Reminisce & Relate (Jayda)

Jonathan found himself staring out the window of Balamb Garden yet again. Strangely, it reminded him alot of home: a floating city that doubled as a military base. Instead of ships, though, Balamb seemed to deal in infantry. He had yet to meet any of the SEEDs the place was famous for. Jonathan missed being able to fly, honestly. Although the Ragnarok was bigger than any ship he'd flown (he equated it to about the size of a Centurion-class frigate) he'd still enjoyed flying it. The pilot had almost regretted having to land it once they'd arrived. He'd also heard about some kind of mad scientist who lived in this region, though he didn't have a name yet. Maybe that scientist could replicate some of Jonathan's tech, if hadn't already found a piece or two from the Scourge wreckage. Of course, if this scientist was as mad as everyone says, maybe it was a good idea to stay away from him.

While Jayda was keeping to Red's side within the Infirmary, the hybrid creature from the neighboring planet was also enduring Brix's medical expertise. After recieveing a quick report over the situation, Shade left the examine room just as Brix was about to give Red a dose of antibiotics. What the poor creature didn't know was Brix's odd sense of humor when presenting a syringe needle three feet long to inject him with. If it weren't for Jayda staying by his side and scolding Brix for acting like a child, no doubt Shade would be stuck with a red furred hybrid tearing throughout the Garden and screaming bloody murder for his life. So Red fortunately got the pills instead of the shot.


Luckily, the walk through the Garden was peaceful as the Headmaster set off to find this pilot Jayda said flew them safely back home. It wasn't all that hard to locate him, and the fact that his attire within an establishment of mostly uniforms made him stick out like a beacon of "where the hell am I?" led Shade to the grand foyer of the Garden to greet and thank the outworlder face to face. Now behind him, Shade spoke in her usual business manner of profession. "So you're the skilled pilot that flew the Ragnarok in. Pretty impressive for someone of another world. Not an easy airship to handle, but I thank you for bringing back my comrade and her companion safely." She stuck out her gloved hand to offer a handshake of gratitude. "Names Shade. I'm Headmaster here at the Garden. Anything you need, just ask. It's the least I can do for your services."

Jonathan mostly listened, but he respectfully turned and shook Shade's hand when she offered it. "Lt. Jonathan DeLauren, pilot of Shadowcat Squadron." he said, introducing himself. "The Ragnarok may be big and finicky, but she's gentle. She'll test you a bit, but once she decides she likes you, hardly any trouble." He let go of Shade's hand and turned back towards the window. "This place is alot similar to where I come from. A hell of a lot stranger, though. 'Course, when you're flying with a crown princess as your wingmate, everything else suddenly seems normal." He remembered the fights he and Anna would get into in the middle of flight training. More than once it was suggested that the two get married (Although Jonathan figured the Grand Admiral that was the princess' caretaker would have a field day about that were it ever seriously suggested.) but they were content just being wingmates.

It was that moment where those who were naturally studious and keen to new people silently took in their own observations of someone upon first meeting, making swift judgments first impressions revealed. Shade could tell by the firm grip of his hand this was a confident man, and his stare never faltered when his intense eyes met her own. His voice was also strong and steady with words that were directly to the point. She already liked his assessment of her beloved airship, describing the way it handled just as Shade would explain to anyone else herself.


His following words naturally struck a cord of curiosity. "Well a pleasure to meet an experienced pilot, DeLauren. Not many left these days that dare take on the reign of an airship they've never flown before. Where exactly are you from? I've never heard of your Squadron from any planets within the realm."

Jonathan mulled it over for a moment. "Frankly, that's because I'm not from this realm." he said frankly, folding his hands behind his back and spreading his legs out as if to stand at attention. "I'm from a whole different place altogether." He didn't seem to want to go into detail. "There is, actually, one favor you can do for me." Jonathan turned to face Shade again. "I need something to fly, an escort fighter. I'm trained on Interceptors and Attackers, and I do have basic schematics on the interface. Basically, I'd like one built."

His new stance reminded Shade of her own brother. Not for the way DeLauren held himself physically by his attentive stature, but for the fact his line of thinking sounded on course and to the point. For now, Shade didn't interrogate Jon's place of origin, and was actually intrigued by his request.


With a lifted eyebrow, Shade gave her head a nod as she motioned for Jon to follow her down the hallways as they continued to speak. "I think something can be arranged, Jon, but normally such things are constructed in our city of Esthar. They hold the most technology there on the planet. Question is, are you on a time frame? Something like that is going to take awhile to build, so unless you have somewhere to be right away, I can lend you an airship, or you're more than welcome to ride out the time here, if you wish"

He mulled it over for another moment. "I'm not on any kind of time frame, but the sooner something is finished, the faster I can get home. I'd also like to oversee certain stages of the construction, make sure the right materials are used." He took his interface out of his pocket and slipped it over his eye. "If you have a screen with a wireless connection, I can show you." The Pilot's Interface in general had schematics of every Republican and Monarchy craft, both military and civilian. Any design not registered in the database was considered a pirate ship. Similarly, a registered design without a layout matching the ones registered for that design was also considered a pirate ship. Not totally foolproof, but it was effective.

Shade nodded in agreement when Jon stated he wished to be a part of the ship's construction. She would have suggested the same if he hadn't mentioned it. She took an eye of interest at the gadget he pulled out and placed over his eye, knowing Vex would would drool for the chance to take the thing apart and tinker with it. She pointed towards the Library and led the way for her companion to follow. "We'll take a quick look at the schematics on one of the screens available in the Library section, then once I get an idea on what sort of team you'll need, we'll head up to my office for a more detailed look and get things started for you."


Once within the grand scale Library, every wall was packed full of books as well as isles and isles of packed bookshelves lined throughout the enormously bright room. The section in the middle of the room was neatly lined desks, each with their own private screens for student to work from. "Feel free to show me what you need to when you're ready"

Jonathan was impresses by the amount of material present in one area, but he quickly suppressed that feeling in order to collect a list of materials needed. "Basic materials include a mix of diamond and fiberglass for the canopy, and a mixture of titanium, steel, and carbon for the hull." he listed. "The exact design that'll be built can be figured out in a minute." He walked up to one of the screens and activated it, activating his interface in the process. "Interface: Initialize Startup and Wireless Connection sequences." The display flickered to life and both Jonathan's interface and the screen in front of him. "Access Internal Schematic and Layout Database." The screen changed to a list of various ship classes. "Pick a small one." he suggested to Shade.

Shade bent over the desk with her palms resting on the surface to study various ships on the screen as Jon explained several of the materials he would need. When he stated to pick something small, by Shade's experience alone, small meant speed, and so she chose the fastest one out of the choices she was given.

"The materials you mention are easily found on this world, so they shouldn't be a problem to obtain. I'll send a message to Esthar's engineering department to begin processing them, and we'll send these schematics so they can get a general idea on the structure before they get started." She stood up straight and crossed her arms, waiting to hear what else John had in mind for this ship he requested.

Jonathan nodded in confirmation. "The materials themselves are easy to get, but actually making a DiamondGlass canopy and a Ditanium hull is harder than you might think." When he saw Shade's choice of ship, he lit up like a boy on Christmas. "Interface: Load SRP-Z Sharp Interceptor Schematics and Weapons Loadout." he said with unconcealed excitement. The screen changed, revealing a fighter with an angular ovoid body, two sharp blades that extended past the cockpit in front, and just past the engines in rear. "Four light plasma cannons for armament, situated on the pylons the blades are mounted on. Those are the weapons. Four rift engines give her the speed to catch any Faction fighter."

Shade smirked a bit when hearing the excitement in his tone. It was nice to hear someone as enthusiastic about airships, or knew to appreciate them more than just a vehicle that proved convenient. As he brought up the Sharp in more detail on the screen, she nodded as DeLauren pointed out the impressive details. She went to another monitor and brought up her personal account to send to word to Esthar Engineering about the ship request and the materials needed before addressing Jon again.

"I've sent enough information for a team to get started. That will give them enough to do until we get you there to supervise over the rest. Do you wish to go now, or wait a bit?"

Jonathan disconnected the interface and turned towards Shade. "Actually, I'd like to stick around, see if I can't earn an apprentice or a partner." He said "earn" instead of "obtain" because of the nature of his request. He wasn't simply asking for weapons or a ship, he was asking for someone to travel with him: a student from the Academy. His piloting skills had already earned a portion of Shade's trust, and his military nature seemed to have earned another portion, but Jonathan felt he'd have to completely earn Shade's trust before she'd even consider letting him take on an apprentice from the Balamb students. All in all, Jonathan felt that he'd come out of this deal with more than he came in with. That much was blatantly obvious.

After seeing Jon closing down the schematic program, Shade straightened herself just as her earcom devise gave a subtle tone within her ear, alerting her there was message from her secretary. No doubt it was some random Garden notification that could wait. If it were an emergency, the well trained receptionist would know to call her directly. Shade was just about to lead the way for them to depart the library when Jon's next request caught the Headmaster to pause in step.

She managed to curb her initial "oh hell no" reaction, knowing DeLauren didn't realize just how protective Shade was of her students and cadets. To Shade, each one was her sole responsibility to care for and protect, which included their safe and well being where ever they were sent off to after leaving the Garden once their education and training were complete. She slowly crossed her arms and pondered his request carefully before finally giving the pilot her stipulations. "If you're serious about this, then it will take some time before I say yes or no. First, I'll be drilling your record. By that I mean a background check.... a very...thorough.... background check.... of every planet within this realm. While doing that, I would greatly appreciate from you a very... thorough.... report.... as to why you seek one of my students to travel with you, what that student's duties and responsibilities will entail, how long the student or partner will be under your wing, and what exactly the selected student will benefit from you and this traveling experience should I permit this request."


Shade gave a moment or two of silence for her deal to sink in before continuing again. "Now once I have all those details thoroughly explained and I've confirmed your not some pirating lout or smuggler in need of additional recruits, then I will seriously take your request into consideration." She meant no offense to the pilot, but he was still a complete stranger to her, and Shade didn't send her SeeD students and cadets off with just anyone.

Jonathan listened to Shade's requests with a look of complete understanding. "Perfectly understandable." he said when she was finished. "I have a younger sister back home. I'd probably do the same with any boy wanting to date her if I had any suspicions." He shifted positions, folding his hands behind his back again and turning to face Shade. "As for my reasons, well, I'm just looking for an apprentice, someone to fly with. Any pilot will tell you, it can get lonely in the skies and among the stars. Frankly, when flying escort, don't be surprised to see pilots just lay back." As he said this, Jonathan realized he was going off topic and gave Shade a curious glance in askance, to see if she wanted him to keep going or no.

Shade nodded to Jon's reply as he sounded respectful towards her stipulations. Upon hearing his reasons though, she still wasn't thoroughly convinced. “I pretty much presumed you wanted an assistant or apprentice, DeLauren, and yes I understand you're an escort pilot of other passengers or random deliveries. But what I'm looking for is even more greater detail....”

She motioned for Jon to follow her out of library to save from further disrupting the students there from their studies and waited until they were outside in the hall before continuing. “My interest lies more in where all you exactly travel to.... the sort of people you escort... the type of cargo you haul...” Shade didn't want to bluntly call out her wariness of any illegal activity, but her words and warning tone would have been enough for Jon to clearly understand her concerns.

Jonathan found himself partially unable to answer Shade's question. "I can't exactly tell you where I'll be travelling if I don't particularly know myself." he admitted, scratching the backside of his head. "However, I can tell you that I won't be doing anything illegal. The idea is to learn the rules and laws setup by each World Government, and try not to break them." Jonathan had his own set of morals to follow, and those morals required that he keep to the straight and narrow. Although his days as a fighter pilot were essentially behind him at this point, he still kept his morals intact. "To be strictly honest, I won't be the one hauling the cargo. I just fly escort. So will my apprentice, if I get an apprentice, that is." This brought something new to the table, something even Jonathan hadn't thought about or considered: a second Interceptor.