driftfleet | time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.

Who: Azula + y'all
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: HS MARSIVA BABY
When: Idk, now.

[Oh, she's furious at first. Waking alone in a strange place, with no one to answer for her predicament? Azula is not happy about that. But she refuses to lose her cool under pressure. She won't waste time throwing a temper tantrum. Instead she gets to work. When she can't find anyone, she looks for exits. When she can't find any exits, she finally resigns herself to examining the-- the "communications log", her augment helpfully supplies.

Hm. That's new. She absorbs that information and continues. Figuring out how to use the system is somewhat of a learning curve at first, but the augment helps her along until she has the gist of it. She snorts in derision as she reads and watches one log after another, published by individuals clearly once in the same predicament as herself. Every post the same as the last. "Where am I? How did I get here? How do I get home?" How ridiculous, she thinks. If only they had bothered to take a few extra minutes to figure out how to access the network records, all their questions would have been answered, and they would have been saved the indignity of looking like a fool. Well, no-one will catch her looking like that, that's for sure.

The more she reads, the less she likes. Her scowl deepens the longer she spends. After a while, few unpleasant facts make themselves readily apparent:

1) This is not home. Few here will recognise or respect her authority as crown princess of the Fire Nation.
2) Her ability to threaten or intimidate people into doing what she says while she's being held captive on a completely separate vessel to everybody else is virtually nil. First rule of thumb: don't give threats unless you can actually follow through on them. Otherwise you only look stupid.
3) She currently has no money with which to bribe people with, either.
4) Her brother is here, has been here for a while by the look of things. She doesn't understand how that's possible, but there's no point in debating the facts. He's also had time to make allies.
5) She, on the other hand, has none.

All in all, it's an extremely unfavorable position to be in. All her favourite tools have been summarily taken from her. Arms crossed, one finger tapping on her arm, she tries to think of the best way to spin this horrible situation to her advantage-- at least until she can leverage herself some bargaining chips, or isn't on the Marsiva. She reads further back on the network some more, until one particular post gives her an idea. A brother, separated from his siblings. The sympathy pouring in for miles. It's a masterful stroke, really. ... Well, that settles it. Mind made up, she uncrosses her arms and turns on the video feed, prepared with her most innocent smile.]

Good evening, citizens of this... ah, fleet. I am Princess Azula, of the Fire Nation. Your newest arrival, of course. Not to worry, I've already availed myself of the answers to the standard newcomer questions.

I'm addressing you today because I believe some of you may already be acquainted with my dear brother, Prince Zuko. I do hope he's all right-- ever since we were young, you see, he's had this knack for getting himself into trouble. If it's not too much to ask, I'd be extremely grateful to anyone who can put me in touch with him. Or at the very least, let me know how he's doing. From what I understand, apparently he's switched his message apparatus off to take a long nap. I wouldn't want to interrupt.

In any case, I look forward to ... co-habitating with all of you. [No, she absolutely does not.] I suppose if you wish to introduce yourself, you may do that too.

[If it's a competition the Atroma want, she doesn't intend to lose. But she can't do anything from her current position without backup and information. As irritating as it is to have to fake interest and politeness, this will help her get the lay of the land much more efficiently than causing a scene right off the bat. There will be time enough for that later.

Plus, it will absolutely infuriate Zuko, and that's always hilarious.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Call it a favour.

That's impossible for me. I dislike pointless lies too much.

Ah, but pointless for who?

[Azula still has every reason to keep her cards close to her chest.]

Both of us.

I'm not going to harm you because it's not my fight and therefore guarding yourself is needless, and you should practice being less afraid of speaking your truths out loud.

[She considers lying just to get him to go away, but he's seen through every other lie, so it would be ultimately pointless.

You have to admire at least her determination not to lose her temper or admit defeat despite Sasuke's incessant grilling.]

Oh, and I suppose you speak your family truths all the time.

[ It's definitely farther into a conversation with him than most people last without threatening lasting physical damage. She's determined, he'll give her that. ]

More often than I'd like. But I didn't ask you about family, I asked you about control. Are they the same topic to you?

You're so naive it's adorable.

Everything is about control. Obviously.

[ ... no, it's okay, don't bite back, Sasuke, let it go. ]

If you really believe that then you'll never be satisfied. It's impossible to perfectly control everyone and everything.

Perhaps.

But you'll never know if you don't try.

[ Sasuke had tried. He'd had every intention of managing the world's conflicts, keeping them under his thumb, sure that if he could master controlling himself then he could master anything.

He can't help wondering if Azula is going through the same thing. It's a special kind of hell. ]

Then you'll be fighting for the rest of your life and die tired and unfulfilled. Does your existence matter to you outside of your goal? [ His own certainly didn't. ]

What kind of question is that? They're one and the same. Obviously.

I thought you'd say that.

In that case, are you ready to accept misery to see it completed?

My my, aren't we projecting.

What I'm doing is taking it as seriously as I'm sure you do, unless you'd rather make light of your future accomplishments.

No, what you're doing is taking your own lived experience and assuming that mine will be the same.

But it won't be.

My question didn't assume anything. It's a gauge of your commitment.

[ ... but that is what he's doing, though. ]

Sounds to me like someone's upset things didn't work out the way they planned.

You're grasping blindly as if you think I'll tell you one way or the other. This makes three questions now that you've had to hedge.

Well you can hardly call this an equal conversation, can you?

Maybe if you started answering questions yourself, I'd be more inclined to answer! As it is, I don't feel particularly inclined to tell you anything about myself when you won't answer anything in return.

[ As content as he is to make sweeping generalizations about people without really knowing them... well, Sasuke is at least interested. He's fully aware that she could be lying but then again, he can always refuse to answer himself if it's a question that pushes too far too fast. ]

What do you want to know?

[Huh. She didn't actually expect that. But this is a good opportunity.]

... You claim that you're not a friend of my brother's. But you seem very interested in me, and my relationship with him.

So either you're more invested in Zuzu's well-being and future than you claim, or I remind you of something personal that hits close to home.

Which is it?

[ He considers the question, feeling he should've expected it as the opener. It isn't one he's averse to, really, rolling his shoulder in what could be called a shrug on someone more expressive. ]

I'm interested in the choices that he makes because his situation is a unique one, and so is yours. My village is ready to enter a state of transition with my generation looking to accept the reins, so I can also draw a few lines of connection between the two. [ This is both factual and just a tiny fraction of the whole truth. ]

Now answer my question.

Not so fast.

You asked me rather a lot. Getting to ask only one in return hardly seems fair, does it?

[ Hm. ]

You can have one more. Agree to it or don't, but it's as far as I'll go.

Three.

One for every honest answer I gave you.

[She gave him six, in actual fact-- and yes, she's counting. But she likes to keep people on their toes. Let him go mad trying to guess which ones they were.]

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