ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Mr. Hurricane]

Although a little annoyed with the demand, Jaakko obliges and takes the seat in front of Tippy. He relaxes slightly in front of 'friendlier' company. His is weary of an ass chewing though. He studies Tippy's food and seems to pay little mind to anything beyond his immediate surroundings.

[Ad Bot]

[Tayasaurus]

Tippy puts down her spoon and sighs audibly staring at her soup.

"This lobster bisque is definetly not a very good bisque. Not from a can but definetly an entire kind of awful all of its own..."

She takes a long drink from her coffee then looks at Jaakko.

"You did the right thing."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko glances at Tippy briefly and looks for a response. He plays with his hands and shakes his head.

"I think that was the hardest decision I've made in my life," he concedes.

He looks like he wants to say more, but takes time picking his words.

"I wish with all of my heart and soul we could have brought Matsumoto back. I couldn't let us stay, you know? The Imperials wouldn't have passed up a chance to shot down more of us," he says slowly and quietly, "But you know that-,"

He looks down at the table.

"Would you mind listening to some of my bullstuff if we could talk privately?" He asks quietly, "It's about Taiton and Svirask,"

[Tayasaurus]

Tippy polishes off her coffee.

"Go for it."

[ZombiLoin]

Ash looks somewhat disappointed but understanding after he saw that look in Jaakko's eye.

"Ain't that a bite? I get it, you need time to cool it so we'll catch up later."

He turns to Faw.

"I guess that means we can head off to show me my pad then. I'm guessing anyone else I meet now probably isn't in the greatest mood."

Faw gets out of his seat and motions down the hall with his right hand.
"Your room is down this way, 5 doors down. Follow me."
He starts to walk down to the room.

[NoZoner]

: Sure, just tell me when you want to get this done and I'll see if I can work something out.

Lorens immediately lightens up.

"I can start as soon as tomorrow morning. Really, just as long as it's before the next mission, we can train whenever you're free. I don't think I have as much queep to deal with as you do on a daily basis," Lorens remarks with a small chuckle.

"Hey, I really appreciate it, Colonel. If we ever end up at a bar, the drinks are on me."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko shifts in his seat.

"The whole way home, I couldn't shake the feeling that Svirask feels like Taiton," he admits, "And I'm- scared, Taylor, I'm scared that Mjolnir will end up like my old squadron, Gantevir. Maybe it doesn't make sense but I can't shake the feeling right now."

He takes a breath.

"How much have I ever told you about my first squadron?" He asks, looking worried.

[Tayasaurus]

"How much have I ever told you about my first squadron?" He asks, looking worried.

"No."

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Nothing? Well- They were called Gantevir, I was assigned there a few months before Taiton, and the squadron had been created new about a year before that," he starts.

He takes a breath.

"I think you were there at Taiton- but uh, that first night during the air superiority mission we got- well we were at half strength. The days before Taiton we'd been running surge operations against them, it was two sorties a day, every day, for several days. We took our first loss a couple days in, then they just piled on,"

Jaakko looks uncomfortable.

"The first night, we lost four guys. It was- hell, we ran into a full strength squadron, and everything fell apart. Only two of us came back, myself and Yes-Man. And then Yes-Man transferred out or was discharged,"

"The multiple operations over Svirask remind me of Taiton. The losses, the fighting, a lot of it reminds me of Taiton. And I'm scared, I'm really scared of losing the squadron. We came close today- if just one of them had decided to stay I'd bet I'd have lost control of the squadron and Mjolnir would have stayed. Gods, I can't think about it. Gantevir, a lot of those guys were veterans and they hated the rookies. And then I come to Mjolnir and I find people like you and the other guys and this is everything I've known for the last two or three years now, and I can't bear the thought of losing it all,"

He pauses and takes an uneasy breath, and it looks as if he may be suffering from a cold sweat.

[Gojira]

tippy rn

[Tayasaurus]

"Nothing? Well- They were called Gantevir, I was assigned there a few months before Taiton, and the squadron had been created new about a year before that," he starts.

He takes a breath.

"I think you were there at Taiton- but uh, that first night during the air superiority mission we got- well we were at half strength. The days before Taiton we'd been running surge operations against them, it was two sorties a day, every day, for several days. We took our first loss a couple days in, then they just piled on,"

Jaakko looks uncomfortable.

"The first night, we lost four guys. It was- hell, we ran into a full strength squadron, and everything fell apart. Only two of us came back, myself and Yes-Man. And then Yes-Man transferred out or was discharged,"

"The multiple operations over Svirask remind me of Taiton. The losses, the fighting, a lot of it reminds me of Taiton. And I'm scared, I'm really scared of losing the squadron. We came close today- if just one of them had decided to stay I'd bet I'd have lost control of the squadron and Mjolnir would have stayed. Gods, I can't think about it. Gantevir, a lot of those guys were veterans and they hated the rookies. And then I come to Mjolnir and I find people like you and the other guys and this is everything I've known for the last two or three years now, and I can't bear the thought of losing it all,"

He pauses and takes an uneasy breath, and it looks as if he may be suffering from a cold sweat.

Tippy takes another spoonful of the lobster tomato bisque and gags a little. She pushes the bowl away and crosses her arms.

"Loss is a part of life. No matter how much it hurts, you got to keep going. Even when we're all gone. stuff happens man."

[Mr. Hurricane]

"I know loss is a part of life, maybe I just haven't made peace with it. Talking about it helps, and loss that's preventable is- the most bothersome,"

"Today's stuff was preventable, if only I'd brought those Vortex missiles we would have never had a problem with those drones, the outcome would have been much different. I know there's nothing we can do now. Not that it's not frustrating to think about though,"

Jaakko shakes his head.

"If the some of the other guys heard me say that I'm scared, I'm sure they'd never look or listen to me as flight lead again. I'm sure Raiden hates my guts, maybe some of our guys too now," he laments.

[Tayasaurus]

"If the some of the other guys heard me say that I'm scared, I'm sure they'd never look or listen to me as flight lead again. I'm sure Raiden hates my guts, maybe some of our guys too now," he laments.

Tippy finishes her coffee

"We're all scared. We know what we signed up for when we joined the military though. Or at the very least some of us did. I can't comfort you and tell you you won't lose the whole squadron. But what i can tell you to do is to not lose your nerve right now in this moment. We still need you to make decisions."

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Talking about it helps," Jaakko replies, with a faint smile.

He studies Tippy and her food. He notices that it doesn't seem that Tippy has cleaned up.

"You don't sound like you're too bothered by this all, or- maybe you are? Mess is a weird place to come immediately after a mission," he comments.

He looks for something else to say.

"I was just- worried. You don't seem to talk much,"

[Qwepir]

It's now the next morning.
Eremit and Cualli are sitting at one table in the mess hall, Xiaomei and what's left of Raiden at another, and Kommandant and Pansar at a third.
Elu is walking the dogs.
Frisk, Yui, and Walt are still in medical. Virvel pops in to check up on the former, and appears quite surprised to see the latter present as well.
: Ashes? What are you doing here?