Debriefing

[yubyubcommander]

Wedge was tired. He hadn't slept much since they'd gotten back to the ship. He'd been busy going over recordings, sensor-readings and other data from their fight with the Ohm. And in between that he'd been checking up on Shinn in the med bay and moving furniture and other things into the headquarters. But this was important. Discussing what had

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[we_deliver]

Career military meant a lot of things, and one of those things was punctuality. Wedge had said the debriefing was at 1230 hours, and Trudy was there precisely ten minutes before it was scheduled to begin.

Not a small part of it was because, now that she had seen the squadron fly and assessed the capabilities of the members both as pilots and as leaders, she had come to the conclusion that she was one of the few who were qualified enough to be an officer.

And an officer had to be impeccable to higher command and approachable to their soldiers. She was trying to be both. She snapped off a salute to Wedge at attention when she entered the room. "General Antilles," she said.

[yubyubcommander]

Wedge straightened and returned the salute, giving a tired nod and a smile as well.

"Miss Chacon. Glad to see you. Actually, I'm happy to see that you're here a bit early. You wanted to speak to me?"

[we_deliver]

She dropped into an at-ease position, her hands clasped behind her back. "Yes - about a couple of things, actually. Number one, how soon can the engineers have the upgrades ready for the mobile suits and our ships?" She wanted them in as soon as possible so they could start in the combat sims with the upgrades.

"And the second point... during our last briefing, I mentioned the possibility of basic training to Colonel Celchu. After seeing the battle - and seeing several faces missing - I feel that it is dangerous and irresponsible to continue training without first putting the pilots through basic."

[yubyubcommander]

"I hope to find that out within the next few days." Wedge answered, folding his own arms in front of him.

"And I agree. Unfortunately, the Ohm didn't give us much of a chance to get our training done this time around. So I intend to get that kicked off as soon as possible. I don't want us to get caught like that again. We did better than I expected, but not as well as I would have liked."

[we_deliver]

Trudy nodded - she didn't want to rush development, of course, since the only thing worse than no upgrades were upgrades that didn't work when you wanted them to.

"I'd like to talk to you about this more in detail - but I would like to propose a training program similar if not the same to the one I underwent becoming a Marine - for discipline's sake, of course, as well as building camaraderie."

[yubyubcommander]

"Colonel Celchu and I were discussing a similar program, actually. We'd be happy to take your recommendations under advisement. Unfortunately, things have been rather ad hoc until recently. Not much of an excuse, but we'll get things straightened out." Wedge replied.

[we_deliver]

"Sure, I don't blame you," Trudy said, and she didn't. Things had been nuts on the ship for a while - one crisis after another, it seemed. "Marine basic is twelve weeks, but we really don't have time for that. I could cut the program in half, but that's if you really want to push 'em hard."

She shifted into an easier stance. "Who you got in mind for running this show? Because I tell you what, unless you're pretty damn hard on 'em they're not going to learn."

[yubyubcommander]

"Well, Miss Chacon, I was thinking of putting you in charge of it. I didn't really have a basic when I joined the Alliance. We were informal and rag-tag then. If you could fly, you flew, that was that. I'd like to have things be a bit more formal here though, of course. If you're willing, that is?" He watched Trudy, waiting for a response. And if she did accept, of course, he was seriously considering giving her rank. She had a good head, knew how to get things done and knew how to act in a military situation. All things that gave her points in Wedge's eyes.

[we_deliver]

'Miss' rankled - got right under her collar and itched. She wanted to correct him but shut her mouth, remembering that her rank wasn't instated in the squadron. Then again, when COs gave you a choice to head something...

"I'd be more than willing, General, although I can't do the whole thing on my own. Thing is, if you put me in charge you can expect me to be the least popular person in the squadron for the next five or so weeks. By the sixth they'll all like me again but until then?" She shook her head with a wolfish grin.

[yubyubcommander]

"Hm. I'll talk to Master Katarn. He may be willing to give you a hand." Wedge quirked an eyebrow.

"Understandable. I'll talk to Tycho. We do have to discuss a few things about this whole project, after all."

[we_deliver]

"Thank you, sir," Trudy said. "Katarn would be my choice as well. We get along well and he's a little more... reserved than I am. It will be a good dynamic in training for the recruits." Which was just a nice way of saying that Kyle wouldn't be as unholy of a bitch as she would.

"I'll let you get around to the others. I'm sure you'll be wanting to speak with a few of them," she said, snapping off another salute.