[It takes her slightly longer than 'immediately' because she has to figure out who to pawn Niko Bellic watchdog duty on - shuffles him off on a passing patrol and doesn't look back before she makes her way to Armada's location. From there it isn't long before she makes her appearance wherever he is currently, her shoulders set and back razor precision straight. It's military from toe to head: anticipating some kind of dressing down.
Because she isn't stupid. She's been questioning bullshit the whole damn day and that isn't exactly something that makes friends around here.]
It takes her the approximate amount of time to successfully hand off her current tasks that Armada assumes. He is in one of the conference rooms when she arrives. This is no accident.
Armada does not stand at parade rest when he faces her, his arms are loose at his sides. The boning of his horns has fused into an upward sweeping disc, and his skin itself seems more dense, somehow. ]
Did you or did you not accuse a CDC officer of deliberately withholding information that would jeopardize the crew aboard this ship?
[Crisp, sharp, direct. She's standing well within the door, more than fairly inside the room, but makes no move to cross the length of it to where he's waiting for her. It doesn't take alien senses to smell blood in the air.]
Unless we're calling unit leads officers now. In which case yes, I did. [There's no flinch to it, no hesitation. He asks questions, she's here to give answers.] But I was under the impression they didn't meet the qualifications.
[ Armada continues to face her directly. He is unmoving as he speaks. The effect is unnerving, as his stillness is coupled with the sensation of his undivided attention, heavy like a touch. ]
Then you agree you have questioned the authority of the officer in charge of said recruits, as it was upon their advisement that the unit lead in charge of dispersing information was to give it to other unit leaders?
[There's something in her jaw that sets there. Something sharp and dangerous.]
If they were given direct orders to only speak to other unit leaders, I was unaware of that fact and wasn't made aware until now. But if that's the case, then yes. I unintentionally questioned the authority of said officer.
[There's a dull white noise hum in the back of her head that replaces any active train of thought. It's old habit, survival skill maybe: don't think, just do. This isn't be the first time she's questioned by an officer above her rank, isn't be the first time she's been facing some kind of court martial (or worse - whatever this is). But there's a tingling in her fingertips at her sides. A line of heat down the back of her neck; she might not be thinking about it, but she's angry - angry enough to be aware of it.]
[ Armada's race lacks eyes. They therefore 'see' through a multitude of other senses. Her fury lights her up as a beacon, bright on his senses and peppery on his tongue. However she might attempt to disguise her anger, it is impossible. ]
You have just explained to me that you questioned a unit lead. Now, you have said that this questioning was unintentional.
[As if Shepard's white hot anger has ever been a secret. She's been angry for so long, it's amazing there's anything else left - angry over Ajna, angry over Thessia, angry about the Reapers and Earth and the Council and Cerberus and Thane and about Saren and Ashley and Protheans and long, long before that as a kid in some Earth slum: angry about the things she had and the things she didn't.]
Then what you should have told me, when I asked you the first time, was: Yes. You did intentionally question the authority of Blue's team Instructor, and you did so not only through harassing his unit leaders as they did as told, but directly as well.
[Stipulations and semantics don't matter. So she might think - loud and sharp and angry 'I disagree, sir' with enough bite and venom on the last to poison just about anything - but what she says is:]
[ Armada is not a telepath, but he is well versed in body language, the small tells in bio-fluctuations that dictate what goes unsaid. She does not need to say it for Armada to understand. He holds up one hand, briefly. ]
Do not lie to me, please. It is offensive. I can tell when you are lying.
[ His hand lowers. ]
Whatever your misgivings about how this ship is run, we have been doing this for far longer than you have been alive. It is natural to question.
However, you have acted above your station, and in doing so, you have challenged the chain of command.
[ This time, when Armada's arm moves, it is to hold his palm out. ]
[If she's thinking anything in the way of a counter argument, it's too far buried under the indignation. Later - if there is one - she might order the strings of thought into something conscious. Right now she reaches into her pocket - removes the black glass from it and here, now, closes across the length of the conference room to where he stands. There's the roar of white noise in her ears, something metallic on her tongue like she can taste dark matter in the void of space again.
[ Armada plucks the Blackglass from her hand and deactivates it without lowering his chin to direct his visor to its screen. It powers off silently. He folds it into his palm. ]
You will be without network access for the next seventy-two hours.
You are confined to your quarters. You are permitted to be within your room, or in the Black Box training facility. If you attempt to wander elsewhere, I will know about it. Your meals will be brought to you.
Once the seventy-two hours are up, you may report to Gale. Consider yourself transferred to Grey.
We are a team. All of us. Interrupting the conduct of the crew and putting the new recruits under suspicion is both offensive and negligent.
[It's automatic, beyond her teeth before she can think of any alternatives though the heat's there lurking somewhere in her mouth, in her throat, in the steely way she's fixated beyond the line of his shoulder, the elegant fusion of bone across his brow, to a point of some interest on the wall beyond.
She doesn't flick her eyes to look at him - despite the fact that Armada doesn't have any to speak of, she can feel the weight of his attention. Isn't meeting it head on and doesn't want to. Less fear, more too angry to do anything but think about grinding her teeth. He's not the only one disappointed in someone.]
[ Armada is aware that he does not need to grant her this freedom. She has not done anything in the last few hours to put her in Armada's good graces.
However, she has done her share for Green. She has organized a way to educate under-trained recruits on better ways to survive. Shepard has showed potential, and has the capability to lead. It is unfortunate that this is the turn her decisions have brought her to.
[Inhale, exhale. It's a sharp little thing; if she's surprised by the allowance, it doesn't register even to herself. The line of her gaze stays steady, pointed, bores a hole in the back wall of the conference room. Maybe later in her quarters she'll close her eyes and still be able to see the lines on the wall against the backs of her eyelids.]
I understand that-- [There's bite there. A flicker of heat and something in her throat jumps. She closes her teeth around the words. Exhales.] --Green is here to protect people from outside threats. Red is here to protect them from themselves. Orange is supposed to arm us and Blue should be telling everyone how to fire the gun. If we're a team, we should be acting like one.
If there's something we're supposed to be getting out of acting independently instead of together, then I don't know what it is. In my experience, only talking to your own people gets everyone killed faster. [The urge to look at him burns at the back of her eyes, but she refuses the inclination. A beat. Nothing in the way she holds herself has changed since she entered the conference room.]
[ The question is fair, but she is not dismissed until Armada has said so. His attention remains firm on Shepard, despite her insistence not to do the same. This, too, Armada has come to understand of certain species. ]
Each team has their own set of orders, as they are each suited to different tasks. Information has been given to unit heads not as an attempt to obscure information, but because the information is used differently for each team.
Let me be clear.
You decided that our methods were not to your liking. What you then did was contact significant relationships with potential access to resources in order to circumvent our decisions. When you did not receive a satisfactory response from one recruit, you went to another and issued orders that have already been completed in an attempt to direct crew members as you see fit, thus bypassing and disrespecting the chain of command. Then, you accused a senior officer of not doing his job correctly and became aggressive with unit leaders following orders.
I understand you are uncomfortable with the way things are done because of your previous experiences and losses. However, you must understand that in telling you all what to do, we are trusting you to follow through as you are trusting us to make the correct decisions.
[She looks directly to him then, abruptly dull. Abruptly no longer interested in this conversation. 'Trust?' That's funny; might have almost been applicable a few hours ago, but now?]
[ She looks directly at him, and yet is still avoiding he and the topic. This is both interesting and disappointing. Armada has found, in his time, that leaders often go one of two ways. It is unfortunate that someone with her skilset has selected this route. With luck, she will learn from this under Gale and return to him.
For now, Armada continues despite Shepard's apparent decision to disregard him. ]
As a commander, Lydia Shepard, do you not see the issue with this?
[Flat. If there's any emotional response to the question, she's buried it so thoroughly that it's not even something she'll feel until later, until after she's left the room, until--
But if there's a list of things she knows - dry, uncomplicated facts - then she'll be adding 'Highly' in front of the line about every recruit on the ship being expendable. Not a surprise. Just a cold fact. They don't need people, they need machines. Effectiveness won't ever superseded obedience.]
[Which merits little more than a curt nod and a heel turn. If there was ever a time for a flicker of hesitation, a moment to say something to him that wasn't barbed to cut, it's long past. So she moves from the conference room without looking back.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Sir.
[It takes her slightly longer than 'immediately' because she has to figure out who to pawn Niko Bellic watchdog duty on - shuffles him off on a passing patrol and doesn't look back before she makes her way to Armada's location. From there it isn't long before she makes her appearance
wherever he is currently, her shoulders set and back razor precision straight. It's military from toe to head: anticipating some kind of dressing down.Because she isn't stupid. She's been questioning bullshit the whole damn day and that isn't exactly something that makes friends around here.]
no subject
It takes her the approximate amount of time to successfully hand off her current tasks that Armada assumes. He is in one of the conference rooms when she arrives. This is no accident.
Armada does not stand at parade rest when he faces her, his arms are loose at his sides. The boning of his horns has fused into an upward sweeping disc, and his skin itself seems more dense, somehow. ]
Did you or did you not accuse a CDC officer of deliberately withholding information that would jeopardize the crew aboard this ship?
no subject
[Crisp, sharp, direct. She's standing well within the door, more than fairly inside the room, but makes no move to cross the length of it to where he's waiting for her. It doesn't take alien senses to smell blood in the air.]
Unless we're calling unit leads officers now. In which case yes, I did. [There's no flinch to it, no hesitation. He asks questions, she's here to give answers.] But I was under the impression they didn't meet the qualifications.
no subject
Then you agree you have questioned the authority of the officer in charge of said recruits, as it was upon their advisement that the unit lead in charge of dispersing information was to give it to other unit leaders?
no subject
If they were given direct orders to only speak to other unit leaders, I was unaware of that fact and wasn't made aware until now. But if that's the case, then yes. I unintentionally questioned the authority of said officer.
[There's a dull white noise hum in the back of her head that replaces any active train of thought. It's old habit, survival skill maybe: don't think, just do. This isn't be the first time she's questioned by an officer above her rank, isn't be the first time she's been facing some kind of court martial (or worse - whatever this is). But there's a tingling in her fingertips at her sides. A line of heat down the back of her neck; she might not be thinking about it, but she's angry - angry enough to be aware of it.]
no subject
You have just explained to me that you questioned a unit lead. Now, you have said that this questioning was unintentional.
Did you unintentionally message Ghost?
no subject
No sir. I messaged him intentionally.
no subject
no subject
Yes sir.
no subject
Do not lie to me, please. It is offensive. I can tell when you are lying.
[ His hand lowers. ]
Whatever your misgivings about how this ship is run, we have been doing this for far longer than you have been alive. It is natural to question.
However, you have acted above your station, and in doing so, you have challenged the chain of command.
[ This time, when Armada's arm moves, it is to hold his palm out. ]
Give me your Blackglass.
no subject
She holds the black glass out to him.]
no subject
You will be without network access for the next seventy-two hours.
You are confined to your quarters. You are permitted to be within your room, or in the Black Box training facility. If you attempt to wander elsewhere, I will know about it. Your meals will be brought to you.
Once the seventy-two hours are up, you may report to Gale. Consider yourself transferred to Grey.
We are a team. All of us. Interrupting the conduct of the crew and putting the new recruits under suspicion is both offensive and negligent.
I am disappointed, Shepard.
no subject
[It's automatic, beyond her teeth before she can think of any alternatives though the heat's there lurking somewhere in her mouth, in her throat, in the steely way she's fixated beyond the line of his shoulder, the elegant fusion of bone across his brow, to a point of some interest on the wall beyond.
She doesn't flick her eyes to look at him - despite the fact that Armada doesn't have any to speak of, she can feel the weight of his attention. Isn't meeting it head on and doesn't want to. Less fear, more too angry to do anything but think about grinding her teeth. He's not the only one disappointed in someone.]
Permission to speak freely, sir?
[Without expecting to get it.]
no subject
However, she has done her share for Green. She has organized a way to educate under-trained recruits on better ways to survive. Shepard has showed potential, and has the capability to lead. It is unfortunate that this is the turn her decisions have brought her to.
Armada inclines his head, regally. ]
I'm listening.
no subject
I understand that-- [There's bite there. A flicker of heat and something in her throat jumps. She closes her teeth around the words. Exhales.] --Green is here to protect people from outside threats. Red is here to protect them from themselves. Orange is supposed to arm us and Blue should be telling everyone how to fire the gun. If we're a team, we should be acting like one.
If there's something we're supposed to be getting out of acting independently instead of together, then I don't know what it is. In my experience, only talking to your own people gets everyone killed faster. [The urge to look at him burns at the back of her eyes, but she refuses the inclination. A beat. Nothing in the way she holds herself has changed since she entered the conference room.]
Am I dismissed?
no subject
[ The question is fair, but she is not dismissed until Armada has said so. His attention remains firm on Shepard, despite her insistence not to do the same. This, too, Armada has come to understand of certain species. ]
Each team has their own set of orders, as they are each suited to different tasks. Information has been given to unit heads not as an attempt to obscure information, but because the information is used differently for each team.
Let me be clear.
You decided that our methods were not to your liking. What you then did was contact significant relationships with potential access to resources in order to circumvent our decisions. When you did not receive a satisfactory response from one recruit, you went to another and issued orders that have already been completed in an attempt to direct crew members as you see fit, thus bypassing and disrespecting the chain of command. Then, you accused a senior officer of not doing his job correctly and became aggressive with unit leaders following orders.
I understand you are uncomfortable with the way things are done because of your previous experiences and losses. However, you must understand that in telling you all what to do, we are trusting you to follow through as you are trusting us to make the correct decisions.
no subject
Yes sir.
no subject
For now, Armada continues despite Shepard's apparent decision to disregard him. ]
As a commander, Lydia Shepard, do you not see the issue with this?
no subject
[Flat. If there's any emotional response to the question, she's buried it so thoroughly that it's not even something she'll feel until later, until after she's left the room, until--
But if there's a list of things she knows - dry, uncomplicated facts - then she'll be adding 'Highly' in front of the line about every recruit on the ship being expendable. Not a surprise. Just a cold fact. They don't need people, they need machines. Effectiveness won't ever superseded obedience.]
no subject
You are dismissed.
no subject