hadriel | [video]

Entry tags:

[video]

[Maketh's face is all business. If her authority has been questioned, then obviously the solution is to prove that she is doing everything possible to make the Guard as strong and efficient as it can be. She holds up a large rifle to the screen. Some of you might recognize it as Lilith's sniper rifle. Others might simply note that it's the gun that Maketh tends to tote around everywhere.]

I am looking for someone with training in long-range weaponry who would be willing to assist me in mastering this weapon. I never had official sniper training in my world. I would like this error to be corrected.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Pretty much the answer he was expecting.]

Then why are you just now interested in learning to use it?

[It's not a particularly subtle questioning of her motives here; the timing is far too coincidental.]

I have been relying on the automatic targeting system. Technology tends to fail, Doctor Sweets. That could not be allowed to continue.

[And if he's going to question her authority, then she's going to solidify her position with every asset she has.]

[He doesn't bother hiding that he doesn't believe for a moment that it's more than that.]

And this is a problem you just now realized?

[She smiles just a little. It's not a nice expression.]

It occurred to me that I ought to tie off any potential loose ends before things come to a head. The gods are afraid, after all. And that doesn't bode well for the rest of us.

Right. Of course.

[That doesn't sound ominous or anything. But this conversation isn't giving him near as much as he was hoping to draw out, so he has to decide whether to approach from a different angle or disengage. The latter is probably the better option, and he could just return to kind of watching and observing the other conversations, but there are a few important things to say first.]

It's clear you're set on this, so having worked with snipers before I'll just remind you that sniping isn't a heat of the moment or self-defense action. It's an extremely premeditated one, so think very carefully before you take a shot.

[It's both advice and a warning.]

And you know this from your extensive experience dealing with snipers and know what is involved with their training? Or from a conversation with your friend?

[If she's going to listen to his advice, he had better provide a good reason.]

I have fired a weapon before, Doctor Sweets. Many times.

[He raises his eyebrows slightly at that, glad to have a very simple answer for her.]

Both.

[He's not as familiar with the exact training that goes into learning manual the skill, but he is knowledgeable about the mental part of it and what effect it has, what personality type is best suited for it, and where it can go wrong. And, of course, he's talked to Booth about Booth's own time as a sniper and about dealing with Broadsky.

He doesn't bother to address her last comment, deciding it's best to continue keeping his own experience with firearms quiet for now.]

[He doesn't rise to the bait. Hmm. Eventually, Maketh knows she's going to get her hands on something she can use to shove him back into line - or do it with brute force. It's a dangerous thought. It leads to dark places.

Maketh huffs, annoyed.]

You are a frustrating individual. You ought to appreciate the additional resources I am providing. Or do you think I am going to start shooting people in the street?

[He'll take 'frustrating' over 'annoying' any day, and he'll do his best to continue keeping his secrets to himself for as long as possible.

It's for that reason that he again takes a moment before responding, deciding just how much he wants to say and what effect he's going for.]

Is that so unreasonable a concern? I've seen it before.

It's entirely illogical. [A waste of bullets and effort. Her reputation would be sundered, no fixing it, if she ever went that far. And what would it get her? Nothing worth holding. Hope would only bring the dead back.] I don't enjoy taking lives, Doctor Sweets. I've done it before. I don't deny that. It was required of me. What you are suggesting is foolish.

[He isn't at all convinced by that, even if she seems to believe what she's saying; all it would take is a situation in which she thought it was the right choice to--even temporarily, in this place--eliminate a threat she deemed unworthy to live.

But for now, sure. This is easy to respond to.]

I'm glad we agree.

[In other words, he hopes she remembers this and means it.]

[Maketh frowns. Doctor Sweets is becoming an annoyance. That's one thing. It's quite another if he becomes a threat. There are ways she would have dealt with him on Lothal. Ordering him fined for something trivial, let her officers treat him roughly so he'd know they could. Arresting him if it escalated. Or, at worst, pointing the Inquisitor in his general direction. Letting nature take its course.

None of those things are possible in Hadriel. None of them are appropriate, either. She's trying to be something else. Not an Imperial.

And yet, the possibility lingers.

Stop that. Be professional. Stand up straight and do your duty, soldier.]

Have you spoken with the other guardsmen yet?

[An abrupt change in subject. But one that is still relevant. Sato remains a concern.]

[Lance watches her expression carefully, looking for a hint of what she's thinking, but he's definitely not expecting the question she actually asks. It's both a subject change, and a matter he didn't think she would bring up with him again.]

I thought you were no longer interested in my opinion on the subject.

[From the whole 'basically calling him incompetent' thing.]

[Maketh frowns at him.]

Your expertise has not been proven. Nonetheless, I do not dismiss information that might prove useful.

My expertise has not been proven to you, you mean.

[He'll just make that little correction there.]

And forgive me if I find that difficult to believe. You've dismissed essentially everything I've said to you so far.

You could claim anything was true in your world. I accept what is proven.

[Maketh makes a face.]

Many of your--observations have been flawed. But you are not an officer. Perhaps your skill is not so lacking in other capacities.

[He gives a mild smile in return, the expression clearly not genuine.]

I have very little interest in proving anything to you.

[Also thanks for that backhanded compliment there; he narrowly avoids mentioning that her own observations have been just as flawed, or that she has no idea what he is or isn't, mostly because he's still very aware this is public and she really doesn't need to know any more details about him than she does.]

[And that makes absolutely no sense to her at all. Maketh's frown deepens. His first move upon arriving to Hadriel should have been proving himself. A professional - not an officer, clearly, but still a professional - must justify their expertise and thus their existence before a rival moves in to take it. Otherwise there's no point.]

Then what are you doing here?

[He could clarify that he meant her specifically--he's definitely still concerned about what people think of him, and wants to be liked and respected and tends toward the insecure side--but he has absolutely no desire to say that. Her response is a whole lot more interesting anyway.]

Is there some reason that earning your approval should be foremost on my or anyone else's list of priorities?

[Since the subject at hand was proving to her specifically, although he doesn't think it's the actual underlying reason for her question and he's interested in trying to figure out what is.]

Where I am from, if you are weak, you die.

[Even he ought to understand that. Maketh lifts her chin.]

It's the way of things.

So you've told me.

[And he resists adding that her response didn't answer his question in the slightest, because it would be needlessly confrontational. Instead he asks another question, more conversationally--]

Who is it in your world that you need to convince of your strength?

[He's presuming superiors in the army or the Emperor she'd told him about, but it's worth it to double check.]

Everyone.

[Is that not obvious? She can't imagine it being any other way. Logically, it must in other worlds, or her actions wouldn't seem so strange. Maketh tips her head to the side.]

How many cadets died during your training, Doctor Sweets?

[She has a feeling the answer is none. Impossible.]

I'm a psychologist. My entry training for the FBI was nonstandard.

[Which is the truth; he didn't go through the usual method of being hired, due both to the position he was filling and being too young to be hired as an agent. Later on, when he did become an agent, it was a much more informal process than would normally happen.]

None?

[They simply--what? Sent him to classes? Maketh tries to understand it. The FBI isn't a military organization in the strictest sense. They enforce laws. They track down criminals. They don't engage in military operations. But they still enact control, enforce the rule of law.

So why--?

Maketh shivers. Stands up straighter.]

I do not understand your world at all.

You've said that too.

[He's not really getting anything new out of this, which is not helpful.]

[video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[not here]