2024-02-20: Onboarding
- Cutscene: Onboarding
- Cast: Eight Orlodhari, Amina Maina
- Where: An apartment in the OAC / Admiral's Office, Magallanica
- Date: February 20, 2024. (Early August, 0098)
- Summary: Amina Maina, a Commander from the OAC bloc military before she quit in the face of accession to NUNE, receives a new job offer. She embarks on a journey.
It's not an office, but it has to do for the moment. Amina Maina sits there in the kitchen of the cramped apartment she was able to get after getting out of the OAC military, a tablet on the counter next to the vegetables she's chopping, along with a Haro floating nearby.
Dinner is whatever she ends up making out of these. Not the Haro, though; the Haro is voice controls for her tablet.
"Switch to next message," she instructs her Haro, which flaps happily as it interfaces with the tablet to do just that. Amina doesn't have to /look/ at things to chop them, really, but she comes to a stop all the same as she sees the next message.
From Nergal Heavy Industries...
There is a flash of insight; she sees, in a moment, a blonde white woman's face, a great red ship, a colony in a spiral. The images come rapid-fire, and before she knows it, she's read the message.
As it happens, it's a job offer. Amina has received a lot of those lately, since she quit, since the eastern bloc of the OAC joined NUNE. She doesn't trust most of them; she doesn't really trust Nergal. But...
"Haro," Amina says then. "I'm dictating a message."
"Message! Message!"
She'll take the interview, at least.
---
The initial interview is easy. With Amina's experience in the OAC military, she could get most any job she'd want in the civilian naval field, and yet she's being offered a different kind of military position. That's how she ended up here on Magallanica, in an office still technically under construction.
The walls are simple concrete, the windows looking out on the colony-in-progress from their high position on the twelfth floor. And Amina is in her best pastel suit. Her old uniform is... no longer appropriate. The attire suits her dark skin, the cut accentuating the crown braids her hair is worn in.
"Commander Maina," says the receptionist at the desk, "The Admiral will see you now."
They use her rank; this is a military matter, and even retired she still has the right to use it.
"...Right," Amina answers, and stands up, moving past the desk. "Thank you," she tells the receptionist on the way through, and walks into the office.
Eight Orlodhari is there, and she looks up. Her red eyes meet Amina Maina's brown. Eight's hands are folded on the desk; she has nothing distracting her from the woman who walks into her office.
Amina feels a flash of connection immediately; the is the blonde white woman from her vision, the Admiral she recognizes now on whose behalf Nergal would hire her. She and Eight watch each other, and in a moment understand the other's feelings.
Eight is looking for a new right hand on the ship, someone she can trust to largely run it while she focuses on her own broader duties, someone she can rely on as surely as she relied on her last. Her hope for the Earth Sphere shines through.
Amina, meanwhile, is looking for a place to do some good, a place to ensure the well-being of the Earth Sphere and her own East African Community that is not beholden to NUNE. Her mistrust of NUNE saw her willing to consider the private sector. Her desire to be 'better together' shines through.
"...I see," Eight says, and gestures to the chair in front of her desk. "Please, have a seat, Commander Maina."
"Certainly, Admiral." Amina is not unused to such visions, but it is one more powerful than usual. She moves around to take a seat. "...I came because of that vision. Because I see a place where I can do some good with you."
"Nergal brought you to my attention because of your qualifications. ...But I don't ignore my feelings about things like this. I don't ignore them--but I don't rely on /just/ them, either. I want to know what constitutes 'good' for you, Commander."
"To answer that I'll have to start from earlier." Amina pauses, "...The OAC has long held the promise of the Earth Federation--the idea that we can work together for something greater. But that's in disarray these days. NUNE is a different animal, and the OAC is splintering. Frankly, I don't trust them--with the Orbital Elevator taken from us, I see no reason that we'll see the same prosperity we have before. But I also don't believe that we can survive without caring about the rest of Earth, and beyond, in the colonies. We all have to work together to achieve peace."
Amina continues, "So you'd wonder why I would sign up for the Magallanica Defense Force, when it's far from my home and entirely unrelated to NUNE's struggles. ...Frankly, so would I. What am I really signing up for here, Admiral? Is the Three Ships Alliance really gone? Are you really out of the 'world peace' game?"
"...Heh." Eight can't quite suppress a dry reaction to the 'world peace' game. "...Yes, the Three Ships Alliance has stepped back. But you're right. There's more going on than just Magallanica. I've worked with a number of allies to forge a new Alliance--a new organization, devoted to watching NUNE and ensuring all these new promises are kept--and more. We want to act against influences that would divide humanity, and serve as a check to powers that would dominate and ruin other lives."
"But it's not public."
"No, it isn't. What we'll do publically is defend Magallanica, of course, but also continue the Ra Mari II's humanitarian efforts. We'll also support our allies; the Nadesico in their fight against the Jovian Lizards, for example. But in secret, we have a wide intelligence network that will afford us the chance to act on various threats--some before they're openly known."
"...And you want someone to handle the ship under you."
"It's not quite as prestigious as having your own ship," Eight admits. "Even though you'll be doing a lot of the work to keep it running. To be honest, I could also use you as Captain of another ship... But what I really need is someone I can trust backing me up on the MDF's flagship, right now. It would come with a promotion over your old position, all the same."
"If I wanted prestige above all, I'd have joined the Gaia Sabers," Amina points out. "Commanding a ship for a small colony without many allies isn't exactly prestigious anyway."
"...Point."
"But I believe you, when you say that you want to do more, that you're in a position to do more. So I have one condition."
"I'm listening."
"...The East African Community. I need some of your intelligence operatives /there/. Looking out for my people, in particular."
"All right. I don't have to say that we'd keep an eye on the OAC in general regardless--but if you want particular attention paid to your home... It's compatible with our goals. And a worthwhile ask."
"Good." Amina nods, firmly. "In that case..." She trails off, and leans forward in her seat, folding her hands. "Let's talk details."
Eight inclines her head. "Details it is, Commander." Or... maybe, soon enough: Captain.
They have a lot of things to discuss to get there, though.