2024-10-12: More Than One Future

• Log: 2024-10-12
• Cast: Soma Peries, Flay Allster
• Where: Heaven's Base
• OOC - IC Date: October 12, 0099
• Summary: Following the Gaia Sabers' attempted genocide against the PLANTs, Flay and Soma find their positions swapped, and Flay comes up with an excuse to talk to Soma in Heaven Base's brig. Although both young women have secrets they cannot share, they talk about the future and what paths they'll take towards it.

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<Pose Tracker> Soma Peries has posed.

        Heaven's Base.

        Soma stands at attention in the middle of the room, surrounded by several higher ranking Gaia Sabers officials. She seems calm, despite the fact that this is the end of the investigation into her actions during the recent attack on the PLANTs. While the world has ultimately condemned the Gaia Sabers for what they did, on the inside they still ultimately see their actions as appropriate.

        And as such, Soma is going to now suffer the consequences for not falling in line as much as they would have liked.

        "First Lieutenant Soma Peries. The evidence presented is not strong enough to support your testimony of a malfunction in your control systems. However, it also does not provide insight into the truth of the matter. As such it has been decided that you will not receive the full punishment for your actions."

        "For the charge of dereliction of duty, you are found guilty. You are to be reduced in rank to that of Second Lieutenant. You are dismissed from your position as squad leader of the 2nd Advanced Response Team. And you will be detained in the brig for four weeks." The officer raises his gavel and brings it down.

        SLAM.

        The barred doors to Soma's cell close behind her. She watches the guard walk away before glancing around the room. It's not exactly comfortable, though it's at least clean. And let's face it, Soma's experienced worse.

        Soma walks over to sit against the bed and lean against the wall. She suspects the next four weeks are going to go by slowly... But she also sees it as an opportunity to reflect on a number of things.

        A few days later...

<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.

After the failed nuclear attack on the PLANTs, Flay was honestly expecting the higher brass of the Gaia Sabers to view her own actions in a harsher light. None of the green Windam pilots assigned to her for the battle survived to see its end, so she certainly wasn't expecting to be considered for a promotion. She wasn't even sure if her heart was in the right place anymore. But it is true that the loss of so many personnel, and Soma's sudden demotion, have left an opening to be filled.

'Restless' is one way to put the mood at Heaven's Base - many Gaia Sabers unsure whether to accept Dyma Goldwin and the rest of the world's condemnation, or to only double down on their belief that they were in the right. The atmosphere is still a lot to take in, so Flay made the uncharacteristic decision to volunteer to bring Soma her meal for the day.

And sure enough, at the assigned time, she's there in front of Soma's cell, with a tray of boring, but nonetheless nutritious enough, brig food. Bread, vegetables, and some pretty dry chicken. "Soma Peries? I'm here to bring your meal," The cell opens, the tray passed along. There's guards, but they don't really expect to need to interfere - and once the meal is delivered, they leave.

But Flay does not. Her gaze lingers on the cell, on the way Soma took the brunt of the punishment for the Gaia Sabers' failure. "...Honestly, I'm just glad to see you made it out, after your unit stopped moving. A lot of people didn't." She remarks, and then quieter... "Was it really a 'unit malfunction'?"

<Pose Tracker> Soma Peries has posed.

        When Flay arrives, Soma has her eyes closed. But she's seated upright on the bed so she's probably not asleep. Indeed, as Flay announces the arrival of her meal, Soma opens her eyes and turns her head to look with mild surprise. She watches as the door is opened and Flay enters.

        Soma takes the tray, before putting it aside. The guards leave again and then Soma starts, "Flay Allster. I didn't expect you to be bringing my food." Which probably means she organized this specifically. And indeed it seems like she did so to talk.

        Soma doesn't mind some conversation. It's the first real one she's had in days. She replies, "Yes... It's a shame that so many others didn't make it." So many lives lost, not all of them driven by anger or revenge. At the question of what really happened, Soma simply says, "It was a malfunction in the control system of my funnels." Technically true, given she IS the control system for the funnels.

        Soma doesn't seem to particularly want to go into detail though, looking at Flay and asking, "How about you? It seems you've avoided any sort of punishment." There's no malice in Soma's tone so it doesn't seem like she's upset about the fact that she's in the brig while Flay isn't. She's probably just curious.

<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.

"I specifically volunteered for it." Flay explains, to Soma's mild surprise. "No one else wanted to, so..." She's not entirely sure herself why she cares so much. If it was before, it might have been to gloat, seeing a former superior like this. But now, maybe it's just a nice change of pace to talk to someone like Soma instead. She was one of the first people to welcome her into the Gaia Sabers after all.

And seeing as Soma is open to have a conversation, Flay sticks around. "Some of them tried to protect me, some of them were just inexperienced... and one of them even tried to take out her frustration on me before she died," Flay reflects, about her own squad members. "But none of them saw any way out except to fight, or die." She concludes, marking her severe words with a frown.

Soma, then, explains the malfunction was in the control system for the funnels. Flay's brow furrows - she's never tried to use technology like that and likely can't. "I don't entirely get it, but don't you control funnels with your mind or something? It'd only makes sense that you can't count on them if you're under a lot of mental stress, right?" She considers, and then realizes that's probably precisely why Soma got thrown in the brig.

And Soma doesn't linger on it particularly long, pointing out that she evaded her own punishment. "I guess it's probably because I was outmatched and I knew it," Flay explains. "I mean... there's was no way I could hold off ZAFT's new flagship Gundam and two of Magallanica's aces all on my own." Her gaze goes distant, because she can't talk about how Rena was the woman who saved her life, or that she felt a kinship with Shinn over losing their families. "I think they accepted that."

"It's not like I didn't used to feel the exact same way as those pilots who tried to nuke the PLANTs. But it's more important to keep living to see the next day, so it's honestly pretty harsh that the higher-ups sent you down here for that." Flay tilts her head. "Do you think you deserve better than this?" It's not like she's trying to goad Soma or anything... she's more just wondering what the loyal soldier thinks of her situation.

<Pose Tracker> Soma Peries has posed.

        Soma's eyebrows raise as Flay mentions that one of her own squadmates attacked her, "To attack one's own squad leader... I suspected they tried to rush new recruits into operation too quickly. It was bound to happen. Especially with many of them emotionally compromised by recent events." Soma was trained to be the ultimate soldier, devoid of things like emotional attachments. That's no longer quite the case, hence why she's in here to begin with. But she still maintains a belief that a good soldier doesn't let emotion control them.

        Which begs the question, is she a good soldier anymore?

        Soma's not sure about the answer to that. But she still thanks she's a better one than many of the newer recruits that have been coming in. Some may have potential, but many seem overwhelmed by their emotions. As for Flay... Soma can tell that there's more to the situation that she's explaining. But Soma doesn't pry, simply nodding, "At least you tried. And accomplished some level of success in delaying them. That's probably how they see it."

        As for her own situation, Soma shakes her head, "They're not wrong. I didn't do my duty in leading my team. And I failed to accomplish anything during the operation. Not even distracting the enemy. These are the consequences of my own actions and I've accepted that." Well, technically they're not entirely her own actions. There was another involved. Someone who has been oddly silent ever since. Not that Soma is going to speak on that either way.

        But Soma does agree with Flay, saying, "It is indeed important to continue moving forward. Do you have any plans to that end yourself?"

<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.

"Mmm... you're probably right," Flay shakes her head, when Soma says the Gaia Sabers probably rushed recruitment too quickly. "I understand why they were so desperate to join... but now that it's all over, I just hope it doesn't happen again." A good soldier, though... Flay's been told several times that she isn't really meant to be one, or that it's changed her too much. But she's still here.

Flay looks away, when Soma accepts her rationale. It's hard to hide that there was more to it for her. "That's right, our entire role was to play decoy. And.. that's what my squad was to them. Once the second wave was in, that would have been it," There's a hint of bitterness in the way she lays it out. "They just weren't expecting Cathedra to make it all meaningless."

When Soma fully accepts her punishment, Flay's eyes narrow. "Can't say that isn't how I'd expect a soldier to see it," She concedes, with a flip of her hair. "When you're leading a team, I guess it's true that you're fighting for a lot more than yourself out there," She adds, not even realizing how true that is for Soma in particular. "But it's still important to own up to your actions," She agrees. "If you couldn't follow that order... I'm sure you had a very good reason. Didn't you?"

And it's important to continue moving forward, Soma agrees, and she asks if Flay had any of her own. She looks lost in thought for a moment, before she starts. "Well... they were actually considering me for your previous position," Flay admits. "I'm not really sure how your team would feel about me. But I want to do my best for them." She tilts her head, wondering how Soma will react to that. "Other than that... I was thinking of maybe going back to Asticassia for some university courses." It's not a bad way to get into Cathedra's good graces, and it's nice to have another social environment, even if it's not a great one.

That's about all she has to say about her own plans, and for all it might be a little cruel to ask this of someone in cell... "What do you plan on doing once you're out? Going to try to work your way back up to where you used to be? It probably wouldn't be all that hard for you."

<Pose Tracker> Soma Peries has posed.

        When Soma first transitioned from following orders to giving them, it was definitely one hell of a change for her. But she eventually picked it up and in her own opinion, she's done well. Perhaps it helped that she had a good mentor. She says, "A leader is responsible for more than just themselves, yes. That also means accepting the failures when they come. Otherwise you lose the respect of those who follow you. And without respect, it's only a matter of time before your squad falls apart." That's clearly why she's chosen to accept the consequences of her actions. But as for having a good reason for taking them in the first place...

        "A good reason..." She was focused on her own survival at the time. Is that a good reason? Looking back, it was perhaps her other half that was acting on a good reason. Judging by the pensive look on Soma's face, it seems she's unsure about whether it actually was or not. Perhaps that's one of the things she's trying to figure out, using all this spare time she suddenly finds herself with.

        When Flay mentions that she's up for Soma's previous position, Soma nods slowly, "It's to be expected. Someone has to fill the roll. I think you'll find that the ones who have been with the squad the longest will accept you. They're good soldiers. I hand picked them myself. The more recent transfers however... They were done without my input. So you might want to take the opportunity to reorganise the squad." She doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards Flay for taking over what Soma has lost.

        As for the university, Soma shrugs, "I never went to a normal school myself. So can't really speak to it, except to say it's probably not my style. But I imagine it'll be of benefit to you. I understand your own schooling was cut a little short by the war. It's good to have alternative options to being a soldier." Something which Soma doesn't.

        It's actually that lack of options that has Soma pausing at Flay's own return question about what she plans to do going forward. Soma stares off into space, murmuring in thought, "I imagine it would be easy, yes..." Is that what her future is going to be though? Retreading the same steps she's been taking for as long as she can remember. But what else could she do? She smirks a little, "I'm not sure yet. But thankfully I've been given a lot of time to consider it."

        Plus, she quietly admits that there's more than just her own future to consider now. It's plainly obvious that simply ignoring her other half, as she's been trying to do all this time, is no longer a valid option.

        Soma looks back at Flay once more, "Wherever your path takes you, I wish you good luck in your future, Lieutenant."

<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.

Flay considers Soma's words about the responsibilities that come with leadership, including the failures. She wonders if she'll end up in that difficult position someday, if she keeps working with the Gaia Sabers. But her gaze lingers a little longer, when Soma goes silent at the mention of a 'good reason', understanding that it might be a little more complicated than that for her.

"That's good to know. It'll probably be a big change for them either way... but I'll do everything I can to get to know them." Flay taps her cheek in thought when Soma explains the differences between the long-standing members of the squad, and the recent transfers. "And even the more recent transfers... I think I'd want to give them what I didn't have when I was grieving. Something to cling onto other than that anger and hatred, I mean."

Flay gives Soma a brief look of confusion when she says she never went to a 'normal school', but then she remembers what certain other Gaia Sabers whispered about her - that she was some kind of Super Soldier raised in a lab. She takes a moment, and nods. "Other than piloting, there's a pretty big emphasis on politics and business... so it'd probably be just about as interesting as this cell is for you." And there's some subtle tension in her expression when Soma mentions her schooling being cut short. "That's right. Honestly... it still feels like I've only barely got my life back together after that." She sighs.

She sees that Soma too, becomes lost in thought after Flay asks her about her future. And ultimately, her answer sounds pretty non-committal. "It's probably better to think about it, now that things are finally starting to slow down a little. We might have avoided going to war... but someone told me how important it is to keep our eyes open to what's happening around us." She tries not to smile too much at Soma's little joke, because it hits different when you're on the other side of the cell.

Flay gives Soma one last lingering look, as she wishes her luck with her future... whatever that might be. Really, she's way more conflicted than she seems about what that path might look like, even after Side 2's worst nightmare has been averted. But she gives Soma a faint smile. "Thanks. And... I hope you can find happiness too, Lieutenant."