Gyms and Bases protecting one another was… better than nothing. It would have to do for now, if nothing else. And then needing permission for a raid on the Southern Base - the Master General had to say that, Tristan knew. He’d remind Rich that anything they did needed to be of the utmost secrecy. Getting permission for any such operation would be antithesis to that.

When Asuna described the encounter with Aries he couldn’t help but furrow his brows in concerning curiosity. So open about it? If she was so forthcoming, how have they been so good at staying under the radar and being so hard to track and gather intelligence on? How are they gathering followers, then? Or do the followers not even know what they’re actually helping with?

But, yes; he agreed that they shouldn’t trust [i]anyone[/i]. And he made sure to pause and suggest that he wasn’t quite to the point of trusting Asuna, never mind Samantha, and far be it from this Ms. Shade. He assured her, though, that Grand Conserve Kline, at the very least, needed to be questioned and debriefed by him, given Rich’s incompetence. Or potential treason. Hopefully the former.

While conversing, he made sure to include a note to ask Kline about and investigate this cove off the coast of Lilycove where this alleged meeting took place.

The suggestion of working with Samantha made Tristan clench his jaw. He had absolutely no interest in the prospect. Sure, they had only interacted once, and in an admittedly stressful situation, but he took personal offense to being so unabashedly attacked. To be so willing to attack an Elite Four member’s person spoke volumes. Though, perhaps he needed to check his privilege there.

Even so, he knew that Samantha, and Asuna herself, would be instrumental on a raid on the Southern Island base. 

“I look forward to learning what you find,” Tristan replied to her declining his offer to join him. A good idea, all things considered. He couldn’t trust whatever reports the Rangers submitted following their investigation after all. And, for some reason, he trusted her more than almost anyone at this point.

Scary.

[i]”Veritas, keep your wits about you. If there’s any suspicious activity at all, get them out of there immediately.”[/i] This thought reached Veritas as Asuna described the ease in which she infiltrated, and her joke about getting out of here before it exploded. He knew it wasn’t entirely a joke, and he now desperately wanted to stay with them rather than go speak with Kline. But, he had to trust Veritas would do the right thing if anything were to happen.

It was a good thing that Veritas was able to deal with Tristan’s anxiety and stress separately from keeping his parents and Percival company and keeping things as calm as they could be given the circumstances. She picked up on his suspicion of any and all Rangers at this point and took that to put each one she comes across under greater scrutiny.

It was only after teleporting to Zephyr Base and being greeted by the security outside that he was still in the same clothes. His burgundy shirt, khakis and sport coat were rather wrinkly at this point, making him mostly miss the beautiful scenery here as he tried to straighten himself out.

He almost gasped out loud at Samantha’s voice in his mind. Ether’s tail twitched aggressively at first, slowly calming to just an annoyed sway. Still, his eyes widened and he looked around to see her with her Espeon and Bronzong behind him and Forrest. He’d do his best to play it off as they were escorted to her office. His eyes scrutinized Forrest to see how he would react and desperately hoped that he wouldn’t make a scene.

Once there, he only thanked the Ensign for his time and entered the office, Ether close behind. He’d find whatever seat might be available to sit in, Ether sticking right to his side the whole time, and casually rest himself upon it. And, as a way to see where Kline was at mentally and emotionally in this moment, he would wait until she spoke first.