ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Badger]

: You're just saying that because selling us out happened to personally benefit you. You're no better than that loving friend with the breath mask.

"Please do tell me what I have to gain here, because the only thing I can think of is not being the one responsible for a nuclear war. I still had family and other things I left behind, unlike him." Walter sneers back

: Of course it wasn't the loyalists on the ship who detonated the payload, do you think the Sky Marshal was just going to let that mutinous piece of stuff hand nuclear weapons over to the Imps?

"Oh? and the Imperials don't have nuclear weapons they can shoot back already? are you scared of that?"

[Ad Bot]

[Operator¹]

Bell just sighs and looks to see if Jaakko or any of the other defectors are out and about in the hangar.


Ellie just fidgets in place, then looks at one of the security officers.

"[ Hey, would one of you happen to have any water? ]"

[Gojira]

Markus decides venting alone is for losers and heads back to the hangar, checking on the Corsair.

[Qwepir]

"Oh? and the Imperials don't have nuclear weapons they can shoot back already? are you scared of that?"

Kommandant takes a step towards you.
: I don't know if you got the ration paste mixed up with paint but making sure you know exactly where your nukes are is kind of a big loving deal!

One of the nearby security personnel, who was already apprehensively eyeing the exchange with his rifle at the ready, finally decides to step in.
: Do you know the hell "kiloton" means? Because you seem to be under the impression that losing nukes is like losing a box of loving hand grenades-

The guard strikes Kommandant in the gut with the butt of his rifle and orders the prisoners to be moved to the brig.

Ellie just fidgets in place, then looks at one of the security officers.
"[ Hey, would one of you happen to have any water? ]"

One guard offers you their canteen as you're walked off the flight deck to the interior of the ship. Your hands being cuffed in front of you means you can simply take the canteen and don't need any assistance to actually drink from it.

In the first hallway, the captured pilots see Virvel walking towards them, to the flight deck. Upon spotting Kommandant among the group, her expression twists into the kind of hybridized disappointment and disgust you would expect to see on someone who just witnessed a bird stuff on the pie they left cooling on the windowsill. Then, her face lights up as she realizes she can gloat now. She starts singing and making finger guns as she passes.
: Bang bang, I shot you down; bang bang, you hit the ground...

Kommandant ignores her.
: Bang bang, that awesome sound; bang bang...

A few minutes of walking later, the captured pilots find themselves waiting outside the brig for a while as one pilot at a time is brought into an interrogation room and given the same script.
: We have heard word from your former comrades who are already here that you may be willing to assist us. However, seeing as you were just shooting at Imperial airplanes not two hours ago, you are going to have to be very persuasive if that is in fact your intent. If we are mistaken about your intentions, or if you fail to convince us that you aren't going to shoot us in the back, then we will put you in the brig with the other one.

[Badger]

Walter just sighs and shakes his head, knowing he wouldn't be able to change anything in the conversation if he continued to even try. He glances over at Coma's stretcher one last time before heading to another catwalk to get some air and cool off, whether that be the damaged catwalk or another intact one. He sits down on the edge with a post between his legs and slumps down onto the railing as he rethinks the previous events.

[Operator¹]

Ellie looks around the interrogation room for a moment, then turns her head to the officer.

"Um, before the others defected, the Kintharians sent to intercept us told us about this dead man's switch that's supposed to trigger the deployment of your nuclear arms. Is it real?"


Bell rubs her eyes, exhausted from the nonstop flying and the entire ordeal in the ocean.

: I didn't want to face the possibility that our Sky Marshal's plan was insane, but with the Brynhildr destroyed in the way that it was, I guess there's no more thinking on that. I think Major Kirves will be able to vouch for my trustworthiness.

She rubs her eyes again.

: I haven't shot anyone in the back that we've been fighting alongside with, and I don't plan on starting now. Well, if you're not considering that I'll be a traitor to my own country.

[NoZoner]

Ash catches up to the captured pilots in time to see Lorens ushered into the interrogation room. He tries to wave, but Lorens could only spare a glance before disappearing into the chamber.

Inside, the Imperial officer raises the same query to Lorens as the others. For a moment, he stares quietly at the floor, reeling in the last several hours and trying to come up with his response.

"I take it you are aware I tried to attack the Ardea-class sky ship before I ejected over the ocean?"

[Qwepir]

Ellie looks around the interrogation room for a moment, then turns her head to the officer.

"Um, before the others defected, the Kintharians sent to intercept us told us about this dead man's switch that's supposed to trigger the deployment of your nuclear arms. Is it real?"

: I think you would agree that a nuclear stockpile would not be a very effective deterrent if your ability to deploy them could be neutered with a single strike.

Bell rubs her eyes, exhausted from the nonstop flying and the entire ordeal in the ocean.

"I didn't want to face the possibility that our Sky Marshal's plan was insane, but with the Brynhildr destroyed in the way that it was, I guess there's no more thinking on that. I think Major Kirves will be able to vouch for my trustworthiness."

She rubs her eyes again.

"I haven't shot anyone in the back that we've been fighting alongside with, and I don't plan on starting now. Well, if you're not considering that I'll be a traitor to my own country."

The wing commander nods contemplatively.
: We have two sources that have told us of your personal involvement in defusing a previous nuclear crCIA- the one with the rogue Deltan Admiral. They both spoke of how you and your unit declined to fire upon Sky Marshal Tlacelel's vessel after he assisted you in stopping the Admiral, even though it would have been in your best interests to take him down.

Ash catches up to the captured pilots in time to see Lorens ushered into the interrogation room. He tries to wave, but Lorens could only spare a glance before disappearing into the chamber.

Inside, the Imperial officer raises the same query to Lorens as the others. For a moment, he stares quietly at the floor, reeling in the last several hours and trying to come up with his response.

"I take it you are aware I tried to attack the Ardea-class sky ship before I ejected over the ocean?"

The officer's response is a blunt "yes".

[Tayasaurus]

: Yeah. The last few hours have felt like weeks, I just want this nightmare to be over already.

"It will. Every storm has an eye. Some just take longer to get here than others."

[Qwepir]

Walter just sighs and shakes his head, knowing he wouldn't be able to change anything in the conversation if he continued to even try. He glances over at Coma's stretcher one last time before heading to another catwalk to get some air and cool off, whether that be the damaged catwalk or another intact one. He sits down on the edge with a post between his legs and slumps down onto the railing as he rethinks the previous events.

Walking outside of the ship you are greeted by the distant wail of Imperial air raid sirens and very little else, the city itself being eerily quiet. Xiaomei and Yamashiro are standing around with a pair of binoculars, looking at the city below, and Eremit is off by himself practically leaning over the railing to look straight down. The two Kintharians are talking about something or another, but the conversation in their native language is lost on you.
: [Alright, look around where I'm pointing for the skyscraper with no windows, then down to street level on the left. It's got its lights on.]
: ["Building with no windows", I've seen at least three of those already.]
: [This one's got four big vents near the top and a helipad on the roof.]
: [Okay, okay... alright yeah, I see it. Holy stuff that thing looks mean.]
: [Yep.]
: [I bet Kaede could still run circles around it in the Dauntless.]
: [Unlikely. I'm pretty sure the new interceptors are all-electric, it'd run your car down before you made it one block.]
: [Yeah, like the guy who's gonna be behind that wheel has ever found himself in a real chase before. Just gotta get to the highway so those 650 horses of rippling Mercanan muscle can flex, and that oversized RC toy is gonna be eating fumes.]

Walter's concentration on his own thoughts is soon broken by Eremit speaking up in a language he can actually understand.
: Hey, uh... do you think it's necessarily unfair for some of the blame for what's happening right now to be placed on me?

"It will. Every storm has an eye. Some just take longer to get here than others."

: Yeah, but like, once you're in the eye you're just surrounded on all sides by more storm.

[Badger]

: Hey, uh... do you think it's necessarily unfair for some of the blame for what's happening right now to be placed on me?

Nodding off while listening to the drone of a foreign language with his eyes drooped shut from the fatigue, Walter jolts up out of surprise at the sudden question. He looks over with a drained face before realizing it's just Arkhip.

"Blame you... because the thunderbolts? did your former colleagues get a snip at you too when they took them to the brig? "

[NoZoner]

Lorens huffs and smirks for an instant.

"I had no reason to carry on the fight. My aircraft was critically damaged and all of my wingmates and my flight lead had been shot down," His expression darkens, "I was going to return to the fleet, but my commanders refused to give me directions back and ordered that I destroy both the sky ship and a lone defecting fighter, else I couldn't return.

"Between the nuclear detonation and being forced to carry out the impossible, I realize the Sky Marshal has forsaken us. We're as good as dead in their eyes. I have no interest in carrying out the vision of a madman who would throw away everything for the sake of his own pride."

[Operator¹]

: For me, it was really the only right decision to make. That should probably be a standard, to not shoot the people you just fought alongside with in the back.

Bell pauses for a moment.

: Even though it did come back to bite us back later, I still stand by that decision.


Ellie buries her face in her hands, "[Of course.]"

"How could anybody think that a nuclear strike like that would work anyway?" She mutters to herself, looking back at the officer.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'd be of good use to you if I managed to get shot down in a Wyvern."

[Qwepir]

Nodding off while listening to the drone of a foreign language with his eyes drooped shut from the fatigue, Walter jolts up out of surprise at the sudden question. He looks over with a drained face before realizing it's just Arkhip.

"Blame you... because the thunderbolts? did your former colleagues get a snip at you too when they took them to the brig? "

: Think about it- the Goths figuring out our- Aesthia's counter to their airships must have forced Tarkirov's hand. If I had just dropped the missiles in the ocean first, there wouldn't be the pressure to act quickly, and all this wouldn't be happening.

Lorens huffs and smirks for an instant.

"I had no reason to carry on the fight. My aircraft was critically damaged and all of my wingmates and my flight lead had been shot down," His expression darkens, "I was going to return to the fleet, but my commanders refused to give me directions back and ordered that I destroy both the sky ship and a lone defecting fighter, else I couldn't return.

"Between the nuclear detonation and being forced to carry out the impossible, I realized the Sky Marshal had forsaken us. We're as good as dead in their eyes. I have no interest in carrying out the vision of a madman who would throw away everything for the sake of his own pride."

"For me, it was really the only right decision to make. That should probably be a standard, to not shoot the people you just fought alongside with in the back."
Bell pauses for a moment.
"Even though it did come back to bite us back later, I still stand by that decision."

The Wing commander nods and exits the room, returning a few minutes later with new ID documents and a proper squadron patch.
: We'll skip the swearing-in until you've made your decision to stick around. Your squadron leader is Jaakko Kirves, report to him on flight deck three.

Ellie buries her face in her hands, "[Of course.]"

"How could anybody think that a nuclear strike like that would work anyway?" She mutters to herself, looking back at the officer.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'd be of good use to you if I managed to get shot down in a Wyvern."

: If you feel you are not up to the task, there is no shame in admitting so. Don't let your country's prison camps taint your view of ours, you have my assurance you will be fed here.

[Badger]

: Think about it- the Goths figuring out our- Aesthia's counter to their airships must have forced Tarkirov's hand. If I had just dropped the missiles in the ocean first, there wouldn't be the pressure to act quickly, and all this wouldn't be happening.

Walter squints as he processes and thinks for a few moments trying to sort out what to say

"I remember him mentioning something about the thunderbolts being lost but I can't recall at this moment, my head is too foggy from everything that's been happening. There's a lot to consider, but I see where you're coming from." he says rubbing his brow to deal with another onset headache from weighing different views. "Aesthia was already destined to have a hard time fighting the Imperials here. I think the missiles may have just been the thing that broke the camel..." He trails off in regret at the last sentence, looking at Arkhip's worried eyes, finally cuing in to his facial expression partially obscured by his mask. "...but why would you be subject to blame here, it's not like you knew it would trigger this kind of reaction. Aesthia is the country that is waning and desperate to win here, they have had larger or equivalent losses before that amounted to this."