[X] Oversee the new recruits.
You frown and cross your arms as you consider your options. The Gadget Drone army sounds like it would be the most fun, although you would like flesh-and-blood enemies. Well, there would be some, too, it's just that the Gadget Drones take priority. You cock your head to the side and look up at Fate. "For this … warzone rescue thing, what time of day is it?" She blinks and checks something on one of the screens.
"It's … early morning. Around eight, local time." You click your tongue and sigh. Well, that's too bad.
"In that case, I suppose I will accept the first mission you mentioned - watching the recruits." Fate stares at you, blinking in confusion, and you smile and pat her arm. "You've noticed that I'm not alone, right? This is Satsuki, my maid, and I'd like to keep her near me as much as possible. She is, however, a different sort of vampire - most notably, she's an obligate nocturnal and the sun is very dangerous for her. While I could have her wait here, or wherever I'll be staying when I'm not doing something specific, I would rather that wait until I can watch over her settling in, and that means that she needs to come with me on this mission. And since the war zone is in the early morning and I can't be sure how long it'll take, I must - reluctantly - refuse it. As for the negotiation …." You smile and shrug. "I think you remember me pretty well. I don't have the right sort of personality for it. So, watching over a group of raw recruits is the most sensible option for me at this point." Fate nods uncertainly for a moment, then shakes her head and nods more resolutely.
"Yes, that is … understandable." She types something on the screen and it winks out. "A moment, please." She stands up, takes a deep breath, makes sure her uniform is in order, and walks away from you to a corner of the room. Another screen appears before her. "This is Executive Officer Fate Testarossa Harlaown. There is to be a reassignment of the mage on the Vesta overseeing the operation on administered world #57." You start to listen in, curious, but the door opens and a brown-haired woman walks in and glances at Fate before walking toward you.
"Hello, Flandre. I'm Shario Fienio. I have some forms you need to sign, as well as your ID badge." She opens her folder and points out where you have to sign - you read them first, of course, but they don't seem to be anything unusual. Just things like not knowingly and willingly destroying Bureau property or attacking its agents without a very good reason, not disobeying direct orders from superiors, and the like. Nothing objectionable, and all written very simply and clearly. Then she hands you a small card - your badge. It even has your picture! It's fairly empty - it doesn't have your previous time with Major Marino's unit as part of your career history, only identifying you as a 'contract mage' that started with the Bureau today, and lists no current home or residence. It does proclaim you as an S-ranked Belkan Knight (Air) and identifies Loki as an Armed Device. "As a Contract Mage, you won't be directly in the Bureau's ranks - you are an outsider hired on a temporary basis. You will have a great deal of discretion with regards to how you carry out your missions, within any given parameters, and you won't be held to as strict a standard of decorum and responsibility in other areas of your work as you would if you were a member of the Bureau." She glances at Satsuki, and you grin as she blushes and looks down. "Your … assistant will receive an ID card soon, once we've had the opportunity to interview her. Now, if I may see your Device? I need to run a diagnostic to make sure it's compatible with our systems." She holds out her hand expectantly and you pout as you hand the gem-set wristband over to her. She takes it carefully and walks over to a computer on a counter. She plugs Loki into the computer, and after a few moments the computer beeps. Her shoulders rise and her back straightens.
"Shari? Is something wrong?" Fate walks back toward you, stopping as Shario turns around to stare furiously at you.
"What did you do to this Device?" You tilt your head slightly to the side as you try to figure out what has her so upset. Lutecia worked on it at one point, but she didn't say there was anything wrong with it … of course, that was before you met Berserker and Lancer, so … maybe something happened. She presses her hands to her face before smiling too-cheerfully at Fate. "Fate, after this mission she needs to have that Device looked at, preferably by whoever worked on it to begin with." You hope Juliet isn't too upset by whatever has Shario angry. Fate sighs and nods and the other woman storms out. Fate gives you a curious look and shakes her head.
"Do you want to bring your - ah, luggage?" She gestures at the coffin and trunk. You nod, grinning, and she walks over to stand near them, and she's surrounded by a golden light. Once it fades, her normal uniform is gone, replaced by her blue-black combat outfit, complete with silly white cape. You pull Satsuki along with you as you hurry to stand by her, as well - you know enough to know what's coming now. And as expected, as Fate begins muttering to herself, a yellow circle appears on the floor below you. It glows brightly, then flashes - and you're elsewhere. You look around the relatively large corridor of metal, but what catches your eye are the suddenly-stopping figures approaching you. You grin and wave at the tall, well-built spear-wielding man and the Device floating next to him. Agito flits over to you.
"Flandre? What are you doing here?" You pat her head and giggle.
"I'm working for the Bureau right now. See?" You hold up your new ID and she stares at it before shaking her head. You look up at Zest as he resumes his approach.
"Captain Grangeitz, Flandre Scarlet is to be your replacement. How soon can you leave?" You frown up at Fate - but then, if he's being pulled away to handle the rescue mission …. He simply nods.
"Yeah, we're good to go. Flandre, it doesn't seem like anything's happening down there, but be really good, okay?" She flies up next to hover near Zest's shoulder.
"Of course, Agito. Good luck. And don't think I've forgotten that we have to have a proper fight, so don't go dying to something silly!" Agito gives you a somewhat horrified look, but Zest only smiles.
"Yes, we do have that to look forward to, don't we? Take good care of them, please." You curtsy and back away. Fate begins working on something at a computer.
"Flandre, Captain Sentra is waiting for you to report to him." She waves distractedly toward one end of the hallway. You scowl, then shrug and wave again to Agito and Zest. Agito waves back, trying to give you an encouraging look, and Zest bows politely. You see Satsuki bow hurriedly as you turn and start walking the way Fate indicated. You feel the buildup and release of magic before you reach the door at the end. Stepping through, you find yourself in a fairly spacious area. Eight people are seated at various consoles, and you start walking toward the one in the middle. The middle-aged man sitting there rubs the side of his face and runs a hand through unkempt greying hair before frowning at you. You stop a few paces from his chair and nod sharply.
"Are you Captain Sentra?" He nods, still frowning.
"And you are the replacement mage for the operation? Ahh …." He taps at the console in front of him.
"Flandre Scarlet." He nods and his eyes flicker to Satsuki. "My maid, Satsuki. Is everything going well?" He sighs and taps something else at the console. A screen appears in front of him, an overhead view of a Romanesque building. It looks to be set up like some kind of hospital, with a few awnings to keep people out of the sun.
"We haven't figured out who attacked this world, but their objective seems to have been simple terror - showing that the Bureau can't protect them. Few fatalities, but a lot of injuries and property damage. More mass-based weapons than magic, but they must have had some mages with them, because they arrived and left by teleportation. The operation seems to be running smoothly so far." Another screen pops up next to it, showing sixteen people, ranging from children to a singular old woman. Your eyes widen. "The Bureau mages down there - twelve recruits, one officer, three nurses. Angela," he taps one of the pictures, showing a nervous-looking woman with black hair, "is in command." You nod, but your eyes track back to the one familiar face. Maybe you shouldn't be surprised to find Lutecia there, since Zest and Agito were watching over the operation, but maybe it was a simple coincidence. And would Fate have known about it? She didn't act like anything unusual was going on ….
"Is there anything I should do up here, or do you just want me to keep out of the way until I'm needed down there?" You look around the room; a couple of the crew seem alert - you can tell because they slip sidelong glances at you - but most seem to be as exhausted as their captain and focused intently on their instruments. Sentra shakes his head.
"No, I don't think there's anything you need to do. If you want to look at the area, that console is linked to the scanning systems." You nod and curtsy politely, then walk over to the computer he indicated. After a few false starts you figure out how to get it to change viewpoints; most of the building can be seen, apart from private areas like bathrooms, and different overhead angles allow you to examine most of the block the building is set up in. Like the hospital, the other buildings are low, only one or two stories, and fairly open, with lots of arches and interior courtyards. You tap through the screens until you find Lutecia again, helping the old woman take care of injured people. Everything seems to be under control … you turn to Satsuki and grin.
You sigh and scroll through the different viewpoints again. After a couple hours of talking about Mid-Childa and what to expect, Satsuki finally explained that she wasn't feeling well. Hopefully it's just something about her vampire nature not being able to properly adjust to being in space instead of on the ground where 'day' and 'night' are more properly distinguishable, but she's sleeping in one of the free rooms. Apparently, in addition to being overworked, the ship is running a skeleton crew because this isn't expected to be a combat mission. Risky … but if they're stretched as thin as Fate said, not too unexpected. You shake your head; they should just consolidate their holdings and then work on helping people outside their group. Trying to help everyone like this is just going to make sure the collapse is total.
Your eyes narrow and you move the image back. There's only been one person sitting there for some time … and now he's walking away and the girl is taking his spot. And it offers a good view of the hospital's front. You tap your chin thoughtfully. That someone is keeping an eye on the hospital is obvious, but why would they? Maybe they just have family or friends there, but maybe it's a more hostile observation. And focused on their computers as they are, the crew might not have noticed this happening …. Hrm.
What do you do?
[ ] Tell the captain and see if they can follow the boy who's leaving the area with their sensors.
[ ] Don't tell anyone, but keep a close eye on the girl and see if you can find anyone else who might be watching the hospital.
[ ] Head down to the hospital.
- [ ] Openly. Make sure anyone watching knows that someone else is keeping an eye on things.
- [ ] Secretly. If someone is planning an attack, you want to be on the ground when it happens.
- [ ] Secretly. If you get down there quickly enough, you might be able to follow the boy too wherever he's going.
[ ] Other?
