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[A longer pause this time, a long long long collection of minutes. When she comes back again, it's sharper - more collected and more informed.]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
I'm fine. Everything where it should be etc etc this isn't my first rodeo.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Pretty sure I've got the sitrep covered.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You were keeping an eye on the program cadets, right? Anything I should know about?
[Though from the sound of it, there'd been time to accomplish approximately nothing on the curriculum. That isn't really the question though - how many wounded, how many FUBAR?]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
I'm fine. Everything where it should be etc etc this isn't my first rodeo.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Pretty sure I've got the sitrep covered.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You were keeping an eye on the program cadets, right? Anything I should know about?
[Though from the sound of it, there'd been time to accomplish approximately nothing on the curriculum. That isn't really the question though - how many wounded, how many FUBAR?]
Edited 2015-03-23 01:28 (UTC)
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
If you've got the full sitrep, then you know there hasn't been a break.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Good news is that none of the cadets are or were among the dead. By were, I mean some came back. And some didn't. Bad news is that this was a hard mission. Some of the young are hurting.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
They've gone from killing animals to killing sentient civilians.
If you've got the full sitrep, then you know there hasn't been a break.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Good news is that none of the cadets are or were among the dead. By were, I mean some came back. And some didn't. Bad news is that this was a hard mission. Some of the young are hurting.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
They've gone from killing animals to killing sentient civilians.
FROM: morir.carla@cdc.org
Your fun run class is boring without you and Sun.
Your fun run class is boring without you and Sun.
[There's a long list of things she needs to do before the program winds up again given how long she's been out and Aeryn's absence. Lalonde was gone too. Brown-- something in her walls off at the thought of Nicolas Brown. The point is she's down people and now, whatever she might have played at before, it really is her being short. Which means rearranging class rosters again, scrambling to assign material and make sure everyone's prepared to fly by the seat of their pants for the hundredth time in a row. There'd be messages to send, calls to make. Christ, she'd need to find someone to run off PT sessions and--
It'd be easy to get lost in the details (there's something appealing about the thought, the minutiae wrought opportunity unfolding out in front of her invitingly); but Shepard forces her attention to narrow, to stay in the arm's length worth of distance between them instead. Harder, but more fair, she thinks. Does that look on Jasper's face - the pinch around his red, bright eyes - some justice, right? Besides, at least the Crichton issue was something definitive to tackle: a subsidiary of losing Sun, but the most annoying and therefore the easiest to think about. Hard to be tender when she's too busy being irritated at John's self-imposed martyrdom.]
I've seen him. [Which on its own doesn't sound optimistic, she knows. But she'd not going to lie to Jasper's face and give him something mollifying like 'he'll be fine'. Right now Crichton seemed dead set on making a dumb decision somewhere down the road; the fact that he didn't know what it was going to be yet just made her feel gun shy and more jumpy. Unpredictable shit.] I'll take care of it.
It'd be easy to get lost in the details (there's something appealing about the thought, the minutiae wrought opportunity unfolding out in front of her invitingly); but Shepard forces her attention to narrow, to stay in the arm's length worth of distance between them instead. Harder, but more fair, she thinks. Does that look on Jasper's face - the pinch around his red, bright eyes - some justice, right? Besides, at least the Crichton issue was something definitive to tackle: a subsidiary of losing Sun, but the most annoying and therefore the easiest to think about. Hard to be tender when she's too busy being irritated at John's self-imposed martyrdom.]
I've seen him. [Which on its own doesn't sound optimistic, she knows. But she'd not going to lie to Jasper's face and give him something mollifying like 'he'll be fine'. Right now Crichton seemed dead set on making a dumb decision somewhere down the road; the fact that he didn't know what it was going to be yet just made her feel gun shy and more jumpy. Unpredictable shit.] I'll take care of it.
[The civilian losses are, for better or worse, not a surprise. Cold fact, one they should have all been preparing for as soon as the planet's files went live. That she can take it in stride probably has less to do with that and more to do with the luxury of sleeping through it. But even if it had been a shock, there's nothing she was going to be able to do about it - not this planet, probably not the next one either. Long game, she thinks, which is sickening on a basic level but hell. With her feet barely under her, resource management is a more useful task than wallowing is:]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Do we have a headcount on who died and came back? And any ideas who's responsible > same deal as on Ajna maybe?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
+: How's your unit holding up?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Do we have a headcount on who died and came back? And any ideas who's responsible > same deal as on Ajna maybe?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
+: How's your unit holding up?
[...Fuck. She wasn't supposed to ask the second one. And he can't think of a way to dodge that.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
CDC decided. Gliese said they got names, and they brought those back. And the rest weren't needed. Or their bodies were lost in the veil.
[He might be a little bitter about that, because Fiona and Temeraire weren't lost in the veil. And now the answer he doesn't want to give but she'll notice if it's missing.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I don't have a unit.
[Time to cover.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Total of six dead at the end of all of the attacks: Mercer, Gallagher, Brown, Ginoza, Temeraire, Trip. Don't know who all died and came back. Ellie was among them.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
CDC decided. Gliese said they got names, and they brought those back. And the rest weren't needed. Or their bodies were lost in the veil.
[He might be a little bitter about that, because Fiona and Temeraire weren't lost in the veil. And now the answer he doesn't want to give but she'll notice if it's missing.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I don't have a unit.
[Time to cover.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Total of six dead at the end of all of the attacks: Mercer, Gallagher, Brown, Ginoza, Temeraire, Trip. Don't know who all died and came back. Ellie was among them.
[Ellie. It takes her a few moments to place the name - dredge up some distant memory of the girl. Whatever she'd said to the kid when she'd first dropped apparently hadn't impressed her (or had spooked her - couldn't tell which); one of the few kids she saw only in passing and the thought gives her some momentary pause. Shit.]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Armada told me something similar re: Ajna resurrection process. Sounds like the same deal
[So bullshit. But what else is new? Not Shepard's tact, apparently:]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Reassignment?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Armada told me something similar re: Ajna resurrection process. Sounds like the same deal
[So bullshit. But what else is new? Not Shepard's tact, apparently:]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Reassignment?
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I never asked about why some came back to life and why some didn't. Maybe I didn't want to know.
[Really, Shepard?]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Check the Green roster. Got told I didn't mess up. So there's that.
I never asked about why some came back to life and why some didn't. Maybe I didn't want to know.
[Really, Shepard?]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Check the Green roster. Got told I didn't mess up. So there's that.
[Give her a break, Garrus. She's been in a coma for a solar month bruh.]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Jesus they've got Ikari fronting a fire team. That's an interesting choice.
[Which is the nice way of putting it.]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Looks like you dodged a bullet, Garrus.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Jesus they've got Ikari fronting a fire team. That's an interesting choice.
[Which is the nice way of putting it.]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Looks like you dodged a bullet, Garrus.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Not so sure of that, Lydia. Unless you mean by not landing under his command, then...
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Good kid, could be a disaster. Who is gonna save that unit if Ikari loses his head? Gonna see if I can put some extra time in with Guy.
Not so sure of that, Lydia. Unless you mean by not landing under his command, then...
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Good kid, could be a disaster. Who is gonna save that unit if Ikari loses his head? Gonna see if I can put some extra time in with Guy.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Probably a good plan.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Should be nice to have the flexibility if something does come up.
[She's not talking about Guy. Whatever Garrus might feel about the assignment, with this many kids heading up teams it's probably to his advantage to not be in charge of all the paperwork.]
Probably a good plan.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Should be nice to have the flexibility if something does come up.
[She's not talking about Guy. Whatever Garrus might feel about the assignment, with this many kids heading up teams it's probably to his advantage to not be in charge of all the paperwork.]
Edited 2015-03-23 06:49 (UTC)
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
Except I don't have it. That'd be Kotetsu, d'Artagnan, and Rogers with it.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I can't back up another cell if it starts to fall apart. Can't ask my group to move to support them, can't make the move myself.
Except I don't have it. That'd be Kotetsu, d'Artagnan, and Rogers with it.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I can't back up another cell if it starts to fall apart. Can't ask my group to move to support them, can't make the move myself.
You don't gotta. Tryin' to take care of everythin's probly why you ended up like you did.
[ Praise be, the boy does have a WIS score after all. Not that it took a high roll to see what Shepard put herself through for the sake of others on a regular basis. Anyone with a decent spot check could see how thin she wore herself.Other tabletop puns.
Though in all seriousness, Jasper is not about to let her do it again. Even has a solution to offer: ]
Maybe he can help get it started again. Be more than just the snack-bearer and help run training too. If anyone knows how Aeryn would've run things, it'd be him. Besides... might be good for him.
[ Jasper knows what it's like to need a good distraction. Without his familiar around to keep him better grounded, he's always seeking them out. Regularly running PT might be a positive distraction for John, especially with the amount of kids in the program. John is great with kids... though right now kids might not be great with John. ]
After he gets a little more crazy out.
[ Not that he blames John for feeling like he does, but even he felt the need to call him out on the level of stupidity he'd shown the Captain on the comm. ]
[ Praise be, the boy does have a WIS score after all. Not that it took a high roll to see what Shepard put herself through for the sake of others on a regular basis. Anyone with a decent spot check could see how thin she wore herself.
Though in all seriousness, Jasper is not about to let her do it again. Even has a solution to offer: ]
Maybe he can help get it started again. Be more than just the snack-bearer and help run training too. If anyone knows how Aeryn would've run things, it'd be him. Besides... might be good for him.
[ Jasper knows what it's like to need a good distraction. Without his familiar around to keep him better grounded, he's always seeking them out. Regularly running PT might be a positive distraction for John, especially with the amount of kids in the program. John is great with kids... though right now kids might not be great with John. ]
After he gets a little more crazy out.
[ Not that he blames John for feeling like he does, but even he felt the need to call him out on the level of stupidity he'd shown the Captain on the comm. ]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Don't get trapped thinking small scale maneuvering. Rank doesn't help you here.
[And if that isn't one hell of an admission on her part-- It's a hard won truth, but one she's betting on now. They're all blind leading the blind. What had Gliese said? Information didn't matter.]
Don't get trapped thinking small scale maneuvering. Rank doesn't help you here.
[And if that isn't one hell of an admission on her part-- It's a hard won truth, but one she's betting on now. They're all blind leading the blind. What had Gliese said? Information didn't matter.]
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I'm thinking about saving who I can, how I can. I had that freedom. Now I don't. If rank puts you in a position to work, then it does help.
I'm thinking about saving who I can, how I can. I had that freedom. Now I don't. If rank puts you in a position to work, then it does help.
[There's a flicker in her eyes, a fraction where her mouth pulls at the corner and something in her goes soft and sharp all at once. This isn't how this is supposed to go and she isn't here because she cared too much or some bullshit. She'd made a few stupid mistakes in the field, caught a streak of bad luck and been put down for it. It's not a mystery; it's just tactics. Little things - that's all it takes and suddenly you're waking up from a solar month of being dead to the world. Or you're just dead. She wonders, for a split second, how Nicolas Brown died. Whether it was fast or slow. If he'd thrown himself to it the same way he'd thrown himself to the jehke at the drop and at her during his evaluation, blade flashing: a hot flash of reflected light against the danker, greyer Ajna sky.
She should be down with the bulk of the crew working on stripping the surrounding forest and building some kind of perimeter line. She should be on her feet, tackling the long list of BS she has in front of her (self-imposed as half of it is). Instead she's sitting on a stump at the edge of camp and for a second, there's a pang of heat in her chest about it. Something sour at the back of her tongue. For a second, she looks tired and old at the prospect of keeping Crichton any closer than he already is.]
It's a good idea, Jasper. [Not 'Khezek.'] There's going to have to be some-- restructuring. I'll think about what to do with him.
[Good to know the kid was thinking, though. Putting Crichton to task was something that had occurred to her earlier; though if there's any pride in the shared sentiment, she doesn't have the perspective to recognize it at the moment.]
You're leading your green cell, right? Have you talked to your people yet?
She should be down with the bulk of the crew working on stripping the surrounding forest and building some kind of perimeter line. She should be on her feet, tackling the long list of BS she has in front of her (self-imposed as half of it is). Instead she's sitting on a stump at the edge of camp and for a second, there's a pang of heat in her chest about it. Something sour at the back of her tongue. For a second, she looks tired and old at the prospect of keeping Crichton any closer than he already is.]
It's a good idea, Jasper. [Not 'Khezek.'] There's going to have to be some-- restructuring. I'll think about what to do with him.
[Good to know the kid was thinking, though. Putting Crichton to task was something that had occurred to her earlier; though if there's any pride in the shared sentiment, she doesn't have the perspective to recognize it at the moment.]
You're leading your green cell, right? Have you talked to your people yet?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You don't think you can be just as effective without the hours spent on cross-team coordination etc?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You're good at what you do Garrus. If protecting people is your priority, you'll find a way to do it without hauling around a mile of red tape behind you
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Being at the top doesn't mean you get to save everyone either
You don't think you can be just as effective without the hours spent on cross-team coordination etc?
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You're good at what you do Garrus. If protecting people is your priority, you'll find a way to do it without hauling around a mile of red tape behind you
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Being at the top doesn't mean you get to save everyone either
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
That's what I've got now, the red tape. I want to be out from under it. I've always wanted to be out from under it.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I just want to keep people safe and it's not working.
That's what I've got now, the red tape. I want to be out from under it. I've always wanted to be out from under it.
FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org
I just want to keep people safe and it's not working.
[ Jasper's thin white brows go straight up at the use of his first name. Way up. For a second he has to wonder if it's really Shepard sitting in front of him, or a shape-shifter in her form, but it's an idea that is quickly dismissed. He hadn't exactly liked being called by his last name, the one his grandfather so reluctantly allowed him use, but he'd tolerated and gotten used to it with Shepard. It was sort of the same way he tolerated and let Corvo get away with his odd, sometimes creepy routines around the rover. It was just his weird way. It was her militaristic way.
It makes him want to try something. ]
Thanks... Lydia...
[ There's a heavy pause after as he watches her, uncertain... ]
No... that's weird. You're Shepard.
[ And witht that settled- ]
Yeah, I contacted all but one. He's in stasis now... but I left his a message to get back to when he's feelin' better.
It makes him want to try something. ]
Thanks... Lydia...
[ There's a heavy pause after as he watches her, uncertain... ]
No... that's weird. You're Shepard.
[ And witht that settled- ]
Yeah, I contacted all but one. He's in stasis now... but I left his a message to get back to when he's feelin' better.
[ He could find a more tactful and better reason, or he could just feign casualness, almost, almost, like this was normal.
Doesn't really know where talking to her last had left them. It felt all wrong footed. But it's a neutral topic, one that he can skirt around safely. ]
from: attano.corvo@cdc.org
Now that you're up, and the next time you run... PT?
from: attano.corvo@cdc.org
Give Jasper extra push ups. For his own good.
Doesn't really know where talking to her last had left them. It felt all wrong footed. But it's a neutral topic, one that he can skirt around safely. ]
from: attano.corvo@cdc.org
Now that you're up, and the next time you run... PT?
from: attano.corvo@cdc.org
Give Jasper extra push ups. For his own good.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You can't be responsible for everyone.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Even officers here don't have the tools for keeping everyone safe.
[They don't anywhere. Though maybe that sounds like bullshit coming from her - Shepard who wears nothing on her sleeve except the bars of command, certainly not her heart - who demands a universe worth of effort from the people around her, but gives herself no quarter either. Being responsible for everyone is why Ashley Williams and Miranda Lawson are outliers to remember.]
You can't be responsible for everyone.
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Even officers here don't have the tools for keeping everyone safe.
[They don't anywhere. Though maybe that sounds like bullshit coming from her - Shepard who wears nothing on her sleeve except the bars of command, certainly not her heart - who demands a universe worth of effort from the people around her, but gives herself no quarter either. Being responsible for everyone is why Ashley Williams and Miranda Lawson are outliers to remember.]
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