Corina raised a hand. "Two questions, sir. What kind of basic training are we looking at? Movement, weaponry, the like? Tactical training? And for our patrol, what's our ROE?" It was a simple, straightforward question, but rules of engagement were important. In her much younger days, she had commonly made the mistake of not knowing her ROE beforehand, often putting the mission in jeopardy or even blowing it entirely. She had since straightened herself out, making sure she knew the ROE back and forth in order to ensure mission success.

One story she recalled with clarity was a hostage situation, one of her first missions. The directive had clearly stated to use force only as a last resort, but Corina had jumped the gun and taken fire prematurely. Ultimately, the mission had been a success and no hostages were harmed, but she had put all the hostages at risk simply because she ignored the ROE. [i]Rookie mistakes,[/i] Corina mused, subconsciously glancing at Chie.

Teaching her to follow an order seemed like it would be a large enough task, but teaching her to operate within a set rules of engagement seemed even larger. To Corina, orders were simple: you're told to do something, you do it. Rules of engagement were less clear - they were set directives, but often came without orders. You had free will to act, but had to do so within your ROE. Chie didn't seem like she would like that very much; she was much more likely to be a loose cannon than to maintain her composure. Corina made it a personal objective to keep an eye on Chie when out in their cogs.