Video / Action - Open

[gundamofthedesert]

Video
[The video opens with very excited Quatre, quite clearly trying to keep from bouncing excitedly]

Fellow passengers of the train, good morning! I made a request for an item and I wasn't actually sure if I'd get it or what it would be if I did, but...

[And he shows off what arrived for him... which just basically looks like a large box]

It is mobile suit cockpit simulator! So it's like piloting a mobile suit without actually piloting one!

[He very briefly showed off the inside of it, which looked like a cockpit]

Once I get it to the games carriage, I'm going to take a look at the options already programmed and add as many as I remember. It'll be available for anyone to try out. Also if you have one that would be piloted like that, I can try to add yours.

Action
Quatre can either be found in the luggage carriage, trying to figure out to move this very large object... or he can be found in the games carriage once it has been moved, checking what has already been programmed into the system.

Comments

[Video]

[yondu]

I ain't ever driven one, but I'm interested in seein' what ya got. 'Could always use some new skills. [He's decently enthusiastic, in that way that he's not doing an exaggerated frown that he usually does for general reactions, both positive and negative. Good news! A thing he'd like to learn? Have an actual smile.]

...You want me to help set ya up? I had to with my flight sim when I picked that up.

[gundamofthedesert]

Of course. I'd be happy to show you. They are quite common in my world. Hence why there is a simulator for someone to practice piloting.

[He's glad that Yondu is excited for it. Good, it was not just him and Tidus who wanted to try this thing out]

Sure, that would be a lot of help. Thanks.

[yondu]

How about I come by and help ya with it?

Who knows, we might get the chance to do that one day. [But if this is the closest he'll get? He'll absolutely try.]

[gundamofthedesert]

That would be wonderful, thank you.

[He nodded] Well, if they ever do show up on an assignment, we will be prepared.

Action

[yondu]

If it's anything like the flight sim? Shouldn't take more'n a couple of hours to set up. I'll be with ya shortly.

[And, hey, it's something to look forward to. His head's been so bogged down with badness for a few months that somethin' like a training for a giant machine seems like a good time. Even the usefulness of putting together the equipment sounds like a good time.]

[He catches up with Quatre after a bit.]

The pieces should be able to go through the transporter things. Luckily one leads directly to the games car so it's just the trouble of carryin' it to the first sleeper. Trust me, it feels good to have that little taste of home. Trainin' aside.

[gundamofthedesert]

Yeah, it's basically a flight sim, just for something that is a little more humanoid in appearance. Sounds good, I will see you then.

[It was part of why he requested it. He had had a lovely talk with Tidus and the thought of actually being able to pilot again, even if it was a simulation, had made him happy. So if he could share it and make others happy, all the better]

Great! Let's do that. It'll be easy to set it up once it is in the games carriage. [He smiled] It does. I piloted so much that it will just be like old times.

[yondu]

[He starts to pick up his portion of the load.] It's helped me out a lot. I think Hera, too. [And maybe a few other people that missed flying. Della had been a huge reason for him to do it. One of the reasons he was sad to see her go.]

Tellin' ya, even if you're able to get off the train about once a month or so it don't mean that much if you can't do what you like.

[Or at least what feels homey and comfortable. But there's a lot of reasons he has doubts in their recreational activities. He knows he's a poor fit for some of these missions when he feels way more comfortable with technology than magic.]

[gundamofthedesert]

[Quatre picked up his portion as well so they could move just far enough to be able to get it into the Games Carriage. It wasn't light, but it wasn't that heavy for its size. Just hard for only one person to manage]

Yeah. It is rather disappointing there is not much in terms of what I have been able to do at home. I am good with technology so I have been doing that on missions when possible, but there has been nothing quite like piloting.

[yondu]

Even then, sometimes you can only do so much. I'm pretty good with tech but there've only been a few missions where that did any good on. [The one in that cesspit of a city and the last one, really. The one rigged up by the Ministry couldn't even count because so much of it didn't make any sense.]

No chances to pilot yet. Hopefully one'll turn up. How big was the one you drove? [Because he's already imagining that if you got one big enough? You probably could punch a Celestial in the face and isn't that just the prettiest thought. He steers them towards that Sleeper 1 car teleporter. Seems easier.]

[gundamofthedesert]

Yeah, I know. There was one earlier... I think it was the second mission I was on. There was a lot of tech in that one for the Orange Team. Not so much for the past few. I've tended to go with whatever team, usually either Purple or Blue.

Unfortunately, not yet. The one piloted, Gundam Sandrock, was 16.5 meters. That's... greater than 10 times my height.

[Since he's trying to figure out ways to explain the Gundams and mobile suits to people who may not know the references]

[yondu]

Sounds like somethin'. [He's heard enough at this point to draw conclusions about what some of these big bipedal robots would be like, even if the only walkerbots he's ever met have been considerably creepier than something vaguely person-shaped.]

[Mainframe might have dug it, though. Seemed like her kind of thing.]

[Once they're through and to the games carriage, he's happy to put it down and sort of regrets that he didn't ask Vegeta... But then again, he might have broke something unless Bulma was supervising.]

What sort of settin's did it work best in? Upper atmosphere? Space? Ground pounder? Or did it do all of the above. I'm guessin' with legs it definitely could handle surface fights.

[gundamofthedesert]

[Once they set it down, Quatre moved to examine the cockpit again, just to make sure that nothing had moved out of place while transporting. Not that he was ignoring Yondu, still answering his question as he looked]

Sandrock was, initially, more of a land-based mobile suit. I believe only Wing was really used in the air prior to the suits being rebuilt. Once it was rebuilt, Sandrock was able to operate in space. OZ and Federation had suits with a different variety, but they were usually only for whatever function they were given initially, like Cancer and Pisces were made for working and fighting underwater.

[yondu]

Still with the legs or did they have some kinda fish tail? [It's not even a joke question. He asks it very earnestly, expression deeply confused by the prospect of a giant robot underwater plodding along diving-bell style.]

[But hell, if someone could make it work they made it work!]

Sounds like a good time, anyway.

[He never knew the names of constellations on other worlds. They just end up translated by devices sometimes. Right now they just register as randomass names.]

[gundamofthedesert]

Pisces starts out looking like a very small submarine, then it changes to be... human, but with short legs and very long arms. Cancer always looks like a crab.

[Yes, OZ had taken the dedication to the Zodiac named suits very seriously]

Great. If you wanted to wait, I should be able to get this up pretty quick. Or it will be here so there's no real hurry.

[yondu]

I don't mind waitin', but I could help you out if you want it. Hold pieces in place and whatnot as ya needed 'em. [He offers, mostly because he'd needed help in putting together the flight sim.]

You get real handy with emergency mechanical work? I had to do that quite a bit on the fly. [It's always a good skill to have, and one good to know other people have.] I know it's near impossible to fix major damage but adjustin' more minor shit and slappin' on quick fixes until you can pay for some bodywork or last as much of a fight as you can make it or break it.

[gundamofthedesert]

That's fine. There might be a few things like that. I've never really looked at this one before.

[He started poking around at the controls]

I've always been good at mechanical work. Nothing too crazy, but I can read plans and put things together. I did put together one of the Gundams. Granted, not by hand completely, I was the one who got it up and running.

[And installed a very dangerous system in it shhhh...]

I don't usually get as many options to do it myself back home. I have a lot of people who are paid to do that and I'm not expected to.

[yondu]

Great skill to work on while ya got the chance. Slappin' some machine into a more hostile version of itself can make all the differ'nce in a fight. I done it a few times.

[He's turned drills into disco balls of painful lasers and sleek ships into projectile drones. He's done all kinds of things along those lines. There's a ton of potential in Quatre to do the same, he reckons, if he's got that kind of experience.]

I got a tool box too ifn' you need it. Just back in my room.

[Not that it's as good compared to some other people's tool kits, but it's definitely not bad.]

[gundamofthedesert]

[He chuckled at that]

I suppose that's kind of what the Gundams were, but they were more planned. The Federation and OZ were trying to take over the colonies and using their own suits to do it so the Gundams were an answer to that. Similar in design, but made a lot stronger and with better weapons.

Though... I did kind of do that. With the Wing Zero, which was the suit that I got up operational, I was responsible for putting the Zero system in it.

[Since he knew that meant nothing, he explained]

The Zero system is program that simultaneously shows the pilot options currently available in a fight. All of them. It is useful and very difficult to beat, but it is usually hard for the pilot to control. Only a few of us have been able to master it.

apologies for the super short tag

[yondu]

Oh yeah? How did that turn out? Or has it seen much action yet.

[A few rounds can't tell you as much as prolonged exposure. Hard to tell when predictive systems were a solid investment or not.]

This gonna come with somethin' to simulate it?

no worries

[gundamofthedesert]

Oh, that saw plenty of action. [Quatre sighed] It kind of got turned against us for a while. They made some of the mobile suits were installed with it and basically... used it without a pilot. They were called Mobile Dolls. Very dangerous because they could think two steps ahead of you and they didn't care able causalities.

Gosh, I hope not... It made me temporarily crazy and wanting to destroy things. It made Duo, WuFei, and Trowa temporarily crazy as well. It caused the deaths of a few pilots. Of the five of us, only Heero and I were remotely able to master it.

[yondu]

Had some control issues, huh? It's hard for AI and meatsacks like us to find some compatibility. Amazin' when you can but oh man.

[He looks over at the flight simulator. It's Nova Corp in make, different from this, but he's hoping its similar enough so that it won't take all today.]

You know, I could probably get some more of the tech used to change the console in the flight sim for your gundam set up if it doesn't have it. So you can change the interior to suit the type of machine you're mockin' up.

[Then, back to the previous topic.]

How'd you end up handlin' it?

[gundamofthedesert]

Yeah. The problem when computers are fitted with weapons are given the ability to thing for themselves. Besides, war is pointless when it is fought between machines. Not that I want to see people die. I'd rather they didn't. But there's no incentive to stop pitting unmanned mobile suits against each other.

[He thought about that more a moment]

You know that would be a good idea. Almost suits in my world have the same basic cockpit layout, but there are differences. And I'm sure other worlds will have different cockpits.

Zero System. It seems to be more a matter of being strong willed enough to not let Zero get to you. When I first used it, I was not in a good place and Zero pushed me too far. When I tried it again, it was easier. Of course, I was hesitant to try it knowing what it had done to me before.

[yondu]

People gonna die anyway. That's how war works. Even if ya don't put people people in the cockpit. Or if ya use things ya don't consider people. [He was one of those 'things' at one point. War is war and people die.]

Shouldn't be too hard to manage. How about next time I do a shop order I put in the points for ya. I bet there are a few folks like Kaiba or Bulma or Devero that could install it no problem.

[Not in a good place, though?] What kinda spot were you in that made it rough on ya? Other'n basic 'war is hell' stuff.

[gundamofthedesert]

That is true. People will always die. But the equivalent is essentially telling two identical computers to have a chess match against each other, with no outside input, and then punish those on the side that loses. Even if people don't die because of it, one side is still punished for something that they have no control over.

[He smiled] That would be wonderful. Thank you.

[Quatre was quiet for a long moment] The colonies were beginning to arm themselves and work with those who had been our enemy. My family had always believed in total pacifism. I was the odd one who realized the peace can't always come from just words.

When the colonies voted against my father and his advice, he took one of our resource satellites and detached it from the colony to make a point.

[Quatre was silent as he poked around at the simulator]

The colonies destroyed the satellite he was on.

[yondu]

[That is a hell of a way for shit to go wrong.]

Sorry that happened. Seems like he was a good fella... Always sorry to hear when people like that don't make it.

[Sometimes he feels like there needs to be just enough violence to protect the soft-hearted people. That's the job he settles into if he can. Being the one to make the shit choices to protect the weaker ones.]

You're right though, about how this shit works? War games are pretty bullshit. [Yet, still, even as he looks at the sims he misses a good fight.] A system like that needs a steady head behind it. How were things when you left 'em?