2022-01-29: Food for Thought

• Log: Food for Thought
• Cast: Eight York, Roux Louka
• Where: The Ra Mari, near Frontier 7, Side 4
• Date: January 29, 2022
• Summary: Roux Louka has some pointed questions for Captain York.

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<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

In the aftermath of the battle, there was a lot to do and handle. Picking up the survivors from the fallen Clop, for one, and sending over engineers to try to get it working enough to at least limp back to a base. Contacting Federation authorities and arranging for relief to be sent to the colony after the battle, collecting the dead as much as is possible...

On the bridge, Chovan is at her console, preparing to leave the area now that their business is largely concluded. There are a few other officers at their stations, but Enba Rezza is in the Captain's chair for the moment, overseeing their departure and checking in case of any further danger, because Captain York is...

In her office, just off the other side of the bridge, filling out paperwork. She has paperwork for damage reports, paperwork for accounting for who's living and dead, paperwork for basically everything, and so she is at her desk, staring down at it stoically as she weaves her pen across paper and sets things in the 'out' drawer.

Her office is not large; it has little decoration, since she's only been here for a month. A hockey stick on one wall; a chessboard, with magnetic pieces. There are photographs in places, like one of Eight and the Chief Engineer, Eight smiling. She doesn't look at it just now, though it is facing her.

She continues to write.

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux Louka landed. She did the after-action notes. She signed off on everything as she was supposed to. She changed out of her Normal Suit. She considered taking a shower right away but instead opted to do some deep breathing exercises.

That helped her decide what to do.

Roux crosses through the bridge wordlessly, not nodding at Chovan and raising a hand to silently return a brief greeting from Enba, who has doubtless met her. She approaches the door, tests it. It slides open.

Roux, wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, drifts inside. She looks over her shoulder. The door closes behind her. She nods once, then looks back.

Her eyes shut for a moment.

She approaches th rest of the way towards the desk and slams both her hands on it, leaning forwards like a purple-limned fury as she shouts, "What in the living hell are we DOING HERE, YORK?? They were after *farming space*?? Are they all STARVING TO DEATH because of a NUCLEAR ATTACK?? What the hell are you having us do out there!!"

Roux rears upwards, face dark with fury. "Is this outfit some kind of second coming of the Titans!? Are we going to be dropping gas attacks on everyone next?! Oh my God! I can't believe any of this shit! Tell me they're lying to me, York! Tell me they were full of shit, because I sure couldn't smell any on them!"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Eight York remains in her office. She doesn't look up when Roux approaches her desk, though the perceptive might notice her jaw sets slightly as she feels the radiating anger from there. Her own aura is muddier, conflicted with many feelings that she's mostly jamming down in an effort to get work done.

She does not look up at first when Roux starts shouting. Not when she rears upward. Not until she finishes speaking. And then, Eight puts down her pen, and looks up.

"No."

Eight folds her hands on the desk, and does her best to do away with the fatigue that comes of her adrenaline having crashed after the battle. She does her best to smooth out her own anger, her own feelings... because there is Roux, right here.

"They were after farming space. ...And they were willing to kill others to get it. What we are doing out here is protecting those colonists."

"...But also no," Eight says, tension in her shoulders still, "They weren't lying. Not about the fact that the Federation executed a nuclear strike on Junius Seven."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux glowers for several seconds.

Then she straightens upwards then, hands still in the air. Her fingers tremble. She hugs herself suddenly, turning away with a look of disgust. Her nose turns up.

"... A nuclear strike," Roux says, still through gritted teeth. "I read it was -- some kind of retaliation -- diplomats, like they were deciding to try to be the next Zeon. Everyone's bad movie plots about Coordinators coming to life."

She turns forwards again, leaning forwards and slamming a hand on the desk again. "How much of that is lies!!" she demands then, although Eight can probably suss out that at least *a lot* of the pressure dissipated. If not all.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"Yes," Eight answers. "The Federation was all set to negotiate, and then the diplomats were killed en route, the PLANTs' representative 'conveniently' absent. So the Federation went to war."

"...That much, as far as I know," the Captain continues as Roux stares at her, demanding, "Is true." She looks right into Roux's eyes--she feels the pressure dissipating... But she's not sure it should. She finds herself angry, too. Is it the lingering sensation of someone else's anger, or...?

No, it's not just that. It's not just that Zeon came up, either.

"The Zeon part might be true. They're certainly willing to work with Neo-Zeon remnants. Coordinators wanting to take over everything...? That I don't believe."

"We're not going to be the next Titans--not as long as I'm in charge of this ship, anyway. And I don't... believe, that Captain Noa would order things like that. But the Federation..." She shakes her head.

"I'm not going to try to defend Junius Seven. I couldn't if I wanted to."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux listens, from this posture.

"Who killed them?" Roux demands. It's a less furious demand. She's coming around. She stares back, even so.

She's not, at least, *happy* about this - and remains *angry* - but Eight can perhaps get a faint memory of someone leaping onto the dinner table of a Federation man and kicking around and grabbing them by the collar and --

That, somehow, is a feeling of love.

"I signed on because I trusted Bright Noa," Roux says. "And as far as I can tell I can trust you, York; but this is..." Her head slumps. She broke eye contact first. "God! They're actually trying to get farmland... I thought they had plenty in their dumbass hourglass colonies! Like that was the whole point, wasn't it? And who in the hell called for that kind of a..."

"It stinks," Roux concludes. "It stinks like a broken toilet."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"The Federation claims it was PLANT terrorists. That might even be true."

Eight doesn't break eye contact. Her eyes don't look as young as she is. But they should. She's definitely younger than Roux is. ...And she notices that memory, and the strange tenor of its emotion...

Hm.

"...I never thought I'd have to think much about politics," she admits. "Not until I got this job. But I do, and I have." The blonde continues, "...If they were just trying to get farmland, that'd be one thing. That was the whole point of the negotations that fell through. But right now, they're moving to take it from others--others, who had nothing to do with the attack."

"It stinks," Captain York agrees. "...It really stinks." She sighs, and finally breaks off, looking down again. "But..."

"...Let's say we let them get the shipment. We let them kill everyone on that colony who won't go along with them, and get their farmland, and feed themselves. Does it end the war? I don't think it does."

"...I think the Federation for a long time has been what stands between the Earth sphere and another Zeon. The more I look... the more I see the problems in it. But the alternative isn't better. So until I figure out something better to do, I'll protect the people out here."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux straightens up.

"... I'm not saying we should have stood by or let them conquer whatever they want! If they were hijacking a food hauler it might be a different story," Roux continues, grumbling. "I was a supporter of the AEUG, you know. I don't have a lot of kind words about the Federation government, but I know it's huge, there's good people in it."

"But things like this... I mean, I could tell it was wearing on Lancaster, at least as far as I could keep an eye on her," Roux continues, and Eight may relax because things have now segued into 'bellyaching from an impetuous pilot' instead of 'take that hockey stick and beat the commanding officer with it'. "Even if it was all bullshit, even if the PLANTs did it for the sake of a war, it's going to grind on your people!"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"I guess you were, huh?" Eight answers, since now that Roux mentions it, she saw it in her file, she thinks. "...Yeah. For me, the Federation has always been this... distant thing. It protected us, but I didn't think about it that much. When I joined up, that started to change... and I'm still trying to figure some of it out."

She nods. "Yeah, it was wearing on her, all right. A lot of things were. If you could see it too..." Hm. Eight is concerned about that. "...If you don't mind, try not to let on around her that you noticed. She already works really hard. If she knows it's showing, she'll work harder."

She doesn't relax much, but she does a little. "Yeah. It does."

It wears on people. But Eight can't let it wear on her; they're counting on her to be able to make those decisions. So some of that weight settles around Eight; it might be obvious, though she doesn't express it in her face.

"...But they're working with Zeon remnants, too. That tells me... I have to oppose them either way."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

"... I'll try," Roux breathes out. "Ugh. I haven't been able to do much for any of them yet..."

Ah, sorrow. Even guilt and responsibility. Roux gazes at a wall, wondering, perhaps, what that weird stick is, but not asking aloud.

"... You've heard, haven't you? I filed it in the report, but I didn't want to get hysterical over it. That suit with the Funnels was here... it was there when we were intercepted with that supply ship. They claimed the Red Comet had returned..."

"Do you think that's possible?" Roux asks Eight, *now* looking towards her.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Eight still wonders a little about that flash of memory. But now she's talking about these things, and Zeon, and...

Rena. "Thanks," Eight says, and there's not much she can say about whether Roux's been able to do much. She doesn't notice Roux looking at the wall just yet, doesn't explain her hockey stick even though it would be a welcome subject. Instead--

She's heard? This gets her atention. The suit with the Funnels--that causes Eight's expression to darken already. "...Right. The Zeon pilot. The 'Lilac Gale', she was called. ...Another tool of Zeon."

She pauses. Roux is looking at her--Eight wasn't expecting this question. But, thinking about it...

"Well, I didn't see him die," she admits. "I can't rule it out. But I'm worried regardless of whether it's true. If they even think it's true..."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

"It could be a feint... maybe they're connected," Roux says.

"I could just be seeing shadows, though. But it doesn't seem like a coincidence.. it's the kind of thing those hardliners would do. Zeon is exhausted, like that old speech, but if they can trick the Coordinators into dying for their ambitions instead..."

("Really, that's her name? Did she... give it, or something?" Roux asks, parenthetically.)

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Eight is not in the business of underestimating Zeon. Not ever. "Then they'll do exactly that," Eight answers. "And I think that's what's going to happen." She looks to the wall--and actually relaxes a little looking at the hockey stick, a reminder of the life she had after Zeon.

("Oh, uh." Eight pauses. "Yeah, Ensign Rosetta said she was called that." Further pause. "She didn't... say that much, in the battle. But I got a few transmissions that seemed to confirm it.")

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

"... I apologize for barging in here like that," Roux concludes with a hand on her hip. "It's just..."

"It's a lot, you know? Frankly, I was expecting more... patrols, or just... pirates, I suppose."

("Yeah, she was really tight lipped. She had a weird feeling about her, but she's certainly good with the funnels.")

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"It's fine," the Captain says as Roux concludes. "Or I guess I should say something like 'protocol'," she admits, "But honestly... You weren't wrong to be angry. I feel like more people should be angry about what's going on. Even if we're doing our best out here. It just..."

"I was at two parties last week. And this is happening up here." It feels ridiculous, she can't quite say. She shouldn't talk like that about her responsibilities anyway, so she doesn't! She just thinks it, kind of loudly.

("...You noticed it too?" Eight wonders. "Yeah. She's real good with them...")

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

"Maybe it was just one of those weeks," Roux concludes.

NEXT EPISODE: IT IS NOT JUST ONE OF THOSE WEEKS