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Eventually, the other pilots slowly began to make their way to the briefing room. As each one entered, Maye silently observed them with a harsh, wide eyed stare. Copper. Sunni. Meryl. Carvis. Adrian. Thomas. Each and every one of them were going to get a stern talking too about promptness later...but later. Putting her allies in low spirits before an operation was doomed to fail, and she doubted it would be a problem for this mission, whatever it was. Turning the tide? Hah, had they finally pulled something together to beat back the Shard with?

Ha, she felt old.

A standard, rather bland greeting to start things off with. Ah, if it was her she'd have greeted them all by name and made them feel at least, somewhat worthy. A little flair and bombast never hurt anything, as long as it didn't go to their head. Confidence was everything, after all. Maye continued to listen intently to the plans of Operation Checkmate. How poetic.

There was no going back after this, hm? A suicide mission, was it then? Wonderful. The first step was to reach the graveyard. An excellent choice for remaining hidden and out of sight of most of the Shard...of course they'd need to be prepared for everything. Shard were beasts, but they were not mindless. Cruel, clever and vicious...which was why this plan was filling her with a mild sense of concern. Taking down a Shard Hive. No big deal. Easily done with the right tools and equipment. No, it was Phase three giving her pause.

A phase gate? [i]inside[/i] of the Red Line to a place behind it? Reckless. Too Reckless. Amusingly and astonishingly reckless. Like a noob attempting to challenge the extra boss in a video game as a level one. It was a good idea, in theory. They would be able to get easy access to Shard Territory, and reclaim some of the lost territory. Simple and easy. Against something like a human foe this surprise attack would have been amusingly obvious.

But she didn't think the Shard were so simple. She had fought them. Likely had been one of the only humans to fight them for as long as she had, and still be mostly unscathed. But these were her orders, and she were not to question them, and she wouldn't let her own nervousness show. Not in front of the others.

[color=gold]"I see, I see."[/color] Maye said, unconcerned with Crevix's question at first. [color=gold]"Reckless. Foolish, even. Amusingly so. I approve! The higher ups finally can put my talents to use! Bennu and I are pleased!"[/color] She flashed a look towards everyone present, grinning brightly before turning her attention to Crevix. [color=gold]"Crevix! You've never seen a Shard Hive, so I'll tell you one thing - do not concern yourself with numbers, destroy the hive then the rest will follow. Without their queen they are nothing more than insects to be burned and crushed. Serrano!"[/color] She turned to face the Admiral. [color=gold]"Is there any notable threats to us between here and the Graveyard? Planets? Spots where the Shard could launch a sneak attack on us? You say the phase gate has most of its structure intact, but are we certain the Manufacturing equipment on Sundown is up to our purposes?"[/color]