» 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]

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.]

[mucked]

They knew. And although they tried to prepare, both men in question were fighting a war on multiple fronts. The conflicts exhausted their forces.

[flawless_precision]

Why didn't they combine their forces?

[mucked]

-- They made the mistake just about a hundred years apart, that's why. Two different dictators.

[flawless_precision]

And the later didn't learn from the former's mistakes? [She's almost offended on their behalf.] Sloppy. Your people must not keep very good records.

[mucked]

My people? [ peggy can't help but laugh. it isn't meant cruelly. ] Hardly. Napoleon was French and Hitler was German. My people opposed both. [ and then, as a helpful marker because it's clear the woman is not at all familiar with earth. ]

I would be British.

[flawless_precision]

How many planets are there in your system?

[mucked]

Just the one that's inhabited. [ as far as she knows, at least. ] But a great many countries share its surface.

[flawless_precision]

It sounds crowded and ilogical. You should consider moving some of your countries to the surrounding planets and systems.

[mucked]

I'm afraid that's not much in the cards -- not for a long time, at least.