[color=f7941d][i]Well, if you’ve finished trying to push[/i] every single one of my buttons…[/color]  Callie grit her teeth, keeping her expression schooled in the manner of a soldier – not so hard with what military discipline she actually [i]had[/i] had drilled into her.  Certainly, the rational part of her mind said that the Chinese Arms Master had at least a part of a point – her own capabilities were hardly a plan unto themselves – but the implication behind it was hardly flattering.  [color=f7941d][i]God.  Why the hell would she want to undermine me like that?[/i][/color]  For a moment, panic at the worst case scenario filled a different corner – that she’d been compromised, exposed, she’d [i]failed[/i] somehow without realising it – before she blinked and, in that moment of cool, encompassing darkness, pushed it away.

In any case, there was an easy way to demonstrate her utility, as she needed to if she was to retain influence here.  [color=f7941d][i]Maybe some are asleep at home but others are certainly awake…[/i][/color]  Callie checked through one of the small upper windows (the ones that she had scanned a few times now – still no undesired eyes on the meeting), thankful that the weather had held off today and that the sky was relatively clear.  She let out a breath, and a little frustration with it, then called her spyglass to her hand.  Her other, she raised.

[color=f7941d]“Private Caroline Lidmann.  If I may?”[/color]  Allowing herself to indulge in a slight flourishing spin of her Arm to soothe herself as she stood, she brought one end up to her eye even as she formed a tiny portal over the other, connecting it to a vantage point several kilometres away through the window, high into the atmosphere.

Her grip, well-practised, adjusted the magnification to plunge her vision into the treeline below.

[color=f7941d]“About twenty klicks south, there’s a mongoose in a tree branch eight feet off the ground,”[/color] Callie announced.  [color=f7941d]“It appears to be munching on an egg.”  [i]And power to you, little guy.  Poor bird, though.[/i]  “If I needed to, I could transfer myself or any of us to where I’m looking from, then down to the ground in thirteen seconds or so.”[/color]  She dismissed the spyglass, folding her arms.  [color=f7941d]“As for intelligence, I can’t say I’m an expert –”[/color] she had to [i]fight[/i] the part of her mind laughing uproariously at that one – [color=f7941d]“but I’m capable enough to know how to spot marksmen and other threats when I’m in the field.  Wouldn’t be any good at acquiring them myself if I wasn’t.”[/color]

With her point made, Callie frowned, the tactical considerations coming back to the fore.  [color=f7941d]“As for planning, I’m told that the best way to beat an enemy’s to make them your friend.  The second best is to turn [i]their[/i] friends into enemies.”[/color]

[color=f7941d]“I can transport a number of us to seize the bridge of one of their major ships from our own fleet while outside their range.  That should allow us to cripple their local command structure, hijack their weapon systems, sow chaos and move on to another ship where we do the same again – give them no time to react or form a coherent defence.  This will open a window for the rest of us, and the assault as a whole, to act decisively, though not incautiously.”[/color]  Callie raised an eyebrow at Qingshe.  [color=f7941d]“No need to put all our faith in a single strike, like you say.”[/color]

She looked about her, then turned to Noel.  [color=f7941d]“With your permission, First Lieutenant, and forgive me for not knowing all of our capabilities yet, I’d look to bring with me people who, in sum, can overwhelm a group of mundanes and possibly low-power NAs rapidly, quietly and without collateral damage, have an escape option in case I [i]am[/I] compromised somehow and can interface with Chinese naval technology by NA or by mundane means if we have the intelligence to do so.  Ideally the team would be small, so filling multiple roles at once would be best.”[/color]  She placed a hand on her hip, looking to Qingshe once more.  [color=f7941d]“If you ever got to study those systems on a naval exercise or something, now would be the time to say.  Or if that green-black manifestation of yours can take control of the weapons directly – run it through the pipework or the like and we may not even have to show our hand.”[/color]  Despite herself, Callie smirked a touch.  [color=f7941d]“Would hardly mind having you along.”[/color]