2024-12-04: And over time we've learned from the past
- Log: And over time we've learned from the past
- Cast: Lilium Valerie, Aurora Dusk (as herself and as Emily Ashcroft)
- Where: Heaven's Base
- OOC - IC Date: December 4th, UC 0099
- Summary: Lilium comes to deliver several papers to Col. Ashcroft, who speaks with her about recent events. Emily notices Lilium's barrette, and the two speak at length about the past... Also, Lilium gets on well enough with Aurora.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Established somewhere along the southern coast of Iceland, Heaven's Base is a sprawling complex--the largest military base left in the Earth Sphere, in fact. Running a base of that scale (and for that matter, the Gaia Sabers as a whole) needs a lot of administrative work--and that means a lot of paperwork. It's been a while since Second Lieutenant Lilium Valerie had to do a paperwork run. Inbetween whatever deployments she was sent on, and whatever briefings the Sabers needed someone to sit in, she hadn't been told to run some documents from somewhere to somewhere else in a while... the logistics networks had finally established themselves, she assumed.
Evidently, they hadn't finished yet.
Carrying a stack of papers heavier than her usual pilot suit through a hallway in one of the many office buildings within the complex, and dressed in what had effectively established itself as Gaia Sabers service uniform, Lilium mumbles to herself--passing by door after door, name after name.
"Ashcroft... Ash..crotf... Ashcro..ft..."
Along her way, business carries on as usual. A pair of enlisted sweep the floors down a hallway she doesn't turn down. Other officers make their way around with their own memos to deliver, paperwork to be signed, orders to be relayed. Lilium wonders for a moment what the paper's she's carrying are for--they're far above her pay grade, of course, but that doesn't stop her speculating. Sealed orders, possibly--information on what's to be done about relations with the League, the upcoming anti-Vajra operation, things she didn't even know about... whatever it was, it wasn't something she needed to be aware of, she supposed.
She passes a window, pausing for a moment to glance outside. There's not much to look at, admittedly--Ice, ocean, docked vessels, the side of a mountain. A Wanzer hanger with an open door. People running around, going about their own tasks. Tiny cogs in an incomprehensibly large machine, each with their own purpose. And today, Lilium's purpose was to bring the Colonel her papers.
The young woman glances upwards at the nametag above the latest door--'Colonel E. Ashford'--before nodding her head, and gently knocking on the door. Or. Attempting to, considering her hands were full.
"Colonel Ashford, ma'am? I've got some papers for you--do you mind if I come in?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Running an organisation the scale of the Gaia Sabers - among other things - requires monstrous amounts of administrative work-hours. The sheer scale of NUNE's foremost peacekeepers is only matched by the scale of the dead trees their structure is supported by.
It is a cold comfort indeed that Lilium is not the only one drowning in paperwork. The Colonel holds back an exasperated sigh as the door opens, revealing that the new delivery is going to be joining an existing mound of paperwork.
"You may en-" Ashcroft, sitting behind the desk, cuts herself off. "God damnit, did they really screw up the nameplate again?" She shakes her head, clambers out of her seat past Mt. Paperwork, past the teal-haired Lieutenant next to her desk (hi Aurora), and past the door. Once she reaches her destination, she draws a marker and corrects the offending nameplate to 'Ashcroft'.
"Well, that's more paperwork I suppose."
Once she's trudged back into her seat, Emily clears the paperwork in front of her in preparation to receive whatever it is Lilium has brought her. "Anyway. Feel free to come in."
The silver lining here is that while sealed envelopes are often headaches, they usually mean less form-filling than their weight in paper implies. Col. Ashcroft accepts the package, unfolding it with the speed that only a veteran of the long war against paperwork can muster, and begins reading the contents. To her side, Aurora heroically battles the urge to lean in and look in front of Lilium.
While reading, Emily's eyes periodically flicker up from the paper to Lilium, taking stock of the new arrival.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
"Eh--oh, right--" Lilium starts, cutting herself off as she remembers the Colonel's name properly. "...sorry, ma'am. I don't know how they got that wrong..."
She sighs, before nodding her head--"Ah--of course, ma'am", entering the office, and carefully carrying the stack of letters to Emily's desk--setting it down in the conveniently cleared spot. The courier exhales in relief, folding her hands behind her back, and takes a moment to nod to Aurora as the Colonel sets about opening... whatever orders these were. She tilts her head to the side slightly as Col. Ashcroft glances up at her intermittently, but for the most part remains silent.
She looks over the mountains of paperwork on the office's desk--not closely enough to read any of it, of course, but enough to take in the sheer mass that senior officers had to deal with. Maybe she didn't have it so bad with her occasional deliveries...
Having taken in the sheer mass of papers on the desk, Lilium attempts to glance around the rest of the room--the decor, any windows, anything... at all, really.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
The decor is... fairly average for a Gaia Sabers senior officer. Maybe not as crowded as Lilium might expect. One wall holds a map of the Earth and its colonies, the other, two flags. One for NUNE, one for the Gaia Sabers. The desk has a picture frame, but it's facing towards the Colonel's seat. There's a window behind Emily, through the open blinds of which the fascinating "ice, ice and more ice" scenery is visible.
"I don't know either," Emily says, before her usual affable demeanour reasserts itself over the paperwork-related frustrations. "You'd think by now we'd have gotten good at bureaucracy. I suppose the unglamorous parts of the job don't get as much attention... Say, you're the 2nd Lt. from the Vajra briefing, right? The task force? We'll be working together on that if you're sticking around."
Aurora silently returns the nod, eyes taking a break from darting around the room to give Lilium a look of recognition. She doesn't seem to be doing much here. Aside from sneaking glances at the paperwork. Very interesting. Oh, is that what that's for? Didn't know we were doing that yet.
Eventually, Emily's eyes settle on Lilium's barrette. Minimalistic falcon facing left? With a star in the middle? Where has she seen that before...
Oh right. On her old jacket. "Interesting barrette you've got there." Her interest is piqued, and Lilium can probably tell. Seeing this, Aurora's eyes also cease their flitting about the room to perch on the
barrette.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium closes her eyes for a moment after inspecting the room, before opening them again to stare out the window for a moment. Her eyes wander back to the flags, and the map. She doesn't think much of the picture frame--it's facing the way that makes it not her business, after all.
"Yes, you'd think so... I suppose they still don't think you can do better than delivering classified information by hand" She sighs faintly, glancing down at the floor as she thinks on the matter--before perking up again as the Colonel asks her another question. "-Oh, yes. I think I might be needed for something else after that... I had a medical evaluation the day before the briefing with some other officers, they didn't... tell us why... said we'd find out if we were chosen as the one who needed to know... but I should be there for the operation, yes. I.. uhm... look forwards to working with you, I suppose..." She trails off, glancing up at the ceiling. What did they take her aside to be evaluated for, anyway..? She hadn't figured out any commonality between the women she'd been evaluated alongside...
The Lieutenant continues staring upwards, lost in thought, before a sudden question about a... certain fashion accessory pulls her attention back down.
"Oh--Uhm... it's--ah--" She stammers. Typically, her hairpin was abstract-or rather, distinct-enough for people's eyes to pass over it, so she didn't really have much of an explanation for it--which, depending on how the next few seconds of conversation went, could potentially be very bad for her.
Lilium looks back down, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Uhm... well...I've had it for a few years, ma'am. The design is... a little abstract, I think, but I.. uhm... do like how it looks..."
She tilts her head slightly to the side. Colonel Ashcroft probably isn't going to buy it--and Aurora was looking directly at the pin now--but it was... good enough of an explanation to start, at least..?
"I'd have one in gold, but it'd have more... direct connotations... and I'd also look like that League propaganda girl, uh... Lacus Clyne, I think..?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"There are many militaries," Emily begins, "that have learned the hard way that no digital system is ever totally secure. The more you computerise, the wider the attack surfaces get. It's why nobody who knows their tradecraft uses cars with too much software in them."
A mysterious medical evaluation. Emily is familiar with that kind of business. It's part of her specialty, actually. Are they trying to fill out the Newtype Corps with loyal officers from the regular forces instead of custom-made soldiers? It's the way Neo-Zeon did it in 88. Take volunteers with prior experience who have proven trustworthy. Then again, it seems none of them have been told what the exams are for, yet.
It need not be said that Aurora knows what mysterious medical exams usually mean. She's privy to some of the NUNE backstage regarding that kind of thing, considering she's one of the subjects of that medical business. She may have been raised into it, moulded over years from test subject to weapon, but if Lilium undergoes the same process... Her blue eyes fix themselves on Lilium, and behind the fishbowl-wetness is... sympathy?
Emily asks, and Lilium launches into... justifications? She's trying to pass it off somehow. Like it's something that could turn out very bad for her if someone recognised it and drew a particular inference... and then Lilium invokes the issue. She'd have one in the traditional colors, but the connotations would be too direct. The paper-thin alternative explanation relating to Lacus can be mostly discarded.
Call it what it is: Lilium has marked herself with the emblem of the Titans. Emily raises an eyebrow. "Direct... connotations, you say, Lieutenant? For wearing that particular emblem in gold?" A dismissive wave of the hand. "You're not in trouble, I should say, first of all. But I do think that emblem looks familiar."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Nodding understandingly (or at least trying to look understanding), Lilium mulls this over. It would be bad if hostile actors could get into their information, still, though... "...You'd think they could... no, putting a flash drive in non-networked computers would be... less efficient, somehow..." She says. Her head tilts slightly to the side as Aurora's eyes shift.. downwards from the scrutinised accessory to her face? She wasn't quite sure how to interpret the look in her eyes... maybe she just felt bad about her having to go through an evaluation. Still, though, she'd gotten to sit out... whatever that odd terror attack in Ireland was because of it...
"W.. well.. it's not exactly the same, ma'am... it's the same elements... more or less... different shaped bird, the proportions on the star are a little different... most people don't really look twice at it..." She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment. "Even most... earthnoids my age try to forget that that symbol meant something very different for a couple years to what it's usually associated with now..." She unfolds one hand from behind her back, reaching up to remove the barrette and hold it out in front of her. Lilium's gaze falls upon it. She remains silent for a moment.
"I took to actually wearing it on a day to day basis around when the Sabers first got formed. It's... a reminder, I suppose. Of the people we're standing on the shoulders of. The things we can learn."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Cryptic as it is, Aurora's gaze still tries to communicate... something. A shared experience that Lilium doesn't share, could never understand. Never? Don't be so sure about that. The Newtype labs still exist. It's not too late to be reforged...
"It's different, to be sure. The proportions. But I recognise it all the same, and I think most Earthnoids who were in the military back then would, too. It's not a common symbol these days, and there are many people it can cause... difficulties with. You acted like you were about to get in trouble for it being recognised... but you were still wearing it every day." Emily looks at the barrette, eyes deep with musings, sitting in Lilium's palm.
"The shoulders we're standing on, huh... When you talk about learning from the past... what do you think we can learn? There are many opinions on that out there" An earnest, interested-sounding question. This is a teacher asking a student a question on the material.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium tilts her head slightly to the side, glancing back at Aurora. Whatever she's trying to communicate to her, that's... not a language she speaks. Right now, anyway. Who knows what the future holds for her...
"I.. well... suppose that's true, ma'am... and--it hasn't really been recognised before... or at least acknowledged..?" She thinks for a few moments, staring down at the hairpin in her hand. "Well... it does look good on me, I think..."
She thinks for a moment on the question. "Well... There's a few things... uhm... What we should... avoid, if possible... How to keep the people on our side..." Her gaze turns to the map, settling on Side 1 for a moment. "The things that will, absolutely, make the Earth Sphere see us as more of a threat to peace than guardians of it... which would prompt them to raise replacement enforcers of the peace... which would.. well... it wouldn't work out well for us, or... the tactics we would end up using at that point..."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Attempt at outreach failing, the cryptic gaze ceases. She will understand, if she is chosen. (Aurora has decided to get closer to her before then.)
Ashcroft gives her appraisal of the barrette. "Hm. That's true. It does suit you."
Emily nods as Lilium unknowingly gives her a dressing-down about why the organisation she was ready to dedicate her life to crumbled beneath her feet. Her eyes follow to the map, too. Nervous girl. Nervous, but... it seems she knows her stuff. "Mistakes were certainly made, back then. Seems like you have a good handle on them. Any points in particular you'd like to raise, about what you would have done differently? Hindsight is 20/20, yes, but the past is still useful." She leans forwards slightly, eyes glinting with interest. Maybe this woman would have been a teacher if her life had gone differently.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Aurora's gaze departs, and she passes out of Lilium's attention. For the moment, at least. The Lieutenant's gaze instead turns back down to the barrette. She closes her hand around it, just slightly.
"Well... I can't say I have the qualifications to make decisions on that level... at all, but... if we look at what of the historical record is publicly available, the first... misstep that I can think of a way to avoid would be... showing up to the Hell uprising earlier. I think. There weren't enough visible moves towards what the public would call 'Keeping the Peace' outside of... well, riot suppression, which is... its own issue... if they'd shown up to that earlier, I think they would've been able to maintain the positive public opinion they had on Earth longer... I remember being a little girl, seeing them on the TV... they were real heroes to us for a while, you know?" She sighs wistfully, her eyes falling closed as she thinks back. "Kids in my generation... the first thing half of us remember is seeing Sydney vanish from the map, live on TV. I can't speak for anyone older than that, but we were always going to support the heroes of Earth who promised to stop the sky falling again. the other half, though... the first thing they remember is Mazinger Z, I think. If the forces necessary to end the uprising quicker alongside Mazinger had been allocated, I think... a lot of the bad press from what happened in Side 1 might have been mitigated."
She glances to Emily for a moment, reopening her eyes. "Beyond that we start to get into... well, the AEUG conflict... and that's where everything I know becomes conjecture, most of those records are still sealed. I can't say treating the AEUG as a hostile force was a mistake, exactly... but when the hostile force ends up outlasting you and eventually winning the war against the enemy you were supposed to fight--for a time, at least--then I think... something has gone badly wrong. Maybe it was whichever organisation destroyed Jaburo that realigned things. Maybe it was... whatever happened to Hong Kong that shifted things. Failing to stop the attempted colony drop on Granada, and leaving it to the AEUG to mitigate... and that's if you don't believe some of the more... we'll say debated accounts of that incident... if any of those are true, the the only lesson I could draw from it is 'we shouldn't do that, ever'."
Lilium opens her hand again, staring forlornly at the symbol it contained.
"Of course, the AEUG weren't exactly perfect heirs to the mantle, after... whatever happened around Gryps caused it to be passed to them--I don't know if they even tried to prevent the Dublin drop, I... I could see that one from my bedroom window... nothing fired at the colony until it landed... the only reason that archipelago is even still there is Neo Zeon dropped it too slowly to do much damage... I probably would've... gone with it, if they really went for it... I don't know if the old organisation would've handled that better if it had lasted longer in the form it maintained, but if it was what it was meant to be... what I hope we are..."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Again, Emily listens to Lilium's analysis with keen interest. "To make decisions on that level, maybe. But there's no harm in conjecture. The expected trajectory of an enlisted officer is upwards, after all." She leans back again, clearly reminiscing."All good points, I think. I remember the Hell incident... trying to task any EFF resources at all towards ending the threat at home was like pulling teeth, unless that threat was a Cyclops or wore a Skirt." The colonel uses old reporting names here. Ones Lilium probably doesn't recognise... but she hopes she does. "Some days, I felt like I was the only one who cared. I may be biased here, but I'd say you're right."
Sydney has an effect on Emily's tour of remembrance... and Aurora's, too. Faces turn pensive. A slight pallor comes over the room, like the shadows have deepened somehow. It passes, though.
Col. Ashcroft rests her hands on her desk, steepling them. "Yes, something definitely went wrong. For a group of rebels, basically, to outlast what were supposed to be Earth's finest and then go on to win their own war... It speaks to a mistake on the part of the side that was supposed to have the advantage. "On the topic of Jaburo... this is one of the things sealed in those records." Emily looks from side to side, conspiratorially. "It was destroyed by the Titans. Bask Om's idea. Instead of defending the base against the AEUG's assault, draw them inside by losing it on purpose, then detonate a nuke. Kill them all including the defenders, who naturally were not told anything. The result: the AEUG discovered the bomb. Most casualties from the nuke were the defenders, trampling each other in their attempt to evacuate as fast as humanly possible. There weren't enough transports to take all of them... What used to be the Federation's most resilient base was destroyed, all in an attempt to kill... Char Aznable, basically. Kamille Bidan was there, but not famous enough for this kind of... desperate assassination."
"Maybe things went wrong when that carelessness became the dominant attitude."
Lilium mentions her own experience with a colony drop and gets sympathetic looks from both of the other people in the office. It's not a 'you poor thing' look. This is an experience she and Aurora DO share. Everyone in this room has received the same scar, from similar events.
The colonel takes a moment to close her eyes and rest. After a few seconds, she continues.
"Dublin... Dublin was a result of negligence, basically. The EFF's policy at that time was one of lethargy. Some of it was the fault of the previous rebellion dividing our forces and turning them against each other. Some of it, I choose to blame on New Desides choosing then to launch their rebellion. However, the high officers at the time weren't exactly willing to fight Haman's zeeks over it. They were almost rolling over for her at the time." She rolls her eyes. "They were content to leave the fighting to the AEUG. Maybe they were hoping the Anti Earth Union bloc would spend itself completely in that fight."
"What I hope we are is an organisation that WOULD have been able to deal with it. We ought to be able to learn from the mistakes of the past here... considering our mandate is no different." Emily closes with an open identification of the Gaia Sabers to the Titans in a postive way, waiting to see Lilium's response.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Listening to the Colonel's response to her analysis of... well, the publicly available version of events, Lilium nods along quietly. "I suppose it is, ma'am... still, there's a curve to it, and I'm on the lower end at the moment..." She tilts her head slightly to the side. A cyclops would be... well, any Zeon mobile weapon, she supposed... She wasn't quite sure about the Skirts, though. Sometime she heard people on the BatoOpe forums refer to... Dom-types that way... maybe because of the legs? The waist area was about average for a late 0070s mobile weapon, though... "I... suppose that'd be a priority, yes... and Zeon Remnant conflicts would make the news less, unless they happened near a populated area... still, though..." The Lieutenant manages a weak smile as she's very slightly praised. Well. Sort of praised. Approved of, at least. "Ah--thank you, ma'am.."
$r Lilium glances down at the floor slightly in that uncomfortable moment, giving it time to pass. She shudders, almost invisibly. Even if it was just grainy television footage, she still saw it...
She lowers the hand containing the barrette to her side for the moment, looking down over the mountain of paperwork. "I.. would say so, ma'am, yes--" She begins, before being cut off by the imminent revelation of confidential knowledge. "I--If that's something you're cleared to disclose, ma'am-" Her eyes widen slightly. She turns slightly pale, and the grip on the hairpin in her hand tightens. "I.. I... see. Tactically, I... see the logic, but... strategically..." She thinks for a moment. "This would have been... was JOSH-A built yet at that point..?" She asks, her mind conveniently ignoring the equally suspect circumstances that JOSH-A had been destroyed under. "Even with a replacement, though, the losses in defenders... that's... not really... all to kill one man? Who I can't imagine they could be positive would show up? Even if he was... well, if they had got him, it would've... they couldn't have known what he'd do later, though..." She blinks, circling back around to something. "...Ma'am. I don't know if this is just something that's not in the specific declassified records I've read, but... who... exactly was Kamille Bidan? It's not a name I've heard before... I assume he was important to the later stages of the war, the... more classified ones..."
"She frowns slightly more, nodding her head. "Aye, ma'am... that would do it..."
Lilium's grip on her hairpin weakens during the moment of rest. She had decided to take this path for a reason, after all, even if that wasn't the direct cause...
"Ah... That would make sense. I don't... really know much about the Pezun rebellion, beyond that it happened during the first Neo Zeon war. It does make sense that it didn't help, though... still. An entire colony is pretty... large... even if the fighting was left to the AEUG, surely they could have seen it before it reached the terminal point? If they managed to..." She trails off, sighing faintly. "-They were? After... spending the past.. what, five years centering the military around a dedicated anti-Zeon task force? That seems... counter-productive..? I suppose politically trying to exhaust both of the other forces makes sense, but in practical terms, that's..."
She shakes her head. "I don't know if that's a decision I would make, if I were... in the position to make it. Still, I suppose I'd be a different person if I was."
She nods along slowly to Emily's closing statement, taking the Barrette back up from her side to stare down at it. They could do this right, this time. "I completely agree, ma'am. We've made... positive strides in that direction, I think."
Lilium fastens the barrett back into her hair, folding her hands behind her back once again. "Collaborative deployments against criminal elements alongside Cathedra have, for the most part, given us a lot of good press, and... even if we've had... missteps..."-Lilium's mind, despite her best efforts, turns to the operation against the PLANTs. So many young lives, so many dead. All for a decoy, for an operation that was ended in an instant the second it truly started by a 'Hero' who couldn't be bothered to show up on time to declare the mission illegal-"I believe the actions we've taken have, at least to some extent, reassured the people of Earth that we're taking actions in response to the attempted colony drop--and the Vajra joint strike soon should secure us... well, remind the people around Earth of who the Earth Sphere's main protectors are."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"I have... discretion in what I'm cleared to disclose, should it be relevant." Emily isn't quite sure why she brought THAT up, about the nuke, but... it felt like the right time, somehow. Look at her getting the past dragged out of her! "It's strictly my conjecture that the plan was to kill Char. It's the best fit for the actual goal, but it's entirely possible they were sacrificing the base to kill 'a large number of the AEUG's main strike forces'. I wasn't on the planning commitee for THAT one," she snorts. "Kamille Bidan is... hm, I thought he would be more famous." Perhaps it's strictly Newtype Lab lore? "The pilot of the infamous Zeta Gundam. An extremely dangerous ace pilot, and a powerful Newtype. By the end of the war, there were people who blamed him personally for the outcome." Emily is among them. She doesn't explicitly say she was among the people who lsot that war, but... her attitude certainly isn't AEUG, and she isn't trying to lie about it at this point. "A single Newtype doesn't win wars alone, but there is a disturbing tendency for lucky recruitments to define conflicts in the second half of the Universal Century's first... century." That's why she invested in Cyber-Newtypes, after all. An Aurora Dusk can't quite match a Kamille Bidan, but it's their best shot.
Lilium clearly isn't a fan of the decision to sacrifice Dublin, and neither was Emily. She rotates on it. "They were..." She chooses her next words. "...weak. They didn't have the stomach to fight for our home, because they imagined they would just let it happen and move on with their lives. It's the same reasoning behind giving Char Fifth Luna. They gave up and rolled over because to them, the menace of Axis was a problem for their lessers to worry about. "
"I agree. We've made better decisions this time around... for the most part." Emily casts her mind back to the Nukes. Probably their worst mistake so far. They played their hand, played it poorly and then Dyma forced them to fold after showing it. "Most of us have learned from the past. It seems like you have, too." She smiles approvingly.
"Cathedra might give us trouble sometimes politically, but... joint operations have worked so far, and I'm pushing for more to be done about the Vajra, too. We won't ignore that threat like Hell."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
"...Aye, ma'am. I suppose that makes sense..." Lilium says, nodding her head once again. "Right... Viewed through that lens, it makes a little more sense... if they thought that was going to be most of the AEUG... the entire staff of Jaburo, though..?" She tilts her head to one side, thinking about the Zeta. "--Oh, huh. I always heard the pilot of Target Zeta was a woman... Maybe that was a cover story..?" She muses. "The newtypism... well, that makes sense... it's not my field.. at.. all, but... I can't exactly deny the concept, at this point." She'd seen something happen to Axis--everyone had. What it meant, she couldn't say, but she knew it meant something. "Still, though... if the Titans"-it's the first time she's said the name out loud, not that she notices-"might have been willing to destroy Jaburo just to possibly stop Char... I could see them making... other adverse decisions in the face of a newer, potentially more dangerous central figure." She thinks for a moment. "...Although I'm not sure if I can think of any events I know of in the latter half of the conflict that would fit that description, thinking about it."
Lilium's mind wanders back to the Zeta Gundam. She'd seen footage of it, hadn't she..? The cockpit hatch was open, there was... a woman in the cockpit... light blue hair, she thought... star pattern on the normal suit..? Maybe Kamille Bidan was just particularly effeminate. "I suppose that trend has... continued, based on what little I heard about the Singularity Incident from Cathedra..."
The Lieutenant nods her head once again, thinking back to what she'd seen happen on the next island over from her home--what she'd seen almost happen in the skies above, and only witnessed being prevented by some strange miracle. "That makes... sense, ma'am. I suppose that's why we don't have the Federation anymore."
"And--thank you, ma'am." Lilium manages a slightly more prominent smile at the more direct approval."
"They've seemed pretty useful from where I've been standing... We can definitely do more good by cooperating with them, at least. And--I'd hope we don't ignore the Vajra... do you think they'll be able to allocate that many more forces to the Lagos operation, ma'am..?" Lilium asks, genuinely.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Unfortunately, here ends Emily's Zeta-Lore. "I know Bidan retired at some point. That woman might be his replacement?" She shrugs. "I don't have the AEUG's records."
Bad decisions made from Kamile aggro. Lilium doesn't know, she Doesn't Know. Aurora knows something Lilium doesn't! The hint of childish glee at that may or may not be detectable as Aurora raises her hand. "I can think of at least two." Then, she seems to think better of it. They're already spilling their guts here. Best not to start asking 'have you heard of this obscure Cyber-Newtype that we know about for Reasons' right now. Not to the Uninitiated.
Emily definitely notices when Lilium finally says the name. Fortunately, the door is closed now. Nobody can hear their discussion. Not that many of the Sabers don't already sympathise the way they do.
Yes, that's why the Federation is gone. "The widest supra-national union in the history of Earth... almost gone down the drain just like that. Let's hope we can preserve our unity." Emily is bitter about that. She dedicated her life to her cause, and it is not the place of... pencil-pushers and bleeding hearts to ruin her hard work.
Lilium asks about the Vajra, and Ashcroft has a response. "I've been working on getting resource allocation. There have been... a few difficulties. Not as bad as with Dr. Hell, and I have the rank to make sure this happens, though. On that note... your notes, and your question about Fold Quartz as a resource to be controlled." Emily leans forwards again, gloved hands on the table in front of her. "I'd rather the Space Assembly League... more so ZAFT... get as little of it as possible, but we need to balance this diplomatically with our own goals. The right way forwards may be to insist on keeping as large a share as we can get away with. Failing that, there's no need to prioritise the survival of the Fold Quartz. We can always conduct independent operations." Emily stops her musing to give Lilium time to respond. The Lieutenant's opinions seem worth hearing, and she'll be on the task force anyway, she thinks.
Aurora has her own question for Lilium, speaking up in a lull in the conversation. "What... kinds of medical ex-" -periments- she shakes her head "-exams?" she asks quietly, watching keenly with those blue eyes. The same as the Colonel's... is that significant?
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
"That... could be it, I suppose... The footage I've seen was post-titans collapse... depending on when he dropped out... mhm, it makes sense."
Lilium tilts her head to the side slightly as Aurora raises--and then immediately lowers--her hand. She stares for a moment, before shaking her head--Whatever records Aurora had been shown, they were probably... further above her paygrade than even the things she was being told now. "...Oh, huh." Is all she says, leaving the door closed as it seems to be.
Lilium frowns slightly, but nods. "Well... We've still got most of it unified... as you say, we've just got to keep it that way." Lilium was too young to truly dedicate herself to the federation before the writing was on the wall, but she was still technically enlisted in a federation military before the collapse. It still stung. Still, NUNE having as much of the federation as it did right off the bat was better than nothing...
Oh, good. They were getting more resources. "Ah.. thank you, ma'am. Anything would help..." She folds her hands behind her back into each other... slightly more in response to Emily leaning in, standing up just a little straighter. "...Yes, that... makes sense... I'm not sure I'd want to know what they'd do with it..." She thinks back to the briefing, shuddering slightly. "We could get away with destroying more of it than might be preferred by the mercenaries--aiming center mass on Vajra with a GN beam weapon should do it, if I understand the theory behind the ones we use correctly? As far as collecting it for ourselves goes, I suppose... Hm. I can't see the mercenaries trying to take the quartz from our confirmed kills... the SAL I'm not so sure about. If they do try to block us from obtaining it in turn, performing our own anti-Vajra operations might be prudent, yes."She thinks for a moment, once again. "Of course, we need to not increase tensions with the League during the operation itself..."
Aurora's questioning catches her somewhat off-guard. The Lieutenant tilts her head to the side slightly at that--oddly timed pause midsentence (Did Aurora talk like that at the briefing? She didn't remember her having a stutter...), but probably not of any significance--likewise, the similar blue in Aurora and Emily's eyes was... probably nothing. Or something she really shouldn't dig into... The Colonel was (probably?) old enough, but...
Lilium shakes her head. "-Oh... I'm not sure. DNA samples, apparently... I'm not sure what they were testing for... They wheeled out an old... the markings on it said 'Flash System'?" She strains to remember the specifics. "Some kind of compatibility test for... something. Then they made us do... well, guessing games... what card was drawn next... What number is the doctor thinking of... I think they took a sample of antibodies, for some reason..." That part puzzled Lilium a lot. It was something about... 'Implant Rejection'? "They also... I didn't ask why, but they took records of our voices... emulations of different musical notes... they were comparing them to some baseline. It was... odd."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Lilium speaks, and Aurora takes notes. Emily throws something out there: "Once we write up our plan of attack, make sure it notes your contributions. I think they deserve recognition." The Lieutenant is the type who, if they live, will likely go far.
Aurora... Emily too, but this mainly concerns Aurora- listens closely to Lilium's explanation. This settles what they were looking for, she thinks. Flash system. Implants. Zener cards. ...Music? "They didn't tell you any of the results?" She tilts her head. "Did you get... anything out of them?" Aurora knows Newtype tests. They were her childhood. Lilium is being scouted.
A shame, Emily thinks. Maybe the Lieutenant will survive the process intact, or maybe she won't be found a suitable subject. She crosses her fingers under the desk. It's always nice to have more Newtypes, but the process of enhancement can be... destructive, sometimes. Still, Lilium is probably the best candidate for an effective enhanced solider, if she's already such a good officer.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Nodding her head, Lilium gives a quick salute. "Aye, ma'am. I'll... be sure to get that into there." If the Colonel thinks they should be recorded, then they should be recorded.
Lilium shrugs, turning to stare out the window after lowering her hand. "...They said they'd need to run the 'eligible candidates' past a public relations team and... image coach..? I really don't know what that was about..." She sighs, thinking back to the strange examinations. Come to think of it, the doctors had also been looking pretty closely at the parts of their full-body scans that showed the... vocal cords? Voicebox? Larynx? Whatever they were surveying for, she hoped they'd gotten enough data from the test group...
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora still isn't quite sure what the vocal stuff is for... Wait. Ranka? Is it Ranka-related? Are they trying to make her Ranka? "...Do you think that means you're one of the eligible candidates?"
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
"I... Don't know. They didn't say if any of us were... just that if they needed us back, we'd be given orders. If anything comes of it, it'll... supposedly come down the line after the Lagos operation..." Lilium continues to stare out the window. Other than all being women, the other subjects had... there must have been some common trait they shared..?
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"Okay." Aurora nods. They'll know what happens to Lilium... after Lagos. Maybe she'll be joining the Newtype Corps. Aurora doesn't know if that's a good thing. She knows first-hand how... painful it can be. What it means for your life as a 'human' from then on. And yet.
Part of her is excited to get a new comrade.
"Well, I think we've discussed enough for one day. Dismissed, Lieutenant. Lieutenants." Emily salutes, noting Aurora's interest. It's natural, she thinks. There's no need to yank the leash back. "It looked like you wanted to talk some more." She gives Aurora a knowing look.
Aurora turns to follow Lilium when she leaves.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium returns the salute, before turning about on one heel. "Aye, ma'am. I'll be going, then."
She strides out of the office, holding the door open for Aurora once she reaches the exit. "Oh, after you?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora follows her out of the office. She doesn't really have anywhere in mind, and she's not sure how to start the conversation. So, she sits there silently hoping the atmosphere of distant introversion isn't too much of a turn-off.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium, for her part, has surprisingly little experience talking to girls in her own age group. She rubs the back of her head, closing the door behind her. "So... uh... do you want to go to the... I think there's a mess hall about three buildings over..?"
Something like that, anyway. She doesn't remember the precise distances, but she's sure it's signposted.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Good enough! Aurora has poor social skills and doesn't really talk to "unmulched children in her age bracket". "...sure. Let's go." She falls in behind Lilium.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium leads on, heading off in the general direction of where she's... pretty sure the mess hall is....
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Lilium takes a wrong turn, and Aurora points her in the direction of the mess hall. "It's. That way."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium blinks, then blinks again, before turning in the direction Aurora was pointing, faintly blushing from embarassment. "O.. oh.. right.. sorry."