InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Next time nail coffin shut."

Lt. (jg) Colton Nathaniel West (colton_west) wrote in kobols_legacies,
@ 2008-04-20 20:14:00

Current location:	(l) avalon
Entry tags:	( a completed scene), (c) colton west, (c) vosca tarix

Reporting In...
Cole put the last thoughts of Colonel MacKenzie out of his head as he made his way down the hall. He still couldn't quite get over how fast the Colonel had been able to get inside his head. He shivered, the uncomfortable parallels to his father flooding his mind's eye. The speeches, the rants, the discipline; it had been over a decade, but somehow just thinking about it always seemed to create a fresh wound.

He cleared his mind once and for all as he stood before the office door of Captain Tarix. He smiled to himself and straightened his hair. Jester had said she kept a tighter line than he did, but still - it never hurt to look your best when meeting a lady.

Clearing his throat, Colton West wrapped at the door

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vosca_tarix
2008-04-21 01:09 am UTC (link)

As he neared it, the sound of a raised female voice could be heard. The knocking apparently did little to change it and what was evidently a lecturing tirade refused to dwindle. A strict, authoritarian sort of thing, perhaps not shouting, but somehow much more intimidating. It went on for about half a minute more before the hatch finally opened and what seemed to be a young cadet stepped out, looking significantly the worse for wear.

All things considered, he might very well be hoping to get killed in action soon.

He only looked up at the other pilot as he passed, apparently about to say something, but thinking better of it. Captain Tarix had chewed up plenty of subordinates before. Healthy, grown men and women, had been all but reduced to tears in her presence, if she was in the mood. All things considered, the young man's dishevelled walk off down the corridor would have been rather comical, were it not tragic.

"Come," the squadron leader finally called.

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colton_west
2008-04-21 01:29 am UTC (link)

The soft whisper of a chuckle escaped Cole's lips as the quivering cadet walked away. He stifled the first hints of laughter and composed himself before stepping into the captain's office.

Jester's words rang in his head as he took two steps in and immediately stood at attention. He offered her the sharp, snap of a salute as his eyes focused on the absent horizon of nothing.

His voice matched his salute and stature, professional and no-nonesense: "Colton West reporting for duty, sir."

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vosca_tarix
2008-04-21 03:56 am UTC (link)

Tarix had not sat down. Attractive enough, if she ever made the effort, but the woman was stern. Complete seriousness. Not a hint of the playful, anywhere about her. If the pilot had thought MacKenzie had been bad, then Dagger was going to land him in a world of hurt, no doubt.

"Papers?" She requested, taking ahold of the documents, once they were passed over. She remained standing, even then, flicking through the contents with an analytical eye to detail. Some call signs were a joke, but her own was one of the few testamount to her personality and flying style.

The arch of an eyebrow was not good. Vosca Tarix did not take lightly to insubordination, especially in the form of official reports. MacKenzie had been understating matters, if anything. The woman had a reputation for good reason.

"Hm."

Placing them down upon her desk, hands joined behind back and she eyed him with a practiced glare. Not necessarily to be deliberately imposing, although that always helped. It was simply her way. Cold steel and fire.

Not a people-person, by any means.

"It seems you've been given something I'm not famed for being charitable with, Mister West... A second chance," she began in monotone. "My hope is that you'll see this as an opportunity. That you won't go blaming any further breaches of rules on your formative years, an awkward social background, bad medical histories or divine intervention. You will capitalise on the chance to join the Black Hydras for the esteemed honour it is... My fear is that you'll do none of the above. That you'll prove 'troublesome'. That I'll have to devote what precious time I have to supervising you; to making sure you do not contaminate the minds of your fellow pilots and wingmen with trivial annoyances. That instead of contributing, you'll end up ignoring orders and causing the deaths of your comrades. Perhaps even the destruction of an entire ship. This, Mister West, will not happen... It will not happen, because I will not allow it to happen. In the next few weeks, I will not regret your introduction. Instead, I will be welcoming your transformation into a role model of Colonial integrity."

A pause.

"Anything less than this shall not be tolerated. It simply... Will not be. Do I make myself understood, Mister West?"

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colton_west
2008-04-21 11:42 am UTC (link)

The tiniest smirk began to slither into his features as he listened to the Captain's speech. He'd heard it a thousand times before and she wasn't saying anything new to him.

At least that's how it seemed at first. As she slowly placed the safety of the squadron and indeed the entire fleet squarely on his shoulders he was forced to think again of his father, his sister, of Cassandra, and of what he'd cost them. His face tightened up and his eyes grow dark, almost angry.

"Aye-aye, Captain."

It was all he could manage to choke out.

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vosca_tarix
2008-04-22 02:19 am UTC (link)

She was guessing he had not joined before the war. Training standards had been relaxed, in her view, to make up the numbers. An attitude like that should have been broken out of, at boot camp. That was what it was meant to do - break someone, so as to build them back up again.

But he would learn.

"Good," the authoritarian Captain Tarix replied. After a fashion, at least. She was not easily provoked into arguments, due to being so downright by the book, but her ire could easily be roused for a breach of discipline.

Sizing the pilot up, she mentioned a formal, "Welcome to the Black Hydras." Taking the opportunity to state what location of the ship he should go to, in order to claim a bunk.

"I trust you're aware our training schedule has been stepped up a little, of late. Assuming you're up to scratch, I expect you to get fully acquainted with your colleagues, immediately. Something big's evidently coming up and we don't have the time for throw a good will party. DCS and tactical database assimilation takes place at 14:00. That will be all."

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colton_west
2008-04-22 02:47 am UTC (link)

A sardonic smile drifted into his expression and a hint of impish playfulness entered his voice.

" 'Fully acquainted.' Couldn't have put it better myself, Captain." his expression bordered on criminal, and his lips fell into a lopsided smirk.

"Well, off carve myself into a chiseled war machine for the betterment of the Colonies." Before he realized it, he let a wink slip out at the Captain. He instantly realized his possibly fatal mistake and turned on his heel, hoping to escape without drawing down her wrath.

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vosca_tarix
2008-04-22 03:05 am UTC (link)

An unimpressed lift of eyebrow was made in his direction, but Vosca was not petty. Rigid, maybe. Absolute, definitely. But it was a token she could let slide - at least initially. Further incidents, however, would be commented upon.

Getting him in the mix was mattered most, for now. Her dislike of fraternisation between ranks could be left for later.

"Close the door on your way, if you please, Lieutenant," she spoke out as he departed, keeping things as strictly formal as they ever were in her presence.

Another day, another pilot. One who would probably be dead before the month was out, if the law of averages had anything to say about it.

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colton_west
2008-04-22 03:11 am UTC (link)

She wants me.

It was the first thing than ran through his head as he pulled the door shut with a heavy thud. He laughed to himself, amazed he made it out of that encounter without being busted down to Mess Specialist. After all a woman that powerful, that strong, that controlled just happened to let his flirtations slide.

There was, he concluded, only one explanation: She wanted him.

He made his way down the hall with a new spring in his step. It was time he found a bunk and really made a place for himself among the Black Hydras.

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