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Post by Hilda Steiner on Sept 24, 2014 1:04:49 GMT
Hilda nodded at Lars. "Sure thing, Skip. I'll round them up. Eddy" she said, nodding at LeNoire before coming to attention briefly. She held that long enough to be respectful to Lars before she left the cabin. Frakking coward... he's a hell of a stick, but he just wants to train. Gonna have to put a lot of foot up ass at this rate... she grumbled as she legged it for the mess hall, figuring that there'd be hungry pilots grabbing a break there.
Her hunch was right on the money - there were three of them down there. And Finley is already off the wagon again she grumbled, looking over at him. "Finley, you've got three seconds to get that crap out of my sight" she said, glaring over at Benjamin. Figured he'd have a little more sense than that. She then looked at all three of them. "Captain Langstrom wants us in the hangar bay ASAP. Looks like we have new orders" she said plainly, waiting for the others to respond.
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Post by Edward LeNoire on Sept 24, 2014 2:06:59 GMT
Eddy gave a polite nod to Hilda as she walked out of the Captain’s cabin. Now comes the hard part. Looking over to Langstrom, he took off his sunglasses and allowed the captain to get a look at his eyes, namely the dark circles around them. “Before I get to what I wanted to discuss, I wanted to compliment you on the tea. I have to admit, not many captains would go that distance to make new pilots feel welcome, especially mediocre ones like myself. I’ve drunk so much soda and absinthe I’d almost forgotten how good tea tasted.”
Reaching behind him, Eddy pulled out a small recorder that had been latched onto the belt of his pilot suit. He sighed loudly as looked Lars dead in the eye. “I’ve spent the past few hours compiling together a recording of some open COM transmissions from the previous engagement that I feel cast doubt on the validity of Mr. Finley’s identity and raises the possibility that he might pose a security risk. I didn’t want Ms. Steiner around because...well, I don’t know where this might lead and I wanted to play it close to the chest. Hopefully, this just turns out to be a wild goose chase. Take a listen.”
He hit the “play” button on the recorder and let it speak for him. “You’ve got a big mouth, Headhunter.” “Guess that answers where you ended up, Jim. Today’s just full of old friends. Holcroft’ll be disappointed.” “Name’s Chuck, asshole. Now get the fuck out of my sky.” “Eddy! Tell your friend ‘Chuck’ that I liked him more when he wore black and red.” After hitting the “stop” button, Eddy began to speak. “The voices are those of Ensign Finley and a Titan pilot with whom I was formerly acquainted. I know this isn’t exactly reliable, but it’s enough to pique my curiosity."
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Post by Benjamin Regard on Sept 24, 2014 4:02:20 GMT
Unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite, Ben followed along with Chuck’s brief but accurate run down of what happened, nodding towards Fred as he joined in. It definitely was a lot to be bummed about, especially for a squad in training. “Well, I’ll admit it, that’s pretty rough. But it’s all about perspective, you know? And I’ll pass, got my own.” He waved off the offer, taking another bite and washing it down. “It may look pretty bleak to you but on my end, it’s pretty amazing. Squad of trainees gets the drop on a convoy, jacks some nukes, makes a break for safety with the Titans out for blood, you guys even held on enough that they just bailed in the end. That’s the kind of thing they make movies out of.”
He smirked at the thought. Yeah, a movie. Just like those classic films from the old A.D. era or whatever Zeon pumped out as propaganda in the OYW. They weren’t always great but they certainly were worth a watch or two. Opening up for another bite, he held back as yet another person showed up, this time a woman. And she wasn’t exactly chill with one of them boozing it up. Or him, for that matter, judging from how she stared at him briefly. “Well, it was nice while it lasted,” He took a final bite, downing the rest of his drink as well as he rose. “What’s the word?”
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Post by Fred Castle on Sept 24, 2014 18:43:17 GMT
Fred heard Chuck inform the guy of what was bugging him and couldn't help but chuckle a bit, this guy had no idea what he'd done. But, it didn't last long, and Chuck offered both of them a drink as Fred took a bite of his sandwich. "Nah dude, we can't all control ourselves like you. I'm a recovering alcoholic you insensitive fucker, how dare you offer me that." he said completely seriously, while making an obviously over the top outraged expression. He liked drinking as much as anyone, just not when he was expected to be working after he got done eating.
After that though, Steiner came over and called Chuck out on having the drink, which made him glad that he hadn't accepted the drink. She'd then glared at the other guy sitting with them, before she informed them that the Captain wanted them all in the hanger, Fred thought it was odd to meet him in the hanger, but like she said it was probably new orders, no other real reason for him to talk to them directly about anything else, unless something majorly serious had happened, of which there was no incident since the battle.
He looked down at the sandwich that he'd only taken a bite of before standing up and pocketing his bottle of water. Something always came up when you wanted to eat or sleep, or do anything that was in some way relaxing. "Got it ma'am. Before that though, what's going on with our whole evaluation when we run out of ops or will we find out from him when we get to the hanger? I do have a bone to pick with you though, I feel left out. What do I need to do to get you to glare at me too?" he asked her, acting like he was jealous. He had no idea how she'd react to that, so it was probably a terrible idea, but like so much else, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Sept 26, 2014 2:08:28 GMT
“Before I get to what I wanted to discuss, I wanted to compliment you on the tea. I have to admit, not many captains would go that distance to make new pilots feel welcome, especially mediocre ones like myself. I’ve drunk so much soda and absinthe I’d almost forgotten how good tea tasted.” Lars chuckled. "Don't mention it, but don't tell Finley I have some wine stashed in my office. I'll walk in the next day to find it looted."“I’ve spent the past few hours compiling together a recording of some open COM transmissions from the previous engagement that I feel cast doubt on the validity of Mr. Finley’s identity and raises the possibility that he might pose a security risk. I didn’t want Ms. Steiner around because...well, I don’t know where this might lead and I wanted to play it close to the chest. Hopefully, this just turns out to be a wild goose chase. Take a listen.” "Let's find out."There were only a handful of reasons Eddy wouldn't want Hilda present during the meeting. That limited the span of his guesses. “You’ve got a big mouth, Headhunter.” “Guess that answers where you ended up, Jim. Today’s just full of old friends. Holcroft’ll be disappointed.” “Name’s Chuck, asshole. Now get the fuck out of my sky.” “Eddy! Tell your friend ‘Chuck’ that I liked him more when he wore black and red.” “The voices are those of Ensign Finley and a Titan pilot with whom I was formerly acquainted. I know this isn’t exactly reliable, but it’s enough to pique my curiosity." The skipper sat and listened with apprehension. His face took on a starker appearance during every second of the recording. That pilot could easily be lying; Trying to sow dissent into our ranks. It's enough already that the Federation pilots don't trust the Zeon veterans. Every day he didn't have to open that can of worms was fortuitous. Either way, Chuck is playing a dangerous game. It's something he'd have to get Hilda to look into. "Keep an eye on him in the field. Personally, I think you should always hold this recording in your head vis a vis with his combat record. Beyond that, don't let it interfere with your personal duties. Leave the rest to me. I'll do some digging and report back to you. Understood?"As he got up, he gestured towards the door. It was time to do the debriefing. "Let's go make history. Shall we?"
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Post by Jim Anderson on Sept 27, 2014 2:42:33 GMT
Chuck rolled his eyes as Castle went through an exaggerated routine refusing the drink. "A simple 'no' would have done just fine, Fred" he said, shaking his head jovially before taking a swig - right as Steiner walked in. She quickly jumped his shit, and he just rolled his eyes as she chewed him out. "Yeah, yeah" he muttered, looking back at the pilot who'd joined up with the team in the rescue as he went through a whole, prepared speech it seemed while he re-stashed his flask. "A movie, huh?" he said, shaking his head. His eyes stared back at Regard, and they burned with a depth of understanding that greatly belied his station. "A movie is good because it has drama. Its good because it makes the audience engage. They want to see pilots fail, die. You know what makes a good mission? They all die and we all come home safe. You know what makes a good movie? Two dead tin cans, our carrier beat to shit, and a pilot down, but we get the job done" he said, his tone pure bile. Ignoring that Steiner was still right there, he kept going. "And if our illustrious lord commander lieutenants could have given us something resembling a battleplan, maybe it would've turned out different, but who knows anymore?" he half-spat, visibly bristling at the lack of coordination among the Sixth's mobile suits.
With that bit of venting done, he turned to Steiner. "And if we have new orders, I suppose its time to go see what they are, eh, ma'am?" he offered, rising to his feet and starting for the hatch.
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Post by Hilda Steiner on Sept 27, 2014 2:48:58 GMT
Hilda spared Finley a look of venom as he left, but couldn't help but agree with him... to a point. Yes, we need to manage this, but undercutting Eddy isn't gonna stand. I'll deal with that later she thought simply as Finley vented a little. She knew from arduous personal experience how badly some people needed to vent, but was somewhat struck by how he, the new civilian turned militiaman, was venting to the two senior officers in the room. Meh, must be adjusting to the militiaman's lifestyle. I'll speak with him about it later -after Lars gets his bit in she figured, keeping her expression neutral the whole time while Finley left the compartment.
She glared at the door after he was gone, then looked back to Castle and Regard. "Well, with that right ray of sunshine gone, shall we?" she said, motioning towards the hatch.
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Post by Edward LeNoire on Sept 27, 2014 4:32:31 GMT
Eddy quietly nodded his head in reply. “Your ability to anticipate your guests’ needs knows no bounds, Captain. But yes, I wanted to formally request a discreet inquest into whether or not the man we know as Charles Finley is who he says he is. I wanted every possible angle looked into, double and triple checked. I even considered having his vitals run through the Federation military registry to see if we could get a match...” He scratched the back of his head before continuing. “Sorry, Captain. Like I said, I tend to consider all possibilities, even the craziest ones. It’s how I got into this mad business back in ’79. I didn’t want to risk the possibility of Zeon dropping a colony on Von Braun or the rest of my home.”
Putting his sunglasses back on, Eddy managed a mild smile as Lars motioned them out to the hallway and get down to the debriefing. “Let’s get ready to kick in the door to my old digs."
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Sept 28, 2014 2:55:42 GMT
“Your ability to anticipate your guests’ needs knows no bounds, Captain. But yes, I wanted to formally request a discreet inquest into whether or not the man we know as Charles Finley is who he says he is. I wanted every possible angle looked into, double and triple checked. I even considered having his vitals run through the Federation military registry to see if we could get a match...” "I get what you mean, Lieutenant. Just leave the rest to me and the AEUG intelligence. Your only concern about Chuck Finley right now is whether or not he's shooting at enemies enough. Even considering a worst case scenario, he's not in a good position at the moment to do any damage."Lars couldn't tell whether or not Eddy was griping at this point. Regardless, he deserved it for keeping an unwilling man in a position of command. It was just something he was going to have to deal with. “Sorry, Captain. Like I said, I tend to consider all possibilities, even the craziest ones. It’s how I got into this mad business back in ’79. I didn’t want to risk the possibility of Zeon dropping a colony on Von Braun or the rest of my home.” "War perpetually mocks us for the plans we make by destroying them. That said, I'll not have my men degrade into paranoia and superstition when fighting is a perfectly reasonable alternative. Focus on what can immediately be accomplished and accomplish it. Understood?"He stopped at the end of the door way to the hangar to see whether his subordinate CAG got the message.
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Post by Edward LeNoire on Sept 28, 2014 3:44:39 GMT
Eddy carefully listened to Lars’ words, letting the meaning of them sink in as they walked to the hangar. By this time, most of the frustration and guilt that plagued his good judgment had faded and he’d become better acclimatized and accepting of his situation. He understood what Langstrom was trying to impress upon him and quietly nodded before replying vocally, a more optimistic tone in his voice evident to the trained ear.
“Yes, Captain, I understand what you’re getting at. Usually, I’m better at catching when I’m getting a little too willing to consider all possibilities. For now, I’ll put my suspicions about Mr. Finley to the side and focus on giving you and the crew of the Polaris my best as CAG until we find someone better suited to take over. Satisfactory?"
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Post by Benjamin Regard on Sept 28, 2014 17:29:47 GMT
While some might be taken aback by Chuck’s venting and ‘seen it all’ stare, Ben simply took it all in stride. It wasn’t like he could disagree with him. Chuck was pretty spot on, openly ripping on one of his seniors aside. For a moment he considered calling the sour pilot out but let it slide, letting the grump get it all out of his system. No sense in arguing when it probably wouldn’t be mellowing him out anytime soon. Someone else could deal with it. “Tough crowd, reminds me of a guy I used to know,” he quipped with a glance towards the door and then Hilda, ready to get things over with. “Ladies first."
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Sept 28, 2014 22:53:10 GMT
"Good."
And with that, Lars let the issue drop for now. They had bigger fish to fry. He stormed the hangar at a quickened pace- bellowing out to the pilots in and entering to fall in.
"Officer on deck! Fall in."
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Post by Fred Castle on Sept 29, 2014 0:45:45 GMT
Steiner had ignored what Fred said anyway, and from looking at her it was obvious that this was because of Chuck. The resident drunk didn't seem to be making friends with their evaluator, but he clearly felt strongly about speaking his mind, even when it would be a good idea to shut up. Fred couldn't say he disagreed though, things would have gone a lot smoother if everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing. But there was a time and place for everything, Fred didn't give a damn what Chuck said to him but the man would go off on anyone given the chance.
Besides that though, Fred figured that she didn't answer about who was staying since they'd find that out at the hanger. "May as well, I don't want to keep the Captain waiting and piss him off too." he said to Steiner. He thought about saying something about Chuck when the other guy said 'Ladies first', but Fred figured that Steiner wouldn't care for the joke, and he didn't enjoy the thought of making himself an available target after Chuck seemingly pissed her off.
But she knew the layout of the ship better than he did, so he followed her to the hanger since they needed to get there ASAP. It occurred to him that he didn't even know the other guy's name yet, but at the moment he didn't really care either. He knew the guy had been one of the pilots with their reinforcements during the battle but besides that didn't care about him.
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Post by Marika Petrenko on Oct 1, 2014 5:12:02 GMT
Marika was doing the traditional thing to do in the hanger aside from bothering the techs, she was taking a nap in her mobile suit. Laying on the open hatch Marika had gotten past the point where the mechanics bothered her to move considering the work had been finished up awhile ago. A passing mechanic compared her to a cat but there was little for her to do at this point as she watched out from the hatch with mild interest.
It wasn't until a group stepped out that her attention shifted from a pair of mechanics hiding behind some containers. She saw some familiar faces along with Lars but it wasn't until Lars called out the order to fall in that she moved. With some energy still lacking Marika assembled slowly towards the group to heed the call to fall in and saluted once she was close enough.
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Post by Jim Anderson on Oct 2, 2014 3:23:48 GMT
Chuck rolled his eyes at the words of Regard. A guy you used to know... right he mused, ignoring Castle as he hoofed it out of the mess hall. Suppose that we should go see what this 'Langstrom' has to say... let's hope in involves a new squadron leader he thought angrily. Shaking his head, he slipped into the ready room. Grabbing a coffee and a seat, Chuck leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to block out the mess that had happened to them over the last few days. Nukes and nutters... always a grand combination.
The call to attention snapped him out of his reverie. He rolled his eyes, taking his sweet time to come to his feet, only putting token effort into popping tall. The AEUG is a damned milita - at least, that's what they keep saying. On that note, he lazily saluted, waiting for whatever speech this guy had for them. Go forth, ye heroes, and die - or something like that.
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