» video + action

[mucked]

Who: Peggy Carter & YOU
Broadcast: Video, fleetwide.
Action: Sure, on the Starstruck or on the Iskaulit.
When: Right now!!

[ peggy's message is brief, to the point, and probative: ]

Myself and -- [ she never asked natasha if she was on board for having her name fluttered about, willy-nilly, around the fleet's network ] -- Myself and an associate are knocking together a modest firing range on the Iskaulit. A slow-coming venture, but it could have proved a dangerous one and I wanted to be thorough. Given the relative scarcity of both pieces and munitions, it'll work on a strictly bring your own gun basis.

And for the time being, I'd rather not see anyone shooting there without considerable experience of their own. We'll get 'round to beginners, but not yet. Consider it due diligence. On the same note, we'll be choosy about which kinds of rounds can be fired here. The ship is a robust thing, but we'd best not tempt fate.

[ the range itself is not quite in operation, but you're certainly welcome to visit her there. it's in a cramped little quarter of the iskaulit, far away from what anyone could reasonably assume might encompass an inaccessible engine room. peggy spends the rest of the day on the iskaulit doing her level best to soundproof the room itself. eventually, she'll need to consider a locking mechanism of some sort.

later, tired but satisfied with the sweat on her brow, she returns to the starstruck. ]

Comments

[flawless_precision]

Yes, I get the impression there are a great number of you here who are still stuck on your backwater planets. [She's stating it like a fact and not an insult, but it might be hard to tell the two apart.]

Do you have a contact for scrap? Otherwise, I can see about procuring some through Moxxy channels.

[mucked]

Backwater? [ bloody hell. but peggy crosses her arms and manages to look at least a little amused. ] Not that I deny it but -- good Heavens, you come out swinging.

[flawless_precision]

The vast majority of my galaxy is already versed in interstellar travel; I am merely stating an observance that the majority of people represented here have the opposite experience. You, yourself, do not deny it.

[mucked]

I've grown rather accustomed to being called old-fashioned, in a sense. [ -- though 'backwater' is a new one. ] As I find myself a good seven or so decades lagging behind even people from my same -- ah, planet.

[flawless_precision]

Old-Fashioned is for people who refuse to educate themselves. [She gives Peggy a look, and then glances around the space they're standing in, considering the work Peggy's done already, the concerns she's had about depressurization.]

You don't seem the type.

[mucked]

Don't I? [ peggy responds with a smirk and a wink. she's in good spirits, and is glad to be in company with at least a bit of observational skill. so, point settled, she moves swiftly back to phasma's original query: ]

I can source some scrap, incidentally. One of my pilots aboard the Starstruck is something of a pack-rat. That said -- [ considering she's gone and got herself banned from moxxie territory ] -- if you find something useful planet-side, I wouldn't turn it down.

[flawless_precision]

I will keep my eyes open the next time I visit.

[She can guarantee she will bring something back; she's been getting herself in deep with Moxxie for the sake of supplies. Procuring scrap shouldn't be that difficult for her.] Is there anything in particular you require?

[Since it makes more sense to work and talk, she moves to start helping Peggy install the soundproofing. She did come to help speed the progress along as she is able.]

[mucked]

Some manner of braided wire or cording might come in handy -- for sending the targets up and down the range on pulleys, of course. [ ... ] Doubtless someone would be able to mechanize such a thing, but, [ she smiles. ] Not all old-fashioned ideas should be abandoned, I think.

[flawless_precision]

[She nods as she listens, that couldn't be too hard to get. She glances over at the idea of intentionally leaving it manual.] That could push motivation. You give people too much, they forget how to do anything themselves.

[mucked]

The Americans have a saying for that, I think. Something about pulling one's self up by the bootstraps.

[flawless_precision]

Your Americans are a sturdy people, I assume?

[mucked]

They're tough, certainly. Of pioneer and immigrant stock. Revolutionaries. Brash, but admirable.

[flawless_precision]

[Phasma narrows her eyes slightly.]

Now they are sounding like troublemakers. You seem to have a fair bit of admiration for them? Brash revolutionaries that they are?

[mucked]

[ dry laughter. ] I hardly take it personally. America won its war of independence two centuries past.

[flawless_precision]

Mm. And just how is that working out for them?

[mucked]

Arguably, they're now a superpower of their own -- with reach and capabilities far outstripping the British Empire from which they once seceded. [ ... ] Times change, however. America and my country are allies, now.

[flawless_precision]

[She pauses in her work to look over at Peggy, openly curious by her statement.]

They had a revolution and you are, allies?

[mucked]

As I said: times change. More importantly, politics change. [ peggy pulls back from her work, and lets her hands settle loosely on her hips. this is a conversation that requires more than a distracted aside. ] However enduring any power appears to be, there's always an expiration date. Rome taught us that. Then, my country's own empire. America may dwindle, again, in time.

[ her chin lifts. ] I've learned it's better to stand for more than nations. More than one country's agenda. Loyalty isn't always rewarded.

[flawless_precision]

Loyalty shouldn't be rewarded it should be expected. [You countries sound like a bunch of wishy-washy self-entitled babies to Phasma.]

Tell me about your Rome.

[mucked]

Rome! Rome isn't mine. It rose and fell centuries and centuries ago -- long before America, and long before Britain. But at its heights, the Roman Empire much of the European continent. But big empires get top-heavy. They start to get soft from the inside out.

[flawless_precision]

You have already illustrated the problem, then. Strengthen it from the inside out.

[Which is, as she though, precisely what she was doing, training her soldiers. She's definitely wearing a look of satisfaction, though she doesn't quite smile.]

[mucked]

Much more easily said than done. Consistency is easy over a handful of years -- or a handful of territories. But as both of those factors increase exponentially, things get...inconsistent. Corners get cut. A regime that prides itself on employing only the best of the best now must dip into their less ideal reserves just cover themselves, else they risk spreading the best of the best too thinly.

[ -- wrly: ] Or, like Napoleon and Hitler both, they try to invade Russia.

[flawless_precision]

[Phasma watches, quirking her brows, soaking in what Peggy was saying and making a mental note to discuss it with Hux. Just because they couldn't continue to rise of the First Order here didn't mean they couldn't pick up new things to try when they got back.]

What was so special about Russia?

[mucked]

It's cold. And it's huge. And its people will defend it ruthlessly -- [ there's a spark of admiration, even for the soviets. she can't help but appreciate a good adversary.

but as the conversation progresses, she can sense the way in which her expertise is being tried. tested. logged and observed. peggy's guard has been down for so long because most people she's met within the fleet come from a time when the events of life had passed into history. she isn't used to revealing her competency with both strategy and politics. ]

[flawless_precision]

[There's always something to be learned, and Phasma appreciates Peggy's willingness to discuss it with her.]

Did they not know the environments they were marching on? [It's cold sounded like a poor excuse for a failure. If it's cold, you prepare for the cold.]