In reply to Gargoyle (msg # 34):

Skyrah would compose herself quickly. She didn't expect contact to be immediate, but truthfully she should have expected it.  She said softly when he answered.

  @ Thirteen - Sillia smiles and says; "Thank you, You two have a good night. And have a little fun." She looks At Aravae and tells her she will see her in the morning.

  @ Skyrah -

   The commander gives her a second. "Lt. Valentine, you were there when LT. Grey broke, what was your thought on the situation?"


  @ Cerise & Kaarle - I ll give Miriana another day and then i ll start your command debriefing.

Iphigenia, writes up her report and has it ready for submission just as the gambit is within site.

She admits to being one of the causes to Michelle's break down, the pointing of the gun at Iphigenia's head was her mechanism for self preservation. Since she does fear any and all of those who are associated with needles and white coats.

Iphigenia, requested that she be held responsible for letting the situation to escalate the way it did at the pace that it occurred.

She submitted her report, just as the bay door opened.

Iphigenia,  exited the shuttle, onto the gambit and sees the commander, Lt.Fell and two others that she thought resembled Sillia. Iphigenia saluted the commander and Lt.Fell, she watched in disbelief as Michelle was handcuffed and taken away.

When the commander dismissed everybody and asked that he was to see the command staff in 10 minutes. She was relieved the all didn't have to go and be debriefed, she made her way to the mess hall, grabbed some fruit, at least she thought it looked like fruit, then walked back to her bunk while eating the «fruit», she changed into her workout clothes and went to the gym. She needed to release some very pent up stress.

Standing next to the Commander and Lt. Fell was unnerving for Xavier.

What was even more unnerving was Sillia's reaction to seeing him after so long.

He knew that she was putting on a show, he could tell when she kissed him. But he played along anyways, "I've missed you too!"

After she had told some kid who her kid sister was, he proceeded to put his re-breather back on and help Sillia with hers,  then asked her "would you like to see our new place?"

"Alright. It's this way." He says to Aravae and leads the way.

After the mission was done, given food and drink and the high ranking officers told them the nature of the ship they boarded, he returned to his quarters that he shared with Cerise.

 He personally had heard tales of the "Disciples of Zor" but never took much stock in the legends - perhaps it was time to reassess the legend now that proof was found.

 He would try to get in contact with his fellow Sentinel operatives as soon as he was able to inform them of the human's discovery of the Ci'Vonian as well as requisition a magical device or two as well as some spells.

 But she was cut off, which brought an instant frown from her. "Damnit, he doesn't see the domino effect that her retirement will cause." She said softly to herself, more then to anyone in the room.

When addressed by the Commander she would look at him. "Sir, it was not fully her fault. It was a multitude of things." Skyrah explained. "The hacking caused all three of us that have the implant to suffer an episode, however hers was far worse. Me and Thirteen were able to recover while she was not." She then gave a gentle sigh. "We were in a secure spot, and Lieutenant Cherkovski and Corpsman Ramsbottom should have given her space, or talked her down first. However when Corpsman Ramsbottom attended to give Lieutenant Grey the sedative her fear of needles and doctors came into play, which only made the situation all the worse sir. Me or Thirteen could have even been in that situation sir, or even all three of us." She then considered the question more carefully. "Frankly sir, it was a domino effect that is still occurring. I am trying to catch the domino's before they all fall so that I can do what I can to recover the situation and ensure Vulture Group is not endangered by the end effect of the situation."

She would then look down for a considering, as he processed what she said. Then she looked back up. "I am still assessing the entire thing, and how it would logically play out if either option is taken. Given what I have seen there, and managed to dissuade from body language, I think retiring Lieutenant Grey would have an adverse effect on Lieutenant Cherkovski that could endanger the remainder of Wraith and Banshee Squadron if on mission. Had I of not come up with a viable tactical plan to save Batgirl he would have flown after her himself. The anger in his voice at her mission told me that. Such a move would have placed the entire group in danger." She explained. "I have the utmost respect for him, and would rather do everything in my power to save her then see someone with his potential risk all of us, or be removed."

She will then await any questions respectfully. It was obvious she had thought this entire thing out, and may well have some recommendations in mind to resolve the situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:25, Fri 16 Dec 2016.

Upon hearing the news of Michelle's return Karma had a renewed energy, despite the nausea and the burning she felt throughout her body.  She climbed out of the hospital bed, finding a pair of hospital issue slippers, she walked out of the room.  Moving with a purpose she tried to find her way out of the sick bay and to the hanger where she thought she might find Michelle.

  Iphigenia - you find it quite in the gym. There are a couple marines working out with the weights, but non of them bother you.

  Xavier, Sillia - you two head to your quarters and are left undisturbed.

  Thirteen - Aravae follows you in silence but you to feel like she is staring at you as you two head to your quarters. When you get to your room she is excited to find her bags on the bunk she will be using. She turns and finally ask you; "what do you do for fun Thirteen?"

 Severian - There are Fellow Preytons in a science/engineering lab working with several humans.

  Skyrah - The Commander listens intently before speaking. "I had no doubt you and Lt. Cherkovski would save Lt. Grey. I was listening as things played out over your groups coms including when you three would switch to your personal channel to chat between yourselves. Rest assured I have taken care of the situation with Lt. Grey.
he takes a moment to consider his next words. Lt. Cherkovski, thinks highly of you in the field. He wants to give you the position of his EXO, but before you take that option, you will not have lots of opportunity to do reconnaissance as his second in command. But I am planning to have you trained for a new position in your squad which would be aided by your reconnaissance training. You will be trained to be your units Electronic Warfare/SEAD pilot. Your Delta will modified to suit this need for your squadron." He gives you a moment to ponder that thought.

  Karma - you do not make it past the nurses station before they escort you back to your room. They inform you your not discharged and not allowed to leave sickbay until you can pass your physical and that requires you be able to hold down food.

Karma tries to resist, pushing the nurses away, but she is weak and her pushing doesn't have much effect.  She feebly protests, and even has a surge of strength that drains within seconds as the nurses strain to hold her back, "Please, please, I need to get to Michelle, they're going to kill her, please, I need to go, please." she pleaded with the nurses.  When they told her she needed to hold down food and be able to pass a physical, she pushed even harder, "I'm fine, please just let me go!" sounding more desperate.  Even as dehydrated as she was, tears were streaking down her face.  Not being all that heavy, and having lost some weight in her comatose state they easily lifted her up off her feet as a collective and dragged her back to her sick bay bed.  When they finally drop her back on the bed, her head spins and she has a coughing fit that nearly causes her to throw up again.  Curling up into a fetal position, she rocks back and forth while sobbing quietly, and whispering under her breath, _{"They're going to kill her...I have to go..."} over and over again.

"Sir...I...wait... He does?" Skyrah didn't understand, she always thought Kchek did not like her. It was the impression she got every time he always shut her down. Now she was confused, and not sure what to think. Normally she could make sense of and assess everything, but this made no sense to her. "I will not let him down sir." She said with a small nod.

"Trained, sir? Training of that calibre would take weeks or months, even with my current knowledge." Then it registered to her what he was meaning, and a small frown crossed her lips. "I see. I understand. They are going to use the same method they use to sync us to our mecha, to implant the skills into me." She considered for a moment again after realizing that. "Have they...made the likelihood of psychosis or death from such implantation less, or are the risks still the same?" Then, right after she asked the question she almost immediately held up a small hand as if to stop him from answer. "...don't answer. I will report in the morning as ordered sir." She said in her usual calm emotionless demeanor.

Thirteen looked as Aravae with a puzzled look. "Fun?"

The Commander looks over his desk at Skyrah, He wondered to himself how much of her demeanor was an act, how much she tried to hide from the others. He was always impressed with these kids. Going through the hell and torture they did and always standing until their eventual end. He smiled as he spoke; “Yes, he values your skills and abilities. I will inform Lt. Cherkovski you accepted his offer.” his smile faded as he replied to her inquire of the skill implantation; “I am not gonna lie to you, they believe that the procedure can be done with no long term side effects or death. But it will hurt in ways only you and your peers will ever know.  With that he dismissed her so he could get to his meeting with the officers in charge.

   Cerise, Kaarle and Miriana are brought into the commander’s office after Skyrah makes her way out. He is still sitting behind his and wave for them to take seats.  <Green>”Where should I begin?” his facial expression shows his anger as he continues. “What the hell happened out there? You destroyed the chain of command, your marines have lost respect for you. This needs to be remedied immediately.” His facial expressions do not ease up as he continues as he seems on the verge of screaming. “Thirteen is a sergeant, and Sergeants do not take orders from Privates, you boke the chain of command with your subordinates and now they lack faith in your abilities to command them. If Thirteen was not capable of his duties he would not have been authorized to go on the mission. Treat the sergeant which has been training for longer than all of you combined. His personal memories are gone, but his training is still fully intact.  Your orders contradicted each other right from the start. What the hell was that?” Standing he takes a breath.  “Pretend you’re me for a minute and one of your teams command squad put their entire team lives at risk. What would you do?” he does not give you any time to reply. “Your squads need to learn to work as individual squads as well as a unified team when needed. So you have two weeks to train for Wargame exercises that are going to take place for the remainder of the month. When not doing morning PT under Sgt. Franklin in the mornings, we’ll see how officers enjoy a sergeant over them.  I will have Lt. Fell get your briefings to you in the morning with your training and mission parameters.” His facial expression eases a bit as he sits back down. “Now let us discuss the genetically altered kids. None of your team is qualified to touch their implants, so don’t ever touch them! There is only one medical doctor on the Gambit that is qualified to touch those implants! Now this next bit I thought I had explained to you three while Lt. Grey and Sergeant Thirteen were being synchronized. These kids are synchronized to their mecha, they are connected with their mecha in a way that is almost like them being the brain to a machine. So when you decide to have them transfer mecha while on a mission you risk their lives. They have to be synced to a mecha for them to be able to effectively use it. Because when they are put in mecha they are not synced to they are sluggish and disorientated. Essentially you are putting their lives at risk. I would appreciate it if you would not do that unless there is no other choice.” His tone and his facial expression ease with this last bit of his statement. You can see he cares for the kids.

  Now I have some good news for Lt. Cherkovski. First, Lt. Valentine accepted the position as your executive officer. I suggest you get with her before the morning and discuss the final details of what you two expect of each other. The second thing is Lt. Murphy has awaken from her coma. The medical staff believes she will be up and ready in a few days. I have ordered Sgt. Franklin to take it easy with her during PT so her muscles have time to readjust. She will be seeing physical therapist for a few more days but as I said the Doctors have said she will be free in a couple days.

  He looks over at Lt. Miriana; “I have acquired a new large mecha pilot for you, Sgt. Xaiver, and he pilots a Gladiator and will make up the second unit of your mechanized team with MSgt. Korvan. He is PFC Sillia husband and they have been given the appropriate quarters.

  Now MSgt. Korvan is Banshee Squadron executive officer. He was awarded a medal of honor by Admiral Hunter for his actions during the battle with Edwards on Optera. Make sure you give him the respect he has earned. Work with him to get your squadron up to speed. 

  He turns his attention to Cerise;   “Lt. Cerise. Your original shuttle was unsalvageable, so a new one was brought to the Fleet. It will carry the Name Vulture now.  Your shuttle crew is still the same crew. Staff Sgt. Patrick Swift is still your pilot. And shuttle command when you are disembarked.  Once again she is your command center to coordinate your teams. While I respect your decision to give tactical command to Lt. Cherkovski, you need to step up and assume your place as the commander. Both Wraith and Banshee Squadrons need to be able to function separately while still assisting each other. And Lt. Cherkovski will be too busy with his own squadron in battle to handle the other.

 Finally he opens the floor to your group;   “any question or statements?”

  NPCed:     Miriana remains quite for the entire meeting, until finally given the chance to speak; “No Sir. I will coordinate with MSgt. Korvan shortly.”

   With that he dismisses Lt. Miriana. Who passes Lt. Grey who is still in cuffs and surrounded by 1st  Lt. Fell, Sgt. Korvan, and two of his marines.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:19, Tue 20 Dec 2016.

  Karma - The Nurse tries to comfort you. By reassuring you everything will be ok.


 Thirteen - Aravae blinks at you several times in disbelief. "Yes silly. Fun. You know for recreation and entertainment." she starts to reach for your face then stops, pulling her hand back. "Sorry, i forget humans do not like being touched."

  Still holding Xavier's hand she enters their new quarters. She waste no time, "I have missed you so much." she says before kissing him passionately. enjoying the feeling of his strong embrace once more.

Cerise first asks for permission to speak freely; once granted, she explains the situation as she saw it;
"It was clear that the augmented soldiers were optimal when piloting modified mecha; it was not clear that they could not utilize those optimizations in modified mecha that were not specifically assigned to them; that became clear in the field and no one was ever actually ordered to utilize a mecha that was sub-optimal; only given the option given the particular situation.

As for a Sergent taking orders from a PFC; I felt that the situation in the field required someone with life experience, not simply training. Sgt Thirteen is the antithesis of that need. That does not mean he's not valuable, nor does it mean that there are not tasks that he is extremely qell qualified to perform, but, when still hopeful for a peaceful first contact with sentients, and we were when I made that judgment call, one would be unwise to put a personified weapon in charge of the reconnaissance team. I placed Lt Cherkovski in tactical command at points because the situation was a purely tactical one at those points and both Banshee and Wraith were together; he has specialized in

Furthermore, we're a special operations unit; we should not have to stand upon strict military chain of command when in the field, especially when the situation calls for something else; if we must, then we need unit numbers to reflect that military approach, as well as a command that is indoctrinated in a pure battlefield command style. We neither have a fully filled out unit structure, nor am I such a command. By promoting me, and giving me a specialization-oriented small unit, I believed that you were implying that we were to approach problems creatively, utilizing our individual strengths and weaknesses to solve the problems we would face, and not see every obstacle as a military objective to overcome.

Commander, I understand that you are used to dealing with the best of the best of main-line military personnel; people more along the lines of Lt Cherkovski or Sgt Korvan; people who have made a career of being good soldiers, sailors, and marines. Perhaps you did not fully appreciate what it meant to put someone who was not such a career sailor, such as myself, in charge. Things are likely to seem quite chaotic, at times; and there are times that they feel that way, even to me, but, the results of this mission were actually quite astounding, when you look at the costs and benefits. First, I'd wager that no one knew that the augmented soldiers could be affected in the way they were, nor a countermeasure against it; otherwise exactly such a countermeasure would have already been in place. Because none of them was in charge at the time, the damage they could have wreaked was limited, and, ultimately, the overall damage done was limited to one of them; the extent of which is yet to be determined. Second, the discovery of the Disciples of Zor is a major one; I suspect that that alone would have been worth my entire units' lives; and, yet, that is not a price we had to pay; we had no deaths, and only the single casualty from this mission. We did not recover the scout ship, as originally planned, but that was due to a change in objectives; the new objectives, of course, being successfully completed. In the end, in addition to the one casualty, we lost a troop transport Beta, as well as a recon cyclone; central commands' underlying plan calculated a loss of those PLUS an alpha and a death, rather than a casualty.

It is all well and good to argue with methodology, but my team delivered results. If you prefer methodology to results in the future, however, I will be happy to toe the line, sir."

  Michelle keeps her gaze to the deck. She answers all the question Lt. Fell asked and moves when directed. When she finds herself standing outside Commander Rockatansky's Office she remains silent. She only give Miriana a quick glance as she leave the commanders office. She says nothing as she waits her sentence.

  He just barely hides the slightest of grins from his face as LT. Cerise gives her  Counters arguments. She was showing herself as a true commanding officer.

  "Your right Lieutenant, I do have the best of the best under my command. Which is why I have you on my team. You do have lots of Flexibility when on mission. And you are correct, the moment High Commnand was informed about the Possible connections with the Disciples of Zor, you were considered expendable. I will discuss the Issue of Lt. Grey in a few moments with you and Lt. Cherkoski, since he is her CO and you are his." His expression returns to a very controlled one. "As for Thirteen, His memories were wiped for a reason. His combat and military training was not touched. Yes I know what happen to Thirteen, and its classified. You have certain freedoms as a special forces unit. But you cannot break ranks. If you want to have Sillia make first contact make that the standing order. You need to get to know your teams strengths and weakness. My suggestion, talk to them. get them together and ask them directly. You have two days before your training missions begin. make use of it."

Thirteen has to force himself to suppress his instincts when Aravae reached out for him. Fortunately she stopped before they could really kick in. Tomorrow was going to be a bad enough day as it was without having to explain why he knocked her out. He decided to ignore the motion.

"Recreation gets in the way of rest and training." He said almost mechanically. Like he was repeating something that he had heard many times in the past although he did no remember.

In reply to Gargoyle (msg # 53):

Kaarle listened to verbal assault that was laid upon them.  He had prepared for it as best he could but was surprised that it wasn't far worse then was given.  As he listened to both the commander and then his CO prattle on it became woefully clear to him how little he understood the true nature of the mission.  These assholes running the show were counting on someone, specifically from his squad dying out there...

Clenching a fist he held his anger in check as the two went back and forth for a moment until the topic of Lt. Grey finally came up.  He suddenly found himself quite anxious to learn her fate considering all that had happened.  He though he had gotten them back alive technically he still hadn't guaranteed her safety, and he needed to know if he was throwing his career away, possibly his life, for this girl he barely knew or not.

As a cold sweat started to roll down the side of his face he contemplated that fate and just how far he was willing to go.  It all seemed like insanity, but to him...it was a loyalty.  Loyalty to those under his command, loyalty to another human among host of aliens that surrounded him daily, loyalty to a friend...

Between that and his own growing feelings of affection for her which he had fought to reconcile with and dismiss as nonsense, the entire flight home he knew without a doubt.

He was clearly fucked...

His face was cold and pale at this point as he waited for the debriefing to take its course.  A single thought still running through his head.  "Kchek. But you can stay as close as you desire." was the last thing she had said to him, they hadn't spoken since the mission, and even now its all he could think about was seeing her smiling at him again.

"Thank you sir." She replied with a nod, in reference to him letting her CO know she will accept his offer. "I see." She said with a simple nod regarding the procedure she is to undertake in the morning.

When dismissed she will stand. "Thank you for hearing me out sir." She will then move to leave, but pauses at the door. "Sir, could you let Lieutenant Cherkovski know that if he wishes to see me, I'll be in the hanger please?" She said softly, then when he acknowledged her request she will salute him, then depart his office.

Once departed she will return to the hanger to look in on her maintenance crew, and Albatros.

 Once Miriana left the office, Commander Rockatansky looked directly at Kaarle. “You purposely broke your orders and while I appreciate you not leaving my daughter to die. You have caused a bit of a problem with High Command for the both of you.” His hands go below and rest the desk top.    “Tell me Lieutenant what would you do? I have three choices here. I can pull her wings and make it so she dies inside. I can execute her. Or I can give her administrative punishment. But let’s hear from her first shall we?”

   With that Michelle is lead in by Lt. Fell, and followed by Sgt. Franklin. With the other two marines left waiting outside. The commander looks at her with such anger, she quickly looks away in shame. She glances quickly over to Kaarle and Cerise before turning her gaze back to the deck. When he speaks you can hear the anger in his voice; “Lt. Grey, despite your exemplary record, you are charged with treason! You questioned orders multiple times, saluted a commanding officer in the field, you pulled a weapon on that same commanding officer and the team medic. You tried to end your life.  You did not even take the time to explain your action in a report you were supposed to summit after the mission. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF LIEUTENANT? 

   There are tears running down her cheeks as she starts to speak, “I… Di….” Then silence with a shake of her head to indicate she did not.

  Commander Rockatansky shoots Kaarle a look that made sure he remained silent. “ Lt. Fell, did she answer your questions?”   Lt. Fell steps forward standing straight and formal;   “Yes sir, lt. Grey complied with all requested information, Sir.” She continues when ordered to give those answers to the group.  “Sir, Lt. Grey indicated when she questioned Lt. Cherkovski orders she was trying to follow your own orders to protect the vital members of Wraith Squadron. As for the Saluting her commanding officer in the field, she informed me, she did not do that. She thought it and her Mecha just did it. For pulling a weapon on her CO and medic, she was defending herself, Lt. Cherkovski had ordered her out of her mecha at gun point and then ordered her to face a medic. Which is what lead to her try and kill herself. She found she could not kill her CO, but she would not allow them to torture her. It was the only option she has since she was cut off from her mecha and unable to escape. And her attitude about the report is a poor one Sir. She did not see a point, she says she was already dead. She had accomplished her final mission and kept Lt. Cherkoski from sacrificing himself.” She then steps back and awaits further orders.

  The Commander looks back at Kaarle as he speaks;  “Lt. Grey, I have three options I can choose from for you. I can execute you. I can give you administrative punishment, or I can take your wings from you and find another job.”


   Michelle manages to speak with the last option is given “Please Sir, I rather be executed before the loss of flight status.”    you can tell she is fighting now to contain herself from sobbing.

   Readdressing Kaarle, Commander Rockatansky is unable to hide the pain in his eyes. “Lt. Cherkovski, I’ll let you choose her fate as she is your subordinate and it was you she pulled a firearm  on. Shall we execute her? reassign her to some desk job under Lt. Fell. Or do you want to give her administrative punishment which will commence immediately?” 

  Michelle looks up with pleading eyes.

In reply to Gargoyle (msg # 57):

Kaarle's stomach sank as the commander handed down his punishment to him.  Quite the turnabout he thought since he hadn't expected that he would be the one to have to decide Michelle's fate.  Looking from the Commander over to Michelle then back to the Commander he spoke.  "Permission to speak freely sir" he said to him his voice wavering slightly as he choked down his disgust and anger that had been growing inside him.

Regardless of whether the permission was given he'd stand and walk over to Michelle to stand by her.  "From the beginning nothing felt right about this mission, and as I have sat listening to this debriefing I've come to conclusion regardless of its success someone was never meant to make it out alive." he said accusingly, glancing back at Michelle for a moment before turning his attention to the commander once more.

"How else can you explain command stepping in and giving Michelle direct orders to sacrifice herself without at least first consulting myself or my CO in the process?" he said pointedly before continuing without reservation.  "Where was the chain of command then? hell what has happened with the chain of command now as we speak?  It is not my place to order summary execution without some form of due process for Lt. Grey" he said to the commander as the anger in his voice grew.  "Of course technically these kids, this unit, these missions, none of it happened it officially... so why is it now all the sudden does it matter unless someone feels that a house cleaning is in order and the Lieutenant has to go?"

Looking to Michelle now his face had gone from white to red as it was clear this whole situation was a complete and utter farce in his eyes.  "Commander it is my understanding that the Lieutenant and the rest of these kids are nothing more then weapons of war.  As such when a weapon misfires or jams we don't simply throw it away, you work on it, you give it the attention it needs by seeing to why the weapon failed and what can be done to fix it."

Turning to face the Commander once more he says with the utmost conviction.  "If any punishment must be carried out then Administrative one I feel is in order, as arbitrary as it would seem there is obvious sense that something must be done."  he moves to sit back down before finally adding. 

"That punishment should only be for a failure to follow protocol since as far as I'm concerned I see the failure to follow orders, and pulling her weapon to be a direct result of outside influence as well as of the failure of the mission to take into account the inherit flaws of using wireless communications between the Lt Grey and her Veritech.  I mean lets be clear, whoever thought using wireless technology without taking into account someone trying to hack it remotely was either woefully ignorant of the situation or running an experiment to see how these kids would handle such an intrusion.  In either case I can't hold the Lieutenant responsible for remote interference when we don't know the full extent of its impact other then the obvious."

With a heavy sigh he turned one last time to Michelle, this time all the anger had washed away and genuine guilt filled his being "That is my final decision on the matter.  I sincerely hope that this can be used as the opportunity to strengthen my team rather then weaken it unnecessarily."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:06, Wed 21 Dec 2016.

  Thirteen - Aravae gives a sympathic smile. as she continues to follow you. "so you and your friends only sleep and train?" there is a sadness in her voice as she asked.

  she places her hand behind her back. "it must be a hard living like that. Do you like it?"



  Skyrah - As you enter the hanger you find the three mecha being lifted up onto hoist and multible teams being pulled to a central work area. The leads of each team which is currently double what they normally are, are discussing the work orders and mapping out a plan of action.

 Once Kaarle had finished Max’s voice became cold as ice and his eyes narrowed. "The missions your teams go on lieutenant can change in an instant.  The moment the vessel was discovered to be tied into Disciple of Zor, command decided to take over sight. And when I say command I am referring to those sitting on the top of the top.  Like you I have to answer to a higher authority.” His fist hits the top of the desk; “Lt. Greys fate was sealed the moment she pulled a weapon on her CO. High Command did not approve weapons that turn on their fellow soldier. High Command ordered to execute her. Not even doctor Ikari gave that order. But then a low ranking Lieutenant decided to openly speak about how he could disobey such orders as they were being given.

   “There is no flawless device in the universe Lieutenant. And from the diagnostics run on all of the kids implants by the engineers on Nerv none of them were compromised. None! I hold you accountable for what happened Lieutenant. You drew a weapon first. You over reacted and you put a pilot in a traumatic situation where she snapped. But it was her reaction I have to respond to.”  Making sure the young officer understood where he stood on the matter, His own anger exhausted.

   He looks at Michelle. “Lt. Grey you will report to the sychro chambers immediately, where administrative punishment will begin. Once you have completed that, you will be confined to quarters for two weeks while not on active duty. You are given twenty minutes after duty to shower; you have thirty minute for meal breaks. Where you will sit in silence and not interact with anyone. Is that under stood Lt. Grey?"

   She replies with a simple; “Yes Sir.” Before she is led out of the office by Lt. Fell.

   Once Michelle is gone he taps a button on the desk and an image appears on the wall screen. Dr. Ikari is seen sitting at his own desk. The Commander says; “I trust this to be settled satisfactory Colonel. Thank you for sticking up High Command on behalf of Lt. Grey.”  Dr. Ikari's reply is short and to the point; “I will not forget this favor Commander." With that the image is gone.


 he directs his attention back to both of you as he continues; "Neither of you are being relieved of command. Missions do have their ups and downs. and each decision you make carries a consequence. I have faith in both of you. Lt. Cherkovski you are now Cerise's second in command. If something happens to her you will break from your squadron and assume mission command. Lt. Fell will have your mission briefing to you in the morning.

  Lt. Cherkovski, Lt. Valentine wish me to let you know she will be in the hanger.