Fare thee well, faithful friend [OPEN]

[we_deliver]

Anyone in Trudy's path on her way to the hangar today would notice an uncharacteristic slump in her shoulders, a shuffle in her step. She seemed despondent, and while she greeted any of her soldiers with the proper protocol, it didn't come with the usual smiles and easy banter

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[zaftard]

Yzak was in the hangar (and oh boy, was he going to be in the hangar often after the other day), so was especially alert for anybody else who might be there. When he spotter Trudy, he stayed silent until she seemed a little easier to approach - particularly after her words.

"General," he greeted, giving a look to the Samson.

[we_deliver]

"Lieutenant," Trudy responded in kind. She wasn't sure what she could say beyond that - Yzak had been standing there when she let her temper get the better of her and said a few things that weren't... appropriate. "Who was that other pilot I saw you talking to? New recruit? Not the idiots, I mean, I know who they were."

[zaftard]

"Don't we all," he replied dryly, crossing his arms with a huff. "And here I was hoping we wouldn't have any big problems like that."

But enough about them. Thinking about the incident would only wind up pissing him off again - and he was quite easy to piss off when it came to things like that. "But to answer your question, yes. Our new recruit is Dearka Elthman, a friend and partner from home. He served under my team."

[we_deliver]

"Good pilot?" Trudy asked, although she knew she didn't need to. All of her mobile suit pilots had proved themselves time and again - even Cowabunga, who hadn't set foot in a suit before he was recruited, was turning out to be a fine soldier. "I'll look forward to seeing him in training."

[zaftard]

"He wouldn't be on my team if he wasn't," Yzak assured. His team was one thing he was extremely proud of, he was just glad one of them was finally on Stacy with him. Though he wondered if he'd see the others during his time here. Trudy's question did remind him, though...

"We're going to take a run in the Sensoriums soon not only to give him a feel for how they work, but to acquaint him with the others on how they'll be working together on the battlefield."

[we_deliver]

"True, Lieutenant, I trust your judgment." It was high praise, coming from her - she didn't tend to hand it out often. Pilots were always in danger of getting overinflated heads. "And outside of Command? What've you been doing with yourself?"

Trudy was painfully aware that many of her young pilots were so devoted that 'free time' seemed like something mythical and alien.

[zaftard]

"Not too much. Making rounds-- there's not too much to really do here that's very interesting."

He looked around. "And even when I do have free time, I find it helpful to check up here every once in a while."

[we_deliver]

"Mm," Trudy said - a kind of affirmative grunt. She kept herself busy on the ship mostly by hanging out with Kang at the tavern, but Yzak didn't seem like the type to go drinking. "There's always the media libary, I guess, but that's about it."

One could explore the city, but the city had a nasty track record for being the epicenter of all their insane problems.

[zaftard]

He did drop by there every once in a while - Kang seemed like a nice enough guy from what interaction the pilot had with him. But it was true, tavern wasn't always his first choice in recreation. "True," he answered, but didn't exactly sound disappointed or like he was very bored at all. Most of his own time back home consisted of either being on the battlefield, or working with the government when things were at a cease-fire.

[we_deliver]

Sometimes talking to these kids made Trudy depressed. They shouldn't be fighting a war at all, let alone be veterans of one.

She shrugged the thought off and went to the cargo bay of the chopper, searching around for the tools she needed. She'd have to get under the craft and get a good bit of her innards out before she took a cutting torch to her side to get the tiger off. "When can I meet him? New recruit, I mean. Have you introduced him to Commander Yamato yet?"

She'd need to drain any fluid left in the lines first. She stripped off her bomber jacket and hung it up, rolling up the sleeves of the red undershirt and unbuttoning its collar. Next shore leave she was picking up undershirts. In bulk.

[zaftard]

"They know each other already," he noted simply. "And you're more than free to join us in the Sensoriums when I call them later, if you'd like to meet him."

He watched her, and then looked back to her craft. "Do you want an extra hand?"

[we_deliver]

She considered for a minute. It was barbaric, what she was doing to the craft, but its life was done.

"Make sure you don't get gunk on your jacket," she said, and handed him drip pans. "We've got to drain the lines. I'm going to cut that off the side." She tapped the painting of the tiger's head on the side of her Samson, pierced with two round holes.

She crawled underneath the chopper and kicked open an access panel that had been warped shut. It fell with a clang, the hinges groaning.