2022-02-13: Meeting of the Captains

• Log: 2-13-22 Meeting of the Captains
• Cast: Lilith Aiden, Eight York
• Where: Irish-class Gwennangorn
• OOC - IC Date: February 13, 0096
• Summary: Lilith meets Eight for the first time, and gets an update on what's been going on while she's been away.

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<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

The Irish-class Gwennangorn may not have been built for comfort and instead been built for Way Too Many Mobile Suits, with Captain Lilith Aiden adding 'more guns' instead of 'more comfort', but for a ship of its size, of course it still has a nice little conference room.

Captain Eight York is escorted genially through the ship - it's different in a lot of ways from her Clop-class, which makes sense. If she has any questions on the way, they are answered neatly, politely, and without run-arounds. Once they reach the conference room, the officer leading her salutes, opens the door for her, and heads off.

Captain Lilith Aiden is already inside, sitting neatly at a small conference table, eyes closed as she meditates. She feels Eight immediately - and Eight would feel her and her calmness of mind. The table has multiple small cakes, baked to Eight's dietary restrictions, and tea of her preferred flavor.

Despite Lilith TECHNICALLY being one rank above in the command structure, and also absolutely the ranking person on the Gwennangorn, she doesn't seem to really care, and doesn't expect any formality. "Have a seat, Captain York. I hope my staff weren't too excitable." A little joke. "Pick anything you'd like off the table. Chef Jasseur was really excited to be baking for someone new, since Alma is his top 'client'."

"Unfortunately, XO Ayelock insisted on manning the bridge, so he won't be making it. It'll just be us - which is fine by me."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

There's something to be said for 'more guns' in warfare!

It is different in many ways from the Ra Mari, and she isn't particularly surprised by this. She makes light conversation along the way, asking easy enough questions about mostly technical details and a few social, such as where people tend to gather--but she is herself polite, amiable, and direct.

The tea she went for is Earl Grey--and her restrictions weren't too terrible. Mostly things like 'no alcohol' and 'avoid grapefruit juice'. Curiously enough.

But Eight does feel that calmness even before she approaches, and Eight nods back to the officer, turns to Lilith, and salutes as well. ...But she doesn't insist on a lot of formality herself, since Lilith isn't. "They were very helpful," Eight says instead. "It's good to see you."

A beat, "Sure." She does have something of a sweet tooth--but she starts with some tea, and doesn't dig into any of the cake just yet. "Well, these look great. I'll look forward to them."

It's hard to talk with your mouth full, after all. But she does take one. ...As might be expected, heavier holiday-style flavors tend to be her go-to, being from a colony like Winter Wonderland...l

"So just us, then. That works for me, too."

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Honestly, in a mischievous manner, Lilith had the cakes made so that she could talk about having a pastry chef. It prides her, a little, though it's not a big brag or anything. She IS paying for it.

Lilith also starts with the tea. The lilac-haired captain scans Eight with her eyes, now that they've had a chance to meet. She's as young as Lilith would have expected...a real Bright Noa type. But she's also an adult, so it's not like it's a real problem.

After taking a drink of her tea, Lilith speaks. "We've been away. Searching for Zeon remnant bases, as I mentioned on the common band. We've found practically nothing, unfortunately. And it's put us out of the information loop back at home. What's the situation in Londo Bell? Simple or long, whichever you prefer."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"So you really have a pastry chef?" Eight finally asks as she looks over the cakes, before looking up to Lilith again. Scanning Eight with the eyes is easy enough; she favors a regular uniform instead of the fancy coat and hat some Captains wear. She is young--twenty in about a week--but an adult solidly enough. Eight for her part is also calm, and looks to be coping well with... Well. Blood oceans.

Eight inhales the aroma of the tea before she actually drinks any, relaxing a little. And then...

"I'll start with the Zeon situation," she says at that, moving straight to business first. "The claim is that the Red Comet has returned, though I haven't met the man claiming to be him. Regardless of whether it's true, it's been something of a rallying point for Zeon remnants. What I've seen with my own eyes is that ZAFT is working with Mars Zeon--we encountered someone thinking of herself as the Lilac Gale, who was almost certainly another Zeonic experiment in Newtype technology."

"...I felt her," Eight admits, since Lilith can probably tell that she has these kinds of abilities. "It was... disturbing. But it won't prevent me or my people from fighting."

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

"I do. Alma - that is, Lieutenant Stirner - has been trying to recreate the same cakes from sixteen years ago, and if I didn't get her a chef to offload some of the stress, she'd destroy herself in the process." It's said entirely playfully - and with a lot of care from Lilith, who herself is dealing with the Blood Oceans in her own way.

As Eight explains the situation with the return of the Red Comet and the Lilac Gale, Lilith nods. "I heard about the return of the Red Comet - that was on my feeds the minute I returned - but the Lilac Gale is a new one." The comment about Cyber-Newtype technology elicits a small frown, but she politely says nothing, instead responding to the 'I felt her'. "I'm a Newtype myself - it's never comfortable in such situations. But good. We need to keep resolve."

"It's likely to be another hard fight. Even if he isn't who he says to be, he's likely to have their best technology and skills to be able to wear such a mantle." Lilith muses, hand to her chin.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

The same cakes...? Hmm. "Well!" Eight says with a little laugh. "I guess that's one way to take care of things." She hasn't really met Alma personally, but she's encountered her on the radio frequencies. It gives her a nice detail to think about anyway.

"She's appeared in at least two encounters now--one with my ship. She's maybe my age, at most." Eight doesn't press on Cyber-Newtype technology yet--But Lilith might or might not be able to make some guesses, with Eight being a Newtype and her particular set of dietary restrictions... Maybe.

"Yes, I see. I thought so." Pause. "Right."

"...Yeah. And with a symbol like that, they'll fight harder. Symbols are a lot of what they still have, after all."

"...I don't plan to take anything Zeon lightly, regardless."

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

If Lilith has figured she's a Cyber-Newtype, she's not going to say anything. That's Eight's personal business to reveal at her own leisure.

"Of course." Lilith says, understanding this may be an uncomfortable topic to dwell on. "Not that we have much of a choice."

"But Zeon's not our only enemy. ZAFT took an OAC factory that used to work on the Earth Cradle project just before the Angel attack, even with our own defenders. And with Bloody Valentine's anniversary coming up..." Lilith grimaces.

"Meanwhile, Celestial Being attacked REA, BU, and AEU simultaneously. I'm looking to see if we can make some cooperation between the three to investigate - especially since the bases attacked weren't pursuing active conflict, which is odd considering their open mission statement."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"Right."

"...That's true," Eight admits of other enemies, thinking of that. She hadn't heard much about the ZAFT push in the OAC. "ZAFT has been pretty active lately. But Celestial Being..." Eight frowns. "Right, it probably wouldn't be random. There's got to be some reason to select those in particular."

"You've probably heard most of the rest of what else we've been dealing with--repeated kaiju attacks in Tokyo, this strange 'other space' in Tsutsujidai, and the attack on the Gunung Leuser depot."

"Do you have any theories, about Celestial Being's plans there?"

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Lilith wracks her brain on what was mentioned. Kaiju attacks, yes. She had read the report on Tsutsujidai - some sort of parallel Tokyo - as well as the report on Gunung Leuser depot.

"All distressing. I'd say Tsutsujidai is the least of our worries - but worth investigation nonetheless. Kaiju attacks are a bit out of our scope, but aid when we're in the area is important. Gunung Leuser...extremely distressing that we have to fight Earthborn terrorists, honestly."

Lilith would fall into thought, but Eight has a pointed question. "They're building up to something bigger. Likely, they want the three blocs focusing on them, but for what ends? We don't know if they're cell-based or have a central chain of command, so it's difficult to really say what's motivating these attacks."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"I've investigated Tsutsujidai a little on my own, and connected with NERV about it, since like you say, it's not mostly our purview. But the kids fighting off kaiju there seem to be worth keeping an eye on." A pause. "...Yeah. I'm not thrilled with that, especially not with... whatever that weapon was that they had. That worries me."

Building up to something... Eight sips at her tea thoughtfully at that matter. "That makes sense. I'll keep an eye out, I guess."

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Lilith nods. She's up-to-date, it seems, and that's good. But she's not going to leave off the mission without asking the most important questions.

"How do you feel about our pilots and aces, right now? Anyone I should be looking out for, giving a helping hand? The other night, I went out with Callisto Diana and Anita Rosetta of your crew, and while Callisto seemed somewhat reserved, I imagine she has her reasons. Sure did seem to befriend Alma - which isn't hard, to be fair."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Up to date! But this question--Eight is not entirely surprised to get it. It's one that makes a lot of sense. She is surprised to hear about Callisto and Anita and going out, though! "Oh, yeah?" she asks. "They're both great." A beat, "I should meet Alma myself, then. Callisto and Anita--I've known them both for a long time, since long before I joined up with Londo Bell. Callisto warms up once you get to know her, but I don't think she'll ever be as easygoing as Anita."

She considers the actual question, though. "I've also known Lancaster--Rena--and the Kakapos in general for a long time. I only have good things to say about them. For our contractors, Bonzales seems to be worth watching--I'm expecting a lot out of him. And Louka..." She considers. "Well, Louka's not afraid to speak her mind, and that's good in my view. Mr. Chevalier, the Gundam Fighter for Tibet, is also pretty promising. He doesn't technically work for us but he spends some time on our ships. Otherwise--well, I haven't had a chance to meet most of the pilots on other ships, yet!"

<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.

Lilith smiles as Eight says she should meet Alma. Good! Everyone needs some of the therapy redhead.

"I'll need to meet all of them. Hazard Chevalier seems like, of our contractors, the one who'll need the most help. Having to shoulder the nation's hopes after Lhasa..." She sighs, but then moves on to distracting things.

Like cake! She offers anything they don't end up eating to Eight to bring back to her crew. There's enough of it that people should be able to share delectable delights. And secretly improve their approval score of Lilith, of course, allowing her to enter their visual novel routes...!