Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 1: The Culmination

[scorri]

Astin opened their mouth about to object but then stopped, closed their mouth, and actually thought about it for a second. Their normal suggestion would have been Brant but if he was going to be working with TK weaponry that made sense. Tarquin was too young, Tal too new. That left Kim and Elaine. Both of whom had had instances I'f overreacting. Elaine in the first battle against Duane and then again outside of battle with Tarquin. Kim's in the last battle had been more visceral with her abandoning weapons to physically fight the opposing mech and when added to get broken English... "Thank you Captain. I appreciate your confidence in me and will not let you down." Even if that confidence is only because there are no other options.

[MechanicalBull]

Talog twitched a hand in a brief wave to get Cap's attention.

"Question. While we're kicking doors down and making polite discussion, what's this ship going to be doing? You got a plan if a bunch of them come out for you?"

She glanced around at all the others.

"It's not a question, but it's still a thing you should be aware of." Talog spoke up, smiling and pleased at her own work. "Me and Els have installed a laser communication system on all the mechs. Should mean we can't be jammed like you did with the missile, Cappy... but it is a laser. Ain't gonna work without line of sight. You still have your radio, of course. There's a panel in your cockpits to switch between, and if you can't work it out you should probably not be piloting mechs, heheh.

Try not to get it blown up, or if you do, blow them up right back, yeah?"

[Shin]

Compared to the notion of Juria sitting in with Astin, actually having Astin in charge didn't seemed so far-fetched. It wasn't as if they were an awful choice, but Tarquin could still remember the rash decision they'd made at the end of the training mission. Still, Tarquin was still free to use his own judgement - it wasn't as if Astin were the kind to constantly belt out orders... and they had worked reasonably well on the previous mission. The grouping suited him anyway, the lack of Elaine to get in the way of his plans was greatly appreciated.

"I see no issues with the decided arrangements, Captain." Tarquin replied, his qualms about space taking a backseat for the current moment. "I have a question, Captain. Should priority be given to target elimination or damage minimisation? Both would require very different approaches."

At the end of the day, Tarquin would do as he was ordered, he felt no particular connection to eradicating the enemy or saving the colony. All he needed to do was complete his assigned task - regardless of what it was.

-

There were many threats to the current world. War, famine, terrorist attacks, natural disasters. The world had advanced in so many ways, medicine and social constructs had never been more powerful, so varied and coherent... but there was one grave one that threatened the ship.

Oily footprints.

Joining the boot scuffing bandit was the oil dribbler, a fiendish entity who relished in desecrating the hall ways with its markings. One step after the other. There was no army who could fend these foes off, only one man. And that man was Bill. Scanning the footprints with his eyes, he'd deduced that they'd come from the hangar, fading as they passed into the hall. From the size of the prints, the perpetrator had to be somewhere between five foot five and ten. They were in a hurry too, they were well spaced. The child was out, but there were still quite a few suspects.

"Well, don't we have a grotty hoon." Bill muttered, solemnly vowing to get to the bottom of the case. He'd need more information to track down this wet booted vandal. The hangar was going to be the first place to look. From there he could get a feel of who was still around... but there was one fatal flaw in his plan.

Why would the janitor have hangar access? He'd been bested by the security of the ship. The hand of justice was fair, but it was not kind.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Shin

[Balcerzak]

When Brant strode in with his form-fitting green flightsuit and slid into the seat beside him, it was time for the meeting to finally start. The man clearly had a solid workout regimen, and it showed, so Thorvald gave him a friendly smile and a quick thumbs up under the table. Ideally he'd have indicated his approval and solidarity by flexing a bicep, but there were ladies present and this was no time to distract them all.

Then it was into the briefing proper, as the captain began to disseminate the info obtained from the captives and outline the ingress to the colony. Curiously enough, there was also discussion of some subdivision for the squad. And then, abruptly, her spiel was over and she was ready to field questions? That was it, that's all she planned to cover? Her briefing was far too brief! Thorvald frowned and pondered the best way to approach what, he felt, needed to be addressed.

Better to take things one at at time, the better to not overwhelm her. He'd been starting to notice that when Jess had to leave the comfort of prepared and rehearsed material, she quickly fell to pieces, and it was better not to have the rest of the crew see any more of that that was necessary before the big op. Others were already chiming in with questions of their own as well, so it would be rude to go hogwild with a full list of his own just yet for that reason also. He was almost tempted to answer the question Captain Miller's loanee had asked himself, to try to relieve some of the captain's inevitable stress, but any answer he gave wasn't likely to cover it adequately enough and might seem presumptuous on top of that...

On second thought, what the heck, just go with it. "Sergeant Talog, if I may, I believe I can field that one. The numbers the captain listed were for the rebels still stationed inside the colony. We have good reason to believe there are other patrols still circling the colony, and while the Heion alone would've been insufficient to prevent the enemy from escaping in the last mission, had they scattered, it should prove quite effective at plugging that hole we'll be making, thus denying the enemy entry and keeping us from having to engage on two fronts at once."

"That said, if I may piggyback off of Tarquin's question for the moment, I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate a little more on that subject. Specifically because this is a hostage environment, and none of us are trained negotiators..." he paused and swept his gazed across the room "Unless some of you have been keeping that talent a secret, in which case please speak up... What exactly should we do if the rebels make demands of us at the cost of hostage lives should we refuse them? Or to use a less depressing example, what if they offer up hostages in exchange for free passage out of the colony? If you can give us some firm guidelines with which to extrapolate from, that would make improvising on any unexpected deviations that much the simpler."

[Ether]

So the engineer would be tagging along with Astin during their mission? It seemed like a... reckless idea, but if Juria had something to add to Astin's piloting, then it may end up being a worthwhile decision, but she didn't seem the type to have piloting experience. It wasn't her place to comment on it, the Captain already giving the go-ahead and the installation already complete. What came next was the beginning of the briefing, as they went over enemy numbers... they would be heavily outnumbered if the enemy's projected manpower was all in place, which they should assume it would be, for safety's sake.

Then came the mention that they would be broken down into squads, the first led by Thorvald, to no one's surprise, and the second, led by Astin. That was... unexpected. A light grimace formed on Seung-Min's face, but lasted only an instant. No, it wasn't fully unexpected. Astin being the choice hadn't been obvious, but her own abysmal performance all but eliminated Kim from consideration. Surprising or not, it was but another harsh reminder of her failure, the Captain's lack of even bothering to mention why she hadn't been considered making the severity of her lacking all the more obvious.

And then she asked for questions. Seung-Min bit her lip, still standing at the wall, not even having bothered to take a seat. The important questions had been fielded already, and nothing of her own situation was worth asking about. All that was left was to hear the response on the handling of hostages.

[Dandragon]

"Wait a minute, wait a minute...Astin? Really?" Elaine held up both her hands in front of her, signifying her request for everything to stop. "Astin? ...Is there really no one more qualified for this? I mean, I'm not trying to insult anyone but there's gotta be someone!" She looked around, waiting for someone to speak up, to at least agree or disagree with her. When no one answered, she stood up from her seat. "Alright, if that's the case," She said before slamming her hand down on the table that everyone surrounded. "Then I think I should lead the second group." Then, with a reluctant, deep breath, she continued. "I've got experience in this exact type of mission. I've done it once and you'll be damn sure I can do it again."

[Phoenix]

Again his little gesture had been directed back at him. It was all Brant could do not to chuckle, but he did return Thorvald's smile. He supposed it was a good thing he could make a skinsuit work. If he couldn't, he wouldn't dare walk around the ship in it anymore than necessary. Being in shape was good~

It was when Talog gave them a rundown of the laser comm system that Brant finally knew who to feel slightly sore at regarding the unannounced retrofits to his Accensus. He wasn't upset, but even the Alkaevs let him know when they were going to be modifying his test machines. Having to find out about a new system or part twenty minutes before a mission was getting annoying.

Captain Gefalscht began the briefing and informed them that they would be splitting into two squads. The second team, Oni, would be led by Astin. It felt like a strange choice initially, and Brant was surprised he was the captain's second choice, but after just two seconds of deliberation, everything fell into place in the telekinetic's eyes. He nodded his approval to the captain. He would have said thanks, but that would have raised some eyebrows, and he didn't want to hold things up explaining himself.

The briefing was turning out to be surprisingly short, and as a consequence, the question phase was bound to be longer than usual to compensate. Tarquin started things off with a strategic question regarding their priorities. In Brant's eyes, if they even had a chance to save civilians they should take it, though it would be a shame if that ultimately led to the rebels making off with everything they were after. If he had to choose, though, he'd rather not have completely failed to prevent a massacre.

Thorvald took things a bit further, wanting to know how they should negotiate if the hostages were used as they so often were, bargaining tools. Brant guessed they would trade the hostages for passage ... he hoped they would. At the moment he wasn't so sure.

Even though Brant didn't want to explain his reasons for approving Astin as the squad leader, at least temporarily, he couldn't sit idly after hearing Elaine's protest, much as he might have preferred staying quiet during the briefing. It all made too much sense in his head. "Elaine," Brant began, fixing her with a look that felt a bit too stern, "being a squad leader isn't about familiarity with the situation, it's about coordination. If you really do have experience, then you need to keep Thorvald advised, but let him handle the tactics. Astin's got Juria as a copilot now so that should make coordinating a little easier for Oni. I've got funnel testing to deal with, but Kim and I can make up for whatever we're missing by not having you in the second team. That's as good a balance of teams as we can probably get, right now, so I fully agree with the decision."

Edited September 15, 2016 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Your Questions Answered-- Now!

Astin humbly accepted their position, and the first set of questions rolled in. Surprisingly, not about the sergeant. Bloduwedd, asking about what the Riese was going to be up to and informing about... A laser system? Jess froze a moment, before remembering the same sort of thing in one of her practices. She wasn't sure why it wasn't ANF standard, honestly... Maybe it was the line of sight issue; they would be great for a stable trajectory, but flying around dodging incoming fire and fighting up close would cause issues. She assumed. She'd never used one!

About to answer, Tarquin chimed in as well. He was fine with Astin, that was good. Damage mitigation or elimination? "Uhhh..." She knew the difference, obviously, but that would depend on the state of the colony's interior, or if there were still civilians running around. She had been about to answer THAT, when Thorvald came in, and saved her skin, just a bit. The answer he'd given to Bloduwedd had been more than sufficient. She just had to give it the captain seal of approval.

"Yes, Eriksson is correct. The Riese is going to remain on the exterior of the entrance we create, and prevent any reinforcements from entering from it. No pincer attacks. And, this ship has enough missiles to sink at least three Kraken class vessels, so even if we run out of energy for the main cannons, there's no way some rebel patrols can out gun us. We'll be fine." That was... Succinct enough, she felt. And it also meant one question was down!

Thorvald was not so kind as to leave her with that, though. He talked on another question-- and it was a doozy... Or was it?

"Aha!" She jumped a bit, smiling, and then getting embarrassed over her lightbulb moment. "According to Private Troy, the security bot in protection of the scientists is still active and fighting to keep them safe. You were there for that one. Upon entering the colony, I want whoever believes themselves to be the best speaker to try and contact the SOS signal we've been getting. I believe the barrier surrounding the colony, and perhaps damage to its communications, is preventing it from fully reaching the Riese, and..." She felt herself pause, and she felt herself heating up. Oh no... You haven't even finished answering Tarquin!

"A-As I was," already stuttering, "saying... Once you're inside, t-try to contact that signal. See who is sending it... See if they're alright and a-ask," she bit her tongue, on purpose, frustrated at herself. It only lasted a moment. "Ask if things are alright with the colony and the residents! If the rebels are only trying to gain access to the scientists and have left the civilians alone either in shelters or within the proper buildings for protection, any attempts to use them as a way to barter exit will be a bluff!" She huffed, having finished, and stared down at the table. Running her mouth like that without stopping left her dazed, for a moment. Why is it always questions...? "If they actually... Do have civilians captured..." she started again, slowly, to not get flustered as heavily, "then... If they try to exchange them for passage out of the colony..." What was the call to make? Accept? Refuse? That was a lot of lives at stake...

If she stopped to say 'I have to think about it' having already done so much thinking, it would make her look more incompetent than these pauses and stuttering already were. "Don't... Agree to them." She bit her lip-- hard. "If we let them get away, they may attempt this again. If the scientists are still safe, then we can save some lives... But we... Might have to sacrifice others to stop this group. I've... I've accepted this, so... I-If none of you can handle it, then... Then stay on the ship." That was heavy... Perhaps far too heavy. But she wasn't done. She had to move on from it like it was normal orders. She felt sick. She'd just consigned, possibly, a huge group of civilians to their death... But I have... I have to save the colony, and as many as I can, while stopping the rebels... I'm sorry. I'm sorry to you, too, Juria... She could only hope they had no hostages to bargain with.

Onto Tarquin... After that bomb drop, it felt almost easy to answer this, even if thinking was hard. "Minimize damage while eliminating targets to the best of your a-ability... If any shots go astray, and fly into the colony's protective glass, it could shatter, and breach into space... And then anyone not inside is dead, anyway. Avoid collateral." That was straightforward enough. Aim for your enemies, and your enemies only. Especially with Tarquin and his rifle. A stray bullet could penetrate and suck all the oxygen out of Colony 1...

That was all, right? That was it? Nothing else to deal with? Jess breathed a sigh of--

"Wait a minute, wait a minute...Astin? Really?"

Oh no... Elaine had suddenly objected to Astin... Calling them unqualified. Truthfully, Brant was more qualified to lead the second squad. Jess was just leaving him off of the duty because she was assuming that controlling funnels, these precise laser weaponry, would be a strain for him. And trying to command a small squad whilst doing that could throw him off. In his plane... The smallest distraction meant more than scuffed armor plates.

"I'll--"

Brant? Brant. Brant! Brant I love you! Jessica couldn't help but smile as she felt her decision was being vindicated. At least about Astin. "If you have experience," she said, knowing full well what Elaine was talking about, "then it's exactly as Lieutenant Abrams has said. Inform Eriksson about what you know, and help him as best as you can through comms... I will be honest with you Sergeant Hedrick, you have been rash, outside of emotional situations, with your fellow crew, and... Your outburst during the previous engagement while under fire would not do in a tense situation, while having to give out orders. Astin has acted rashly, yes, and I do not support their actions against the unknown during the training mission, but since then they have been cool under pressure and have provided assistance over comms to Eriksson. I-I... Stand by my decision."

Jess felt empty; spent, after all of that. She sank in her chair, and with a heavy head, and a heavier heart, she mumbled, loud enough to be heard, "Any further questions?"

Edited September 15, 2016 by Narmaya

[scorri]

Astin flinched as Elaine spoke up and vehemently objected to their leadership. They weren't surprised someone objected, though they would have expected Kim or Tarquin given they were going to be the ones that Astin was in charge of. They were going to say something when Jess started talking. At the talk of hostages, Astin gave Juria's hand a squeeze, hoping that she wouldn't freak out and trying to convey it would be ok. As both Brant and the captain defended Astin as a choice for leadership, Astin relaxed even more. Good, this was working out alright. Still, they had to say their piece.

"I understand that I might not exactly be the obvious first choice, but I will say that it's somewhat hurtful you seem to think anyone here would be a better choice than me given your comments. While I may not have had experience in this exact situation like you claim to have, I do have extensive training in tactics and leadership for situations like this. As the Captain said, I did react poorly in one combat situation, but I felt it was a low risk, potentially high reward maneuver. With the high stakes that this battle presents, I obviously wouldn't do that again. And..." They trailed off, looking down at their and Juria's joined hands, trying to collect their thoughts again, "Err, right. And I've been working with Thorvald. Before this meeting, he and I met to discuss options for this battle. With Juria working with me, she'll be able to focus more on the specific mechanical aspects of my bot, allowing me to focus on the lay of the land and how the tide of the battle is going. And, uhm, I would... Well, I'd also point out that my record in battle is extremely high. While I've taken hits, I've never been in danger of permanent damage to my mech and I have yet to miss an attack I've taken. While I don't expect this to continue, it does show I know how to handle myself in battle."

[Ether]

And there was the first seeds of dissent, let loose to the wind as Elaine gave her piece, and Jessica gave her answer to the question of the hostages. It was a strictly military answer, well, past her stammering, and was the expected answer considering that the higher ups had considered just blowing the whole colony to pieces an acceptable alternate course of action.

Not that there wouldn't be objections to it. No one had voiced them yet, but there was... softness in their ranks to say the least, and at least one of their members was from the colony itself... and with her acting as co-pilot to Astin, said member was in the room.

The other thing of note, Elaine's objection, was swiftly fired back upon my several members, Brant, the Captain, Astin themselves... it seemed unlikely that Jessica's decision would be overruled, Astin's nomination going over well more often than not. Of course, the melee-focused pilot's own rebuttal stung a bit, the particular note that they had never taken severe damage or missed an engagement biting down rather venomously on Seung-Min's pride. Was it an intended jab? Had they spoken with Jessica beforehand to pre-meditate this? Kim couldn't feel any such feelings from Astin, but it was clear from earlier that the pilot had access to a TK jammer... could she trust anything that she felt from Astin?

She supposed it didn't matter. Being in no position to suggest any sort of reform or alternate arrangement, all she could do was keep quiet and play the part of the obedient little soldier, lest she be terminated even more swiftly than what was surely already in the works.

[Juliette]

Juria's thoughts drifted a bit. She didn't want to speak up, making sure to pay attention to everything, but always keeping focus was so hard and stressful. Most things she heard were okay or not really up to her- she smiled at Astin being put in charge, Elain's outburst annoyed her, and otherwise just went along with things.

Until the Captain said the people weren't her number one priority.

"Jess Captain!" she shouted. "How could you... nothing worth more than people." She glared daggers now, releasing Astin's hand to clench her fists and stand up- very different from her usual absentminded disposition. "Horrible thing to say! How could want to kill rebels and innocents more than let people free? Life not numbers. Saving everyone matters most... I thought Jess Captain would know that." She drooped back into her chair, her anger fading to sadness quickly. "Juria volunteer for helping, not for see bad things happen with nice people... not let anyone from First Colony hurt."

[scorri]

Without hesitating, Astin stood up and placed a hand on Juria's shoulder. "Hey, just hold on, ok? Look at me. Here's the thing. We... we've got a job, right? Part of that job is saving the people from the colony. And part of that is saving their life's work, saving all the information that is stored in the colony. And while we may all be playing by the rules and all that... The enemy doesn't. Hostage situations are hard. And... And they're made harder when emotions come into play. Obviously we're going to do everything we can to save the people of the colony. But if you want to help me... You've... you've got to promise you'll be able to keep your emotions in check. We can't risk letting our emotions get in the way. If we do, an attempt to save a handful of people could result in something that ends up with ten times the number of casualties. So... Can you promise you will trust me and work with me regardless of what happens?"

[Nanami Touko]

The Curtain Draws

Alright, that was that. Astin had defended themselves, there was nothing more to say, just get out of there and--

"Jess Captain!"

Please no more. She'd said 'any more questions' because it was her job. She didn't actually want to answer anything else! Especially not Juria! And this emotional barrage of yelling and disappoint was just too much for her to-- "stop!" Jess finally burst out, burying her face underneath her hat to hide that she was crying. Astin covered for her while she tried to pull herself together, explaining the importance of the situation, emotions, and how they had to all be kept in check if Juria was going to assist Astin.

And they were right.

"Juria, I will say this once," Jessica began, sitting up in her chair, and pulling her hat back up, eyes watery-- but there was no crying behind that stern expression. "You are not a civilian engineer if you step into that machine with Astin." She wanted that to sink in, and sink deep. "If you jeopardize the mission because you can not control how you feel about the parameters set, then you are staying here, and that is final. I will not accept any further emotional outbursts like that. This is your only warning... And don't think I made this decision lightly. I feel sick. I'm nauseous."

"But I'm keeping that to me until we're finished, and I am alone, because these things have no place in a military operation... Neither does my stuttering, or my failing to address orders... And as I have shown with the patrol, this will no longer be an issue." She sniffled back her feelings, staring Juria down. "So if I can contain myself and finish this mission, then so can you-- or you're off of it." This wasn't making Jess feel any better, and it was honestly making the tears start to well up again, though she wasn't going to cry. Already admitting her nausea to the group was bad enough, but sobbing over this decision would ruin any credence she had with her little speech.

"Don't make me regret letting you join Sergeant Doyle."

[Dandragon]

Any ground she might of had was crumbling beneath her. Immediately, Jess and Brant had responded negatively towards her suggestion (well, it was more of a demand), followed by Astin asserting his position. Not to mention, Jess had brought up her 'outburst' from the last engagement. Elaine wanted to justify her position, to explain that she had only 'freaked out' to try and get the attention of the TKs during the time the jamming was interfering with the comm system. She wanted to say that those circumstances were special, but even Elaine knew when she was outnumbered. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, before breathing out a begrudged 'Fine...' and sat back down. Elaine had little doubt that her... 'experiences' with jail were also influencing Jess'es decision, and it infuriated her on the inside. How was she supposed to prove her past wouldn't define her if everyone kept using it against her? God dammit all...

"So...What order at HQ told you that we just up and kill civilians, huh?" As if it wasn't bad enough. Elaine wasn't going to let this go. Just before Brant had talked her down, Jess had mentioned the possibility of sacrificing innocent lives in order to take out the enemy. "It's just like a bunch of guys in suits to tell us what's more important, huh? Makes my blood boil..." It wasn't hard to tell that Elaine hated authority, and it was for this very reason. Those higher ups...They don't care about anybody but themselves and what makes them look good.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Dandragon

[Balcerzak]

Unfortunately it seems his efforts to dampen the blow of the steady stream of questions had been entirely undone by the gravity carried within his own. While it had prodded the captain into sharing some of the mission critical information she'd neglected to provide to those members who hadn't participated in interrogating--presumably either, but perhaps only Christina--the captives, when faced with the worst case scenario of if everything had gone to pot, the captain stumbled. Hard. While she stuck to her guns with the ANF standard, no negotiation with terrorists, having to spell it out in words, to take full responsibility for giving the order, hit her like a ton of bricks. Death or surrender then were the only options remaining for the rebels. Noted.

Nodding grimly as she finished replying to the original inquiry of Tarquin's he'd springboarded off of, Elaine's objection came as a bit of a surprise. Thorvald had no clue what she was talking about as far previous experience was concerned. Wait, back at the initial briefing from Admiral Martison, hadn't she asked about similarities to that Colony 2 incident a couple years back? Was that what she was referring to? What had her involvement in that mess been? Sounded like he'd have to do some talking to her about that, get up to speed, and right quick. Thankfully, he didn't need to butt into the argument over the second squad leader personally, hopefully that would keep any dissension in his ranks from her to a minimum. It was a bit sooner, perhaps, than he'd honestly expected for Astin to be getting a command of his own, but given that Jess hadn't issued any orders for the squads to split up and take separate tasks, he figured it was mostly a formality thing, designed more to ease his workload than any serious hand-off of authority.

Juria's outburst was... unwelcome, and threatened not only to undermine her inclusion on the mission, but Astin's new position as well. The captain did make clear in no uncertain terms that orders were orders, and she would obey them or else. Hopefully that would be sufficient, if not... well, Thorvald preferred not to consider that too deeply. It seemed wise to change the subject, and there was one other neglected detail he wanted to have addressed before they suited up and headed out. With luck, it would prove a welcome change of topic and let the bad blood have a chance to cool down some.

"If I may, one final question, Captain?" Thorvald paused long enough to seem he was giving her an opportunity to object, but quick enough that given her current state he was fairly sure she wouldn't be able to stammer one out. "Did the other captive confirm Miss Troy's reports of a high-ranking, extremely dangerous Apotheosis operative piloting a custom? If so, should we encounter it, I would offer the suggestion that we fall back until its capabilities are more fully assessed, especially considering the already difficult nature of our mission. I'd prefer that directive to be given your official sanction though, so that everyone's on the same page out there, and nobody tries anything risky to be a hero, but if you had other ideas on the subject, by all means I invite you to correct the record."

[Shin]

"You should stop speaking, Hedrick." Tarquin added in, giving Elaine a cold calculating gaze. "We've received orders and the logic behind them, the plan has been created to give the colonists the greatest chance of survival whilst securing the colony. Acting emotionally is likely to result in a greater number of casualties... and you seem to be intent on becoming one of them."

It was ridiculous to think that the lives of the colonists were worth letting the rebels, and Apotheosis, succeed in their schemes. Tarquin didn't exactly want to turn his rifle on the colonists, but couldn't Hedrick see the bigger picture? Trying to deviate from plans and act on emotions were sure-fire ways to die. He disliked her immensely, but it would be an inconvenience if she were to perish. Bruno would probably have tried to convince Elaine that they'd try to achieve both, but accept that it's not always possible to get everything right. That wasn't something Tarquin wanted to tell Elaine though, he just wanted her to stop talking and focus on the task at hand. She was quite possibly the worst choice to lead any sort of group, he was almost glad to see the unanimous support for Doyle.

[Nanami Touko]

Danger Level High

Elaine made some commentary that seemed more like complaining than an outright objection, and that was fine, as long as she stuck to her opinions and didn't try to convince others to change the situation. Thorvald asked a pressing question, but before she could get to it, Tarquin made sure to quiet Elaine. It was... Cold. Harsh. He shared her sentiments, but he didn't share any of the emotional loss that accompanied them. It was shocking. The last vestiges of Tarquin's infancy that might have still clung to the boy had quickly disappeared with how calculated he was.

That left Thorvald, and trying to cope with their broken child pilot. "We confirmed the presence of an unknown mech on site, from Christina and Nikolai, but Nikolai provided us with a name... Vera. That's all we have to go on. Her name is Vera and she's a lieutenant. Her robot is black and purple, and is considered highly dangerous. If you encounter it... D-Don't engage. That is all. We don't know the technology they have and it would not do for the entire operation to be ruined because someone got shot down in surprise."

[Dandragon]

Elaine turned her head slowly towards Tarquin, her eyes clearly displaying the anger that she was fighting to contain. She felt her right eye twitching as she stared at Tarquin, sitting with his cold, unmoving stare right back at her. She felt a burning rage inside her building fiercely, threatening to consume her outright if not fuel whatever actions she decided to do next. But as much as she wanted to yell right at him, maybe even punch him right in the face, everyone was watching her, including the captain. She could feel her hand clenching tightly into a fist, shaking violently under the table, though no doubt some could see it. If she lashed out here, she would surely be kicked off, or even worse, sent back to prison for assault. One thing was clear, though; Elaine was not stable at the current moment. But she had to control herself as much as she could. She forced out as much of a smile as she could looking at the kid's face. "Vvvvery...well..." She spoke through her teeth at him, before turning to the captain. "I...need a moment..." Not waiting for a response, she stood up from her chair and left the room through the automatic door, before slamming her fist loudly on the wall. She needed several moments.

[Xinnidy]

Last Day, First Day

Despite all previous grievances, Roxanna had decided to work with Jessica for the sake of the mission, that meant she had to be there in the meeting, but...

It just hit Roxanna that she had no idea what an XO proper was meant to do.

She'd been in her seat the whole time, having no presence on the meeting --a definite first for her person. It didn't help that she was supposed to back up a captain with no experie--Let's... not go there. I can maybe turn their opinion on me now. And raising the crew's opinions gave her a chance at her old position eventually, no way she was losing it all now.

The decision to have Sergeant Doyle as the second leader wasn't so far-fetched, but it did spring a curious thought on the XO's mind. I looked up our TKs and the special boy, but... what about Sergeant Doyle? They seemed rather average in comparison, but they were showing promise in the field, so that was something. Out of the pilot crew, their background seemed the most... normal. I guess sometimes you just have a star among the average folk. Interesting. Very interesting.

The following question session quickly flustered the Captain again, leaving the girl stuttering and even losing some of it at the more loaded questions. It's like when we were back at base all over again... That... made Roxanna hopeful for her own prospects. Maybe she should've stood up and picked up the questions for the captain once things got rough, but Roxanna really wanted to see how far Jessica could go before asking for help. She did get mad at me for that once we first met the pilots...

Juria's transgression was understandable as it was a special case, it did raise the question of whether she was going to help or cloud Astin's judgement in the end, but it seemed the Sergeant had a good head on their shoulders, quickly siding with Jess on the matter. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Sergeant Hendrick, on the other hand, had been quite argumentative throughout the meeting. Questioning both the choice of leadership and method of operations, though that wasn't necessarily bad. "...Wait a--" Until the Sergeant decided to quit before the meeting was even over. Scratch that, it was very bad.

Roxanna looked to the other pilots in the room one by one, as if trying to ascertain she wasn't the only one that saw that. She turned her eyes to meet Jessica last. "I'll deal with her... Captain." Gosh, it was so hard saying that plain and outright... "Well, are there any other questions?" Perhaps now was a good time to let the captain catch a break... even if nobody asked any more questions, yeah. Just happens.

[Ether]

When it rains, it pours. Open the floodgates. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's discourse! However you wanted to put it, there it was. Juria's expected disapproval of military protocol, Elaine's outburst, the ensuing back and forth, concluding in the fiery pilot storming out from the meeting room. What a bother. At the very least, Captain Gefalscht showed some promise, having come quite far from the flakiness she had exhibited prior. She stuck to her guns, firmly and directly put down Juria's dissent, and made it clear what would follow if she continued, and while she had appeared shaky at times, she didn't back down.

Aside from their group dynamics, something interesting came up from Thorvald, apparently. This Vera must have been the same Lieutenant Christina had mentioned... and with a confirmation to avoid engaging them if at all possible, that was one less potential bother on the field... if they would ever make it there in one piece, at this rate...

[Juliette]

Juria didn't say anything.

She didn't want to hear it. Anything other than "change of plans" meant nothing to her. Astin's comforting, Jess defending her position... she buried her head in her arms and cried. "No... not let bad things happen to friends. Why rebels so horrible? Machines not worth life of good innocent people. So sad..."

[Balcerzak]

Yowza! Tarquin was beyond blunt with Elaine, his very first and very final words seemed deliberately provocative, but they were the sour sanding coating the bitter truth of the facts between them. A hard candy for anybody to swallow, but especially so for Hedrick herself, coming as it did from the youngest among them, whom she'd already been on rocky relations with. Thorvald winced and pinched the bridge of his nose as the hothead stormed straight out of the briefing room. "What do I do with that one..." he muttered beneath his breath. It wasn't a question anybody but he could answer, after all. It even stirred their number one into action, reminding the room of Roxanna's presence.

The XO had been hard for Thorvald to read lately, and he doubted the concerns he'd shared with Dwight had cleared up already. Maybe the meeting with her uncle earlier in the morning had rattled her further, she seemed almost subdued? As far as he knew, amongst the crew only Astin and himself had actually witnessed any friction, but he didn't doubt the TKs probably picked up on it here and there as well. So far, so good though at least, meaning it was yet another item to be safely put off till after the mission, but Thorvald was definitely going to have to schedule some face time with her, the sooner the better.

He didn't have any new questions for the higher ups, the fact that it would be Roxanna fielding them hadn't changed anything, really. The only question left was one for the squad, based on Jess's recommendations. Addressing his peers, Thorvald spoke up once again. "So, any volunteers for who thinks they should be the one contacting that distress signal then once we get in? I figure I'd let folks pitch their cases before assigning someone to the job, just to make sure I didn't overlook anything." The fact that Elaine wasn't present for this part of the discussion was honestly a nonfactor. Kim wasn't likely to get the nod either, given her struggles with English, but if she had a convincing argument otherwise he'd at least entertain it.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

The meeting was going about as expected. Everyone was behaving more or less in character and they weren't wasting more time than they had for wasting. The confrontation between Elaine and Tarquin over the squad leader choice and orders for dealing with the hostage situation had her pulling up both their files on the main monitor out of curiosity. She'd seen them both before but hadn't committed much of either to memory.

---

Tarquin's suggestion was far from welcome. A simple 'just shut up' would have been just as helpful in this situation. Despite the nuclear explosion he felt coming, Elaine saw herself out, first. Brant sighed in relief when she left, glad the pilot kept herself under control for her own sake if no one else's. That was more than Firmia would have done after being talked down to like that.

When Thorvald mentioned the distress signal, and asked if anyone in particular wanted to take care of that, Brant's hand went up, naturally. If he was going to be killing anymore people today, he'd certainly like to do it while in the midst of helping someone else. "If no one minds, and if team Oni's closer, I can take care of it." He could get a sense of the situation through anyone nearby thanks to the T-Link, which was useful when responding to something as dubious as a distress signal. Having a light and fast craft could work for or against him in this situation, but he was willing to take that chance.

[Shin]

Tarquin was satisfied with Elaine's response, it was far more productive if she stopped trying to make everything about what she wanted. Part of him had feared she'd have resorted to violence, but even she couldn't risk that in front of the captain. Things were fine as they were set up, neither Elaine nor Juria had any real place to complain. That being said, the prospect of having Brant deal with any communication seemed fair enough, he was more than capable of the task.

Content with the answers he'd been given, Tarquin awaited any further instructions, lacking any remorse at all with Elaine's departure.

[Nanami Touko]

The Fat Lady Sings

That was the violent end to their meeting. Elaine left before they were even finished and Jess didn't have it in her to call after the woman. She sighed, again. At least Roxanna was following through on her promise. She'd offered to go after her. "Thank you... Please do." No one else proposed a question, perhaps because they were feeling awkward from the atmosphere of the situation, or that had been it. Brant stepped up to offer communication for the SOS. It was a good call. If he could feel anything with his T-Link, then it would help give further credence to it, or immediately reveal intentions.

That was it, then... Jess straightened herself out as best as she could, looking around at everyone left. "Then... Suit up, and get ready to enter the colony. We'll be at our destination in twenty minutes, tops." Jess stood up and excused herself first, walking right past Elaine without a glance, and heading for... The brig.

Whether it was instinct or some want to question someone who had done this before, she... Wanted to talk to Nikolai. He probably wouldn't give her a good answer. He'd probably laugh, really. But she wanted to know.

She paused a moment, before stepping into his line of sight. He was just laying there, staring at something; staring at nothing. She idly touched his console and turned on his speakers. "...Hello."