with the crown prince cowed, freya moves on. fernando bets on her pride and she offers Remiel Calcifet a wan smile, a promise that all things will be explained in due time. more to spite the late silph than anything else, though she doesn't remark on his accidental blunder regarding her name. 

the missing makes himself known and still, after all this time, she startles at the sight of the fae mist. her throat tightens and it takes a good measure of her control to stay inexpressive. her hands slip under the table nonetheless to grip anxiously at the fabric of her pants, but the rampant thump-thumping of her heart steadies as the pink dissipates.

she wants to say she's glad to see him, but she can't form words yet. it's fine. melody does so and the aside to fernando helps her relax just a smidge more. 

but her half-smile falls when dahlia ushers in and solemnity drapes over their table. petalburg first. she looks towards those who'd been on that front, namely FERNANDO SILPH, for their firsthand accounts, but Greyson Connors poses a question she's been asking herself since the moment she learned the city had fallen. 

how had they not seen the troops? how had they not known they were mobilizing? you simply can't bring a small army overseas without the defending region's government noticing. unless she missed something. unless fernando missed something.

freya nods along with illeana reyes while she takes another sip of her coffee. 

halfway down, she coughs. more fey mist manifests in the otherwise homey chamber and freya's fingers tighten around her coffee cup. she sets it down, lips thin, and when Navy looks towards her, she clears her throat.

only to be interrupted by the sudden arrival of the liberator.

her smile returns in earnest; with the wind comes her ability to breathe and she does so easier now. he looks somewhat panicked, certainly worse off (but aren't they all?), though that does not stop him from launching straight into discussion as he takes his seat. 

"CIAN MAHER and Hideo Kino will receive their orders when we're finished here. we have a hierarchy in place for a reason, navidson," she says succinctly, finding her voice with ease now, and hardened golds turn back to the feywalker sheriff. 

"if what isaac said is true, there's a good chance they were using those tunnels to stage an assault like this." intelligence she would have savored before this all began, but she tucks that away for later. "we'll investigate and find a way to use them to our advantage, in tandem with your suggested strategy."

now she turns her attention to the others. 

"but there is more to discuss before we can move forward with preventative strategies. like how the league's ulysses monroe led kanto forces on petalburg and handedly took down one of our most esteemed gym leaders."

AQUA ASSEMBLY

mostly observing
first reaction to feymist isn't noticeable but second is (only to those paying close attention to her)
responds to & agrees with navy, using isaac's info
mistah monroe

☉

Eva said her piece, and to her it wasn’t up for further discussion. After all, it was ultimately FERNANDO SILPH who decided the direction of the science department, not A.Q.U.A. as a whole. She busies herself refreshing her memory on the events of Petalburg and Sootopolis before dahlia goode enters the chamber. Her small smile in greeting to their commissioner quickly fades away at the motion of a Hoenn-Kanto war . . .

There’s something about it, about that phrase, that makes her stomach curl. Involuntarily she slowly turns her gaze to MATIAS SILPH, the only one at this table she’s truly been in the trenches with in Hoenn and Kanto, who has also watched the scourge that is Rocket devour a region with no mercy.

Eva folds her hands over her tablet, letting her full attention be drawn into this important conversation. Despite all her experience with Rocket in both Kanto and Hoenn, she fails to formulate answers. It’s so complicated.

Rocket. The League. They were predator and prey and evolved alongside each other seamlessly. When the prey evolved a new defense strategy, the predator would find a way to overcome it - or die. Rocket has proven it has the ability to evolve quickly and adapt appropriately. It was nearly impossible to predict, and Eva is no military strategist. As hard as she’s tried to be a soldier, she isn’t cut out for it.

“It’s entirely possible Mr. Monroe is not entirely . . . himself,” her gaze briefly trails between the avatars present. Each would know the burden of a patron. Imagine one forced upon you with malicious intent? “From eye witness accounts he didn’t demonstrate any unusual abilities but that doesn’t mean he’s not compromised. I wouldn’t put it past Rocket to brainwash and use him as another strategy to smear the League,” her lips twist in disgust. There are certainly heavy implications to a former commissioner leading Rocket troops in their home region against the League, “The people will ask themselves why a former commissioner is striking against the League. It will instill more doubt and fan the flames of the false Rocket claims,” the same strategy of misinformation threatens Sootopolis, “Transparency and open, diligent, communication with the Hoenn people is imperative at the moment. Reviving their hope and bolstering their faith in The League is what will ultimately stop Rocket’s poisonous spread,” she turns solemnly down to her coffee mug in front of her, “Kanto’s people lost hope, and that’s ultimately what lost us our region. There’s many more of our people than there are of us; We can’t do it without them.”

---

Notes

• Kanto-Hoenn war makes her nervous and unsettled
• Doesn't have much to offer in a concrete plan but shares what she thinks partially led to the downfall of Kanto
• The believes the Kanto people lost hope which led to most complacency and an ununited front. She encourages everyone to not neglect how important the people's support is when considering how to move forward.
• Believes they need to reinvigorate the people's hope just as much as mounting a good defensive or offensive strategy.