You can't forget (Day 6, LN)

[Yuri Creed]

"Which is fine - you want to be ready in the short term, but I think we've caught some space. So give it some thought."

He shrugged. "If none of these suit you, when we get back to Galatea you can look for something in a similar weight and price range. Your contract doesn't promise an upgrade, but I'm not going to short you what you're owed - I just can't offer anything else right now."

Flipping through the material, he glanced at the list of names. "We lost three people in this fight, and two mechs. That's all. I'd estimate the Dragon's lost forty, 14 mechs, a hover transport, a VTOL, and 2 aerospace fighters. That kind of lopsided battle isn't just lucky, it's downright miraculous. Remind me to buy the techs a drink for their work, also... being re-armored gave us a huge edge."

Closing the mech list, he leaned back in the chair, and added, "I'll be blunt - most of you are still green. Talented, and full of potential, but green. I'm still amazed we did it."

[Felicity]

"Yea... I will Major."

She nods again as he continued, picking up that he was trying to be reasonable. Was there something in her contract about situations like this? She had only really skimmed through it and relied on Nora's explanation. A bad habit.

"It did, or we would have been in real trouble today." Felicity admits in regards to the armour. When Yuri listed the enemy losses it was much more obvious how well they'd done. Her tail stood up and curled a little. It was a good feeling.

To his final comments she looked down to hide her face. She snorted slightly nonetheless. "I'm amazed you went out unarmed Major. The techs too." Good thing she had hidden her amused smile. She looks up again now it had passed. "Pues... You still don't have much confidence in any of us yet then. Were you unhappy with my performance in the fighting?"

[Yuri Creed]

"Not at all."

He sighed. "You just gave a perfect example, however, of what I meant. You are all good pilots - better than anyone could have expected given your relative inexperience, but you aren't yet great soldiers. That's only possible with time - and experience. A veteran would've known what I meant, would've seen the battles and come away with the same overwhelming gratefulness to whatever deity thy believe in that the company came through so well..."

As he talked he gestured with his hands, trying to convey what he meant with clumsy gestures. "You're all young, idealistic, and confident that winning or losing is just a matter of skill. You haven't seen enough good pilots die to flukes not so different from the crash that destroyed your Phoenix - I've watched dozens of good men fall victim to a stray autocannon round punching a hole in their canopy - dying to inferior pilots by sheer chance. For us to have avoided that... we were, without a doubt, incredibly fortunate."

Poking at the controls of the holotank he brought up the battle records, pointing to the canyon battle, and a series of near misses Felicity had experiences, where shots came within scant feet of her cockpit canopy. "My point is that we were all fortunate - if any of those shots had been even a foot closer, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Great soldiers know when to celebrate a win, and how to endure a loss - finding the silver lining, because that's what keeps you sane."

Leaning back again, he chuckled, "But do I have confidence in you? Hell yes I do. These two lances beat a company of trained mechwarriors with superior equipment, and a fool might claim his tactics were entirely responsible, but I know better. You lot are good - and some day, you may be great. Very great, if I can keep you all alive to get there. I've asked the techs to make a few changes when they rebuild my Dragon, since they'll have time. If a relic like me can take point, maybe that'll keep you kids lucky."

[Felicity]

The explanation was worth some thought. Felicity disagreed with aspects of Yuri's hands off leadership style and command, but it was good to hear he cared and valued his pilots. Even if he thought they were all green chicks. She had to admit the Company had been lucky. Fortunate, as he liked to put it.

"Eehm, I don't know what to say. Yes, there is a risk of dying to sheer chance, but I think we know that much." She eased her hands onto her lap. She still felt a little defensive and uncomfortable, but at least he wasn't calling her crazy anymore. "There are a lot of House units that would consider some of us as experienced enough for additional responsibilities." That was tactful Felicity. She had meant that they weren't all green or ignorant of the realities of war. "You keep everything close to your chest. Like with the Dragon. An upgrade for it is good and the logic is sound, but you're not a relic. Sir, you don't even have grey hair. First Sergeant Bruun has got to be a similar age to you, and I'm not a green cadet either." She pushed her tail down under her lap as it began to rise. "You shouldn't take too many risks either, especially when you just highlighted you know them better than any of us, si? You brawl a lot and that increases risk a lot more than other combat styles. You're right I had some close calls, but you were actively engaging multiple enemies at close range to cover a retreat. You're lucky to have gotten out of there. You took more risks than anyone today too. Frankly, I don't get it. You didn't want to promote anyone reckless, si? You said I was too cautious. Then you're out there practically daring death to take a shot. No offence to your judgment, but I wouldn't want there to be a Major Eklund taking over."

Not least of all because of the fish slap punishments there would be daily.

She thought she might have said too much. "Sorry. If I should ask to speak freely then I will in future."

[Yuri Creed]

"I invited you to talk."

He scratched at his beard, thoughtfully, and then added, "I'm a little confused, you say I'm too hands off, but also that you should get additional responsibilities... though I can see how you might be confused by my feedback. Don't get too hung up on a single analysis of a single combat simulation, Sergeant... I was giving an initial feedback based on a first impression... And what I told you was similar to what I myself chose to do - I took a calculated risk because I knew what my mech could handle. I had the most armor and weight on the field to take those hits, which meant I was able to to screen for the Crab and still stay in the fight."

Pulling up the battle record, he explained, in a surprisingly relaxed tone. "I saw people acting shocked that I took the Grand Dragon out without arms - and on a superficial level, I get it, but it was still the best armored mech I had available, and maintained similar firepower as well, and I knew I'd need to put myself in the line of fire to draw the enemy into the trap. That said, I also knew Sergeant Detroyes had, in that uniquely vulgar Davion way, drawn a target on herself - but was also piloting a well armored machine able to draw the enemy out."

He pointed to the readouts from the Grand Dragon's black box. "You'll note I left both battles with several tons of armor left on the core systems of the mech - I wasn't taking the same degrees of risks that it may have seemed on the surface. I know Kokuen... the Grand Dragon well, and I'm comfortable taking her into battle."

Glancing at Felicity, he then added, "Sometimes its a gut call - you decide what risks you are willing to take for those you command. I don't intend to foolishly throw my life away for nothing - but I'd rather shed a few extra pounds of armor if it gets one my pilots home in one piece. Once Sergeant Tycho lost the leg on his Hussar, I new someone needed to create an opening for him to be picked up - the Black Dragon weren't likely to take prisoners."

[Felicity]

He was really misunderstanding her. This was difficult. She wasn't great at this either. In contrast to her appearance, which she knew was unorthodox, Felicity liked reports. She could spend her time on them. Get the language just right after a few drafts. Immediate explanations in the here and now were harder.

She listened politely as he went through the battle, explaining his thinking, his calculated risks and his actions. She understood all that, although there were some new insights. In regards to the risks she'd acted similarly in the fighting, knowing and trusting the limits of her machine. However, she was beginning to realise she might have to approach one topic at a time with Yuri. Felicity was glad he seemed more relaxed now.

"I'm glad you're taking calculated risks Sir. You probably saved Snorri's life by covering his retreat like that. Thank you. Eehm, I agree with what you've said and yea, Sergeant Detroyes - Andrea - she certainly provoked them. It worked out. Eehm... but I think I'm not being clear. About the hands off comment." She rubbed her knees as she spoke. "I don't know how things are... were, in the DCMS. I can only share what I'm used to. We don't have daily briefings, after action debriefings or regular drills, exercises or simulations. There aren't any learning opportunities, no team building." As she spoke she gestured to accompany her words. "Maybe that's you letting everyone adjust and find their feet, I don't know. I do know you're the CO and you're making the big decisions mostly on your own. All of that put together is what I mean by hands off."

She sat up straighter. "I'm not saying just give us more responsibilities or promote me Major, I'm saying that we're not as green as you think and that we need more opportunities to learn. We need more information to learn from. If we're talking experience and capability, then Bruun and Snorri have seen some action, Andrea's training alone would have her be leading a lance in some outfits, I've been a lance lead before and Gillian has shown she's very calm and capable." She cleared her throat gently. "Basically, I think it's less about us, and more that you've just seen a lot more action than most. Tons more. Even Miss Crossette is impressed by your combat record. Pues... combat experience is different to command, si? You're managing everything, as is Miss Crossette for her areas, and that's likely a lot of work I can't begin to picture. Sure. Yet you're not making us do anything in particular, beyond the patrols and guard duties." She paused a moment to gather her thoughts. To really highlight what she thought would be good.

"You could be more hands on if you had more of a command structure Sir. You're a Major without any officers. The Mechtechs we have are worth ten times their weight in gold. Each. Maybe hundreds of times that. They don't need combat experience for an officer's posting. I know we only have a few, but the infantry don't have a lead. Meanwhile, the First Sergeants for the lances are doing more supervisory and guidance roles than managing or commanding. Eehm, so, what I mean is, it's less about additional responsibilities and more ways for you to get your thinking across, Sir. Like you've just done now, with the canyon battle. You have a lot of experience we could benefit from, but you're not actively running drills or challenging us. I'm... I'm not used to this much expected self learning over time. I think we could all use a bit more guidance and structure."

She reflected on a few hours before, at the party. "The get together earlier was good too. Everyone likes some recognition, si?"

[Yuri Creed]

He rested back in his chair, and quietly.

After a time, he said, simply, "I assumed that, as people outside the military, it would be preferable not to have a domineering command structure. I'll think about what you've said, Sergeant."

Another pause. "I get the impression there are things you'd like answers about, now is as good a time as any to cover them."

[Felicity]

How? He had read her mind.

"Eehm... W-well, the lance arrangements for starters. I didn't understand your groupings Sir. Why not the Cicada and the Hussar together? Equally fast and no jump jets, si? Snorri and I get along, but our mechs play... played different roles. In open terrain I couldn't keep up. The Stinger would have made more sense to me."

She shuffled her feet around uncomfortably. She had been repeatedly conditioned not to question authority, but he had invited questions. "Miss Crossette explained some of the reasoning for things, and I realise now that the militaries we served have different approaches. I'd like to understand that. It feels like... Like something that could be important one day."

[Yuri Creed]

"I suppose it could be..."

He stroked his chin. "The simplest answer is that with a force this size, we can't afford to specialize - if I'm forced to split us down to demi-lances, then I need those two mechs to be able to at least partially serve any given battlefield role. I'm trying to shore up weaknesses, not accentuate strengths."

Tapping the controls on the holotank, he pulled up the terrain to the south, near the gap, and added, "Supposing I sent two mechs to the Gate - if it were the Hussar and the Cicada, for instance, they couldn't ascend and get a view of the situation from an elevated position, nor would they be able to handle the in-range fighting that the switchbacks would involve - while a pair, such as the Hussar and Phoenix, had a mix of weapons and ranges... your mech could survive close fighting in a way neither the Cicada or Hussar could - even if it is better at range."

Swapping terrain to the winding canyon they had navigated previously - by the same token, without the longer ranged weapons to back up Marik and I, we would've been left with no way to thin the enemy force as we fell back - making that a much more one-sided affair in damage dealt - perhaps in a larger formation I could afford to give each lance a single role, but with our numbers... I need to be able to fit any unit into any task with at least some chance of success, while also grouping mechs in such a way that, when combined, they make reasonable formations - in this case grouping a generally lighter and longer ranged force and a shorter-ranged brawling unit."

Another switch, now to the 8 mechs originally in the force - and he pulled them up, so she could see the groupings. "At each unit size from 2 up to 8, I wanted to have some degree of coverage for the different engagement ranges - and I did try to keep mechs together with vaguely similar speeds - particularly considering how rough the terrain on this world seems to be."

[Felicity]

As far as Felicity was concerned this was the clearest explanation and rationale Yuri had given yet. She studies the displays as they come and go, listening to him thoughtfully. The assignments clicked in her head now.

"Ok, I think I understand now. Can I try to summarise that Sir?" She paused to make sure he was fine with thta. "Instead of having each group able to do something well, but completely unable to operate in some circumstances, we've taken a generalist approach. Any unit can cover most any situation. Maybe not brilliantly, but at least somewhat. So, we're maximising our limited numbers... Si?"

She smiled a little now she could grasp the logic of it.