Post by Zero on Dec 4, 2009 17:53:37 GMT -5
[The following takes place at Malta, prior to departing to North Africa.]
The Funeral
He sat motionless at his desk, eyes scanning over the report that Akane had delivered to him. The dead, listed from both Malta sieges and there was no longer a matter of question as to whether they were still MIA or not. A Zaku II K had been salvaged from the bottom near the base, it was the one that had been piloted by Emilio, and it was confirmed that Izumi had been killed in action during the second siege.
A sigh of sorrow and exhaustion escaped him, leaning back into his chair as his hand trembled slightly. It was the first time in what felt like forever that he had to done a formal uniform, but they had a moment of recourse, a moment in which he could properly honor his fallen friends, his comrades. They gave their life to the noble cause, they died because of him.
His hand wouldn't stop shaking, even as he clutched his wrist with the other hand. No matter how advanced the technology, war never changed, it still had lasting effects on the human psyche. The battle played over countless times in his head, if he had spent more time getting used to his machine maybe Izumi would still be alive, if he had filed the correct requisition form, maybe Emilio would still be alive.
"I failed you..." He uttered into the still air, his eyes cast toward the sky. His promise had been broken, more lives had died because of him and even as he clasped his hands over his head and bowed it, he knew that this promise was not one that he could keep. Ever since that battle, when she had died, he promised he never let it happen again. It was a selfish promise, to make him self feel better.
"This war takes a heavy toll on our hearts..." Came a familiar voice from the door of the small office that Marko had holed him self up in so that he could finish writing the letters. Signed by him, each one in a neatly sealed envelope and directed to the families of both Emilio and Izumi "...At least some of us have survived.." Marko replied in a cold sort of way, his hand rummaging through the desk drawers until he stumbled across an old bottle of brandy and a couple of glasses, those Earthnoids really did love their guilty pleasures.
Pulling the bottle up he offered it out ward to Felix, who just chuckled and stepped farther into the room while Marko poured a little into each of the glasses "Too our fallen friends." He said, raising his glass up as Felix did the same "Sieg Zeon." Felix replied, half sarcastically as he swigged his beverage down and Marko did the same.
"I just got word..." Felix started to say, placing his glass back down on the desk "We have marching orders...They just came in over the line....I'm not sure if it's punishment or a reward...But you've been assigned a new command." He said with a laugh, pulling a piece of paper out from his pocket he tossed it over to the 2nd Lt who sat at his desk. Marko glanced it over quickly, he was reassigned, from Europe to North Africa with a small detachment of pilots. He knew a couple of them, they had fought together with him at Malta, and RF-4, but the others were names he had never seen before in his life.
"Command also wants you to requisition a new pilot as soon as you arrive, apparently a new mobile suit is going to be transfered to you as well...." Felix added on as an after thought, giving a small wave to his commanding officer "We have to bury our dead tomorrow." It was a harrowing sentence, but a true one none the less. Marko would make sure that the personally written letters were delivered to the families of his fallen squad mates, he was old fashioned like that, and knew that if the family needed someone to blame they would have a clear source, not some vague transmission about how their son or daughter was a hero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Funeral Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwixM9KBuGo]
Rain beat down upon them, Marko dressed in formal regalia as well as everyone else present, the band did not stop playing despite the pounding rain, the chorus singing over the small booms of thunder in the distance. It was an odd time to hold a funeral, there was the risk of counter attack, but Marko gave the order to go ahead with it anyways.
Marko and Felix stood side by side, Akane crying as the coffins were lowered slowly into the ground. It was an emotional time for everyone, though Akane did not often show emotion for anything beyond Mobile Suits to see the woman in such a way was a shocking realization, that beyond everything she was still just a human being like the rest of them in that line, watching as their friends were lowered into the ground. It was not the best of circumstances, a funeral in the colonies would have been preferred, but with their new orders they did not have time to return to the colonies in order to hold the funeral in proper fashion.
War was too cruel.
Felix and Marko stood locked in salute, but Akane eventually wavered as she clung onto Marko's free arm and sobbed. They had been too busy fighting and working that none of them had really had time to grieve for the ones they had lost. Emotions that were kept pent up were let out by some, while others like Marko and Felix remained a cold posture, knowing full well that it would not be the last friend they would see beneath the cold ground. In that moment, Marko and Felix both glanced at each other, both wondering who would attend the others funeral first. Gunshots echoed in the air, the band still playing their music as the final coffin was lowered into the ground. In remembrance of all those who had lost their life to take this god forsaken piece of dirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"As you are now all aware, we are deploying to North Africa A.S.A.P, repairs will not be complete by then, but it is nothing that we should not be able to handle in transit." Marko explained, not even three hours after the funeral and already back into his standard uniform. His squad, or what was left of it, sat in the situation room staring up at him "The original plan was to wait until repair and resupply could be completed at Malta before deploying, but RF-1 has gone silent after transmitting a brief distress signal. As far as Alexandria knows, the mining facility has been lost and we are to deploy at once."
Akane had managed to compose her self, and sighed heavily "Repairing mid transit is...." She was cut off before she could even finish "I realize the difficulties of this mission, Shimizu. I am also fully aware that it is within your capabilities." She recoiled at the bitterness of the response, it was obvious that Marko had entered serious mode. He wanted to make sure everything went right, and that nothing adverse happened during this deployment. He couldn't afford to lose any more of his already dwindled squad.
"We will be linking up with other elements of the Terrestrial Assault Force, along with a squad which has been in Africa this entire time. Everyone get ready, we leave in one half hour. Dismissed." Declared the officer, his hand moving quickly to erase any of the detailing that had been written up on the board, it was best to do so incase Malta was compromised in their absence and then their plans would be ruined. Akane filed out of the room muttering little complaints under her breath about how her precious Dowdage was going to get broken again, while Felix lingered behind.
"Be careful out there....Don't do anything reckless." Felix warned, patting Marko on the shoulder while giving a cocky little smirk before walking out of the office. Felix knew Marko, he knew Marko would endanger his own life if it meant he could prevent Felix from dying. All because that blasted woman. He cursed that they had even met her.
The Funeral
He sat motionless at his desk, eyes scanning over the report that Akane had delivered to him. The dead, listed from both Malta sieges and there was no longer a matter of question as to whether they were still MIA or not. A Zaku II K had been salvaged from the bottom near the base, it was the one that had been piloted by Emilio, and it was confirmed that Izumi had been killed in action during the second siege.
A sigh of sorrow and exhaustion escaped him, leaning back into his chair as his hand trembled slightly. It was the first time in what felt like forever that he had to done a formal uniform, but they had a moment of recourse, a moment in which he could properly honor his fallen friends, his comrades. They gave their life to the noble cause, they died because of him.
His hand wouldn't stop shaking, even as he clutched his wrist with the other hand. No matter how advanced the technology, war never changed, it still had lasting effects on the human psyche. The battle played over countless times in his head, if he had spent more time getting used to his machine maybe Izumi would still be alive, if he had filed the correct requisition form, maybe Emilio would still be alive.
"I failed you..." He uttered into the still air, his eyes cast toward the sky. His promise had been broken, more lives had died because of him and even as he clasped his hands over his head and bowed it, he knew that this promise was not one that he could keep. Ever since that battle, when she had died, he promised he never let it happen again. It was a selfish promise, to make him self feel better.
"This war takes a heavy toll on our hearts..." Came a familiar voice from the door of the small office that Marko had holed him self up in so that he could finish writing the letters. Signed by him, each one in a neatly sealed envelope and directed to the families of both Emilio and Izumi "...At least some of us have survived.." Marko replied in a cold sort of way, his hand rummaging through the desk drawers until he stumbled across an old bottle of brandy and a couple of glasses, those Earthnoids really did love their guilty pleasures.
Pulling the bottle up he offered it out ward to Felix, who just chuckled and stepped farther into the room while Marko poured a little into each of the glasses "Too our fallen friends." He said, raising his glass up as Felix did the same "Sieg Zeon." Felix replied, half sarcastically as he swigged his beverage down and Marko did the same.
"I just got word..." Felix started to say, placing his glass back down on the desk "We have marching orders...They just came in over the line....I'm not sure if it's punishment or a reward...But you've been assigned a new command." He said with a laugh, pulling a piece of paper out from his pocket he tossed it over to the 2nd Lt who sat at his desk. Marko glanced it over quickly, he was reassigned, from Europe to North Africa with a small detachment of pilots. He knew a couple of them, they had fought together with him at Malta, and RF-4, but the others were names he had never seen before in his life.
"Command also wants you to requisition a new pilot as soon as you arrive, apparently a new mobile suit is going to be transfered to you as well...." Felix added on as an after thought, giving a small wave to his commanding officer "We have to bury our dead tomorrow." It was a harrowing sentence, but a true one none the less. Marko would make sure that the personally written letters were delivered to the families of his fallen squad mates, he was old fashioned like that, and knew that if the family needed someone to blame they would have a clear source, not some vague transmission about how their son or daughter was a hero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Funeral Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwixM9KBuGo]
Rain beat down upon them, Marko dressed in formal regalia as well as everyone else present, the band did not stop playing despite the pounding rain, the chorus singing over the small booms of thunder in the distance. It was an odd time to hold a funeral, there was the risk of counter attack, but Marko gave the order to go ahead with it anyways.
Marko and Felix stood side by side, Akane crying as the coffins were lowered slowly into the ground. It was an emotional time for everyone, though Akane did not often show emotion for anything beyond Mobile Suits to see the woman in such a way was a shocking realization, that beyond everything she was still just a human being like the rest of them in that line, watching as their friends were lowered into the ground. It was not the best of circumstances, a funeral in the colonies would have been preferred, but with their new orders they did not have time to return to the colonies in order to hold the funeral in proper fashion.
War was too cruel.
Felix and Marko stood locked in salute, but Akane eventually wavered as she clung onto Marko's free arm and sobbed. They had been too busy fighting and working that none of them had really had time to grieve for the ones they had lost. Emotions that were kept pent up were let out by some, while others like Marko and Felix remained a cold posture, knowing full well that it would not be the last friend they would see beneath the cold ground. In that moment, Marko and Felix both glanced at each other, both wondering who would attend the others funeral first. Gunshots echoed in the air, the band still playing their music as the final coffin was lowered into the ground. In remembrance of all those who had lost their life to take this god forsaken piece of dirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"As you are now all aware, we are deploying to North Africa A.S.A.P, repairs will not be complete by then, but it is nothing that we should not be able to handle in transit." Marko explained, not even three hours after the funeral and already back into his standard uniform. His squad, or what was left of it, sat in the situation room staring up at him "The original plan was to wait until repair and resupply could be completed at Malta before deploying, but RF-1 has gone silent after transmitting a brief distress signal. As far as Alexandria knows, the mining facility has been lost and we are to deploy at once."
Akane had managed to compose her self, and sighed heavily "Repairing mid transit is...." She was cut off before she could even finish "I realize the difficulties of this mission, Shimizu. I am also fully aware that it is within your capabilities." She recoiled at the bitterness of the response, it was obvious that Marko had entered serious mode. He wanted to make sure everything went right, and that nothing adverse happened during this deployment. He couldn't afford to lose any more of his already dwindled squad.
"We will be linking up with other elements of the Terrestrial Assault Force, along with a squad which has been in Africa this entire time. Everyone get ready, we leave in one half hour. Dismissed." Declared the officer, his hand moving quickly to erase any of the detailing that had been written up on the board, it was best to do so incase Malta was compromised in their absence and then their plans would be ruined. Akane filed out of the room muttering little complaints under her breath about how her precious Dowdage was going to get broken again, while Felix lingered behind.
"Be careful out there....Don't do anything reckless." Felix warned, patting Marko on the shoulder while giving a cocky little smirk before walking out of the office. Felix knew Marko, he knew Marko would endanger his own life if it meant he could prevent Felix from dying. All because that blasted woman. He cursed that they had even met her.