The Practice War [Complete]

"Are you sure you'll be alright taking care of Arcadia?" You asked, for what had to be the millionth time if Mary's amused resignation was anything to go off of. You were both in the small sitting room which you'd transplanted almost directly from the Residence on Earth. A place for close friends, but mostly just family. It had been used several times over the last week, after you'd returned from the meeting aboard Prometheus.

"I think I'll appreciate the busyness," your friend said, one hand tracing the line of your blonde hair as you half-sat, half-lay on one of the wide sofas together. "With you and Iris both going up there this year," she shook her head. "It's going to be hard watching that, Mandy."

"It's going to be hard being there," you said, in a low voice. You'd both known that Iris was too much your shared child to ignore the conflict that lay ahead of you. But that had been different to realising that that moment was now here, or soon would be. "Even though I know she's going to be the safest person there," you shook your head.

"She's still our daughter," Mary finished, pulling you close for a moment. "And we don't want anything bad to happen to her."

"Yeah," you blinked a few times, but you weren't trying to hide how you felt. A few tears slipped down your cheeks, and Mary brushed them away very gently. "I know we've done everything we could, both for her, and everyone else. But I still can't help but worry. Battle is insanity and despite all the practice I've done," you shook your head, hard, "I still hate it."

"I know, Mandy," Mary said soothingly, and you didn't need to move to know the expression on her face. Calm resolution, above everything. You could feel the emotions beneath it, but she knew that, and you both knew you wouldn't comment. "We've been very lucky, to have all this time. But we knew this coming."

Neither of you added what you both wanted to. That you wished it could have come later. It would have been wasted breath, and you had only so much time left. At least this time, you had a proper date. Insight had improved. Not, you had to admit, that that was always a nice thing. Part of getting better meant more information, like what was coming.

"And all we could do was be ready to face it," you completed the words, a saying that had been popularised around the Second Battle of Sol, and was now experiencing an entirely predictable resurgence. "Do you think we are?"

"Mandy," your friend's voice was gently chiding, but also accepting, just as yours had been. "I hope so. But we've done all we can now. Nothing on Arcadia's roster could be completed in time for deployment by May, anyway. It's down to you now, and Lina."

"She's not going to make it easy for them," you stated, and felt Mary nod against your shoulder. "And no matter how much I don't like fighting when it's for real, neither will I."

"Of course you won't," Mary smiled with her voice. "You promised Iris and I that, because we all know that you can't promise anything more. And I'd never want you to lie to make me feel better."

"You will be as safe here as anywhere in the star system, though," you said, and you felt the vibration as she laughed gently.

"You know, Mandy, most people give their friends personal protective gear, or try to get them somewhere they know they'll be safest. They don't," her voice caught, despite her best efforts, "reinforce the defences of her current home with reality bullshit until they can withstand direct anything short of the planet cracking in two."

There was a moment of silence, a longer one, as you struggled a little to find the right words. "Well," you said at last, a bit of bluster in them, "some people aren't me!" You knew you sounded childish, and you didn't care in the least.

"True," Mary agreed. For what time remained, neither of your spoke, you didn't need to. Everything that needed said had been said, and you knew each other well enough to know what wouldn't be. This might be the end of a bright and wonderful time, yes, but it didn't have to be the end of that type of time. You wouldn't allow it. Not whilst you still drew breath. And Mary, you knew, would do everything in her power to help you realise that goal.

You'd be back again before the battle, but a highly intensive five months lay ahead of you. You kept goodbyes brief at the door, promised (again) to call, then extended your Aegis and streaked up into the Martian sky. You had work to do.

0 Research Actions
Mary is running Arcadia this year.

5 Minor Actions

[] Mother of Circles: Beyond returning to the Circles to learn and teach, there's also the opportunity to simply be part of them again. You never lost your place among them, you simply set it aside for a time. Now you can return to it if you wish, to grow and build.
[] Valkyries: The Two Twenty Three were the only force to emerge from the Second Battle of Sol intact, after facing the most lethal of the FSN's enemies in that fight. They brought down the Medicament, and faced Shiplords in direct combat aboard Calypso. Yet there is much that can still be done to temper the blade of the Unisonbound, and you are part of that weapon. With Third Sol swiftly approaching, even the smallest flaw could be fatal. None must be.
*New* [] Nexus: Before the Second Battle of Sol, you forged a nexus of power from your words that eventually granted you the strength to Speak Purify upon the Medicament that travelled with the Tribute Fleet. Now, Adriana has suggested you do so once again, for the battle to come.
*New* [] Worldheart: Humanity is far more stable and ready for this moment than it was for the Second Battle of Sol, but that doesn't mean entirely. Adding your voice to those working to maintain that stability might not be needed, but it would help in ways nothing else could.
[] Write-in

4 Personal Actions
Mentor not locked this round due to Third Battle of Sol.

[] Unison Training: Training with the entire Two Twenty Three is one thing, but you can get just as much personally out of dedicating time to work with your own small part of it. Vega, Kalilah and you represent three of the organisations most powerful members, and a high level of synchronicity between you will reflect on the rest even without full group training. Of course, combining the two will make that effect much stronger.
[] Bonds of Blood and Laughter: Although your sabbatical has ended, you won't be missing your friends or family as much as you did before. Lead Director of Arcadia is a big job, but it pales in comparison to the Presidency. Still, you could always make more time.
[] Mentor: When Iris found her first friends in Aya and her sister Nei, you had been glad. You'd not expected that, most of a decade later, you'd be teaching one of those friends how to understand and use her Focus. But what Aya might be able to do, once she does know those things, would make the effort worth it regardless. That it lets her be near to those she cares for, well…that's just a happy side-effect.
[] Lyrics of Fire: You can remember the melody of the song that rang in your mind in the moment you spoke Purify the first time, at the height of the Second Battle of Sol, but you cannot find the words. To Speak as you did then, or even surpass it, you must find not just the shape and feel and sound of humanity, but the music which makes it more than a civilisation of those who are simply living. [157/???]
[] Write-in

Due to limited time before the Second Battle of Sol, it will require 2 Actions to effectively match the output of 1 on a normal turn, and even that will operate with a small malus. Please note if you are assigning two actions to a task by line. For example:

[X] Plan Rainbow Paradise Blueray

Minor (5)
[] Nexus – 2 Action
[] Valkyries – 2 Actions
[] Mother of Circles

Personal (4)

[] Unison Training – 2 Actions
[] Bonds of Blood and Laughter
[] Lyrics of Fire

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