Burden of Rank [OPEN]

[fieldpromoted]

Being in command meant having to make the hard decisions.

Trudy knew that, but having to dishonorably discharge a talented pilot like Allenby still crawled under the collar and itched. Her shoulders took on a distinct slump as she walked through the hallways of the ship, mouth set in a hard line, going over the confrontation in her head. Could she have done anything differently?

Probably not. Allenby had been hell-bent on what she was doing and no amount of logic was going to dissuade her from flying down to the planet with just her Gundam and a small crew. Trudy was satisfied that she'd manage to stop her from getting herself and others killed... but the incident was a black mark on Starfighter Command and her ability to control her pilots.

These were the times that she hated her job.

Her boots hit the grass of Hydroponics and she made a beeline for the beer tree. She probably would have had better company at the Drunken Dragon, but company wasn't what she was after. Not right now, not after what had just gone down in the hangar.

Knowing this ship though, company would find her whether she wanted it or not.

Comments

[shootingblancs]

"One of my--?" Michael groaned, covering his face with his palm. "Don't tell me - it's Sonic. Hotheaded little critter, ain't he?" A sigh. "I'll stop in later, make sure the place is sparkling."

He swirled the liquid around in the bottle. "I mentioned it a while back, but you know how things get around here. Don't think anything's come of it yet - I'll give them another poke and see what's what."

[fieldpromoted]

"Got it in one," Trudy said. "At least he's more sensible than Allenby. He just bought himself deck-swabbing duty, not brig time."

She never thought she would see the day where a blue hedgehog was one of her sensible pilots.

"You do that," Trudy said. "And I'll make sure to put a bug in Angie's ear too. Those things can save lives."

[shootingblancs]

"That Sonic is more sensible than people on the ship is kind of scary," Michael shook his head, taking a bite of the fruit he had.

"You know what would save more lives?" A familiar grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "If we stuck everyone in VFs." A pilot's argument - no faster way to bring things back to normal. Normal-ish.

[fieldpromoted]

"Uh-huh, you think so," Trudy said, grinning. "It's going to take a lot more than popguns to take out the Ohm. The X-wings have the real firepower."

Actually, the mobile suits outclassed the X-wings, but Yamato wasn't here to butt in on behalf of his squadron.

[shootingblancs]

He peered at her over his glasses. "Last I checked, my railgun tore through them just fine. And I didn't have to be in a flying crate to do it."

Of course, Kira would probably have been too polite to say anything anyway.

[fieldpromoted]

"One out of four, Michael, one out of four." It was true that his rifle did a hell of a lot of damage, but the X-wings had torpedoes. "You know what Skull Squadron is really good at? Giving the Shrikes a target that's just as fast as they are to chase around for a while until someone else comes and blows it up."

[shootingblancs]

He took another sip of his beer. "It'll be four out of four if those other three graduate to the VF-25s," he shook his head. "But I think we'd rather not risk our Messiahs on rookies when the 171s can outrun the Ohm just fine." A short pause. "Until someone else comes and blows it up."

[fieldpromoted]

Trudy made a face. "That reminds me we're short a ZAKU and an X-wing now, since Allenby pulled that stunt with the X-wing. Flight platform," she grumbled, scowling. "Disrespectful."

The whole thing had been disrespectful, and Trudy walked away from it feeling like her authority had been severely undermined. When she only had her reputation on the ship to convince people she knew how to lead, this was a black mark.