The Great Team Meetup

[shiro2hero]

Who: Team Voltron + Team Freelancer
When: Early November
Where: Observation
What: Local Team Dads get an idea and start to implement it with their assorted parties. First step? Meeting.
Warnings: Maybe language??? will add if needed


Observation just seems like the best place to go for a meeting of this size. As far as he knows, there's nothing formal in the works. But both Shiro and North agreed it would be best for their respective bands of intrepid soldiers (and Paladins) to at least know who each other were before getting their Security Detail on.

It's a large room. And when Shiro gets there -- armored up for the occasion -- he'll stand in the relative center of the room, ready to receive his team, or North's. Whoever enters in first.

Maybe he should have thought about raiding their dwindling coffee and tea supply. Or something. Maybe cubes of food.

Oh well. This isn't meant to be a party. Surely everyone else is going to be fine with the arrangement.




((ooc: basically just an open log for everyone to make some new CR and have shenanigans. Tag around, prose or brackets, plan, arm wrestle, idk just don't kill each other.))

Comments

oTa

[alformthearm]

     Hopefully the rest of the team won't think it too awkward that he's wearing the armor of the Red Paladin. He hadn't worn it very often since he'd been given it back at the makeshift safehouse. Perhaps like Shiro, the Altean king had thought that it would be more appropriate to show up in uniform, and quite frankly, between this and his royal armor, he preferred the maneuverability and the slimmer fit.

     The first thing that naturally draws his eyes is the roiling blackness of the storm beyond the shields and windows that make up the observation room. It's always an unsettling thing to see, and they can only hope that the station holds together against it.

     Turning his gaze away from it, he summons up a smile, easier than he thought it would be, once he sees whoever's come. He rather likes the idea of getting to know more people around here, especially those that they'll be working with for the betterment and safety of the station.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"How does it feel to wear the Paladin armor again, Your Majesty?"

Darin leans on the wall next to Alfor and crosses his arms across his chest.

"I admit, it looks good on you."

[patchricide]

It's somewhat awkward, seeing him in different armor. There's no sense in lying about that. But for Allura, it's a different kind of awkward than it would be for the rest of the team. For her, it's not just a reminder of their absent paladins, but also a fresh reminder of how he's come from a different time -- most of her memories of him like this came from pictures.

But at the same time, there's something refreshing in all this. A reminder that things are changing, which carries a hope of progress. She's not about to get uncomfortable about it, at any rate.

"So, have you heard much about this other team that we're meeting?" Speaking of comfort, it probably doesn't bode well that his daughter seems to be sticking close to the people she knows, rather than hunting around for unfamiliar faces.

[shiro2hero]

"Don't suppose I can talk you into giving the speech instead of me?"

He's kidding, though, ducking up to Alfor's side, taking in what... little view there is to take in. Part of him wonders if there's a way to clear it up, somehow. Calm the storm.

But that's not what this is about.

"Thank you for coming."

[justice_from_above]

Fareeha had seen this face around for a while now, but hadn't had the chance to formally introduce herself until now. It seemed like as good a time as any to meet members of her unofficial team as well as the Freelancers.

She approaches with an easy smile and holds an armored hand out for greeting.

"I don't think we've met officially. Shiro was kind enough to include me in today's meet; my name is Fareeha Amari."

[infailtration]

York shows up in his armor but with his helmet off, as instructed, an amicable smile on his face. Out of the other team he's only met Shiro, who seemed like a decent guy. And he trusts North's judgment that these are people safe to be working with. So he steps up to the first person he sees and extends a hand in greeting.

"Hey. I'm York."

OTA

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Darin might not be a paladin in name, but he's damn well sure going to look the part of a member of the team. His gear is an amalgamation of everything he's managed to learn, study, and develop in the last year; his bracers, greaves, and boots are all inspired by paladin armor design, except whereas all of the others have their respective colors corresponding to their lions, Darin's 'colors' are merely a sky blue trimmed with gold to match the vest he wears over his white button down, collared shirt.

It was strange, though. He'd never been a part of a summit like this. Darin was excited, and the grin on his face said as much. But, he was representing Team Voltron here, as much as he was representing Allura as her bodyguard, so he had sworn (mostly to himself) to be on his best behavior.

"Hey all. For those who don't know, the name's Darin Altway, Master Blacksmith, budding engineer, and let's just say I'm the energy of Team Voltron."

No one says that, Darin.

"Anyway, if anyone here needs gear serviced, maintained, repaired, or just wants a capable partner for a mission, I'm your guy. Pleased to meet you all!"

[patchricide]

"Did I hear that correctly?"

Despite the whole bodyguard thing, Allura hasn't insisted on Darin staying at her side the whole night. Because he wouldn't, and because he needs his chance to introduce himself as much as any of them do, and also because hopefully this should be a low risk scenario. This is meeting Shiro's friends, not foreign diplomats with dubious intentions towards peace. The food is probably not poisoned, assassins are probably not lurking about, and so on.

On the other hand, it's a convenient excuse to gravitate towards him periodically, since she doesn't seem to like straying from the people she knows for too long.

But regardless: "So, what's the next level up from 'budding'?" Nope, she's not calling him out on the energy thing. She's not even sure what that's supposed to mean, or if it's a human expression she hasn't heard of.

[shiro2hero]

"Or someone to choke himself with tape."

But it's said in a complete and utter undertone. At Darin's side and quietly enough to where literally only the two of them could hear.

He's not out to humiliate his teammate. Just, maybe rib him a little. Because, surprisingly, he's actually trying to relax a bit. Ease up.

[justice_from_above]

Fareeha is happy to see him so happy, giving him a friendly shoulderbump whens she's close enough.

"The energy, is that right? I believe it. By the way, my armor is working like a charm since we cleaned it up. If you need anyone to vouch for you, point them my way; you'll get a glowing review."

She's not at all lying about that.

[infailtration]

Darin's little speech makes introductions easier, if nothing else. York steps forward with a hand extended to shake, filing the other's name away. It's going to be a challenge to remember everybody.

"Nice to meet you, Darin. I'm York -- combat and infiltration. What kind of blacksmith work do you do?"

INTRO SPEECH + ota

[shiro2hero]

SPEECH
[Once it seems like everyone is more or less present, Shiro figures it's as good a time as any to explain why they're here. What the plan is. He called this meeting, he should be the one to do it. So... he squares up his shoulders, hands at his hips.]

[Let's do this.]

Thank you for coming. Let's talk about why we're here.

[Raising his voice enough to carry through the room. Glancing around at the assembled faces.] My name is Shiro, and I'm head of the Paladins of Voltron.

[Head, get it.]

When we arrived here, North raised some good points about potential security problems on the station. Namely, the way we arrived. If we could just show up, without an Ingress, then anything else could too. Things like what took out the Ingress on Thisavrou, and its people.

I don't think I need to say that anything crashing this party will end badly for us. I also don't think any of us want to lose another home. ["Such as it is", his brain adds. Unnecessarily.]

That's why we're all here. You're all capable in a fight -- more than capable. So we're the ones who should buckle down and start keeping an eye on the arrival room. Working in shifts so not only is no one there on their own, but we can always have it covered.

But you also need to know who you're working with. The people in this room are going to end up being your partners, at one point or another. So get to know them. We don't have any solid plans yet -- [Said with a glance to where North is, for confirmation.] -- but North and I will both be here to try and answer anything we can.

[That's all folks. He'll step down off the proverbial soapbox, in an attempt to set an example, and mingle with the Freelancers.]

[But feel free to stop him anywhere.]

Re: INTRO SPEECH + ota

[whosthemonsternow]

South at least waits until he's done with his speech and looks like he's done talking with anyone who might wonder on up afterwards before she goes to pester him, fighting the temptation to give him a hardly clap on the back. Probably best not to, even if it'd be in a harmless, somewhat teasing way. She'll keep her hands to herself, the guy's probably still jumpy after their first interaction.

"You're about as long winded as North when he puts on his 'Leadership Pants' and addresses the squad." She gives a grin, see, just a joke, no worries here, pal. "I'd also make a joke about the lack of snacks or drinks, but first off I don't know if you'd get it's just a joke, and secondly, I know shit's gotta be rationed so."

[a_shadow]

[ Tex has talked to Shiro a time or two before. There's a few things he didn't seem to account for that she's curious about, so she approaches him during the mingle after his speech. ]

You know, most anyone who shows up here is liable to end up being the same kind of person we all were—brought here in the middle of doing their own thing. Maybe even want to get back to it.

[infailtration]

[ He certainly talks like a leader, York thinks, listening to Shiro's speech. There's nothing surprising in it -- he knows why they're here, and as advised he showed up in his armor but with his helmet dangling from one hand, so people can see his face. When Shiro's done talking he'll approach with a friendly smile. ]

Hey Shiro. How's the caffeine withdrawal treating you?

OTA

[patchricide]

If someone were to watch the princess carefully, they might notice that her behavior wasn't quite what one might expect from a royal. In fact, if they missed the crown, it might be hard to realize she was a royal at all -- since the theme of the night seems to be 'combat ready', she's wearing her hair pinned up and dressed in her space suit.

While people were still arriving and settling in, she wasn't up-front and center to greet them formally. In fact, she seemed to be explicitly avoiding that, as if she was afraid of stepping on the toes of the actual host. Still, it's not often to see a princess who would spend time as a wallflower, keeping to herself in a more quiet part of the room and talking with her pets.

(Yes, she did bring her mice. Yes, they will be sneaking feely around the room throughout the party. It's fine, they're very well-behaved rodents.)

However, the more people that arrive, the harder that it is to justify keeping to herself -- especially since many of these people are friends and family, the sort that she's comfortable around even when she has to act her stuffiest. Besides that, she does want to get to know the other team.

And when she approaches them, smiling softly, there's only the faintest traces of the antisocial behavior she displayed at first: "Princess Allura of Altea, commander for the Paladins. I'm very pleased to meet you."

[shiro2hero]

Oh thank everything, the mice are still all right.

That's literally the first thing on his mind when one of the little guys, the yellow one, goes rolling past. It's holding an entire cube in its tiny hands.

"Yeah, let's... not go that way." Yes, he is talking to the mouse, who is about to roll toward a room with people pushing seven feet tall. "Come on, bud."

Time to try and nudge the mouse back toward where he can see Allura milling around.

[bloodbathing]

To the best of his knowledge, Maine has never met a member of royalty. Nor is he entirely sure what to do with such a fancy title. A commander, on the other hand? He's met plenty of those, and his reaction is so ingrained it may as well be instinctual.

He's been in the military for nearly half of his life, after all.

In his armor, Maine is more than seven feet tall. Somehow, he manages to appear even taller as he straightens up (not that he was slouching before) and immediately answers, "Freelancer Agent Maine."

Re: OTA

[whosthemonsternow]

South sees a mouse, a chubby one, and for a moment she just stares. It doesn't look like a wild random mouse scampering around, but she doesn't exactly know mice so it could be a wild one. Who the fuck knows. What she does know is, if you crouch down and hold a piece of a cookie out, it'll eventually accept it. And run away.

She follows it, carefully, not wanting to squish it with her heavy armored boots. Idly, she wonders if North or Maine would be upset if she found a new pet to bring into their suite. Listen. It's cute and fuzzy and she kinda wants to find doll clothes to put on it and keep it- until it runs right up to someone and looks very much at home with her. Is it already a pet? Damn.

Awkward, stand up dummy, leave the mouse alone...

South straightens up, oh so subtly dusting the cookie crumbs off her gloved hands and giving a lopsided smile to the woman. "Your pet?"

ota!

[bloodbathing]

In accordance with North's instructions, Maine is armored but unarmed, and his helmet is nowhere in sight. He is, simply put, a giant of a man. Without his armor, he's a seven-foot-tall, four hundred pound wall of muscle; in it, he's taller, heavier, and a hell of a lot stronger. His head and face are freshly shaved, his arms are folded, and he appears largely impassive to the goings-on around him.

Not a social butterfly, this one.

Around his teammates — and, notably, Shiro — he appears to relax, and he communicates with ease. His voice is deep and guttural, and most of his communication is nonverbal, but it's easy to tell that that's the norm. It's also easy to see that he's keeping an eye on one teammate in particular: South.

Subtlety is not this man's forte.

Maine gives no speech to the room at large. He sets his eyes on those he doesn't know, walks up to them, stares down, and announces, "Maine."

North told him to be social. This is his best attempt.

( ooc: check out his first impressions post for more info! prose or brackets is fine; will match format. )

[alformthearm]

     Shiro had said these humans were huge, and while beings at such heights are nothing unusual for Alfor, it's still a considerable height to look up to. The armored man before him had to be as tall as if not taller than Zarkon.

     "A pleasure to meet you, Maine," the Altean king replies, smiling easily as he holds out a hand. He's armored as well, wearing the same style as Shiro, save accented in red rather than black. "My name is Alfor."

     It's obvious that he's not human, given his ears and the strange light blue markings over his cheekbones, and there's no doubting the resemblance he has to Allura.

Fareeha Amari || OTA

[justice_from_above]

Not officially a Paladin, or at all of their world, Fareeha has been hanging with their group long enough to be part of the call. She arrives in armor - what better way to give people an understanding of her kit than hands on demonstration (as much as she can manage in the space, though; it's not exactly built for confined spaces). The blue Raptorian armor systems has a couple upgrades, thanks to Darin, and it's recently had an overhaul on maintenance and cleaning; it's gleaming like new.

She's got the hawk-like visor tucked under her arm, her beaded hair swinging gently as she takes a look around the room. She knew South Dakota and Washington (South a little more, Wash a little less), and she was curious to meet the others.

[shiro2hero]

It would be wrong to leave Fareeha out, after all she's been through with them. For all intents and purposes, she was as much a part of the team as Pidge or Hunk were. So seeing her here is something of a relief. It must mean she knows she's one of them.

He's not wearing his helmet, either, so when he spots her, he shoots her a smile, a short wave.

OTA

[pidge_out]

Like Shiro, Pidge has chosen to attend the summit in her full paladin armor, complete with her bayard safely tucked away within it. She even brought her helmet, tucked securely under one arm, just in case. Not that she doesn't trust that the group Shiro has chosen to ally themselves with would be willing to cooperate and be civil with their team, but... There are a lot of possible scenarios that might play out, and Pidge is not about to be caught off guard.

Pidge feels much smaller and younger than ever around all these new people, and it's definitely making her fidget with her helmet. So for the most part, she tries more or less keeps to herself. She makes sure not to stray too far from wherever her teammates have wandered, and even though she knows the point of this whole thing is to mingle and meet these other people, well... Being the one to initiate conversation is not her forte.

[shiro2hero]

"You can do this."

He says it quietly, but doesn't make an attempt to hide his footsteps as he approaches her. She's clearly not feeling in her element here, so of course, he's going to support her. Best he can. His hand settling on her shoulder.

"It's just people, Pidge -- they already know you're as tough as they come." He'd made sure of that one. "You can do it."

OTA

[sightsset]

When North arrives, he's dressed the same as Maine: armor, no weaponry. His helmet is off; but he took it with him anyway, just in case anybody needs to review their equipment for any reason. He's also similar to Maine in the fact that... well, he's tall. Pushing 6'5 out of his armor, and he gains several in it. He carries himself in a much more relaxed way than his teammate, though, and he has a little... extra something, with him today.

Hovering just off his shoulder is a little hologram of a soldier dressed just like him, with the helmet on. It's bright magenta, and seems to be looking around the room as excitedly as a small child. Theta trusts North's opinion on people, and North trusts Shiro's judgment of character. There's no reason for either one to be nervous right now.

He looks around the room to see who's here when he arrives; if he makes eye contact with anyone, he'll give a pleasant nod.

[alformthearm]

     The Altean king approaches the soldier and his holo-companion, smiling amiably as he offers a hand once within proper range. Like the other paladins, he's dressed in similar armor, his accent color being red. And just as the others, he's come without his helmet on, although he does carry it with him under an arm.

     "Greetings," he says. "I'm Alfor." He seems to pause a moment as he realizes how brief that introduction is, but he's found no reason to throw around any titles here, and figures it might be easier to work with others if they didn't have to think too much about stepping about some sort of royal boundaries.

OTA

[whosthemonsternow]

No snacks. It's one of the first things South notices, though she supposes she understands. Food isn't just all over the place, everyone's rationing. But still. She's noticed.

At least she doesn't mention it, forces it off her face and simply looks around to see who is here. Who looks familiar. She's not awkward or uncomfortable about it, just wants to stick close to someone she doesn't have to 'play nice' around. She's not looking to make it harder for North, or anyone really. She just wants to get it over with, like one of the stupid charity or fundraiser events for the UNSC. Put on a polite face, bite your tongue, and muscle through it. She's had harder missions.

It'd be easier if she was at least allowed her helmet. She could hide so many expressions silently behind that visor. But no. She's stuck without it, having to try and keep her facial movements in check. At least she's in her armor, at 5'11 she's already decently tall, the armor only boosts it. Makes her feel a little better, honestly. Nice and tall and wrapped in protective purple metal. Totally can do this.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

South isn't the only one griping about the lack of snacks. In fact, Darin just got done complaining to Shiro and is now wandering by in a bit of a huff.

"Seriously? Who plans these things? I get rations are tight but we couldn't spare crackers? Maybe a little cheese? Especially cheese! Allura's mice are even here for the love of--"

He seems to realize he's complaining awfully loudly in front of someone he's never met before.

...Whatever. He owns it.

"Sorry if you're hungry. Apparently courtesy doesn't extend as deep as the pantry around here."

[startpoint]

Carolina shows up for the meeting following the dress code, helmet off and all her weapons left back in the room she shares with York. Oh, she's not quite as tall as some of the other Freelancers but her teal armor still gives her enough extra height to put her over six foot tall. It still feels a little strange, meeting up with another group. It's fine, she can handle this. If she can handle a rowdy bunch of sim troopers then she can probably handle anything the world can throw at her.

Of course that doesn't mean she's good at it. Being social with new people isn't exactly her forte. But the sake of North's plans, for supporting him as the new team leader Carolina is going to do her best. Wandering the room, she can't help but notice something about their little gathering that she comments on aloud to the person nearest to her.

"Well, I guess no matter what universe you come from everyone likes to color code their armor." It was 'colorful space marines take down corrupt military project' all over again.

[a_shadow]

Unlike the rest of them, Tex had arrived in plainclothes, and she scoffs a little at Carolina's remark.

"Well, hopefully they didn't have the same type of shitty leadership in their universe."