Authored by Ray of Meep (GM)
???? A.D., Several minutes after the interrorgation of Edith Dussault
Daheim One
Eberhard slipped out from one of the truss' that connected the spinning habitation modules to the central spine of the frigate, and pushed his way up towards the command module. The bridge was a small, octagonal box, with large monitors for walls that gave camera views of the outerside of the ship. Smaller consoles lined the walls, with crash couches for seats. In the center was a planning table equipped with a hologram suite, near it a hatch that lead to the rest of the ship.
Ulrike maglocked herself infront of one of the consoles, replaying the last part of the interrogation, from Juan cutting off Edith's finger to Joan crashing down and barfing on the floor. Her expression had a hint of concern, but otherwise stone-faced as she tapped her chin.
"Why did you do it? Why did you subject them to all that?" Eberhard practically stormed up behind her.
"They needed to find a way into the club, so I figured I buy the attire that gave them the best chance at it." Ulrike stayed focused on the console, tabbing out of the recording and jotted down some notes.
"Ulri, no, Ulrike, don't dodge the question, you know what I meant!" Eberhard was more frustrated than angry. "You heard what Juan said, they didn't sign up for this! Why have them go through this psychological..." He tried to grasp for words. "... torture!"
Ulrike turned around as Eberhard pointed at her, a vein popping out of his hand, "I doubt that someone like you with so much political clout couldn't find people with better psychological profiles who were willing to do this dirty work. I didn't even have to do all the infiltration and I felt all the shit Bee and Joan had to go through. I don't even want to think about how they must've felt when they had to mutilate the lass to get information out of her."
Eberhard brought his hand down, but continued his rant. "They're soldiers. They were hardwired not to harm civvies. And don't give the adaptibility excuse, they didn't need to go through this!"
"Have you searched for cybernetics?" Ulrike simply asked, calmy.
"What? Yeah, Mont is doing a silicon scan as we speak." Eberhard replied as Ulrike turned around to the console, pulling up a live feed of the results coming in.
"Looks like we have a whole suite," Ulrike said. "Camera in the eyes, a processor on the left of the brain, heartbeat sensor and transponder at her chest, and a hard drive for all that in her abdomen."
"We expected all that, none of this avoids the fact that we made them go through with it." Eberhard crossed his arms.
"But they didn't know. Yet they still made the right call. Joan didn't need to go with the stripper outfit, but she and Bee did it anyways. Their mental profiles suggest they should've avoided all these direct but costly methods, but they did it anyways." Ulrike turned around again.
"What are you getting at? Just because we picked the right people doesn't mean they need to be on these missions." Eberhard asked, now less frustrated and more inquisitive.
"No, they do need to go through this hell." Ulrike asserted. "Did Mont tell you about my meeting with that Chongwu business woman?"
Eberhard nodded. "Yeah, you thought she would've torn you apart. I wish I was there for you."
Ulrike explained, "She talked about some omninous stuff. A growing fire in Daqin, Chongwu getting ready to rebel against their masters as did the Daqin against theirs a century ago. I did some digging of my own, and, well, peace doesn't look to be on the horizon for other fronts either. News came in that an American Union ship associated with the Hawking system botched a humanitarian mission, and the cybernetic people there were already in a precarious relationship with the rest of the Union. Piracy's ramping up in the Kitezh system, despite it being one of the best policed."
She walked up, closer to Eberhard and looked up at him straight in the eyes. "The point is, we'd be naive to think that we'll be staying in the Silbern system kicking pirate ass. Sooner or later the world's going to drag us into its ugliest affairs, whether we like it or not, and I'd rather have the Lancers learn to do what's necessary to survive while we still have friends in the government as a cushion."
"Ulri..." Eberhard took her by the hand.
"Just don't let the Lancers see me this apprehensive." Ulrike put up a smile. "You're supposed to be the smart but skeptical Dad after all."
Eberhard nodded, while Ulrike came in further for a hug. "Let's do this for our children, so they won't have to deal with pirates when they grow up."
End.
???? A.D., Several minutes after the interrorgation of Edith Dussault
Daheim One
Eberhard slipped out from one of the truss' that connected the spinning habitation modules to the central spine of the frigate, and pushed his way up towards the command module. The bridge was a small, octagonal box, with large monitors for walls that gave camera views of the outerside of the ship. Smaller consoles lined the walls, with crash couches for seats. In the center was a planning table equipped with a hologram suite, near it a hatch that lead to the rest of the ship.
Ulrike maglocked herself infront of one of the consoles, replaying the last part of the interrogation, from Juan cutting off Edith's finger to Joan crashing down and barfing on the floor. Her expression had a hint of concern, but otherwise stone-faced as she tapped her chin.
"Why did you do it? Why did you subject them to all that?" Eberhard practically stormed up behind her.
"They needed to find a way into the club, so I figured I buy the attire that gave them the best chance at it." Ulrike stayed focused on the console, tabbing out of the recording and jotted down some notes.
"Ulri, no, Ulrike, don't dodge the question, you know what I meant!" Eberhard was more frustrated than angry. "You heard what Juan said, they didn't sign up for this! Why have them go through this psychological..." He tried to grasp for words. "... torture!"
Ulrike turned around as Eberhard pointed at her, a vein popping out of his hand, "I doubt that someone like you with so much political clout couldn't find people with better psychological profiles who were willing to do this dirty work. I didn't even have to do all the infiltration and I felt all the shit Bee and Joan had to go through. I don't even want to think about how they must've felt when they had to mutilate the lass to get information out of her."
Eberhard brought his hand down, but continued his rant. "They're soldiers. They were hardwired not to harm civvies. And don't give the adaptibility excuse, they didn't need to go through this!"
"Have you searched for cybernetics?" Ulrike simply asked, calmy.
"What? Yeah, Mont is doing a silicon scan as we speak." Eberhard replied as Ulrike turned around to the console, pulling up a live feed of the results coming in.
"Looks like we have a whole suite," Ulrike said. "Camera in the eyes, a processor on the left of the brain, heartbeat sensor and transponder at her chest, and a hard drive for all that in her abdomen."
"We expected all that, none of this avoids the fact that we made them go through with it." Eberhard crossed his arms.
"But they didn't know. Yet they still made the right call. Joan didn't need to go with the stripper outfit, but she and Bee did it anyways. Their mental profiles suggest they should've avoided all these direct but costly methods, but they did it anyways." Ulrike turned around again.
"What are you getting at? Just because we picked the right people doesn't mean they need to be on these missions." Eberhard asked, now less frustrated and more inquisitive.
"No, they do need to go through this hell." Ulrike asserted. "Did Mont tell you about my meeting with that Chongwu business woman?"
Eberhard nodded. "Yeah, you thought she would've torn you apart. I wish I was there for you."
Ulrike explained, "She talked about some omninous stuff. A growing fire in Daqin, Chongwu getting ready to rebel against their masters as did the Daqin against theirs a century ago. I did some digging of my own, and, well, peace doesn't look to be on the horizon for other fronts either. News came in that an American Union ship associated with the Hawking system botched a humanitarian mission, and the cybernetic people there were already in a precarious relationship with the rest of the Union. Piracy's ramping up in the Kitezh system, despite it being one of the best policed."
She walked up, closer to Eberhard and looked up at him straight in the eyes. "The point is, we'd be naive to think that we'll be staying in the Silbern system kicking pirate ass. Sooner or later the world's going to drag us into its ugliest affairs, whether we like it or not, and I'd rather have the Lancers learn to do what's necessary to survive while we still have friends in the government as a cushion."
"Ulri..." Eberhard took her by the hand.
"Just don't let the Lancers see me this apprehensive." Ulrike put up a smile. "You're supposed to be the smart but skeptical Dad after all."
Eberhard nodded, while Ulrike came in further for a hug. "Let's do this for our children, so they won't have to deal with pirates when they grow up."
End.