though." Kara grins.

Anne-Marie smiles, 'Well, it's been fun. Hey, Elisa!'

Elisa comes down the stairs, wearing a paint-stained overall, 'Huh?'

'Kara's leaving now.'

'Oh.' She smiles, 'Well, take care.'

They stand at the door and wave as Kara drives off.

[And I guess that's the end]

"Thanks for having me! T'is been fun!" Kara waves before hopping on her bike and heading home.

((OOC: Ah... a roleplay thread come to it's right conclusion. 8) Now to get that announcement about the themepark written!))

<Hey Rep, you up for Part 2 some time?>

<Hey Rep, you up for Part 2 some time?>

((OOC: Maybe ^^; I'm still playing a bit of catch-up from vacation though =p))

A few months later, Kara's telephone rings. 'Hey there, it's Annie...I think I might have found you a date. Interested?'

While sorting through a recent report on the Archangel, playing a video game, chatting online, and doing some stuff that looked vaguely like actual work, Kiara answers the phone.

"Moshi moshi- Oh, hey, long time no chat!" Kiara hastily pauses her game and closes her web browser. "A date? Um, who, when, and where?"

'Well, best time is this saturday at Wilson Park Hotel, about seven o'clock. That's formal only, unfortunately, but the food there's great. I'll fax you a map if you like.'

[Unrelated: Did you spot this, BTW? http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47311 ]

Kara nods, despite the fact she's on the phone and it's a futile gesture. "Eh, haven't done the formal thing in awhile. By the way, when's the next demonstration of the defense grid's latest monster?"

((OOC: Just looked @_@ And unfortunately, I must get to bed- my sleep schedule is still screwed up from Anime Expo!))

'Oh, the Eye? Well, they'll probably test-fire again in a couple of weeks...They've got three more under construction, you know. Anyway, see ya soon.'

"Righto! Been some neat stuff going on back in my home turf that I'm sure you've already heard about." Kiara grins. "Anyways, see y'soon!"

<Skip to the night? I'll do the arrival.>

OOC: Chatroom, copy, paste :D :D :D

((OOC: Sounds like a plan. But I'll be going to bed in a second x_x Work sucks.))

It's a classy and expensive-looking place. Kara's probably been waiting quite a while when she hears the door open and close, and footsteps approaching her. Turning, she sees a young woman wearing a dark designer-label evening dress and holding a bunch of long-stemmed red roses, She's medium height, perhaps slightly taller than Kara, and has blue eyes and short, light brown hair, with a ribbon in it. She's smiling, but looks a little nervous.

'Err...Hi there. You're Kara Grey, right?'

Kara nods. "Kara Grey, professional diplomatic lackey." She grins and motions for the new arrival to have a seat. "And you are?"

((OOC: And much as I'd like to keep going tonight, I've got to be up for work in like, 5 hours ^^; Catch ya later!))

She pauses, 'Annie didn't tell you? Oh, I'm sorry. Helen Matthews, PA, administrative division. Nothing exciting,' she smiles, and holds out the flowers, 'Hope you like roses.'

Kara accepts the flowers with a grin. "Can't go wrong with something classic!" She carfully sets the flowers on the table. "And no, Annie didn't tell me! She just gave me a location and a time. Blasted sneaky military types!"

She reaches into her purse and withdraws a small box. "I wasn't sure what to bring, so I went with classic chocolate. Found a place with some absolutely wonderful raspberry truffles."

She smiles, 'Annie said she'd either tell you absolutely everything or absolutely nothing, guess she went for the second.' she takes the truffles, 'Thanks...I'll try one later on, 'kay?'

The waiter comes over and hands them a couple of menus, 'I'll be back in a minute to take your order.'

Helen looks over the menu, 'Hmm...Soup to start?'

Kara nods. "Soup... oooh, cheddar potato!"

"So whatcha do in PA admin division?" Kara scans over the menu. "Not much work lately for the diplomatic lackey. Just been keeping up with the news."

Smile, 'PA is Personal Assistant...A glorified secretary, really. A lot of general work, typing memos, filing, taking calls...You know the kind of thing, right?'

'Want something to drink?'

Kara nods. "Had to do a ton of that before I got tossed into the diplomacy shtick. And sure, I'm parched. Any preference? I admit to having a weakness for good sake... bit of an acquired taste though." Kara grins. "A carefully acquired taste- that stuff can be potent!"

'Well, I was thinking red wine or Champagne, but I guess I could try...' she smiles, 'I'm sure they serve it here.'

Kara snickers. "Eh, let's go with the champagne- these sorts of places rarely have really good sake. 'Sides, I've got some buddies on the inside of one of the best producers of the stuff." She winks conspiratorially. The ambassador is obviously in high spirits (either that, or she got into the sake before she headed out.), and her cheer is probably a little contagious.

Helen nods, smiling, 'Ok...' the waiter comes over, and she makes their order.

She flicks a hair out of her eye, 'So, Annie didn't tell you anything, hmm?' she smiles, and throw her glass up, then catches it.

A good three inches above her hand.

'Not even that?'

Kara does a double take, blinks, and makes sure she didn't make a mistake. "No... not even that." She boggles momentarily. "Pretty damned cool, but between you guys and the Aquamarinian thaumatologists, the rest of us normal people are gonna feel all left out!" She snickers. "I'm sure you've seen the press releases about the Archangel? A spaceship with 'magic'!"

She shakes her head, 'No...Must say I haven't, actually.' the glass drops into her hand.

Kara grins. "Yeah, Queenie gave the word to plunge ahead with a space program. And oh nooo, rockets aren't good enough! All sorts of sci-fi wizardry going on, plus they're seriously considering 'magic' to help improve the defense system. Pretty far out, huh?"

'Well, I've heard our new fighter's going to be thought-controlled, but yeah, that's pretty cool.' the Champagne arrives; Helen fills a glass and hands it to Kara, then fills one for herself.

'So, you're getting on ok here?'

Kara accepts the glass and takes a sip. "Yeah, I've settled in pretty well. The climate isn't a whole lot colder than where I grew up, so there hasn't been a whole lot of adjusting to do."

She grins. "What about you? Ever travel abroad?"

((OOC: Whee... trying to build the Space Taxi complex in Doga. x_x))

She shakes her head again, 'Never really been able to afford it,' she smiles, 'Not sure I'd really want to...I'd miss my friends. Well, unless they came too...That'd be fun.'

Kara snickers. "Yeah, getting a bunch of pals together for a road trip can be a blast. Haven't had the chance to do that in ages. Ah, what I would give for a nice long college summer!"

Helen smiles, and nods, 'I know what you mean. It'd be nice to get back with Annie and Rachel for a while sometime...The three of us shared rent on a house in college, you know.'

"I bet that was an experiance and a half!" Kara chuckes. "I shared a room with a friend of mine back in college. The place was always a disaster, but we learned- archaeology majors and business majors don't mix well in a cramped college dorm!"

'We were Military Theory, the diplomatic corp's training program and medicine.' she smiles, 'I've got a proper doctorate, actually, just didn't think it was for me in the end.'

"Spiff- even if it didn't suit you, you've earned the bragging rights." Kara grins. "I admit I did rather poorly at business. S'my dad's thing, not mine. Found that out the hard way."

'Never had much business sense myself, either...What happened?'

Kara grins sheepishly. "Dad let me run things for two weeks while he went on vacation. Then everything went wrong- factory accidents, a lawsuit from somebody who got hurt driving a Bandit Mk-I and doing something stupid... Luckily the damage to the Techcorp's pocketbook was fairly minor."

'Well, running a company that size must be quite something...I don't think I'd have done anything like as well.' the soup arrives.

[I'm in for about one more post, then bed.]

((OOC: Actually, I need to hit the sack x_x 3:30 am here. I'm surprised I'm still conscious.))

((OOC: Actually, I need to hit the sack x_x 3:30 am here. I'm surprised I'm still conscious.))

G'night, then.

Kara snickers. "Well, luckily things got sorted out. Now the old man's off somewhere or other overseeing all sorts of lunatic projects."

She grins and tries the soup, looking quite satisfied with the taste. "Man, this place /is/ good!"

'Well, I tend to have a lot of information about lunatic projects passed by me...Declassified copies, obviously, but Annie's always telling me about what the SPDs are up to. The submarine battleship was certainly an interesting one.'

She smiles, 'And well, someone took me here once for dinner, and I just remembered it from then. I'm glad you like it.'

"Ooh, so I bet you heard about Shiva and stuff before anybody else, huh?" Kara grins. "That's cool- it's good to have friends in high places!"

She nods, 'Annie invited me along to the party on SCIMITAR, actually' smile, 'So of course, I had to be ill that night.'

Kara snickers. "Go figure! Why is it that sorta thing always has to happen?" She sips her drink. "Somebody needs to push a proposal through the UN or something to repeal Murphy's Law!"

She smiles, 'Doubt it would help us that much.' she points at the menu, 'Main meal?'

<She'll have what Kara's having>

Kara hrms and surveys the menu. "The steak and stirfried veggies is sounding awfully good right now... the kitchen staff back at the embassy have been on a tofu kick lately. I need meat!" Kara grins.

Helen nods, and orders two.

'So I guess you don't cook for yourself, then?'

Kara shrugs. "Sometime I'm too busy to do my own cooking- otherwise it's not uncommon for me to go marching down to the kitchens and kick the staff out. None of them can make chocolate-cherry fudge like I can!"

She smiles, 'I'd like to try sometime...'

'Oh, are you ok to stay the night at mine, by the way?'

Kara thinks for a moment. "Don't think I've got anything on the agenda tomorrow morning." She pulls out a small PDA to make sure. "Never thought I'd be running around with one of these contraptions, but... eh, life happens!" After poking at the device for a few seconds, she puts it away. "I'm wide open almost all day tomorrow, so sure!" Kara grins. "Maybe swing by the embassy on the way over and pick up some stuff- y'like anime by any chance?"

She nods, 'Well, living with Annie you don't have much of a choice...And great. I'll just have to make this my last glass.'

Kara snickers sheepishly. "If y'don't wanna drive, I can ring up the embassy and they can send somebody." She grins. "One of the perks of being a diplomatic lackey."

((OOC: Oh, GMC, what's Starblade look like? I'm thinking of maybe throwing a CG model together (fighters are easier to do than large, complex projects, which is why I still haven't gotten Scimitar done x_x)))

'A chauffer?' she smiles, 'Sounds good to me.'

Their meals arrive.

<Basically, like an impossibly sleek B2. I'll Email you a pic tomorrow, 'kay?>

((OOC: Impossibly sleek? I can do that =D Since we've got like, 3 maniacs in the air, I was thinking of taking some pictures since I've got CG models already of the Elite Victory and Dyson's ship))

Kara grins. "Thought you'd like the sound of that." She briefly surveys the food. "Oh, wow, this stuff looks great!" The ambassador's stomach rumbles loud agreement.

"Ah-heh... skipped lunch today." She notes sheepishly. "Well, shall we?"

Helen smiles, 'Don't hold up on my account.' she takes a bite, ''S nice!'

Kara nods and tries her food, her face lightening up. "Oh man, this is good! This place is definately going on my list!"

'Well, maybe we can come here again some time?'

Kara nods. "Most definately!"

((OOC: And bedtime for me x_x))

She smiles, 'Great!'

Kara grins between mouthfuls and holds up her glass. "A toast to new friends?"

She smiles, 'I'm ok for that.' she clinks her glass against Kara's.

Following the toast, Kara sets into her meal with a vengence- somebody's obviously hungry. "So, Helen, what sorta stuff are you into, anyway?"

She thinks for a moment, 'Well, I've always liked films*...I don't often turn down an invitation to the cinema. Other than that, swimming and tennis, reading...All kinds of stuff, really,' she grins, 'Do I sound like a lonely hearts ad yet?'

[*She's including anime in that]

Kara chuckles. "Nah. Some of the really screwball types y'run into at conventions... now THOSE are your lonely hearts material. Well.. that, or looney bin material. Fine line between the two."

She smiles, 'So, what kind of anime do you like, anyway?'

Kara snickers and thinks for a moment. "Lotta stuff, really. I admit to having a weakness for series with giant mecha though." She grins. "Though stuff that makes y'think is also a favorite. A little Dot Hack, a little Shaman King... good stuff. What about you, since I assume you've seen quite a bit?"

'Well, bit of a fan of the sci-fis myself...' she smiles, 'Romantic ones, too. Preferrably both....I'm not much good with series names, though.'

"Can't say I'm big on romances- at least not in series where the romance dominates the story. Set a romance against the backdrop of a massive space war... then we're talking!" She snickers.