Unlike everyone else in Squad Sigma, Roger had not gone to the party, so when he arrived at the briefing, he was doing much better than just about everyone else. He was alert, fresh and free of all the weird relationship entanglements that everyone else had developed in an astonishingly short amount of time. He'd had a cigarette an hour ago and he'd managed to wrangle his personal fears to the point where he was able to function as a human being and not as a curled up wreck. He was rested, properly hydrated and perhaps most surprisingly of all, feeling rather optimistic. Looking back, this was the best he had felt in a long, long time, and certainly the most put together he had been before a mission

	So needless to say, everyone else there looked like a wreck of some shape or another. Mostly sleep deprivation as far as he could tell but a couple others stood out to him in particular. Elise was still injured, and if she ended up becoming an active participant could very well end up being more of a liability than an asset. It wouldn't be difficult for her status to worsen in the midst of battle, either from pushing herself too hard, or her Werk taking too strong a hit. On top of that, there was no way that she'd be able to pilot in top condition even if she avoiding taking any further damage. Her injuries would negatively impact either her physical ability to maneuver or her Synch rate, likely both. However, if the higher ups reviewed her and deemed her in acceptable enough condition to join, he didn't have the rank to adequately dispute that.

	However, the worst of the lot by far was Zim. He had heard about his homeworld being taken over by the Cruxi, and it'd hit anyone hard, but it was kind of astonishing that he had been able to even get himself to the briefing. The way that he was carrying himself, he really doubted that the pilot was fit to even take part in the mission. That look in his eyes was dangerous. It was the kind of look that said 'I'll do anything to get my revenge, even if it means I'm taken out too.' Rooney couldn't help but think further along that line to 'even if it means everyone one else around me goes down as well.'

	"If I may, too." Roger said, raising his hand after Jake's own interjection. "I'd also like to motion to have Pilot Hero moved to a reserve unit as well. He's too close to the matter at hand, and I believe his ability to act rationally and follow orders has been compromised." The last thing the Squad needed were butting egos in what could be their most difficult mission yet. He wanted the Cruxi dead as much, if not more than the next guy, but there was a limit, and past that point, things got self destructive real fast. Even if Irina deployed with the rest of the team, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that she'd shoot off first chance she got. And even on his calmest days, his Black Star's fighting style was rather reckless. Having one desperado on board was enough.

	At the same time, Roger started thinking about his role in particular in the upcoming battle. Fortress was one of the most well-fortified planets out there, full stop. And now it was being held by the enemy. Unlike some of the heavier units, he wouldn't be able to punch a hole through any defenses set up since the place had been taken over; however, there were likely to be a buttfuckton of units trying to get at them from all sides. In that sense, his innate speed advantage would come in handy. He had enough power at his disposal to be able to act as a support unit, protecting others from infantry and the like before moving to other weak spots to cover there. 

	Until more was made known about their mission and its goals, (and he was sure that there would indeed be far more to the briefing. It would catch him entirely off-guard if they tried to just throw them into a mission with only those few scraps of information) he couldn't really come up with more. Retaking a planet was a far different beast from fighting in a city or assaulting a base. He could afford to stray from the others if he could help it.