"SCANNING NOW."

As she raised her wiry arms, Sasha closed her heavy-lidded eyes against the razor-wire laser that crawled across her lean form. Still as a statue, arms at her side, the familiar feeling of being weighed, judged and evaluated pressed in upon her, and she was not concerned. It was part and parcel with her passion--being a dancer was not, as many seemed to think, for the faint of heart. The conditioning, the diet, the exercise, the repetition, and then to have all of it be put into a purely aesthetic context was grueling. Plenty didn't make it, even plenty who wanted it desperately, but nothing had kept Sasha from perfection in her old career--even at her young age, it was still how it occurred to her--and nothing was going to keep her from it in this one. All it took was a different set of muscles, exercises, a different diet. Like changing her clothes.

"THE SUBJECT IS SASHA IVANOVA. FIRST YEAR. 1.75 METERS. PLEASE CONFIRM."

"Affirmative."

As she wriggled her way into her armor, let it bolt itself down around her, the same claustrophobia she had felt the first time she'd been saddled with the heavy equipment rose. A dancer, as many pointed out, was hardly used to wearing armor, let alone piloting one of the heaviest A.W.E.'s around, but she crushed it with the same iron-veiled discipline she always had. This mattered, her hang-ups didn't. It was as simple as that. The others...well, they mattered insofar as she could trust them to hold up their end. Teamwork was a matter of course--you did it because it was the job, and it was professional, and Sasha like the idea of being a young consummate professional. That the rest of her team, or much of it, had failed at this in the past was something she ignored even as it made itself apparent last night. The English boy and his tea, the German boy and his coffee... it was hard for her to consider herself on either side, though coffee at least kept her awake. By the time the others had gone to bed she remained in the common room, doing a few simple exercises and going over air-burst geometry in her head. She slept very little, ate very little, and if she had seemed relaxed it was only because the banter between them all was the least important thing in the room.

----

The colonel was his usual colorless self, adamant in steel grey and as authoritarian as it got. As much as it seemed an odd comparison, it felt natural enough to obey--he'd proven himself, they hadn't. Teacher and pupil, commanding officer and rookie, same difference... but it was irritating, quietly, that he reminded them again of the necessity of teamwork, of relying on one another. A mission was a mission, that was it--how much more of this talk was necessary? How remedial, she found herself wondering in spite of herself, was her team, to necessitate such reminders? As they slid into the Simulation Room, however, it became clear that this was not her companions first time at this simulation. Richard's familiarity with the machinery made that clear enough. And then Thessalia's plan came together, and things got a bit strange.

The wallflower--Roman?--all of a sudden decided to assert himself. His mannerism, body language, voice, all of it changed in an instant, and at once she felt almost at ease. Here, then, was why they kept him around. Perhaps in the face of danger he...

Completely changed personalities and names.

"How they let you past the psyche eval I'll never know," she said flatly, looking over the newly-arisen persona before turning to Thessalia, "but the clown is right. From what I understand of his profile, his A.W.E. is focused on stealth and has extremely limited shielding--not suitable for fire support. I propose that he join team Rapid instead, with the primary goal of reconnaissance and target neutralization. Likewise," she said as she moved for the map, "I propose a slightly different approach."

Moving to the hologram, she pressed a finger to the pair of buildings in the midst of the Saurian forces between the east and middle bridge, southwest of the Surian force there.

"Core team and I should deploy here. From the top of them I should be able to maintain a firing solution on most of the battlefield, and with the uplink from your units I will be able to monitor most of the field. Rapid--including Jack--will deploy near the eastern bridge and cut through the enemy behind us. Once they've been dispersed the Eastern defense forces would be able to advance to the structures and provide additional covering fire. From there Rapid team could continue South, pushing them into a concentrated group at the center. If we can concentrate them we can surround them, and heavy ordinance should do the rest." The thought that a different plan might be considered insubordination or an issue in the chain of command never occurred to her--she was simply, in her eyes, providing a tactical opinion as she turned and looked to Thessalia.

"It is riskier--I would have an enemy at my back, and it would require more prolonged combat from Core team, but I believe it better utilizes our drop capabilities and our team assets, as well as the defensive units already available. Your call, sergeant."