OE 102
January 5th; 11:08AM
Lunar Orbit
Gringal Class "Rapunzel"
Lunar Colony Outskirts
Light crested the bleach white surface of Luna in the distance, as the long, rod-like form of the Gringal Class Rapunzel made its way across the stars, its tail engines glowing a faint blue as its plasma engines carried it forward. Within its castle-like front tower, a pair of pilots sat in its control center, their features obscured by a pair of silvery helmets, the lights around them... dark, and quiet. Normally, such an environment would hardly be conductive to any crewmember's personnel... Save that these ones were anything but human. The Lunar Kingdom had made great strides in the field of automation in recent years - and disguising such machines so that they could at least appear in such a way that guests didn't gawk after them had become something of a vanity contest between the various houses.
"Sir Enfield. We are approaching the testing area." Said one in a flat, monotone voice as a man floated into the command room, placing a gloved hand on the shoulder of one's chair.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man of around his mid-thirties, his long blue hair floating loosely behind him, his own face partially hidden behind a cerulean visor that reflected the dancing lights of the instruments in front of them. His name was Gerrart Enfield, and his family had been in service to the Royal Family ever since its rise to prominence in the Lunar cult. A peerless duelist, his formal title was the "Knight of Knights", and he was in turn privy to more of the Moon's secrets than any other... A burden that, more often than not, weighed heavily on his mind.
"Right on schedule." He noted, surveying the readouts over the Release the Gablins, and place them in Motion Pattern Cycle A… I'll go and make sure the little prince is awake."
"Roger."
Enfield smiled inwardly, knowing his attempt at humor was lost on mere automatons... But, when you spent as much time in their company as he did, you found small ways to amuse yourself.
From the central, dividing section between the two towers that made up the Rapunzel''s mass, a multitude of small containers were released into the stars around them. Telltales winked on across their surface, and each box - about a dozen in number, broke apart, revealing the form of several diminuitive machines. They were white with gold trim, and scarred from many battles, each one's skirted, legless form carrying a short, ruby-tipped lance and shield. A dozen rabbit-eared, cone-faced machines perked up at once as their artificial intelligences sensed one another, joining invisible hands in the vacuum, spurts of plasma jutting from their fairy-like wings as they began to assemble, drawing a perimeter in the debris-littered sea.
As this was going on, Enfield made his way down the otherwise deserted corridors of the ship towards the living quarters, thinking about the mission he had been asked to undertake. A new prototype machine, one developed by their estranged fellows on Earth at the request of the royal family itself, the Genion… And they had handed it to him. No envy filled Gerrart's chest - only pride, that he might witness history in the making... But at the same time, his mind churned.
There were many secrets in that machine, he had noted... Not the least its power source, the likes of which he had never even seen before. It was superior even to the D-Extractors mounted on Sir Exeter's Ark Saber class machines, though according to the technicians, the two were similar enough in function... Still. He had his doubts that involving those that had departed from their midst was anything but wise.
Coming to a halt in the pearl-colored halls, he thumbed the intercom for his young ward's room, sending a pleasant chime throughout its confines as he waited, floating back against a wall, arms folded patiently.
It was time to face the day.
January 5th; 11:08AM
Lunar Orbit
Gringal Class "Rapunzel"
Lunar Colony Outskirts
Light crested the bleach white surface of Luna in the distance, as the long, rod-like form of the Gringal Class Rapunzel made its way across the stars, its tail engines glowing a faint blue as its plasma engines carried it forward. Within its castle-like front tower, a pair of pilots sat in its control center, their features obscured by a pair of silvery helmets, the lights around them... dark, and quiet. Normally, such an environment would hardly be conductive to any crewmember's personnel... Save that these ones were anything but human. The Lunar Kingdom had made great strides in the field of automation in recent years - and disguising such machines so that they could at least appear in such a way that guests didn't gawk after them had become something of a vanity contest between the various houses.
"Sir Enfield. We are approaching the testing area." Said one in a flat, monotone voice as a man floated into the command room, placing a gloved hand on the shoulder of one's chair.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man of around his mid-thirties, his long blue hair floating loosely behind him, his own face partially hidden behind a cerulean visor that reflected the dancing lights of the instruments in front of them. His name was Gerrart Enfield, and his family had been in service to the Royal Family ever since its rise to prominence in the Lunar cult. A peerless duelist, his formal title was the "Knight of Knights", and he was in turn privy to more of the Moon's secrets than any other... A burden that, more often than not, weighed heavily on his mind.
"Right on schedule." He noted, surveying the readouts over the Release the Gablins, and place them in Motion Pattern Cycle A… I'll go and make sure the little prince is awake."
"Roger."
Enfield smiled inwardly, knowing his attempt at humor was lost on mere automatons... But, when you spent as much time in their company as he did, you found small ways to amuse yourself.
From the central, dividing section between the two towers that made up the Rapunzel''s mass, a multitude of small containers were released into the stars around them. Telltales winked on across their surface, and each box - about a dozen in number, broke apart, revealing the form of several diminuitive machines. They were white with gold trim, and scarred from many battles, each one's skirted, legless form carrying a short, ruby-tipped lance and shield. A dozen rabbit-eared, cone-faced machines perked up at once as their artificial intelligences sensed one another, joining invisible hands in the vacuum, spurts of plasma jutting from their fairy-like wings as they began to assemble, drawing a perimeter in the debris-littered sea.
As this was going on, Enfield made his way down the otherwise deserted corridors of the ship towards the living quarters, thinking about the mission he had been asked to undertake. A new prototype machine, one developed by their estranged fellows on Earth at the request of the royal family itself, the Genion… And they had handed it to him. No envy filled Gerrart's chest - only pride, that he might witness history in the making... But at the same time, his mind churned.
There were many secrets in that machine, he had noted... Not the least its power source, the likes of which he had never even seen before. It was superior even to the D-Extractors mounted on Sir Exeter's Ark Saber class machines, though according to the technicians, the two were similar enough in function... Still. He had his doubts that involving those that had departed from their midst was anything but wise.
Coming to a halt in the pearl-colored halls, he thumbed the intercom for his young ward's room, sending a pleasant chime throughout its confines as he waited, floating back against a wall, arms folded patiently.
It was time to face the day.