ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Gojira]

"Makes sense."
Markus pauses for a moment.
"So, where are you all from?"

[Ad Bot]

[Badger]

"He cared about you. I don't know how he justified leaving you, but he had to have had a reason that was good enough to leave behind the one thing that kept him together."

Walter shifts his body and legs where he's seated, still holding an unsure look on his face

[Qwepir]

"That was sarcasm, sorry. I realize this is going to be a mess," Jaakko says, "Believe me, I'm pretty pissed that Eremit ran off with our loving Annoying Orange cards."

: No kidding.

"Makes sense."
Markus pauses for a moment.
"So, where are you all from?"

: We're both from Soderhamm, out in Oregund province.

[Gojira]

"I see. So you two have known each other for a while then."
He sighs, unsure of where to take the conversation from there.
"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around, then."
He gives a small wave and heads for his bunk.

[Qwepir]

"I see. So you two have known each other for a while then."
He sighs, unsure of where to take the conversation from there.
"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around, then."
He gives a small wave and heads for his bunk.

: Er, alright then. See you around.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"How are your new guys handling things so far? Is it their first deployment or did you get transfers from other squadrons?"

[Qwepir]

I'm going to go ahead and move time forward so you're all at the mess hall or something instead of asking questions like this right after a debrief.

"How are your new guys handling things so far? Is it their first deployment or did you get transfers from other squadrons?"

Kommandant frowns and thinks about it for a moment.
: They're as green as they come. Honestly? I have my doubts they would have even made the cut during peacetime.
: 'N one of em's already dead.
: That too, and that pissed me off. I never even had an opportunity to evaluate them for myself, the air force just sent us these raw recruits and put them on a combat mission right away. His death is on the instructor that cleared him to fly, because he clearly had no business being behind the stick in a combat zone.

[carolcat]

"He cared about you. I don't know how he justified leaving you, but he had to have had a reason that was good enough to leave behind the one thing that kept him together."

Walter shifts his body and legs where he's seated, still holding an unsure look on his face

Once again, Cualli's throat tightens. "Yeah, he... he cared a lot. The thing that hurts the most is that he promised to me that every mission, he'd do whatever he could to come back to me in one piece."

I'm going to go ahead and move time forward so you're all at the mess hall or something instead of asking questions like this right after a debrief.

Cualli is sitting with Elu at one of the tables, her head resting on one of her hands as she stares down at her plate of food, poking at a pile of mashed potatoes with a fork in her other hand. Other than the prong marks all over the depression-inspired potato sculpture, her food (and glass of water) are untouched.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Are they rushing people through training or are we getting diminishing returns on the quality of people who are signing up now?" Jaakko asks.

[Qwepir]

Once again, Cualli's throat tightens. "Yeah, he... he cared a lot. The thing that hurts the most is that he promised to me that every mission, he'd do whatever he could to come back to me in one piece."

Cualli is sitting with Elu at one of the tables, her head resting on one of her hands as she stares down at her plate of food, poking at a pile of mashed potatoes with a fork in her other hand. Other than the prong marks all over the depression-inspired potato sculpture, her food (and glass of water) are untouched.

Frisk stops by Cualli's table without actually taking a seat.
: How are you holding up?

"Are they rushing people through training or are we getting diminishing returns on the quality of people who are signing up now?" Jaakko asks.

He shakes his head.
: Probably the former. I don't know why we haven't just embraced drones the way the Goths have, surely we have the industrial base to do it.

[carolcat]

Cualli glances up at Frisk long enough for him to see that she still looks like a mess before dropping her head back down to stare at her plate. "Not great," she tells him quietly. "Thanks for checking, though." She presses her fork flat over the pile of potatoes and watches how they squish around the prongs.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"We wouldn't have to design anything new either. Kintharia already has working platforms. All they'd have to do is license some company to build them. Or at the least you'd think we could take their technical expertise and shoehorn a system into our MiGs or Flankers,"

Jaakko pokes at his food.

"I remember Aesthia was testing AI a while back. I wonder if they've gotten anywhere with that Helian pod we captured,"

He changes the subject.

"Oh- if you'd like, I'm sure my squadron can act as an aggressor if you want to put your new guys through some more combat simulations,"

[Tayasaurus]

Tippy enters the messhall for some coffee rubbing the back of her head. She had an awful headache and was feeling exhausted running training exercises late evening to early morning. She slaps the expresso machine and fills up her mug, dumping a stuff ton of sugar into the boiling beverage.

[Qwepir]

Cualli glances up at Frisk long enough for him to see that she still looks like a mess before dropping her head back down to stare at her plate. "Not great," she tells him quietly. "Thanks for checking, though." She presses her fork flat over the pile of potatoes and watches how they squish around the prongs.

: I understand if this is a bad time, but do you think you could do me a favor? It's nothing big, really, I just need you to take something to someone.

"We wouldn't have to design anything new either. Kintharia already has working platforms. All they'd have to do is license some company to build them. Or at the least you'd think we could take their technical expertise and shoehorn a system into our MiGs or Flankers,"
Jaakko pokes at his food.
"I remember Aesthia was testing AI a while back. I wonder if they've gotten anywhere with that Helian pod we captured,"
He changes the subject.
"Oh- if you'd like, I'm sure my squadron can act as an aggressor if you want to put your new guys through some more combat simulations,"

: I'll check with the Sky Marshal, see if we can run some engagements tomorrow.

Tippy enters the messhall for some coffee rubbing the back of her head. She had an awful headache and was feeling exhausted running training exercises late evening to early morning. She slaps the expresso machine and fills up her mug, dumping a stuff ton of sugar into the boiling beverage.

The next person in line to get coffee watches her assemble her drink.
: Geez, is that sweet enough for you yet?

[Mr. Hurricane]

"I know we have Tukrebs in inventory and I could check and see what the closest brown townog to a Typhoon would be,"

Jaakko notices that Tippy has crawled out of her hole and entered the mess.