Nora the explorer? (Day 2 EA)

[Felicity]

"Pues..." She fiddled her thumbs together. "He shared part of my full name with everyone yesterday, which you know I asked not to do, and he put me in the lance of someone who raised a huge fuss over me after the sims. A really big scene. She looks down on me because of... you know. While the Major thinks I'm overly cautious compared to suicidal team mates who didn't take the simulation seriously. Eehm, does he dislike me or have I caused some problem? I know my team didn't do that well in the simulator, but I've tried to make myself useful."

[Nora Crossette]

Nora swallowed the pancakes.

Then she set down her fork and knife.

"Oh. Yuri, you poophead."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she added, "First off... I think you may have been a victim of inferior communication from our dear major... and second... well... I guess we should start from the top."

Tapping her noteputer, she began, trying to be conciliatory. "The full name thing - Yuri's old military and you don't use ranks with first names... and his habits got beaten into him by Kuritan drill instructors for decades, so that I'm sure was an accident."

[Felicity]

"Este, si."

She nods to allow Nora to start from the top. She felt a little uncomfortable telling someone, but she had known Nora the longest and she might actually be able to help. Felicity trusted her.

Listening as Nora began to explain, she murmurs agreement. "I guess, yea. I didn't think of that." She unravelled her hands. "He didn't say the whole thing at least. But I'm pretty sure my new First Sergeant has an issue with me. The first time we spoke she was flaunting her new position standing on top of a crate and then she was making a big show over me having a 'lucky tail'." Felicity made some air quotes, her tone snarky as she said it. "We'd barely said hello to each other before that, and the day before she was screaming about me having a tail like it was a hallucination of some mutation. And the Major put her as my superior."

[Nora Crossette]

Nora rested her face on her hands for a few moments, and then sighed, and looked at Felicity. "Miss Eklund is a bit... young. She's not aware of the world - and she's also, well, short. I think she is attempting to compliment you, but I could be wrong - though she is probably also very confused - I don't think she even knows Canopus exists."

Picking up her coffee mug, she examined the liquid surface thoughtfully. "Yuri discussed reviews with me - and his opinion was that she showed a lot of promise, and he felt you were a more experienced anchor who could help her grow into the role. It came down, in part, to what roles your mechs play in Yuri's tactical vision. It was a complex discussion, and I didn't follow it all... but he gathered the 'reckless' ones and put them with the more level-headed Sergeant Bruun, and then the rest of you each showed a more serious disposition, despite your eccentricities, which he felt would be a more reliable lance to allow Sergeant Eklund to develop her potential. His goal is to develop into a full company - and that will need more pilots to develop the skills necessary for taking point on a lance... and at the time, we didn't expect much trouble on this mission, frankly."

[Felicity]

Thankfully, Felicity trusted Nora enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. "She may be really bad at compliments and she might not have heard of Canopus. Okay." It wasn't impossible. And she was short. Not that Felicity wasn't herself.

Felicity eased back into her seat.

The next bit Nora had to say was harder for her to accept. Partly because it didn't appear to make sense to her. "She looks like a fresh Academy graduate." Felicity had cut in. It was true however. Maja was both young and very scrawny, which made her look ever younger. Felicity wasn't following the reasoning well. It sounded like Yuri had assessed her as having far less potential than a young rookie.

"Okay, so, I'm too meek and he put her in charge as she isn't reckless. While Bru-Sergeant Bruun is the most experienced. Fine. I can understand the reasoning now, but it was one simulated combat, si? I'd have preferred to be in Sergeant Bruun's lance. My assigned partner is ok, Snorri, but he is a skirt chaser and his Hussar would have paired better with the Cicada. I don't understand the Major's thinking at all." She didn't say she disagreed with it. She was trying to be polite. However, it was strongly implied.

She took a deep breath to force herself to calm down. "I'll be the experienced anchor so my lance lead can shine, si, if that's what he wants. And you're sure he doesn't have something against me?" Felicity watched Nora closely as she adjusted her hat, pulling it down tightly.

[Nora Crossette]

Nora grimaced. "I really don't think so, no... and I don't think he views the lance the same way you do. It was meant to be an opportunity for her to gain experience in a less dangerous environment - you could say he thought you needed less... growing up... if that makes sense."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she added, "As for you being meek, I think he meant to encourage you, if you are in a battle with... let us say... overzealous allies, to do your best to keep them alive. Not to reprimand you for your piloting - I don't know about your past units, but we don't have room to replace people - or machines... so we kind of need to share the load of bringing the stragglers up and keeping the overconfident alive... until experience files those rough edges off."

Nora flipped her noteputer around, and Felicity could see lists of parts, projected failure and casualty rates, and a number of different formations of their mechs, there must have been at least four or five dozen combinations and layouts considered.

"I know you can't see it all from the outside, but he's trying to make a lot happen with a small force and limited resources... and he wants to bring all his pilots home alive if he can. It worries him, seeing some of these younger pilots who haven't yet learned the ropes... you don't know your limits until you hit them... and in battle you don't survive hitting them unless someone is there to pull you out of danger."

[Felicity]

For a moment Felicity wasn't sure how to interpret the growing up comment. At least Nora hadn't glanced down. Her mind decided it meant she was more mature. She smiles a little at that. "I suppose so."

She listened closely as Nora explained the reasoning more. It was making sense to Felicity now. As much as she didn't want to be with suicidal or reckless lance mates, this wasn't a House unit or an established mercenary company. Mechs and pilots would be hard to replace.

Felicity leaned forward again to look at the screen. She wasn't anywhere near as quick as Nora surely was at processing all this information, but she could pick up the gist of it. It was hard to miss the fine margins too.

Inclining back again, she nods and looks away. "Pues... sorry. I wasn't aware. Yea, I'll keep my eyes open for the others."

[Nora Crossette]

"If you aren't sure... you can ask Yuri."

She sighed. "As long as you aren't rude about it, he can explain what he's thinking - he probably hasn't realized that his mixed unit tactics aren't universal among the inner-sphere. As an admin, I've seen a lot of military types just assume everyone knows how they do things - and rarely are they correct."

[Felicity]

"M-maybe." She felt nervous about asking him directly. "Maybe I don't understand as I've not encountered Kuritan military approaches. I was taught it's better to put units together that can match speed, mobility and range."

[Nora Crossette]

"And how do they cover their weaknesses?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I mean, Yuri can explain it better than me, but I think the idea is to purpose build the units for specific jobs when combined, but to allow each sub-unit to have the ability to respond to multiple situations."