Inside a
mech carrier en route to the Thalerhof airbase
---------------------------------------------
The crew compartment was almost impeccably clean save for a few, nigh unnoticeable speckles of dust drifting across the floor and the air, a red-haired figure in an immaculately pressed and starched business attire claimed one of the few seats on the rather modestly-sized section. Her left leg crossed over her right, Stella Vermillion's expression was blank and neutral as it ever was as she stared down at the laptop laying atop the desk extension mounted on the right arm of her seat, hovering just above her thighs.
Stella had taken a momentary, half-minute pause on her business only to reach for a half-full water bottle occupying the seat to her left. The cap was popped off with a quick spin and a short sip was taken to parch her dry throat before she once again sealed the bottle and returned it to the exact same place she had taken it from. After the sip sinks in, the woman's fingers reached out to the computer keyboard in front of her. Highly consecutive sounds of discrete computer tapping filled the air as Stella restarted her task of filling out digital paperwork at the last few minutes before the eventual landing.
However, not one minute after she began to write, Stella's expression shifted at last with an arching of her right eyebrow. The excessive volume of the sound of a heavy guitar bridge and a male singer vocalizing for a song blaring out of the cockpit gradually caught up to her. Eventually, Stella's escalating annoyance culminates in a deep breath, and a palm sliding down to rub the bridge of her nose.
She leaned to the side, calling out to the man in the cockpit. Her demeanor remained flawlessly polite in spite of the clear annoyance.
"Bob, please turn the music down. I can't work like this."
The one that goes by 'Bob' appears to be so carried away that he doesn't notice Stella's request, opting instead to remain singing with his atrocious voice that was clearly not harmonic and off-key in the most blatant way possible with the notes of the song.
"YoU KnOw I cAn'T SlOw DoWn, I cAn'T hOlD bAcK tHoUgH yOu KnOw, I wIsH I cOuLd!"
"Bob..."
"YoU KnOw ThErE aIn'T nO rEsT fOr ThE wIcKeD, uNtIl We ClOsE oUr EyEs FoR gOoD!"
"BOB!"
Bob, or rather the pilot of the transporter, finally responds in a jovial and friendly tone; a far cry from the usually cool and professional attitudes of most airline pilots.
"No can do princess, this is my favorite song! And besides, you'll get plenty of time to do all that boring stuff when we get accommodated at Hotel Thalerhof."
Stella's hand was minorly forced when she raised her voice, but she breaks stride no further, her professionalism and a bit of her pride wouldn't allow it.
"That isn't the point and furthermore, what you're doing is clearly against airline safety regulations."
Bob lets out a throaty, mischievous laugh, the kind that only heavy smokers can flawlessly pull off.
"Ah come now Stella, we doin' this song and dance again? I'd have thought you'd have gotten used to my charming gentleman tastes after 2 years now!"
Stella lightly clenches her teeth in irritation of her pilot and personal bodyguard's utterly irredeemable attitude. Sometimes, she wonders if Bob was deliberately chosen by her handlers as a means of testing her ability to lead and of her interpersonal skills dealing when with people from all walks of life and outlook.
"Shinkai probably thinks otherwise."
She glances towards the sleeping cabin as she waits for Bob's inevitably disappointing response.
Bob took just a second to follow Stella's indication with his stare, his eyes falling upon the thin wall separating the cockpit and the crew cabin, then looks back towards the plane's control panel after dismissively waving off Stella's remark with his hand.
"PFFFFT, him? Nah! The kid loves me! Like the older brother he never had!"
The obnoxiously loud musical apparatus played on.
I SAW A PREACHER MAN IN CUFFS, HE'D TAKEN MONEY FROM THE CHURCH HE'D STUFFED HIS BANK ACCOUNT WITH RIGHTEOUS DOLLAR BILLS "Yeah, the kind that bullies him. Still, this is highly inconsiderate of you and that's by your metric."
"Well consider this his alarm clock, cause we're almost there."
BUT EVEN STILL I CAN'T SAY MUCH BECAUSE I KNOW WE'RE ALL THE SAME. OH YES, WE ALL SEEK OUT TO SATISFY THOSE THRILLS Stella just sighs loudly and pinches the bridge of her nose as she closes her laptop and gets ready to dismount, grabbing hold of her cane resting right next to her seat. She felt like every ounce of her mental and spiritual energy was dedicated to keeping herself tolerating all this without resorting to just up and whack Bob in the head with that cane.
YOU KNOW THERE AIN'T NO REST FOR THE WICKED MONEY DON'T GROW ON TREES WE GOT BILLS TO PAY, WE GOT MOUTHS TO FEED THERE AIN'T NOTHING IN THIS WORLD FOR FREE Bob, at last, turns his MP3 player down to get in touch with the Air Traffic Control of Thalerhof Airbase, much to Stella's relief in the background.
"This is Flight RAY-105 on final approach to Thalerhof and requesting permission to land, over."
"This is Thalerhof Airbase, permission granted."
oh no we can't slow down, we can't hold back though you know we wish we could "Roger that, we're heading in."
Now that that was out of the way, Bob raises the volume yet again as he eases the ginormous jet into landing.
"YoU KnOw ThErE aIn'T nO rEsT fOr ThE wIcKeD, uNtIl We ClOsE oUr EyEs FoR gOoD!"
Inside the crew cabin, a young man awakens, his sharp, black eyes suddenly opening wide before the rest of his body follows suit in rousing from its brief slumber, stretching out his arms as he sits up from the bunk bed.
"Cage the Elephant, again? Geez, Bob really loves that band too much."
It was then that I arrived at the base. Of which, of course everyone was gathering around-HWAAAAAAAAAAAH!
IS THAT THE GREAT MAZINGER?!
Aw, shiiiit! Aw, dammit, oh no.
Okay, Ty, try to think of an explanation should Tetsuya be the one piloting that thing. How do I explain that I'm piloting his brother's mech....awww, fuuuck.
Worry, worry, panic!
Too deep in deliberation of his ultimate and likely messy fate should he come face-to-face with the man he thought he'd be meeting once he dismounts the Mazinger Z, Tyzell failed to notice the approach of an astonishingly big transport aircraft up until it was practically right in before his eyes, where it touched down and with its landing gear and fuselage nearly enveloping the entire width of the runway, making one hell of a statement.
Back in the transporter, Bob lets out a whistle at the sight of both Mazingers. Hiding none of his interest and admiration of the super robots.
"Hey Shin, Princess, you seeing those two big black mothers with the TSFs on them like groupies?"
Shinkai was the first to answer, after having emerged from the crew cabin and thrown on a blazer over his dress shirt.
"Yeah, mercenaries."
Stella interjects immediately after.
"New ones too I might add. The UN's registry has nothing on it that even vaguely matches the description of those two machines."
"So they're those Isekais huh? Gonna be my first time meeting some in person. Say Shin, still got some breath mints?"
Shinkai pulls out a tin from his coat pocket, albeit with some hesitation and distaste.
"These are my last ones, so you better buy me a new tin; the good ones."
"Promise, I'll even get the super-fancy homemade ones at the Town!"
"I'll be holding onto that promise Bob."
Bob once again lets out a throaty chuckle as he eases in his ginormous aircraft into the space reserved for it.
Meanwhile, Tyzell and the flight of TSFs with him were finally granted permission to land as they had to make may for the transport.
