Eternal Rubicon - IC

[Mellon]

It was in 2066, when the the final barrier, space, was conquered by mankind.

Putting aside decades of battle, the nations of the world joined hands to colonize the new frontier.

However, a mere 25 years was enough to wipe away the noble thoughts that gave birth to the „Space Era“.

It is now 29 SE and brutal war rages throughout Earth and the colonies above them, as nations aim to forge a destiny for themselves in this new age.

The true fate of children of man is unknown and a new RUBICON shines in their distance...







Trilateral Alliance



Nova Calendus

Purpose - Military Academy Station
Population - 1254 Military Personnel
Location - Asteroid Belt, 121 Hygiea
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Time - 9:48 AM


Lt. Commander Conrad Eagle (MssrNeko)
Hangar


“Welcome to Nova Calendus, Sir!”

The moment you stepped off the transport ship Agamemnon and into the hangar of Nova Calendus, you were greeted by a rather sharply dressed female officer. Her salute towards was crisp and her eyes showed a surprising amount of seriousness, all things considered. Not quite what you expected when you set off towards what you thought was a rather standard, albeit prestigious, military training facility. The people who ended up working at academies were usually the… people who didn't fit into the traditional chain of command. People who had the skills, but not necessarily the personality to make it in traditional forces.

Then again, considering the reasons you were here, one could hardly call Nova Calendus a “standard” military academy.


“Junior Lieutenant Shirley Reigns, at your service. Would you please follow me?”

The two of you made your way through the bustling academy, which to its credit, looked a fair bit more tightly regulated then you expected. Definitely more strict considering what you remembered from your classes in Triton Point. Then again, Triton Point was for training captains, not Mobile Suit pilots and harsh discipline was not as required for higher ranking officers as it was for lower ranking ones, unfortunately. Reaching a rather solid pair of blast doors, with the words “STAFF ONLY” . Walking to a nearby terminal, Jr. Lt. Reigns pulled out her identification card and pulled it through the card reader with a quick swipe. After a brief moment, the panel flashed green, and the large doors opened, revealing a rather large cargo elevator, the young woman beckoned you to follow her. Pressing the button labeled “Basement Level 3”, the lift slowly lurched into a descent.

And then, through the transparent wall of the elevator, you saw the reason you came here.

“The New York. An experimental battleship constructed by the finest engineers in the Alliance.”

"Something which can hopefully turn the tides to our favour."

The voice of the junior officer sounded almost wishful for some reason as she gazed at the ship.

“A ship made to carry our new...Mobile Suits.” The purple haired woman turned her eyes away from the ship and back to you. “Speaking of which, I will be assigned to the New York as the ships Maintenance Officer. So if you do have any problems on that front, do not hesitate to contact me.”

As the elevator’s doors slid open, a slight smile, almost hesitant, appeared on Shirley’s face.

“Well then. Shall we have a tour of your new ship, Captain Eagle?”



Riley Guarstein (Mereo) & Freira Lima (Hero)
Simulation Room


BEGINNING STAGE SIMULATION
STAGE SELECT - 4 - DESERT
SCENARIO - ESCORT

The world seemingly melted away, before being replaced with another.

Of course, to the cadets of Nova Calendus, this was a rather familiar sight. After all, the vast majority of the students in this military academy were trained to be pilots. And one of the easiest and best ways to gain the needed experience for combat situations was the Simulation Room. Through the use of simulation pods, it was possible to almost identically recreate the sensations and feelings of a real battle. Almost… as the room currently had a scent of lemony freshness that could only result from a furious cleaning session. No doubt one of the 1st Year newcomers had thrown up again, either from stress or from motion sickness. Judging from some of the rumours that spread around the station, it was not that rare of an occurrence.

An image appeared on the right hand corner of your control interface.





“Right, you two. Standard escort parameters. Guarstein, escort the convoy from A to B. Lima, destroy it before it reaches its destination.”

The voice of your blond haired, glasses wearing supervisor echoed over the the command module. Lt. Commander Cinque Reval. A legendary Mobile Suit pilot, with the skills to match his fearsome reputation, Cinque was a man who definitely knew how to train pilots. The man’s training style wasn't particularly rough, per se… but he somehow knew the perfect points that would drive home his lessons, even if they were a tad hard to stomach from time to time. Though it was peculiar that a man of such talents was simply a trainer at a military academy, even one as prestigious as Nova Calendus. Surely his talents would be better suited to the battlefield, especially now as the Alliance seems to be loosing ground every day.

The mission itself was relatively standard fare. Escort a 2 truck convoy of supplies from one location to another. Of course, considering the Commander, there would undoubtedly be some sort of complications involved. From the looks of it, the route itself was mostly relatively clear and, outside of a single canyon near the and, the painfully obvious ambush spot that everyone would expect. Other then that, it would be relatively hard to surprise the defender considering the flat terrain.

“No equipment limitations, grab whatever gear you think is suitable for the occasion. The loser will be staying here and doing E-rank accuracy simulations for the next 4 hours. If you don’t finish in 10 minutes, there will be two people doing them.”

Two virtual GUARDIAN units materialized in a shower of light, equipped to the specifications of their pilots.

BATTLE START

Battlefield Modifiers

Unstable Footing

Shifting sands and atmospheric pressure make controlling and manipulating the movement of the Mobile Suit far harder then it is under standard conditions in space. To account for this, weight and thrust calculations must be adjusted to cope with the variable resistance and the constantly moving terrain. -1 MNV for until calculations are completed. MEK check. E - 5 turns for calculations, D - 4 turns, etc.

Zach Ayers (Dranes), Stevie St. Angelo (Morm), Takuto Satoyama (Kurogane)
Class 7

“Yo..you can’t be serious.”

“My uncle serves as a bridge officer on board the Brasilia. I am telling you, both Beijing and the Brasilia are scheduled to leave JOH-N during the next couple of weeks.”

“Isn't this bad? I thought the Alliance brass was taking a defensive strategy, because they didn't want to contest their assets like that.”

“Who knows? Maybe they actually managed to find a way to bypass those damn Rubicons and stop them wrecking everything for once.”

There were many rumours going around in the classroom belonging to the 7th flight of Nova Calendus Academy. Some were about the Solar War. The contents of those rumours wasn’t usually very good. The Alliance was planning a final doomed assault with every man and ship they could muster! No! The EAU was amassing troops at Greenland and would overwhelm the Raindhoff perimeter with their unbeatable Rubicons. Some times it was hard to gauge the effects of the war here on Nova Calendus, even though they were all a part of Alliance military. There was a reason Nova Calendus was placed so far at the perimeter of known space and the isolation served to protect them just as well as any shield or beam placement would. Being on the frontier of inhabited space seemed both a blessing and a curse at times.

“What? Lima tried to punch the Lt. Commander? And Guarstein tried to stop her?”

“I swear, the French girl at Class 4… Lumiere, I think, said that she saw it with her own eyes after Tac class.”

“You sure that she is... trustworthy? Doesn’t she have a massive crush on Guarstein? And I don’t think the Lt. Commander needs Guarstein to protect himself from Lima. He is the Crimson Supernova, remember?”

The second type of rumour was what was present in all every school all around the world. Gossip. In this case, the attention seemed to be on their two missing classmates, Freira Lima and Riley Guarstein. No one of course had no clue what was going on, besides the fact that Lt. Commander Reval had taken the pair somewhere for an unknown reason. Though it was at least quite clear that that particular rumor had no legs. Freira Lima was a rather… peculiar individual, but she wasn’t stupid. And people that tried to punch Cinque Reval couldn't be called anything but just that. But that was hardly the only speculation that was being flung around. Some said that the Commander had simply gotten tired of Lima’s constant flaunting of school rules. Others said that Guarstein “challenged” Lima for the Class President position, as if the academy was some sort of gladiatorial ring where might was everything.

But while most of the classroom seemed content to gossip about the situation, one Mashta Lima sat at her seat with a deeply worried look on her face.

“Onee-san…”




European-Asiatic Union



EAUN “Ark Royal”

Purpose - EAUN Cruiser
Population - 125 Military Personnel
Location - Asteroid Field, Lionel’s Gap
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Time - 5:45 AM


Captain Jin Jeong Song (Race), Commander Kang Tae Hwan (Snax), Sylvia Hanaika (KT), Takeshi Wakahisa (Zagrin), Kai Reigns (Sei), Lieutenant Commander William Read (ILurkNoMoar), Melvin Conners (Arch-Magos Winter)
Briefing Room

The briefing room was quiet, with the only sound being the occasional chatter between fellow officers and the clanking of coffee mugs on the table surfaces. The departure of the Ark Royal was quite sudden after all, since it was supposed to be on a leave on Avernicus. However, the ship managed to only be docked for a day, barely enough to get resupplied, before their leave was cancelled and the ship was ordered to head to the Asteroid Belt of all places. Avernicus itself was far out, but the Asteroid Field itself was the frontier. The “boondocks” of space, if you could call it that. Of course that made it a haven for all sorts of individuals, but the EAU hardly had the manpower to enforce any sort of laws in the area while in the middle of a war.

Not to mention that it had been three days since they entered the Asteroid Field and they still hadn’t heard any specifics about their mission outside of a single target coordinate. Well, that was the nature of Special Operations. And from the looks of things, they were about to find out what this was about anyway.

The large quantum communication screen flicked on.




“Good morning, everyone. I sorry about cancelling your leave, but unfortunately something rather urgent was dropped on my lap by the higher-ups. Not the kind of mission I can decline, either. And you are the only ship that far out that I can trust with anything like this.”

The Commodore’s face was minimized to the right hand corner as a large image of a space station came into view. From the looks of it, a rather well defended one at that. Not that it really mattered in this respect. The power that lay hidden in the bowels of the Ark Royal far out-scaled something of this nature when properly used.

“This is Nova Calendus Academy. I don’t know if you have heard of it, but it is one of the more famous military academies of the Alliance, focused on training Mobile Suit pilots. However, as my…” A momentary flash of displeasure appeared on Leon’s face. “... superior officers tell me, the station has lately branched out of teaching and into weapons development and research. And that they have developed several new weapon prototypes that the Union would like to look at.”

“Your mission then, is to capture these weapon prototypes and bring them back here, to Rheingold Station, where our technicians can reverse engineer them. If compromised, destroy them. We have combat superiority at the moment and while learning their secrets would be advantageous, simply denying it to the Alliance is sufficient. If possible, clean out the mainframe as well. We don’t want wayward tech in the hands of random freelancers to come haunting us in the future.”

"Judging from what little information we have, it seems that the prototypes are not fully functional yet, but do take due caution during the mission."

Leon’s face turned toward the captain of the Ark Royal.

“Jin, I leave you with free hands on the mission specifics. I have no doubt that you will be able to produce a satisfactory result. If you need any additional resources, let me know. I should have enough pull with some of the local… individuals, to get you some degree of support, if needed.”

Turning back towards the main crowd of officers, Leon gave a sharp salute towards the people in the room.

“Fight with honour and integrity, everyone. Good luck.”

“Leon Friedman out.”

The screen flicked off.

[Dranes]

Dranes
Zach Ayers
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Location - Class 7

The buzz of school life filled the air in Class 7 of Nova Calendus, it was almost hard to believe that one day all of these students would one day be soldiers fighting on the battlefield for a war of survival. A war that had already costed the Tri-Lateral Alliance thousands of casualties that they had resorted to using youngsters as soldiers. It really was a sad truth and yet none had a single thought of such. Perhaps it was because the station was located on the outer rims or perhaps there was simply no use worrying. To the students here, it was just another school day.

Zach Ayers was one such student, an average achiever who had a knack at piloting Mobile Suits but still no ace. With a yawn as he leaned back on his chair, he listened to the rumors circling around the class though it was hard to keep track of them all with how many were going around. Gossip about the war ranged from an Alliance suicidal attack to total defeat by the monstrous mobile suits known as 'Rubicons'. The young man looked out the window to his right as he kept listening, it was truly a depressing subject but then the war in general which seemed to have only one possible end in sight: An EAU victory, all because of how powerless the Alliance was in the face of the Rubicons.

...Damn it, are we really so helpless?

At least there was some respite from that as something more close to home began to take priority in the rumor mill. It seemed that Lima and Guarstein had gotten into trouble, why though? Didn't seem like anyone knew with how a new reason was being made whenever given a chance. Zach himself knew the two only through them being his classmates, admittedly he could say he knew of Lima as she had somehow managed to win the last election...an honest surprise as she didn't seem the type to go for such a position.

Was there so few aiming for it?

Can't say I'm envious of her position...let alone the trouble the two of them got themselves into now.

With that thought he looked to his right, another one his classmates sat there with an extremely worried look on her face. Mashta Lima was quite the opposite of her older sister, she was a dedicated and kind young girl who held a close bond with her sister so it was only natural this situation was going to put her in a less then great mood.

I can't just leave her like this.

"Hey," He called out to her, trying to grab her attention, "Relax, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

It wasn't his business, he wasn't a close friend of hers nor of the class president's but he simply couldn't leave her like that. Flashing a reassuring smile to her, he looked back to the rumor-mongering students.

"Chances are class prez will be back soon, so don't worry about it."

[Zagrin]

Takeshi Wakahisa
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE

As the screen flickered out signalling the end of the transmission, Takeshi couldn't help but grin at the news that they had received. Now this was his kind of mission, when he had heard that they were shipping off the Ark Royal to essentially the middle of nowhere he was pretty disappointed, even more so when he had heard that it was all just to take out some military academy. He had been on a similar mission before, even though the Rubicons had not been deployed at that point in the war yet, it had still turned out to be nothing more than a joke, with no resistance worth mentioning once they had actually entered the station.

However with the revelation of prototype weaponry involved maybe, just maybe, the Alliance would actually put up a fight for once. It'd been so long since he'd actually had a challenging fight, certainly the power of the Rubicons had been a great help to the war effort, but the series of crushing victories had left a bad taste in Takeshi's mouth. Perhaps it was wrong for him to do so, but he couldn't help but hope that whatever it was on Nova Calendus was operational and ready for battle, he would've much preferred destroying it and proving the superiority of EAU technology to that of the Alliance's rather than capture and study it. After all, what could the EAU, the most technologically advanced nation in the world, possibly need from the damn Alliance!?

Nonetheless, there was no doubt someone else who must have been just as pleased as he was with this turn of events. He looked to her familiar face, his grin showing no signs of leaving.

"Hahaha, hey Sylvia, just like good old times, ain't it?"

[RacingeR]

Captain Jin Yeong Song
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE

There was a sudden sound, much like that of a pistol shot, that nipped any starting conversation in the bud, before it could even start happening. The sound had, of course, come from the mouth of the Captain, and more specifically, from the bubblegum she had just popped.

“Alright, listen up, kkomadul. This is the plan me and the Commander have elaborated on the assault of Nova Calendus.” The map of the area appeared on the large screen, intel on the Alliance’s station and platforms appearing written to the side of each corresponding point. Once her ship had been ordered to move at this particular position in space, it had not been hard for the Captain to understand what her objective would be. Thus, in anticipation, she had already prepared a plan of action.

Jin Yeong, or simply Jin, as most people shortened her name to, looked around the briefing room with clear displeasure, noting to herself that everyone there was older than her. Even the small girl who most of the Japanese crew had taken to calling ‘fake-loli’ was older than her, and had probably half drowned into the Fountain of Youth or something, given that she looked 15 at most. That sort of pissed her off.

“The enemy is unaware of our presence, and is not prepared for a sudden attack. So we’ll make this direct, quick, and clean.” She gestured towards the screen before continuing, and the map changed, some lines appearing outside the circle that marked the sensors.



“The Ark Royal, alongside with the Valkyrie squad and Reigns, will move to attack the base directly, using the biggest cluster of asteroids as cover and hiding spots. Our objective is to actually draw most of the enemy fire, and their Guardians towards us as a distraction. For this, we’ll first destroy the sensor on our path, and then we’ll proceed to be as subtle as a cocked up rhinoceros on steroids. Reigns, I want you to show-off as much as possible and draw the most attention from the enemy.” Jin paused as she looked towards Kai in the room. He’d probably love this kind of role, she thought, fitting of his attitude at least.

“Once we have started drawing the Guardians towards us, we’ll deploy the rest of our Rubicons separated in two Teams.” Jin pointed towards the arrow at the top of the map, “Conners and Wakahisa will attack the weapons platform in front of them directly, advancing under cover until it is not possible anymore. Once the platform is destroyed, you’ll attack Nova Calendus directly. Wakahisa, you’ll be in charge of clearing the mainframe, and both of you are to retrieve the prototype weapons of the enemy if possible. In case it is not possible, Conners will use his Kusanagi, alongside with my Laevateinn, to blow the station to hell.”

She paused, and this time she pointed towards the bottom arrow. “Team 1 will first attack the sensor, destroy it, then engage the weapons platform behind. After you are done with this, you’ll decide whether to help Team 2 with Nova Calendus, or go to destroy the third sensor. Read, you’ll be the Squad Leader for this mission, so that decision will be in your hands. Once both Rubicon Teams are engaging the weapon platforms, the Main Fleet alongside with Reigns will advance towards Nova Calendus and provide support to those who need it. Our Enherjars will be ready to act during the battle, so if you need them, just ask. I’ll also use the Surtr system at my discretion to help you guys out if needed. If by any motive I order a retreat, you will regroup at the battleship wasting as less time as possible.”

Having finished the explanation of her plan, she looked towards the Commander. “Hwang, you’ll try to hack into their comm frequencies. If interfering on them completely is not possible, we’ll see what we can do with that and introduce false information as needed. You are also to try and hack into the enemy systems if possible, and cause havoc.” Then, she turned again towards the rest of the crew.

“Okay, this is it. Any questions regarding the plan?”

[Snax]

Commander Kang Taehwan (Vice Captain and H. Mechanic)
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE

The briefing was as usual, boring and to the point. Slouching in his chair and listening to what the superiors had to say, Taehwan juggled his little ball-shaped Haro robot between his hands despite its protests of 'robot cruelty'. As his captain finished her briefing, he raised his hand lazily.

"Not really a question, but if we get our hands on any actual tech, I'd like to be the one to personally examine them first. After all, it is my job to develop these...kind of things. Could be useful for us in the future."

Lowering his hand, he slouched back into his chair, care freely surveying the pilots. It would be a tough job, but well, they would be able to pull it off...probably.

"By the way, if you also manage to get your hands on any data banks, records, logs or information - digital or physical, whatever - of that sort, bring it to me. Also if you find any Alliance people trying to escape, try to capture them instead of killing them. Interrogating them would be useful, as well as bring us leverage for future clashes."

[ILurkNoMoar]

William Read
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE


William leaned back into his chair, and nursed a cup of coffee as he listened to the captain's debriefing. It was a sound plan from what he knew, but the mention of prototype weapons set him on edge. It had been six months since the EAU introduced the new Rubicon model mobile suits, and whatever was on this station was probably the Alliance's way of leveling the playing field. He took another sip from his mug to calm he nerves before letting out a sigh; he just hoped that those prototypes weren't operational yet, because nothing fucks up a plan like unexpected variables and he had no interest in getting shot down during his supposed shore leave.

“Okay, this is it. Any questions regarding the plan?”

At that the Captain finished explaining her plan, and waited for any commentary from the others assembled in the briefing room. William decided to voice his concerns now.

"What are our orders if those new prototypes are online and come looking for a fight?"

[Arch-Magos Winter]

“Okay, this is it. Any questions regarding the plan?”

Corporal Melvin Connors
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE

Lazily, the ANZAC's hand shot up. "Why don't we just destroy the base outright? I could mine the area around the GUARDIAN hangers ma'am. When they scramble, BOOM, nice chunk of their station and all their fighters go out into the vacuum. Save you the trouble of cleaning up the little buggers."

Connors was honestly, not too happy about his new situation. His commanding officer (not the girl, she was alright if a little pissy about being the youngest) was an honorbound fool. Conduct a stealth raid with honor and integrity? Honor went out of style about 200 years ago, along with top hats and ruffled dresses. But he'd make the best of it. Limes into limeade, along with as much havoc as he could reasonably cause.

"I'm also wondering about the gun emplacements - are they turrets or fixed trajectory? Would it be possible for us to just come up behind them and avoid all the fire?" Melvin tapped a spent turkish lighter against the arm of the briefing room chair. "Because if we could hack our way into those, we could hold the entire base hostage, or make our raid look like the result of saboteurs."

Like the Alliance would buy that though. "I could snoop around the place though, depending on the sensors. Do they have the standard alliance loadout, or something more?"

[Kuroyuki]

Takuto Satoyama
Date: Friday. April 13th, 29 SE.
Location: Class 7

I swear the second class stops, it's the second everyone starts talking about rumours. I've barely packed up any of my stuff and I already hear four rumours. Said rumours can be divided up into two things: semi-accurate troop movements and to my distaste... Gossip. I don't mind hearing gossip per se. What I do mind is the typical inaccuracy associated with gossip. Especially if said gossip is slandering someone's name. So I didn't really trust the latest news of Freira Lima supposedly punching or Riley Guarstein challenging Freira for iinchou. Honestly, the best person would be to ask Freura Lima or Guarstein... But they're both in the simulator room with Lt. Colonel Cinque. Well this isn't really my business but it is her business.

The person I'm talking about is Mashta Lima... Freira Lima's imouto. I feel... conflicted you could say? On one hand I want to stay away from Freira Lima. On the other hand, I want to talk to the Mashta. It seems too much for such a nice girl to be alone when her family is in even just a little trouble. I was about call to her but...

"Hey," He called out to her, trying to grab her attention, "Relax, I'm sure it's nothing serious."
"Chances are class prez will be back soon, so don't worry about it."

Of course, I've been beaten to the punch... by Zach Ayers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at Zach... I just have this slight regret that I wasn't first to talk to her for some reason...

"Like Zach said, you shouldn't worry Lima-san. I'm sure your onee-chan hasn't done anything wrong. Surely she didn't punch the Lt. Commander like those rumours say... Right?"

Shit... I inadvertantly used Japanese.

"Umm... In case you were wondering, Onee-chan means "older sister."

[Mormarth]

Stevie St. Angelo
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Location: Class 7
Time: 9:48 AM

As the murmurs of the class that would be sending its students into combat bubbled up all around, one individual was not particularly bothered by the hub-bub, he leaned against a wall in his seat, thumbing through a large book with a complicated look on his face.

Stevie St. Angelo did not like admitting his faults, few though they were, but for this particular soft point in the foundation it simply would not do. He grumbled to himself as he thumbed through a few more pages, the cover a friendly yellow with a helpful-looking figure gesturing towards the title.

For you see, when engaging in a military operation, even if one is not a formal member of the Armed Forces per-say, it is usually a good thing to be competent in larger, squad-based tactics. Which, unfortunately for the mercenary's ego, he was not, individual planning and stratagems, sure, but that had no place in a team. The sentences had been drilled into his skull and the book had literally been thrown at him.

He'd caught it, of course.
Finally reaching a point where he could be satisfied with his progress, the Jamaican set down the book with a grumbling sigh, shoving it into a pack. He then turned to an old trick he'd been taught earlier in his life, to look with his ears and not his eyes.

Voices bounced back and forth across the room, as always, talk of the war, final doomed assaults, great doom armies falling out of wormholes, someone planning to drop an asteroid on the Earth, rumors and hearsay mixed with doses of fact here and there. When you're out in the proverbial sticks, the blend becomes more intense until even the slightest rumor could explode into a conspiracy theory worthy of the Freemasons.

He figured some people probably made a game out of it and some meant what they said, but it wasn't necessarily his concern, more interesting talk drew his attention, however.

“What? Lima tried to punch the Lt. Commander? And Guarstein tried to stop her?”

“I swear, the French girl at Class 4… Lumiere, I think, said that she saw it with her own eyes after Tac class.”

“You sure that she is... trustworthy? Doesn’t she have a massive crush on Guarstein? And I don’t think the Lt. Commander needs Guarstein to protect himself from Lima. He is the Crimson Supernova, remember?”

Stevie grumbled again at the mention of their legendary tutor, the Lt. Commander had been the one to give him this nice book after his test results came back, and while he was perfectly okay with the idea of someone throwing a punch at him, his eye flickered open for a moment.

Nope, the two students mentioned were nowhere to found, suspicious. Hell, for all he knew they could have been shot or something, but he doubted it.

His eye flicked closed again and he dozed quietly against the wall, ears still mildly alert, until he caught wind of a small voice filled with worry, he turned his attention to the source.

The sister of their so-called Class President (he wasn't quite aware of when the elections were held, because he was pretty sure he'd of won.), Mashita Lima, she seemed like a good kid, and honestly worried about an older sibling. Stevie could kind of understand that point of view, being the one who was usually being worried about, and he was about to speak up and offer a word of sagely advice when someone beat him to the punch.

"Hey," He called out to her, trying to grab her attention, "Relax, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

The guy speaking up was Zach Ayers, and scraping through his memories, Stevie didn't think the guy was particularly good or bad at anything, well-rounded.

Which as a side-note, was how he liked his women, but that's beside the point.

Stevie opened his mouth again, only to be once again interrupted by another student, Takuto Satoyama, as he recalled.

What, was this International White-Knight day or something?

"Don't worry Lima-san. I'm sure your onee-chan is fine. She didn't punch the Lt. Commander like those rumours say... Right?" The asian student seemed wary of speaking to the girl, and Stevie was pretty sure he knew why.
​'I wouldn't be particularly annoyed if she did hit him, but she really probably shouldn't, could get disappeared that way.' Stevie thought back to some old horror stories he'd heard here and there in the battlefields he'd fought in.

Making peace with his own bad luck and wisely deciding to keep his thoughts to himself, Stevie only offered a whistle to catch her attention and then a thumbs-up.

[Katie]

Sylvia Hanaika
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:47
Date: 13 April 29 SE

"Shut up, Takeshi. Unlike you, I can't say those 'old times' were my time of day."

The "fake-loli", or Sylvia Hanaika, had spoke up with a rather forceful tone, contrasting with her tiny body. Her unbuttoned coat was draped over her shoulders like a cape, and the lollipop she held in her mouth made her the spitting image of a banchou—were she not at a petite 160 centimeters. While she certainly wasn't the oldest person here, she was significantly older than their captain, and she glared at the youth, who had the audacity to call them brats when the term exclusively applied to people like her. Not only that, but "those old times" were some of the most aggravating parts of her life. Joking about it so casually just made her bitter.

She fixed her gaze on their captain, making a slight attempt to hide her distaste. If they were kkomadul, she was a dummkopf.

"Well, Captain, are you trusting in our ability to not be shot out of the sky once we're within sensor range? The weapons platforms are quite a bit away from the sensors, and the sensors are quite a bit deep in said range. I understand we are Rubicon pilots, but we are certainly not invincible. I only advise that you think about possible alternatives in case the assault goes awry."

Sylvia sighed, listening to the voices of her comrades. How uneccesarily violent.

"We're supposed to destroy the prototypes, you know. As for the matter, I would like a stealthier approach, as I'm not sure that the fanciful Ark Royal's armor can take all that sustained damage, if it is to draw heat off of us as the plan suggests, correct? Blowing up the base, is a bit extreme, I feel. We have one goal and I feel that we should put our minds to accomplishing it, not focus on razing everything to the ground."

[Mellon]

Captain Jin Jeong Song (Race), Commander Kang Tae Hwan (Snax), Sylvia Hanaika (KT), Takeshi Wakahisa (Zagrin), Kai Reigns (Sei), Lieutenant Commander William Read (ILurkNoMoar), Melvin Conners (Arch-Magos Winter)
Briefing Room

"We're supposed to destroy the prototypes, you know. As for the matter, I would like a stealthier approach, as I'm not sure that the fanciful Ark Royal's armor can take all that sustained damage, if it is to draw heat off of us as the plan suggests, correct? Blowing up the base, is a bit extreme, I feel. We have one goal and I feel that we should put our minds to accomplishing it, not focus on razing everything to the ground."

The experienced voice of CIVOPS member Fujita Katsu echoed that of Sylvia.

“I agree with Sylvia-kun’s assesment. Destroying the base should be the absolute last resort. While most of the members of the base can be considered “military personel”, seeing a dismembered teenagers body on the six o’clock news will affect the public opinion negatively.” Fujita let out a slight exasperated chuckle . “Even if it does happen to wear an Alliance uniform.”

With his face reflecting nothing but calmness, the “observer” from the Union Parliament gave his opinion on the matter. Established about a year after the start of the war, after stories of EAU war crimes started surfacing on the Union media outlets, Civilian Operations was an organisation that reported straight to the Parliament. On board every major ship in the EAU, there was a CIVOPS officer who held veto power over every military plan suggested by the commanding officer, if he found it to be harmful to the public image of the European Asiatic Union Navy or the civilian governments. Fujita himself was a decorated diplomat, serving as the EAU Ambassador to the Russian Federation for over almost a decade, as well as being an almost legendary figure in the martial arts scene, being the 4 time winner of the international "King of Hearts" tournament.

“The fire-power we have here at the moment should be more then enough to deal with the situation, without resorting to such dramatic measures. And if not, we can, as Sylvia-kun said, take a more stealthier approach.”

“Hah. Binding our hands so soon, Katsu? Well, not that I mind. A soldier has to follow all sorts of unreasonable commands, after all.”

Christopher Lindholm spoke with his characteristic tone of rugged amusement and resignation mixed into one. Commanding Officer of the Valkriye squadron on board the Ark Royal, the man was almost the very image of a soldier. The man could grumble about his mission parameters (and frequently did), but every mission he was in command of was executed perfectly along the specified perimiters. Not a man who was the most brilliant pilot in the EAUN, but definitely a man who commanded a lot of respect from his subordinates and ship-mates for his dedication to the uniform.

“Now, now Lieutenant, I have the utmost confidence that you will be able to fulfill your mission. Otherwise, I would not impose these limitations, after all."



Zach Ayers (Dranes), Stevie St. Angelo (Morm), Takuto Satoyama (Kurogane)
Class 7

"Like Zach said, you shouldn't worry Lima-san. I'm sure your onee-chan hasn't done anything wrong. Surely she didn't punch the Lt. Commander like those rumours say... Right?"

Mashta gave a small smile towards the three boys who tried to reassure her. Almost complete opposite of her sister, Mashta Lima was a dedicated, kind-hearted girl who spent most of her time diligently working at her studies and supporting her sister. Never late, always paying attention (and quick to whisper answers to Freira whenever she fell asleep at class) and relatively shy and restrained in her behaviour, it was a miracle that the two girls were sisters to begin with. At times it seemed as if the young, dark skinned girl had made it her purpose to become an expert in every area that her sister could not be bothered with, simply to support her when she needed.

“Thanks, you three. I...I don’t think she punched the Commander... at least I hope she didn't. I just saw the Commander telling sister to show up at the Simulation Room. I didn’t even know that Guarstein was told to come there as well.”

The dusky skinned girls eyes clouded in worry once more.

“I knew I should have asked her if she did her Tactics essay, I had more then enough time yesterday to write another one…”

The class door opened with a click and in came a man with a rather easygoing smile and a pair of glasses.

Richard Hawthorne was definitely one of the more well liked teachers on the station. Kind, friendly and always willing to lend an ear, he was the premier “student’s friend” among the faculty. Well, maybe besides the Strategy and Logistics teacher Lt. Ling. But she was more popular due to her ludicrously easygoing nature, rather then her genial personality like Hawthorne was. Supposedly an “exiled member of the Royal House of England” (or at least that is what the class rumour mill was going on about), he came to Nova Caledus to hide from an arranged marriage to the Norwegian Second Princess! Regardless of the man’s past, the Medical class taught by him was considered to be a “relaxation” class by many. A place to unwind and take it easy for a while. While Richard truly hoped that his students would value the craft that he taught, he never truly forced it upon the cadets. Maybe that was the reason most people were surprisingly competent medics on the station.

“Morning, everyone. While I do enjoy the youthful and joyful voices, I would appreciate it if you quieted down a bit. I don’t mind if you guys speak to each other, but do try to keep it quiet for those who want to study.”

Richard gave a well natured smile to the entire class.

“Would you guys pair up, as you do usually, and we can go over scenarios involving responses serious blood loss and resulting shock. The relevant pages on your Alliance Medical Manual is 98-106, but I will be going over most of that as it is, so reading it is only compulsory if you don’t want to listen to me droning on about it.”

The class erupted in bristling movement as everyone tried to find a partner.

[Zagrin]

Takeshi Wakahisa
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:48
Date: 13 April 29 SE

"Haha, whatever you say, Sylvia," Takeshi said, shrugging his shoulders at the response he had received yet his mood not letting up one bit.

He could have continued trying to "reminisce", but now wasn't the time. Discussing the plan on how they would get in took precedence. His opinion was in direct contrast to that of Corporal Melvin's, after all, they had been given specific orders to retrieve whatever was in there and only destroy it if it was operational. Blowing it up would have just taken out all the challenge and well...would have been the coward's way of doing things. Thankfully the CIVOPS officer on board this ship was of a similar mind in regards to destroying the station, well perhaps not similar, to him, Alliance soldiers whom fought back, young or old, were fair game.

"I agree with Sylvia and Katsu-san over here, the commander said that we were to only go about destroying the prototypes if we couldn't retrieve them."

That made three against the Corporal's suggestion, nonetheless there was still something else on Takeshi's mind that his comrades had failed to make mention of.

"Also Captain, what of the support that the Commander had offered us, I don't see anything about it in the plan? Though it may not be necessary it's good to keep our options open and know what all our resources are."

[Dranes]

Dranes
Zach Ayers
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Location - Class 7

He hadn't really expected it, after all it had seemed that no one else really was paying attention. However it seemed that that was not the case, two more of his classmates: Stevie St.Angelo and Takuto Satoyama tried to cheer the girl up, both in their own way. Takuto gave some comforting words while Stevie gave the usual thumbs up. It was good to see that as much as a rumor mill that the class could become, there were still those that kept an eye out for one another. He gave a firm nod once they finished speaking, this had to do the trick.

“I knew I should have asked her if she did her Tactics essay, I had more then enough time yesterday to write another one..."

"Wait wha-?"

Before he could speak another word, a calm familiar voice broke in.

“Morning, everyone. While I do enjoy the youthful and joyful voices, I would appreciate it if you quieted down a bit. I don’t mind if you guys speak to each other, but do try to keep it quiet for those who want to study.”

Though he'd like to think he had a good sense of awareness, it seemed the young man had missed seeing Professor Hawthorne entering the classroom. His opinion was similar to the rest of the class, Richard Hawthorne and his class were both classes that had little to no pressure....quite unlike the Lt.Commander's. The atmosphere between the two classes were as different as fire and ice, though admittedly it was nice change from the more rigorous classes.

“Would you guys pair up, as you do usually, and we can go over scenarios involving responses serious blood loss and resulting shock. The relevant pages on your Alliance Medical Manual is 98-106, but I will be going over most of that as it is, so reading it is only compulsory if you don’t want to listen to me droning on about it.”

This was exactly why such an opinion formed so quickly, the laid back attitude coupled with his overall appearance made him someone was easy to talk around. There were the rumors here and there about where he might have come from though for the most part Zach paid them no heed. Hawthorne to him was simply the good-natured (and rather popular) teacher that students could easily get along with...and his latest announcement had already roused the class to action. Left and right students were moving to find a partner.

"Hey Mashta, want to group up?"

He asked her simply. Normally he would not have cared much for who he was grouped with, but the girl seemed to still be a little down. Maybe this would lighten her up? She normally grouped up with her older sister but that option was out at the moment. Honestly, he couldn't really remember a time that Mashta had worked with anyone else but Freira and, in a sense, maybe it was a good thing that Hawthorne has such a laid back personality when it came to his students and their work this time.

"I don't think there's going to be much work, seeing as it's Hawthorne's class."

[Mereo Flere]

Riley Guarstein
Nova Calendus - Simulation Room

Riley Guarstein settled into the simulator cockpit, running a quick systems check to make sure that the OS was tuned to his settings. He paused, however, when the Lt. commander explained the details of the simulation - and the consequences.

"So you want me to defend a convoy from Frey, of all people?" he asked, as he eyed the battlefield map. There was a hint of concern in his voice, which was only natural. Whatever gossip about Freira spread throughout the station, it was unlikely that there was a single person in Class 7 that didn't know of her piloting skills. Defeating her in one on one combat was already a tall order; fighting her while defending a pair of vulnerable targets seemed a bit unreasonable.

"...you must really want me to brush up on my aim."

It wasn't a serious complaint, of course. Despite his unease, it wasn't a completely impossible mission. If it came down to a close range battle she would almost certainly hold the advantage, but if he kept her at a distance... it would be still be close match, but if there was anything that he had a chance against her, it was in a shootout.

"Hm..."

With a frown, Riley stared at the item selection screen, looking for something that could give him an advantage. The various melee weapons didn't suit him, and the mission wouldn't last long enough for the extra ammo to become necessary. A shield would help him intercept shots without putting the main body of the Guardian at risk too. As for the rocket pods; the lack of ammo wouldn't be much of an issue here, but Freira was skilled enough to shoot them down before their explosive power could reach her.

After a minute of mental deliberation, though, he entered his selection: A Kinetic Rifle and a Sensor Kit.

The rifle was the weapon he was most familiar with. As for the sensor kit - it was the only hope of spotting Freira before she could ambush him. Considering the time limit, he wouldn't have the luxury of of waiting for her to come to him... not that she would ever run out into the open to get shot when she could just ambush him at the canyon.

"Alright," he said, keeping a cautious eye on his radar even as his GUARDIAN took its place at the front of the convoy. "Let's get this show on the road."

[Sei]

Kai Reigns
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Date: 13 April 29 SE

How the hell I managed to get myself caught up with the military is beyond me. I mean out of all the places in the universe, this is probably the last place I'd have seen myself. And yet here I am, taking commands from some grade schooler in a boring meeting about asteroids and robots. Don't get me wrong, piloting giants robots is cool and all, but I could definitely be somewhere talking up a couple of babes. Hell, I could even be doing my homework.

It's always the same. The Red Guy pops up, briefs us really quick, then the munchkin gives us her little plan. Then after that, we bicker for a solid five minutes or so- or just generally waste time- and I'm stuck here listening to it all because these things are "mandatory". Jeez man. This whole gig is just one big drag.

Hands propped behind my head and my feet on the table, I just listen to every other word. Seeing how my name was only mentioned once, that's the only part I think I've really got to care about.

“The Ark Royal, alongside with the Valkyrie squad and Reigns, will move to attack the base directly, using the biggest cluster of asteroids as cover and hiding spots. Our objective is to actually draw most of the enemy fire, and their Guardians towards us as a distraction. For this, we’ll first destroy the sensor on our path, and then we’ll proceed to be as subtle as a cocked up rhinoceros on steroids. Reigns, I want you to show-off as much as possible and draw the most attention from the enemy.”

"You know, showing off is all well with me and all... But what's gonna happen when I get shot to hell here?" Dissatisfied, I shrug, "I mean, a machine's specs are only a small part of the fight. When it comes down to it, the pilot is what really matters. ...And while I'm not dissin' my own skills or anything, in case you haven't noticed, I ain't exactly a soldier like the rest of these guys. Not only that... But you've also gotta consider the conditions of this whole thing. Seeing how as my cover, this asteroid field, is on the enemy's own turf, I'd at least like to think they have some kind of countermeasure for any idiot trying to use the natural formations as cover," Reconsidering this is all a what-if, I laugh for a moment, "But hey, if not, then we're good to go. The Alliance is just dumber than I thought, is all."

Taking a deep breath, I mull over the plan a little bit more. I understand that this kid is supposed to be the commanding officer for a reason and all, but it's my life she's using as a chess piece here. And like hell am I going along with a plan like this if all bases haven't been covered. I'd be better off at home sucking my thumb.

"All I'm saying is, with the amount of stuff you have riding on a mere distraction, ya gotta be sure it works out. They've got tacticians too, and when just one ace shows up to the party, I'd like to think it wouldn't take them much to figure out something's up. And distraction or not, if something happens to my machine, it's a win for them, regardless. ...Not to take jabs at everyone in the Valks, but all I've got to cover my ass is a couple of mass-produced machines and a little bit of faith. And that just ain't fair."

I've said my piece here. Whether or not the little captain actually listens is up in the air though. Not like I've really got much pull around here anyway.

"But hey, I could just be listening to myself talk here. What do I know? I'm just a suit here, anywho."

[hero]

Freira Lima
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Location - Simulation Room


Well, wasn't this a good way to start the day?

For a moment, Freira Lima had thought that Lt. Commander Reval was going to give her a lecture on how an irresponsible Class President she was, just like the other teachers did from time to time. But she couldn't have been farther from the truth: He had instead arranged a simple simulation exercise for her to have some fun and destroy things. While Freira was not jumping in excitement from the realization, she had to acknowledge Reval sure knew the proper way to teach. This was much better than writing your tactics in an essay for everyone to see. A thousand times better, in fact.

When it came to Escort Missions, Lima knew that, between Riley and her, she was the most experienced. Granted, most of those missions had taken place before Freira had become a pilot so there had been no mobile suits involved, but the core basics were the same, in and out of the machine. She had been on both sides, so not only she knew where to set and ambush but also where to find one. To put it in other words, this was Freira Lima's playing field; she felt right at home.

"Quit your bitchin', Guarstein. Hurry up and pick your equipment so we can start."

Unlike Riley who had taken an entire minute to decide which weapons he would take to the battlefield, it had taken Freira no more than five seconds to pick hers. Rather than pure strategic skill, it seemed that the woman had part of her selection in mind before the explanation for the exercise was even delivered. Kinetic Rifle and Rocket Pod, truly one exclusively suited for destruction.

There were three ways she could go about this. One was to force Guarstein to leave the convoy unprotected and use most of the destructive power of her weaponry to take out the vehicle. Her opponent was right in a way, a single Guardian defending a cargo transport was pretty much suicide. The other was was to focus her bloodlust on Riley. Since he was the only one defending the truck, taking him out meant victory. Even if short on energy, Lima was sure she could crush the objective with unarmed melee. The third option was to, well...

...Simply blow them both to bits.

Naturally, Freira chose the canyon near the end as her hiding spot. Since Guarstein would be expecting an ambush, the benefits from the surprise factor would be lost, being the most suitable place for such strategy, but at least it provided reliable cover and a good place to use her weapons to their full potential, which was what the pilot woman was looking for. Starting the adjustments for her Guardian to adapt to the annoying terrain and atmospheric pressure, Lima simply hid and waited for her opponent, as well as the convoy he was supposed to protect, to appear within sight.

[Arch-Magos Winter]

While they'd shot down just destroying the base outright (Damn stupid when it'd kill about three birds with one stone) there was still a lot of options on the table.

Kai Reigns
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Date: 13 April 29 SE
"You know, showing off is all well with me and all... But what's gonna happen when I get shot to hell here?" Dissatisfied, I shrug, "I mean, a machine's specs are only a small part of the fight. When it comes down to it, the pilot is what really matters. ...And while I'm not dissin' my own skills or anything, in case you haven't noticed, I ain't exactly a soldier like the rest of these guys. Not only that... But you've also gotta consider the conditions of this whole thing. Seeing how as my cover, this asteroid field, is on the enemy's own turf, I'd at least like to think they have some kind of countermeasure for any idiot trying to use the natural formations as cover," Reconsidering this is all a what-if, I laugh for a moment, "But hey, if not, then we're good to go. The Alliance is just dumber than I thought, is all."

Mining the asteroids? Was that what he was getting at? Risky, but that could seriously even the edge in case of an assault, like the one everyone was planning.

"They probably wouldn't risk loading explosives onto those rocks. Too close to the base. Still that's something to be worried about." Conners flicked the dead lighter open and closed rhythmically as he thought. "No offense, Captain, but your Valks will just get torn to pieces by any weaponry they throw at us from those emplacements. Those should be our priority, either to take over, or destroy. Then the sensors. I wonder if our Commodore's friends can disable their comms as well, give us some extra time before they start scrambling."

"So, if we can't take out the base, we're going to need some way to get to the prototypes. If they're online, solves one problem. If they're not, we need a way in, and I don't see some Marine team standing by to do some crazy snatch and grab. Really, this will be painted badly by Alliance PR whatever we do."

[Kuroyuki]

Takuto Satoyama
Date: Friday. April 13th, 29 SE.
Location: Class 7

Making peace with his own bad luck and wisely deciding to keep his thoughts to himself, Stevie only offered a whistle to catch her attention and then a thumbs-up.

I'm fairly sure that the whistle wasn't directed towards me, but I glanced over towards the whistler to discover that Stevie St.Angelo was offering Mashta an encouraging thumbs up. I haven't interacted with St. Angelo that much but I find myself approving of him more and more as time goes on. Unlike most of our gossiping classmates, he was reading a book on group tactics and only reacted when he saw that Mashta was worried about the latest rumor of her sister. I was going to thank him but I heard Mashta say something about how she should have done her sister's tactics essay.

I could chew out Freira a little bit and have her ignore me entirely... Or I could try to help Mashta out with her extra coursework. Yeah... I'll do that and probably ask Freira to at least help Mashta if Mashta doesn't want me to help her out. Okay, let's see if I can attempt to help Mashta out with her problem.

"Hey if you want I cou-"

That is when I hear the classroom door open and I quickly rushed back to my seat until I realized that it was Hawthorne-sensei. One of my favorite (and several other's) favorite teacher due to his relaxed attitude yet highly efficient teaching style. Although I treat all of my classes seriously even I can't help but relax due to Hawthorne-sensei's soothing aura.

“Morning, everyone. While I do enjoy the youthful and joyful voices, I would appreciate it if you quieted down a bit. I don’t mind if you guys speak to each other, but do try to keep it quiet for those who want to study.”

“Would you guys pair up, as you do usually, and we can go over scenarios involving responses serious blood loss and resulting shock. The relevant pages on your Alliance Medical Manual is 98-106, but I will be going over most of that as it is, so reading it is only compulsory if you don’t want to listen to me droning on about it.”

Even though, he says we should only go over the material if we're going to ignore him. I still intend to go over the material sometime after class just in case. Now a better more relevant question I should ask is, who should I choose as my partner? I could choose Stevie... but I want to talk to Mashta to see if she's fine with me helping her.

"Hey Mashta yo-"

"Hey Mashta, want to group up?"

"I don't think there's going to be much work, seeing as it's Hawthorne's class."

Beaten to the punch again... These are some sad times for me as I keep barely losing to another person when it comes to simple chat initiative. It's like that one time, my little brother, Yuuji kept interrupting me every time I attempted to talk to one of my classmates. In fact, I think Yuuji managed to turn my classmate into a complete shoutacon by the end of the conversation.

"Looks like someone already wants you as their partner, Mashta. After class is over, can I talk to you about something? I promise it won't be long."

After I heard her response, I answered promptly and started walking over to Stevie to see if he got a partner yet. Hopefully, he doesn't feel insulted because I chose him as my "second" pick. I waved at him and attempted to greet him cordially.

"Hey Stevie. Do you have a partner yet? If you don't have one just yet, you want to be partners for this class?"

[Mereo Flere]

Riley Guarstein
Nova Calendus - Simulation Room

A few minutes in, it was obvious which strategy Freira had chosen to employ. Scanning the area as he advanced, it was clear that the other Guardian was nowhere to be found on the plains... which meant that she was somewhere in the canyon. It wouldn't take long for the convoy to get past that and reach the end, but those were the moments that it was most vulnerable. If he entered it carelessly, she could simply shoot him from above on one of the canyon walls - and with his lack of a shield, his only hope was to pray that she missed. Considering her marksmanship scores, it was a prayer that wasn't likely to be answered.

He stared at the map. The mouth of the canyon was the least likely place for her to be; she would likely be further in. Not too far; too close to the mission boundary, and there was a chance she wouldn't have time to finish the convoy off. Too close to the entrance, though, and she would be easier to spot. If she were partway in, there at least wouldn't be that much for the convoy to maneuver even if she was spotted.

No... just walking in wouldn't be smart. Even if he had a shield, he would still need to determine which side she would attack from.

Accelerating forward, he separated from the convoy, gaining a bit of distance from his escort. What he was about to attempt would be a little dangerous, especially since the calculations for his adjustments hadn't finished yet. Still, even if it would be undefended for a few moments, he took consolation in the fact that she was likely to be in no position to take advantage of it.

Nearing the cliff face, he activated his thrusters, kicking off against the wall to scale it even faster. Rising above the edge, Riley's guardian landed on top of the canyon wall - scanning the area before him for any sign of his opponent.

[RacingeR]

Captain Jin Yeong Song
Location: Ark Royal, Briefing Room
Time: 05:46
Date: 13 April 29 SE

"What are our orders if those new prototypes are online and come looking for a fight?"

The first question was fairly good, and a question Jin had been expecting them to make. She had not been wrong in making Read the squad leader, at least.

“We have no knowledge of what the hell the prototypes are, in general terms, so it is very hard to plan ahead when why comes to them. If we end up having to fight them we’ll see how strong they are, and take a decision based on that. Part of why we are blowing up the sensors as our first priority is because they will make our retreat easier if it comes to it.”

However, the good questions ended there. What followed was the typical questioning of orders, disregard of the plan, and arrogance that characterized this particular squad, and which made Jin exchange a glance with her second in command. She had been sure this would happen, but it did not make it any easier. It was humiliating, at the very least, because she was freaking sure no other Captain in the whole fleet had to deal with being questioned like this.

She still decided to try to address their… ‘concerns’ in the better way she could, even if she still couldn’t believe her ears. They were afraid of shots going through their general direction! Where the hell could you find pilots that were so… so like this?

“Look.” She first looked towards the ANZAC, deciding to deal with his particularly dangerous mindset first. “We got our orders to retrieve the damn things first, and only to destroy them if compromised. Not only that, but going out of our way to blow up the base will not only be useless under certain conditions. This was always intended as a last resort.”

She glared towards the CIVOPS, Fujita Katsu, with clear anger in her eyes. This would have probably been enough to make a grown man back down under the sheer intensity of her stare, but it probably resulted just funny for the experienced veteran. Jin needed no help to keep the crew at bay, thank you very much. If he did this again then she would… she would… stare him to death. Yep. To death. She was sure that was the better way to take out the strongest martial artist on the world.

“I don’t want to hear that anyone in my ship disobeyed orders and went out of their way to destroy that base. We’ll have a plan for destroying it, of course, but only if needed.”

"Well, Captain, are you trusting in our ability to not be shot out of the sky once we're within sensor range? The weapons platforms are quite a bit away from the sensors, and the sensors are quite a bit deep in said range. I understand we are Rubicon pilots, but we are certainly not invincible. I only advise that you think about possible alternatives in case the assault goes awry."

Finally, she turned towards Sylvia, and it was clear that her anger had reached her peak. “Why, yes, I am trusting your goddamned ability to not be shot out of the sky, and be able to engage in battle. I think that if you are here you also have full knowledge of the fact that maybe some shots will get fired in your way if you get in a battle, don’tcha think, kkoma? Also I’d suspect that any battle you are in is going to involve, ya’know, people firing at you, so you better get accustomed to it. Yes, shit may go awry, and yes, I count on thinking up countermeasures as shit happens. If you want a plan that covers all the bases and possible situations, you are gonna be shit outta luck because that does not exist. And that goes to the both of you, Reigns.”

During this last speech, her words and tone of voice had turned much rougher, and much more aggressive than the somewhat refined way of speaking she had been using before. It was very clear that the tone Sylvia had used had set her off pretty badly. However, she soon calmed down, although a vein remained clearly marked in her forehead. She looked around at the pilots, nodding at Wakahisa’s question, but not answering him yet.

This had been a flaw in the plan she had not been quite expecting. For her, three of the pilots had proven themselves very clearly unreliable, especially Hanaika and Reigns, who seemed pretty much unfit for battle or military action. This meant that her plan A, which was the least risky option, and depended a lot on the Rubicons and their pilots, was not viable.

And these thoughts were clearly reflected in her face, and the way she stared at them.

“Ah, hell. Kang, we’ll switch to Plan B, after all.”

She let the weight of her body fall in the back of the chair. When she talked again, her tone was harsh and emotionless, leaving out any room for discussion.

“Originally, I did not want to attempt any ‘sneaky’ action because we have a lot of unknown factors, like the existence of these unknown prototypes, that might be able to turn the tides of the battle in their favor. A flexible plan which we can change and modify as the battle moves on would serve us better than a complex plan that would blow up in our faces. This is why I choose Plan A in the first place.”

“However, now I am going to switch to Plan B. Kang, Read and Wakahisa will command an Alliance freighter, wear Alliance uniforms, with some of our crew, and infiltrate Nova Calendus. You’ll fake being a maintenance crew, and your main objective will be to hack the mainframe and the data therein, then take control of the base’s defenses, including the hangar and the platforms. Then, if needed, you’ll move towards where the prototypes are, and assault that location on-foot. The freighter and uniforms will be provided by the Commodore’s contacts, as I am fairly sure they have these resources.”

“As this happens, the rest of us will initiate a straight assault to Nova Calendus, with the intention of forcing their attention somewhere else. We’ll also focus on destroying their external defenses, with a focus on their weapon platforms, then the sensors. With the assault from the interior, and the one from the exterior, we’ll try to force their surrender, but our priority will remain stealing or destroying the prototypes.”

Jin stared towards the other three pilots left. She trusted no one of these, as Reigns lacked any military training, and Conners’ sudden hatred for academies made him prone to disobeying. This only left Hanaika, who had military training, but was a traitor, and pissed Jin off more than anyone else in this squad. But it was not like she had any other option.

“Hanaika, you’ll be squad leader for our Rubicon division in this operation. Kang, Read, Wakahisa, follow me to the Captain’s Office. The rest of you are dismissed until the battle starts.”

And with these last words, Jin got up, and left the room, cutting off any possible backtalk this way.