2022-06-17: Inspection Day

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<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

The Hyperion is operating under G-Hound for now, but she's still a Britannian ship from the Britannian yards with a Britannian captain. Spending as much time as she does in the vicinity of Area 11, it's hardly a surprise when eventually, the call comes in that the Viceroy will be visiting.

Hyperion is a big ship - she's designed with operations against Kaiju and other large attackers in mind, possessing a long combat deck intended for dragging enemies into melee for the onboard contingent to deal with them. For that very same reason, the actual docking bay and hangar is in the belly of the ship, an open port yawning wide for the escort ship and Flag accompaniment to come and go. It's all been cleared out for the Princess' visit, with what officers can be spared their duties lined up in parade formation for inspection. At the head of that formation is Captain Sophia Mayhew Castellan, her vivid red hair cascading down the back of her black captain's coat, itself worn over her shoulders. 

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

The skies are still difficult for Cornelia li Britannia to call home.

The princess is quite accustomed to both air and even space; throwing herself in not one, but two crucial conflicts with the hellaciously tenacious ghosts of Zeon has overwhelmingly demonstrated the necessity of both. She has the experience. She has the expertise.

But there's something about feeling the earth rumble beneath the squeal of landspinners that will always call to her.

All this to say: the viceroy is not quite at home in the skies of Nagoya, but that doesn't stop her from boarding the Hyperion with all the ironbound confidence of a woman who might as well have been born to them. The royal boarding ship is a small affair, especially in comparison to a vessel designed with Kaiju battle in mind, but it also remains as ostentatious as one might expect a royal vessel to be.

Cornelia, for her part, seems to simply take to the ceremony as a matter of course as she disembarks from a vessel she is largely ambivalent about to arrive on a vessel she is moderately intrigued by. With two of the Glaston Knights - Bart and Edgar - and General Andreas Dalton flanking her, the Second Princess of the Britannian Union arrives with the commanding click of heels on metal, long violet hair billowing briefly behind her with the gush of air as the offramp extends with her every step.

She pauses, briefly, watching the Flags fall back with a cool, considerate eye, before that indigo gaze falls upon the red-haired woman at the front of her welcome committee.

It's a gaze that doesn't stray for a single second throughout the princess' descent, until heels hit the grounds of the Hyperion proper.

It's the crisp Britannian salute on the part of the princess that greets Sophia first, followed soon after by Dalton and the knights.

"Captain Castellan, I presume."

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Sophia calls for attention as the doors open, the gathered officers snapping to salute the arriving Viceroy and Princess. She's flanked by her own elites - a shorter greein-haired woman; and a taller man with flowing blond hair. The rest are off ensuring the ship continues to be in the sky for the entire visit, presumably.

Sophia maintains the confidence to hold eye contact for the whole of the Princess' descent, discharging her salute after the Princess has. "Correct, Viceroy. Welcome aboard Hyperion." She motions to her side. "Allow me to introduce my Executive Officer, Lieutenant Amata Kole," here she indicates the greenheaded woman; "and the pilot of our escort ship, Desmond Siege." Now, the blond. Both salute in their own turn. 

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

Gloved hand falling to her hip at the end of her salute, Cornelia holds that unassailable bearing as if it were a matter of course as natural as breathing as she sizes up Sophia within that critical stare.

It's a look that only ends up turning crisply away from the Hyperion's commander when her officers are introduced. The violet-haired woman inclines her head to Amata and Desmond in kind, before gesturing towards the men just behind her.

"General Andreas Darlton," she indicates of the large, sandy-blonde haired man behind her with the equally large square jaw and scar running a jagged path diagonally across his face. "And Knights Edgar and Alfred Darlton," and this, to the lilac and blond-haired men to her right. "You will not find soldiers more dedicated in all of Britannia."

Her Knights, and her right-hand, all salute in turn; but Cornelia's attention, at this point, is for the master of the ship once more. Deep violet lips tugging to the right, she looks around her, thoughtful, as she speaks: "I would not take away from your work, Captain, but I thought this meeting was overdue. We have fought together at least twice now, and your reputation precedes you besides; yet we have not had so much as a single, formal introduction. It was high time this oversight was fixed: I would know the officer who has caught G-Hound's eye... and there is some business I would bring to you directly. But first..."

Her gloved hand rises from her hip, wrist turning in a smooth, crisp gesture.

"... I would like to see this ship of yours."

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Sophia acknowledges the Princess' entourage each in turn. "An honor, all of you," she says, and means it. These are indeed some of the finest soldiers Britannia has to name, and to her knowledge, men of commitment and honor, besides. Whatever her angers, they aren't direct at men like them.

The hangar bay has that 'we found out a princess was coming and polished EVERYTHING' look to it, which is probably why the chief engineer isn't in evidence. A small allotment of Knightmares, a small allotment of Flags. The Captain's own personal Flag is in a prominent spot - by accident of being deployed rather often for a person who has a whole ship at her command.

Sophia's a rather serious woman, and she nods to the Princess' observations. "It seems I catch attention often," she says, with just a touch of wryness to it. "It's a fine thing, to be seen for my achievements. Certainly, Your Highness, let me show you around."

She turns to lead the way - at the back of the hangar is a single central elevator, one shaft driven top-to-bottom through the whole ship.

"Hyperion was conceived as a kaiju-fighting vessel, hence the Fighting Deck up top, as well as the preference for physical weaponry. Right now NERV has been filling the role well enough that Hyperion has been mostly filling in as a gunship and Mobile Suit carrier. Our escort ship, Helios, gives us dramatically extended deployment radius. We've been able to use her to drop forces halfway across the Earth Sphere easily in time to intervene in ongoing engagements, even with the rash of Sleeves attacks on shipyards a while ago."

The elevator opens, and she guides the way in. Behind them, Amata barking a dismissal to the gathered officers echoes.

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

Birds of a feather; where it comes to matters of military, at least, Cornelia li Britannia is every ounce the princess of blood and iron her reputation might suggest. There's little time afforded on small talk, or pleasantries. Her bearing scarcely strays from commanding. Her expression rarely turns from that severe stoicism.

There is just a brief moment - a brief, brief moment - where a wry smile of amused approval touches her lips at the sight of a commanding officer's well-used Flag amidst a sea of highly polished presentations.

Within a single blink, it's gone.

A smooth step takes her into the elevator. A sharp pivot has the white cape draped at her shoulders rippling as the elevator doors shut behind them.

"You catch the right attention," she remarks, simply. "You have proven your ability time and again. The Union takes heed of the strong. There is always a place for them with us."

A frown touches purple lips, faintly. "You should be cautious of where that attention comes from, however. There are plenty who would underserve you with their acknowledgment."

It's a blunt comment from a blunt princess; and one the violet-haired Witch of Britannia leaves at that as Sophia explains the specifics of her vessel on the trip down.

Her brows knit, at the mention of the Sleeves.

"The ghosts have been growing more restless, of late," she notes, distaste in her tone. "Their little hives of remnants nestled through the planet have proven problematic." Her gaze turns toward the side, thoughtful. The Sleeves. The Hyperion had proven useful there. But what was even more surprising was... Celestial Being.

"... There is value in investing in a means to match and surpass the deployment of phantom cells like theirs."

It's approval; and one that comes just as those doors hiss open. Cornelia's right hand lifts; she looks back towards Darlton, who smiles out a simple, wordless acknowledgement before he and his sons stop just past the elevator's entrance, staying guard as Cornelia presses on with Sophia.

"How long have you held this post, Captain?"

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Cornelia gives her a gentle caution about unkind attention. Sophia is a Castellan, a family of some lineage; surely the hard eyes she makes in response to that is having already been scathed by that particular lash.

('Don't worry about a thing,' the man in the dark uniform said with a smug grin. 'Once we have what we came for, all your problems will just...go away.')

She nods, rather than verbally acknowledge it. The kind of advice you just quietly accept, perhaps.

The elevator moves; this is a private space, or as private as one gets that isn't the Captain's own personal space. "Ghosts," Sophia grunts. "Agreed. Shadows who give their souls over to the false words of dead men. I only wish to ensure they don't drag anyone else to hell with them."

The elevator opens out into a corridor, with signs indicating a strategic deck - the map room, the officers' lounge, the briefing room. Sophia notes the men left behind.

"A little over a year, now," she says. "I had been a unit commander performing anti-revolutionary work in the Areas until then." 

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

A wordless nod. Cornelia considers Sophia with a sharp but silent stare for a moment before she turns that adamant gaze turns forward once more.

Her footfalls echoing across the corridor with the steady, crystal-clear click of her heels, Cornelia regards the signs that surround her. It might be a tour, but that doesn't stop her in the least from immediately and unhesitatingly taking the lead, turning their walk in the direction of the map room as she speaks.

"That would be when you withstood enemy ambush against all odds," she notes, turning to face Sophia with a smooth pivot once she arrives at the entrance to the map room. Her head tilts, hair the hue of royalty spilling over her right shoulder.

"Tell me about that mission."

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

The map room is typically where she ends up taking people at this point anyway, especially honored guests. Normally she might show off the bridge, or the fighting deck, but...

The map room is one of the few areas of the ship with genuine privacy. It's an obvious stop for discussion.

Still, being prompted to reminisce about that mission...Sophia stops as the Princess does. "Indeed," she says.

She can't mention 'her key to victory', but she's had to explain this one before.

She opens the door to the map room and explains as she enters. The room itself is well-appointed, as one might expect an area where officers spend much of their time to be. Sophia yields her main command chair to the Viceroy, sitting on the edge of the digital map table instead. "It was in Area 6, one of the disputed regions of South America. Knightmares aren't good on that terrain, between mountains and heavy tree cover, so they'd sent my Flag wing in to investigate reports of a revolutionary base in the area."

Which is when her Geass told her of enemies in the trees. "I picked up the heat signatures from the MPATs just before they fired. Too late to save Bodoga, but the rest of us were able to scatter." Bodoga had been a bastard, anyway.

She folds her hand in her lap. "They had ARM Slaves down there, the old Savages. In normal circumstances a Flag can dance rings around that, but when they've got a whole forest for cover, a small groundpounder with a bazooka is nothing to sneeze at." And, her Geass had shown her her men being drawn further and further away from each other. "I noticed I was losing sight of my team. I realized they meant to isolate us. But, that also meant they must have something in reserve they thought could take an alerted Flag down quickly." She saw the enemy commander and his ace pilot with her Geass. She never found out who he was, what web he'd been connected to. "From where they were isolating people to, I was able to triangulate the position of the main compound. I had to leave my team alone, but, fighting in the enemy's palm would just kill us all."

She hems, flexing her hand at the sting of the memory as the sonic blade driving home jerked her controls. "A Zenith with an ECM pack, and an intact Geara Doga. They hadn't gotten the second off the ground yet." She tips her head down. "We lost Hagar during that fight, but it disabled the enemy and saved the remaining two. One of those pilots is my XO now." She smiles, faintly. "Doubt I'll ever shake her, now."

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

Sophia yields her spot to the Princess.

The Princess does not think twice about taking it, as if it were simply natural to do so.

It's a smooth motion that brings the violet-haired Britannian commander circling around the grand map table. Cool eyes take in the little details of the room. A soft "mm" has the vaguest tilt of approval, indicating in the subtle language of Cornelias that the layout meets her standards.

Gloved fingers draw along the edge of the digital map as she strides towards that command chair. Those white-wrapped fingertips stop at the controls, brushing considerately along them as Sophia recounts that harrowing mission.

For a time, her attention seems focused on those controls -- but the way her brows furrow faintly as Sophia speaks makes it clear where the lion's share of her attention is.

A frown touches upon purple lips for three, four seconds. And then:

"We see the face of who our comrades truly are on the battlefield. There is no greater truth than that. My knights have spit in the face of hell with me. I doubt I could part with them even if I wanted." She looks up, finally, regarding Sophia. There's wry amusement there, raising the corners of her lips for a few fleeting moments. " Much as they may sometimes vex me."

As for the rest, however...

Cornelia takes her time to settle into that chair. She takes to it like someone both royalty and warrior should, leaning back into that seat, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded under her chest, and one brow lifted. "No truly earned victory is without cost. All the same, it's an impressive showing." And one that matches what Cornelia has read of in the reports, as well. She leans to her right, arm unfolding so that she may settle her elbow upon the chair's armrest and prop her cheekbone upon her gloved knuckles as she regards Sophia.

"And that accomplishment earned you this position you now hold." She considers for a moment or two. She has something to say. A purpose to being here. But first:

"Do you enjoy the captain's seat compared to those times upon the frontlines, Castellan?"

One more, important, question.

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Sophia waits patiently for Cornelia to speak again. She has the betray-nothing Noble Audience face down, if nothing else. But, she allows herself a smile as Cornelia offers her the same. "I know just what you mean," she says. Amata...there's precious few Sophia'd leave her back to. She made sure every one of them as on this ship.

And Cornelia asks her a very cutting question.

Enjoy. What an interesting term. Does she enjoy anything, really? No, no, despite how she might feel when the memories close in, she has good companions, and this place is as safe as any to lay her head. She chews on the thought, spooling it out. The ship will aid her greatly in finding her enemies, and more than that the Hyperion battlegroup has been quite effective.

...It takes her a moment before she looks up and says, "I do," with a dip of her head. "The cockpit has its own thrills, and I've had no shortage of opportunities to deploy when events occur far afield. But to see the flow of battle...and guide people through it, is a reward of its own. Too often, the real enemy is one you can't even sense from the front. This ship, its crew, and the battlegroup it is at the center of, can find such enemies, and eliminate them."

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

The fingers of Cornelia li Britannia's left hand tap against its arm rest in a single wave of motion as she awaits Sophia's answer.

Enjoy. It's a very specific kind of term. The words we say matter; and perhaps it is telling of Cornelia herself that it's the term she chooses to use.

For someone who only feels a sense of validation from the heat of the battlefield and the victories it reaps, what else is there to call it? ...

Sophia looks up. Piercing eyes meet hers.

'I do,' says the Hyperion's captain, and Cornelia's brows lift fractionally. She listens...

And that indigo gaze hoods.

"Hah," she exhales. "Then that is where we differ."

She leaves it at that, though; whether the answer meets her approval or not may have to simply be intuited by the way she does not rebuke it -- or in how she leans forward, left hand reaching for the map table's controls.

"My brother has thrown his interests in questionable directions at times, but he is rarely wrong about character. And even if it was Romefeller's dogs who courted you, it is doubtful it happened without his oversight. I have seen you perform on the battlefield both as a commander and a pilot. I believe I have some idea of what they all see."

A few, deft taps of her fingers to turn on that map as she speaks.

"G-Hound may be where you are assigned now, but you are still a soldier of Britannia, and your princess would make use of you."

And she brings forth a map of the Earth Sphere, detouring her focus on this work to look, briefly, Sophia's way.

"How much do you know about Celestial Being?"

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

A bit of the mask off, then. Sophia keeps hers on - somewhat, at least. Well, differing in priorities from the Princess isn't so bad, after all. Romefeller's dogs...well, it was Treize who recruited her directly. And she can't prove it, but she still suspects the creature who gave her this gift, the being she calls 'the devil' out of a vain superstition it might not draw his eye, had a hand. Still...none of that is a replacement for her work and skill. She would not have come to such attentions without successes forged with her own hands.

So when Cornelia tells her she has use for her, Sophia stands up straight. Not quite at attention, but clearly attentive.

"Celestial Being," she says, a brief word to get her thoughts moving. Her eyes scan across the map. "First appeared around this time last year during a series of coordinated attacks from Gundams of unaccountable make. This was accompanied by a video message supposedly recorded by a philosopher from hundreds of years ago, declaring the beginning of 'armed intervention into all warfare.' War against war."

That's the stuff kids on a schoolyard could tell you. Sophia continues: "It's not the first organization to claim such ambitions - there's the so-called 'army of justice' Mithril that's been crawling on the corners of the world for more than a decade now, for one, and it's an appealing rallying cry for a certain brand of idealist. But it's never had this kind of backing before." She hems. "A Celestial Being assault hit a black site some months ago and escaped with what appeared to be some kind of...experimental mummy. Hyperion responded to that but Celestial Being's maneuverability saw them escape." She just blows past that one. Everyone's seen Baron Asura, robot mummy isn't even that weird. "Then of course there was the assault on the shipyard, recently, where they seemed intent on disabling Princess Euphemia specifically."

Hm. "Overall, although their capacities are remarkable and do suggest a wide-ranging plan...they are not presenting a united enough front for me to have any expectation they'll get anywhere with their ambition as-stated."

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

As Sophia watches the map and levels her assessment, Cornelia inputs coordinates with those controls, until markers sprout in a bloom across the Earth Sphere marking every single - known - sighting of Celestial Being's agents.

That she does this seemingly from memory means she's very canny, or very motivated. Probably both.

"Yet more ghosts," she remarks, tone scathing, on the heels of Sophia's remark on Schenberg.

"Specters of the past ought learn where their true place is in this world."

Buried. Eternally.

When her work is done, Cornelia leans back. Fingers lace together against her midsection as Sophia provides her what she wants to know.

There is a brief moment where she makes a mild face, lip-curdled and all, at the mention of Celestial being stealing an

experimental
       mummy

like someone who just drank an expired carton of nonsense,

but otherwise she's content to listen in silence.

Even...

'... where they seemed intent on disabling Princess Euphemia specifically.'

... even if her expression momentarily darkens at one particular moment.

"... It is nonsense," she ultimately concludes, based on Sophia's own assessment. "So either they are overly drunk on their own idealism, they have yet to play all their cards -- or their agenda lies elsewhere. What they -have- managed is disruption and exacerbation. They have attacked important holdings of ours just as they have attempted to fight at our side. Some might find use for this, but I have no interest in accepting succor from my enemy. They are an eyesore, and if left to their own devices, will fester into something intolerable and dangerous."

and they tried to kill euphy "I am making rooting them out a priority. To that end, I mean to reach out to other blocs of the Federation who have no interest in wallowing in passivity and put together a task force to burn them out. However... as my duties are to Area 11 and my responsibilities as acting Viceroy, until the Black Knight problem is dealt with, my ability to move against Celestial Being personally is limited."

And here is where that gaze turns to Sophia once more.

"And so I would have you act in my place where I cannot."

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Sophia takes it more seriously because she shot them several times with a gun and it didn't work. ...but that's the only reason, basically.

Nonsense. Yes, in every rational way it is. But Sophia can almost see the shape of the thing, the sweet thought that you can just kill the evils of this world your own damn self and everything else will work out. Yes, that...has a certain allure to it. Now if only it were so easy. She decides not to comment.

She can see the growing frustration in Cornelia's demeanor. Celestial Being is more than a small nuisance to her. The threat to the Empire, to Area 11 - and yes, the threat to Cornelia's own sister, Sophia reckons. She can't scan her bonds in a scenario like this, but she barely needs to guess. Especially when Cornelia reveals her purpose.

She reacts to this one, a widening at the eyes in surprise. That...would be a profound responsibility. But a powerful one. "I see," she says at once, no trailing to her voice. She cups her chin, eyes turning down to think. Is there any downside at all? It would certainly restrict her movements a bit more. But Celestial Being has shown that they clearly have some kind of multinational intelligence.

And multinational intelligence means fodder for her quest. Her eyes flutter as she blinks away the bloody hunger that briefly surges at the thought of more dogs to hunt, then straightens, hands falling to her sides. "It would be a tremendous honor, Your Highness," she says, fully serious. The conflicting bloc loyalties shouldn't be an issue. Chasing enemies like Celestial Being is a fitting task for G-Hound in the first place.

<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.

There are many things Cornelia is shrewd about.

There is only one thing that ever truly compromises that fact.

But in this moment it does not dull the Witch of Britannia's particular sharpness as she watches Sophia's response to her reason for boarding the Hyperion. Fingers lacing together, arms lifting, Cornelia leans back in the Captain's seat, head tilting fractionally to the right as the red-haired commander takes time to process it -- the implications, and the possibilities. That an answer does not come immediately - that it seems to stir so much thought is worthy of note.

Cornelia considers, for a moment, in stretch of Sophia's pensive silence. The captain's blinks.

And as she gives that answer, Cornelia rises smoothly to her feet, hand on her hip, expression dimly satisfied in that way one receiving a gift they knew of in advance can still find satisfaction.

"See that you live up to that honor, then," is the Second Princess' command. "I will take care of the particulars. While I will be involved where I'm able," because Cornelia absolutely refuses to see a personal vendetta go unsettled, "... when I cannot, you are to use your own discretion in sensing out where the real enemy is."

And eliminate them.

"I'll be in touch, Captain. In the meantime..."

A casual motion sees that map shutting down once more as Cornelia marches past, the click of her heels taking her towards that exit.

"... now that business has been taken care of, I'd like to see the rest of the ship that will be spearheading our charge."

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