Good morning." Jeanne said as she stepped out of the cabin and into the campsite.
"Mornin'" Veili said as she waved to her.
Jeanne walked over and sat next to her. She looked at the other girl and asked, "Where did the boys go?"
"Garra dragged Vincent off to make him help with hunting. Trevor left early don't know where, probably wander the Eisendrache again." Veili shrugged.
Jeanne looked around the camp. "Do you think they'll take us home today?" She asked.
"Battles don't end so quickly, sorry. You'll have to tough it out with us for a little longer." Veili replied. She then reached down and picked up her thermos and took a sip.
Jeanne looked at all the gear the android was wearing and the various parts of the uniform and weapons that adorned the girl. She noticed that her boots and helmet had small patches with the number '701' on them. "You're twice as equipped as any normal soldier, isn't all that heavy?"
"It's around a hundred pounds or so. It's not really an issue for us androids though, this is the standard issue load out for an interception squad. With our battalion's numbers we have several units for specialized purposes. But we can't do any refitting since we no longer have access to the Empire's military facilities." Veili explained.
Jeanne nodded, her mind trying to wrap around the idea of such a loadout. "What kind of weapons do you use?" She asked, her eyes wide.
Veili looked at Jeanne and tilted her head, "A side arm, an assualt rifle, two mission specific auxiliary weapons upon deployment, a specialized resonance firearm which each android has their very own."
"A specialized gun?"
"An exclusive weapon that is unique to the individual. As it was explained to me, It's a weapon that forms alongside our appearance when our cores are fused into a base body. I call mine Brave Heart. This bad boy machine gun can shoot out high intensity resonance rounds that explode on impact or with a second delay if I so choose." She said as she placed it on her lap and patted the barrel, "Each android in the 701st has a weapon to match them and their personality."
"Match the person?" Jeanne said as her mind raced at the thought. She was fascinated by the concept of a weapon being so closely linked to a person.
"Except Eri, she didn't have one when she was put in the 701st, the Vice Minister commissioned one for her when she commissioned Garra's." Veilli spoke in a hushed tone.
Jeanne nodded. She then looked at Veili and asked, "So... do you mind if I ask a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Are all the 701st Battalion members girls?"
"500 ladies, 50 guys, one commander."
"Oh..." Jeanne was surprised. "Why are the androids girls and not guys? And how does the 701st work if there's so few guys?"
"I dunno... ask a company commander, or Yuren. But to put in the same words as the Vice Minister, gender hardly matters to the soldiers on a battlefield. There's a strict expectation for us to take up our arms and perform our duty regardless of such details." Veili said as she sipped from her thermos again. She then glanced at Jeanne. "Don't get your hopes up though. Yuren is a bit of a hot topic, there's a fierce competition for his attention." Veili then gave a playful grin.
Jeanne looked at her in surprise. "R-right. I definitely wasn't thinking about that though..."
"Sure." Veili chuckled.
Jeanne's eyes narrowed as she looked away; she felt her cheeks flush. She then turned back and asked, "If there are 500 women, then there are a lot of you... How do you tell each other apart?"
Veili sighed and took another sip. She then put down her thermos. "Just look at us. Do any of us look the same?"
"Well... No. You're all very different." Jeanne said, her eyes widening.
"It'd be pretty jarring to see another me wouldn't it? We'd have a case of mistaken identity on our hands."
"But... androids are usually not individually distinguishable... aside from companies that manufacture androids for... adult purposes..." Jeanne muttered, her eyes shifting to her feet.
Veili tried to hold back a laugh but ultimately couldn't, "Ah yes, the natural course of technological innovation. We weren't created in a normal process so naturally we retained a level of individuality from our Meteorn origins."
"Huh... that makes sense." Jeanne nodded. She then glanced at her. "So, do all of you androids have names?"
"Well duh." Veili nodded. "I'm not going to just sit around calling myself 'Unit 119' or something like that, it's so tacky. You ain't gonna find anyone who does that in the 701st." She said. "Anyway, it was nice talking with you." She stood and walked away from the fire and Jeanne. "I gotta get ready for my patrol." Veili waved and left Jeanne sitting by herself.
The longer she stayed here, the less they appeared as androids to her. She couldn't explain it. The feeling deep inside was so confusing.
She sighed and watched Veili leave, then stood. "I should find the guys..."
She turned around and headed towards the Eisendrache, the ship being a half hour away from the camp due to its size, she figured at least Trevor would be there.
"Yo. Hey!" A voice called out. Jeanne stopped and turned around and saw a truck pulling up behind her.
"Hop in. You don't have to walk!" The android girl shouted from the truck, waving her to jump into the bed of the vehicle.
Jeanne nodded and jumped into the truck's bed and held onto the side as it began to move, the android at the wheel, a cheerful-looking brunette. She drove Jeanne towards the Eisendrache in silence. Jeanne looked up at the sky and noticed several flying Meteorn and some small crawlers she hadn't noticed before.
When the truck pulled up to the ship's loading ramp, Jeanne hopped out. The brunette smiled at her, "See ya!" She called out as she drove away.
"Thanks..." Jeanne said as she watched the truck drive away.
It seemed that the 701st was taking the opportunity to reorganize the storage bays, as there were numerous containers and vehicles being offloaded to a clearing just outside. A large black-and-red-trimmed mecha immediately caught her attention.
"Hey! That's a Knightframe! They've got a knightframe!" She yelled, pointing at the mech, a grin plastered across her face.
"Oh? So you watch Full Armored Destroyer?" A voice said behind her, causing Jeanne to freeze. "Heh, you like that kind of stuff huh?"
Jeanne turned to see another blonde android; her uniform was black and had several insignias she wasn't familiar with. The 'XMV22' designation was stitched on the right side of her uniform's collar rather than the usual unit and personal identification. The android had a mischievous grin as she stared at her, "That's no knightframe, that's the AMWP-06 Archeus." She said as she gestured towards the mecha with her hand. Its red accents were the same shade of the 701st insignia on the right arm, and the designation was also on the side.
"R-Right... Sorry, it looked like a knightframe..." Jeanne muttered.
"It's the real thing." The blonde leaped up to the open cockpit, landing gracefully next to the hatch, and turned to look at Jeanne. "I'm Bei, so what episode is your favorite? And which knightframe is your favorite? And who is-"
Jeanne raised her hand to stop Bei from talking, "Wait. The real thing? You're telling me that's actually a Knightframe-like mecha like in the anime?" She asked.
Bei smirked and snapped her fingers. The bipedal mecha stood upright, its auxiliary lights came on, and its head's visor lit up. "Well? Don't trust your own eyes?"
Jeanne was speechless; she looked up at the mech. She had seen plenty of robots and other bipedal weapons platforms. But this... this was a real-life Knightframe. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the machine.
"Damn it!" Another voice from the storage bay called, "Bei, stop playing around and help get these supplies out and organized!"
"I'm on break!" She retorted and looked back at Jeanne. "So anyway," Bei jumped down and sat on the loading platform, "which battle scene do you think is the coolest?" She asked with a smile. "Personally I liked when Yusuke took on both the Galaxy-Red and Kaiser Zero, then finally activates the quantum system and blasts Kaiser Zero across the ocean." She grinned and leaned forward. "And when his Dawn Star's energy got low, it turned into an all out mecha slug fest!" Bei's face was full of excitement.
Jeanne couldn't believe she was actually discussing this, and it was with a real person! And she was an android. Her eyes were wide, and her heart was racing. She was so happy and so excited. She couldn't believe she was talking to an android who was a fan of Full Armored Destroyer!
"My favorite is still the opening battle in the first movie, when Reinne and her Knightframe ZX Raiser took on all of the White Devil Squad by herself." Jeanne said with a grin, her hands clenching in fists. "The way she danced around the battlefield with such precision and skill. It's just incredible!"
Bei smiled and nodded, "I know what you mean, her skill with an older generation mech was really impressive." She grinned and stood, "Anyway I'm gonna help unload. Archeus! We gotta move some containers, get your ARM4 butt in gear!"
"Order received." The mecha responded in an automated voice and began moving toward the large containers beside the ramp.
"See you around!" Bei said as she ran back up into the ship.
Jeanne watched Bei run off; her heart was racing. She then turned and walked towards the bridge, her steps light and her smile wide.
"Sheesh, Commander shouldn't pamper her so much..." A voice behind Jeanne said, causing her to stop. "He's been quite overprotective and simultaneously lax with Bei..."
"Probably because of that incident... You know, when Calif shot her." Another voice spoke up. "He probably has a ptsd from it."
Jeanne turned to look behind her. She saw two androids standing in the storage bay, both of them were talking while sorting various equipment and gear.
"Ah yeah, that's right. That really shook him huh?" The second voice said. "I've heard stories about that... It was bad." The androids were silent for a moment before one of them continued, "I can't blame him for being overprotective. It's kinda sweet in a way, wouldn't you want someone to worry about you like that? I'm still not used to Yuren not calling me by my identifier."
Jeanne looked away; she felt a pang of guilt. "Androids..." She muttered, she was starting to doubt that was truly what they were.
She walked further into the ship, her thoughts racing. She was now in front of a large room filled with containers and crates. She walked through it, looking at the labels. Most of them were labeled 'Supplies' and had further details with categories, such as food, water and ammunition. She paused at one labeled 'Repair Equipment - Spares'. She was about to continue when a voice stopped her.
"You lost?" A man called from behind her; she turned to see a tall, handsome man with sharp red eyes. He wore a white coat over his military attire. The number 701 was on the collar. 'XMV51' was stitched into the right side.
Jeanne was stunned. Struggling to find the words to reply. He walked up and stood beside her.
"I... I'm Jeanne." She finally managed to say, her words were soft, and her voice was shaky. "I'm... uh..." She couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I know who you are." He said with a grin. "Everyone knows about you three, word travels fast around here."
"Y-yeah, that makes sense..." Jeanne said she felt a little uncomfortable; her heart was still pounding.
"If you're looking for Trevor, he's in the repair center. He came earlier asking for Shu." The man pointed down a hall. "Follow the blue arrows, they'll take you to the center."
"Thanks..." Jeanne muttered and turned to leave, but then turned back around, "Hey... What's your name? If you don't mind me asking?"
The man smiled at her, "My name's Aster. I'm the third Gunnery Sergeant." He then reached out his hand for a shake, and Jeanne hesitated a moment before taking it.
His grip was firm and warm, and his skin felt like real human flesh. Jeanne's eyes widened, and her heartbeat quickened as she blushed.
"Nice to meet you, Jeanne." Aster said as he pulled away and walked away from her.
Jeanne was speechless. She turned and quickly walked away, following the blue arrows that pointed her to the repair bay.
"Did she really just have an anime reaction over Aster?" A female voice asked.
"Must've not seen a good-looking man for awhile." A different voice responded. "Aster's a lady killer afterall. You should've seen when the Commander brought him to that one town to get supplies, he caused quite a stir."
"Well, that's kinda sad. That's the girl from the Republic."
"Ah, yeah, poor thing. Her and her friends must've had a rough time of it."
Jeanne didn't stop; her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast. Her face was flushed, and her breaths were shallow. She wanted to turn around and go back, but she didn't want to embarrass herself. She didn't want to admit she had fallen for a guy like that, an android of all things...
"Dammit... Dammit..." She mumbled as she followed the blue arrows to the repair center. She turned and saw a large sign above the entrance that read 'Maintenance and Repair Center. She stepped inside and was greeted with a large open area with dozens of androids working on a variety of vehicles and equipment. Some were repairing damaged equipment; others were cleaning or organizing tools and spare parts. She scanned the area and spotted a familiar head of black hair. She quickly walked up to Trevor and grabbed him by the arm.
Trevor was startled; he looked up to see a blushing and wide-eyed Jeanne.
"What are you doing?" Trevor asked.
"A-Aster..." Jeanne mumbled.
"Aster?"
Jeanne shook her head and quickly turned around, "Nothing! It's nothing!"
"Huh?" Trevor said, and then turned back to look at Shu, "Actually, I'm glad you showed up, can you please talk to Shu about coming back with us?"
Jeanne paused and looked at Shu, "Trevor... Shu is a member of this battalion, and an android..." She muttered. She looked away from him and crossed her arms; her face was still flushed.