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[b]Audience Hall, Sison Auditorium, Municipality of Lingayen - 10/11/2022, 6:12 UTC+8[/b]

Did she imagine an edge in Private Lidmann's tone? How amusing. As the woman almost defensively spoke up to reassure onlookers of a personal value Qingshe honestly wasn't trying to besmirch so much as temper, the Snake simply listened without interruption. While it was good that Lidmann's demonstration proved she at least had the mind to best utilize what she had, Qingshe's real concern was not so much how far she could reach but whether she could maintain that reach for extended periods of conflict, like a battle at sea had every likelihood of being.

Instead of saying that however, she simply smiled mildly, as Callie's flow of words came to an end. [color=39b54a]"Well, I suppose confidence is an attractive trait... just as long as you know where your limits lay. As long as you avoid overreaching your expectations, I shall [i]gladly[/i] look forward to seeing you live up to that advertisement of yours~."[/color] As for the other matter... [color=39b54a]"I can provide schematics for weaponry easily enough."[/color] Though, it was less that she'd gotten to study them in person and more that she had torn into her former allegiance's firewalls on the way out and taken any data she could find that wasn't nailed down. And then... [color=39b54a]"My shadow is more adept at controlling what I personally create. And unless they've degraded in common sense even more than I thought possible, the weaponry systems will be ones that require direct access to manipulate. Without the ability to wirelessly maintain control, that would leave me only able puppet one ship at a time."[/color] Unless Callie was holding in reserve the ability to form a vast, lasting network of portals. Shaking her head, Qingshe chuckled. [color=39b54a]"No, I do believe my efforts will be best spent elsewhere than a mobile insurgency team."[/color] Where exactly was still in question, but she already had some ideas... It would just be a matter of seeing what the final battle plan turned out to be.

Qingshe raised an inquisitive brow at one of the new faces among them, Sweden's "Valkyrie", a fellow big name and -[i]at least in her books[/i]- A-Rank. The national symbol was standing there stiffly, looking quite uncomfortable in her relatively undecorated professional uniform. If Qingshe recalled rightly, her usual attire was something a lot... [i]louder[/i]. The Snake smiled genuinely at realizing she was in the presence of someone that also took advantage of their status to oppose the degradation of individuality the military promoted, waggling a couple fingers in silent greeting. Her slitted green eyes crinkled in mirth, a hand rising to nonchalantly conceal the growing curl of her lips, when she processed the 2nd Lieutenant's words towards the 1st Lieutenant.

Did the poor girl realize the layer of innuendo she had just infused into the wording of that introduction? A part of Qingshe hoped not, because her sense of humor was irrevocably twisted by the need to dig out entertainment from everything... in a showmanship sense. It was like those virtual entertainers. What did they call them? V-Tubers? Yes, being able to make every other thing you say have a double meaning was a valuable talent in building a following. As a former member of The Zodiac, at least the capacity of a veritable "showpony", she knew this art well... Or maybe her mind was just a bit dirtier than she'd like to admit.

Ah, but if only the rest of the meeting could be taken with such humor. Her good mood was tempered, as she listened to Lotus Squadron's members pitching in and the response from [i]Myron[/i]... Nothing he said was making her feel any better about the situation. It was more than clear to her now, that even with support from other ASEAN nation's navies and air forces, the coming battle was going to be a madhouse of a shitshow. Their airpower was still radically lacking compared to what the enemy could deploy... Hmmm... It seemed she might have just found where her focus was best aimed at rectifying.

Then the young man named Nico Makri spoke up, and a new twist was introduced. Qingshe blinked rapidly, unsure if she had just heard him correctly, consulting her most recent memory logs and then blinking again, before her pupils narrowed to even thinner slits in fascination at the man the Seven Virtues seemed to have elected for membership amongst their highest echelons... whether he wanted it or not. [color=39b54a]"[i]Diligence[/i], you say~?"[/color] She grinned in anticipation. [color=39b54a]"What [i]else[/i] did he tell you? The Seven Virtues seem [i]oh so loathe[/i] to step down from their clandestine little high tower to walk amongst us [i]mere mortals[/i], and the more we know about their inner workings, the better to pick their pesky interferences apart~."[/color] She sniffed. [color=39b54a]"[i]Mou~[/i], again with that 'Alan Turing' nonsense cropping up? Honestly, why can't that pest mind his own business? We're fighting a [i]war[/i] here; his plots can wait."[/color]

Noel began to answer, and Qingshe found herself jolting internally in disbelief yet again. Even as their nominal leader berated Nico for just out and saying such potentially sensitive things, he, himself, proceeded to do [i]much[/i] worse, as he elaborated even further on Alan Turing (someone most in the room had probably never even [i]heard[/i] of, much less been aware of his significance) and even had the [i]gall[/i] to propose that he could somehow order Nico to accept the Seven Virtues's offer. Her expression struggled to remain cheerful, as the First Lieutenant doubled down further still and seemed to almost [i]panic order[/i] that, Myron, the man who'd he'd just finished radically disservicing in his introduction, the one who was getting more wary looks than not, should suddenly start transferring people to the Spratlys Islands [i]now[/i] without any consultation. The absolute [i]brass[/i] on this brat.

[color=39b54a][i]Wha-?! What happened to the plan?! What happened to resting for half a day?! Wait. Wasn't the place where the QRS was currently holed up a part of those islands?[/i][/color] Qingshe restrained a snarl, as she realized Noel was most likely in on the gamble of the QRS's message to her. This was [i]not[/i] happening. This would throw off the plan for the ASEAN alliance fleet, with the Philippines suddenly deprived of their biggest collection of available Arms Masters. What was Task Force Obsidian supposed to even do once they reached the island? Sit on their asses and be trapped under constant siege too with the alliance fleet far away? [color=39b54a][i]Those fools are going to make everything worse with their shortsighted impulsivity![/i][/color]

[color=39b54a]"You [i]cannot[/i] be serious,"[/color] the Snake uttered in a flat whisper, her tone at odds with the deceptive smile on her face.

And then... Private Price jumped in, and things started getting... [i]sticky[/i]. Matters appeared to be degrading rather seriously, and unfortunately, despite her complete disinterest in trying to make that [i]fop[/i], Myron, look better, this wasn't acceptable. So, she spoke up, said her piece and retreated once more, annoyed at having to salvage such incompetence or else be a hypocrite. It didn't matter that only [i]she[/i] would know to what degree that hypocrisy sank; it was simply a matter of what precious few morality-derived principles she had.

Still, if Qingshe wasn't certain before, she was now.

The First Lieutenant couldn't sell water to a man dying of thirst in a desert.

That [i]boy[/i] should never be allowed to make inspirational speeches.

Or speeches you wanted to go anywhere positive really.

She hated this, being forced to intervene in such a manner. For all that she’d say she was pretty good at it, she didn't want to take charge... The temptation to keep going once she started was... [i]simply too great[/i]. But how could she possibly stand by and watch a disaster in motion? She was supposed to have just been here as an R&D consultant, a medic and foreign contact... [i]Instead[/i], she was visiting frontlines, getting dragged into a slap-dash, rag-tag task force straight out of some fiction or another, and [i]interfering in a foreign military’s command structure[/i] to stop it from falling apart, which was... There was [i]so[/i] much wrong with this picture. All she wanted to do was uplift humanity, but what the hell had she been dragged into [i]this[/i] time?

Honestly, the only silver lining to come out of this mess was that she could now send her own message back to the QRS and be almost completely truthful regarding [i]why[/i], exactly, they were not going to be receiving fresh Arms Masters ahead of the ASEAN fleet. And [i]bonus[/i]: she didn't even have to tip-toe around the fact that, at this stage, she'd never let Myron put her in that damn shield unless the only other option was oblivion.

[color=39b54a][b][i][Unfortunately, regardless of whatever plan you may have made with First Lieutenant Alonso behind my back-][/i][/b][/color] Why yes, she [i]was[/i] displeased. [i]How could they tell?![/i] [color=39b54a][b][i][-during the briefing, the Task Force Obsidian members were promised a 12 hour grace period to get their affairs in order, before commencing transport via Philippine vessel. Furthermore, the introduction of the asset, Agent Makaraig, was bungled so direly by the First Lieutenant that it was all I could do to stop things from devolving into outright hostility. There is no chance the Task Force agrees to take advantage of your window for transport... even were it not so dangerously narrow and unstable to begin with. I can't possibly sell this to them in good faith. You'll just have to manage until the original plan pulls through.][/i][/b][/color]