Aura dropped her salute at Hale's order and, glancing over to see Yaz approaching as well, gave an easy smile to the two of them. "[color=0072bc]Punctuality eh Commander? And here I was thinking it was just because I can do the job. Think if I start showing up to briefing an hour early they'll give me your job?[/color]" An easy laugh slid out of Aura as she joked with the commander, a woman Aura had worked with so frequently Aura probably knew her as well as Aura knew her own mother. That stray thought briefly sent Aura crashing into the past, memories overtaking the woman's mind for a second. "[i][color=0072bc]It's funny, looking back I remember being so worried about things back home that didn't matter. Things like how I was doing in school, or how much I liked Bo Thompson, or how to best surprise Dad with my results from my first race. Now, I'm out there fighting people with and against people half my age with our lives on the line, all for...[/color][/i]" She was brought up short by that thought, cutting it off herself and suppressing the frown that threatened to overtake her face. It wouldn't do them any good to realize Aura wasn't an ardent believer in their cause anymore. They'd take her away from her command, from the men and women she could still protect, and if they decided to drum her out then....well, she didn't care to see ghosts of angry comrades, so she'd rather keep fighting.

All those thoughts passed in a few seconds, a passing thought that hit the Captain with disturbing frequency. She shook it off as ever, however, as she had a job to do, for her brothers and sisters who died right next to her. Glancing over at Yazmin sent Aura back to another, more recent memory. Aura reckoned it must have been the very night after Yazmin arrived that those soldiers from base security had approached her. They'd come to get her support to convince the Commander to detain Yazmin, torture her for intelligence then execute her. "[color=00a651]A Feddie doesn't belong with us, Cap, and you know it![/color]" Aura was thankful she commanded respect on this base, as all it had taken to dismiss that notion had been sternly warning the men to drop the subject and leave Yaz alone. Aura had known Yazmin would wind up as part of the squadron the moment she'd showed in a Valkinai, after all the Ordo didn't get many of them, and that made her, in Aura's mind, immediately under the veteran captain's protection. Since, Aura had still had to shoot down requests from several groups of personnel to bring their distrust of the woman to the commander, but it grew less and less frequent of late, as men finally warmed up to the girl.

Speaking of Yazmin, Aura turned her head towards the girl and asked "[color=0072bc]Are you all limbered up Yaz? You may not be as old as me, but stretching before a mission is still essential.[/color]" This was part joke, but mostly checking the status of the young pilot. "[i][color=0072bc]'Young pilot', listen to me, I sound like a 60 year old woman! I'm only 36, not young but not nearly as old as I act.[/color][/i]" Of course, Aura was uncomfortably aware that before long she couldn't be the field officer she was now. Give a few more years and she'd slow down, too much for stretching and an obsessive workout schedule to compensate for. Then, past her combat prime, they'd sort her to a staff position where she couldn't protect her pilots. Aura dreaded the day that 'Captain Kalstov' become 'Major' or 'Colonel', and she'd be bound to a desk, unable to put herself in the line of fire for the sake of her subordinates. Again, Aura shook her drifting thoughts back to the problem at hand, adding to Yazmin "[color=0072bc]Your Valk is all taken care of too, right? Techs kept her in good shape? They better have or I'll light a fire under their ass bigger than the Longshot. Nobody makes one of my pilots go outside without the best.[/color]"

It was true, of course, that Aura didn't expect the techs to have given the Ordine any less than their full attention. It may only be able to work for Yaz, and she may have to be there for maintenance, but it was still a Valkinai. The Ordo never let a suit go to waste, no matter who they put in the pilot seat, and the techs were dedicated to their trade. Finally dragging her mind back to the present, she noted Neil's salute and cracked a grin at his obvious attempt at over-the-top stiffness, she mustered her posh 'officer's meeting' voice and intoned "[color=0072bc]At ease, Sergeant. You may enter the briefing, but I expect your best behavior.[/color]" After a straight faced moment of starting intensely at the young man she allowed a full smile to bloom as she chuckled, saying "Get over here Neil and stop bothering the techs for a minute eh? You're a pilot, time to get a briefing for you to pretend to remember! Have you stretched? Got your Valk settled? I don't need you asking me to carry you back to base and bottle feed you because you forgot to do your due diligence Neil!" The young pilot was easy to make fun of and provided plenty of material, though despite Aura's ribbing he pulled through in the field, that more than made up for his eccentricities in Aura's book. After all, they were a loose guerrilla army, not a stiff by-the-book field army like the UNF.