A tactical [i]nuclear[/i] warhead.  An atomic weapon.  The start and end point of wars.

Ingrid remained stonefaced throughout the rest of the debrief, even taking the indirect praise that came with her own successful mission with nothing more than a stoic nod.  This one bit of information, though, broke through her character with the same amount of destructive power as the weapon that they had claimed.  Her eyes bulged, her head turned fully to the Colonel to meet his eyes, and her stance loosened just a bit.

It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to those who knew her.  The Ares Conventions were a thoroughly dead piece of paper drafted centuries in the past, no longer held in serious regard by any of the Inner Sphere's polities...but they still held sway about the Mechwarrior, the kind with the capital M.  The sort of person who has memorized some sort of manifesto drafted up by another Mechwarrior about what is 'just' in war and death.  The sort who claims noble lineage and placement within their family based on piloting ability instead of anything important relating to governance.  The sort who would sooner die than spit upon the family crest of some highborn clan that ruled over their particular slice of space...

...so, exactly the kind of person Ingrid Daschke was.

Ingrid took that bit of the Conventions very seriously, even if her religionesque appreciation wasn't perfect - she had engaged in urban warfare much earlier in her career, something also forbidden for worry over civilian lives - but she had to have some principles, it seemed!

She had many principles, to the point that it was outright constricting, but the point still stood.

In her initial horror over it's announcement and suggested use, she almost didn't catch wind of Ziska forgetting to worry and loving the bomb.  Almost.  Her head snapped back to her momentarily, but she turned back to the Colonel right after - the only one who had the authority to authorize its deployment.

[color=SteelBlue]"Gai--"[/color] she caught herself almost instantly, choking back her rare mispoken word and returning to her usual strict look.  [color=SteelBlue]"[i]Colonel.[/i]  I will not speak too far out of turn, but...firing off a [i]nuclear weapon?[/i]  Even if it was for the most justified of reasons, there is a limit to...forgive me for speaking against you, Colonel, but to this sort of [i]transgression.[/i]  We are a mercenary unit; the best we could make due with a warhead of any size would be to dismantle it so that no one could use it."[/color]