- OCV-Svizra, this is agent Brian Scott, requesting permission to dock, over. - I read you, agent Scott, you're clear to proceed to hangar three. - Understood, Scott out.
With an all too familiar series of movements Brian turned his Bastet fighter and approached the hangar bay doors of the Osiris-class battleship. Old habits die hard: despite his long absence and years spent on the ground, he still knew his way around the ship. He felt right at home as soon as his Bastet rested on the pad and he could leave the pilot seat.
As Brian wandered around the hangar aimlessly, he couldn't but think back to the old days. He had only been aboard the Svizra a few times before, but the ship's inner layout was much like that of the legendary OCV-Isis. Brian spent a lot of time on the Isis, so being on Svizra felt like going back in time. Almost.
It's the people that made the difference. As he looked around, Brian didn't notice too many familiar faces. Maybe it was because he spent the last 2 years on Freeport 11. Or maybe it had started earlier, during the battle of Minor—almost everyone lost more than a few friends back on Toledo.
Of the few people who were in the hangar, only one man recognized Brian and saluted a former captain, chief recruitment officer, and Toledo survivor. Almost instinctively, Brian saluted in return, giving a slight nod. The face of the man seemed familiar, but Brian couldn't place it. His mind was busy with other thoughts. Ever since he talked to a certain Order agent, one question has been bugging him.
The Svizra was mobilizing near Planet Akabat, away from all the action and conflict in the rest of the Omicrons. The bridge of the ship was mostly quiet, only the regular mutters and mumbles from the crewmen. Aoi Kunieda, the ship's commander, wanders around the bridge, inspecting the panels and consoles around her. The comms officer turns to her for a brief period informing her of the arrival of the Bastet "Agent Scott has arrived, ma'am." Kunieda moves a few steps towards the officer, taking a deep breath "Good. Call him to the bridge."
The officers nods before proceeding to use the broadcast system - "Brian Scott to the bridge. Brian Scott to the bridge" the broadcast echoes throughout the ship's hangers and hallways, before it slowly fades away. Kunieda stands against one of the bridge's windows, examining the new Order home planet - Akabat, as she waits for the arrival of Scott to the bridge, her mind filled with doubts and hesitation, yet determination ruled over it.
"The time of change has come." She thought to herself. The experience she received with Nomads through her service in the Order and the Dragons previously also earned her more insights regarding the war with these Nomad entities, the Order's work and operations in that domain. Yet, it was insufficient, lost, drifting away from what should be truly done.
"Brian Scott to the bridge. Brian Scott to the bridge."
The announcement brought Brian back to reality, as he instinctively started walking towards the hangar exit. The man who saluted him just shrugged, took a look at the departing agent, and went on about his business.
As Brian navigated through the hallways and corridors of the Svizra, he couldn't but wonder how the ship was still operational, despite being one of the older vessels of the fleet and seeing some of the grimmest events of the Order history. There were signs of wear and tear; Brian even saw the maintenance crews doing some welding here and there. But where the Svizra lacked in mint paint, she compensated in functionality—all in all, she was a proud ship that still had a part to play.
Eventually Brian got through the crowded corridors to the elevator that would take him to the bridge deck. As he approached the bridge, he noticed that this deck was a lot quieter than the hangars. It usually meant that things were calm: during the battle all the pilots would be in space, the crew would be at battlestations, whereas the bridge would be buzzing with life.
"I'm agent Scott," Brian said, as he approached the security guard at the bridge doors. The guard just nodded and opened the door, saluting. Brian did the same and proceeded to the bridge. It only took him a moment to notice the ship's CO, who was looking through one of the observation windows. Brian went straight to her, walking quite fast, but trying not to give any trouble to the crewmen working on the bridge.
As he approached the woman, he would salute her. "I got here as soon as I could. No news on my end," he continued more silently, casting a quick glance around the bridge. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Despite the relatively casual tone, Brian's expression would convey many more questions...
The bridge was not so different than the rest of the Svizra. most of the hardware and parts of the bridge date back to the ship's commissioning. A few maintenance crewmen were already -silently- working on repairing one of the consoles.
None of the crewmen minded Brian as he entered the bridge area, only focusing at the monitors and panels ahead of them. Most, if not all of the operators in the bridge had signs of experience covering face, expressions of veterans who witnessed a lot of battles. A reliable, determined and experienced crew, nonetheless.
Kunieda turns towards Brian, nodding to him slightly "You have arrived, good." she starts to walk around the bridge, motioning to him to follow her. "Hai, I wish to talk with you," she continued as they walk slowly away from the crewmen "Found the answers to your questions? You seem.... troubled." she asks him in a rather confirmed tone, as if she already knows the answer he would give away.
They stop by another observation window, taking a look outside at Akabat before letting out a silent sigh as she turns around and faces him, leaning against the window. "We're sort of running out of time, Scott." she crosses her arms taking a quick glance around her "I suppose you have already been informed of the Fourth Crusade the Order is in preparations for?"
Her expressions would show both signs of disappointment and grief, unsure what the upcoming events may unravel.
As Brian followed Kunieda around the bridge, a somewhat confused, yet determined expression remained on his face. "That's the point. I didn't manage to find out anything. Most of the people I have known since before Toledo aren't there. I couldn't find Santos Bolevara or Johan Lennox. Others weren't available either, or the circumstances just weren't right."
Brian sighed and continued a bit quicker, on the verge whispering now. "Ever since we arrived to Mu, or maybe shortly before that, something has been... off. People were kept in the dark more and more, there were secrets upon secrets. I didn't even know the people I reported to by their names." He grinned, his voice returning to normal. "To think of it, we haven't met until recently either."
He stood near as Kunieda leaned against the window. "And no, I've been out of the loop about that 'Crusade'. But then again," - he looked around. - "I'm getting used to it. But the local maintenance crews seem more busy than usual. Thought someone from the Overwatch would know what it's all about."
She shrugs as she looks at him "Bolevara, he departed ages ago." she pauses "As for Lennox, he left the Omicrons for some sort of a special assignment as far as I'm aware." she sighs.
"The Order has changed a lot since you've left," she whispers as she takes constant quick glances at the crewmen around her in the bridge "The Order has become very secretive, veteran pilots and agents like you are a rare sight nowadays." she sighs "I suppose they're either operating behind the scene, or disposed of. I myself am a relatively new addition compared to you."
The maintenance crew finish their meant repairs and pack up their tools to take their leave. Kunieda nods to them as they do, watching them. "The Svizra is an old ship, it went through a lot of battles and vast operations." she turns around facing the window now, looking outside. "Shikashi, that's not the primary reason for all of these maintenance checks." she pauses, lowering her tone once again "Golanski is trying to pull off another operation into enemy territory, for the fourth time."
"Once an operation fails once, it will most likely fail the second time, the third and the fourth may be impossible" she crosses her arms, her expressions and tone convey slight anger "We must prevent the operation from occurring, the Order does not need to sacrifice many people for another risky attempt like this."
She sighs, just staring at empty space outside for a few "And I plan on preventing this operation of his."
He looked at her with some curiosity. "The Order's history is full of desperate escapades. The First Nomad War alone had a few, from what I know. Let alone the fact that we struck back at the Core recently. As Bolevara used to say, who dares wins."
Brian sighed and looked through the window, staring at the stars in the distance, as if looking for something. "The best moments in the Order history were when we were on the offensive, despite the odds stacked against us," - he stopped, pondering for a moment. - "If the story teaches us anything, it's that the Order works better as a spear, and not as a shield."
He walks up to the window, standing side by side with Kunieda. "I can't blame the Grand Admiral for trying to do what the Order does best. However..." He thinks for a minute. "I'm starting to see a pattern here."
He turns to her, lowering his voice again. "I do remember one old operation in Tohoku. We attempted to deploy a boarding module there... I think it didn't work out quite as intended. If Golanski is planning something similar this time..." - Brian sighs. - "Then he clearly can't learn from mistakes. You'd think after Toledo we'd be more careful and spread out, not giving the jellies a chance to hit us where it hurts. But it's the same thing all over: we settled in a different system on a different planet and hope that things will be different there?!"
Brian finished his speech, realizing that he talked a bit louder than he should have. He continued calmly: "I guess we should talk to him about it. Tell him the potential flaws of his plan... Maybe convince him that some things should be done differently," - Brian made a pause. - "You're one of his advisors in the Overwatch, and I've known him since he was an ensign, he should at least hear us out and give it a thought."
She shakes her head slightly "Desperate escapes is not necessarily a good point to prove." she pauses "Escaping usually means defeat or loss."
She turns to him "Scott," she sighs, her tone conveying slight disappointment "If we were to be the spear, what would be the shield then?" she continues "It is the fact that the Order acted more offensive than defensive that resulted in the loss of.. Toledo. The Order's roles as offense and defense should complete each other instead of depending on only one of them."
She turns around looking back at Akabat "I don't want to lose another home, Scott." she puts her hand on the window, as if she's trying to hold the planet in her hand "Who knows when Akabat will become another Toledo at this rate." she sighs briefly. "I admire Golanski, but he's not doing the right thing. The Order's previous operation in Tohoku was a good example on how to improve our tactics, but seemingly, Golanski doesn't wish for a change."
She turns to Scott again "Hai. We should talk to him." she stares at him briefly "Hopefully it will be a quiet fruitful meeting. He probably will be more keen on listening to you than me. Shikashi," she shrugs "Things may not turn as you expect."
O.C.V. Fedayeen
Flagship of the Primary Fleet
Omicron Mu system, sector 2H
The communicator in the captain's quarters of the Fedayeen beeped. Michal Golanski pressed the button to accept the message, which was coming from one of the bridge officers: "Admiral, Aoi Kunieda has arrived and requests to see you."
Admiral sat in front of his desk, featuring collection of paperwork, maps and books on various topics. Avid reader in his spare time, he kept the captain's quarters simple for a man of such status. "Let her in," he said, reminiscing through staring at a photography he owned which he hid promptly in preparation to receive fellow member of the Order Overwatch.
Shortly after, the door opened up as Kunieda walked in, standing in front of the admiral's desk. "Admiral Golanski," she salutes him, before moving slightly forward towards him. "We would like to have a word with you, admiral," her eyes glance at the paperwork on his desk before looking back to him.
The most recent thing stacked on top of everything were reports, too far to make out what exactly it was about. Golanski returned salute with exact attention to detail, as every recruit was made to learn. "We?" He asked, seeing only her so far and waiting for explanation.
"Hai," she glanced over to the screen. "Brian Scott should be joining us through vid-comms in a moment," she rested her hands behind her back, waiting for the feed to come online.
In about a minute, a beep indicated an incoming video transmission. Brian Scott, the newly-appointed XO of the OCV-Svizra, apparently used the video communicator in his quarters. He saluted Kunieda and Golanski over the vidcomms. "Admiral. I apologize that I didn't arrive in person. One of us had to stay on the ship and oversee the maintenance."
"It is understandable. We cannot be caught off-guard." The Grand Admeral took a deep breath, looking at them both. "Very well, you may speak."
"Hmph," she looked at Golanski. "I will keep this short so I don't waste your or our time, Admiral." she glances at Scott for a few before looking back at Golanski. "You're destroying what the Order is. And we demand a change," she paused. "The Order's current operations, methods and objectives have all strayed far from what it is to be the Order."
What Aoi said came off as a surprise for Brian. He didn't expect Kunieda to speak bluntly, let alone demand something. A slight change in Brian's expression gave it away. However, he didn't interrupt her yet, as he respected the chain of command regardless.
"That's a bold statement," The Grand Admiral raised an eyebrow. "But carry on, I want to hear your logic on this." His eyes were giving out that he was not as calm as he pretended to be, unsure what to expect.
Kunieda grinned slightly and continued: "The Order, under your command, have caused more bloodshed than to cease it." she paused, glancing at the exprission change on Scott's face. "Kemwer Munitions, your newly manufactured products that you 'proudly' export to other parties such as the Bundshuh, the Blood Dragons, and who knows who may follow," she shook her head slightly, her expression and tone conveying disappointment.
"If you think that those actually go against Nomads, then you'll be—and allow me to say, naive."
She turned her back to the screen, still talking to Golanski: "You are simply fueling civil wars, and internal conflicts. Causing more bloodshed than protect the blood of others. Hypocriscy. Double standards." She turns to him, placing her hands on the desk as she leans towards him.
"Tell me, Admiral," she paused. "Are we protecting people, or killing them?"