Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Nanami Touko]

Thinking With Your Heart

"Watch me," Jess scoffed back, as Astin tried to lecture her on why she was wrong. "I'll use that logic all I want. Nikolai was r-ready to kill us, coming out of that craft! And now he's willing t-to stand here and have a m-meeting with us like it's not a b-big deal!" Jess huffed. This was ridiculous! This line in particular, Astin even acting like Christina would have been an issue at any point. The girl was less harmful than a fly, it didn't take a genius, a psychiatrist, or anyone at all smart to see that! Yeah, just because she was with Kim. She was on the ship for a day and had free reign for that, and you didn't speak a word. If I let Abigail out on her own, will you cry foul, or will you stay quiet like you did for her? Hypocrite...

"And I'll k-keep trusting them even after I do! What's wrong with that? In t-times like this, other people are all we have to rely on! You can all c-call me some, bleeding heart, or some, some naive idiot, but if I g-give into any fear, then I lose. Don't you kn-know how terrorism works? Don't y-you understand what Apotheosis wants? G-Give me one good reason why I should t-trust any of you over Abigail-- and this is not some, dumb hypothetical. I-I barely know any of you! I don't kn-know who picked you, I don't know your motivations; I have a f-file and a gut feeling. And if that's good enough for you all, that's good enough for her." And working perfectly fine? Even Jess scoffed.

"Elaine broke o-orders to shoot at the dangerous unknown during the colony fight, T-Tarquin nearly blew himself up," she reminded, "and I f-freeze half of the time when faced with something new. What w-workinng perfectly fine are you talking about? W-We're a ragtag group, we barely fit together, th-the only reason we even managed to defend the base t-today is because we got lucky; the Apotheosis mechs w-weren't fighting at full force, and we h-had a new machine on the field! Destroying everything we've built-- what HAVE we built? How well do you know anyone in this room, Astin?" She'd cut into them a lot, but they were being the most selfish out of everyone there.

At least Tarquin wasn't only thinking of himself with his question. Jess took a few deep breaths and tried to answer. "There is no mission b-briefing yet, Tarquin... We're h-headed to Great Lake Base, to see if w-we can stem the assault by Apotheosis f-forces, and get a proper restock. The officer in charge here managed to get our energy up and running, but we're starting to dip i-into our own supply of missiles and ammo. We need extras stocked up if the Riese is going to be at full fighting strength for every battle." She hoped it was going to be as simple as that. "If you d-don't trust her then talk to her, for God's sake... You like Nikolai. I s-see no reason why you can't at l-least try to get used to someone new."

Megumi tried to have her back, in a similar fashion to which she'd responded to Astin. But it was more trust rhetoric, and Astin wasn't buying it. She would've tried to ignore it but she couldn't stand what Astin tried to casually add into their response. "You shut your mouth, Doyle!" Jess had to grit her teeth to avoid saying anything further vitriolic. "Megumi is doing her part to keep everyone r-running safe and sound just as much as the rest of us-- and sh-she watches from the Bridge, she's in as much danger as the rest of us were the R-Riese to take a direct hit! And that is not everyone's solution! Th-That is yours... I agree with Megumi. I-If you have all this t-time and effort, to spend trying t-to argue why she shouldn't be a p-part of things, then work towards how she c-can fit in and how you can watch out f-for yourselves should you n-not trust her. Maybe she did f-feed us a sob story, so what? With how little you v-value trust, I imagine you have your own y-you're hiding behind..." Jess was getting pretty tired of dealing with this, but there was still the biggest problem in the room.

I should've hit you harder, was Jess' first invasive thought. "There's no t-time because we didn't know how bad things w-were, down here. Unless there's s-something you aren't telling me, our return trip to Earth was our first stop into gaining any i-insight and knowledge on how much we would need to deal with Apotheosis. I'll bring up your dated pilot scores all I want if you're going to be so brazen as t-to suggest yourself as a pilot, like how you tried to sh-shove yourself in as the captain as s-soon as I had a moment of faltering i-in front of your uncle. Your ego disgusts me..."

That was too personal, was her next thought, but she'd said it anyway, and she couldn't take it back. "Then I-I'll poke holes at it, Roxanna. I'll ask you the same question I gave t-to Doyle, how well do you know anyone in th-this room? Tell me? How w-well do you know the people that picked them? As good a p-pilot as Brant is, he's on loan from Russia, they have no stake in the ANF, o-or the EU. Again, we regarded Nikolai a-as an enemy, and now he's here. If Abigail isn't good enough for you o-on the same merit, then rethink your merits-- you're being a hypocrite!"

And her final question-- really!? "Because we just got back, you moron!" Jess slammed another hand against the desk. "This is not difficult to understand! W-We have not had time to assess anything, we are sh-short on able bodies, we, don't have the time to put you, a mechanic, anyone else on th-this ship through a crash course that will make them more effective th-than an actual pilot! Stuff your reservations! That is wh-why her! I've half a mind t-to make this a damned order, with how foolish the two of you are being," she bit out, looking between Astin and Roxanna. "Start thinking of s-solutions to this that include her, or I WILL make it one. I am the C-Captain!" If there was one thing that Jess cursed more than her subordinates right now, it was this damned stutter.

Edited June 25, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald hadn't been prepared for Jess's outburst. Logically, he supposed he should have known she had it in her; the fight with Roxanna should have told him that much. But there was a difference between hearing about something, and seeing it firsthand. Thankfully this was a more constructive use of her energy, demanding that her authority be respected enough that order was maintained. The dig at Roxanna's pilot scores went against his advice to her the other night, and wasn't going to do their relationship problems and favors though, and he frowned at that. Her bit of circular logic about not ever having put the crew in danger was also questionable, if not downright incorrect, but her point about not letting their initial prejudices immediately condemn the prisoner wasn't completely off base.

He was set to reply with 'Okay, you're telling us to talk to her, which is fine, but conversation is a two-way street, and so far she hasn't been saying anything. Should we move over the question and answers inquisition from targeting you and place her in the hot seat, where she belongs?', but the rest of the crew was still in an agitated state. Particularly Astin, which surprised Thorvald, given that he'd pegged them as better than that. Their current complaint also somewhat shot down his suggestion, as if one was simply going to assume everything coming out of the rebel's mouth was a falsehood, then what progress could be made? Except... well, maybe the TKs... just Lieutenant Kim for now, given Brant's sudden absence. Obviously they can't exactly serve as a lie detector or anything, but it'd have to be pretty hard to keep all of one's emotions in check while dodging around the truth. If there were serious, unreasonable flare-ups in her mental state that'd be better than nothing at least.

Thankfully Tarquin was focused on just the exact particulars. Did the next mission need an extra man so badly that they had to move ahead with this here and now, and that was honestly a question he'd have probably asked himself had he not wanted to overwhelm the situation. An answer there could clear things up. But it didn't, unfortunately. Jess simply wanted to bolster their strength because the enemy was a huge unknown. Which, while understandable, wasn't the sort of concrete numbers that were going to convince anybody.

When Rapunzel pointedly mentioned how the whole crew, save herself, had entirely avoided even stopping by to see the prisoner, Thorvald winced a little, taking it as a personal rebuke, though it had not likely been meant as such. However, the fact remained that though he'd kept intending to check in, other things had simply kept bumping it down the priority list. Unlike when they had needed to leverage Nikolai and Christina for info on a time sensitive basis, this Abigail's circumstances were not even close to the same. Her threat had ended. Or was that just sophistry? Really, they should have been prying her for all the information she'd had on that mystery mech the Apotheosis lieutenant flew, on the purpose behind the scientist kidnapping, on anything. There was all sorts of intel with potential uses, especially after that morning broadcast and the beginning of the global offensive. Sure, it wasn't tied to a specific upcoming mission with well-defined parameters, but to have completely ignored a potential asset...

Astin wasn't swayed, their sticking point was still the issue of trust, and then Roxanna attempted to bring things back to order. While she seemed to have accepted some of the arguements, her main sticking point remained that the captain hadn't properly budgeted the time, and there was no reason Abigail, specifically was needed. On face value, it was solid logic. But why the hell couldn't they have worked that out between themselves beforehand? The bridge should be prepared to present a unified front to the grunts, not this, this, this whole house divided crap. He hadn't made any headway, with either of them.

It only got worse. Jess jumped into the metaphorical mudpit and started flinging shit right back at Astin, at Roxanna. It was ugly, it was unbecoming, and it was fracturing. A leader needed to be better. In the moments of stunned silence following her declaration that if it needed to be an order, it would be, one way or another, Thorvald somewhat quietly stated, "I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in how just about everyone here is acting. Hell, when the soldier handling this in the most mature way here, is Tarquin, our youngest, that says a lot. We can and should be better," he paused, then amended his previous comment. "I'm sorry, that was unfair of me. Seung-Min, you were also doing your best to stay calm and measured. To avoid jumping to a conclusion right away and before having taken in all the information. Haaaaaa," a long sigh, "At least we're getting all this overly emotional investment out of our systems here, in the briefing room, and not out there on the battlefield. It's sounding like the major complaints that keep getting circled back to are time, need, and trust. At this point, time's a nonissue. We can't go back to the past and start teaching Avery how to fly the things we rely on her to keep running, but maybe we should start getting some of the other staff acquainted going forward, especially if, god forbid, we have any casualties on our already tight roster, we won't always have a pool of prisoners readily available to draw from." His lips were tight, and his tone controlled but disapproving. Prisoners really shouldn't be the first choice anyway. "As for need, I suppose that'll be a per case basis sort of thing. Maybe we'll be lucky and she can stay on the bench the whole time, but it's going to be reasonable enough to assume that won't be the case so we're down to the biggest thing, trust--"

"Just make a damn killswitch," an unfamiliar voice interrupted him. He turned, a bit surprised, to the heretofore silent object of their discussion, who had just interjected.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Jessica, I know I said I'd try to stay quiet and let you do the talking, but you'll have to admit, things haven't been going the smoothest, I can't hardly make them worse now, can I?" Abigail sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sure, I get you don't like me, probably hate me. Hell, I'm sure if I were you I wouldn't like me either. But there's a simple solution you're overlooking. Rig up whatever bot you send me out in so it can be remotely overridden. I step out of line, bam, press the button, shut me down. Fuck, if you really want me gone, make it a bomb or something. I'm not keen on suicide, but maybe you think that's just another of my many lies, hmm? Anyway, if that doesn't work, too much time for your crew to whip up, then maybe, uh, you there," she pointed at Astin, "You'd said one of the other cases was acceptable to you because of who was in there with them, and you," this time her finger moved to Roxanna, "If you want as badly to get out in the field as it sounds like, just ride along inside with me, and keep a gun to my head or something. You'd trust her to keep me in line, right? Sheesh. This isn't rocket science, I'm sure there are plenty of other things you could be brainstorming rather than just shouting at each other. I mean, holy shit. Maybe you'll decide against it in the end, but to not even explore the possibilities..." She shook her head a little, then in a small voice muttered to Jess, "Sorry, I tried," before biting back down on her knuckle.

Thorvald was a bit taken aback by this outburst, but it wasn't necessarily unwelcome. There were probably holes to be poked into the possibilities she'd offered, and he started trying to think of some, but it was likely one of the others might beat him to them.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

It was becoming impossible to even get on the same page as the opposition. How were they defining an enemy, exactly? Suddenly, Megumi's own words came back to her ... "You all had the opportunity to speak with her if you felt like it, but you didn't." Did they know Abigail was a mercenary? While the doctor tried to figure out whether or not making such a distinction would even interest Astin or Roxanna, the former continued to try and poke holes in her argument. There was something too personal about all of this ...

The issue of time never once felt relevant, given that Christina and Nikolai were integrated in about a day, themselves. With that in mind, the doctor dismissed that comment out of hand. Instead she focused on what Astin had to say next, which might have offended the doctor if she put any stock in her immediate proximity to danger. As far as she could tell, if the ship went down, it didn't matter where she was or what she was doing, so she might as well be on the bridge, making sure the pilots were doing alright. There wasn't a big enough opening for her to shoot down that remark, so she let it stand, just for the moment, as Astin moved onto Brant.

Once again, it was another shining example of people not getting to know each other well enough. Brant was trustworthy because he'd fought with them? What wouldn't a plant do to convince others of their trustworthiness? That was why Megumi had attempted to point out just how untenable this trust argument really was. As a subjective issue, there was nothing anyone could do that would convince everyone without fail, especially if they had serious doubts, fears, or had already made up their minds on the issue. Megumi hadn't simply picked Brant because of his sudden transfer to the Riese, but also because of his familial ties in the EU, which the doctor was beginning to suspect the others weren't aware of.

As for sob stories, Megumi wouldn't classify Abigail's side of things as a sob story. A cautionary tale about trust, perhaps ... oddly enough, but nothing that would get the others stirring emotionally overly much. What really had Megumi convinced was that Abigail was the head of mercenary company, not just a rebel pilot, and not someone loyal to Apotheosis. Having spent some years as a mercenary herself--a data analyst, before things started getting really bad, Megumi was familiar enough with the lifestyle to quickly figure out where Abigail's head was at: She didn't want to be executed by the ANF. She was willing to put up with just about anything to avoid such a bleak and irrevocable outcome. She was far more likely to try and escape than sabotage the crew directly ... but if they couldn't get past the ties to Apotheosis, they wouldn't be able to see that. Where was Cheryl when they needed a psychology lesson from someone more credible?

Roxanna wasted no time in trying to shut the doctor down after first bringing the room back to order and defending herself against one of Jessica's other comments. Suddenly those scores seemed a lot more relevant; defending herself so quickly had only brought more attention to them. Fortunately for the XO, Megumi was more interested in not being beaten over the head with an argument from authority, one that was more literal in this sense than usual. To that, she had to respond immediately, for fear of any of her further contributions being dismissed for no good reason. "Abigail's trustworthiness isn't an issue that should be considered in isolation," she pointed out. There was more to that point than she initially meant to convey; Abigail had been sitting in a cell in some far off corner of the ship. No one went to visit her as a whole, and given the layout of the Heion Riese, few had any incentive to do so. Now that was isolation, and give it a week or two, they still wouldn't have been any closer to trusting the captive mercenary given their current arguments. "That said, I felt it necessary to point out how fickle everyone's trust has actually been up to this point, and why I oppose it as an argument. That's all." Megumi had more to say on that point, but she wasn't keen on driving her previous example home while Brant wasn't here to elaborate on it.

The doctor didn't have to defend herself, or more aptly, her position, in the end, as Jessica had quickly berated Astin for the low blow very quickly. She didn't just leave it at that, either. She fired back at her XO before flat out admitting that the woman's ego was a severe sore spot for her. She continued on by trying to further drive home the trust issue, though she came back to Megumi's own Brant example. That was when the doctor realized she had something of an opening to bring up a little known fact about their Russian pilot, even though she would have preferred for the man himself to be present for it. "I can't say they have no stakes in either the ANF or the EU, but I just want to elaborate on one small thing in that area. Brant is probably trustworthy, all things considered ... but that doesn't change the fact that he has a very close relative piloting for the EU, a relative with more or less the same background as him. Again, I believe our trust has been pretty fickle up to this point, even high command's."

Just before Thorvald chimed in, Jessica pointed out that they were essentially racing from combat zone to combat zone, with little in the way of assessment time along the way. Add to that the spotty communication and irregularity of guidance from the brass, and the Riese crew were essentially privateers, looking for something to do in a war that started literally overnight. That point didn't change the fact that Thorvald was disappointed in how things had unfolded. Fair enough, the personal attacks from both sides were completely unwarranted, and tempers were flaring hot enough that one didn't need to be a telekinetic to tell how easily things might boil over. The older pilot did seem to appreciate that some venting was occurring here and now, rather than in a less controlled environment and at a more perilous moment in time. His suggestion of benching Abigail made sense, but only in the sense that it might put Astin in particular at ease. To the doctor, and likely Jessica, it was a waste of potential. Even if they put her in a gunner station to start, that would be preferable to the woman doing nothing.

Finally, Abigail herself spoke up, apologizing to the captain before and after making some suggestions of her own. It was good to see the woman being assertive but not tearing into the crew too much. Her suggestion of a killswitch or a copilot with a well controlled trigger finger weren't ideas Megumi had neglected to turn over once or twice in her mind. Frankly, she just found them to be varying levels of unnecessary and petty. Of course, the doctor was also of the mind that Abigail was more likely to try and escape in a mobile suit or some other machine than sabotage the ship, potentially dooming herself for little more than her own spite against the ANF. How could the others not see how asinine such an approach would be? Nikolai had more reason to pull something like that than Abigail did. Megumi waited until Abigail had said her piece before chiming in, again. This was too important not to point out, now.

"I don't support the idea of a killswitch, myself," Megumi began, a hint of somber resignation in her tone, "or having someone ready and waiting to take dangerous or lethal measures in the middle of battle ... but if that's the only way, I'll accept that. I'd like to add in an additional point and a proposal, however. What people seem to be overlooking is that Abigail has nothing to gain by betraying us. If you think otherwise, place yourself in a situation where your only hope for survival is full cooperation or escape. My proposal is this: If for whatever reason you can't allow Abigail to help us fight Apotheosis, be it your trust issues or any other reasons, then let her off the ship. At least that way she can look for other ways to oppose Apotheosis or simply start over." Cue the arguments for justice for Colony One and the risk of Abigail returning as an enemy pilot in an even more dangerous mobile suit. Then again, maybe they wouldn't be so quick on that former sour note considering what the ANF was preparing to do to the colony. Just maybe. More likely there were still assumptions floating around that Abigail was loyal to Apotheosis. Abigail needed to clear things up there, soon, or Jessica or Megumi might have to, and if they did it, that might be taken the wrong way.

"Since we were on the topic of distractions at one point," Megumi said, looking at Abigail, "I'm not certain the captain or myself would be able to work as effectively knowing the slightest misunderstanding might get you killed, either directly or by leaving you as a sitting target for the enemy. If we only had to do it once, I'd have at least considered it, but I don't know if one sortie with that setup would be enough." Maybe Brant was right, maybe just downing a few enemies would be good enough, and all this argument was just a reflex. That seemed to be the precedent set by Nikolai, at least. Megumi wasn't sure about him, either, but now that she'd gotten to know him, she didn't see any reason to place any restrictions on him that weren't normal for the pilots, even with that odd device in his head. Speaking of Brant, he'd returned sooner than she expected, given the urgency of the call.

---

Brant didn't wander far from the meeting room. There was no need when his alpha tool could send and receive audio. It also had the option to be upgraded for video, but with Brant's contact list in mind, that was somewhere between pointless and an actual downgrade. Taking a spot against the wall just around the corner from the meeting room entrance, he opened the channel. "Hello?"

"Ah there you are," came Rosa's voice, crisp but more processed than normal due to the tool's settings, "I received word a little while ago that the Regalia is ready. If you'll let me speak with the captain, now, I'd like to see about establishing a rendezvous, as well as discussing some of the particulars regarding the transfer."

"Last I checked, we're headed for Great Lake," Brant said, trying to weasel his way around the issue.

"I'll confirm that with the captain," Rosa said, gently, but with that same air of authority and smugness that shot down most debate on the spot. "As fun as its been to let you run loose all this time, that's about to come to an end, Brant. We're not only sending the Regalia, but also a small team of mechanics to look after it." Oh ... well that was just fantastic. This wasn't going to get on Jessica or Avery's nerves, now was it? "While their main role will be to maintain and upgrade the Regalia as we gather data, they'll also be there to keep you company."

"Why ...?" Brant couldn't help but ask.

"Your service in the ANF isn't permanent," Rosa reminded him, "Before, we were in something of a hurry, but now that Apotheosis has launched such a massive campaign against everyone, it's more important than ever to keep everything in perspective. The Alkaev company has already agreed to start mass production of the Throne and Mantle suits for the air force, and we have several more prototypes that are being tested as we speak. If our government's forces lose too much ground, we'll need all of our pilots to return. That includes you and Rex. I don't want you getting overly attached, so you should try to spend more time with the Regalia's maintenance crew, if possible."

This was way too much to be hit with all at once. Was Russia getting hammered that badly? Or were the Alkaevs just covering their bases? Rex had been with the EU for years, now. They likely wouldn't let him go so easily, and not when they might need him for the same reasons Russia did. Leave it to the Alkaevs to consider their needs first, and only consider everyone else's once they were comfortable with their future prospects ... if at all. Brant winced, unsure how to address any of what he'd been told other than Rosa's request to speak with the captain. "You'll have to wait a bit," he admitted, "we're having a meeting right now. I stepped out to take this call."

"A meeting?" Rosa said, sounding genuinely interested, "What's this meeting about, if you don't mind my asking?"

"A woman," Brant said dryly, "can't get anymore specific than that. Can you check back in about five minutes? I'll let the captain know you need to speak with her."

There was an audible sigh from the alpha tool on Brant's wrist. That was somewhat rare unless she was having a real argument with someone. "Very well, I'll try again in five minutes. Be sure to stress how important this is. Apotheosis is active in Russia, as well, and I'm not sure how much longer they'll ignore our company's primary facility. If we don't send you the Regalia soon, we might not be able to." Right. Brant could see things not panning out for him if the main facility got hit and the mobile suits being kept there were all destroyed or captured. "I'd hate for you to be stuck in an Accensus for the duration of this conflict."

"Trust me, I won't be," Brant said, resisting a bitter chuckle, "they'll stick me in something bigger and slower at this rate. Not that I'm doing terribly in the Accensus ... but I don't know how much longer they'll let me do things my own way."

"That's the price one pays for being a part of something larger than oneself," Rosa said, almost pityingly, "but I understand Father didn't give you much of a choice in the matter." He most certainly did not. "I'll let you get back to your meeting then. Take care, Brant."

"That's the plan." He ended the call and made his way back into the meeting room, arriving just in time to hear Megumi's suggestion of letting Abigail off the ship. That instantly raised an eyebrow. Weren't they making any headway at all? Maybe he should have asked Rosa to call back in ten minutes instead of five ... Well, either way, he didn't feel like sitting down again when he would be heading right back out, soon, in all likelihood. Taking a spot just out of the way of the door, Brant leaned against the wall and listened, hoping to piece together some of what he'd missed along the way.

[scorri]

Astin visibly flinched as Jess shot back at them and continued to insist that not only could Abigail be trusted but apparently she agreed with Meguimi that she was as trustworthy as any of the other pilots. Well fine then. If that's what she wanted, that's what she'd get. Giving her a very deliberate and stiff salute, Astin replied, "Yes ma'am, shutting up ma'am. Won't bother you again. Let me know when you need me to kill people for you ma'am." They turned their back to the front of the room and made their way as far back as they could away from everyone else and sat down, staring at the wall a few inches above Jess's head. This was a mess but they no longer had any interest in contributing to the conversation and had been ordered to shut up and so they would.

Edited June 25, 2017 by scorri

[Ether]

Things had started to escalate even further, with ultimatums being thrown out, the Captain showing a surprising amount of backbone, an tempers continuing to flare. Out of respect for Jessica, Seung-Min removed her hand from her hip, instead assuming an at-ease position, hands locked together behind her back. It seemed that, expectedly, trust had become a primary issue, though rather unexpectedly, there was mud being slung at a good deal of them from one side or the other. Well, provided that they would trust her, and that this Abigail hadn't been made aware of her status as a telekinetic, she could perhaps try to get a firm foundation one way or the other.

"Clear not get anywhere back forth like this. If may, Captain?" Kim noted, stepping forward from the rest of the crew, and in front of Abigail.

"Let try get know, then. Abigail, was? Tell about self, how end up here? Must reason offer, or least consider, not know full story, pilot mech for ANF instead try to break out, take revenge Captain when given chance. Let know you." Kim asked, eyes flicking to the door as she noticed Brant re-entering from the corner of her eye. At least if they both felt the same thing from her, that should help ease any underlying trust issues.

[Xinnidy]

Acidic Salt

Roxanna's gaze lowered, balling her fists. It was the first time Jessica had ever blown up that way, and it wasn't any more pleasant to deal with her daring to spew personal insults in front of everybody. Shut up, shut up, you stupid baby. Don't get all high-and-mighty now, just because Alphonse... She bit her lip, grabbing the edge of her seat tightly. It was getting straight unpleasant to stay there, from the unnecessary comments each pilot tried to contribute, to the ridiculous notions Doctor Amparo enforced. Damn it all to hell, this place is a joke. What was this, a soap opera or a drama? Their only authority was a stuttering child, that wanted to keep slinging petty insults and pushing her naive ways. At least, that was the clear picture Roxanna was seeing.

"Hah, hahahahaha~" Roxanna had nearly lost it, a burst of laughter as she started clapping, eyes focused on Jessica. "Fine words, excellent, captain. We've built nothing, this crew is a miracle to have come this far. Please keep undermining the pilots, bring them down instead of inspiring them, stress how untrustworthy and shitty they are! ...And then force your naive views. It's what you do best, captain." Her tone was purely toxic, Roxanna having lost most of her restraint after the whim. "Act as you want, show everyone my pilot scores if you care that much, put it on the big bridge screen for all to stare and point and laugh! Show them how rotten you think I am, I don't give a fuck. Every time you try to act like the captain you should, you fail, stutter, and act five years younger than you are, and then you get praised for it anyways. The only thing you're good at is manning the guns."

Roxanna huffed, standing up from her seat, in some level, she understood how badly she ruined the meeting, completely undermining the plea for order called by herself, but she was yet to let any regret sink. "You're free to go on with your decision, captain. In light of it all, it's the least offensive thing to have come out of this meeting." She spat out the sentence in a more robotic tone, though her negativity was still barely in check. "I see no purpose in remaining at ease when there's not much left but back-and-forth drama, and I see I have no point in voicing my opinion to the captain, so I will take my leave." With that said, Roxanna bowed her head, a forced move rather than an honest formality, and made her way the same door Brant came back from. There was no point to her staying any longer, in her mind. Considering her mental state, it was probably in the TKs' best interest, as well.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Xinnidy

[Nanami Touko]

Game Over

Of course Thorvald was disappointed, Jess was disparaging the crew again-- but it was the truth! How could Astin act like this was just some well oiled machine? Megumi had opened her eyes, she needed to get to know the crew more-- they all needed to get to know each other more, and acting like they were working perfectly was just going to get people big heads. Big heads like your own, her thoughts shot back, causing her to sit back in her chair as Thorvald went on. She'd preached her own successes well enough, hadn't she... While spewing out how badly the crew had done. Her temper calming down and things settling in, she started to feel sick to her stomach. She still meant most of what she'd said, but the way she said it, it, it was just...

"Just make a damn killswitch."

"Wh-What?" Abigail had broken her silence and spoken up, going with the first option Jess had discarded. "N-No, this... W-We're supposed to get to t-trust you, that..." Megumi luckily spoke up in agreeing that a killswitch was a bad idea. "If you w-were to go still in combat, o-or... Ugh, a bomb, there's no telling if anyone w-wouldn't just use you as a meatshield, o-or leave you as a target... That's... Th-That's out of the question." What wasn't was the conversations dissolving so steadily. Was Astin really acting this childish? She'd told them to stand down for insulting Megumi like she wasn't working as hard as the rest of them, was that not appropriate? Her comments towards Roxanna weren't exactly right to be said, but the woman was still, despite everything, trying to take shots at literally everything Jess did.

At least there was always Kim. She was quick to hop in and try to play mediator for arguments, but she still respected things. "Go ahead, lieutenant..." Her English was as broken as usual, but Jess was happy she was trying. As happy as she could get. Despite one person's attempt to get things started with talking, Roxanna was still Roxanna... It seemed that no matter what, as soon as Jess did something outside the norm, there she was.

She had half a mind to strip her of her rank as long as she was on the Riese, and the way she was acting was just making it worse. "I didn't s-say half of that. Take your s-sorry self and get out. Maybe I'll just p-promote Tristan..." There was no need for Jess to think Roxanna was rotten, she knew she was. From her constant attempts, to inciting violence, to even now, instead of trying to find a solution for Abigail, spending her time picking at Jess' reasoning. She wasn't backup, she wasn't helpful, she wasn't helping at all. She was trying to make Jess look as bad as she could so that Alphonse would give her the top spot. You'll never get this chair, so long as I still breathe, you leech.

Jess felt nothing as Roxanna left, shaking her head. "I guess that's it, then..." She didn't know what else needed to be said. "I-If the rest of you still won't a-accept things, then a k-killswitch is as far as I'm willing t-to go... No bombs, no g-guns against her head. And if she does s-something, the switch is flipped, a-and I see anyone using her as a shield, or l-leaving her to get shot... I'm t-tired of this. Tired of, m-me, this stutter, how no one respects my authority, b-but I'm supposed to be captain? I say the truth, n-none of you know each other, and I get the most, venomous, d-disgustingly ego filled woman trying to t-tell me that I think this crew is garbage. Well I d-don't!"

Jess sat up and looked at everyone, even Astin. "We d-don't know each other! And that's a problem. S-Sorry if no one wants to hear it, but w-we're all separated on this issue because we don't have at all an i-idea of what the person standing right next to us is th-thinking. I know more about Abigail than I d-do half of you! I'm pretty awful for it, t-too... But that's... That's why this meeting is important. I-I want you to trust her. And, I-I want this to be a wakeup call. To all of us. That if, i-if we're not going to get to know each other, we're never going to be able to trust anyone e-else... At least, that's wh-what it feels like..." Despite her calm as the XO has left, Roxanna's parting words had really taken the wind out of her sails. She was slowly sinking back into the chair, sinking back into her meek tone. Stupid... I hate this. Why can't I be anywhere near as confident in myself as the higher ups are? Why!?

Edited June 25, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Shin]

Tarquin was stunned into silence by the argument, his mind unable to follow the rapid firing of quips and insults. Did peoples' feelings really matter this much to them? He was still learning to process his own, but the chaos that surrounded him was a stark reminder of how he wasn't like the others. People like Hannah and Nikolai, even Bruno to an extent, were simpler to understand. He'd requested information clarifying Abigail's deployment... it was only logical, could he really understand why everyone else felt so upset? It wasn't just one person, a whole host of people were dissatisfied. Before he'd have just considered them all emotional idiots, but he was finding it harder to berate them than usual. Not everyone could be the pinnacle of genetic engineering... but he had a feeling that wasn't the reason why his attitude was different.

The XO's remarks had probably earned her a demotion, if not a healthy vacation in the prison bay. He still couldn't quite fathom how she'd earned her position on the Riese. Anyone else could have probably filled the gap better than her, perhaps even Bill or Buck. He couldn't help but smile subtly as Jess chewed her out, there was something that felt right about it.

Raising his hand, Tarquin approached Jess. There was a strange sympathy that resounded within him. Logically, Jess' answer was still lacking, but for some reason it just seemed to work. "That's all the reassurance I require, Captain. Logically if the mission is simply to repel the enemy, a single extra foe in the form of a traitor is unlikely to make a difference. However, if she's able to contribute meaningfully to our forces, it's very much a bonus for ourselves. If you're certain that she's willing to cooperate, then I have no reason for further questions." he commented, again looking at Abigail, still puzzled by the captive woman.

She was almost like an animal, being marketed to potential buyers. Would she really suggest such measures if she were trying to escape? Tarquin couldn't quite understand Abigail, he had no clue what her goals or motivations were. Was she truly loyal to Apotheosis or was she simply a hired goon? There was no way to know for sure, but he'd have to trust Jess on this one.

-

Bill had been faced with a monstrous challenge, a cruel fate that he knew would catch up with him one day. The fabled day had come, there was no escape for him. Time and time again, he'd tried to avoid dealing with the harsh reality, but he was only a mortal man.

It was his day off.

The cleaning rotas were set up to give him the maximum amount of floor time, he'd taken all the slots that none of the other staff wanted. The patterns that they detested, but even he was legally obliged to have contracted time off. A whole day where he'd vowed not to wage war against the unclean. Thankfully, Bill was a man with many sides. He wasn't just an insane janitor who considered cleaning a necessary function alongside the likes of breathing and eating. He was an insane janitor who put the same passion into his hobbies as he did his work.

"And then I need to attach the main sails. This Mayflower ain't crossing the sea without some good wind blowing it along." Bill muttered, sitting at his desk. Model ships were a pastime of his, and The Mayflower was going to be the next in his collection - once it was fully assembled of course. There was something about the day that seemed right for putting a boat together, like all the pieces had fallen into place. "I should ask the wrench monkeys if they could cobble together me my own Heion Riese. Probably take me my next five days off just to get the hull done! Whoever designed the thing must have a stellar brain in that noggin of theirs!"

He looked out at his spotless ceiling, wondering what the rest of the crew were up to. They were a funny bunch, but Bill liked having them around. Hopefully they were getting along with each other as well as he did with each of them.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Shin

[Dandragon]

Rage was building inside of her. Fury. Everything about the situation made her completely angry. Every single rational response she could have come up with was leaving her head the instant they entered, all because of this one boy and his words. They hurt, and they tore at her. And she was losing control as he stepped closer and closer to her, her eyes widened in sheer anger. She shot daggers at him through her eyes, staring directly into his own to try and intimidate him. To force him to back down. But nothing changed. Nikolai still looked at her with that same shit-eating grin, having pulled apart everything she stood for. And she couldn't respond.

Everyone was shouting at each other, but in her ears it was muffled, barely coherent. Her hand was still near her firearm, and she had half a mind to use it against Nikolai, damning whatever consequences that came with it. But, this wasn't prison. This wasn't a place where she could assert her dominance by fighting her way through anyone that wronged her. This wasn't a place where she had Jane to back her up. Or anyone. She was paralyzed. She couldn't move. She could hardly breath properly as she looked on at Nikolai, still standing there with his finger near his temple. No. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't let herself be broken down by this kid. She couldn't. And yet, here she was, speechless for several minutes from him telling her that she was nothing, and would never be anything close to her dream. That she was just a soldier. ...Just a criminal...

Edited June 25, 2017 by Dandragon

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai was vaguely aware of the commotion that was going on around him, the captain finally seemingly growing a spine, lashing out at some long-haired stranger he didn't particularly care about. He picked up on some stuttered words about trust, about camaraderie and getting to know each other which seemed almost... childish. Too naive.

Getting emotionally invested would lead to ruin, he knew that much.

If you start to care, captain, you leave yourself so vulnerable, so naked and tender and capable of being torn to pieces. No, I don't think I will do that again. He thought to himself, dully remembering the glassy look in his eyes as the bullet tore through his skin, the same weak smile burned on his lips that haunted him every night when he closed his eyes. Death, burned into the thin membrane of his eyelids forever. I don't have time for more regret.

Speaking of...

He looked at the girl, her fire seemingly gone, or at least, contained by the cold exterior of shock. He cocked his head to the side almost curiously as he stepped forward again, his eyes analytical, prodding at the slight sting of tears and the telltale tremor of a lower lip. He had found the thread and pulled, and quite clearly it had worked. He wasn't certain that he felt regret, or even pity, but he knew that in this state, she wouldn't survive. He'd seen it happen, broken people who let the fire consume their skin until they burned to ash, blowing away in the wind once the battle was done. It wasn't a pang of guilt, he told himself, it was simply a means to ensure their collective survival.

"Is just the nature of things, koorva." He said, closing the gap between them. If she wanted to kill him, to strike him now, there would be no way for him to fight back, "there is no place for good people on the battlefield. Good boys who like poetry and sing love songs at night, little girls who want to be heroes, little boys who chase ghosts night after night... all the same once you put a gun to their head and make them point one at the other. Sooner you accept that, the happier you will be, da?"

He rested his hand on her shoulder, unsure as to whether or not it was another taunt or a sympathetic gesture. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

[Xinnidy]

In the Blind Rage

Roxanna had stormed back to her room, infuriated. What a disgraceful day. The pipsqueak had the gall to call her off, to simply enforce things as is while shutting down and pulling rotten info on herself. ...I was set up, there's no way, no damned way... She was fuming, face flushed red, as quickly as her thoughts devolved, the harsher her step became, resounding on the corridors. Fuck this, fuck her... I'm done. Finally, the door. The door to her room, and away from that madness for today.

Inside, silence. A time for thoughts to simmer down and reflection. That bitch... Or in Roxanna's case, a negative spiral without breaks. She threw herself on her bed, grunting. What a nightmare. "She's going to call my uncle, ahaha. What fucking madness... I'm done for now, ain't I?" For the first time in very long, Roxanna started crying, burying her face on her bed pillow. "Damn... d-damn it. Again, just like everything else... f-fucking failure..." Another big stain on her record, another blow. It was torture, no matter how much she saw herself above. Right now, there was nothing she wanted but silence and solitude.

At a moment's notice, she stopped, all her motions froze, and in a sudden jump she reached for her tables. "You will tell me what's going on..." She mumbled, biting back her tears, her breathing irregular. In her world, everything was conspiring to turn her the jester, and today was no different. It was wrong, as niece of an Admiral, a twisted trick of fate. There's no way he'd support that pipsqueak in his right mind. Roxanna started the call. Please pick it up...

Nothing. Once again, her uncle glossed over her. "W-why do you hate me..." Tears started to stream down again, she curled up in her bed. "Everybody-- ...everybody is laughing."

[riariadne]

It had been a quiet morning; not across the whole ship, but for Dwight. The Captain had called a meeting, but it seemed to him that only herself, the XO, and the pilots themselves were attending, so he did not. Instead, he had begun to write a letter- not an actual letter, for even he was not so antiquated as to think that would be a viable method of communication in this day and age, but rather it was a long message to Douglas.

A rather long message in progress, as it was. The device he had started it on had been put aside, as even with all the time he took on it, the correct words to send to his son seemed to fail him. Instead he had brought back some breakfast to think things over before hearing a particularly loud somebody enter the room adjacent to his. Roxanna. Is the meeting over? Setting his food to the side, he made his way out the door to check the halls, but none of the pilots were making their way through the hall. That lead to him believing this may be a more isolated incident.

Curious and with time on his hands, Dwight knocked at the XO's doorway. "Roxanna. What happened with the meeting? Is it over so soon?"

[Balcerzak]

Rapunzel had had a few words regarding trust, and even gone so far as to point a bit of a finger at Brant, though it was likely she was doing so just to purely make an example of the matter. If she'd actually known something actionable, Thorvald doubted she'd just sit on it, but then again, how well did he really know the doctor? She did her job, and, as far as he knew, that was that. What else lay beneath the hair? Which, he supposed, was precisely her point. He frowned, he didn't like it, but it wasn't unreasoned. What did seem unreasonable, though, was her firm belief that Abigail wanted to go up against Apotheosis, with or without them, given that it flew in the face of their past experience... but then again, the doctor was the only one who had apparently made a point to talk to the girl. Just releasing her into the wild was certainly out of the question though, Thorvald doubted even Jess would go that far. Her argument against the killswitch based on reduced bridge efficiency was also a bit of a stretch, but taken in connection with everything else, it seemed to point to Megumi, and maybe the captain, having made an actual connection to the former(?) rebel. Duping one person would have been much more plausible than successfully pulling the wool over two people's eyes, so in light of that...

Brant wandered back in, and interrupted Thorvald's stream of consciousness, as did Astin's very juvenile behaviour as they made a very showy display of retreating to the back of the room and sitting down on the other side of the door from where Brant had taken up a rather relaxed residence. What to do with that one? At some point it would definitely have to be addressed, but since it wasn't immediately disruptive, perhaps it could be left alone for the moment?

~

While Thorvald was pondering that matter, Abigail had been doing some thinking of their own. So far, a generous reading of the situation would place the opinions as maybe split half and half? All things considered, that was not terrible, and she found herself (given the circumstances) very glad that none of the ANF pilots had been killed in their earlier firefight. If that had been the case, she would surely not have even got this much traction. The asian girl with the severe expression commanded her attention by directly addressing her with questions, and Abby felt pretty safe that answering them wouldn't go against the whole idea of letting the captain plead her case. That ship had come and sailed, so as long as she just kept her temper in check, and didn't stray from the immediate topics, everything seemed clear enough to go. The other girl's grasp of English slipped a bit here and there, and while Abigail figured she got close enough to the meaning, she wished she could have been absolutely certain instead.

Before she could open her mouth and get into things though, the woman who had appeared to be the XO became too fed up with the situation and stormed out of the room. Abby first looked to Jess, then back to the asian, and wondered if she should continue or not. That gave the captain plenty of time to try to shoot down the ideas she'd offered to try to help ease the crew into this, which irked her somewhat, but... she couldn't argue with the feelings behind the effort. It seemed to have worked for the small one at least, so that was another convert. The angry one she'd been told to avoid, Elaine, was apparently still distracted by her argument with Nikolai, and hadn't been pressing the advantage while she'd had it, which was another small blessing. It was possible there were just a few hold outs left, maybe after she explained herself there'd only be that one who'd make a showy display of 'following orders'. It seemed they were almost certainly a lost cause, for some reason or other.

Abigail brought her hand down from her face and crossed her arms in front of her chest, then she gave her head a light shake, just enough for her ponytail to sway back and forth a couple times, before settling in to an explanation. "I'll cut to just the most relevant bits, hopefully that'll avoid most of the cries of 'sob story' that've already been flung around, but eh, who's to say, I guess," Her mouth formed the sort of crooked expression of someone half-amused by self-deprecation. "I became the leader of our mercenary group recently, due more to my ability to pilot than to actually lead apparently, considering how tits up that last mission went. And obviously that's the one that'll be the big sticking point here for you, so I'll try to break down why we took the job as best I can, take it or leave it. First is, I guess we didn't do enough research on Apotheosis to know what they were really up to--while they clearly did their own homework on us, knowing just what carrot to dangle in my face. As far as we could tell, they were just some behind the scenes players whose diplomatic string-pulling had failed and thus they were going to try taking their efforts to influence the ANF in a little more physical manner. They claimed that if we helped them get key research data, materials, and personnel from the installation on Colony One, they'd be able to use it as leverage to help free the colonies from the ANF's stranglehold. A goal right up my alley, I might add, and honestly it was something that should have sparked that tingling warning sensation of 'too good to be true'. But the second reason probably blinded me from that: We were dangerously low on funds and could hardly afford to say no. You saw some of the machines we were fielding, you know they weren't in top condition, and certainly not all current gen. I'm sure you'll have some follow-up questions, but that's the bare bones 'how end up here'." Abigail heaved a sigh and swept her gaze about the room before concluding. "Also, let's get this straight, I'm not piloting for the ANF, not after what I was told about their Plan B. What I'm offering is to fight for Jessica, having gotten to know her a little, and for the memory of my men, and for myself. Why do that rather than break out? Honestly, my chances of living are much better this way. Plus, I get to fuck up the bastards who duped me and stabbed me in the back like that. Used me and my men as fodder and threw us away. Especially when it became obvious they had the tech such that they didn't even fucking need us. I think that might be what burns the most."

~

When Roxanna had stormed out of the meeting room, Thorvald half-rose out of his chair to follow her and bring her back. But he quickly gave up on that as potentially causing more chaos than it would solve, not to mention, the captive had begun her explanation and he was loath to miss out on that. Her story was... plausible, though a little too convenient. "For someone claiming to care about the colonies, you sure did a lot of damage to them during your precision operation there." He quickly rebutted, once she had finished. "Care to explain?"

Abigail's eyes rolled at that remark in frustration and shot back, "Yeah, well, it was a joint operation, which you already know given that you captured and interrogated an Apotheosis agent yourself. I'm not sure what their reasons were, frustration with the delay maybe, or perhaps they just wanted to cause a scene in the first place, but at some point a few of them broke ranks and went on a bit of a rampage. I had to split forces to try to deal with that shit. I'll have you know I sent my number two to try and evacuate the mall and surrounding area, minimize the damages, and hell, maybe if I hadn't cared," Abby's voice had steadily risen, cresting now to just below a shout as she emphasized her words, "MAYBE if I'd just focused on the damn mission we would've toasted that bot and been on our way before you showed up and gave us a proper fucking." Breathing heavily, and suddenly realizing she'd unloaded perhaps a little more than her supporters would be happy with, she looked to the ground and muttered. "...Sorry, that was... uncalled for."

[Dandragon]

Touch. She felt him touching her. She felt her body tense up, and the feeling in her chest got worse. Her breathing quickened. Her pupils seemed to shrink. And her heartbeat was going into overdrive.

"Get your hands OFF OF ME!" She grabbed the arm with her left hand, forcing it off her shoulder. Then, after letting go, with her right hand now balled into a fist, she punched Nikolai dead in the face. Whatever good feeling she might have gotten from hitting someone that unlikable wasn't there. She just wanted his dirty, slimy hands no where near her, ever again.

"What do you know!? Have you ever fought for anything other than yourself?! Or are you just looking for someone as pathetic as you?!" She was still breathing heavier than usual, eyes still widened as she looked at the 'goblin' with utter disdain. "I'm not like you. No one here is like you! We're fighting for something more than just ourselves! That's why we signed up! That's why I signed up! And no one is going to tell me otherwise!"

[Phoenix]

One might think the situation would have calmed down considerably after Roxanna said her piece and stormed out of the meeting, especially since Astin had promptly backed down after being attacked by the captain, and Elaine had been stunned into silence by Nikolai. Alas, the bit of civility there was didn't last. There was just enough time for Jessica to get to the core of her argument, and for Thorvald to briefly cross examine Abigail, before Elaine broke her silence and physically attacked Nikolai. So close. They'd been so close to making it through this heated debate without any actual violence.

Megumi hadn't raised her voice, not even one time, since pleading with Tarquin not to go through with Andromeda Protocol. Her streak of calm was once again ended, this time by Elaine's sudden attack. There was just something about overreaction that instantly stole away the doctor's calm. Probably because it was so blasted dangerous. "Elaine, stop! Act your age for once!" On the bright side, this was at least proving her side's point with regard to Abigail. The woman had a temper, but she was setting a new precedent for keeping herself under control in spite of it. Things were too heated now for the doctor to risk pointing that out. Now, she was more concerned with making sure Nikolai wasn't beaten too badly. She didn't want to have to treat anyone in the infirmary right after the meeting. Or in the brig ... there was no telling how this might end.

Brant didn't know what to do when that punch came. Trying to rush over and subdue Elaine himself would only escalate the situation. Shouting down someone who'd already resorted to their fists likely wouldn't work, either, at least without some major authority behind it. Lastly, unlike the doctor or Kim, Brant's gun didn't have any non lethal options. Here was hoping that between Jessica and the others nearby, this could be sorted out quickly and without further injury ... "This day just keeps getting better and better," he muttered sarcastically.

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai stumbled back, his eyes temporarily filled with bright starlight as he felt the familiar clatter and heard the dull, meaty thud of fists on flesh. He'd been struck, quite hard, in the face. He shook his head, blinking to get his bearings back.

He lifted a hand to his face and felt the warm, thick fluid running onto his fingers, staining the pale skin with deep red. Blood, the scent of iron, the twinge of pain as he felt the metal hoop around his limbic system and hindbrain constrict. He prodded at the area curiously, his nose hadn't been broken but he wouldn't be surprised if it had come close to being smashed. He'd expected anger, but this development was new. He felt his lips curl back into a smile, the taste of iron filling his mouth as blood dripped down his face. Normally, he would instantly hit back, but he was still going to play nice.

Even though she had somehow found a thread of her own and had tugged as hard as she could. It was so simple, and yet something about the words rattled in his skull, their impact somehow even more painful than the punch had been.

He laughed, it was a strange laugh, dull and unnatural. He wasn't used to the sound in the best of times, but this one felt foreign even to him. Hollow, echoing through his chest, spraying droplets of blood all over with the vibrations of his hitching chest and shuddering shoulders. It was hillarious. The funniest thing in the world. A giant overwhelming cosmic joke, and he was the punch line (quite literally, in fact). "Oh love, oh friend. Tell me, Miss Greater Purpose, do the rats in the trenches that you shoot at, do they have a greater purpose  too? Tell me... because I know nothing of trying to fight for something more. I never loved, da? I never only wanted to keep him alive, da?"

He opened his arms wide, leaving himself open for another blow. How funny it would be if she hit him again, what joy. What absolute elation that would bring, wouldn't it Johanes? You always loved a good joke, that's why you loved me, right?

"Tell me," He shouted again, his words tinged with the loud, bouncing vibrations of his laughter, "are we just there to be canon fodder that fills your hero complex and gets you the medal, cunt? Is that  greater purpose, to tear through little boys with metal and smoke, to step through their splattered blood and the fucking irrecognisable mess that was once a person... to point gun at survivor and tell him to come with me or get brains splattered. Maybe I should take option, da, would be less pathetic. All of us just cogs in war machine, they don't care about your redemption arc love, you don't get hero's journey, you get to be just as pathetic. AS. ME."

[Nanami Touko]

Sinking Fast

Tarquin had finally acquiesced, which was a breath of fresh air, but still not the end of things. It was one less to person to worry about, at the least. Whether Tarquin had agreed because he truly felt it was a good idea, or because he was getting upset at the arguing, was another story. Still, compliance meant things ran smoother, so she nodded and let it sit.

It was Abigail's turn to speak, as much as Jess wished for her to stay quiet. Explaining her reasoning might be better now, honestly. With how things had devolved, hearing from the prisoner could do good things. Jess was only worried that they'd discard whatever she said as a lie; Astin at least seemed adamant that nothing Abigail said could be trusted. Still, maybe it would do good. The only thing she was confused by was Abigail saying she was going to be fighting for her. That made the captain blush a bit, hoping no one would pick onto it. Wh-Why me? We barely know each other... Was my talk really worth that much for her? That's so weird... Blushing was probably opening her up for more questions either way, but she couldn't control that.

Alas, the peaceful talks didn't last. She hadn't been paying attention to Nikolai and Elaine after her first shouting at them, hoping they'd both just listen. Of course, this was Elaine and Nikolai, so maybe she was expecting too much of them. Whatever Nikolai had been saying had riled Elaine up enough to smack him one good, yelling about what she signed up for. Oh no. Not like this. Come on, I know we're yelling at each other, but are we really going to start flinging punches!? All it did was remind her of hitting Roxanna, still unsure of how she'd managed such a hard swing in response to the XO's slap.

"K-Kim, grab her! Quiet, th-the both of you!" was what she managed to say, hoping the Lieutenant would be able to restrain Elaine before things got any worse. With the way Nikolai was going on, they were. "M-Meeting adjourned... I have people I need to talk to, i-it seems. Nikolai, stop inciting things further! Everyone else, g, go about your business... Abigail?" Jessica started, looking up at her. "You've got free reign to walk the sh-ship. If you want, you can ask anyone h-here to show you around, and go to the hangar. We'll need to get you sorted into something before we hit the base."

And Astin wanted to claim that things were working perfectly... When Abigail and Nikolai had more patience to hold back violence than Elaine did, their team was not flawless. It was far from it... Just, don't make this worse, please...

Edited June 27, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Sandalphon]

"No captain, please let her answer..." Nikolai hissed as he felt the palpable tension in the room, the throbbing ache in his head intensifying as adrenaline surged through his blood, lighting his skin and nerves on fire. He was still laughing, though it had managed to die down to a silent hitching of shoulders, a tremor through his body that could almost be mistaken for a series of quiet sobs if one didn't know that Nikolai Zielenko never cried, "I am obviously little mook, I do not know what purpose is. She is so educational. Everyone on this ship is so good and pure, maybe power of friendship will cure me. Maybe your own little child soldier won't be so fucked up and pathetic..."

He cocked his head to the side, the movement unnatural and twitchy as his cheeks stung with the widening smile. Was it a smile?
It could've been the bared teeth of a cornered scavenger, ready to bite.
It was hard to say, Johanes had once told him that despite their size and social standing, the hyena, disgusting scavenger though it was, had stronger jaws than a lion and could crush it's femur between its teeth if it so pleased.

"Please, Elaine, please friend, tell me... what is your purpose then? to shoot endless rows of nameless soldiers to win the game, to become celebrated, to be a big. damn. hero... I don't know, all I knew was that I was fighting for him one moment and the next, he take bullet to neck for me. Died instantly. No more greater good. No more human beings. Just rats in tin soldiers, lined up in a row." His eyes never left the pinpricks of the other girls as he hissed out his words, poison and bile on every syllable like he had been force fed an emotional ipecac and was forced to vomit his anger and pain all over everyone else.

[Ether]

Kim watched Abigail as she gave her own explanation of events. The captive's emotions jumped around a bit as she got to various different parts of her story, but most importantly, everything seemed consistent. From where she was standing, Seung-Min couldn't point out any cover-ups or lies based on differences between Abigail's feelings and the words leaving her mouth, and she had seemed measured enough throughout this whole meeting. It was enough to remove any immediate suspicions, or at least put them on the back-burner for the time being.

Especially with commotion breaking out again, over Nikolai and Elaine. When Kim turned around, Nikolai had been forced back by a blow, his nose bleeding, Stepping towards the pair, Seung-Min was already in motion by the time the Captain confirmed her course of action, grabbing Elaine's extended right arm and twisting it behind her back, locking it in place against her before shoving the Sergeant's upper body down on to the table, holding her down to subdue her, one hand pressuring the back of her head, and the other keeping her arm twisted and pinned down.

"Not resist, Sergeant. Make easier." Kim noted flatly, before turning her head towards Nikolai, who was still continuing on his tirade despite everything.

"And you. Shut mouth and stop edge on. Not concentrate, all crap fly around room."

[Shin]

Things appeared to be setting, Abigail had spoken and it looked like they were finally going to make some progress with the meeting. However, he hadn't expected the actions of Elaine. Naturally, it was to be expected that she'd cause trouble, but this confirmed it. He didn't care how stupid or egocentric she was, nor her sub-par performance, but this time she'd destroyed his opinion of her for good - it would take a miracle for her to prove that she wasn't a waste of space. How was he meant to deal with this? Nikolai was understandably going to reply and egg her on further, but Elaine had sunk as low to resort to physical violence. Would she have punched him if Jess hadn't intervened after their training mission? Could he even trust her on the field?

There weren't any words that he could say, formulating a sentence was far beyond him. He wanted to make them all stop, but he just didn't know how. Sitting himself down and crossing his arms, he watched Kim brutalise Elaine, unsure how their team had managed to survive so far.

[scorri]

And there was the dismissal, only coming after Elaine had punched Nikolai. While that was inadvisable and not solving anything, Astin took the opportunity it presented. Ducking out of the room, they stayed just long enough to hear the prisoner was now being given free reign of the ship. Well that fit. Apparently that was the new trend. Letting out a quiet but disgusted ugh, Astin headed straight for the elevators. Time to get away from all the noise, away from the chaos, away from the crazy messed up situation they'd all been put in. Couldn't the captain see that her precious prisoners were the reason things had exploded like that? Yes, Elaine had a temper, but Niko had pushed her to her breaking point. "Ugh." The elevator couldn't come soon enough.

[Dandragon]

He was asking for it. He was waiting for it. He deserved every single physical blow she could inflict on him as she looked at him in sheer anger. Everything about him, from the way he held himself to how he taunted her for having any sort of dream, made Elaine hate him. But before she could make another move, she felt her arm grabbed and forced behind her back, as she was pinned to the table by Kim. She could feel Kim holding her head in place and kept her arm behind her in the most painful of positions. If she had known how to escape such a grip from the small amount of training she had gotten for this, it wasn't coming to her, as she grit her teeth through the pain that she was feeling, struggling to move Kim off of her.

Even with her pinned head, Elaine could easily see Nikolai, his arms still outstretched waiting for the next blow. And she so desperately wanted to give it to him. To her, he was no better than a terrorist. She had heard of his type before. People who don't care about anyone, not even themselves. People who would rather see everything burn. People who just wanted to see reactions out of everyone they met. How was anyone supposed to trust him? Because of some sob story Jess heard, most likely. Either way, at the moment, she wanted him on the floor with a bloodied face, but she knew that it wasn't ever going to happen.

She felt tears coming from the back of her eyes, but held them in. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Nikolai. It's just like Italy, she thought. Everywhere I go, it's just like Italy. I'm the criminal. I'm the one at fault. I'm the one who's worthless. The only people who ever saw me as human were on Colony 2. And now... And now... Her breathing had sped up again, still holding back everything. She refused to show anything he could consider weakness, even if it was well past that point.

She squirmed, still trying to get free from the iron grip that Kim held her in through sheer force of will. She felt herself lift her torso off the table, if only a few centimeters, but then felt herself get slammed right back down on the table. And, after a few more seconds, she stopped. Even in her state of rage, she knew that there were endeavors that were pointless, this, as well as anyone ever seeing her in a positive light ever again, being one of them.

[Nanami Touko]

Meltdown

Great... Nikolai was just as bad as Elaine, if not worse, not listening to any orders to stand down. "I said shut, UP! Brant, grab him and take him o-out of here! Elaine isn't a-answering anything! I don't know h-how things worked in the PRLA, b-but they don't work the same here!" At the very least, Elaine was staying quiet, either out of embarrassment for her own situation or because she knew better. "E-Everyone else, leave! God... Th, This is why I said what I said. This i-is why I don't agree with A-Astin's claim that, w-we work. Look at this mess!" Jess shook her head.

"You too, A-Abigail. Just... Just, go see about a robot. I'll... I'll t-try to deal with this. Hopefully one at a time..."

[Shin]

The meeting was effectively over, mostly because Jess had apparently gotten sick of the crew's antics. He needed to get Nikolai away from Elaine, for his own safety and to prevent him from provoking her any further. Looking over at Jess, he stood himself upright, giving a salute. "Understood, Captain. I shall await further orders." he replied, knowing that she probably didn't care much for formalities right now. Approaching Nikolai, Tarquin looked at him with concern. Whatever he'd been through had been brought out by Elaine, although the attack he'd taken was another pressing matter. He wanted to speak to him, but he didn't want to risk triggering Elaine again. He did have one way, but he'd have to hope that Nikolai was as multilingual in comprehension as he was profanities.

"Nikolai. Wir sollten gehen. Du solltest die heftige Frau ignorieren." Tarquin requested, gesturing towards the door. "Sie ist eine Zeitverschwendung... Ich mag sie nicht sehr. Wir sollten lesen, ja?"
 

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai's eyes flittered all around the room, he was obviously no longer welcome here. Not surprising, he was usually quick to wear out his welcome. There was a smile still frozen on his face as he stood, arms still outstretched, ready to take his own violent escort, maybe back to his little cell.

Suddenly, he registered that someone was speaking to him. He turned quickly on his heels, ready to snap with barbs and bile if need be. Instead, he found his eyes meeting with the smaller boy's, filled with concern, as though he was trying to find the hidden root of his sudden meltdown.

Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like he did...

"Eine... Zietverschwendung?" He said hesitantly. It was clear he had hurt the other boy somehow, made him worry. Something about the thought of someone genuinely being concerned about a thing like him was troubling, it sat badly with him. He would have to fix that, it was imperitive. "Ja klar... Die fraulien hast eine problem, ja? Aber, ich werde aufhören. Tut mir leid."

His German had never been perfect, but he had picked up enough through his tour of mayhem through Europe, from both allies and enemies. It was clear that Tarquin had reasons for speaking in the foreign tongue, however, presumably because the words were meant for him and him alone. For a moment, he was almost thankful for the miseducation Sergei had given him.

"Am sorry Captain," He muttered curtly, bowing his head and gluing his gaze to the floor, "scary korean lady... even koorva. Sorry."

He made to the door slowly, his steps heavy. Why was this affecting him like this?