Turn 13: The New Recruits

As Europe feel the wrath of Vlad's iron fist, Russia was the first giant country to be overrun by the Xylvanian war machine. Airships of their own bombed cities after cities one after the other. The E.U. had two headquarters relocated, The city of Vienna, Italy and the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia after the fall and revolution of Saint Petersburg. Xylvania, with its vast military superiority, struck hard, gaining ground in early victories and putting Euro Britannia on the defensive. Emboldened by their progress and momentum, the Xylvanian set their sights beyond the borders of Asia.

Jeremiah's Orange Field

The Gypsies' camp was held in the rain. The raindrops were heavy in the storms, the carts had some leaks in them. Ryo attempts to repair the leak.

Ryo: Damn Leaks! It's puking raindrops outside.

Yukiya: Getting your luck down-hearted there Ryo?

Ryo: Hey! Mine your damn business! Let me attend my business!

Ryo keeps plugging the holes outside in the pouring rain on the carts. We hear the SOUND of AIRSHIP ENGINES. Two Black Knights airships whirr across the orange fields. The Airships lands on the wet green grass. Yoshitaka Minami was wearing formal dress and sunglasses along with two strapping ADJUTANTS stride across the field.

Minami: Ryo Sayama? I'm Captain Yoshitaka Minami. Order of the Black Knights. I need a few words with you. In private.

Ryo: Say it now, say it quick, or get off my field. I've got a business to run here.

Minami: You've been summoned back to Japan.

Ryo: Who's doin' the summoning?

Minami: Your Government, Mr. Sayama.

Horai Island - MISSION ROOM - DAY

Ryo, Yukiya, and Ayano are led into the room by Minami. Zhou's eyes move to Ryo-

Zhou: He's here.

Zhou, Hong Gu, and Li Xingke stand, approach -

Zhou: (cont'd) Li Xingke, meets the W-0 squad.

Li Xingke: Ryo Sayama... (shaking hands) I'm Li Xingke, General Commander of the Black Knight.

Ryo: I know who you are. I watched T.V. once. Faction Leader of the Chinese Federation, right?

Li Xingke: That was a long time ago. I run this place now. And we've got a serious problem on our hands that Zhou here thinks you might be able to help us out with -

Zhou eagerly outstretches his hand. They shake. Zhou doesn't let go.

Zhou: I'm a big fan.

Ryo: I kinda caught that. (To Li Xingke) What's the problem, gentlemen?

Horai Island - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY

Hong Gu reads the documents of Ryo, Yukiya, and Ayano.

Hong Gu: Your records indicated that you're all experts in Knightmare Frames. Those are excellent machines out there and we would be nice to offer your assistance.

Ayano: Thanks … but we don't appreciate the offer.

Zhou: What do you mean?

Yukiya: We mean that ... we don't get paid with that kind of that money.

Ryo: Yukiya!

Yukiya: What!? I'm just being overloaded with this whole thing.

Li Xingle: What we're saying is an offer to return to your country.

Ayano: To Japan!?

Li Xingle: Yes! What do you say?

Grandberry

The Grandberry comes to land in at Horai Island. Zero comes in to walk in the mission room.

Ryo: Speak of the devil!

Zhou: So you've finally come Zero.

Suzaku: I'd had stopover in Russia. What are the W-0 squad doing here?

Li Xingle: We've asked them for joining the UFN.

Zero looked at the group.

Suzaku: Join the UFN? Why do you want them?

Zhou: I can explain Zero. Ryo is the former leader of a Japanese terrorist group that once numbered at, ironically, eleven members; as time went on his group dwindled down to only three, despite this his trio eventually opposed the local mafia. His group's goal is the liberation of all Japanese from Brittanian rule, is only in finding a home for himself and his two friends.

Zhou: Yukiya Naruse here excels at collecting data and handling explosives. Yukiya is also extremely adept at tech related skills, bypassing Glasgow security measures and forging pilot credentials for Ryo, as well as hacking, undetected, into a military grade security system. Approximately three years prior to joining the W-0 Squad, Yukiya suffered from domestic abuse from other Japanese school boys who maimed his left hand and left him with a large scar spanning almost the full length of his hand. Because of this, Yukiya constructed an IED and bombed his school, killing his classmates and any others inside with the explosions and subsequent collapse, fleeing the ghetto via the sewers, it was there that he met Ryo and his Terrorist group whom he eventually referred to as his family. Due to the physical and mental trauma of his abuse; he bares a strong hatred of the Japanese people.

Suzaku: I see.

Yukiya: Don't mention why Japanese are stupid.

Zhou: And last here Ayano Kosaka, is constantly practicing Japanese Martial Arts and carries a kodachi.

Tokyo Prison

An alarm rang out through the prison. The cells rumble, and the tear gas spills into the prison. Men in special suits arrives to Ashley Ashra's cellblock.

Ashley: I've been waiting for you guys!

Medical Examinations

A doctor plays with a harpoon-sized needle in front of a nervous Ayano.

Ayano: You stick me with that thing, I'm going to stab you in the heart with it!

In another examination room, a doctor is explaining to Ryo how "shockingly bad" his cholesterol is.

Doctor: Your triglycerides are way high... and your bad cholesterol is shockingly bad.

Yukiya: Tell ya to lay off those pork rinds, Ryo.

This prompts Ryo to stand, rip off his hospital gown, and shake his groove thing in a pair of tiny tiger print briefs.

Ryo: Yeah, pork rind this. Pork rinds this!

He even pulls down one side of them saucily.

Psych Evaluations

In a stainless steel room with gravy boats attached to the walls, Ryo completes a Rubik's Cube, then explains he has a doctorate from MIT and once taught at Princeton.

Ryo: Look, you wanna compare brain pans?

Meanwhile, a doctor starts a desktop kinetic ball display, and Yukiya is transfixed by it.

Yukiya: You know, I think this might be the most uncomfortable room I've ever been in in my life.

Meanwhile, Ayano cries and asks for a hug. So far, all their attempts at "quirky" have ended up "freaking confusing".

Ayano: l am not crazy. l'm just a little emotional right now, okay? You all throwin' all this stuff at me, man. Look- get- l mean- After this is over, could l, like, get a hug from you or somethin'?

Tohdoh and Sugiyama meet with a doctor looking over the test results, and of course our "heroes" have failed every single one of their medical exams.

Sugiyama: [going through the roughnecks' medical reports] Fail. Fail. Depressively fail! One toxicology analysis revealed ketamin, that is a very powerful sedative!

Ryo: Sedatives are used all the time, doctor.

Sugiyama: Well this one's used on horses.

Ryo: Some of these guys are pretty big.

Sugiyama: [to Tohdoh] You know, it would normally take 18 months to psychologically prepare pre-screened, viable subjects for battlefield travel. We have seen evidence of a wide fariety of territorial aggression.

Tohdoh: Can they *physically* survive the task? That's all I need to know here, okay?

Sugiyama: Personally, I don't know how they survived the tests.

Yet, somehow, they get approved by UFN anyway. They even insert a shot here of someone bringing down a big rubber stamp that says "Approved" on Ryo's manila folder.

A/N: In the next Turn, Einsatz's attack on the Britannian city of Ector.