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[Digital Hellhound]

Rumman slips inside the barracks and goes to lean against the wall, waiting for a chance to talk to Aurelio. A half-smile flickers on his face repeatedly.

After Sean's briefing

Rumman lumbers over to Tonya and offers a salute - a gesture rather broken by a great, gaping grin. He seems torn between an attempt at seriousness and being at ease.

'Ma'am,' Rumman says. 'I thought you were retired - seems like Teralba needs all its sons and daughters now. Civilian life treat you well?'

[GiglameshDespair]

Mydoki stood up straighter and a gleam seemed to enter her eye.
"Regulation 426b - Mech Storage and Maintainance. Hangars should be keep free of staff beyond those involved in their active maintainance and inspection, to increase security and prevent accidents."

[Dwarmin]

"Spry if you think I am, Ma'am.

Alpha may be difficult to maintain from a distance, as most of the pilots are rookies, but everything else seems to line up nicely. Most of the pilots are introducing themselves around base, but I shall send them on to the hangar if I find them, Ma'am."

"Good." She pauses a moment, before continuing in an even manner. Her cold blue eyes seem to be measuring him. "You know, some would call you a rookie as well-fresh out of school, never fired a shot except on a test range, never been fired upon.

They gave you the command for a reason, though.

I won't lie to your corporal, you might find some trouble in regards to discipline-it's not easy to get people to listen to you in the heat of battle, much less if you're younger than them-give a man a gun, he thinks he's a King. Give him a multi-story battle-mech and he thinks he's a God. It's a thing I hope you've read up on that-it's called battle derangement. I've seen whole squads cut to pieces because their blood got hot, while the other side stayed frosty.

I warn you not to become too close to the men and women under your command. Keep an emotional distance and it will make everything easier...you'll understand yourself, sooner or later. Remember-we're not here to be their friends. We're here to make sure they survive this war-that they don't end up hosed out of their cockpit, an empty box and a comforting letter sent to their parents courtesy of a grateful nation, or end up invalid and senseless in a VC House. Ideally, we'd save them all, but...well, remember, keep your distance. Don't make the decisions you'll have to make harder. That doesn't mean we don't care for them...it's just we've got to be careful how we show it. Take my advice as you will.

It's not easy, but leading others never is. Still, I'll hold you to the highest expectations of the core-I expect good things from you, Corporal Hosier."

---

After Sean's briefing

Rumman lumbers over to Tonya and offers a salute - a gesture rather broken by a great, gaping grin. He seems torn between an attempt at seriousness and being at ease.

'Ma'am,' Rumman says. 'I thought you were retired - seems like Teralba needs all its sons and daughters now. Civilian life treat you well?'

It's a slightly different Tonya that speaks to Rumman-more willing to smile, not so carefully guarded with her words. She still maintains that distance, though...

She sighs and leans against the wall, regarding him with a friendly smile.

"Well, I went through two husbands, and three children. All grown up now, and praise Amitiel*, they decided not to follow their fool of a mother and become soldiers. I was happy planting rosebushes, and woodcarving cradles for my future grandchildren, even hoping I'd find husband number three to warm my declining years, heh-until these...damn fools got us in another war." She says, in a slight undertone. She doesn't sound bitter, however. If anything she sounds a bit excited.

"What about you? You're even older than me, Rummy. You trying to show me up or something? Here I was, hoping I'd be the only one-the old lioness who nobly waded once more unto the breach for the everlasting honor of Terralba, despite the grey in her mane and dulled claws." Her tone is mocking and a bit playful, and for a moment she seems much younger and less stern than anyone else had seen her.

*Belief in Amitiel is one of the religions popular in the Mednhu Islands-she's portrayed as an angelic protector of truth and justice, popular among peacekeeper and law enforcers. Her followers are usually called 'Ami's.'

[SOLDIER First]

"So, Iris, would you like to see Upshift?"

[Digital Hellhound]

'Ha! They gave me a cushy desk job and a house and a garden in Trevelan. Needless to say, it ruined my marriage and nearly drove me barking mad. I tried signing up for the war for that little island, what, four years back? They wouldn't have me! Pwah! I still pass the physicals well enough. Though, from what I heard, none of our mechs saw any real fighting, so no big loss. But this! They'd mothballed Machinehead, but took both of us old relics in for this scrap. Bless the jockeys, he runs fine as ever.'

Rumman quiets down for a moment after that. He chuckles. 'Lots of our boys and girls dead already, though. It's not going to be easy. I figure... the Bells, '79, those border towns left nothing but smoking rubble both sides of the border? It's going to be like that, but not over nearly as quick. I lost my Brawler there, one of those old one-mode Hamkars, my first,' he says, scratching his age-worn chin. 'Suppose we'll have to make sure we go in as clean as precise as we can. Have it all over by the end of the year - I figure High Command's gonna want us to keep going as far as there are victories, though. They tell me we've got a lot to gain from all this.'

[Projeck37]

Mydoki stood up straighter and a gleam seemed to enter her eye.
"Regulation 426b - Mech Storage and Maintainance. Hangars should be keep free of staff beyond those involved in their active maintainance and inspection, to increase security and prevent accidents."

"Doesn't that mean you're breaking regulations too, miss?"
Trevor grins, and stands up.
"But oh well. No harm done. They've finished my mech already."

[GiglameshDespair]

"I was inspecting my mech." she smiled back. "Covered."
She took a step back as he stood up.
"I'm Mydoki Makika. Might I know your name?"

[Dwarmin]

She shrugs tiredly, seeming more her age.

"We always have something to gain, sure. Didn't the Bells start because our fleets were fighting over fishing rights in the strait? Hard to believe such a small thing caused so much bad...well, It's always some thing or the other. Can't say the why matters much to me, though it's a shame we have to fight in Edon. I like it here...vacationed in Yaogo my first paid leave, back when things were better. I know this bar...they used to serve the best red hot chicken wings in the islands. Free cold beer, too-the kind they drink, saki-wine, strong but sweet. You'd be surprised how strong it was, to come in such a small glass! It was a good trip...Well, should say I knew a bar, really. I hear the 19th pretty much leveled the city digging out the last of the defenders. Can't blame them, really. The 19th, I mean. Or the defenders.

As you can see, I'm a bit melancholy in my old age. Figure we do good here, and we'll knock Edon out of the war quick and clean-free up our guys on other fronts. End this whole mess. I've got cradles to make, after all, don't I?" She finishes with a tired, yet genuine laugh.

[Projeck37]

"The name's Trevor Barkley. I was inspecting my mech as well."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

((Trevor/Mydoki confirmed.))
"That would be lovely."

[GiglameshDespair]

Mydoki giggled.
"With your eyes shut? Yeah, right."
She looked up at his mech. The mechs seemed the opposite of their owners - the tiny woman to the huge, armoured mech, the taller man to the slender (well, for a steel war machine) mech.

[SOLDIER First]

Lionan leads her to Upshift!
Iris can tell it's a smaller class of mech.

"He's, uh, orange everywhere else, if you can't tell."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"She looks awesome."

[SOLDIER First]

"Yeah, he is. But not as beautiful as Edelweiss."

[Projeck37]

"What can I say? I inspect my mech by leaning on it."
Trevor grinned, chuckling.
"So how's yours lookin?"