Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It

[commanderzabala]

Characters: Commander Zabala, Zakari Aetherun
Location: The Commander's Office
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: The Commander has a mission, and only one cadet is suitable for the task.



Cadet Aetherun,

Please come to my office at your earliest convenience.

~Commander Zabala

She had written the PM as mildly as possible without obscuring the fact that it was an order, not a request. She hoped he wouldn't believe himself to be in trouble.

But she waited, in her office, that evening after returning from the Island. With as much work as she had to do, it wasn't as if she could be anywhere else anyway.

Comments

[justnotthesame]

Earliest convenience. Yeah, he was in trouble. (Who wouldn't believe that, anyway? Besides, he had reason!) Just how many clean uniforms did he have left, anyway? Probably not enough. Still, Zak wasn't going to try to get off on the wrong foot.

It took a little longer than the Commander probably liked, but showered, shaved, and dressed in a clean uniform is how Zak showed up at her door, knocking at it politely.

"Cadet Aetherun reporting, ma'am." Of course if she wanted his findings on his claws, or the remnants, she'd be waiting a while. He was still running informational diagnostics on them.

[commanderzabala]

"Cadet, please enter. And sit," she said, gesturing at the chair. She also looked at the door, a quiet hint for him to close it. "I wanted to talk to you about something specific."

[justnotthesame]

Oh, great. Yeah, he was in for it now. Wordlessly, he turned to close the door. He tucked his hands behind his back, and glanced at the chair.

Zak gave a resigned sigh, then edged around it to plant his butt, folding his hands in his lap.

"It isn't my invention, is it? Because if it is, I can explain, but if you want schematics or something, it'll have to wait..."

[commanderzabala]

"No, no. Nothing of that nature."

She tapped a folder on her desk absently -- information on him, though nothing she felt she needed to consult.

"Rather, I have a mission for you."

[justnotthesame]

A mission. Oh, man, a mission. But for him? What the hell? He wasn't the type of guy who got missions, unless...

"Does it have something to do with Galbadia? Because yeah, then I'm in, no problem."

Because give him an inch to stick it to Galbadia, and he'd give a mile. No, Zak didn't hold grudges, whatever gave you that idea?

[commanderzabala]

"Not this time. I believe Galbadia Garden is still attempting to rebuild its hockey team," she said with an amused smile. "No, this is a problem closer to home, and it requires someone fitting your description -- a person from this world, without prejudice towards offworlders, and discreet."

[justnotthesame]

Well, that didn't sound good. It also sort of sounded like a setup, to Zak's mind.

His eyes narrowed, and he frowned, though he didn't do much more than fidget a little.

"What did you have in mind, exactly?"

Not that he wasn't fully prepared to get up and walk out, if he had to.

[commanderzabala]

Banishing her smile, she folded her hands on the desk in front of her, regarding the cadet seriously.

"What I'm telling you has not been announced yet. It will, at the beginning of the new quarter, so you need not be overly careful about this information."