Post by Threid on Jun 30, 2010 17:33:55 GMT -5
Lt. Ptolemy Gerard was dead, and The Beam Team was crippled. Kyle couldn't even bring himself to be excited about the new GM Commands that were being brought in to replace the GM CCTs piloted by Karol and Kelly. He couldn't even get excited about going to space in his Ez8, or about designing the refits necessary for it to operate in such an environment. The Beam Team had been broken, once again. Gerard was dead.
He had died well, according to military standards, protecting Jaburo and his unit from peril. They had been double teamed by two squads of Zakus, who were concentrating their fire on Kelly and Karol. Gerard had jumped into the middle of the machinegun fire, firing the Guncannon HDT's twin cannons mercilessly. Two of the Zakus had exploded almost immediately, but the remaining units had drawn beam sabers and moved in to close-range combat before the rest of The Beam Team could react. Fortunately, the grouped Zakus had been easy for Karol, Kyle and Kelly to pick off with their beam weapons from afar, but Gerard's unit had been ripped to shreds.
Gerard's decision to place himself at risk had not been made according to protocol. Protocol would have demanded that they fall back to a more secure location, or call for reinforcements. Protocol did not call for the sacrifice of one for the good of many. Gerard had lived a life of honor, and if protocol had been so important to him, it was likely because he had loved honor more. Usually, following protocol was a good way to be honorable.
They had taken away his protocol, in the end. The Beam Team had showed Gerard that protocol could be unwieldy, and that honor could stand on its own without the scaffolding of protocol. Despite appearances, he had respected Lt. Gerard: His leadership ability, combat experience, and dedication had warranted that, at least. This was what he was going to tell The Beam Team at their next meeting; he hoped that they felt similarly already. Spinning the story of someone's life and death was part of the military, but Kyle felt that his speech would be primarily insight, with only a little bit of spin to tie everything together. He thought that Tybalt, Madelaine, and perhaps even Gerard, would have approved.
The speech wasn't a big deal, and neither was the transition into a leadership role, once again. He'd led The Beam Team before, and he could do it again. What worried him was his rationale for being in the war. It was a near-constant bother to him now; he could only put it out of his head while strategizing for battle, or in the middle of the battlefield. Why was he fighting? He had decided before that his reason was protecting people, and honoring their memories. But, if everyone fought for those reasons, would the fighting ever stop?
He wondered why Gerard had fought. Had it just been habit for him? Was it the only life he ever could have lived? What would Kyle do, if he weren't in the military. He doubted that they'd accept his resignation at this point, and the chances of a deserter landing a job at a top research facility were pretty slim, at best. There was no honor in desertion, and little in resignation. And though he wasn't exactly sure why, Kyle wanted to be an honorable man. For now, the right thing to do was to keep fighting, and to keep fighting as well as possible. He had to keep The Beam Team, and the memories of those who had fought and died in it, alive. He wouldn't quit - at least not for any reason he'd thought of yet. Kyle wasn't sure if he would join the EFGF so readily, given another chance, but he was damn sure that, at this point, he had little choice but to keep on fighting the best he could.
He had died well, according to military standards, protecting Jaburo and his unit from peril. They had been double teamed by two squads of Zakus, who were concentrating their fire on Kelly and Karol. Gerard had jumped into the middle of the machinegun fire, firing the Guncannon HDT's twin cannons mercilessly. Two of the Zakus had exploded almost immediately, but the remaining units had drawn beam sabers and moved in to close-range combat before the rest of The Beam Team could react. Fortunately, the grouped Zakus had been easy for Karol, Kyle and Kelly to pick off with their beam weapons from afar, but Gerard's unit had been ripped to shreds.
Gerard's decision to place himself at risk had not been made according to protocol. Protocol would have demanded that they fall back to a more secure location, or call for reinforcements. Protocol did not call for the sacrifice of one for the good of many. Gerard had lived a life of honor, and if protocol had been so important to him, it was likely because he had loved honor more. Usually, following protocol was a good way to be honorable.
They had taken away his protocol, in the end. The Beam Team had showed Gerard that protocol could be unwieldy, and that honor could stand on its own without the scaffolding of protocol. Despite appearances, he had respected Lt. Gerard: His leadership ability, combat experience, and dedication had warranted that, at least. This was what he was going to tell The Beam Team at their next meeting; he hoped that they felt similarly already. Spinning the story of someone's life and death was part of the military, but Kyle felt that his speech would be primarily insight, with only a little bit of spin to tie everything together. He thought that Tybalt, Madelaine, and perhaps even Gerard, would have approved.
The speech wasn't a big deal, and neither was the transition into a leadership role, once again. He'd led The Beam Team before, and he could do it again. What worried him was his rationale for being in the war. It was a near-constant bother to him now; he could only put it out of his head while strategizing for battle, or in the middle of the battlefield. Why was he fighting? He had decided before that his reason was protecting people, and honoring their memories. But, if everyone fought for those reasons, would the fighting ever stop?
He wondered why Gerard had fought. Had it just been habit for him? Was it the only life he ever could have lived? What would Kyle do, if he weren't in the military. He doubted that they'd accept his resignation at this point, and the chances of a deserter landing a job at a top research facility were pretty slim, at best. There was no honor in desertion, and little in resignation. And though he wasn't exactly sure why, Kyle wanted to be an honorable man. For now, the right thing to do was to keep fighting, and to keep fighting as well as possible. He had to keep The Beam Team, and the memories of those who had fought and died in it, alive. He wouldn't quit - at least not for any reason he'd thought of yet. Kyle wasn't sure if he would join the EFGF so readily, given another chance, but he was damn sure that, at this point, he had little choice but to keep on fighting the best he could.