desperation

(9:14:05 AM) ***Claire knocks on the door to Lt. Strommons' office. "Ma'am, it's Cadet Nova. May I come in?"
(9:14:36 AM) Claire: When there's no answer for several minutes, a quick query to the system directs her elsewhere...
(9:16:01 AM) Claire: ...which is what leads her to the facility's gym, waiting for a chance to jump in and interrupt her CO when it's least inconvenient.
(9:17:43 AM) Ikiryo: She soon spots the LT in the Gym, the tall blonde woman lifting weights on the weight machine that Claire thought was 'Altea only'. She's dressed in short shorts and a sports bra, wiping sweat off her forehead as she works.
(9:18:35 AM) Claire: When it appears that she's finished a set, Claire approaches. "Lieutenant, ma'am? When you have a minute, I could really use your advice."
(9:20:49 AM) Ikiryo: She nods, putting the 650kg weight back. "How can I help you?" She takes a large gulp from her water bottle.
(9:21:52 AM) Claire: She sighs gently. "It's about Tazzari...and if you don't mind, could we take it somewhere more private?"
(9:26:02 AM) Ikiryo: "...oh Saint. What now?" She nods though, wiping the machine down with the towel before heading for the doors. She's clearly got no issues heading for her office like that.
(9:28:46 AM) ***Claire doesn't spoil anything for her as they walk back that way. Once inside the office, she slumps slightly. "The 'what now,' ma'am, is that she talked to Aynfean again. Unsupervised."
(9:31:13 AM) Ikiryo: "...of course she did." She rubs her temples.
(9:32:38 AM) Claire: "And Aynfean put a bug in her ear about a supposed facility on a non-administered world practicing child slavery...so now Tazzari, who *believes her completely* I should add, is insisting we go and, in her words, 'recon in force.'"
(9:34:06 AM) Ikiryo: "...all that's needing is 'Bikini-clad-Anai-Cloning-Facility' to finish being perfect Tazzari-bait." She sighs.
(9:36:06 AM) ***Claire blushes at that mental image, but shakes her head. "It's not that, but the other part is close enough. Aynfean told her Caledfwlch was running it, and so Tazzari thinks we can't talk to anybody higher up the chain of command than us, because as soon as it goes upstairs then they'll catch wind and the whole place disappears."
(9:36:41 AM) Claire: "Basically, if she knew I was talking to you, she'd probably try to sedate me and stuff me in a closet while she takes Alexa and Altea and whoever else listens to her damn fool crusade."
(9:37:30 AM) Ikiryo: "Right. So she believes that she can't talk to anyone that would let her to this legally or actually provide official support or do ANYTHING to help her not get expelled or even arrested?"
(9:37:45 AM) Ikiryo: Her eye twitches and a small crackle of lightning flows across it.
(9:37:59 AM) Claire: "I /tried/ talking sense into her, ma'am, I really did. It's why we're still on Mid right now instead of having left four days ago."
(9:38:32 AM) Claire: She opens her uniform jacket and retrieves a packet from the inner pocket. "These are the photos--old, analog photos--that Aynfean gave her. Even more manipulation."
(9:38:39 AM) Ikiryo: "Right. How beliveable do you find this evidence? As I do not find Aynfean trustworthy enough to throw."
(9:38:56 AM) Claire: "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"
(9:39:36 AM) Ikiryo: "Permission granted, Cadet."
(9:42:48 AM) Claire: "I think it's full of shit," she says bluntly. "It's so perfectly Tazzari-bait that there's literally nothing else it could be. I did ask my mom to run the photos--uh, you probably know from my file, but she's a detective with the Cranagan PD--and while she couldn't find anything that suggested they were altered, she also said it was entirely possible these were staged."
(9:45:09 AM) Ikiryo: "Hire half a dozen kids who want to be actors and a studio for two days?"
(9:47:25 AM) Claire: "Right. Ma'am...you know that my squad has our problems with Caledfwlch, but this is a little too...mustache-twirling villainy, if you know what I mean. Tazzari claims that, if we go there and scans reveal nothing, she'll be happy to come back, but...I'd bet any future commission of mine that there'll be /something/ there, real or imagined, to make her go in at full force."
(9:49:42 AM) Ikiryo: She nods. "I know Aynfean...there will be something there. Something that looks enough like what she wants to see. The woman doesn't do anything by halves."
(9:52:19 AM) ***Claire exhales slowly, bringing her own frustration back under control. "I know she's trying to bring as many people in as she can for this little run...and I kind of have to agree, in that if there's even a tenth of a percent chance this is real, something does need to be done, but...that /does/ leave a ninety-nine point nine percent chance it's a setup to get us out of her hair for good."
(9:53:48 AM) Claire: "If it had been any of us but Tazzari to see her, this wouldn't be a problem...but Tazzari is still messed up enough to think of herself as similar to Aynfean in some unfathomable way."
(9:54:37 AM) Ikiryo: She nods. "I used to appreciate Aynfean's planning...back when it was her, Tia and I...now? God dammit. This screams of bad decisions and horrible outcomes...if you go through with this without approval, I won't be able to keep you from getting expelled or even arrested."
(9:56:57 AM) Claire: "I don't *want* to go through with it at all," she grumps. "But someone's got to be the level head."
(9:58:46 AM) Ikiryo: "I could talk to her...though I don't think it will have any effect."
(9:59:26 AM) Claire: "Probably not," she acknowledges. "And she'll get all nasty and demand to know who sold her out to you."
(9:59:58 AM) Ikiryo: "Of course. If you are not with her..."
(10:00:55 AM) ***Claire nods. "She's one of my best friends, ma'am. Even if sometimes the only way people will learn is by consequences of bad decisions...I don't want that to happen to her. This time."
(10:01:57 AM) Ikiryo: She nods. "...she does, honestly, remind me a lot of Aynfean. Or at least, the Aynfean I called a friend. She hated what she was and always wanted to help people to prove she was better than it."
(10:02:30 AM) Claire: "That sounds like Tazzari, all the way." She smiles, a bit ruefully. "No doubt that's why Aynfean targets her."
(10:02:59 AM) Ikiryo: "Well, that and Tazzari has buttons larger than a training staff."
(10:03:32 AM) Claire: "And more easily pressed than...ah, I have no idea. Something that gets pressed easily."
(10:05:53 AM) Ikiryo: "Exactly." She sighs. "I don't want to get her expelled...but this is not only against school regulations, it's highly illegal. You can't go planning attacks on non-admin world facilities."
(10:07:35 AM) Claire: "At this point, I'm not sure what to do. It's why I came to you for advice. Tazzari knows it's illegal and will get her canned...and she doesn't care."
(10:08:45 AM) Ikiryo: "And you'd prefer I not reveal that I know?"
(10:11:01 AM) Claire: "Honestly I'd rather you confine her to house arrest...but you can't without actual provocation. She's one hundred percent paranoid--another trait she shares with Aynfean, I think--but...well, she's convinced you're going to bring it up to your bosses, who are in on whatever grand conspiracy, and the facility will be packed up and moved."
(10:11:47 AM) Ikiryo: "...of course. So now if you DO find nothing and she learns you spoke to me...that's just more proof."
(10:13:43 AM) ***Claire shrugs helplessly.
(10:14:45 AM) Ikiryo: "...there is no good options at all." She rubs her temples again. "Gods, I miss Scalietti's thousands of gadget drones attacking the city. That wasn't this cloak and dagger bullshit."
(10:16:41 AM) Claire: "Is there a way you could cloak and dagger back? A sanctioned training exercise or something?"
(10:18:07 AM) Ikiryo: "To a non-admin world, when you've already missed this much school time? I'd need to push it pretty far up the chain of command to get approval, it wouldn't be subtle."
(10:18:37 AM) Claire: "I'd need to...is there an administered world nearby that a 'navigational error' could excuse?"
(10:18:51 AM) Claire: "I haven't checked the charts..."
(10:21:19 AM) Ikiryo: She taps away at an AR display. "Hmm...maybe. There are a couple within a few systems...including a couple with Belkan ruins...that's proving to be a speciality of your squad..."
(10:22:20 AM) Claire: "Saint knows Alexa would probably demand we go to those anyway."
(10:24:17 AM) Ikiryo: "...I'll send some subtle messages, see when I can do...but I can't promice anything. Your squad has already missed so much study time that a training exercise or other trip would be hard to justify without very good reasoning."
(10:26:34 AM) Claire: "Any help is hugely appreciated, ma'am. She intends to leave by this weekend...so if things go south, I'd like you to know you've been a real inspiration to me." She holds out a hand.
(10:27:11 AM) Ikiryo: She takes the hand. "In case you do get expelled...I think you would have been a fantastic member of the TSAB."
(10:27:20 AM) Claire: "Thank you, ma'am."