Guardian Angel Haruki
Alby47
Sniblet
Lewascan2
Letter Bee
Hedgehawk
Vampiretwilight
FernStoneKaitlyn motioned the little one over while she listened, wrapping her arms around her and letting the stress of an impending fight melt away while she listened.
She, of course, had some misgivings of her own with the operation, but her priorities had shifted somewhat since she joined the military, and it wasn't neccesarily her place- as a lowly private and all- to speak up. This was the First Lieutenant , after all. What if she... Well, wouldn't it be speaking out of turn? Can privates even criticize the actions of her superiors?
... Well, it's happened before, hasn't it?
Miss Lei raised some good points. Just reaching their target could be pretty hazardous, and certainly they wouldn't only have the Lotus Squadron to back them up? What if they were overwhelmed?
-A miniature sun burns in her mind, cutting through airships like toy planes-
She gripped Hannie a little harder, focusing on... On something. On the texture of Hannie's shirt. On the features of Noel's face. Of Miss Lei's disconcerting claws.
She only listened with half an ear to the rest, content to stay in her place as an unusually high status private- and then he came along.
Terrorist. Murderer.
Her blood ran cold, and she shuddered as the uncanny man was introduced to them.
How can he be okay with this?
Her field of view narrowed on the man. Time slowed. She couldn't breath. She couldn't move.
How... How?
And then he spoke.
She didn't hear the rest of what was said. That is, until Noel felt the need to rush them right out the door.
"No."
Kaity nearly jumped out of her own skin at the sound of her own voice, but she held firm, clutching Hannie to her body.
Her eyes never left the murderer standing in front of her.
"I am not going anywhere with this man... Sir."
Noel nodded and said, "I can guess why. Murder is murder even though it was on behalf of normal people; Non-Arms Masters. Myron should not expect automatic sympathy just because he did it for... People who would not automatically accept his actions, even if he says he did it for them."
He sighed, "I'll make other arrangements, then."
Myron, meanwhile, blinked, shocked, as though genuinely surprised that Kaitlyn or any other normal person here didn't approve of the motives behind his actions. So all he can mumble was, "I know my methods were wrong but were the reasons...?"
He trailed off and went silent.
Following Kaitlyn when beckoned, Hannie ghosts over through the aisles and silently arranges her place sitting with her. In the private's arms, she listens along. Or "listens." Or at least, hears. A lot of this sounds entirely, relievingly, not her problem, and also kind of complicated.
Kaitlyn's shudder pulls her attention back in. What? This black-haired guy?
He's- what? He's done what? And he's supposed to be on _her_ side? Does Noel hear what he's saying?
She starts when the private begins to speak. She blinks, a little confused again at the immediate... backtrack?
"Good job, I think?" she mumbles.
"I don't need your excuses!" She hisses, narrowing her eyes on the murderer.
Her attention flicks over to the First Lieutenant, and he'd get the feeling that statement applied to him as well.
"This is entirely unacceptable, First Lieutenant Alonzo. Mister Makaraig should not expect any sympathy with any human being with an ounce of decency. And you're defending him?"
There's a twisting in his gut.
Then he finds the words, "This war was my way to redeem myself, to save as many people as I killed."
Noel tried hard to muster a response, actually scared now. He was still a child, still sixteen, burdened with a responsibility that had grown eightfold after he actually won in Lingayen, after he managed to eke out a victory in that front. But that was not an excuse. Nor was the fact that he was ordered to accept his presence, that Myron was necessary for the continued running of the ASEAN War's operations.
In the end, all he can echo was Myron's words, "He wants a chance to atone. As he said, his methods were wrong, back when he himself was a normal human. He's hurt a lot of people, killed a lot of people, but he says - No, this is his chance to make up for what he's done as much as possible."
Bile rose in his throat. He could not believe he was saying this.
Qingshe finally stood from her seat again, this time an edge in her normally affable demeanor. Her slitted eyes had bled a golden orange. For a moment, she seemed to ooze tension, before her spine slacked back into something approaching her usual mien. "Redemption," she licked her lips, "Is not something so easily attained."
"This, is not how you go about it." She took a step forward, and the sound of a short heel for audibly clacked with the movement. Rather than the graceful nigh-silent glide she normally used, this was a series of deliberated footsteps, punctuating with a stride that was more predatory than not. Her eyes flicked to Kaitlyn and Hannie before snapping back to Noel and Myron. "There's something to be said for acknowledging the past, but you take it too far. How did you think this would go, First Lieutenant, after you introduced this man in such a manner? Did you really think anyone would trust him with their backs, with their lives, after you introduced him as someone hailing once from an organization dedicated to the genocide of nearly everyone in this room?"
She paused to allow that to sink in for those who were less connected with geopolitical conflicts. "That said..." Her smile closed off, like merely tasting the words in her mouth disgusted her. "If I condemned him as he is wholeheartedly, it would be hypocrisy of no small scale. So... allow me to... salvage this? Hah." She shook her head.
Her shadow bubbled, spewing out a tablet that she gracefully scooped up. Unseen, her digital fingers struck at systems miles away, diving into files that she shouldn't have access to. She grinned internally at the attempts of pathetically feeble systems attempting to bat her probes away, shaking her head in dismay at the state of the Philippine cyber security. She even found a few bugs and backdoors. Honestly, the place was like Swiss cheese. No wonder their OPSEC was in the dumpster; she was halfway certain several of the probes were based off her own work.
Well... that was easily rectified. While she was there, she might as well do a little pruning. Backdoors were closed. Viruses and bugs purged. And because she was feeling nice, she began completely rewriting the core cyber security of the systems she had found. An update here~! A tweak there~! And voila~! Security worth writing home about! Now the only weakness was the ever-present human element, but Qingshe was confident that unless information warfare was conducted with another Noble Arm specialized in such, this security would hold.
Pulling out, she left a cheeky digital "You're welcome~!" message practically postal-stamped to her work, unsigned of course. Plausible deniability for her helpful -if wildly illegal- actions.
In reality, mere moments had passed, such was the processing speed of the world's greatest super computers. What a wonderful boon~!
Clearing her throat, Qingshe's smile rode a line of pleasant and... not. "I will give you this much, Makaraig, whatever anyone can say about your faults, your introduction does you disservice." Addressing the room, she clarified, "What they failed to mention about his defection was that it occurred more than four years ago. This is not a man who would have had the blood of Arms Masters on his hands mere months prior." She paced about, cheerily proclaiming her words like a teacher before a classroom.
"For all that they certainly gave it their best shot to put him in the worst light possible, he walked away from that life on his own... or so he testifies. He was personally involved in the coup that created the Philippines of today. A righteous cause in... concept, I suppose."
Glancing down at the tablet, where information continued to scroll so fast that few eyes but own might be able to follow it, she hummed again. "The Disablers... Well, not to trivialize what they are and what he did with them, but that period of his life was one of a foolish youth. Adulthood, it seems, brought some measure of wisdom..." Rapping her fingers along the back of her tablet, she tilted her head in faux thought. "Does that mean he should be trusted?"
Panning her gaze over the room, she blinked languidly, before shrugging and dropping the tablet back into the depths of her ooze without a sound. "I think that should be up to each individual to decide for themselves." Glancing over her shoulder, she met Myron's gaze with disdainful dismissal. "Personally, I don't, but I think my reasons are ultimately from an emotional place, rather than an objective one. I would not begrudge any other putting their faith in him. Nor do I think he is ultimately deserving of none at all."
Turning to Noel, she frowned. "That said..." There was a look in her eyes now towards Task Force Obsidian's nominal leader, one that had been building the whole briefing and only now fully crystalized into something openly reproachful. Her lip briefly curled, but she apparently bit back whatever initially was on the tip of her tongue, turning away and flicking her head. "I think... for the time being, you'll just have to settle for discarding any plan that relies on unanimous acquiescence to the use of Makaraig's Noble Arm."
She shook her head and strode back to her seat, her tone . "And to think, all of this mistrust could have been avoided if you had just said nothing at all." Her tone was laced with casual contempt. Retaking her seat, she crossed her legs. "Perhaps next time, you'll exercise those OPSEC protocols they clearly failed to drill into your skull in officer training."
"And in the meanwhile..." She smiled broadly. "I suppose the rest of us will make do." She chuckled. "As with several of you, I do not trust Agent Makaraig... but I do believe he should have the opportunity to prove us wrong. Is it too much to ask for that?"
She leaned back, propping her cheek up with her right knuckles, fingers curled lazily and elbow resting on the armrest. "You don't have to like him. You don't even have to rely on him. All you need to do is tolerate him breathing the same oxygen until he proves himself worthy of more..." Serpentine eyes glinted slyly, as an amiable smile retook its rightful place on her lips. "Doesn't that sound fair~?"
Kaitlyn watched. She listened. And after awhile... Some tension left her.
Oh, she still held onto Hannie, but she didn't feel threatened anymore. Not immidiately, at least.
Noel is incompetent she realized, looking between the two with schooled neutrality.
She decided to keep her mouth shut, simply offering Miss Lei a nod in gratitude for preventing a mess.
... She felt so tired now.
Sighing, she tested her chin on the little one's head, taking a moment to recover from the excitement.
She, of course, had some misgivings of her own with the operation, but her priorities had shifted somewhat since she joined the military, and it wasn't neccesarily her place- as a lowly private and all- to speak up. This was the First Lieutenant , after all. What if she... Well, wouldn't it be speaking out of turn? Can privates even criticize the actions of her superiors?
... Well, it's happened before, hasn't it?
Miss Lei raised some good points. Just reaching their target could be pretty hazardous, and certainly they wouldn't only have the Lotus Squadron to back them up? What if they were overwhelmed?
-A miniature sun burns in her mind, cutting through airships like toy planes-
She gripped Hannie a little harder, focusing on... On something. On the texture of Hannie's shirt. On the features of Noel's face. Of Miss Lei's disconcerting claws.
She only listened with half an ear to the rest, content to stay in her place as an unusually high status private- and then he came along.
Terrorist. Murderer.
Her blood ran cold, and she shuddered as the uncanny man was introduced to them.
How can he be okay with this?
Her field of view narrowed on the man. Time slowed. She couldn't breath. She couldn't move.
How... How?
And then he spoke.
She didn't hear the rest of what was said. That is, until Noel felt the need to rush them right out the door.
"No."
Kaity nearly jumped out of her own skin at the sound of her own voice, but she held firm, clutching Hannie to her body.
Her eyes never left the murderer standing in front of her.
"I am not going anywhere with this man... Sir."
Noel nodded and said, "I can guess why. Murder is murder even though it was on behalf of normal people; Non-Arms Masters. Myron should not expect automatic sympathy just because he did it for... People who would not automatically accept his actions, even if he says he did it for them."
He sighed, "I'll make other arrangements, then."
Myron, meanwhile, blinked, shocked, as though genuinely surprised that Kaitlyn or any other normal person here didn't approve of the motives behind his actions. So all he can mumble was, "I know my methods were wrong but were the reasons...?"
He trailed off and went silent.
Following Kaitlyn when beckoned, Hannie ghosts over through the aisles and silently arranges her place sitting with her. In the private's arms, she listens along. Or "listens." Or at least, hears. A lot of this sounds entirely, relievingly, not her problem, and also kind of complicated.
Kaitlyn's shudder pulls her attention back in. What? This black-haired guy?
He's- what? He's done what? And he's supposed to be on _her_ side? Does Noel hear what he's saying?
She starts when the private begins to speak. She blinks, a little confused again at the immediate... backtrack?
"Good job, I think?" she mumbles.
"I don't need your excuses!" She hisses, narrowing her eyes on the murderer.
Her attention flicks over to the First Lieutenant, and he'd get the feeling that statement applied to him as well.
"This is entirely unacceptable, First Lieutenant Alonzo. Mister Makaraig should not expect any sympathy with any human being with an ounce of decency. And you're defending him?"
There's a twisting in his gut.
Then he finds the words, "This war was my way to redeem myself, to save as many people as I killed."
Noel tried hard to muster a response, actually scared now. He was still a child, still sixteen, burdened with a responsibility that had grown eightfold after he actually won in Lingayen, after he managed to eke out a victory in that front. But that was not an excuse. Nor was the fact that he was ordered to accept his presence, that Myron was necessary for the continued running of the ASEAN War's operations.
In the end, all he can echo was Myron's words, "He wants a chance to atone. As he said, his methods were wrong, back when he himself was a normal human. He's hurt a lot of people, killed a lot of people, but he says - No, this is his chance to make up for what he's done as much as possible."
Bile rose in his throat. He could not believe he was saying this.
Qingshe finally stood from her seat again, this time an edge in her normally affable demeanor. Her slitted eyes had bled a golden orange. For a moment, she seemed to ooze tension, before her spine slacked back into something approaching her usual mien. "Redemption," she licked her lips, "Is not something so easily attained."
"This, is not how you go about it." She took a step forward, and the sound of a short heel for audibly clacked with the movement. Rather than the graceful nigh-silent glide she normally used, this was a series of deliberated footsteps, punctuating with a stride that was more predatory than not. Her eyes flicked to Kaitlyn and Hannie before snapping back to Noel and Myron. "There's something to be said for acknowledging the past, but you take it too far. How did you think this would go, First Lieutenant, after you introduced this man in such a manner? Did you really think anyone would trust him with their backs, with their lives, after you introduced him as someone hailing once from an organization dedicated to the genocide of nearly everyone in this room?"
She paused to allow that to sink in for those who were less connected with geopolitical conflicts. "That said..." Her smile closed off, like merely tasting the words in her mouth disgusted her. "If I condemned him as he is wholeheartedly, it would be hypocrisy of no small scale. So... allow me to... salvage this? Hah." She shook her head.
Her shadow bubbled, spewing out a tablet that she gracefully scooped up. Unseen, her digital fingers struck at systems miles away, diving into files that she shouldn't have access to. She grinned internally at the attempts of pathetically feeble systems attempting to bat her probes away, shaking her head in dismay at the state of the Philippine cyber security. She even found a few bugs and backdoors. Honestly, the place was like Swiss cheese. No wonder their OPSEC was in the dumpster; she was halfway certain several of the probes were based off her own work.
Well... that was easily rectified. While she was there, she might as well do a little pruning. Backdoors were closed. Viruses and bugs purged. And because she was feeling nice, she began completely rewriting the core cyber security of the systems she had found. An update here~! A tweak there~! And voila~! Security worth writing home about! Now the only weakness was the ever-present human element, but Qingshe was confident that unless information warfare was conducted with another Noble Arm specialized in such, this security would hold.
Pulling out, she left a cheeky digital "You're welcome~!" message practically postal-stamped to her work, unsigned of course. Plausible deniability for her helpful -if wildly illegal- actions.
In reality, mere moments had passed, such was the processing speed of the world's greatest super computers. What a wonderful boon~!
Clearing her throat, Qingshe's smile rode a line of pleasant and... not. "I will give you this much, Makaraig, whatever anyone can say about your faults, your introduction does you disservice." Addressing the room, she clarified, "What they failed to mention about his defection was that it occurred more than four years ago. This is not a man who would have had the blood of Arms Masters on his hands mere months prior." She paced about, cheerily proclaiming her words like a teacher before a classroom.
"For all that they certainly gave it their best shot to put him in the worst light possible, he walked away from that life on his own... or so he testifies. He was personally involved in the coup that created the Philippines of today. A righteous cause in... concept, I suppose."
Glancing down at the tablet, where information continued to scroll so fast that few eyes but own might be able to follow it, she hummed again. "The Disablers... Well, not to trivialize what they are and what he did with them, but that period of his life was one of a foolish youth. Adulthood, it seems, brought some measure of wisdom..." Rapping her fingers along the back of her tablet, she tilted her head in faux thought. "Does that mean he should be trusted?"
Panning her gaze over the room, she blinked languidly, before shrugging and dropping the tablet back into the depths of her ooze without a sound. "I think that should be up to each individual to decide for themselves." Glancing over her shoulder, she met Myron's gaze with disdainful dismissal. "Personally, I don't, but I think my reasons are ultimately from an emotional place, rather than an objective one. I would not begrudge any other putting their faith in him. Nor do I think he is ultimately deserving of none at all."
Turning to Noel, she frowned. "That said..." There was a look in her eyes now towards Task Force Obsidian's nominal leader, one that had been building the whole briefing and only now fully crystalized into something openly reproachful. Her lip briefly curled, but she apparently bit back whatever initially was on the tip of her tongue, turning away and flicking her head. "I think... for the time being, you'll just have to settle for discarding any plan that relies on unanimous acquiescence to the use of Makaraig's Noble Arm."
She shook her head and strode back to her seat, her tone . "And to think, all of this mistrust could have been avoided if you had just said nothing at all." Her tone was laced with casual contempt. Retaking her seat, she crossed her legs. "Perhaps next time, you'll exercise those OPSEC protocols they clearly failed to drill into your skull in officer training."
"And in the meanwhile..." She smiled broadly. "I suppose the rest of us will make do." She chuckled. "As with several of you, I do not trust Agent Makaraig... but I do believe he should have the opportunity to prove us wrong. Is it too much to ask for that?"
She leaned back, propping her cheek up with her right knuckles, fingers curled lazily and elbow resting on the armrest. "You don't have to like him. You don't even have to rely on him. All you need to do is tolerate him breathing the same oxygen until he proves himself worthy of more..." Serpentine eyes glinted slyly, as an amiable smile retook its rightful place on her lips. "Doesn't that sound fair~?"
Kaitlyn watched. She listened. And after awhile... Some tension left her.
Oh, she still held onto Hannie, but she didn't feel threatened anymore. Not immidiately, at least.
Noel is incompetent she realized, looking between the two with schooled neutrality.
She decided to keep her mouth shut, simply offering Miss Lei a nod in gratitude for preventing a mess.
... She felt so tired now.
Sighing, she tested her chin on the little one's head, taking a moment to recover from the excitement.