Akihiko nodded and was surprised that his lance leader actually wanted him to be second in command for this mission. He took a moment to compose himself before replying. "Arigato, Sui-feng -<em>taichou</em>. I am honored that you chose me and I hope to live up to your expectations." He soon made the necessary checks to his 'Mech as they made the trip to Gravenhage.<br/><br/>Upon arrival, he soon was treated with the first sight of the one called Kaname and he had already disliked her with her attitude.<em>An arrogant, stuck-up bitch, that is for sure. She wouldn't last a second against Mitsuru or Yukari though.</em>He then paid attention to the woman that faced them and grinned. She was familiar with him, since he had served or at least fought with her husband before to defend the borders of the Combine close to the Draconis March.<br/><br/>He then saluted formally, giving a respectful, intricate movement with his sword as a sign of respect to Ryoko and said on the comm. "Indeed... and may I say it is a pleasure to meet you again, Masaki-dono... or was it Hakubi-dono in the past? I trust that Tenchi-dono is well? I have not met him since we served together briefly on Colchester after the Fedcom Civil War."<br/><br/>While he awaited the answer to his greeting, he turned to his private comm channel and spoke to Sui-feng. "<em>Taichou... something is not right with this, if this is just a training mission... why are these rookies armed with real Mechs and ammo? As for Ryoko-san's concerns about the FRR wanting to disrupt this exercise... we just have to prepare for the worst. I just hope that if they do want to crash the party, they would not be the 3rd Drakons. Trust me, it will be a nightmare if that is what they are bringing against us."</em>