[ OPEN ] here comes the boooooooy

[coordination]

WHO: Yzak and you!
WHAT: Various "come, let's get CR balls rolling" things
WHERE: All over
WHEN: WHENEVER, he's new, so ~new guy time frame~
WARNINGS: n/a but will note if anything comes up!

( Top levels in the comments! Hit me up at gaignun or urtv @ disco for any questions/etc. Down with wildcards too so don't adhere to just the top levels if you've got an idea! )

Comments

[coordination]

[ What can they say, LILITH has good taste. ]

It's not like I'm threatening people! [ A cranky response at most - all bark and no bite. But at least this guy still goes on to oblige, so he's placated easily enough. (and it's not like he's unused to hearing about his personality) ]

But of course I'm that interested. I've only just recently arrived, and it'd be stupid not to get acquainted with the people I'm going to be fighting alongside here.

I'm Lieutenant Colonel Yzak Jule. [ The rank probably gives away why he's so set on doing this. Ever the dutiful soldier. ]

[icyspicy]

[ "Lieutenant Colonel" oh boy. Yes, that introduction tells him everything he needs to know. ]

You're quite the serious type, aren't you, Lieutenant Colonel?

[ Just gonna come out and say it, huh? ]

[coordination]

This is a serious situation. [ Aka: yes, yes he is. Because even when they're technically just on downtime and standby, he's not very good at completely relaxing. ]

Not just the fact that we've been ... volunteered. But the situation itself is cause for concern even if we hate that. [ And by 'we' he means he. ]

[icyspicy]

I am aware. As are we all.

[ Hard not to be, when it's all crammed down their throats the moment they arrive. ]

We all cope differently, hm?

[coordination]

Whatever it takes to get the job done.

[ A beat, as he regards this other guy. ]

Within reason, of course. Some people have some fucked up ways to cope that won't do anybody any good, including them!

[icyspicy]

[ Oh, he just laughs. ]

Don't stare at me like that when you say such things. I might start to think you find me suspicious.

[coordination]

I didn't say anything about you!

But I have an entire team to look after back home, so I have to make sure none of them are pulling some kind of shit like that. It's more common an occurrence than one might think!

And since I'd like to get this mission wrapped up as soon as possible so I can return to my duties there, I'd prefer as few people as possible here were pulling that, too.

[icyspicy]

[ When Yzak reacts like that, it just makes Winter realize he’s fun to poke at. Good luck, buddy. ]

I don’t think it’s us you have to worry about. Completing this “mission” is no easy task. Some Outsiders have been here for nearly half a year, and not for lack of effort or poor coping mechanisms.

[coordination]

[ He's doomed, oh no. What ever will he do! (lowkey enjoy it because it means he has a New Friend) ]

A year and a half, huh?

Wars can last for a hell of a lot longer even when you know who or what your enemy is, where they come from, what their goal is and what sort of offense they're launching. So that's not too surprising.

[ Still, the idea of being here for months when he was so busy back home ... Yzak's expression dips into a frustrated pensive one. ]

What about you? Have you been here for that long?

[icyspicy]

[ Will he be ready for the full force of Winter's... Winter-ness? Stay tuned! ]

Me? Just a couple of months. I've seen one large-scale kaiju battle in that time, and a number of smaller skirmishes.

[coordination]

I see.

[ Since he is also a workaholic, he moves to the nearest generator that needs to be cleaned up. Yzak kneels down next to it, some loose debris crunching beneath his knee as he carefully moves some of the bigger pieces off of the machine. ]

What was your part in that last operation? Are you more of a combatant? A doctor? Mechanic?

[icyspicy]

Combatant. Not my first choice, but I get by.

[ He strolls along after Yzak, but doesn't move to help. Not a the moment, anyway. ]

[coordination]

What's your first choice?

[icyspicy]

I’m more of a people person than a giant monster person. Negotiations, information gathering, and the like.

[coordination]

[ Brushing his hand over the top of the generator to clear off debris dust, Yzak takes a brief peek inside of the machine. While he doesn't look entirely practiced in this, he does look like he's gleaning something the longer he looks at it and sees what goes where. ]

Don't tell me you were just shoved into a combatant position.

[icyspicy]

We're all shoved into combat positions. Like I said, I get by.

[ He peers over like he can make any sense of what's going on. He's a ye old, so all of the innards of that generator are beyond him. ]

Find anything exciting in there?

[coordination]

Nothing exciting, but this shouldn't be too difficult to get working again.

[ He frowns. ] And if something like this needed repair suddenly in the middle of a battle, the ones able to fix it in a pinch wouldn't be able to if they were just, as you say, shoved onto the frontlines and expected to fight. Has anybody tried speaking to the top brass about that?

Negotiations with these creatures don't seem possible, sure, but I've heard talk of smugglers trying to make profit off of younger ones they manage to get their hands on. That sounds something more up your alley of expertise.

And soldiers can't fight without information. Information that can change at the drop of a hat, so sticking someone like you into a fight when you could be saving our asses if something rapidly started to change that we couldn't see it out there ourselves, seems like a bad idea and dangerous for all parties involved.

[icyspicy]

Goodness me, you have all sorts of ideas, don’t you? Perhaps you should consider speaking to the “top brass” yourself.

[ Winter has literally no idea who that would actually be around LILITH headquarters. ]

I will say the situations I’ve been in have called for more than brute force. Everyone does what they can, however they can.

[coordination]

If you want to look at it that way, then sure. But everything I just said, that's all common sense to me!

But, maybe I will reach out and see what I can do! It sounds like some things around here could use some tightening up.

[icyspicy]

If nothing else, you have me curious just how much say we actually have. I'm no military man, so perhaps they'll be more inclined to listen to you, instead.

[coordination]

If we're fighting for their cause, we'd better have plenty of say!

Even as someone who knows full well that there are times where you need your team to listen to you, you're not going to foster the trust you need for those moments if you don't show any openness to listen to them about anything else!

[icyspicy]

Just as much say as we had about being brought here, hm? Perhaps LILITH need only go so far to foster trust when we're essentially being held hostage.

[coordination]

I'm not planning on just letting them off the hook for doing that - because it is bullshit that they just took us dragged us here without our say.

But they could do a hell of a lot more on their end to explain themselves if they don't want an eventual mutiny on their hands! Because I know I'm far from the only person pissed off about that.

[icyspicy]

You're not.

[ The only one pissed off, he means. ]

But I'd wager that they hold more cards than they've let on, so threatening mutiny, even as a hypothetical, might not work to our advantage.

[coordination]

No, it wouldn't.

Which is why I'm willing to play nice ... for now. But I'd like more answers and a bit more effort on their end, at least where our voices and ideas are being heard and not just ignored.

I was a soldier before I gained command of my own team, and some of the leadership I used to be under was ... questionable. Which is why I do right by my own team, now. I don't want to feel the way I felt back then, even if back then I didn't always realize just how little was thought of me.