2023-11-16: Total War and Happy News
- Log: 2023-11-16: Total War and Happy News
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Milly Ashford
- Where: Nagoya, Area 11
- OOC - IC Date: 15 November 0097
- Summary: Meeting up under the pretense of a game of Ambition at the game store, Milly and Emilia take one of their rare chances to meet up unbothered to talk about recent life events- and maybe miss a few obvious cues.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
In the Britannian part of Nagoya, where the damage is least and the property values highest, there sits a high end game store. The first floor is purely shopfront space, but on the second floor, one can rent out a table for use- including dedicated tournament grade Ambition tables.
It's at one of these tables where Emilia Eschonbach's OYW Zeon has just lost California despite a decent showing. However, this pushes Zeon out of the Britannian New World
The game's not lost yet- A daring push into South Britannia to try and neutralize Jaburo early didn't fully pay off, but Emilia's forces were holding steady- for the moment. Australia is down to occupation of the Northern Territory, and an experimental incursion from there into Japan didn't work out. AEU territory is about fifty/fifty.
Still, the pressure of the timer is definitely starting to have an impact. Hurriedly, she types in her orders-
And while her forces in Europe and South Britannian hunker down, her Australian forces make a move eastward. It's a feint to take pressure off her other fronts, making a sacrifice of her Australian forces. On the upside, she's not sticking to historical gambits any more-
But she's still a little too cautious. As it stands, she can probably drag the war out a little longer than a year- but the further you get, the fewer resources Zeon has, and if she lets this be a war of attrition, it's already over.
Breathing in sharply, Emilia looks at her more skilled opponent across the table. "Y-Your move." As much as she's trying to keep her cool, some of her tells are obvious. She's rubbing her locket- a show that she's uncertain in her approach- and her eyes are flicking over the battlefield nervously, as if she's certain she's forgotten something- a sign that a strong bluff could completely throw her off her game.
She's definitely an accountant, not a gambler.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Looking at the board thoughtfully, Milly considers Australia carefully. ... It's pointless to commit new troops to it and it's equally pointless to commit significant mental resources to its defense. Sydney is a crater anyway; why do more?
Pressing her advantage in South Britannia instead, Milly moves to cut off the possibility of any loss of long-term manufacturing capability. This is a necessary step, but it's also a bit of a feint; what she's actually doing is moving her forces out of Japan and Africa to crush Zeon in Odessa.
"You're learning a little more lateral thinking," Milly remarks, thoughtfully, as the Haro dutifully moves her pieces across the board according to her direction. "I'm impressed. You've come a long way with the game in a pretty short time... It feels like you might have a secret play partner I don't know about."
Scooting forward, she brings up topics outside of the game, too. ... She's got something she's excited to discuss. "... We might have a buyer for the Ashford family's mobile weapon assets who doesn't need the deal sweetened," Milly says, out of nowhere. ('Sweetening the deal,' here, is of course a euphemism for Milly herself.)
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Milly's pragmatism sees through Emmy's feint, and there's no reward for her actions but some more land and her troops spread thin. She sees Milly's movement to cut off her forces, and throws a strong push at them, falling for the feint entirely. If she's noticed Odessa is going to be vulnerable, she sure isn't showing it.
"Th-thanks," Emmy says, when her commands are input. "B-but it's really just you. I kn-know I should probably play s-some other people before the t-tournament but..." But if she's making time in her busy schedule for this, there's one person she's making time for more than anyone else.
Her eyes do widen at the news outside the game, however. Leaning forward so Milly doesn't have to speak too loud, Emmy responds quickly. "R-Really?" That *is* good news, isn't it? "Does that mean y-your mom might finally ease off?" If it goes through, that would give Milly a lot more freedom. Which for them might mean...
No, focus on the news at hand. "H-how solid do you think the offer is? C-Can you even s-say who yet?" She's curious, more than anything, and deals like this often have to be kept secret. "It'd b-b-be great if you c-could stop having that h-hanging over you."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"The odds are good. I don't know if Britannian nobility will have the value it used to have by the turn of the century; this might be good enough to get her to accept that things are changing, at least." Milly doesn't sound too optimistic, but it really is the first good news she's had on this front in a while...
(Admittedly, that makes it feel a little less real... but, baby steps.)
"It's a Ring corporation," Milly continues, seeing no reason to avoid giving Emilia what she can. "I can't say more than that until things finalize, but early talks have been going very well."
Her conversation with Kallen lingers in her mind. ... How much should she tell Emilia? How much can she tell her about what she's been doing? ... No, it's best if she keeps that to herself for now. Besides -- she doesn't want to betray Kallen's trust, either.
"I think you're definitely ready to play other people without just getting steamrolled," Milly adds, looping back a topic. In this round, she moves to retreat behind Jaburo's defensive fortifications while bringing everyone else to crush Odessa, leaving Australia mostly untouched.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia nods slowly at the thought. "W-we can hope." Emmy says, barely above a whisper. "The w-w-world is ch-changing, though. M-Maybe she can see the merits on b-being on the front foot- especially if it g-g-gives her an edge on others." The thought of her Grandfather losing business and power due to not changing with the times gives her a small smile.
"R-Ringers, huh... P-Probably an easier sell than Spacenoids..." The people on the Ring have always been an odd bunch to Emmy. Why live in space but claim to be Earthnoids?
Realizing too late that Odessa is falling, Emmy considers her options- and rather than standing and fighting as she would have before, orders a fighting retreat of her surviving units towards the South American front- and decides to, seeing Milly is leaving Australia alone, make another offensive move. It's not particularly strategically significant, all things considered- but maybe taking away one more front will make it easier.
"Th-that's something, a-at least." That coming after she's just lost Odessa is a little... awkward, but Milly's got years of experience on her. "M-Maybe I won't come d-dead last."
After a few moments, Emmy moves on to her own news. "S-so, um, I-I've been talking to Audrey a l-little more lately." She seems a little awkward about it. "N-Now that w-we can, safely. We're still... w-working things out b-but..." She pauses. The public knowledge is that Magallanica was moving towards Jupiter, wasn't it? But... if she can trust anyone with that much, she can trust Milly.
Even if she's still keeping her own secrets.
"I-I'm... thinking of t-trying to visit her next break, if I c-can get away with it without G-Grandfather catching on. Leina's offered to h-help."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly does get the schema that leads Ringers to claim Earthnoid status, but it's always felt a little strange to her, too. It seems two-faced... though it's not as though two-facedness is uncommon in this world.
Milly doesn't totally let Emilia run over Australia, but her movements are limited to trying to encircle her with existing forces rather than redouble. For the most part, she's focused on cleaning up Eurasia. Britannia can probably hold that long.
"I'm really glad things are going well with you and Audrey," Milly says, with a smile. "It's good to have family around, even if they're distant family!" Milly's own family has contracted to just her mother and grandfather, and that's a little sad... but at the same time, it's what makes her more inclined to encourage Emilia even though her family presents some serious risks.
"If there's anything I can do to help, let me know," Milly says, nodding to her. "I know it can be pretty difficult to travel lately..."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The fighting retreat is a war of attrition, and Zeon's going to lose a lot here- which is why it's maybe a surprise that Emilia makes an unusually bold play. Rather than simply reinforcing her South Britannians with the retreating European forces, she uses them to turn the retreat into an assault and attack Milly's forces from both directions. It leaves Eurasia to Milly- but maybe she can shut down her more entrenched supply lines. Still, it's a risky gambit, and could cost her big. She continues her little pushes throughout Australia, trying to do her best with her own forces there.
"It w-was... r-really upset at her. F-for a while." Emmy admits. "B-but Leina told me Audrey's never r-really... had family. I a-at least had M-Mom, but she had..." Emilia gestures. Milly has to know enough to know who Mineva's 'parental' figures were. Or at least one of them. "So... w-we're both going to make m-mistakes. And w-we're going to have to w-work it out."
Emilia nods as Milly offers help. "I'll l-let you know. I mean... it w-would be nice if you c-could come too for a bit. I-if um, you have time." Emmy looks a little bashful. "But... it w-would be nice to introduce you to h-her as. Y-you know."
She's still a little wary, out and about like this, for Milly's rep and risk of her Grandfather finding out. "S-so apart from business, h-have you had anything going on lately?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly considers her options; Emilia's giving her a lot more trouble. Some of it, of course, is that this is among the larger-scale games Milly's ever played; she's usually operating at the continent level. Total war games aren't her favorite -- she loses a little bit of her defensive playstyle as the conflict becomes too big for her to fully mentally approach.
"I think that's a good outlook," Milly agrees, at the idea that Emilia and Audrey are going to need to struggle but it'll be worth it. As for her coming... "I'd like that. I could definitely stand to meet more people..." She doesn't think she's wasting her gap terms, but she's not entirely happy with them, either. "And I'm very happy to be seen with you." That gets a wink.
The topic of what she's been up to lately comes up, and Milly has to think about it. "I had a nice sit-down with Kallen again the other day... I've got another business trip coming up this weekend, so it was nice to recharge."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Alas, the tournament Emilia entered was beginner's total war, so that's the format she needs to practice. And total war games tend to take a little longer, so that's a little more time together. The fact that it's not Milly's preferred format probably gives Emmy a chance.
"Apparently there are all s-sorts of people there n-now." A lot of the military knowledge is stuff Mineva keeps from Emmy. "So, wh-who knows who you might meet?"
The wink, however, gets an earnest blush from Emmy, and a giggle. "We could d-definitely do some being out and about together." It'd be nice to do so without having to keep looking over their shoulders.
"Oh, th-that's good!" Emmy smiles a bit. "It's g-good for you two to get t-together, I guess y-you don't have as much time to catch up as you d-did in school." She doesn't ask how Kallen's doing, oddly enough. "A-another one, huh? Th-they seem to come up kind of suddenly."
Emilia's initial success at pushing Milly turns to overconfidence, and she overcommits her forces in South Britannia without realizing. It would be very easy to punish. "W-well, I hope it goes w-w-well. And you d-don't have to deal with anymore j-jerks."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
In fairly short order, Emilia finds herself mobbed by troops reinforcing Milly's South Britannian forces from Australia, abandoning that little war for a much larger one and leaving her encircled.
Milly thinks a bit about that possibility; she doesn't want to spend too much thought on mere possibilities. Even if such a trip meant only having a proper sitdown with Audrey... that'd still be nice. "I'll look forward to it. Maybe we should go out for dinner after this, too... I am getting a little hungry."
She breezes past the topic of Kallen since she isn't prompted for too much more, focusing on the business trip. "We'll have to see. I'm confident this one will go a little better; it's taking some time to get used to doing these things for myself. It's very different from even GUTS things, or the work with the visa office." ... there's also the issue that she's only a passable pilot still, but she doesn't want to bring that up just yet. ... Better for Emilia not to know what her dear Milly is getting up to just yet.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia seems caught by surprise by the sudden strike- and it's not long after that Emilia realizes the extent of her error. Her forces are separated and cut off, and rejoining them would require cutting through the forces between them. She could still take Australia- but that would just be land for the sake of land, dragging things out but...
"...D-Dinner sounds nice." Emmy says, as she looks over the battlefield again. Throwing her Australian forces after Milly's might buy her something but they wouldn't hold out against North Britannia and Eurasia, after the losses they'd take.
"I c-can imagine... GUTS at least h-had a big team of people to l-lean on." So sayeth one who volunteered to be leant on most. "So h-having to do it all on your own must be a lot h-h-harder." Her eyes continue to move around, as the timer counts down. "You'll get it, th-though." Even if she's come to terms that Milly isn't invincible, Emilia's still very confident in Milly's ability to take on a hard challenge.
Eventually, Emilia comes to a decision about her options. She could throw her soldiers in a desperate last stand, and maybe, maybe pull off less of a loss by points but- It would still be a loss.
And so she types one word: 'Surrender'.
"...so, b-burgers and debrief?" She asks, as the Haro declares victory for Milly. "Or do you f-feel like hitting up th-that diner?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly smiles as she sees Emilia surrender. That's always a good sign, in her mind; she appreciates guts, but when it comes to this sort of thing, it's important to be kind, too. Even if the soldiers aren't real.
"I have always been really lucky and had a lot of reliable people around," Milly says, with a smug little smile. "Some more than others. And some I'm always happy to rely on."
Collecting herself -- and her things (these get pricey, and some of them are fairly limited release outside of military production circles) -- Milly nods to Emilia, standing up. "I could definitely go for a burger." Having something unpretentious and straightforward still has a lot of appeal...
... though she might not go quite as far as she's had to a few other times. One can only have so much fast food and so many microwave meals during planning sessions before something a little more upscale starts to hold tremendous appeal.