002 | Video

[norwaysown]

Who: Signy Mallory and Open
Broadcast: Yes, first part is open network, second part is ship comm
Action: Wonderduck
When: Shortly after the shuffle

Open Network - Video

[ There’s a young-looking woman with silver hair and serious eyes addressing the network. ]

I know that people here come from all sorts of walks of life, but I’m wondering who else has a military background. It seems like there are some things we’d be able to help each other with.

If you can, list your rank, name, and the nature of the service.

For myself it’s Captain, Signy Mallory, and it was a space ship, close to a thousand personnel under my command.

Closed Broadcast to the Wonderduck

Some of you may be aware of the fact that I was a ship’s Captain where I come from, and I have my ideas about how to run a ship now that I'm Captain of this one. I keep a tight hold on my crew, and if you disobey my orders — of which there will be more than you’re likely accustomed — you will face discipline.

If that’s likely to be a problem for you, you’re welcome to take a transfer to another ship. In fact, I would encourage you to.

For those of you who are staying, I’ll be in touch with updates to the ship’s rules soon.

[ If that sounds ominous, it should. ]

Comments

Wonderduck

[servantnotserving]

[Oh, good. Lumiére is an expert in evading people who expect their rules to be followed without question. He's had decades of experience. If Cogsworth can't get him to do something he doesn't want to, then no one has a chance.]

I may be wrong here, ma cherie, but perhaps an aggressive approach might not be the best way to endear the crew to you. Especially given it has only been a short time since we lost Jennifer.

[Along with a lot of other people. It's a sad loss, really. ]

You would be surprised how much you can get done with a smile.

[norwaysown]

I don't think my concern is endearing people.

[ She'd had the loyalty of most of Norway, true, but that was a loyalty gained with strength. That's what she prefers. ]

I want to build us into a cohesive crew that's capable of survival. That's what's important right now.

Wonderduck

[sylphid]

[Fie just looks at the broadcast wholly unimpressed with her assumption of everything. So she replies in the most eloquently succinct way she can.]

Nah.

[norwaysown]

If you're generally dissatisfied with how you think I'll run the ship, then like I said, you're welcome to go. If you plan to stay then I intend to make us a crew, rather than a motley assortment of people. I think it's better to be upfront about these things.

I'd like to get non-security crew members trained up in hand-to-hand and individual weaponry. Are you capable of assisting in that?

[servantnotserving]

Surviving...what? We are not at war here, ma cherie. It has to be better to get along with everyone here than alienating the crew. That's important, no? We are living in a very small space together, after all.

[norwaysown]

This also isn't a vacation. I'm not opposed to having an activity for the sake of morale, if you think that would be a good idea at this point.

[sylphid]

I'm not leaving just because I'm 'welcome to.' A number of us were here before you arrived. Your definition of a crew doesn't match up with whatever we are, but that's not entirely your call to change it.

[While she certainly is, she feels the need to clarify.] Lumiere doesn't have hands.

[norwaysown]

I can't and won't promise to make no changes. That would be dishonest of me, indeed for anyone.

Then call it self-defense training, but I'd prefer there be an element of offensive capability as well. It is potentially more difficult in his case, but that doesn't negate the necessity of it.

[servantnotserving]

[An activity, mon dieu, she's worse than Cogsworth. ]

No, we are trapped here. Together. I was under the impression that we were a team, rather than a unit. Everyone equal.

[sylphid]

[Near the end of her statements, Fie lets out a yawn. It's really just bad timing.]

We'll see. Maybe when the mood strikes us.

[norwaysown]

[ What else is smiling? It's totally a forced activity for crew morale. ]

And the ships have been under attack in the past. I assure you, I don't think myself better than you. That's not what being Captain means to me.

[norwaysown]

If you work with me I'll work with you. If you refuse to even come to a compromise, then I will make things more difficult.

video

[interstices]

[Asuka doesn't quite perk up so much as sour up, recalling Katsuragi, the way she'd hardened over the last few years, but she bobs her head once in reply.]

I was a Captain in the European Air Force.

[The rank never meant anything in terms of power, but it was hers.]

Asuka Shikinami Langley. I pilot.

[servantnotserving]

[Honey, no.]

Then we learn how to defend ourselves. But that does not require living under stringent rules.

[sylphid]

You're already planning to force people into things they may not want to do. Try asking first. We're not all military, and none of us are here by choice.

And threatening your so called crew isn't an effective way to earn anyone's respect in this place.

video

[norwaysown]

Captain Langley. [ An inclined nod of respect. ]

What was the European Air Force like?

[ She assumes it's an Earth based force, but there are so many different times people are from that it doesn't pay for Signy to get too attached to her assumptions. ]

[norwaysown]

It requires living under some rules. You haven't seen them yet, to declare them stringent.

[ She hasn't come up with them yet. ]

[norwaysown]

And you've decided to be obstinate to start.

Would you be willing to set up a self-defense training for those on this ship that may require it for their own safety?

[ This is her asking. She'll give it one try. ]

[sylphid]

Because your tone sounds like an old man so stuck in his ways, he'll have a heart attack if people don't do what he demands. Try approaching people civilly instead of telling them to leave if they have problems.

[There's a long pause.]

I would be, if they're interested, but I might not be a good teacher. You could try asking Eleanor if she'd be a decent fit.

[See? Not that hard.]

[norwaysown]

I wanted to acknowledge that the option exists and that I won't object to anyone using it. Trust me, that qualifies as character growth on my part.

[ She's military, and desertion isn't taken well. Nor would she necessarily be inclined to care that people didn't sign up for this. Neither did most of Norway. ]

What do you think your skills are better suited to?

[servantnotserving]

I can make an educated guess, ma cherie. What are your plans?

[norwaysown]

To give us a chance of actually surviving an attack and whatever else gets thrown at us.

The main rules I'm considering at this point are that at least one person stay with the ship and be alert enough to answer a call, a documented system of handling interpersonal disputes if the two people can't handle it themselves, and starting to stockpile goods we'll actually need on the ship. Do you object to those?

Video

[cloakand_danger]

I was a captain in the Sylvaranti army some four thousand years ago, until a former knight of the opposing army convinced me that the war we were fighting was destroying the world and I abandoned my post.

[He doesn't look like he's joking, but he does look like he's pretty much daring her to take a shot at him for that background.]

voice;

[stormfist]

[ There's something about this woman's presentation that she doesn't entirely like, but that's not going to stop her from speaking up. Just in case. ]

Jayden Price. Guardian of the Last City on Earth. Titan. Striker class. Rank is... complicated after the Collapse.

[servantnotserving]

[He'll play this carefully. Put the charm back on. ]

Well, I do not need to sleep, so that solves that problem, no? There is an advantage to being trapped in a form like this. And stockpiling is clever, you never know when you will be low on supplies.

What sort of system would it be? Other than sitting people down to talk?

[Yes he who deals with his interpersonal disputes with Cogsworth by setting him on fire. ]