Just a hint of a smile was around the edges of her mouth as she had listened to his explanation. Not once did she interrupt or show any kind of judgement. The Cadet seemed eager. Maybe a bit too eager but that was a thing that could be changed.
"I don't know a single person which has ever been happy with the Navy's beaurocracy or the system that has been running for centuries without change. But I think even you have to admit that such a drastic action looks highly dangerous to me." She said while she added some notes to his file.
"But I understand how it is to blindly follow orders that will lead to nothing but death. I don't give out these orders and when I have to, my staff is informed." She said and with a sigh let the tablet slide over to him. It would have a video open that contained the last moments of the LNS Discovery. Most people reached the escape pods and have been retrieved but by far not all of them.
"Our mission is a highly dangerous one and we are aligning with forces the government teached you to hate for your entire life. There is no returning to your old life once they know you are with Separatist forces. Are you really certain that this is the way you wish to go?"
He seemed to notice her reaction which forced a light grin out of him, relaxing the atmosphere because of the little insurance he got that this whole thing isn't going as bad as he thought it would. Upon being shown the footage of LNS Discovery, Kristian merely skimmed through the data on the touchpad, pushing the device to slide back and to the admiral as soon as possible though not seeming quite flustered about what he saw. "I understand. Not that I haven't seen worse..."
A short moment of awkward silence before, seeming rather confident now, clearing his throat once more (the cadet actually seemed to do it often whenever he was put in an awkward spot), looking straight into the admirals eyes with a dead serious expression, Levan said his final statement. "I don't mind working with local, quote on quote criminals, because some of them do have their goals set, and the victims brought from their means of achieving such have a good reason behind the bodybag. The whole 'your entire life you have been taught to hate them' thing only counts towards the people who mindlessly follow propaganda. And as far as having to turn on my old comrades goes, the training unit in which I was placed was taught to leave such emotions at the door before an operation anyway. Would be disappointing if I didn't follow such a protocol."
Hands in his pockets, he was still facing the admiral silently, waiting for her judgment.
She had watched him as he looked at the footage. Either he didn't understand the situation or he had already understood it fairly well. He was going to leave home behind for the possibility to end up like this. His attitude toward the criminals was something she'd have to observe. Being open for it was one thing but if he already accepted them this freely then there'd be the risk of this operation going to chaos.
"I assume that you can fly that ship you arrived with? Or a Guardian at least? And I am not talking about managing to get it from A to B. Since you didn't finish your training on West Point I cannot be certain of that. I'll be risking one of our fighters." She asked him. Most fighter pilots graduating from West Point had to enter the Badlands to take out a criminal or two or whatever else they'd find.
"Tell me how far your combat training went and if you participated in any actual fights." She wanted to know and kept adding to the notes shortly.
"Well I think I'm at least a bit above average when it comes to piloting. I've had field experience, but the only real fight I was a part of included breaking through a blockade of Rogues when I was making my escape out of Liberty. Training included advanced combat piloting, but not to an extent where that would be my primary most distinguishable skill." Kristian replied keeping at his lightly leaned back position in the chair. He was watching the admiral whenever she took a note, but without showing any obvious signs of nervousness or tension.
"Oh, and I can fly virtually anything that was ever registered in the known combat vessel directory. Was forced to learn the ins and outs of every ship on there, and to be honest you never know when infiltrating the enemy lines will require you to blast a way out with their own ingenuity."
That explanation seemed to satisfy her. He didn't seem to think he would be able to match with the real pilots yet but clearly confident enough to try and become one. Kristian seemed to be able to judge his abilities but it was something that would prove himself in the next days.
"Very well. I will give you the chance to prove that. There is a mission coming up and I am willing to let you pilot one of the fighters. But you will get your briefing from the responsible officer. If they are satisfied with your performance I'll consider your "transfer" as accepted and you'll be promoted to Ensign. We'll be the better judge of your abilities than West Point." She said all rather calmly, explaning it as if she had planned this to go down like this already.
"Lieutenant Cole will bring you to a room with free place and show you a locker to store your belongings. I suggest you get some rest as we cannot afford having idle personnel for too long. Tomorrow you can clear any other formalities with the administrative staff. Any questions?" She asked, ready to continue with whatever else tasks she had on her to-do list for today.
"Got no belonging to store really, and no further questions. I appreciate the chance you are giving me." Even though he didn't want to overreact, his satisfactory smile and joking remark about the belongings gave away everything. The cadet was happy about how this went.
Kristian got up, giving a formal salute to the admiral. "I'll be on my way." Before turning to exit the room.