>>5144634>>5144652>>5144919>>5144985The Dive suit would serve you just fine, the other alternatives seem too bulky for the job. You weren't exactly in the middle of a warzone. This was just the initial linking. You felt as if it would just hamper your bonding. But the other pilots were clearly suffering more than you. Having to help each other dress in military equipment. By the time everyone has finished most wore a mix of the Heavy and Ace suits. You alone wore the Dive suit. Earning a few impressed nods from your fellow pilots, stirring a weary hope. you wondered about what was to come. And how many of them would survive it. If you died or went mad, you knew none of them would do any better.
The girls were just as similar, a mix of heavy and Ace suits snuggly gripping their bodies. The one to surprise you was Ruki, wearing her own dive suit. She gave you a smile as your eyes locked, you two clearly stood out in the hierarchy of the candidates. The pathetic march led you through deep hangar bays, loaded with heavy machinery and rows of equipment containers and military hardware. Hard Hat wearing crews rushed or meandered about, loading rigs busily working. You made out a few of the low gravity fighters and even stacks of Phobos rounds. Following your commanders and Yumigawa's staff there was a buzz in the air as you all fell in behind a row of giants constructed of cosmic metal. A mix of dread and fear.
A wide sweeping lineup had been arrayed. Like rows of skinned creatures, the Umbral cores of the Phobos were all on display. You starving children salivate over the inviting things. The true metal beasts hidden below, only their tender insides revealed. The Umbral Shells are held aloft by long bracing frames. A thin metal stairway leading up to the core. The orbs glinted wetly, hungrily reaching out for light. Silvery nerves traced down into the hidden weapons below. Each being similar in design, some were larger, the emperor class shells vastly larger. Some had fewer nerve strands, while others were thinner or thicker. Thick concrete placements kept it aloft, while the knight's nerve clusters were held up by simple chains. Each limited the Phobos in some way or another.
