2022-12-04: Who and Why
- Cast: Rena Lancaster, Riika Sheder
- Where: Ra Mari
- Date: U.C. 0096 12 04
- Summary: Rena and Riika talk, after the latter's rescue. When they compare notes, the state of the Earth Sphere grows even more disquieting.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika was recently picked up, lost in space, by the Ra Mari.
She'd spent the first part of her time on the Ra Mari recovering, both from injuries sustained through multiple battles and from the ordeal of actually being adrift. She'd been alive, but she'd not been well, and getting to an actual ship was quite literally lifesaving.
But, as a Coordinator, she bounces back from that kind of strain quickly, at least physically. It's not superhuman healing, but she was up and about on the early end of the bell curve for that kind of trauma, even if she was still taking it very easy. She was a guest on the Ra Mari.
She still hadn't really come to terms with what that meant for her.
It does make her easy to find, though; she remains in medical, just not completely bedbound. Her black eye is still fading and one of her hands is strapped with three of the fingers splinted, but she hadn't broken anything else so she doesn't *look* too badly off; any other bruises that might be lingering are out of sight.
She has a computer terminal. It does not show her anything classified. Right now she is reading Lunar news - the public kind anyone with a gilla or two, or an Internet connection, can pick up. Riika suspects some articles are not being displayed for her, but that's okay; the ones she does see are keeping her busy enough.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena knew she needed to come see Riika. She gave her some space; not just out of respect but necessity. With the loss of the Gwennangorn and Captain Aiden, Londo Bell has taken a beating. That beating means more work for them. She looks like she hasn't slept much... because she hasn't.
She comes along in short order, though, and into the medical room. Rena pokes her head through -- and raises a hand to wave.
She has her uniform on, though the collar is loosened and she has a thermos with coffee in her other hand. She takes a drink just before she lands in the lower gravity, coming to a stop at the floor near Riika's bed.
"Hey," she says. "Are the news feeds working okay? Sometimes we get some interference out here."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
What Riika *definitely* doesn't get is Londo Bell internal messaging. She has no idea about the Gwennangorn (and, given her opinions about some parts of the Federation, it would more confirm them than anything else).
"Hey," she says, having been expecting this ever since she found out exactly who had picked up her mobile suit's remnants. She sets the pad down, looking up. No uniform for Riika; she's in what is probably borrowed clothes out of storage, because she really did not want to put up with a hospital gown any longer than she had to and not in low gravity. It all looks slightly too big for her, because Riika is well under the average height even in the Federation military, which doesn't have so many tall Coordinators in it.
"They're working well enough. I can read most of it. I think there's an automated flagger catching some of the politics articles, but I can't really blame them given I'm using a civilian-grade connection on a military-grade ship. And it looks like people are too busy to check it." Riika smiles, just a little. "Sorry I couldn't bring you your console, by the way. It's kind of, uh... not here."
It's still on the Zuse. She kept it. She doesn't think she'll be able to get it back any time soon, though.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena is a Coordinator, but not a tall one.
She smiles, her head tilting to the side for a second. "That sounds like some of the military censors," she says with a sigh. "I could probably find a way around it, if you want, though... uh... we'll need to keep that quiet."
She isn't quite that flagrant. Rena pauses, though, before she smiles. "It's okay. Maybe some day, right?"
She wants to hold out hope. If the situation was reversed -- if she was the one who fled to PLANT, instead -- she would hope to meet her friends again, some day. She hesitates, for a second. "Is this an okay time to talk? I understand if it's not. There's not really... you know. A set time for these things."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"Don't worry about it," Riika says. "I know the Captain wanted to speak to me, but she wanted to give me a day or two. I'll ask about it then if I need to. Honestly, it wouldn't change much... I'm just not good at sitting around." She smiles again, though more wistful than anything else.
"Though since I *am* not good at sitting around, but I can't do much else right now, I guess this is an okay time." Riika isn't sure whether she's looking forward to these conversations or not, but she knows they have to happen, and she'd rather they happen when she's feeling up to it. Which she is, right now; she's sore but she's awake and alert and that's what she'll need to get through them.
"So sure. But there might be a few things I can't say, either because I have to tell your Captain first or because - I just can't."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I don't blame you," Rena says. "I get that too. Last time I was laid up, I think I started trying to work with a laptop from my hospital bed until someone took it away from me." She laughs a little. She is something of a workaholic.
She pulls up a chair, then, and she nods, before she sits down in it. She hesitates for a second, but only a second. "I understand. You can't tell me everything," she says. "I guess, um..."
She hesitates, then lowers her voice. "...You said that someone in ZAFT turned on you. Do you know who? And... why?"
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"Well, I don't know if I go *that* far." Riika is perfectly willing to rest to heal. It's the rest of it that she finds difficult - and as either a guest or a 'guest' on a Federation ship, she's going to have a fair bit of free time rather than actual tasks that keep her busy.
Rena gets right into it. Riika shouldn't be surprised at all. 'You said that someone in ZAFT turned on you...'
Riika looks away for a moment. "I think I do," she says. "It was someone who I saw in a place where he shouldn't have been, and not doing what he should have been if he *was* there. I started to try to figure out what was going on, what had happened, after some rumours, and I guess he found out about it. But as for a name - "
"...I don't know if I should say. Or, if I should tell your Captain first. It's... normally, it would be military intelligence. I know I couldn't tell the rest of ZAFT, when I realized he was coming after me with a group of them. All that would have happened is he'd have killed them too. But - he must have filed some bad evidence with High Command, if he was honest about what they had ordered." Riika looks back up. "I can't believe they would be in on it."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Maybe I'm kind of a mess," Rena says, with a bit of a laugh.
She hesitates, for a moment, though. She looks down, when Riika explains that she isn't sure if she should tell her -- and she nods her head. "That... that makes sense," she says. "I won't ask. If you want to tell us... or not. I'll respect your decision."
She hesitates. "I'm worried about it," she adds. "The Britannians--there was a lot that was weird about that. JOSH-A was a Britannian installation, but their forces weren't there. Some other operation. So... they had other blocs' forces. And Londo Bell, which is independent."
She frowns. "That alone, I wouldn't think anything of it." But it's not that alone. "But... the commander. The way he was talking -- he was trying really, really hard to tell us to hold the line. To stay."
She swallows. "Like. To stay in the blast radius of that terrible weapon. And... then you said the Britannians came after you, after ZAFT, and... I've gotta wonder about that."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika is glad Rena didn't press her on it. Even she isn't quite sure what she'd do in that situation... but now she doesn't have to decide! She's not sure if she's ready to *really* be a traitor.
But would bringing someone to justice be traitorous? Even if she used Londo Bell to do it?
"I saw some Britannians there, because I fought one," Riika says, frowning. "The same one that was in the Side, actually..." The one who killed her squadmates. She is *not* over that, really. Her unwounded hand balls into a loose fist for a moment until she releases it. "But I didn't see a lot, you're right. I didn't think of it much at the time because, well, there were lots of Federation troops there." Figuring out exactly which Federation units will be various places and the changes in tactics isn't usually her job, though she can do a bit of it just by osmosis and she can identify different units - she just often doesn't have any need to.
"And he wanted you to hold the line? But - "
This makes it even worse. Riika can see the shape of it and she isn't entirely sure she wants to. What was Rau *doing*? He can't be dealing with the Britannians; he's a Coordinator and they wouldn't stand for it. Would they? And worse, he reports straight to Command...
"I wonder, too. Thanks. That ... well, I don't want to say it *fits*, but it makes sense." Riika makes an intentional attempt to keep her hand straight and flat. "If things are going really bad. Hey, can you do me a favour? Just, um... a little one. You'll need your military login, but you can do it not around me, I just want to ask one thing."
"Did the Britannians blame me, too? Specifically me."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. It's... I'm concerned about it," Rena says, her eyes down on the floor for a moment. "Maybe that's an understatement. I talked to Anita, and... we agree we shouldn't ignore this. The Captain will feel the same. We're just not sure what we can do, yet."
If someone in ZAFT is colluding with the Britannians to kill the Federation forces, though, that's awful.
She nods, then. "I'll check," she promises. "It might take me a little bit. Our systems aren't very centralized--uh, I don't know... how much you know, but the Federation's not really... a unified group, these days. Londo Bell is, but... the Britannian forces are their own thing. So I'll need to do some checking. But I will."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
If someone in ZAFT is colluding with the Britannians to kill the Federation forces, that's awful.
Riika makes it worse. "Thanks for saying you'll look into it. They told us to stay in, too," she adds, after a moment. "Of course it was because a lot of the commanders on the field thought we were winning at the time and didn't want to pull back. We couldn't contact the force leader on site immediately in the chaos of the battle, since he'd deployed too," Riika says, carefully, because she doesn't want to give away that that's who she was investigating. "So it wasn't exactly coordinated."
"I don't want to ignore it! I just... don't know."
I don't want to actually *be* a traitor, Riika thinks.
"If I could do something, I would. I just don't know how to get there from here. I didn't think I was going to be shot when I started looking into this." Pause. "Is the Federation really that badly off? There's editorials about how it's one step from failure, but we've had those as long as I've been in the military. Longer, really."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That's..."
Riika does make it worse, but Rena can't be mad at her for that. She stares for a second. "...It's almost like they wanted a lot of us to die there," she says, quietly. "On both sides. I--I don't know what to make of this. I don't think you are ignoring it, though, for what that's worth. You tried to look into it, right?"
She shakes her head. "It's not your fault that you ended up here."
Then, she hesitates for a second, before she nods.
"I don't know what the editorials say, exactly, but... it's pretty bad," Rena admits. "Britannia... it's what it sounds like. I mean, they're people, there's good ones in the rank and file, maybe a little higher, I'm sure. But they really believe that Earthnoids are superior. And that Coordinators are... less than human."
She looks down. "But... they invaded and took over part of Japan, and that wasn't that long ago. And they say that stuff about Earthnoid superiority. Except... a lot of the Federation is colonies. That don't have great reputation. And if you look at Londo Bell... well, everyone on the mission to rescue you was a spacenoid."
She shakes her head. "I didn't join up make Britannia stronger. Or anyone from Earth. Or to hurt PLANT. I joined up because... because the colonies are my home. And that's where a lot of wars will be fought. In the colonies. I hate Britannia for the things they say about people like me. But... that's kinda it, right?"
Rena looks up at the ceiling. "There isn't a Federation. Not really," she says. "Britannians hate spacenoids. The OCU hates Britannians. The AEU and the Africans don't much like them, either. The REA doesn't like anyone. And the Federation colonies are looking at what's left of the Federation and thinking... 'if this falls apart, will they even fix our air filtration system when it fails?'"
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"..."
Riika didn't know it was that bad. She didn't care, really, about the Federation's internal divisions. To some people in ZAFT it's a wedge to drive between the different internal factions, but she's not that kind of person, nor is she in the kind of position to take advantage of it.
Well, wasn't.
"Even the PLANTs are more unified than that," she says. "I mean, we've got political parties, and some want more war, and some want less war. Right now, everybody wants at least a little, though, for self-protection if nothing else. But I understand. I guess it's hard wherever you go, huh?"
Then here's ZAFT, or someone *in* ZAFT - it's not all of them any more than it's all Britannians or Londo Bell soldiers - out here to make it worse. To get more people killed. Riika hates it.
"I wish I could just make things better," she says. "But I know it's harder than just saying so. I owe people back in the PLANTs - I want to protect them. But now I owe you too, for saving me. It's just frustrating! I wish I could do more, but right now I couldn't pilot anything even if I had anything to pilot," she raises her bandaged hand and wiggles the fingers that aren't splinted still, "and I don't want to work for the Federation anyway."
"No offense. Londo Bell isn't for someone like me. The Federation still hurts the people where I came from, even if *you* don't."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah. It's... pretty bad," Rena admits. "I wasn't sure about PLANT. I was curious after... after talking to you before. And learning some things. But it's not like I could go and find out."
Not without becoming a prisoner of war -- or maybe just executed. She isn't sure.
She shakes her head. "It's... I wouldn't ask you to. It's not right to ask someone to fight against the place they're from," Rena says. "That's..." She thinks of the place she grew up; of the Neo-Zeon soldiers who were on Axis, and even now, fight the Federation.
Her voice is distant. "...that's really hard."
She shakes her head, to clear it, and she sounds more with the present. "I wish I could make things better, too. I don't... really have a good answer for how, yet. But I want to keep looking until I do."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika shakes her head. "No, that sounds like a *very* bad idea. The security is - well, it's better than landing in the middle of the Terran countryside." That's not a secret. That's obvious, for anyone who has ever been to a colony before.
She tries to smile, but it's a little more forced. "If you find an answer, let me know. Maybe it'll help me find one too, if I don't have one by then."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah... maybe some day, when this is all over," Rena says.
She could say she is a Coordinator -- but it's a very long story. It's not one to be shared now, she thinks. Moreso because a lot of the crew on the ship doesn't know. Maybe when there's something more plausibly private.
She smiles back, though. "I will," she says. "Ah, well--I'll let you rest. I should look into those Britannian reports. Let me know if you need anything." A beat. "Or if you want to blow off some steam. I've got a couple consoles in my quarters."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"I think I'll pass on that for now," Riika says, wiggling her unbandaged fingers. "I don't think I'd do very well, for some reason. But thank you."
"And, honestly, thank you for coming to visit. I think I needed it even if I didn't know it."