Yeshua swallowed what seemed like a large stone in his throat while he felt sweat trickle down his forehead, sticking his already-long hair to his head. Throughout all of the battle he hadn't sweated one drop and kept his cool even if he was somewhere else for half of the fight. His mind had wandered to meaningless things that even the young man couldn't understand and he would have to analyse his own thought processes if he wanted to still retain his position as a dedicated sniper. That was for a later time, Yeshua remarked, as he and his "team" stood side-by-side for what seemed like the first time in far too long. These were the people he was going to protect and spend his time with in the future. For one reason or another, that made him even more nervous.
Wringing his hands behind his back in the most formal way possible, he displayed the proper stance of someone being talked to by a superior officer. Lorenzo was superior even though he didn't act like it. It took a whole new wealth of dedication to not flinch when the man came in with a . . . Sundae in his hand.
The greatest of us are often the maddest, Yesha remarked, trying to regain his composure. To be honest, he was a slob. Yeshua only became more confused as he started to lecture them on their fighting techniques. After all the preparation, even though they were young, one would think they could coordinate. The boy still had his questions about the combat exercise and how much it had costed for the engineers who had to put back together Setsuka's half-destroyed head. It was madness, in fact, to use the Framework's against each other instead of a computer simulation. Or there was a more sinister reason, Yeshua dared to think.
His ride back to the briefing had been smooth and without interruption, other than a few confused medical staff confused in how he managed to get a large bruise on his right leg. The helicopter made good time and the view was also good. It was such a nonchalant journey after all that Yeshua had been through, he felt like he had just come from a walk in the park. He remembered that this was a walk in the park, compared to what he had to face in the real battle.
When questions could be asked and the rest of his crew inquired to Lorenzo, he knew what he had to ask.
"Sir, the combat exercise seemed pointless. With all the damage done to the Frameworks, it would take a lengthy amount of time to repair them, even if you recover all the materials. A computer simulation would have accomplished the same thing and none of this damage would have happened. My lonewolf tactics were only apparent because I could survive by myself, and after all, the people I could team up with would be my very enemies. Unless I have missed something, sir, the event could have been executed to a much more productive degree." Yeshua slowly let the words trickle out of his mouth, keeping a stern expression and making sure his eyes never met with Lorenzo's. His heart almost dropped to his feet by the time he had let the last words out. "I hope my criticism is appreciated."
It took a lot of willpower to keep his whole body from shaking.