What can the squad do about Dusty? Three requests to have her move out have failed. Rhiannon has good reasons to loathe the woman, and Miyami is sympathetic to the loathing. Ric has a good point, though. The instructors are marking on ability, including the ability to work as a squad. Everyone else got shaken up. Not this squad. Ric is right; they should have an advantage. Thus the beginning of turning the conflict from intra-squad to inter-squad.
Since the cast are supposed to be at an academy, I had to figure out what they'd major in. Once again, I turned to the Royal Military College in Kingston to see what they had. The usual degrees were there - Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering - but there was one extra, a Bachelor of Military Arts and Science. Armed with this knowledge, it was time to work out which character was studying what. There's a core set of courses, but each character has a different interest.
Rhiannon major is Mathematics with a minor in Political Science. Her major was chosen after looking at the different offerings and selecting something she might enjoy. The minor is related to her future position, when she inherits her parents' titles. She wants to be on top of her duties when she has to take over the roles. Dusty is going for the Bachelor of Military Arts and Science with no minor; she's wants to focus on her goal. Miyami is aiming for a B.Eng in civil engineering, so may not have time for a minor. Engineering really doesn't leave much time for anything else to be studied, unless the student wants to graduate much later than expected. Lars is majoring in History; he's hoping to make the Guard a career but isn't aiming for higher ranks yet like Dusty is. Ric, well, he hasn't decided. So many options.
The squads get renamed. It's a change from before the key test, a more permanent arrangement, at least for the school year. With new squads come new squad leaders. Prior to the obstacle course, the Academy left it up to the squads to work out who was the leader. Now, the school decides, based on what has been seen. Except, maybe not. Ric has demonstrated the ability to take the lead when needed. Rhiannon got the nod. The position will rotate, but right now, Rhiannon suspects that something more than her skill is the reason why she got to be leader. Dusty isn't going to let her forget, either.
Dusty gets two more insults in. Her last line, "By your command, Imperious Leader[,]" comes from the original Battlestar Galactica. I gave myself a challenge when writing up interactions between Dusty and Rhiannon - Dusty was not going to reuse an insult when addressing Rhiannon. The list so far:
- Your Highness
- Your Queenship
- Your Exaltedness
- Your Majesticness
- Her Imperialness
- Princess
- Your Ladyship
- O Mighty Mistress
- Imperious Leader
Nine digs. Considering that the pair didn't spend much time together is his arc and actively avoided each other throughout, that's not bad. I have five more coming in the next arc, whenever that comes.
This arc was short. I realized that I had covered everything I needed to for this arc, setting up a few plot lines for the future and giving the characters a chance to breathe without being under constant tension. The internal conflict needs to end somewhere, so the move to bring the squad into a more coherent form has to start somewhere. The next arc will go into the idea more, which is where it stalled out back in November 2017.
Friday, the future of Mecha Academy.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, The Mummy (2017).
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Miami Vice.
No comments:
Post a Comment