Next Time: No, we are not goddamn there

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

[Misato is up on the viewing deck as she records this message, quietly making sure that Dan was following her navigational instructions exactly. Wouldn't want the crew here to see the wrong part of the moon, after all...or to draw any remaining Festum there. That would be something more like a worst-case scenario.]

[Video]

Festum. First my country, then my favorite celestial body...anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for getting out of that mess alive and un-golden, and to express my condolences for those Nergal employees that didn't make it.

Comments

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

[Devon walks in right after Misato's recording ends. Perfect timing - you could swear she's doing this on purpose.]

Thousands of people lost their lives. How do you feel about these casualties?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Terrible, but the attack was contained, and that's all you can really ask for against these guys.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Do you have any emotional investment in what happened?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Emotional...?

Devon, how old are you? Serious question.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Old enough to realize that when something like this happens, most everyday people feel sadness or a similar emotion.

But then, we witnessed the Second Impact with our own eyes. Those who survived that ordeal are hardened.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Hardened? Or do we just know how to deal with looking at the future instead of the immediate past?

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Both future and the past, immediate or distant, are an illusion. There is only the everchanging present.

If I were in the lunar colony at that time...
[Devon clenches and then unclenches her fist.]

Perhaps it might have survived. Too late for wishful "perhaps" thinking now, though.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

And what exactly could you have done against Festum that the people who were there couldn't?

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

[Not in armor, just this pose.]

Festum fight in unconventional ways. The one to oppose them has to have an unusual power as well. Such as me.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

I think everything here qualifies as an "unusual power". Your phasing is useful, sure, but speaking as an ops director, it's no match for raw firepower against things like the Festum.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

My power is not lacking. Whichever enemy faces me, I will crush them with my bare hands. Or die trying. But I do not intend to die.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Saying and being able to do are two different things. There are some enemies that you can't just throw yourself at and hope for the best.

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Worked for me so far.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Keep that attitude and it won't work much longer...

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

Falling against another human being would be one thing. But no upstart alien invader can expect to face humanity head on and emerge victorious.

I will do what is needed to ensure that.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

You think humans are better than all these aliens, huh?

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

I have no respect for those who seek only to destroy or enslave humankind from a position of superior firepower.

They think they are better than us, which proves the exact opposite.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the sentiment...but that's not how logic works...

[emorangerblack.livejournal.com]

The haughty will be broken by my own hands. I promise that.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Okay...

[bottleofgundam.livejournal.com]

Those are the ones that trashed mainland Japan so many years ago, right?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

"Mainland Japan"? He must be from space.

Yeah. Japan's where they first appeared.

[bottleofgundam.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, no one's heard anything of them since then. What were they doing up here?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

The Festum have been constantly under research, speculation, and guesswork since they first attacked. As far as I've been allowed to know, we still have no idea what they want or why they appear. They're worse than Angels, in some respects.

[im-not-asking.livejournal.com]

...

This disaster... Could we have prevented it?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Prevented? No, I don't think so. Not without a specific counter to the Festum that wasn't just a test unit. That's my honest assessment as a tactical commander.

[im-not-asking.livejournal.com]

That's... Tough to hear, honestly.

This group wasn't known to me - or my Brigade - before.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

We thought they might be specific to Earth, but I guess this proves they're not...Transbaal is lucky they didn't have a similar attack.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

...Do you think we could have done something more to stop them?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

I'm going over the battle data just in case, but I can't point out anything I'd have changed offhand.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Even if we'd known they were coming, there was nothing we could do to stop it...

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

No, if we'd known they even had a chance of popping up, we might have planned for it. Never underestimate having some lead time.

You can't plan post hoc, though, so there's no point looking at it that way.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

I need to be a better commander. That's all.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Wrong.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

What?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

The commander is the most important part of an operation, it's true, but she's still only a part. There's also your equipment and your soldiers, and then everything else - environment, mission parameters, enemy capabilities - which in a situation like this amounts to plain dumb luck. Sometimes you can't win, you can only lose less.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

Do you think we still have hope, even in a world like this?

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Of course!

Do you honestly think I'd have dragged myself and three giant, expensive cyborg weapons platforms all the way to the moon if I didn't have hope?

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

...Yeah! And if you have hope, everyone else has hope, too!

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Hope is the most important thing.

The second most important is to have a plan for next time. If you need any help with that, I'm more or less free until another Angel appears.

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

First we need to look at everything, not just what we think we're dealing with right now. Then maybe this won't happen again.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

That's a good start.

I'm away from my usual resources up here, and I'm not sure how reliable Dan is. How's the Nadesico's tactical database?

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

We've got a lot of information, and I know where to start.

[capt-fanservice.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Want to get started right away? I'd offer you a drink or seven first to celebrate surviving, but I'm not sure if you're 20 yet...

[haetfunerals.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! ♥