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trans_92011-08-01 09:10 pm
nobel-berserker.livejournal.com) wrote in trans_92011-08-01 09:10 pm
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Time to quickly learn some tact
Allenby had waited a while before asking to speak to Trudy, despite the crew being back from Galilee. She'd been too pissed and worried before then to really think about what she ought to say, and she needed time to figure it out.
Like... how to say it without getting Trudy mad again by mistake. Though frankly, she was pretty angry herself to learn that I won't touch your Gundam actually translated to your Gundam is getting stuffed full of mothballs until I say you can have it back.
That was if the condition--getting Trudy to sign off--wasn't actually a nasty code for kiss your Gundam goodbye, troublemaker. But Allenby was going to trust her crewmates and think that Leon and Trudy were too honest for that.
Like... how to say it without getting Trudy mad again by mistake. Though frankly, she was pretty angry herself to learn that I won't touch your Gundam actually translated to your Gundam is getting stuffed full of mothballs until I say you can have it back.
That was if the condition--getting Trudy to sign off--wasn't actually a nasty code for kiss your Gundam goodbye, troublemaker. But Allenby was going to trust her crewmates and think that Leon and Trudy were too honest for that.
laaaate sorry
That was why Allenby had said sooner.
She could also point out that she had been starting to listen to Hikari despite the abruptness, and that Trudy, Leon, and Kira's shutdown responses had only pushed her further out, but that'd just get things going in circles and it wasn't like the three of them were telepathic. Allenby supposed that from Trudy's point of view, signing on with Starfighter meant an automatic assumption from both her and the pilots to do what you're told, always, and that would be automatically understood. She probably wouldn't get any closer to Nobel Gundam if she tried to argue that they shouldn't assume that of all the recruits.
Especially since my Earth's the only one who used Gundams the way they should be used.
"I guess I shoulda left Starfighter Command after that first battle," she said, although it was half to herself. "But if I had--what would you have done then? Would you guys have responded different if I was already a 'civilian' and not someone you expected would obey automatically?"
Re: laaaate sorry
Maybe the Captain had thought Trudy already briefed her troops. Maybe she should have. In hindsight everything was clearer, though, so Trudy didn't trust after-the-fact evaluations very much.
"The only way they would have involved me was over the X-wing - which, by the way, I am still pissed off about. Those things don't grow on trees." They reached the transport tubes. Trudy stepped into one and said, "The Hangar!" A tentacle whisked her to the desired level.
Allenby would probably follow. She wanted her Gundam back, after all.
no subject
"I can fix the X-Wing for you." For Allenby's own hindsight, it probably wouldn't have held up for more than one trip--a Gundam's feet would be a lot for that little fighter to handle once it got into gravity. She did think it would be a good idea for Engineering to lay their hands on something that could be used as platforms, but that was something for another time.
She did note the direction they were going (those tubes were hard to miss), and tried to push down a sudden surge of optimism when Trudy called out the destination. Might be, might not--"The Hangar!" Allenby said once Trudy had gone.
no subject
Trudy stuck her hands in the pockets of her plantsuit as they walked into the hangar, the lines of her shoulders relaxing as soon as she passed through the door. She was a pilot, and this place felt like home. She was sure Allenby felt the same way, and that was the reason she was going to give the kid's Gundam back.
"Look," she said, turning to Allenby. "What I saw that day was one of my pilots setting off to get herself messily killed in a fiery explosion because she thought she could take on an army. I haven't lost a pilot yet under my command, and if I ever do I don't want it to be for a stupid reason. Every single one of you is recklessly brave and ridiculously talented, and every one of you lost makes us that much weaker against the Ohm. You scared the hell out of me, Beardsley - I thought the next time I saw you would be a holo over your coffin. I don't want to have to float you out."
no subject
She wished she could dismiss Trudy's next words just as breezily, but goddammit, she was right. If Allenby had managed to get off the ship, she'd be in a lot of little pieces orbiting Galilee right now.
"Well--I don't plan on dyin' anytime soon either. Especially not by being stupid. Next time this ship decides to set up the crew like that, I'll ask what you guys are doing before I make my own plans." The idea that she'd be reduced to nothing more than a picture for people to remember... it wasn't that Allenby was afraid of losing her life to bring back Earth, but it was still a chilling mental image.
no subject
She saw how subdued Allenby was at that little speech, so she let it go. She was reasonably sure that she and the kid had reached an understanding, at least one that didn't leave Allenby hating her guts.
"For what it's worth, I hate to lose you as a pilot," she said. "But I can't have you in the field, and I don't think you really want to be there. Fix my X-Wing, and I'll sign off on your Gundam. Deal?" She stuck her hand out so the other pilot could shake on it.
no subject
"Yeah, you're right about that," she said. What she needed was time--time to figure out how best to fight in this war while still upholding her principles as a Gundam Fighter. Time she wasn't likely to have a lot of, honestly, but she definitely couldn't figure it out under the authority of a military commander. "I'll get that X-Wing fixed right up, no problem."
She was making a huge effort to keep a lid on the soaring elation of my Gundam my Gundam I GOT IT BACK not that they had any right to take it BUT I GOT IT BACK! A mostly successful effort, apart from her sudden, huge smile and the way she started Trudy's arm up and down.