Page 2 of 3
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:09 pm
by Reiner Dornkirk
By the time Kuno got around to answering his question, Reiner forgot what he'd asked. He furrowed his brow in the initial moment of confusion, before context clues reminded him that he'd asked about the twice heard quote.
"Heh..." He nodded, comprehending. "I get it. It just sounds so old-timey, so I figured it was from a play or somethin'." He shrugged one shoulder. The explanation of it having started as a joke at the expense of well-heeled officers seemed to track. The over-educated elite often spoke in more flowery terms than guys like Kuno and Reiner.
He chuckled at the riposte to his comment on the possibility of their mission objective having command of the winds. He thought to jest about the possibility of Vonnegut being an elemental witch, but thought better of it now that they were drawing closer to her lair. Even with no one yet in sight, there were means of listening in on approaching marks.
As they were greeted at the entrance, Reiner hid his surprise aptly enough. Surprise was, after all, the only thing he'd been prepped to expect. He followed the officer on welcome duty, and did his best not to look overly curious as he made a quick, arguably tactical, scan of his surroundings upon entering Vonnegut's suite.
"Just black coffee, if you have it. Water's fine, if not." He pursed his lips and nodded his head, adding: "Thank you." as an afterthought. Reiner still wasn't hungry. As ravenous as he could be in galleys or mess halls, his nerves were still on high alert. Coffee probably wasn't even a good idea, but alcohol seemed indulgent as tempting as it was, tea seemed prissy, water seemed boring and declining anything at all, he thought, would broadcast that he was nervous. He took all this for a test, and black coffee was what a man drank until it was late enough in the day to venture into the liquor cabinet.
Reiner did a double-take at the female officer who arrived to conduct them to the commander. His eyes looked her up and down as if of their own volition, even as he willed them to remain on her face. He set his beverage down on the table, and rose to his feet gesturing for her to lead the way. When she turned to oblige, he didn't feel quite as bad when his gaze trailed down and lingered, since she couldn't see him do it.
By the time they drew up to Vonnegut's desk, he was all business. Eyes straight ahead, he saluted before he even ventured a downward glimpse at the seated commander. Only when she spoke and invited them to sit, did he regard her face as he seated himself. Ohhh, he thought comprehending the nickname for the first time: The Vixen. With that description, why had it never occurred to him that she'd be hot? He hadn't envisioned her as unattractive, he'd just anticipated someone... older. Sharper-featured. The Vixen was... not that.
After a pause that lingered just on the verge of being too long, he cleared his throat.
"Yes, ma'am. A missive..." He reached across his torso to open his satchel and withdraw the letter, "...from Minister Dornkirk." He thought to clarify, in case this was one of the forts that was still very in the dark and unaware of the First Minister's demise, "The elder."
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:42 pm
by Rune
The welcoming smile shifted minutely towards amusement as the younger and lower rank of the two men stepped forward and spoke, eyes lingering longer than respect called for. He, it seemed, was the Dornkirk. Prestige was the only reason a private would step over a Lieutenant to take the lead in a situation like this one. The Dornkirk star had been rising for a generation, two, in fact, and, if the rumors were true, it was rising still. She kept the little pun to herself, no reason to play even that small part of her hand.
"'Science Minister Dornkirk' is the proper form of address." She corrected gently as she took the letter she was being offered and placed it on her desk. She didn't take her eyes from the boy, who was pretty more than handsome, and doing a good job for someone of his age and rank at hiding his nerves. Placing her hand atop the letter, implying that it was both important and that it would wait she gestured with the other to the chairs again.
"Please, take a seat, both of you. I insist." Her tone was refined but also used to being obeyed and she waited till they had both done as she bid before speaking again.
When they had she looked each of them over before softening her eyes and asking after their trip from the capitol, the flight down from the Noble Gambit, and if they'd been offered refreshments when they'd arrived. Kuno was trying to keep up his role of decorative escort without being directly rude and really wasn't at all sure how it was to be done. He nodded with whatever Reiner answered and inserted 'Yes, Ma'am.' and 'No, Ma'am.' when nodding would not due.
Once these pleasantries were completed she said met Reiner's eyes directly and said,
"I have heard some disturbing rumors from the capitol, perhaps you would be so good as to set the record straight for me?"
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 11:01 pm
by Reiner Dornkirk
"Of course, ma'am..." Though Reiner blushed at the correction, pale as he was, the private displayed no additional signs of being ruffled by it. "As he is the sole surviving minister known to our contingent, we've grown perhaps unforgivably casual in our forms of address." The PFC was playacting, and he knew it. He was talking like someone else... like the version of himself he imagined Stefan hoped to be on this mission. Perhaps a bit like the version of himself toward which he imagined evolving had his dreams of being accepted into the grander side of his family been realized before the Fall of Zaichaer.
Vonnegut insisted, and Reiner obliged. She came off kind and thoughtful. The Vixen was warm as a fox stole, he mused, between the retorts she elicited as they talked small. The banter was easy, but he was too well primed to let it disarm him... As tempting as it was to fall into this honeypot and let himself drown in the sweet decadence therein. Wholly unaware of Kuno's seething at his side, he took a breath as she posed an open-ended question.
"The capital has been devastated, ma'am. Ravaged into a nightmarish hellscape. To say that I was disturbed upon returning from the Northern Front would be an understatement. That being said, if there are any particular rumors you're concerned about, I'd be happy to offer whatever insight is at my disposal. Though, at my rank, I fear you'll find that isn't much..." He trailed off, and glanced down, sheepishly. It wasn't the safest gambit, but something about their banter made it feel worth risking an attempt to disarm the disarming commander by playing the into the role of the boyish naif.
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 11:20 pm
by Rune
The blush only made Reiner prettier, a fact that amused the Commander and annoyed Kuno. If asked he might have said it annoyed him because it was a sign that Vonnegut was getting to him, and it was true. It wasn't that the private was doing badly, it was the fact that it had taken this woman, this lovely, older woman only moments to have Reiner reacted as she intended, and Kuno didn't like anyone having that power except him.
"Sole surviving Minister known? What of the The Presidium?" The Commander continued her questions, trying to keep them vague enough that Private Dornkirk would have to choose how to answer. She had some kind of answer to almost all her questions already, but having as many sources as possible was the path to true information.
"Of course," She demurred when Reiner suggested that his rank excluded him from loftier levels of information, turning to Kuno and saying, "I'm sure that's why they sent you, Lieutenant..?"
Though he hated it, Kuno gave his name, respectfully, and was then forced to admit that he was only there as an escort, to ensure the messenger arrived. This made one of Vonnegut's perfect eyebrows raise as she looked back at Reiner,
"Why would the Science Minister send an army private?" Seeming to recall, that she had forgotten she said, "Oh, of course, Private Dornkirk."
From there she asked more questions about the state of the capitol, the ZDC, the ZADC, and what remained of the the civilian population. When she had finished asking about the capitol, (which took the better part of half an hour and during which she displayed both dismay and sympathy for the horrors being described and during which Kuno was forced to answer some of the question himself due to his more personal knowledge of the events of the 34th and immediately thereafter,) she paused as though considering or absorbing the information before going on.
"And what of the idea that the Science Minister lifting parts of the city into the air? Is he flying the capitol away to safety as the peasants are saying? Or is there a more reasonable explanation for these tales?"
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 12:07 am
by Reiner Dornkirk
"Obliterated." Reiner glanced down, eyes growing glassy at the talk of the destroyed Presidium. It wasn't often people spoke of these things in such dry, direct terms, these days. He was used to being in the midst of people who knew, and were just as keen as he was to forget. It was easy to neglect what the Presidium symbolized, but when one remembered, it was hard not to be consumed with rage at those who'd made a point to turn it to ash. Any who claimed this abominable act was not a direct attack from Kalzasi was a fool or a traitor. Why else would the Breach have been so pointed in its monumental wrath.
It was a relief when Vonnegut brought Kuno into the conversation. If the Commander was a rival to be assailed, she was at least outnumbered. It felt as though Kämpfer was taking some of the heat off of him, so he could hold his ground during their prolonged exchange. He had moments to assess, and his pauses didn't feel as pregnant with an ally on hand to fill them.
At her pointed acknowledgement of his surname, Reiner nodded, firmly. Proudly. His name was not an insult, and he was there for reasons beyond nepotism.
"Aye, ma'am. In addition to having been the first standing member of the ZDC to join the Science Minister's contingent, I am also his first cousin."
And then, after the more typical questions were out of the way, she got, Reiner suspected, to the rumours to which she'd been alluding.
"Well." He glanced sidelong to Kuno. His interjection would have been welcome now, indeed. "During the initial onslaught, Science Minister Dornkirk recognized the... value in perserving certain strategically significant parts of the city. Already primed with the resources and manpower close at hand, he started by outfitting the Windworks to be airlifted. As it houses blueprints and prototypes of new innovations, it could not be simple abandoned. If enemy forces destroyed or, even worse, salvaged the technology the Science Minister took into the sky? I shudder to think how much worse our prospects would be today."
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 12:31 am
by Rune
Even as steady as she was, Vonnegut blinked at the word Reiner chose, Obliterated, destroyed utterly, nothing remaining. As little love as she had held for many of the members of the high government it still felt like a punch to the gut. Her expressed horror was not all feigned, in fact, little of it was. Few of her emotions were false, it was more of choosing how much to show, and, in this case, showing some was correct.
Reiner's family tie being confirmed without shame was creditable, and, if the Science Minister was the highest rank remaining of the government that meant that his younger brother was no longer among the living, which meant there would be a gap in his family to be filled, which explained the appearance of this new member. Briefly she considered that this man might be an opportunistic pretender. He had the Dornkirk look, as she recalled it from her few encounters, but it wasn't an uncommon look for the region. For the purpose of the meeting it didn't matter what blood coursed through his veins but she made a mental note to make inquiries. Perhaps nothing would be found, or perhaps his story would be easily confirmed, but knowing was always better.
Her expression did not change as she listened, not until the private actually confirmed the tales, then both her brows rose and she sat back in her chair. Her communications with the new Science Minister had shown him to be pragmatic, non-political, and, which obviously in over his head, a quick learner. She had quite liked him, though had realized immediately that he was a piece, not a player, and not a piece that she could make her own while his brother reined at the Marshal General's right hand.
"A flying airfield. How extraordinary." Her research into the elder of the Dornkirk brothers spoke of his engineering ingenuity in far greater terms than his leadership qualities, but if he had organized and executed the only major organized survivalist group in the city, maybe he was an even faster learned than she had imagined.
"Your family seems to excel however unlikely the circumstances, Private Dornkirk." She let her eyes wander over him with an expression that might have been admiration of his linage.
Kuno had expected any manner of things, but The Vixen flirting with Reiner had been low on the list. What was the woman thinking? Wasn't it below her dignity both of her rank and her social standing? She couldn't be serious. Except Reiner wasn't really a soot covered boy from the streets anymore, was he? Damn the Dornkirk name! Clearing his throat he drew Vonnegut's attention but said nothing, only meeting her eyes in a prolonged suggestions of willfulness that was not wholly respectful. After a long moment he gave her a winning smile that was also just shy of disrespectful. When she turned away from him he had the distinct impression that he had been weighed and found insignificant. Returning to questioning Reiner she asked,
"If the Science Minister is the highest ranking member of the government remaining, as you say, has he taken the post of Marshal General?"
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 1:33 am
by Reiner Dornkirk
Reiner was too well briefed to trust that Vonnegut's legitimate displays of concern were, in fact, genuine. If it was a performance, though, it seemed a stellar one. He hoped it was more than playacting, but he was being overcautious and sympathy could be strategic, even if curried with an earnest response.
He nodded at her expression of awe about the Islands, but glanced down at the compliment to his family. Now, he really was feeling a bit bashful. An imposter at the ball. He had no part in the greatness of his pedigree. Not yet. The most estimable task he'd embarked upon was the one that brought him to this table to have this conversation. But, just like earnest sympathy, earnest humility could be strategic as well. And it was a tactic Reiner used both intentionally and unconsciously on an increasingly frequent basis. In this instance, he wasn't aware that flirtation was part of it, though he'd have been very flattered if he realized it was being reciprocated.
Reiner arched his brow, slightly, and canted his face to look at Kuno. He'd been prepped for The Vixen to surprise him, but not the lieutenant. He knitted his brow, eyes questioning as they scanned the pale face of his roommate, mentor and best friend. What was he playing at?
When the moment passed, he tiled his head back frontward and shook his head at the question posed.
"No, ma'am... If he had claimed that mantle, I'd not have disrespected him so thoroughly as to have called him 'Minister' at the start of our discussion." A crooked smile and an impish glint in hazel eyes hinted at a joke at his own expense for having needed to be corrected on forms of address earlier.
"Forgive the correction, but I actually said he is the highest ranking member 'known to our contingent'. Communication lines are still, as you know, shoddy and inconsistent. It's possible there are higher ranking ministers who survived, and I... suspect his communique..." He gestured to the letter on her desk, "...will go into greater detail, but were I to hazard a guess, I would think the reason he's reaching out to bases that have been cut off from the city, is to make sure the higher ups like yourself are apprised of the situation, so you can better inform the structure of the provisional government."
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:04 pm
by Rune
The Commander gave Reiner a little acknowledging smile in response to his riposte of her earlier correction, though it gave away nothing of her authority it admitted that he was keeping up.
"Well," He conceded, through it was never actually going to be a concession, "at least there is that. Some semblance of continued order in what was our government." The sentiment was that of stayed judgement; Minister Dornkirk wasn't being written off as grasping for power, yet. For a brief moment she looked tired in the exact way that everyone seemed to be feeling but no one, including Vonnegut, was going to admit to.
Kuno, from the seat beside Reiner, radiated negative emotions of some sort strong enough that it could practically be felt burning his best friend's skin. Whatever was under his own skin he was, at least, keeping quiet about it now.
The Vixen looked between the two men with an expression that said, had she been any other woman, she would have raised a brow at whatever was going on between them, then she did look down at the envelope for the first time.
"That being the case, I will take the time to peruse the packet. You may tell your Minister that I will receive him when he arrives." She would see him, specifically him, and made no promises as to the outcome, but it was obvious the messenger had been sent to garner that consent, and possibly drum up some good will. The choice had seemed odd when Private Dornkirk had arrived, but now she could see the logic behind it. Should the Private's cousin crash and burn, literally or figuratively, without taking his younger relative with him, Vonnegut might just snap him up herself.
Her small, nearly flirtatious smile was back as she stood abruptly, causing both the men seated before her to jump up. Extending her hand she shook the Private's, but not the Lieutenant's, before saluting them both by way of dismissal.
Kuno let Reiner lead the way, as he had on their entrance and exit to all of these meetings, so why did it now feel like he was escorting a prisoner instead of an honor guard? The walk back to their little ship was silent, and there was no attempt to carefully see to the buckles and straps that ensured the Private's safety this go-round. Indeed, Kuno barely waited for Reiner to manage them himself before lifting them off and flying in a way that might have been deliberately break-neck and turbulent all the way back to the Gambit.
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:53 pm
by Reiner Dornkirk
"Yes, ma'am." Reiner suppressed a bit of the profuse enthusiasm beaming behind his boyish smile, albeit not the smile itself. That had gone remarkably smoothly... or had it? Perhaps Kuno's flagrant moon shift that seem to have abruptly veered toward the maudlin betokened some slip-up or sign that things hadn't gone as well as he felt. Still, he kept his positive front up through his last salute and out the door to Vonnegut's office. After that, he remained mum, but his smile faded as he felt that irate energy he'd last felt cast his way after their night out when he'd been flirting with that redhead.
He waited until they were on the airfield and in the ship, before he tried speaking at all, lest someone from the Vixen's camp overhear and report back.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" The answer seemed to come in the form of a deliberately punitive flight pattern. He reflexively tensed, his knuckles white as they gripped the armrests. Although his instinctive response was mortal fear, his mind was focused on the mission they were still technically in the midst of and the concern that the camp below might observe the frantic flight and draw conclusions that could compromise the strides they'd just made.
He didn't say anything, though. He forced himself to keep his eyes open and face the fear Kuno seemed keen to exacerbate and, when they were finally back in port, he let out a soft sigh and pursed his lips as he unbuckled.
Once again, part of him wanted to be mad. The most high stakes leg of their mission was behind them and it had gone about as well as could be! He was tempted to say so, but right now he was too scared of how Kuno might react to express himself candidly. Instead he tipped his head down, like a guilty puppy and in a gentle voice asked:
"What did I do wrong?"
Re: Going Down (Part III)
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:38 pm
by Rune
Lieutenant Kämpfer did his best to tamp down the seething, at least enough that no one aboard that larger vessel would think that anything had gone amiss. Though it had. The captain would be informed of their return and they would no doubt be expected to make a full report as they had with the other forts. Except, in this case, it wouldn't be a full report.
He had ignored the question the first time, but when it was repeated he glanced about for a convenient place to have a quick, private conversation. Noticing a spot behind several crates that had been lashed to the decking he all but dragged the wayward Private behind it. There Kuno turned on him, green eyes flashing in anger. Leaning in close and speaking quietly, if not calmly, he finally answered.
"Can't figure it out on your own?" He paused to let the mocking hurt but not long enough to give Reiner time to actually think about it. The younger man had had the entire ride back, not to mention all the days they'd spent before hand.
"Would you have acted like... like That if Vonnegut had been a man?" While it might have been his intention to let this sink in he was too worked up to give it any time and simply continued in his low, accusatory hiss , "She was flirting with you! Just as I warned you she would! And what do you do? You smile and blush and play into her hands like..." He spluttered for a moment before settling on, "a school girl with a crush! How could you? If you don't have enough pride in yourself to see through such obvious a ploy you could have at least thought about your cousin and the cause! He'll have to go in now with her thinking the whole set up is being administrated by soft, guileless men who lose their nerve at the smile of a pretty woman! Which is, in case you also failed to realize, the exact opposite of the impression we were sent to create! Mists alive, Dornkirk! I thought better of you!"
He turned his back but did not exit their vaguely protected little nook, needing a moment to compose himself before turning back.
"Thankfully, you're the one who gets to report this to the Minister, and don't even think about not telling him the whole of it. The only way to make this worse would be to send him in blind. He must know how Vonnegut thinks this is going to go, that she can wrap us around her little finger. For all we know she's been setting things in motion from the moment she got word of the disaster to become the Marshall General herself. I can't imagine it would be otherwise, under the circumstances."
Closing his eyes he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, just once to each side, as though he were too exhausted by Reiner's incompetence to do more.
"Well. It's done now and use mentioning it to the Captain. Not point in letting rumors get out to bring down moral. We'll tell him the same thing we did for the others: It went well and Vonnegut is willing to accept a visit from the Minister. Come on, no point in delaying starting back, the Islands will be to the first fort in only a few days and we need to get back and report to give them time to strategize a way out of this mess you've made."
That done he did walk away, to meet the officer who was rather obviously looking for the two of them to invite them into the steering box to make their report so the Captain could set their return course.