2023-09-07: Picking Up The Pieces
- Cast: Teletha Testarossa, Jezebel Richens
- Where: Merida Island
- Date: U.C. 0097 09 07
- Summary: Uruz-10 reports on the path from an intelligence leak to the death of von Juergen.
<Pose Tracker> Jezebel Richens has posed.
In a way, this is the kind of thing 'Specialist Richens' is better at than her rank would imply. That is: It's pretty easy, but it's the kind of pretty easy that people mess up for absolutely no reason, even with a higher standard. But, no, this woman is quite good at easy things like 'giving a report'. She's adapted well, in that regard.
"Ma'am, Specialist Richens, reporting as ordered, ma'am."
She's never been in this office before. Before, it was just some conference room, but this is substantially nicer. In some way, it reminds her of the Academy - mock reports. Well, she has some experience in reporting for a board, but this is different. This is something she, personally, did. Was involved in. Was a part of. Is responsible for. It went well, so she isn't ashamed of any part of it - after all, her and Seolla made it back safe, right? They successfully destroyed the targets as assigned, and probably did some good in a picture that she can't understand. ... Still, there's a hint of nervousness to her. It's her first time having some kind of mark to leave. Even if it's nothing at all, even if it won't be recorded, they did something.
Focus. "Following up on leaked intelligence, Uruz-11 and I intervened in an ongoing firefight at a small farm and arms facility, where we first encountered the Mobile Dolls." She's already been given the technical document on whatever they could recover - Jezebel had a hand in those, but not too much of one. "There we collaborated with other anti-science crime assets to disable them, and confirmed the usage of illegal brain-machine interface, as well as the presence of a child in one of them." Her tone is appropriately flat, and professional. Cold. "Subject was taken into protective custody, but was being used for command and control. Further evidence allowed us to follow their supply line - of the Mobile Dolls, I mean - to a distribution center."
"There, we encountered resistance from more Mobile Dolls in securing the site. We encountered some intervention from a G-Hound assets, specifically Treize Krushrenada." A sour tone, for a moment, and her lips twitches into a small frown. "Site was secured, and gave sufficient evidence for official government forces to censure 'the School'." She won't go into her observations about his Gundam, though a brief technical report is attached to the file, of course. "This allowed us to go for the kill. In this case, this means attacking the 'Hellgate'. At this point, the higher ups of the organization had gone to ground - I recommend that we prepare to see them again, personally, as I would not be surprise if they found new homes among our enemies - and we engaged with their designer."
That last battle. "Hellgate, their source and production facility, was also a large 'mesh' of brains. The designer of the weapons system, von Juergen, refused surrender, and later died as some result of the weapon. ... Or, something else? His autopsy seems to mostly point to stroke, but, frankly, that machine was very overtuned, and he was not a soldier. I can't say for sure what killed him from the information I have." Back to mechanical. But, she's hesitating. Talking around something? "Regardless, with more help from someone I can find remarkably little on, personally - a Yuliana Kafim - and G-Hound, the site was destroyed. Someone else from the School was recovered. Chienne and her siblings seem likely to be behind the leak - likely motivated by revenge."
A much, much muddier picture. "Unfortunately, one of my missiles took a stray shot, and the F90 took severe damage at the end. Fortunately, Uruz-11 recovered me."
Jezebel opens her mouth - then closes it. "Nothing more to report, ma'am."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Tessa was already there from the start; A quick nod towards Jezebel before allowing the information to wash over her, flicking through the reports mentally filed away in her head along with the verbal diction of the woman in front of her. Collaction of technical reports in her hands, referring to them every so often. The aura of professionalism and a hint of tiredness in her eyes, the product of having this sort of "simple" report in the dead of afternoon.
In other words, this could be considered a break for the Colonel, if one had the sense to view her own schedule. Villain did arrange today's schedule, but that was the job of a secretary in the first place, along with whatever tweaks Tessa had to give for particular headaches or personnel.
But she wasn't here to doze off. There's the rapt gaze of active listening, minutely nodding every so often with every sentence. Crossreferencing, the sounds of shuffling paper. Mobile Dolls. Trieze's Gundam. Hellgate. The particulars of that battle...
But, still. All in all, she can't disagree with Jezebel's own personal assessment. Dry, technically proficient, and a full understanding of what went down.
"Thank you. First off, good work on the entire operation. We've been touch and go on general cobat sorties, but the documentation on the F90 will help in sourcing the proper parts for replacement and repair. If you have any particulars you'd like on your machine, talk to Maintenance Chief Edward Sachs." It'd cut slightly into the budget, but well within miscellanious battle repairs. Thank god, she won't have to petition for liquid assets again.
"G-Hound's interception is unfortunate, but we've not been able to discount collusion between them and the School. As for your recommendation, we've already begun preparations for general defenses. Considering Chienne's involvement in it, there's the risk of it turning personal." A gut feeling. "We can't move against G-Hound without firm evidence, but this will help adjust our own methedologies on anticipatory responses."
Hellgate. What a name. "So it was an internal leak all along..." A mild frown. Chienne. "She was also one of the main soldiers during the hijacking of the Tuatha de Dannan. I don't believe it to be possible, but if you do meet her again, do let me know. They may be flying solo." Educated guesses and anticipatory movements. The best time to move against someone was when you knew they were coming. The second best time was right before.
"As for Yuliana Kafim...She's a Person of Interest." Mithril did have her on the radar; It was hard not to, after the events of the past year. "I haven't seen her in person, but she's been behind some of the more volatile events in recent memory. Do keep an eye on your surroundings if you suspect she's near."
The other person from The School. "Has Specialist Seolla told you who it was you two recovered?" A glint in her eyes. "And have you witnessed von Juergen's final moments?" Reports are only as infalliable as the people behind them.
They may be dicdactic, but it was only one piece of the puzzle. "And more importantly. Please give your opinion on the operation, Specialist Richens. Was your first deployment here what you expected?"
<Pose Tracker> Jezebel Richens has posed.
Of course - a lot of the requisition work is just in process. "Yes, ma'am." She realizes, after a second, that she forgot to mention the Up-lift type, even though, in the moment, that was important to her. That makes her sad, but she won't revisit it. There's a colder depiction of it somewhere in the reports. It's a footnote. "I expect she should be in fighting shape again soon - no water damage this time, at least." Right after she was hired, she spent a significant number of hours clearing coolant lines and replacing seals and burnt out circuits, even very far away from the places her Gundam was damaged. It was an expensive nightmare. Compared to that beating, this was not that bad, if only because the brutality of space is different than the brutality of water. It really isn't that bad.
G-Hound. That Gundam... "Their intervention is - well, I don't get all the politics, but didn't it give us more room to move? If they weren't disavowed, weren't we basically just doing acts of terror, and they could've gone the other way on it? I assume, if we didn't have enough, they might've, even. I guess, they could still, so it doesn't matter?" It isn't 'convenient'. It was more that they just had enough to force their hand. But that isn- Focus, Jezebel. "As for the Argents and Mrs. Kafim - understood." Nothing more need to be said.
"She has not." Jezebel hesitates. She is not lying. She also did not ask. "My communication circuit was damaged." This is also not a lie. It is not pertinent, but it is not a lie. ... Why is she being evasive about this? Why did the Colonel even - ask? What is that look on her face? "I didn't see them afterwards, either." Obviously, she knows better. It isn't like she needs eyes or ears to feel something that strong - but, she didn't see or hear anything, so who knows?
There are probably more important questions about von Juergen, anyway. Though - "He was in a Mobile Suit and died without any meaningful failure to the suit itself, nor any breach to the cockpit. I saw the suit; not him." In a manner of speaking, if you get down to it, a Mobile Suit really is a locked room. "I saw the suit stop moving. At that point, he died. I don't know if he died because of the exertion of his weapon, which was - probably - mostly untested and untuned for human use, by an older man who did not seem to fit for combat, moving faster than I'd be comfortable with moving. It could've been the suit. It could've been his weapon system in the suit. It could've just been a stroke, as a result of being an older man fighting for his life. I don't know." She isn't satisfied with that answer, but that's the one she has. But she isn't willing to pin it all on 'well, it was his evil weapon', either, or 'well, it was that MS, it was just Too Much', either. It isn't like she saw and heard everything, so who knows?
"... And, as for my first operation..." She stops altogether, and closes her eyes for a second. "No, it was not. I expected something more - clear cut?" A pit returns to her stomach. "Ah - my apologies, Colonel. That isn't what I meant." Why did she say that? Why give there room for that ambiguity? "Rather, I meant that I didn't expect to collaborate so closely with other operations, especially ones I would consider ideological opponents. I found it distasteful. It won't get in the way of my work." Jezebel has picked a spot on the Colonel's lapel to regard narrowly.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
"The mechanics needed upkeep training on space-faring damages, so this is a good stroke of events from one perspective." Utilitarian. "Your Up-Lift unit will be similarly maintained." That was that; Mithril was not one to allow unit parts to mothball without genuinely good reason that never came. "If you require inspiration or other mechanical needs, consult Uruz-2." Mao's never a bad girl, and she's got a good brain on her shoulders.
"It did, yes. That's the risk for being a PMC...The risk that we're blamed for something perpetrated by another organization. While we cannot avoid every possibility due to our size, the moree we can waylay on other organizations, the better." In other words: The more they're blamed, the more movement we have.
A narrowing of the eyes. It itches wrongly; There's not a chance that Seolla wouldn't be vocal about who it was, considering her background...But, this wasn't a total, complete concern. SRT members had their own personal lives, and they were pratically expected to have backups and routes of their own. The knowledge of the backdoors in her own personnel - Seolla still gave her reports. Those reports were beginning to have regular unnacounted intervals. The absence of a pattern was a pattern. "I see." She didn't have to bash down the evasiveness; There were other ways to follow the clear paper trail. "I hope she's able to support whomever's she found." ...They were people. Not units to know via full frontal force.
The lightest shuffle of papers, checking over the estimations and documentation of von Juergen's mobile suit. A few mental calculations, inhospitable g-forces...Something all at once? Something more? Something that would be lost to time, in the end. The knowledge of death was enough. "We have no conclusive answer, but the fact that he's dead is...something we'll have to live with." Truthfully? Capturing him alive for interrogation would be preferable, but this isn't a perfect world.
"We all hope for something clear cut these days." There's the barest hint of a uncouth sigh, flipping to look at the Mobile Doll documentation once more. "Unfortunately, we cannot regard this world as a clear cut thing. Mithril was made for the goal of peace by warfare; Where there are embers, we snuff it out before it escalates into a wildfire." A delicate response. "So long as your main objective is carried out in a method that limits as much collateral damage as humanly possible, we're unable to dispute the results. Ideally, no one should be a casualty." Yes. That was the ultimate level of foolish idealism.
"...But I don't expect that in this world. Only hope that the people under my command, including you, do as much as you can for our view." A flick back. The Up-Lift unit. "Have you heard anything from SNRI in any capacity?" Curiosity's sake. She expects nothing, but it's a probing question.
<Pose Tracker> Jezebel Richens has posed.
There's too much concern to be too satisfied with the Up-Lift being acknowledged, by now. Her mind is still racing. It's a good piece of kit, for its one silly niche. To touch the stars. That's all.
There's not much more for her to say about Seolla or von Juergen. One has something that isn't her business, and the other is dead. It would be good if, whoever it was in there, is taken care of. They surely deserve it. ... In the same way that von Juergen deserves to be dead. Ah, but - does she believe that? Stuck, again. Isn't it more like, 'he should be alive, because he has to fix the messes he made'? It isn't like she can judge him. After all, she has an incomplete picture of his crimes. ... but, she'll always have an incom-
Focus. "SNRI? Ma'am, I think if SNRI contacted me, you'd know before I would." Focus on that. "No, no contact."
The pit at the core of her stomach doesn't go away, and she lingers for uncomfortably long without saying anything. Technically, she could just be waiting to be dismissed. "... Yes, ma'am, I understand that we attempt to destroy 'problem spots' to avoid greater conflict, focusing on our own survival." That is her duty. All of those parts are equally important. However - "It was clear cut to everyone else." Stop. Wait. "Pardon me. I mean to say that everyone else - with the exception of Colonel Khushrenada, who was not as expressive - seemed to have a very clear idea of the situation; they could clearly judge the impact and nature of the weapons being produced."
"I understand destroying enemy assets. There are obvious parts of the weapons system I... object, to." That first kid, they pulled out of there - all attached to the tubes, the machines, wired in, flashes back to her mind. "And the interface type is, itself, illegal. I don't object to the work. But everyone else took to it, and I got distracted, because I didn't understand them. I don't know if that's why I got shot, but I don't think it helped." She's unsteady - she doesn't know what to say, next, or what she's even saying now? If she's asking for help?
"There was nothing wrong with the mission. My apologies, Colonel, I'm having trouble putting my thoughts together on this matter."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
The Colonel watches silently. SHe maintains that impassive face, eyes flicking between the soldier in front of her and the documentation collated for her. So much to parse through. There's no sign of anything truly uncouth that would warrant special attention, but she had to keep an eye on everything.
"Copy. We'll notify you if there's been any sudden activity from them." The School will still want Seolla, and SNRI will want their prototype. More enmies, every day.
"I'm not too aware of how much you've seen the world before your willing transfer for Mithril. Sometimes, we stumble into events that seem out of our scope, or something that's being dealt with by other factions altogether. We may be massive, but not omniscient." A reprimand towards herself? The lightest of twitches, frowning to herself. To imagine that it took a leak to capitalize on the School...And one that was perpetrated by the same person who fought to sink her submarine. "Regardless, the fact remains that you did what you could. Hold onto that drive." That was the power and leeway that SRT had: Decide in the moment. After all, not any person could parse through biased information and latch onto the thing in front of them.
"We're facing more and more new things every day." She says, having developed things in ways which are similarly unrecognizable under scrutiny. "It's a hard matter to parse, always." Kaiju. Tsutsujidai. The ever-increasing speed of technological advancement. The many new varations of mobile suits coming, poking through the molds that Jeeg set so many decades ago. "We all want to understand what we don't know." Try to leave your own thoughts off the table.
"That's fine. Take a few days of leave if you need to. You're paid and fed to be at your best when you're called on, so take this time and work your way through what you saw." There's a hint of a smile on the Colonel. We're all flailing through this, one step at a time. "So long as your performance isn't impacted, you'll have a spot here."
Hmm. What was she getting it? She didn't know herself; How to deal with the fires burning within the older contingency that stil burns for change. A moment of deliberation.
"I believe the world will turn more tumultuous. More things we can't understand at a first glance. But we have to try and understand them, since we're meant to be the early ones on the battlefield. It's not our job to categorize them, but hesitation is hazardous, and I want everyone to come back alive." Clearing her throat. "Thank you for the report. Rest up."
"Dismissed."
<Pose Tracker> Jezebel Richens has posed.
Her soldier becomes a hungry audience, for her answer - she hoped for a clearer picture of the battle. Of what happened, why, and how they can decide that. That there was some clear answer of, 'oh, you didn't get this', or an even clearer answer of, 'do not worry about that'. Uruz-10 is patient in listening for this, waiting, hoping for a clear answer to her problem, and...
It does not come. It never comes. Her eyes narrow, for a moment, when it never comes. Is there no answer, then? Was it unreasonable to expect one? After all, the Colonel is just reading reports. She wasn't there. They're fallible. You can lie in reports. Even she can lie in reports, if she decides to put her mind to lying. We all want to understand better. Is that true? Isn't that, itself, an assumption? Plenty of people don't.
It was an assumption she made, that her CO can magically fix her problems with decision making. What would she have done if she said something she disagreed with? Would she have just 'decided' that was true? ... maybe. There is a problem, but it isn't about thinking. The fact is: Right now, her performance is impacted. That, she needs to square away on her own, though. The only person who can fix that is her. Things are going to get worse, and part of her job is to figure them out?
That's fine with her. No - she likes that, actually. But she has to be able to survive to do that. It's a long moment to reply, but - she thinks she gets what she's trying to say.
A smart salute. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."