<div class="floatright">(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/wulfjaeger/___protector_of_time____by_vincentxyooj-d5lw1gq_zps59496fa9.png)</div><br/>The discussion of Emily's departure tugged at Allia's insides.  She had to look down at her lap for a moment to keep the sight of her sadness in her leaving hidden.  She and Emily had grown much closer over the past few weeks.  Granted they had always had a close relationship, but working so closely together had solidified a few of their connections.  It would be hard to replace her, both as a friend and a colleague.  Allia had been paying close attention, knowing her time was short.  It would soon come down to whether Allia could put learned experience into practice.<br/><br/>"I wouldn't say they're out.  I agree with Damian, back burner only.  We need to get better established.  Our eyes can't be bigger than our stomach's on this."<br/><br/>The questions regarding officers and leadership brought a cringe to Allia's face.  Her mouth scrunched up, her lips pursed together as she considered the question.  Dell, Kat and Cory would be their Recon lance, that was how Allia saw them forming up.  Dell and Kat were the most experienced and senior, but still only NCO's, not officers.  "Well until we can establish a proper recon unit, the vehicle unit will need to serve."  She pulled up some personnel data on her pad.  She knew she didn't need to, the info was in her mind, but she wanted to look like she was being thorough.  "Both Dell Samuelson and Kat Stavia were NCO's in the Remnants.  So they are the closest thing we have to officers right now."  She flipped through the files a bit more.  "None of the Mechwarriors have any academy experience, or any experience that would rate them as officers.  Three of them will be going to Strike with me and one will go to Command due to the  weight of their mech.  I say we let the two NCO's use the training cycles to establish their leadership potential."  She put down her pad.  "I'm hoping the natural leader will emerge."<br/><br/>While Allia was secretly hoping that they could come up with a plan or accomodation to promote Kat as an officer, she understood the need to let things play out and let the new people in the unit find their place.  "Besides, the other reason we can't put any of the new mechwarriors in a Recon lance, they'd never take commands from a vehicle jock."