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[USEC_OFFICER]

Eventually Major Zunino enters the room, giving the two officers a quick salute as he heads to the table. Zunino is a tall man, with a gaunt face and neatly groomed mustache. He seems young for a Major, but with the war going on he certainly won't seem young for much longer. As he sits down the Major pulls out a small notebook and pencil from his jacket, and spends a few seconds looking through its contents. Finally he clears his throat and flips to a blank page. Evidently this is a signal for the proceedings to begin for his aide places his hands on the typewriter, ready to record everything spoken.

"Good evening, Sergeant, Corporal. I apologize about making both of you wait. I was just talking with the chief engineer about the repairs to your squad's mechs. Normally I would not call you in for a meeting like this, but wait for your reports of the skirmish to arrive. However a time-critical matter exists that needs to be resolved, and I would rather send a squad who has seen combat than one who has not. So." The Major pauses for a second, and scribbles something down in his book. "Tell be about the circumstances of the skirmish."


The other Tonya, the one not crammed into a small room, apparently hasn't chosen a secluded enough spot for a smoke, for she is approached by a tall, burly man in a pilot's uniform. "Got a light?" he asks as he pulls out a cigarette from his pockets.

[kj1225]

Tonya sighs but pulls a lighter out from... her shirt? Who knows. Either way she hands it to him before taking a drag from her cigarette.

[Kansa]

Lacie quickly stopped and turned towards the voice as it interrupted her training,
"I'm sorry sir, I lost track of time"

[USEC_OFFICER]

Tonya sighs but pulls a lighter out from... her shirt? Who knows. Either way she hands it to him before taking a drag from her cigarette.

"Thanks," the man mumbles gratefully as he lights his cigarette. He hands back the lighter, but makes no move to leave. Instead he stays and silently enjoys his cigarette with Tonya.

Lacie quickly stopped and turned towards the voice as it interrupted her training,
"I'm sorry sir, I lost track of time"

"Right. I don't know what kind of training you're doing at night, but it's not that important. Hurry up and finish whatever you're doing already."

[kj1225]

Tonya takes it back as she blows the lung full of smoke out her nose.
"I didn't expect anyone to come this far out, comrade."

[USEC_OFFICER]

The man deflects the question by asking, "Then why are you out here? Shouldn't you be somewhere nice and comfortable?"

[Dwarmin]

Tonya nodded, sitting high in her seat.

She began to speak in a steady, calm voice.

"Yes, sir.

The squad had a routine patrol route, didn't see so much as *Throcken. Weather was good. No major mechnical malfunctions or sightings-most of the land is empty...as we turned back to home we found an Edo squad waiting for us.

Three Strons, five Qalupiks and ten artillery wagons. Seems they saw us before we saw them-they were arrayed in a defensive formation 5-3-10. Pretty standard-pretty dated. Not very imaginative.

I ordered my squad to spread into two groups and picket the enemy-that's where things got hairy. Two of my pilots went a bit off mike, if you catch that drift. We were forced into an early engagement, when people weren't in proper position. Given the circumstances, most of my jocks chose to move up and open fire to save them-but, one of our artillery mechs was caught behind the river, kept out of the fight. Two mechs sustained heavy, but not critical damage. A tactical error, and I admit that and take full responsibility on myself for not enforcing proper discipline, sir."

Tonya said, pausing to take a breath.

"Anyway, is was all jake from there-we had them in rolling iron, and we pushed them back. Destroyed six and turned the rest back-captured most of the pilots alive, I believe, and salvage is ongoing. One of my better pilots, Iris Lindemann, might have got one of their nav systems intact. She says she can crack it, and I have faith she'll do her best work-if anything comes out of that, you'll have my report on it.

I'd also suggest a Bronze Sun medal for my pilot Catherine Hall. She got the cup for tons of metal slagged, and showed remarkable bravery and skill, moving in close to strike the enemy squad leader out, with a perfect undercarriage shot. And her Mech doesn't need so much repairs as a coat of paint, which is something I personally respect.

Though some of my pilots showed lack of restraint, none of them dishonored the core, sir. They all fought hard, and the day is ours. That's my report sir.

...

Corporal Sean, you're up."

She motions for Sean to give his side, sitting back in her seat.

*Throcken are small, cute rodents. They are fairly common in the islands, and favored as pets for their keen intelligence.

[kj1225]

Tonya takes another pull from her cigarette. She blows smoke rings as she considers the question. Finally she speaks.
"I am comfortable here."

[Kansa]

She wiped the sweat off of her brow and stepped away from the equipment,
"Just general fitness training sir, I'll finish up right away"

[Projeck37]

Trevor perks up. Right... Gym was closed at night. Damn.
He walks over to Lacie as they walk out.
"Name's Trevor. And you are?"

[smurfingtonthethird]

"Thank you, ma'am. I am of a same mind as the Sergeant; however, one of the new machine pilots, Tonya, worries me. She completely ignored both the orders of her CO, as well as the requests of her teammates. She may have survived this time around, but I assume the battles will become harder as time presses onwards."

[USEC_OFFICER]

-snip-

-snip-

The Major notes all of this down in his notebook, accompanied by the sound of his aide working away at his typewriter. Eventually he looks up at the two officers and launches a barrage of questions at them. "I see. So Tonya is one of the two pilots who went off mike? Who was the other one? Why did they not listen to your orders to pull back? Besides these two, everyone else performed admirably? You have already talked about two of your subordinates, Catherine Hall and Iris Lindemann, but what about the rest of your squad?"

Tonya takes another pull from her cigarette. She blows smoke rings as she considers the question. Finally she speaks.
"I am comfortable here."

The man shrugs, "That still doesn't explain why you're out here. You'd be just as comfortable back in base having your smoke."

She wiped the sweat off of her brow and stepped away from the equipment,
"Just general fitness training sir, I'll finish up right away"

The officer taps his watch and says. "No, you'll finish up right now. I don't have time to stand around and wait for you to be done. Your friend there has the right idea, he's already heading out."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Trevor perks up. Right... Gym was closed at night. Damn.
He walks over to Lacie as they walk out.
"Name's Trevor. And you are?"

Iris follows Trevor out, still tinkering with that damn console.

[Dwarmin]

The Major notes all of this down in his notebook, accompanied by the sound of his aide working away at his typewriter. Eventually he looks up at the two officers and launches a barrage of questions at them. "I see. So Tonya is one of the two pilots who went off mike? Who was the other one? Why did they not listen to your orders to pull back? Besides these two, everyone else performed admirably? You have already talked about two of your subordinates, Catherine Hall and Iris Lindemann, but what about the rest of your squad?"

Tonya hadn't wanted to burn some of her squadmates-even the bad ones-but she couldn't exactly say Sean was wrong. Still, she had hoped he would not force them into this corner. She preferred to keep what she told the big wigs on a need-to-know basis, and deal with problems herself...

"Averus Haedron was the other-but in his defense, he did pull back to correct for his mistake.

As for why, I have no idea sir-Tonya M. seems sort of headstrong...I think she suffered battle derangement. She wasn't listening to logic, reason, or threats. I think the previous loss of her squad may have given her some trauma-perhaps she was afraid more people would be killed if she didn't act that way. I can only guess.

As for the rest, they all performed admirably.

Iris Lindemann and Trevor Barkely executed a handbook flanking maneuver, I liked that.

Mydoki Makika and Lacie Lieanor provided superb support and defense with their heavy mechs, kept themselves in line, and worked with the team.

Everyone showed remarkable work, sir. For a fresh squad, it was a good day."

[kj1225]

Tonya rolls her eyes.
"If I would be then why would I choose to come all the way out here? Number one, it's always to hot in the base, I need to just about strip naked to get comfortable. And secondly, I'm not on good terms with several of my other squadmates. I mean, I go out and risk my mech and neck so they can get shots off without having to worry much about being shot at themselves and they complain about it! I mean, I didn't even get one 'good job taking out the leader' or 'hey you didn't get hit by a stray bullet', it was just bitching about how what I did was dangerous and how I risked my life. That old bitch of a CO can fuck right off, I knew what I was doing and I knew I could take it..."
Tonya takes a long drag off her cigarette looking pissed.