2024-09-09: Orb's Nice Weather
- Cast: Cagalli Yula Athha, Rena Lancaster
- Where: Tumu-nui Base - Onogoro Island, Orb
- Date: U.C. 0099 09 09
- Summary: Cagalli finally got a meeting with Rena. They got to talking about an uncertain future, the uneasy present, and the somber past. At least the weather's nice.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Tumu-nui Base in Orb -- on Onogoro Island, not far from Oliphant -- is the main base leased by the Magallanica Defense Force in Orb. It is a fairly large military base; the two years since the failed invasion of Orb and the growth of the Three Ships Alliance and its successors saw no small number of Mobile Suits, materiel, and personnel moved to Tumu-nui.
It has a homey atmosphere despite that. There are palm trees in front of low-lying single story building; the base has temporary housing, and a beach nearby, plus a port for its boats.
As the head of Terminal's -- and the MDF's -- Mobile Forces, Rena Lancaster is also the commanding officer at Tumu-nui.
Despite the tropical and homey vibe, there is some tension. Spaceships are loaded; patrols are increased. They're keeping an eye out after Break the World, in case the other shoe drops.
Rena is currently in her MDF uniform, which is also the 3SA uniform; a recolored teal and blue uniform. She stands outside the reception area -- a single story building with a lounge inside -- while waiting for Cagalli to arrive.
She is currently thumbing through messages on her phone, while she waits.
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
For Cagalli's part, she is in her Supreme Commander uniform. She wasn't able to catch Rena in her home - though she did manage to have a little chat with her lovely partner, Anita, somber the contents may be - so she's attempting a formal approach.
Captain Lancaster is no doubt a busy woman. Especially so after Break the World. But after scheduling a meeting, Cagalli arrives in a car. Her gaze raised to meet Rena's and gives her a wave.
They scheduled a meeting formally, but it doesn't mean the contents can't be informal.
"Hey, Rena," she approaches and offered, while looking out at the swaying palm trees, "shall we take a walk? The weather's nice, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena looks up at Cagalli after she arrives. She smiles, then lifts a hand in a wave back to her. "Hiya, Cagalli," she says. "Sounds like a plan to me."
She smiles -- then glances back, waving off a couple of guards. Anita did catch Rena up on the wedding, and Rena wants some privacy. Being in charge...
Well, she can give those orders. So the guards stay in their posts, rather than try to escort her, as Rena starts towards the beach. "It is beautiful weather. I grew up in a resort colony," she says. She cracks a smile. "Winter Wonderland. That gives you a good idea of the weather year-round."
She looks sideways at Cagalli, and then keeps her voice a bit lower. "How are things? I talked to Annie some."
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
Cagalli looked on with a little envy as Rena waved the guards off so casually. Cagalli was never able to do that, even after becoming the Chief Representative. One would think being the ruler of an entire country allows more freedom than ever... but it is in fact, the opposite.
She walks alongside Rena as they head for the beach. "Yes," she agreed. She managed a little chuckle on the topic of Winter Wonderland. "Cold year-round or hot year-round. Take your pick."
When the question was popped, she dipped her head. "It... It's not looking great... Someone's delaying the wedding..." She gives off an idle thought, having heard of Murasaki's exploits recently. It's not all great, but, it's helping. That can't be denied. "...it's not going to last long."
"...how is Flay? I heard you saved her life," she finally asked.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I probably like hot year round because I got sick of cold," Rena says with a laugh. Of course, before that, she lived in Axis -- and Haman Karn made sure it was always summer there. Maybe, Rena thinks, she just likes places with predictable weather.
She looks sideways at Cagalli. There's a sympathetic expression, then. Someone delayed the wedding -- but it's being pushed through. She hesitates a moment.
"I'm sorry," she says. "If I can do anything, anything at all..."
She doesn't linger on that. There are limits on what she can do -- officially, at least. Her expression shifts, though; she blinks, before she smiles. It's a bit of a sad smile.
"I did. Up there," she says. "It was... I had to take down one of the pilots behind it. But... she seems as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. She's tough, that one. I have to say, even if she is with the Gaia Sabers..."
Rena looks up at the skies, then nods. "I like her attitude."
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
"Hah, then I'm glad you found your place here!" She says. Here, with them. With Orb. But she can't say if she can keep it that way, and only managed a somber smile, even if she tries to be upbeat.
She rubs her head at that. Cagalli has asked Eight the same thing... but... it'd just be selfish of her to keep asking if she knows the results isn't going to change.
"...no. I don't think there's anything you can do. ...not without risking your position and home here..." She says. If Magallanica keeps their head down, they could probably stay if they signed the treaty too. Asking someone to risk their livelihood for her is the last thing she wants.
"Yes... She is. Even back then, on the Archangel... even if her actions were questionable. I suppose I'm glad to hear she hasn't changed all that much." She's realized that back at the cenotaph... But being with the Gaia Sabers... There still has to be a better way than that, isn't there?
She does give off another chuckle then. "I guess that makes one of us."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"It's home," Rena says, with a smile. She looks sideways at Cagalli, and then she hesitates for a second.
"All right," she says. "But... if we do need to fight for our home -- metaphorically, not literally -- we'll be there. I think I can safely say Eight's on the same page I am: we don't want to bring unfortunate things Orb's way and we won't. But Orb's been there for us, and we'll be there for it. And for you."
She nods, then, and she looks back out at the ocean. She quiets for a moment, as she considers what Cagalli says about Flay. She nods, after a moment, with less of a smile than she had a moment before.
"I think she wants good things. For people to be safe, to stop tragedies. And... well. I don't agree with going to NUNE, but..." Rena sighs. "I remember a girl who thought she could fight for the Federation and make the world a better place."
She sighs. "It took me awhile to realize. But... I realized because people stuck by me. It's the least I can do for her, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
'It's home', huh...?
"I- ...Yes... I suppose so. And thank you... But I hope it doesn't come to that." she replies, when Rena speaks of fighting for their home. There's nothing there for her to retort. But it does raise some questions for her...
When exactly have she become so...passive? The girl who wanted nothing more but freedom... Now reduced to nothing more than a caged bird.
"But NUNE... They're going after coordinators, aren't they? That's not a place Flay should stay..." She says. Flay has always harbored ill feelings towards coordinators. She only hopes staying with Gaia Sabers doesn't feed into her emotions against them. Then she added, "...but you changed sides, haven't you?"
She recognized that sigh, and gives a nod to what Rena says. And then a thoughtful look of her own, "...I wonder if she has any friends in NUNE."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I hope it doesn't, either," Rena says, with a glance at Cagalli. She smiles -- then she shakes her head once.
There is a frown, though, when she mentions NUNE's stance on Coordinators. Being one, she can hardly say she approves. "No, I'm... worried about that," she says. "That's understating it. I'm angry about it. But..."
She sighs, then she nods. "I did. And--I don't think telling her where to go or what to do is right," she says. "She has to come there on her own. I don't think she hates Coordinators. And I don't know if she has friends there, but we can be sure she has people away from it."
She hesitates a moment, before she looks at Cagalli. She considers, for a second. "You were both on the Archangel?" she asks. "At the same time, yeah?"
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
She nods with an understanding of her anger. "Even spacenoids will be caught up in that, even if they're not coordinators," she added.
She disagreed though, "...I don't think it's right to not tell her either... It's..." She stopped abruptly at that. She has a feeling that it's not right. But she's unable to articulate her argument. It's a feeling to her. A feeling she can't explain.
She sighed. And decided to simply move on.
But on the topic of friends... "Yes. I hope that's enough for her to decide what's right for herself."
She looks towards the sea, and the sand beneath her feet. There's a little bit of nostalgia as she speaks, "yes... When I ran away to Africa. When I was being a rebellious daughter... I met her there."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Mm. Yeah," Rena says. "It's... there's a lot of anger and a lot of hatred. It'll catch us all up."
She looks at Cagalli -- then she tilts her head to the side. "I'm not saying to not challenge her," Rena clarifies. "But... I don't think she'll change her views because we say, 'That's wrong' or 'I've been there before, you'll see.'"
She sighs. "It's a tough balancing act."
She nods to Cagalli. They agree about trying to be there for her. Then, she smiles a bit. She hears that nostalgia. Even if it's complicated.
"The things the Archangel went through..." She trails off. "It sounded hard. I mean... a lot of things were hard in 0096 and 0097. But it sounded like it was just the Archangel, sometimes."
She looks sideways again. "Were you friends, back then?"
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
It's a hatred that will get everyone caught in it. Leaders are supposed to be keeping peace, yet, some are more than happy to wage war instead.
That, she agrees on, when Rena sighs. "It really is."
"Yeah... That legged ship. The G-Project. Heliopolis's destruction. All caused by one mad noble family," she says. The Sahaku's involvement in that wasn't public. And it's something that shouldn't be public. Even her father has decided that much when he found out. So if Rena thinks Cagalli was talking about her father, she wasn't going to correct her.
"No... It was... complicated." They were never really 'friends', come to think of it. Cagalli considers her as one, given what they've been through while on it... But perhaps more so is her relationship with Kira. There was a sense of bond there, however messed up it may be. It may be one-sided and Flay has never considered Cagalli to be a friend. So... complicated, is the only word to describe it.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I wondered," Rena admits. "Why Orb had been involved with that--ah--with the G-Project. And Heliopolis..." She looks down, then she shakes her head. "All because of one family's ambition?"
She might think of Orb as home, but there is a lot she never had the chance to learn.
She nods, a murmur at the word 'complicated.' "That makes sense," Rena says. "A lot... was really complicated, back then. On the Ra Mari -- the first one -- we didn't know what would happen, after JOSH-A. We'd learned a little from a ZAFT pilot that something was wrong, but..."
She trails off. "We just couldn't stay with the Federation, after everything they did. And seeing them want to invade Orb... well, we made our decision to stand with Orb. And one thing led to another, and we got the Three Ships Alliance out of it."
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
"Yeah. A ploy to steal from the Federation," she replies. There's a little chuckle too. Apparently Uzumi was never considered to be the 'mad noble family' she was talking about. That's more Cagalli will have to live up to.
"...and that ambition, is why I'm getting married. And why we're signing the treaty to join NUNE..." She says somberly as the topic returns. "Without father... Our nobles are as split as ever."
She listens as Rena tells her story. And when Rena finally trails off... "Yeah... I've said this before, but thank you for that. Without you guys being here, I don't think Orb would still exist," she finally gives Rena a smile. A genuine one, different from the ones that came before.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That's... wow." Rena shakes her head. She hesitates, though, as Cagalli brings up the earlier topic. She frowns, then, and looks back down. "Mm. I see what you mean. He did a lot to unite them. Well..."
She trails off, for a moment. "We'll stand by you," she promises. "I don't like the idea of Orb having to join NUNE. Or you being forced into a marriage. But... we'll stand by you."
Whatever she decides.
Then, Rena smiles back; her own were genuine, but this is brighter than it was before. "I'm glad we did. I really do like it here. The people, the city..." Then she laughs. "...And the weather."
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
"...and I'm failing him, aren't I?" She says, on the thought of not being able to unite them as he did. But she didn't linger on it.
"Thank you... I- No... Thank you," she simply says. It's difficult to say what she decides. If she could even decide. But she's glad she has friends that promises to stand by her.
She returns the laugh, genuine as ever. "Yes. The weather."
"...I should get back to work," she finally says. "Thanks for meeting with me. I'm sure you're busy too so let's talk some more later."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I don't think you're failing him," Rena says. "I think... you're in a tough situation where people want you to be him. But you're yourself, Cagalli. I think... that's going to be more than enough."
She smiles, then -- and she nods at the thanks, and glances up at the blue sky, the beach, and the waves. Maybe more than the weather.
She looks back at Cagalli, then Rena nods. "Of course! We'll have to," she agrees. "I should, too, anyways. It was good to have the chance to talk."
<Pose Tracker> Cagalli Yula Athha has posed.
'To be herself'... It does seem like there are some people around her that's telling her that... But it's easier said than done, isn't it? Especially when so much is on her shoulders.
Then she nods. Giving another smile as she heads back to her car.
A lingering moment for the beach as she looks back.