Rising an eyebrow clearly annoyed, she let go of Elizabeth and went back to her chair. Sitting down, she locked her hands and looked at Elizabeth. "How deep is your fear of combat? And how deeper is your fear of failure in front of your peers?" Agnes simply asked.
With her shivering hand, Elizabeth corrected her collar as if it had obstructed her breathing. She snuffed the cigarette that she had dropped, which by now was burning through the carpet. It kept bothering her peripheral vision while Agnes was holding her up. "I have no time for philosophy", she dared say. "I am on duty and it will be only business. Say what you have come to say, otherwise please leave." Her eyes had the look of a woman whose dignity had just been defiled. It was an exercised look, as her dignity had been defiled many times before and she was used to it.
"This is not philosophy. This is primal." She retorted. "This is one of the many things that set a great commander apart from the rest." Waving her hand towards the office, she made her point. "Because you will not lead men against what's coming from a politician seat." Smirking at the notion, she looked at the floor.
New London System, Admiralty Board Room- 826 A.S.
John took a moment to size up Admiral Dagon, suited up like something out of Top Gun, face coated in sweat, generally looking quite rough. John was cut from the same cloth - not that he was noble born - he shared the Admirals penchant for fighter combat. He was however less cavalier about his responsibilities, dedicating himself to the work involved in keeping the war machine churning. He did not doubt that he could not jump into a fighter and fight in a blaze of glory, but more pressing matters were at hand.
"You look like *****, Dagon, don't smell very nice either. But you are the first, no doubt." John quipped. "As for the occasion, don't act like you don't know. You have spent more time in New London as of late, it's your intelligence that brings me back from Exeter. Put your admiral hat on for once and give the board the full 360 degrees. There are billions of lives on the line, we can't cock this up." John, despite his rank, attempted to reprimand the admiral, no doubt to little effect. But his words he hoped were enough to get things moving, he knew the admiral preferred this style of engagement, confrontational, to the point.
"We have only a few precious days left, if your initial assessments are correct, so lets get some of the Special Brew up here and get to it, the other admirals should be able to get up to speed." John spoke before Kaze could react to his previous words, attempting to move the topic onward.
"You are the head and face of Bretonia in the frontier." Agnes pointed out. "A frontier filled with those that would see us burning and get the spoils from our people." The hands kept moving as she spoke, indicating her disposition and giving way to a visual representation of her words."So I am asking. Are you afraid of combat? Or are you even more afraid of failing?"
"I will not get rid of you unless I tell you what you want, no?" Seemingly cooperating, Elizabeth was already starting to concoct a plan of vengeance. "Yes! I am afraid. And of failing the most. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Smiling and opening her hands, she spoke after thinking carefully on the answer. "Excelent. I was hoping you had it in you." Removing a small data-pad, she threw it at Elizabeth who treated it like it was life grenade. Not even caring about her reaction, Agnes continued. "Bretonia now contains the most veteran force in the universe. More than ten years of war insured that. Consequentially, our War College enjoys the availability of the very best of that experience." Rising from her seat, she turned her back to Elizabeth, looking to the horizon through the window. "Enlist in Capital Warfare." Agnes coldly said. "Enlist, and learn."
"What?", she exclaimed, genuinely surprised that this was what Agnes wanted. "Does Steiner not know you're here? I've already read his entire library and learned from him in person, too. If someone knows about capital ships, that is the fleet admiral, no?"
Sighing, Agnes closed her hands behind her back. "The Fleet Admiral is a proper leader. Not a proper capital class commander. Two wholly completely different things. And books do not substitute the War College courses. Reading about capital combat from a book.. Is quite droll." Turning around to look at Elizabeth, she continued. "As for his knowledge of my presence, I have carte blanche on several situations. This is one of them." Approaching Elizabeth slowly, she pointed to her data-pad. "I will have Captain Richard Alby, one of our best, the current CO of the HMS-Hellbound to be your personal tutor, after hours. Also.." She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "All of your daddy's engagements are in there as well."
A scene ran through Elizabeth's thoughts. In that scene, she suddenly pulled a poisonous dart out of her hair and stuck it into Agnes' forehead. Then she lifted the harpsichord with superhuman strength and dropped it on Agnes' already dead body. The rage was showing in her eyes, although her face stayed prim. "And you risked charges for assault on a superior officer because of... that? You could have just mentioned my father's battles at the start, I've been trying to find the details everywhere!"
A grin appeared in her face. Not feral, but calculated as if the pieces were placing themselves in position by destiny due to careful planning. "If you haven't noticed yet.. I have access to things you do not. Can do things you do not. Such is fate." Leaning over, their faces separated by mere centimeters, the grin became even more evident. "And what assault? I'm not here, Lady Governor. I'm currently travelling to Nauru. Unfortunately I couldn't be in this meeting." A small slap, educational even came to Elizabeth unexpected. "My threat still stands though. No tongue and no arms, so best keep silent." The inflection was there, like a guillotine to her neck. Rising above Elizabeth, she looked down at her. "So are you ready to be the memorable person you aim to be? To leave your father and Dagon in the dust?"
Agnes had such refined manners at the start, at least by Elizabeth's judgement, yet beneath all that, she was an impulsive beast. A spoiled narcissist who had apparently never encountered an obstacle she was not able to overcome. It certainly influenced her personality to develop into one that didn't accept "no" as an answer. Having learned from her days as a lady of the night, Elizabeth decided to let her feel as if she was in contro-the slap. She did not expect that. It tested her painfully reacquired calmness. She barely reined in the wrathful dance of one of her eyelids. Within her thoughts, Elizabeth imagined Agnes' head suddenly explode without any obvious reason and cover the room with gore.
But nearly perfectly calm on the outside, save the frightened wheezing, she gave out the impression of a person fully under control. Intentionally taking Agnes' command not to speak more seriously than intended, she said nothing -- she only gave Agnes a nod.
When her thoughts become clear enough to think rationally, Elizabeth planned, she will decide how to avenge for this.