[FIN] A New General Direction (Imperial Pilots, special)

[PuddleInk]

Shifting his weight onto one leg, Talon relaxed his perfect posture into a more lazy one. He was being attentive; the story being told hurt his pride in the Empire and it showed in his concerned, deep frown. Tea almost forgotten, he sighed and shook his head, absently stirring the contents of the elegant cup.

From what Talon recalled from reports, it didn't matter if there was an army up against whatever that thing was. It was going to end bad and make the Empire look like utter fools, and the laughing stock of the continent. It would also draw unnecessary attention to himself and to innocents like the General and poor Ranee.

Atelius and Zutnick would no doubts be informed as soon as they could. The reply to his question brought out a small smile. It was comforting to know that at least someone felt they should know what was going on in the higher circles. And yet, at the same time, Talon felt put off of his tea. Sick was the better term for it, but he set the saucer down, nodding politely to the upset and concerned General before him. "Thank you, Ma'am. Its comforting to know that someone cares amongst the officers about our safety. Unsettling as this news is, " Talon paused, looking for the right words, "information is the best prevention, as you said General. " A fleeting smile then he was back to slightly frowning. It was a death sentence, this information was completely through and through dangerous to ones health.  

[GunSniper]

Rish left the picture on the table as she withdrew another. The comments from the soldiers that time went without an answer. They got the point, no use lingering on the subject.

"With one question answered, I will move onto the next. I will start with you Cadet Kaul, seeing as it will be easiest. Your father insisted and the Emperor agreed. You would have been in service with the general even if Amadeus had kept his honor. It was felt by the emperor that you should reflect the glory and honor of your family. That is why you are here..." Rish was blunt about that. She had no protest over the decision, however she was not one to hand out free rides and wanted to leave an impression that Ice would be getting none in her new found position. "So I would hope that you not disappoint them or me."

Rish gave a moment for that to settle in before she addressed Talon and Shun's situation. "You two were my personal choices...." She looked down at the photo with a smile. "This one is my favorite. Such a dramatic scene. I think it deserves an award..." She mused before setting the photo on the table face up for the the three to see.

"This was taken a few nights ago by a scout, not far from the city actually...... At first I thought more wild organoids, smaller than usual. Than-" Rish paused as she withdrew two more pictures than set them on the table. "-than I obtained these pictures through my surveillance MRZ. It took a while of studying them to really figure out what I was looking at."

((Because I was lame and couldn't draw them)) The fist picture was the back of the Saber striker with an area just behind it's neck circled. without that nasty red circle the silver could would have just faded into the dark armor. There was a feint red glow amongst the silver 'spike'. The second picture of the clear sky with another obnoxious red circle on it. In the center of circle a silver, almost invisible, outline of a bird could be seen. It very closely resembled the black silhouette from the first picture.

Rish than set down another picture showing the Saber Striker, Geno Seeker with two obnoxious red circles this time. One the bird and the other still on the back of the Saber's neck.

"Before you say anything, no one else has seen these photos but myself and now you. My choice was based on these... Not the creatures themselves, but the fact that you have managed to keep them hidden for so long. I believe that you, to include you Cadet Kaul, have potential to really help this Empire. None of you strike me as a mindless drone driven by power lust. A mindless drone would have reported these finds immediately in hopes for a reward. A find like that would set you for life. I believe you have a reason for keeping them a secret..."

Rish leaned back in her seat and waited for any comments before continuing.  

[Blade Kuroda]

As the subject shifted, Shun took another sip of his tea while leaning back in the couch. The information they received was interesting but here was the things he really wanted to know about. The reasoning for the Princess seemed reasonable enough, but as she shifted onto himself and Talon, he paused and stared at the picture she presented.

The figures weren't all too clear, but he could tell what they were pretty easily. His first concerns were cleared up by the General, but he was still very displeased with this. Frowning, he looked up towards her, now wary of the woman. While what she said signified that she wasn't one of the corrupted officials around, he still couldn't be sure if Talon and himself could really trust her. Time would tell that.

"Are you certain no one else could have seen anything like this?" he asked. If she managed to get a snapshot, who was to say someone else didn't either. He said nothing of the reasoning behind the secret. If she decided to ask about it, he would get to it then.  

[PuddleInk]

Talon had slightly tuned out the information and stared at the pictures. Well that was great! Fantastic! Facepalm!

"At least they hid well enough for those not looking for them..." he mutter through a hand, and under his breath. This right here was blackmail material. Essentially, they were pulled into this now and couldn't leave. Oh, she was good. Though, those were some pretty good pictures.

Talon was upset that this was presented in such a way as this. It was embarrassing and no doubts result in a lot of questions from Ranee. The General probably had a few questions as well, though Talon got the impression that she knew that neither would willingly talk about them. After all, the bird and the annoying walking pincushion had been kept a secret for this long, why not more?

All Talon could do was shrug and grin. When in doubt; smile.  

[GunSniper]

Rish shook her head than withdrew two more photos. They seemed the same only from a different angle, also the area in the middle of the red circle showed no evidence of the seeker or striker. It was as if they existed in one photograph but not the other. "Those are from regular surveillance cameras posted in the ZOID Garage. I found that your little friends do not show up under regular surveillance. At least when on guard I assume as they show up, if not a little obscured, on our scout's photo."

Rish set the folder next to her on the couch. She couldn't help but find Talon's reaction very amusing. "Your secret is safe. Rest assured, I am the only one with this particular type of MRZ. And what is spoken in this room stays in this room." She gave Ice a glance knowing full well she was not involved with the strange creatures.

"There were only those two, and I imagine they are within the city by now." Rish answered. "I would like to see them myself as well, however at a later time. There is too much to do today on my end and I'm sure you all would like a rest after this meeting. I will not yet inquire how you two obtained them. So your secret is safe for now." She picked up the mug of hot coco and took a sip. Her vibrant sapphire eye glanced again over her three new guards as she set the mug back down on the table.

"If you have questions of me, please, feel free to ask now..."  

[Blade Kuroda]

The fact that they had managed to stay out of general sight was a relief, though Shun's eyes narrowed some as the Princess inquired where they got them. He didn't know if Talon was going to say anything, but he sure wasn't if he could help it. The Private felt that the two of them were walking on a thin enough line as it was.

"The less you know about them, the better," he mumbled to his fellow soldier before turning his attention back to Pendragon. Her meeting up with Atelius and Zutnic would be... interesting to say the very least. The two were definitely going to need to be briefed on this.

Peering at the pictures, Bent-Tail tilted his head before looking up at his pilot, then at the big lady in charge. She was quite the sharp one to find out about Zutnic and Atelius like that! He didn't know if that was really a good thing though. Shun certainly didn't seem very happy about this, but then again, when did he appear to be happy about anything? It was an extremely rare event indeed.

"What exactly are your plans regarding all of this?" he asked quietly, referring to the 'organoid' situation as well as the general state of the military.  

[PuddleInk]

Talon was relieved when more pictures came out revealing that the two nunsances were pretty good when there were scheduled patrols about. Though now he had to warn them about keeping even lower profiles. That might not go over well with them, but at least Atelius would understand...hopefully. More so than that antsy pincushion. Talon sighed and picked his tea back up.


Question were thrown his way from the Princess, as Shun liked to call her. A cold glance was given to the girl, then he just smiled, "Ask me again when you've had a near death experienced involving bored, caffeinated, crazed engineers, then maybe I'll tell you. Until then, like Shun said, the less you know, the safer you are. Right now, your threat level just rose by seventy-five percent according to those shadows in those pictures. The one with one eye could turn you into minced meat before you could even call 'halt'. The one with wings could peck your eyes out in less time to even utter a breath... "

Talon was assessing this situation quickly, as well as the General astuteness to the gravity of the situation. The conclusion was the cat was already out of the bag...or at least one of the many cats in that bag of secrets. Immediately he dismissed Ranee as someone unfortunately expendable until she learned to keep quite and accept that she was't going to be given anymore information on the subject of the dark shadows, and spoke to the General. "Though really, both are quite sweet. Mention how shiny one is to another and they'll argue for hours over it. Great way to sneak away from a scolding. "

He coughed and realized that it was time for him to ask questions, "What are to be our duties, Ma'am? " And he was grinning and bubbly again. All that other stuff was depressing and, quite frankly, dangerous.... Atelius, Cuddles, and especially Moe were going to be furious when he told them what happened here.  

[GunSniper]

Before answering any of the questions, she couldn't help but shoot Talon a surprised look. He certainly was the fire cracker of the group.
"Noted Private... I should have to inquire about your adventures further at a later time."

Whether he was addressing her or not, he had sparked curiosity. She gave Shun a glance wondering if he may have had a similar experience. However that could be addressed latter. It was back to the questions.

"My plans on all accounts are to remain quiet for now. No one needs to know about your little friends... or that there is an ancient homicidal organoid roaming uncharted territory. I get the feeling there is more to this than we all understand. I have heard of a black fog that no one emerges from alive, a strange account of people encountering reanimated corpses in the rogue territories, and even stories of small villages vanishing over night. The Emperor claims the stories come from drunken delusional merchants when they come to trade in town, however I do not think that is the case. The military as a whole is unprepared and over confident... mindlessly agreeing we are the greatest power on this planet. And I believe that it will put our Emperor, and our nation, in danger. "

Rish paused for a moment to let the words sink in before she proceeded with the next question.

"Your duties will include training, preparing and accompanying me to just about every formal event in the book. We will be getting to know each other very well..... The three of you will learn to work together as one unit. Respect each other and remember that your survival depends on everyone in this room. I also expect you all to be vigilant and to set yourselves apart from the mindless. You will report to me any odd occurrence you observe..... I believe I can trust you with that."

She gathered the photos from the table and begun to put them away in their envelope.

"If you have no further questions you are relieved from this meeting. Enjoy your day and I do look forward to working closely with you. Tomorrow you are to report to the Palace to begin your training, understood? "

Rish looked from the three of them as she sealed the envelope once more. The lens on her eye patch clicking as it shifted three times.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Glad that the Princess had been put in her place thanks to Talon, Shun kept his attention on the General as she answered their inquiries. She seemed to have a very very vague understanding of what they were dealing with, as just about everything she listed was connected one way or another. At least that was what he felt. He agreed with her on the military being far too arrogant regarding all of this, which garnered a few points of respect for her.

The next set of answers were less favorable for the soldier, seeing how he detested those formal events and the like. But he supposed if he could stay out of the spotlight for those things, he'd be alright with them. The other thing he wasn't so sure about was this team setup. Shun already knew he could work with Talon, having fought alongside him. Not to mention that they were very much in the same boat when it came to the Judge dealings.

The Princess.... would take considerable more effort on his part to deal with. She had yet earned his respect and he didn't hold a great amount of trust in her at all either at this point. Well, he'd have to bear with it one way or another, but he had his doubts on if he could rely on the girl who was put into this position because her Noble dad said so.

"Yes Ma'am," he said simply after a short pause. Shun finished up his tea, then stood up, seeing how they were dismissed. He shot a glance to Talon, then motioned to his organoid to come along as he started for the door.

Briefing the striker on everything that happened here was certainly going to be something.  

[PuddleInk]

Internally, Talon was scolding himself for getting that worked up and exposing his mind to the poor, curious girl. This was why Moe was kept around. Moe would be pouting and annoyed no doubts by now. Even so, Talon ignored Ranee for the time being, mostly out of courtesy.


The explanation presented was fantastic... He was a little stunned by how much the General seemed to have acquired and asses the situation. Even so, he was a little bit weary. Her eye patch was most curious... But he decided to ask later... After all he caught a glance from Shun that seemed to mean something important. It probably involved talking to the two that were kept to help them and keep them safe. A salute and he set his tea on the tray for easy collection, "Yes, Ma'am... Thank you, Ma'am. See you tomorrow morning. " The salute turned to a smile, then a sigh.

He glanced at Ranee again, frowning slightly then just shook his head. He'll apologize later...maybe send Moe over to play telegram boy. That'll work. But first he needed to talk to Atelius... and explain everything.  

[GunSniper]

"Oh, before you go." Rish walked around the table toward the trio. Her metals and coat ornaments softly clanking together as she moved. "It would be best if you had your own copy of these. I know I can trust you with them." She spoke with a smile as she held the envelop out to Shun. Whether he took them or not, they were offered before he left her presence.

Her attention than turned to Ranee. "And I understand your father is hosting a dinner for the emperor tonight? So I will be seeing you again much sooner... I do hope to get to know more about you."

The information had been relayed to her from the butler, and knowing the relation between her father and the Emperor there was little reason to believe the information was false. If so, she again would have to have a word with the stiff.