2022-12-19: Inquiry

• Log: 2022-12-19: Inquiry
• Cast: Leina Ashta, Nastasha Zabigov (NPCed)
• Where: On a Cool Space Pirate Vessel for Cool Space Pirates
• Date: U.C. 0096 12 19
• Summary: Leina faces the consequences for a Mithril Base being destroyed after taking responsibility for that.

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Leina Ashta found that she didn't feel that anxious about what was about to happen. It was already a given that she'd let Sayla down. Her punishment was an afterthought to her compared to that.

The loss of a Mithril Base in Khanka is one she accepted full responsibility for, and despite the crisis, an investigation was conducted.

Floating into the First Mate's office of a ship, Nastasha Zabigov cut a severe figure, already standing and looking at Leina through the gleam of her bespectacled eyes. "Sit down."

She commanded, and Leina directed herself to one of the chairs, saying nothing as she adjusted her posture only subtly. Nastasha tapped a rhythm into one hand with a riding crop "We have completed our investigation. Before I hand down the results I ask if you have anything to say for yourself."

Leina met her eyes unflinchingly, as she stated, "Not a thing. I take full responsibility and am ready to accept any punishment that Shuffle Leadership decides to hand down to me." Nastasha's eyes narrowed subtly, as the crop struck her other hand with an audible snap "I am disappointed in you, Spade-7."

Leina closed her eyes, and simply nodded, as Nastasha continued, "For being so ready to accept blame, when we've determined you've done nothing wrong. An innocent woman should not so quickly offer herself over to the gaol."

Leina's eyes open wide, as she gawked at Nastasha, "Wait, what do you-" "SILENCE!" The riding crop snapped again into her hand, "If you had truly erred, then readily accepting responsibility is an admirable quality - but to fall on a sword that is not even being pointed in your way? Shameful."

Nastasha turned her crop around and picked up a file in front of her, "You took up a mission that already had full clearance when its coordinator vanished, you smuggled in two individuals that the Alliance considers valuable assets to protect, you took reasonable precautions relocating them onto a site where there was adequate protection for them, without compromising the true nature of the location to either of them until it became unavoidable. By our estimation you were not careless in any of this."

She looks up over the file, eyes settling upon her, "And then you took it upon yourself to protect these assets without the proper training to do so, preventing them from falling into hands that could use them to potentially destabilize the entire Earthsphere, compromise Earthnoid/Spacenoid relations, or give rise to a third Neo-Zeon."

Closing the file, she sets it down, "The loss of a concealed base in Vladivostok to REA opportunists is regrettable, but even Mithril Leadership has deemed the loss to be negligible compared to what could have occurred had the Gundam Unicorn or Mineva Lao Zabi fallen into the wrong hands."

Leina had listened the whole time, but then her eyes drift away to the floor, "I don't want special treatment because I'm Sayla's ward."

Nastasha's footsteps were quick, as the riding crop touched the bottom of Leina's chin, lifting it up forcefully to meet her eyes once again, "Stubborn child. Are you questioning /my/ judgment? If I truly thought you had any culpability, I would not hesitate to pass down sentence - your connection to Sayla would have no bearing on that decision!"

With a pause, Nastasha lowered the crop, "If you insist on continuing in this kind of thinking we truly will have to question your judgment. I will make some allowances for your impudence as you are obviously distraught. These are trying times for all of us in the Shuffle Alliance."

Nastasha keeps trying to keep her attention, as she inquires, "So I ask you this, do you still have enough of your wits about you to serve the Alliance? Can you think in a more clear-headed manner going forward, or must we sideline you until this crisis is over?"

Leina closed her eyes for a time, and this time Nastasha didn't react, for a time all Leina did was breathe, thinking it through, then her eyes opened again, steely in the resolve showing, "I can serve. I have to step up, until she's back. Until all of them are."

Despite Nastasha's severe presentation, there was the ghost of a smile upon her lips, "Good. Then go and do so - Spade-7, no... Leina Ashta, and continue to make her and all of us proud."