Post by nirvash on Dec 31, 2009 19:30:56 GMT -5
"Gaaaaaaah! How does he expect me to finish this by the time we set course tomorrow?" Sadie Astal was patently exasperated by Captain Reed's requests. She was stuck on the bridge long after everyone else, even the observer teams had relegated their duty to her, since they'd be able to get some much needed rest while Sadie worked her fingers to the bone.
It was true that she was the best bridge bunny around (Reed's female bridge officers even referred to themselves as much, just as due to the lax protocol on the Antares as much as the personalities Reed made sure his ship was full of) but the ship could set course without her reorganizing files, courses, maps, measurements, running diagnostics... Well, okay, she admitted, maaaaybe it does need a little help once in a while.
Sadie let off another exasperated sigh and hit her head against the keyboard, and as if on cue, the door slid open, and a dark haired guy (A little overdressed, she noted, impressed by his full military garb, even if his shirt wasn't tucked in) drifted past the captain's chair to the observation windows.
"Hey, woah, no, you can't be in here, bridge crew only!" Sadie floated up and out of her seat, rushing over to Kreuz, planning on escorting him out of the bridge. Whatever Captain Reed allowed was fine, but as far as she was concerned, this was HER bridge, and she did not like the idea of some hotshot pilot around so many delicate devices. Delicate devices that weren't meant to be shot at, anyway.
Kreuz ignored her, and stopped himself at the wide windows. His feet touched down, and his face was mere inches from the cool material that made the clear portals. "I'm not going to touch anything, I just wanted to see it," he finally commented while the girl tugged uselessly at the starchy fabric uniform.
"Okay, well that's all fine and good, but I'm busy and I do not want any distractions, and you don't either, unless you want to end up on like, Luna, or Mars, or something. I mean, not Mars, I'm exaggerating a little to express the importance of what I'm doing, so I'd appreciate it if you took to the hyperbole an-- You wanted to see what, now?" Impressively enough, she hadn't run out of breath while berating, and questioning, as it were, the pilot.
"Earth." Kreuz stated this simply enough, but there was something about his voice, something commanding, that made Sadie pause for a moment, perhaps considering that maybe this guy wouldn't get in the way. But then again, she really didn't want the navigational computer to start acting up again.
"Okay mister, you can have your look, but you can't have it right now, so just head on your way an--" the young girl was interrupted by the bridge's door sliding open once more. A shadow eased its way over to the pair, slowly, but with the kind of dignity you'd expect from a captain of a spaceship...
Then the thing casting the shadow, Captain Reed, reasonably enough, spoke. "I'd appreciate it if ye let it slide this time, Sadie. Let the boy have his look. Sadie began to object. "Captain, I'm very busy right now, and I need absolute solitu-" She was cut off again, but this time it wasn't by a sound, but by something in the Captain's eyes that let her know she should agree with him. "Mebbe ye should take a break, Miss Sadie."
The girl floated out the door, muttering something agreeing with the captain, feeling like her bridge had been taken from her. Oh well, at least she could get some coffee now.
"What ye lookin' at, Kreuz?" The captain inquired, already having a good idea of what a space-born boy from Side 3 would be looking at.
"Earth, Captain."
Earth.
A singular bastion of safety amongst untold numbers of lifeless rocks beyond the stars, drained, abused; its womb all but barren.
Earth.
Where humans were born. Where people are dying.
Earth.
Where I have never been, Kreuz realizes this as his hand tightens around a necklace braided in his fingers; wooden rosary beads bearing a burned cross, a reminder of faith and a tether pulling on him, towards earth, towards its origin.
Visions of strife play across the tops of clouds, airy and insubstantial. Kreuz mentally recites a prayer as memories flicker across the white oceans:
Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
"Hey Michael~! We're going to that restaraunt after school, do you want to come?" A girl calls after him as he walks away from a tree. It's simple here, all he has to worry about is making through his classes. His parents might be acting funny lately, but it's probably because the war's picking up.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters.
He is with his girlfriend in the park, she is crying, and they share their first and last kiss as he tells her he is leaving with his parents, who want to find a new life for his family.
He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The shuttle shakes as Zeon and Federation forces fire upon each other. A stray round hits the shuttle and it loses power. Michael hits his head and passes out. Hours later, the shuttle passengers are recovered, and only a few are dead.
Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
He is in a mobile suit now, carefully aiming at a Zeon cylops. He pulls the trigger. This is his third time killing a man.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
He arrives at his new assigment in Green Noah. He is given a room of his own and is then guided to the hangar. A blue mobile suit is uncovered, white letters next to the cockpit hatch spell out his name.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever.
He is gazing upon Earth from the Antares' bridge. He is not alone.
"Earth, eh? Nice enough place. If ye like oceans and mountains and all that good stuff." The captain took a draw from his pipe, somehow not looking ridiculous doing it, despite the pipe being unlit and empty. "Be there somethin' particular on yer mind 'bout it?"
"I think I'd like to go there, some time. See it. It won't be there forever." Kreuz stared at the beauty of the blues and whites. "Heh, that's some spacenoid talk right thar. Mother Earth is a tough old biddy, you'd be surprised at what she can put up with." Kreuz was impressed by the Captain's claim, but he remained doubtful, painfully aware of what Zeon thought of it. Not so long ago, he lived alongside those who deemed it reasonable to drop a colony on the planet to win a petty war.
The captain saw the doubt in the young man's eyes.
"It's not good enough to just kill your enemy anymore. You've got to murder their hope." Kreuz spat his words out bitterly, feeling an unfamiliar disgust as clouds drifted apart, giving him a clear view of Australia.
"We've always bled each other to death, lad. At first it was the stone until we learned to bleed even that. Now we make stones in our own image to wield yet more stones. 'S all about who has got the biggest stones." The captain chuckled at his own joke. "Jes keep doin' what ye think is right and the Earth'll always be there for ye."
"It's not Earth I'm worried about anymore," Kreuz's words sounding distant to himself. Reed scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Yer chasin' after stars, laddie. Ye cannae catch somethin' that don't want ter be catched." Captain Reed gave Kreuz a firm pat on the shoulder and exited the bridge. "Get some rest, bucko." The door closed, leaving the pilot alone with his thoughts, an uncommon occurrence aboard the Antares.
"I don't know what I'm chasing..." Kreuz realized, and he began to chew on his thumbnail. He looked at Earth again,fascinated by its antiquity, hoary with knowledge-- knowledge that it might share with one of its wayward children. The clouds betrayed no cognizance of Kreuz's presence.
White tendrils, lazily crawling over the planet's body, subtly churning in cotton eddies, drift indiscriminately from one continent to another. Ignorant of the trasient thoughts tracing lines from one crude fascimile of a cave, tree, or mountain to another, they are concerned only with their indeterminate course.
Of course, they're just clouds.
It was true that she was the best bridge bunny around (Reed's female bridge officers even referred to themselves as much, just as due to the lax protocol on the Antares as much as the personalities Reed made sure his ship was full of) but the ship could set course without her reorganizing files, courses, maps, measurements, running diagnostics... Well, okay, she admitted, maaaaybe it does need a little help once in a while.
Sadie let off another exasperated sigh and hit her head against the keyboard, and as if on cue, the door slid open, and a dark haired guy (A little overdressed, she noted, impressed by his full military garb, even if his shirt wasn't tucked in) drifted past the captain's chair to the observation windows.
"Hey, woah, no, you can't be in here, bridge crew only!" Sadie floated up and out of her seat, rushing over to Kreuz, planning on escorting him out of the bridge. Whatever Captain Reed allowed was fine, but as far as she was concerned, this was HER bridge, and she did not like the idea of some hotshot pilot around so many delicate devices. Delicate devices that weren't meant to be shot at, anyway.
Kreuz ignored her, and stopped himself at the wide windows. His feet touched down, and his face was mere inches from the cool material that made the clear portals. "I'm not going to touch anything, I just wanted to see it," he finally commented while the girl tugged uselessly at the starchy fabric uniform.
"Okay, well that's all fine and good, but I'm busy and I do not want any distractions, and you don't either, unless you want to end up on like, Luna, or Mars, or something. I mean, not Mars, I'm exaggerating a little to express the importance of what I'm doing, so I'd appreciate it if you took to the hyperbole an-- You wanted to see what, now?" Impressively enough, she hadn't run out of breath while berating, and questioning, as it were, the pilot.
"Earth." Kreuz stated this simply enough, but there was something about his voice, something commanding, that made Sadie pause for a moment, perhaps considering that maybe this guy wouldn't get in the way. But then again, she really didn't want the navigational computer to start acting up again.
"Okay mister, you can have your look, but you can't have it right now, so just head on your way an--" the young girl was interrupted by the bridge's door sliding open once more. A shadow eased its way over to the pair, slowly, but with the kind of dignity you'd expect from a captain of a spaceship...
Then the thing casting the shadow, Captain Reed, reasonably enough, spoke. "I'd appreciate it if ye let it slide this time, Sadie. Let the boy have his look. Sadie began to object. "Captain, I'm very busy right now, and I need absolute solitu-" She was cut off again, but this time it wasn't by a sound, but by something in the Captain's eyes that let her know she should agree with him. "Mebbe ye should take a break, Miss Sadie."
The girl floated out the door, muttering something agreeing with the captain, feeling like her bridge had been taken from her. Oh well, at least she could get some coffee now.
"What ye lookin' at, Kreuz?" The captain inquired, already having a good idea of what a space-born boy from Side 3 would be looking at.
"Earth, Captain."
Earth.
A singular bastion of safety amongst untold numbers of lifeless rocks beyond the stars, drained, abused; its womb all but barren.
Earth.
Where humans were born. Where people are dying.
Earth.
Where I have never been, Kreuz realizes this as his hand tightens around a necklace braided in his fingers; wooden rosary beads bearing a burned cross, a reminder of faith and a tether pulling on him, towards earth, towards its origin.
Visions of strife play across the tops of clouds, airy and insubstantial. Kreuz mentally recites a prayer as memories flicker across the white oceans:
Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
"Hey Michael~! We're going to that restaraunt after school, do you want to come?" A girl calls after him as he walks away from a tree. It's simple here, all he has to worry about is making through his classes. His parents might be acting funny lately, but it's probably because the war's picking up.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters.
He is with his girlfriend in the park, she is crying, and they share their first and last kiss as he tells her he is leaving with his parents, who want to find a new life for his family.
He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The shuttle shakes as Zeon and Federation forces fire upon each other. A stray round hits the shuttle and it loses power. Michael hits his head and passes out. Hours later, the shuttle passengers are recovered, and only a few are dead.
Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
He is in a mobile suit now, carefully aiming at a Zeon cylops. He pulls the trigger. This is his third time killing a man.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
He arrives at his new assigment in Green Noah. He is given a room of his own and is then guided to the hangar. A blue mobile suit is uncovered, white letters next to the cockpit hatch spell out his name.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever.
He is gazing upon Earth from the Antares' bridge. He is not alone.
"Earth, eh? Nice enough place. If ye like oceans and mountains and all that good stuff." The captain took a draw from his pipe, somehow not looking ridiculous doing it, despite the pipe being unlit and empty. "Be there somethin' particular on yer mind 'bout it?"
"I think I'd like to go there, some time. See it. It won't be there forever." Kreuz stared at the beauty of the blues and whites. "Heh, that's some spacenoid talk right thar. Mother Earth is a tough old biddy, you'd be surprised at what she can put up with." Kreuz was impressed by the Captain's claim, but he remained doubtful, painfully aware of what Zeon thought of it. Not so long ago, he lived alongside those who deemed it reasonable to drop a colony on the planet to win a petty war.
The captain saw the doubt in the young man's eyes.
"It's not good enough to just kill your enemy anymore. You've got to murder their hope." Kreuz spat his words out bitterly, feeling an unfamiliar disgust as clouds drifted apart, giving him a clear view of Australia.
"We've always bled each other to death, lad. At first it was the stone until we learned to bleed even that. Now we make stones in our own image to wield yet more stones. 'S all about who has got the biggest stones." The captain chuckled at his own joke. "Jes keep doin' what ye think is right and the Earth'll always be there for ye."
"It's not Earth I'm worried about anymore," Kreuz's words sounding distant to himself. Reed scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Yer chasin' after stars, laddie. Ye cannae catch somethin' that don't want ter be catched." Captain Reed gave Kreuz a firm pat on the shoulder and exited the bridge. "Get some rest, bucko." The door closed, leaving the pilot alone with his thoughts, an uncommon occurrence aboard the Antares.
"I don't know what I'm chasing..." Kreuz realized, and he began to chew on his thumbnail. He looked at Earth again,fascinated by its antiquity, hoary with knowledge-- knowledge that it might share with one of its wayward children. The clouds betrayed no cognizance of Kreuz's presence.
White tendrils, lazily crawling over the planet's body, subtly churning in cotton eddies, drift indiscriminately from one continent to another. Ignorant of the trasient thoughts tracing lines from one crude fascimile of a cave, tree, or mountain to another, they are concerned only with their indeterminate course.
Of course, they're just clouds.