2025-01-29: Onboarding
- Log: 2025-01-30: Onboarding
- Cast: Aurora Dusk, Eight Orlodhari (as Lanra Gavarre)
- Where: AEU Belgium
- OOC - IC Date: January 29th, UC 0100
- Summary: Lanra Gavarre meets a junior officer that the Aion is likely to be working with in future - a Cyber-Newtype. They discuss things.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Everybody who was paying attention expected more conflicts, more rising tensions, more war. The general opinion was "things are going to get more violent around here", with "around here" covering somewhere between all NUNE owned territory to out to Mars, depending on who exactly you asked. So it was only a little surprising when Durandal made his announcement, at first.
Nobody expected the contents of that announcement, though. Dropping a hit list of LOGOS's finest while announcing an illegal movement of troops onto a NUNE border base - NUNE's representatives would like for you to focus on how illegal Durandal's actions were here, and not their own nation's long list of illegal actions, but that's what Veda is for.
The base at Belgium - more so the Belgium-France border, isn't in as much of a panic as Heaven's Base was a few days ago, but it's still close enough to Gibraltar to be a hub of activity. The Aion is picking up a girl with an introverted, faraway look in her eyes (a pilot) to join them for various patrols. It should be easy to find her.
Sure enough, here she is. A girl with an introverted, faraway look in her eyes and a neutral expression. This is Aurora Dusk, the Cyber-Newtype. "Commander." She greets Lanra and anyone else walking with her in the same professional fashion she's used to.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Hearing about the matter of LOGOS and Blue Cosmos was a blow. Commander Lanra Gavarre still isn't entirely sure how she feels, but her Captain had a lot of good things to say about the matter--and about the necessity now of staying stable. ...She's thinking about it.
The thing to focus on indeed is the movement of troops. Not questions of whether or not and how much Kathras Fari knew or knows.
But Lanra is alone save for her base escort, who shows her the way towards their destination on the base. When they aprrive--
There she is.
"Lieutenant," she greets in return, professionally and then with a crisp nod. She looks to her escort. "I can take it from here," she assures the man, who salutes. "Yes, ma'am."
This is not a base unfamiliar to Lanra.
"I came to meet you," Lanra says, which is obvious but is the basis of their conversation. "I take it you've already been brought up to speed on your new placement? When we reach the ship you'll be shown to your quarters." She hands over some papers. "Keep these on-hand."
"Any questions?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
The reveal of Logos wasn't really a big deal to Aurora. She already knew most of it. Her position either requires being read in on these things or provides opportunities to overhear naturally. Amazing what people say when they don't think anyone who counts as a person is listening to them... also amazing what an 'instructor' with a fondness for drunken complaining can tell you.
Commander Gavarre seems like she's been to to this base before, and the accent certainly sounds like it belongs. Ah, she's been posted here before. Is that it? Aurora does tend to notice these things. Comes with the territory when one of your hats is "counterintelligence". It may be mostly a euphemism, but still.
Aurora takes the offered papers, inspecting them. She nods to Lanra's question about her placement, and the order to keep the papers with her. She knows how papers work. (She always keeps her ID on her.) "Is anyone else joining us?" she asks. Internally, she wonders how much Gavarre has been briefed on, concerning who she is. Not everyone she works with is told, even if not everything is top top secret. She looks around, almost habitually checking the surroundings and the people that inhabit them. It's a habit useful to many of her "jobs".
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
She sure has! Lanra is from AEU Belgium; this is where she got some of her initial training, just for the fact that it was the closest to home.
The papers are mostly just basic onboarding things, as well as an explanation of ship's rules on things like billets and cafeteria. It's normal stuff for a new job. But it also includes her official orders--the ones that people were willing to commit to paper, anyway.
She looks over Aurora for a moment. For her part, Lanra's white hair and uniform are both perfect. For Aurora's case, she looks.
"No," she says. "The Captain will see you after you're on board the ship, but I've been placed in charge of ensuring you settle in."
A pause. "...Given your unique position and needs."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora herself is from the Maine region of the Britannian mainland. She thinks of herself as Britannian, for what that's worth. Hometown: Augusta, for obvious reasons. Class of '84 or so.
She absorbs the ship rules. She already knew the parts about her official orders. Join the Aion mobile suit complement on routine patrols. She's not actually totally sure herself why her and why this specifically. Maybe it was convenient to deploy from the Aion for this patrol?
Aurora looks back at Lanra. The crisp image of a naval officer. Spacal? Eh, the Aion goes between. She idly wonders for a second if the Aion can float. Maybe the difference between hovering just above the water and floating on it doesn't matter... For her part, Aurora's teal hair is as quasi-messy as it usually is, and her blue eyes are shimmering. She's wearing the pink uniform jacket that was in style during First Bloody Valentine, but not the skirt. Her uniforms are usually tailored for 0-G movement, so they usually include pants or tights or something of the sort. Aurora is the quiet type, at least when she first meets people, but she isn't a nervous wreck. At most, she's the type of shy you get when you don't really know how to approach someone.
There are a few iconic Britannian accents and Aurora doesn't really have any of them. Tends to only come out when she sings. Being identifiably From There isn't always convenient to her other job.
'Unique position and needs.' Aurora nods in response. Ah, that makes sense. Aurora is familiar with the idea of having a minder. Most enhanced pilots get that kind of thing on assignments. Someone whose job it is to make sure they don't get themselves into trouble. (That's not quite Lanra's full time job description, but it's what Aurora knows from her experience.) She withdraws a bottle of pills from a convenient pocket and lightly shakes it to demonstrate that she has it. "I keep my medication with me everywhere I go." Lanra isn't immediately bombarding her with questions, which is... well, not everyone is invasive, not everyone cares to know. Is she familiar with the concept, she wonders? She remembers Flay not really being interested in asking any questions... where is Flay lately, anyway?
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Lanra has read Aurora's file. Not all of it is available to her, of course--but a good portion is, and more than enough to know about... Augusta. It is not entirely comfortable, but the knowledge of what they must do for peace and order is something she's had for some time.
Messy hair, shimmering eyes... Cute pink jacket. But Lanra's seen her in action. Lanra does have a skirt on, but she does have tights on too.
"GOod," Lanra says of the medication. "That's important."
Lanra does not immediately bombard her with questions, no, but she does think about it. She considers a little furthr--and then gestures, to indicate that they should start walking in a given direction.
"I know what the paperwork says that you need," she says, in her neat, precise accent. "And you will have it. Is there anything else?" It is not just that she is a delicate asset, admittedly.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Perhaps it's a blessing to Aurora that she's been a lab rat since the age of 3.
She doesn't know what she'd have been missing.
Yes, she does look fairly cute, doesn't she? It's not like she's trying to deliberately mislead people, this is just how she looks. Some people find the quiet atmosphere endearing, somehow. That's not on purpose either, she's just like that. (There are people who are trained to be like that, she knows. Maybe there are even people who train hard to look the particular kind of reticent she is.)
Aurora nods. Yes, the medication is important. She's had that drilled into her head the same way children with deathly allergies have it drilled in. It's not quite THAT bad, to be fair - she'd live if she ran out - but running out is always associated with pain. She makes sure to always have a few days supply on her at all times.
The Commander gestures and Aurora naturally follows alongside and slightly behind her, so they can talk. "No," there isn't anything else. Admittedly on Aurora's part, she doesn't really know what to talk about with someone she's only met... once before. "...Do you have any questions? About..." anything, really, that she's cleared to tell her.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Gavarre is aware of the 'counterintelligence' angle, and she is not the one who has to worry the most about that.
But no questions on Aurora's part, so that means, "Hmmmm," Lanra considers. It would be fine military discipline to walk in silence, of course. But she decides to say first, "I will not pry into your history," she says, lifting her head. "No more than I would any other soldier. That is how you shall be treated aboard the Aion--as another pilot. Except for what your needs require, you should expect no special treatment."
A pause. "But very well, I do."
"Have you been to this region before? ...It is particularly lovely, if you have the chance to go on leave here. There is much to recommend it."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
To be frank, Aurora is fine when people don't worry about it when they don't have to. (People who have to worry about it not worrying is no end of frustrating, however. She's never been an office worker except for those couple of times, but she knows the pain of having a task that depends on someone doing their due diligence who just... doesn't.) In cases like her brother's it's great that he doesn't sweat his sister's actual job. It won't matter once they win, anyway. There'll be less work, probably.
Military discipline is something she knows too. Admittedly, her movements don't usually snap the same way people usually do when faced with a drill sergeant, but most soldiers usually aren't that crisp anyway. (It's been a while since she's had to answer to a drill sergeant. The last time might have been at the Crucible.) She listens to Lanra's explanation and nods. "Understood." Being treated as something apart from the other pilots doesn't always go well.
"I've been to the France part of the border... but I don't think I've been in Belgium. I'll keep it in mind if I get enough leave... but considering recent events, I think there's going to be a lot of work soon." Aurora is usually busy, to be fair. "Is there anywhere in particular you recommend?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Lanra Gavarre is particularly disciplined. It's part of why she hasn't shown any discomfort with Aurora, now that she knows more of the truth of who and what she is, even after the battles she saw her through before. But it's also why she is able to act so smoothly and confidently.
Understood, she says. And that's good.
"There is much to see in Belgium," Lanra answers. "But I come from Anvers--Antwerpen," she switches to the Dutch pronunciation. "I am obviously biased in this direction."
A pause. "You ar right, though. I expect much work to come. Your skills and talents will be needed. Order... seems farther away than it ever was, now."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora responds well to a lack of discomfort. All of this is business as usual. It is for her.
"Anvers, Antwerpen." Aurora tests the pronounciation herself and gets it mostly right. "I'll check it out. I'm from Maine... the seaside is nice," she says slightly awkwardly.
Again, she nods. Aurora has a very particular set of skills and talents... okay, a very broad one, but her specialty is spec ops nonsense, and her skill at killing people has been needed for years now. Said skills and talents were hard earned. All in the name of bringing order and peace... Wasn't that the colonel's goal? Right. That's what all of this has been for. An end to the constant conflict. (Is that even possible?) "Mm. Things developed fast, and I was already doing a lot of work."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Business as usual. It may as well be. But how much business as usual can progress under circumstances like these?
From Maine... "Ah, Britannia," Lanra nods. "The Captain is from Britannia. Though he lived in colonies for some time." The pronounciation is good enough!
"...True," Gavarre allows as to doing a lot of work. "I hope that they remember to give you some breaks. A pilot cannot live on duty alone. ...Not that duty isn't important. It's the most important. But in order to fulfill it, you must be able to live. Those who do not live cannot carry out what is required of them."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora is a little awkward in the midst of the post-Durandal chaos, true. But she's used to shakeups. She cruises through them with an almost fatalist attitude. Probably a side effect of her life up until now. What happens, happens.
"Mm. Nation of Britannia, province of Maine, city of Augusta," she recites. "Him too? I've been in the colonies a lot." For work, naturally.
"I'm used to it," Aurora says. "...but I do wish I got more breaks," she adds quietly. "The colonel talks about that, sometimes. Sometimes you have to rest to be able to keep going. Otherwise, you burn out." Unfortunately, Ashcroft doesn't really take breaks. "I'll keep it in mind."@emit Aurora is a little awkward in the midst of the post-Durandal chaos, true. But she's used to shakeups. She cruises through them with an almost fatalist attitude. Probably a side effect of her life up until now. What happens, happens.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Yes," she says. "He was part of Londo Bell, before most of Londo Bell defected. He didn't; he stayed loyal."
A pause. Breaks... "Well, we'll do what we can on that front," she says. "No special treatment, but your Colonel is correct. If we burn out our pilots, they cannot perform their duty. An army that runs through soldiers so freely will not last long... Especially not with the resources that we have lost."
A pause. "Good. In that case; the ship is not far away."
A pause. She considers asking after the Colonel, but... "We are all used to a world that is not as it should be. But we shall do our best, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
The Londo Bell defection was a shakeup, but Aurora wasn't there for it firsthand. Privately, she wonders about Eight.
"Yes. We'll do our best." Aurora continues following Lanra to the ship.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Now, once on the ship, I'll be putting you in the hands of Ensign Carallo," she says, "Who will show you to your new quarters and..."
Lanra gets back to business, for the moment. But she has a lot she wonders about this girl that she's not willing to just come out and ask. No... about this pilot.
it's not fair to call her a mere girl under the circumstances, is it?
Her, and... her outbursts, in that battle...