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Post by Hilda Steiner on Jan 13, 2015 4:33:34 GMT
Glad to hear Lars is already working our extraction plan she mused, nodding at his image. "Understood, sir. We'll be back before you know it. Might need new mobile suits all around, though - we took a real pounding out there" she admitted, biting back a curse. Well, Eddy said he was looking into it she thought, keeping her voice down as she continued. "If I may ask, Lars... Eddy mentioned you were looking in to a matter concerning a member of my squadron's identity. We seem to have indicators down here that show he was on to something - and not in a good way. Any chance you found anything when digging?" she asked. The lying sack of shit has training from somewhere. The question is, is he a Black Leg or not?
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Jan 14, 2015 2:17:35 GMT
"Understood, sir. We'll be back before you know it. Might need new mobile suits all around, though - we took a real pounding out there" "We're heading back the Amman after rendezvous. As a heads up, Blex & Kowen have been asking around. They might want a debrief.""If I may ask, Lars... Eddy mentioned you were looking in to a matter concerning a member of my squadron's identity. We seem to have indicators down here that show he was on to something - and not in a good way. Any chance you found anything when digging?" Hilda could always tell when Lars was troubled about something. He couldn't hide it from her. Langstrom was well aware of that fact. It's no use. She can always see right through me."Hilda. Chuck Finley- his real name is Jim Anderson. He's a Titan deserter. This information came from the top. I'm worried that he hasn't come clean about this. You're going to have to make a judgment call."[/quote]
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Paradigm: Backstabber
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Post by Hilda Steiner on Jan 14, 2015 4:35:01 GMT
Hilda felt a distinct weight pressing down on her already foul mood as Lars mentioned that. Well, that's just great. I'll hope that their interest in talking means that they aren't the lunatics who nuked Jaburo she thought. And getting back to base, for some suits that hopefully aren't updates and refurbs from the One Year Wa... say what now? she thought, her train of thought cutting out as Lars mentioned a very disturbing fact. "I knew there was a reason I didn't like that guy" she said aloud, not even bothering to disable the transmit. "Let me guess: he 'deserted' the Titans conveniently right after the AEUG's first strikes in late '86, about a week before Finley conveniently showed up to an AEUG recruiting station. Fucker is probably a plant, and he's dead to boot" she snarled into the comm line, figuring the boozing and the backtalk was his way of staying 'in character' while he waited for the right moment to stab them all in the back.
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Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Post by Fred Castle on Jan 15, 2015 2:55:55 GMT
It seemed that he wasn't going to get to see what happened with Finley, Petrenko had dragged him off and it seemed that the two Lieutenants decided to leave him alone for now. So the chances of finding out what was going on dropped, he'd probably need to corner Finley later but getting at him after the Lieutenants were done with him would probably be a pain. Not that he cared about what LeNoire would be asking, that fucker was too busy talking to the Titans to shoot at them, Finley had been acting suspiciously no doubt, but LeNoire seemed to put his Titan pals over his own team. But apparently that wasn't anything to be concerned about, the focus was entirely on Finley while LeNoire couldn't be bothered to watch the status of his own team.
They didn't seem to be getting a debrief yet, bigger fish to fry he supposed, but they needed to talk about what went wrong at some point and figure out how to improve so that this never happened again. After Steiner left, LeNoire seemed to find a new friend and put sunglasses on to match the other man he guessed. 'Yeah, way to go on priorities. Not like theres a nuke we should be talking about or anything.' LeNoire was making friends and he had no idea what Steiner was up to now that she didn't go after Chuck. But with Steiner gone, he could only talk to LeNoire about what he wanted to find out as they were the two most likely to know.
So Fred walked over to LeNoire, "Have you heard anything about how bad it was yet Lieutenant? How many we lost or anything about the nuke." he asked the other man, he knew it was unlikely that the other man had heard anything else, if only due to how long ago the nuke was detonated, but it was also his best shot at getting some answers. The battle had been about as much of a disaster as it could be, but no one else seemed to even want to try finding out what happened.
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Post by Benjamin Regard on Jan 16, 2015 2:20:24 GMT
Swing and a miss, he mused as the confrontation was cut short and tension simply deflated with a timely save from Marika, dragging Chuck off as fast as she stepped in. And neither lead made much of an effort to drag them back, content to let the pair off the hook for now and go onto more important matters. Granted, everyone had just been through hell but the least they could do is act like they were the ones in command. Or call the drunkard out on his antics instead of letting it slide all the time.
But that thought aside, Ben had to admit that Chuck had a good head on his shoulders as far as tactical thinking went. His militiaman act had went up in smoke with the calls but it was clear that he was a man of the Federation and, if his very insightful banter with that patrol lead was to be believed, a Titan at that. What was it they called him…Anderson? And they called him, Flying Tiger, as well. Could be a call-sign, could be his very own ace moniker. You don’t just come up with a name like the long gone pilots from the World War at the drop of a hat. Only a hotshot pilot earned those. But in that case, why was he here now?
Well, now I’m super curious. I’ll check him out later on, hopefully before someone judges him and guts him on the spot, he decided, glancing off to the Gundam’s side. LeNoire was back from his stroll with the red man. He looked somewhat at ease so he must’ve figured something out. Fred was calling him already in the hopes of some amount of news about what happened out there at the smoldering crater that was Jaburo. “Hey LeNoire, is there an upside for us yet or are we still rolling down the hill?”
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Post by Edward LeNoire on Jan 16, 2015 2:50:15 GMT
As he reentered the hangar facilities and focused once again on the white and navy blue mech sitting idle in its berth, Eddy felt a tingle of nostalgia as he remembered the last time he’d laid eyes on a Gundam. Seven years seemed like such a long time ago. Although, considering how chaotic A Baoa Qu had been, he sometimes doubted whether or not he’d actually seen a Gundam.
Before he could continue pursuing his train of thought, Eddy’s reverie was disturbed by inquiries by Castle and Regard, asking him about those killed by the nuke and what their present situation was. It was moments like these that he wished he was better at keeping in the loop. “I wish I had answers, gentlemen. To be honest, no one seems very talkative around here. Frankly, I can’t blame them. It's not often you have a front-row seat to a nuclear detonation. But I’m heading to the command deck now; find out some answers for all of us. You’re both more than welcome to join me.”
Whether Castle or Regard accompanied him or not didn’t matter, either way Eddy would get an update on the present situation and where Zodiac Squadron would go next. After a quick trek up to the command deck, he walked inside and found that a grim mood permeated the air. He found that Hilda was there; standing at a console wearing a COM headset and as he walked closer to her, he found that she was full of cold rage. Eddy didn’t have to think too hard as to why as he stopped and stood to Hilda’s left.
I’m guessing Langstrom all but confirmed what we had already suspected.” After letting out a heavy sigh, Eddy raised his sunglasses above his forehead and asked the question he’d hoped to ask a later time. His words were firm in their conviction. “If you want to confront Anderson now, I’ll go with you.”
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Post by Marika Petrenko on Jan 16, 2015 5:26:32 GMT
Marika promptly blew a raspberry at Chuck's defending of the Recht and glanced at Chuck as he brought up the Zek nickname. He could say what he liked it wouldn't change what she knew in her soul and didn't diminish the urge to set her Recht on fire. It was only when he worked on answering her real question that her gaze centered on Chuck while her hands crossed under her chest, the answer wasn't exactly inspiring and the last comment made Marika shift uneasily.
"E-Even if you were something, you're AEUG now right?" The young woman barely more then a girl struggled with her words as she tried to figure out what to say or even what she could say. It was worrying specially with something being linked to a black leg, past or present any relation could be troublesome. "People have done all sorts of things and...I'm sure there's people in the AEUG that others wouldn't work with normally but...I doubt those people are in the positions that would help you right?"
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Post by Jim Anderson on Jan 16, 2015 21:57:11 GMT
Chuck laughed aloud as the kid made her little obscene sound. Laugh it up, Marika. Nice to see some of us still can.... he thought, wondering what the next bit was. The Rechts is just as good as my old Quel... not bad for a bunch of freebooters like this he thought.
Marika then asked a much more direct question. Chuck paused for a very long moment, clearly chewing on an answer before he responded. He looked up into her eyes, green fire in his eyes as he responded. "Trust me, Marika - there is no one here more dedicated to destroying the Titans than me" he said very softly. "The things they've done... there can be no mercy for the bastards. I only hope they live long enough to know who's killing them" he said in that same icy soft tone.
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Post by Fred Castle on Jan 17, 2015 2:32:16 GMT
After asking LeNoire if he knew more about what had hqppened, Regard had come over and asked the Lieutenant a similar question. Unfortunately LeNoire said that he didn't know more than they did, but Fred didn't expect him too honestly, with shit like this it took a long time to get accurate details. But LeNoire said that he was heading up to see what he could find out, and that he didn't mind if they followed along, of course wanting to hear something about it Fred had decided that he would follow LeNoire there. If he got kicked out before anyone mentioned it no big deal, it was worth trying to find out what happened.
"Sure, I want to know what the fuck is going on." he said before he followed after LeNoire. Once they had arrived at their destination, he saw that Steiner was already there, which was just what he wanted, she'd probably be the one most likely to be pissed about him trying to find out what was going on, and it was easy to see she was already pissed. She was on the comm, likely for the same reasons LeNoire had decided to come here. LeNoire said something to her about their suspicions being correct, and had used the name "Anderson", which from the back and forth in the battle he knew was Finley, apparently his real name or some shit. He was also talking about heading to confront Finley about it again, considering what he'd heard during and after the battle it wasn't hard to piece together what LeNoire meant.
Either way, suspicions or not he didn't actually know anything so he kept his mouth shut and came to a stop, standing a bit behind LeNoire, in recon ops you don't draw attention to yourself, you listen and observe so that you can actually learn something about what was going on. Granted they weren't exactly military, but they still had a chain of command, classified shit, and "need to know", so he had to play it just like he had when they snooped for info in the military.
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Jan 17, 2015 6:33:03 GMT
] "Let me guess: he 'deserted' the Titans conveniently right after the AEUG's first strikes in late '86, about a week before Finley conveniently showed up to an AEUG recruiting station. Fucker is probably a plant, and he's dead to boot" "Hilda, you should at least let him explain himself. I don't think the senior pilot of the EFS Kandahar battle group would suddenly change professions and become a spy. Besides, he never had your charm."Conversely, Lars knew how to appeals to Hilda's behavior. There were personal reasons for this. The last thing he wanted was a ritual squadron purge while playing third wheel.
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Post by Benjamin Regard on Jan 17, 2015 6:44:18 GMT
“Escaping something like that by the skin of your teeth does that to you. I bet it was a nightmare just getting everyone on board.” He looked across the hangar, the invasion survivors milling about without much care to what their new passengers were up to. Given how packed to the brim they were, Zodiac’s own presence simply adding to the burden, it wouldn’t be too far off to assume everyone they saw so far were the only ones who could made it in time and could fit onboard. One could only hope for the best and that things were in better shape than they appeared.
“You guys go on ahead,” Ben declined, waving off his fellow Lieutenants as he strolled back towards Zodiac’s pity corner. No point in starting up a peanut gallery upstairs, they’d all get the full details sooner or later. And even then, he had an idea about where they’d be headed from here. Unless someone was in dire need of pilots down on earth, they’d just have to make their back up to space…somehow. AEUG didn’t exactly have a lot of friends on earth with a free spaceport to take advantage of. They wouldn’t be taking one by force anytime soon either, not with the wrecks they were carrying around. Or with Zodiac butting heads with itself.
Still not back yet, he noted with a glance at an empty Rechts. Simple as it would be just let the pair be, they wouldn’t be able to hide forever and it was better that he found them before Hilda or LeNoire did. It’s tough having a half-decent conversation when you’ve got some livid folks taking part and making a mess of it. Walking past the machine and into the nearest corridor, a good laugh reached his ears, thankfully cutting his search short before it even began. Given his usual demeanor, he’d assumed he was always in a sour mood but now knew otherwise. So you’re not all sour grapes. Just most of the time and only when the Titans are involved.
“You’re a pretty driven guy, militiaman,” he called out, stepping forward and leaning on the room’s open frame. Giving a nod to Marika, he looked to Chuck, “Not sure Hilda and LeNoire think so, though. You’re on a tightrope without a net after today, Chuck.”
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Post by Jim Anderson on Jan 17, 2015 20:06:14 GMT
Chuck's rant complete, he waited for the young girl to respond. She reminds me so much of Bombs Away... he thought, smiling sadly. Just hope her luck is better than McKay's he thought, bad memories taking over. He heard the hatch open, and he stood, waiting to hear someone tell him he was under arrest. Instead, what he got was their newest member, some ell-tee from the Fed. You have no idea, pal he said, just shrugging and extending his flask to the man. "'Driven' is one way to put it, Benny" he said with a thin smile. "I prefer to think of it as 'vengeful'. Care for a belt to celebrate making it out of that fucking nuke alive?" he chucked, trying to enjoy the moment before his fears came to pass. Bask the Bastard would probably do that to the regulars, but there's no way to prove it...
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Post by Hilda Steiner on Jan 17, 2015 20:57:51 GMT
Hilda's grip on the phone tightened as Lars spoke up, laying out that their boy 'Finley' really was the Titan they'd suspected him of being since before they dropped. But for him to have been a senior pilot for an entire battle group? That's... why would a field-grade officer just up and desert? she thought, wondering what the hell. Eddy and Castle joined her, Eddy quickly figuring out what she was discussing with Lars. She held up a finger, asking for a bit more time to clarify things. "Just because he's unlikely doesn't mean he isn't a damned spy, sir. Like I said, he just deserted what, six months ago? He's a plant, I will take care of him, Captain" she replied to Langstrom, voice dangerously quiet, a calm expression on her face as she thought exactly how much she would enjoy ending the little rat's life.
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Post by Lars Langstrom on Jan 18, 2015 2:59:30 GMT
"Just because he's unlikely doesn't mean he isn't a damned spy, sir. Like I said, he just deserted what, six months ago? He's a plant, I will take care of him, Captain" "But we're not the Titans. If you truly believe there is a conspiracy, then keep an eye on him. He'll make a move if he feels safe. Understood? Don't throw him out at 30,000 feet. I want him here and on my ship alive."Lars showed Hilda his familiar stubborn streak. There was no turning back now.
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Post by Hilda Steiner on Jan 18, 2015 5:36:12 GMT
Hilda looked visibly disappointed to Eddy and Castle as the conversation with Lars continued. "I won't throw him out the hatch for a 10-klick screamer - yet - Lars. But is there something you know that I don't here? Last time I checked the Titans were the enemy and we put them down" she said empathically. "If our boy is a Titan and lied about it, I'm gonna need a hell of a better reason than your gut feeling not to haul his ass over the coals and start asking why he's here my way, Lars" she said icily - and plainly audible to Eddy and Castle.
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