Post by pinksoyuz on Nov 27, 2009 2:50:44 GMT -5
Another day, another sortie. No, that wasn't quite right. She wasn't always fighting, but somehow it felt like she had been. Those days standing at the ready in her cockpit, all those nights sleeping in the uncomfortable seat took their toll on her body and her mind. But she was getting used to it. Slowly but surely Nadia would get acclimated to the life of a soldier even if she was only a person of science. And for this, she was worried. In the course of fighting, what had she lost in terms of morals? Ethics? How could she simply justify killing another being and somehow have her conscious cleared as a result?
No, there was no clear answer, and Nadia was beginning to realize this. That it was almost too easy to polarize the argument when she wasn't actually doing the fighting. That she had lost the luxury of making decisions from the safety and confines of a company appropriated house back on Side 3. She thought that she was beginning to understand it all, but it was just too much information for Nadia to process all at once. The splitting headache wasn't helping her think any straighter either.
Nadia had been suffering the effects of a drug withdrawal for some time now since being treated on the Pride of Brunswick, though the adrenaline pumping events of her last battle helped ease the pain. Grunting, she wriggled her way out of the unclasped harness and then pushed her way out of the cockpit proper. She was greeted by several men and women in normal suits whom asked her about the state of her Zaku. Almost machine-like, Nadia listed the various components that needed replacements or repairs and the other high stress items that needed checking. One of the men jotted down the notes on a clipboard and assured her that they would get right on the task of attending to the test unit.
Almost with a childish fervor, the test pilot moved floated through open space toward the other exposed container that housed the recovered Federation mobile suit. The scene that unfurled before her eyes, however, would put her immediate plans on hold. Moving closer, she saw a pair of men trying to extract the GM E's pilot from the decimated torso area of the mobile suit. One was busy using a torch to cut through the stubborn outer skin of the GM, while the second used a sort of electric claw to separate the twisted bits of metal.
A third man overseeing the job saw Nadia and motioned her to come closer before saying, "You did one hell of a number on this suit, ma'am. Still, since you weren't using 120's, you didn't manage to cause a reactor breach. Lucky, eh?"
An nervous chuckle could be heard over the comms. "Is the pilot dead?" asked the woman, clearly having other thoughts on her mind.
"Unless he's a baby, I can assure you that he is very dead, ma'am," the lead coordinator replied, finding Nadia's question rather silly. "Your shots managed to crumple the entire cockpit area flat."
She let out a lengthy sigh, the current situation weighing rather heavily on Nadia's mind. She had wanted to get her hands on a Federation mobile suit, but she had other ways of acquiring one. Ways that didn't involve having to remove a dead person first.
A short while later, one of the workers reported, "I can see the pilot now. He looks... dead."
"Fantastic observation, Reynolds. Can you tell us anything more specific?" said the coordinator.
Pausing a moment to appreciate Sarabajka's sarcasm, he responded, "Well, it's not going to be pretty getting him out. There's blood everywhere."
Nadia motioned for the man to move aside and allow her to peer into the cockpit. Looking inside, she would find out that Reynold's observation was fairly accurate: a large piece of metal had curled inward and embedded itself firmly into the pilot's seat, cleanly severing the body into two pieces.The grisly scene almost caused her to start retching, but careful thought settled her stomach and allowed her time to push away from the mangled cockpit.
Looking down, Nadia could see her blood soaked gloved hands, prompting her to state, "This was not worth it."
Picking up on the message, Sarabajka asked, "What wasn't worth it, ma'am?"
"This whole thing. This GM E. We should have left it out there for the Feds to recover," said Nadia, grimacing at the crimson hue of her ordinarily blue gloves.
"It's either them or us, Ms. Adelaide. Neither you nor I can change who dies or who gets to live," replied the man.
A few seconds later, one of the other men shouted over the comms and announced, "Hey, we got the guy unhooked. We're gonna take him out now. Wait, no, he's still stuck."
"Just pull harder man!" insisted the other man.
"I'm trying, damnit! He just wont budg-- whoa!"
Instantly, Nadia and Sarabajka turned to see what was happening, only to see Reynolds fall backward whilst holding the arms of the dead Federation pilot. The severed upper half seemed to swing around and release its contents over every person within a three meter radius much to everyone's annoyance and disgust.
Wiping the fluid from her helmet, Nadia quickly excused herself and headed to the FTC's crew quarters to vomit, thoroughly unsure if she was going to make it in time or not. Looking through the blood smeared visor, she could see Sarabajka point at the two other crew members, but she couldn't hear what he was saying since she had turned off her comms.
"Swarovski! Reynolds! I am going to beat you two once we get out of decon!"
No, there was no clear answer, and Nadia was beginning to realize this. That it was almost too easy to polarize the argument when she wasn't actually doing the fighting. That she had lost the luxury of making decisions from the safety and confines of a company appropriated house back on Side 3. She thought that she was beginning to understand it all, but it was just too much information for Nadia to process all at once. The splitting headache wasn't helping her think any straighter either.
Nadia had been suffering the effects of a drug withdrawal for some time now since being treated on the Pride of Brunswick, though the adrenaline pumping events of her last battle helped ease the pain. Grunting, she wriggled her way out of the unclasped harness and then pushed her way out of the cockpit proper. She was greeted by several men and women in normal suits whom asked her about the state of her Zaku. Almost machine-like, Nadia listed the various components that needed replacements or repairs and the other high stress items that needed checking. One of the men jotted down the notes on a clipboard and assured her that they would get right on the task of attending to the test unit.
Almost with a childish fervor, the test pilot moved floated through open space toward the other exposed container that housed the recovered Federation mobile suit. The scene that unfurled before her eyes, however, would put her immediate plans on hold. Moving closer, she saw a pair of men trying to extract the GM E's pilot from the decimated torso area of the mobile suit. One was busy using a torch to cut through the stubborn outer skin of the GM, while the second used a sort of electric claw to separate the twisted bits of metal.
A third man overseeing the job saw Nadia and motioned her to come closer before saying, "You did one hell of a number on this suit, ma'am. Still, since you weren't using 120's, you didn't manage to cause a reactor breach. Lucky, eh?"
An nervous chuckle could be heard over the comms. "Is the pilot dead?" asked the woman, clearly having other thoughts on her mind.
"Unless he's a baby, I can assure you that he is very dead, ma'am," the lead coordinator replied, finding Nadia's question rather silly. "Your shots managed to crumple the entire cockpit area flat."
She let out a lengthy sigh, the current situation weighing rather heavily on Nadia's mind. She had wanted to get her hands on a Federation mobile suit, but she had other ways of acquiring one. Ways that didn't involve having to remove a dead person first.
A short while later, one of the workers reported, "I can see the pilot now. He looks... dead."
"Fantastic observation, Reynolds. Can you tell us anything more specific?" said the coordinator.
Pausing a moment to appreciate Sarabajka's sarcasm, he responded, "Well, it's not going to be pretty getting him out. There's blood everywhere."
Nadia motioned for the man to move aside and allow her to peer into the cockpit. Looking inside, she would find out that Reynold's observation was fairly accurate: a large piece of metal had curled inward and embedded itself firmly into the pilot's seat, cleanly severing the body into two pieces.The grisly scene almost caused her to start retching, but careful thought settled her stomach and allowed her time to push away from the mangled cockpit.
Looking down, Nadia could see her blood soaked gloved hands, prompting her to state, "This was not worth it."
Picking up on the message, Sarabajka asked, "What wasn't worth it, ma'am?"
"This whole thing. This GM E. We should have left it out there for the Feds to recover," said Nadia, grimacing at the crimson hue of her ordinarily blue gloves.
"It's either them or us, Ms. Adelaide. Neither you nor I can change who dies or who gets to live," replied the man.
A few seconds later, one of the other men shouted over the comms and announced, "Hey, we got the guy unhooked. We're gonna take him out now. Wait, no, he's still stuck."
"Just pull harder man!" insisted the other man.
"I'm trying, damnit! He just wont budg-- whoa!"
Instantly, Nadia and Sarabajka turned to see what was happening, only to see Reynolds fall backward whilst holding the arms of the dead Federation pilot. The severed upper half seemed to swing around and release its contents over every person within a three meter radius much to everyone's annoyance and disgust.
Wiping the fluid from her helmet, Nadia quickly excused herself and headed to the FTC's crew quarters to vomit, thoroughly unsure if she was going to make it in time or not. Looking through the blood smeared visor, she could see Sarabajka point at the two other crew members, but she couldn't hear what he was saying since she had turned off her comms.
"Swarovski! Reynolds! I am going to beat you two once we get out of decon!"