Post by Gray on Feb 24, 2010 22:07:52 GMT -5
Three Hours before the Dolphin Attack
"Mister Riley," the young woman repeated for the thousandth time, "I like you." There was a pause as she chewed the words over. Something was missing from the declaration; it had to had to echo what she was feeling on the inside perfectly. It needed more raw strength, more feminine seduction, and even more burning passion. With a burst of determination, she triumphantly screamed the words on the tip of her tongue:
"I LIKE YOU A LOT!"
Her cyclops responded with silence. "No trumpets, Mister Steve?" she pouted while crossing her arms. It was beyond disappointing. Here she was, pouring her heart out, and there were no trumpets or confetti or anything to congratulate her on a job well done. There wasn't even a beep. Her old cyclops at least beeped from time to time but this new one with the complicated controls hardly did a thing. It had crossed her mind that maybe she just didn't know which button made the beeps, but without a manual handy, there was no way for her to figure out which button made the noise. She could, of course, just hit all of them...
Mister Toast's face suddenly flashed in her mind.
The captain needed her to be serious here. He had his heart set on pulling this off, and after all the trouble that they had gone through, she hated the idea of disappointing him. So she wouldn't hit all the buttons. She would keep her hands to herself, go exactly where Mister Toast had told her to go, and then pull the trigger until every last foe was out of their way. And then trumpets would play as Mister Toast congratulated her, and she would be so happy, and Mister Toast would be happy because his dreams were coming true, and confetti would be everywhere, and the cyclops would congratulate her too on a job well done, and there would be a giant flag that would unfurl off the back of the Dolphin, and it would show everyone that...
Ashley suddenly reached up to cover her face with her hands but it was already too late. A few tears had already started to float free in the zero gravity. She tried to clutch at them with her gloved hands but she was far too clumsy to get all of them. If she had been wearing her normal outfit then she might have gotten them all but her new Zeon pilot suit was just too restrictive. She abandoned the effort and started to paw at her face to wipe the fluid away.
"I can't do this," she stammered. Just a year ago, Ashley Joignour was a loyal employee of a bastard boss who had purchased his last name. She paid rent, she fought with her roommate, she worried about deadline, and then...
"... fucking with some primo-motha-fu..."
... the gun went off and the guard's head burst like a....
"... don't do it, Ashley, we can still..."
"... to stay on my ship, you're going to need to swallow every last dr..."
The flood of emotion caused her to sob even harder but then her short time as a pirate began to flood back to her. She saw her first contact with the funny man known as Mister Toast. She saw herself putting a gun to the head of a Jovian and happily pulling the trigger. She remembered her first flight in a cyclops. She remembered walking the halls of Riley's ship. She remembered how great it felt to sing, dance, and truly live.
An old song began to play in the back of her mind and the woman slowly began to smile.
Quartermaster Joiner was about to capture a Dolphin for her beloved.
Why?
Because pirates are free.
"Mister Riley," the young woman repeated for the thousandth time, "I like you." There was a pause as she chewed the words over. Something was missing from the declaration; it had to had to echo what she was feeling on the inside perfectly. It needed more raw strength, more feminine seduction, and even more burning passion. With a burst of determination, she triumphantly screamed the words on the tip of her tongue:
"I LIKE YOU A LOT!"
Her cyclops responded with silence. "No trumpets, Mister Steve?" she pouted while crossing her arms. It was beyond disappointing. Here she was, pouring her heart out, and there were no trumpets or confetti or anything to congratulate her on a job well done. There wasn't even a beep. Her old cyclops at least beeped from time to time but this new one with the complicated controls hardly did a thing. It had crossed her mind that maybe she just didn't know which button made the beeps, but without a manual handy, there was no way for her to figure out which button made the noise. She could, of course, just hit all of them...
Mister Toast's face suddenly flashed in her mind.
The captain needed her to be serious here. He had his heart set on pulling this off, and after all the trouble that they had gone through, she hated the idea of disappointing him. So she wouldn't hit all the buttons. She would keep her hands to herself, go exactly where Mister Toast had told her to go, and then pull the trigger until every last foe was out of their way. And then trumpets would play as Mister Toast congratulated her, and she would be so happy, and Mister Toast would be happy because his dreams were coming true, and confetti would be everywhere, and the cyclops would congratulate her too on a job well done, and there would be a giant flag that would unfurl off the back of the Dolphin, and it would show everyone that...
Ashley suddenly reached up to cover her face with her hands but it was already too late. A few tears had already started to float free in the zero gravity. She tried to clutch at them with her gloved hands but she was far too clumsy to get all of them. If she had been wearing her normal outfit then she might have gotten them all but her new Zeon pilot suit was just too restrictive. She abandoned the effort and started to paw at her face to wipe the fluid away.
"I can't do this," she stammered. Just a year ago, Ashley Joignour was a loyal employee of a bastard boss who had purchased his last name. She paid rent, she fought with her roommate, she worried about deadline, and then...
"... fucking with some primo-motha-fu..."
... the gun went off and the guard's head burst like a....
"... don't do it, Ashley, we can still..."
"... to stay on my ship, you're going to need to swallow every last dr..."
The flood of emotion caused her to sob even harder but then her short time as a pirate began to flood back to her. She saw her first contact with the funny man known as Mister Toast. She saw herself putting a gun to the head of a Jovian and happily pulling the trigger. She remembered her first flight in a cyclops. She remembered walking the halls of Riley's ship. She remembered how great it felt to sing, dance, and truly live.
An old song began to play in the back of her mind and the woman slowly began to smile.
Quartermaster Joiner was about to capture a Dolphin for her beloved.
Why?
Because pirates are free.