Post by Threid on Jul 30, 2010 20:20:37 GMT -5
The Beam Team had fought its first battle in space, and though their mission had been shot to hell, they were all feeling pretty good about their performance. Kyle was especially pleased that none of his team had died. Gerard's death still weighed heavily on his mind, and he did not feel up to adding Karol or Kelly's memories to the pile of lost comrades.
War in space was different, but similar, to war on earth. There were plenty of places to maneuver; getting backed into a corner wasn't nearly as common out here, but getting surrounded by enemies was much more common. An attack could come from anywhere - even below you! Kyle was still getting used to that, and the scorch marks on his Gundam's crotch showed it. He was lucky the Luna Titanium had prevented the shots from penetrating the cockpit. If he'd been in one of those GMs, he'd probably have died.
Somehow, Karol and Kelly had managed to survive the crazy encounter with only minor damage. Some of that, he attributed to his risky tactics, aiming to keep his teammates in relative safety, and part, he attributed to the fact that they weren't as used to fighting on the ground as he was. They were both still relatively new to this piloting thing, and getting accustomed to a new environment wasn't taking them as long.
Kyle welcomed the change, regardless. It was easier to put Tybalt, Madelaine and Gerard behind them, fighting in a different place, against different enemies. It was almost like they were fighting a different war. The only thing that reminded them of where they had been was Orange Base, and their own memories. It was hard to stay grounded.
The letters from Nora helped, though they were no longer as regular. Part of that was Kyle's fault, as he was finding it difficult to find time to write, now. As head of The Beam Team, there were a lot of reports and paperwork that he had to deal with now, and no matter how efficiently he worked through it, there was almost always more to do. He had been hoping to snag a word with Nigel about it, but their commander was even busier than he was, somehow.
Karol and Kelly sought each others' company regularly, and though they didn't exclude Kyle on purpose, he often felt like the third wheel whenever they socialized outside of briefings. Aurem had been even quieter than usual since Arieta's accident, and Thorvald had never been easy for Kyle to understand, much less get along with. Space was a large place, and Kyle didn't feel like anyone was sharing it with him. He was alone.
He'd read that a lot of people felt alone in space, especially out in their mobile suits, but he was feeling it inside the ship, even in the company of other people. The connections he'd forged were the only things that tied him to service in the EF. His connections to Nora, Tybalt, Madelaine, Gerard, Aurem, Arieta, Nigel, and even Thorvald, were the only things that kept him fighting. Protect and preserve. What would he do if he lost even those things? Would he continue to fight? Could he?
Not in any meaningful way, he decided. He had studied mobile suit technology extensively since his enlistment, and there was little left to impress him. He knew the suits, inside and out, and they no longer excited him as they once did. And to think: He had joined the EF to study their technology! It was ironic that the reasons that kept him fighting now were unrelated to the reasons he'd used to justify his enlistment.
Of course, the reasons for the change were easily explainable. His priorities had changed since he'd enlisted. He was able to get along with people, and if he had found them interesting before, he found them even more worthwhile now. Wars were fought over things like technology and power, and fought with them, but they were fought by men and women. And everyone claimed that it was people they were fighting for, even if the government's real reason had been power or technology: people's freedom, people's ideas, people's rights - protecting and preserving people and their ways of life.
Or at least, that was the way Kyle saw it. If he ever ran out of people to fight for, he would run out of reasons to fight. He entertained the thought of fighting for himself for an instant, but dismissed it just as quickly; he could not imagine himself doing something like that. Then again, he couldn't have imagined piloting one of the Federation's most fearsome mobile suits 5 years ago, either. The thought made him shudder, alone in his room. He grabbed his coat and headed out into the hallways, on his way to the hangar. His room was a refuge from others, but the hangar was a refuge from himself, and his thoughts.
War in space was different, but similar, to war on earth. There were plenty of places to maneuver; getting backed into a corner wasn't nearly as common out here, but getting surrounded by enemies was much more common. An attack could come from anywhere - even below you! Kyle was still getting used to that, and the scorch marks on his Gundam's crotch showed it. He was lucky the Luna Titanium had prevented the shots from penetrating the cockpit. If he'd been in one of those GMs, he'd probably have died.
Somehow, Karol and Kelly had managed to survive the crazy encounter with only minor damage. Some of that, he attributed to his risky tactics, aiming to keep his teammates in relative safety, and part, he attributed to the fact that they weren't as used to fighting on the ground as he was. They were both still relatively new to this piloting thing, and getting accustomed to a new environment wasn't taking them as long.
Kyle welcomed the change, regardless. It was easier to put Tybalt, Madelaine and Gerard behind them, fighting in a different place, against different enemies. It was almost like they were fighting a different war. The only thing that reminded them of where they had been was Orange Base, and their own memories. It was hard to stay grounded.
The letters from Nora helped, though they were no longer as regular. Part of that was Kyle's fault, as he was finding it difficult to find time to write, now. As head of The Beam Team, there were a lot of reports and paperwork that he had to deal with now, and no matter how efficiently he worked through it, there was almost always more to do. He had been hoping to snag a word with Nigel about it, but their commander was even busier than he was, somehow.
Karol and Kelly sought each others' company regularly, and though they didn't exclude Kyle on purpose, he often felt like the third wheel whenever they socialized outside of briefings. Aurem had been even quieter than usual since Arieta's accident, and Thorvald had never been easy for Kyle to understand, much less get along with. Space was a large place, and Kyle didn't feel like anyone was sharing it with him. He was alone.
He'd read that a lot of people felt alone in space, especially out in their mobile suits, but he was feeling it inside the ship, even in the company of other people. The connections he'd forged were the only things that tied him to service in the EF. His connections to Nora, Tybalt, Madelaine, Gerard, Aurem, Arieta, Nigel, and even Thorvald, were the only things that kept him fighting. Protect and preserve. What would he do if he lost even those things? Would he continue to fight? Could he?
Not in any meaningful way, he decided. He had studied mobile suit technology extensively since his enlistment, and there was little left to impress him. He knew the suits, inside and out, and they no longer excited him as they once did. And to think: He had joined the EF to study their technology! It was ironic that the reasons that kept him fighting now were unrelated to the reasons he'd used to justify his enlistment.
Of course, the reasons for the change were easily explainable. His priorities had changed since he'd enlisted. He was able to get along with people, and if he had found them interesting before, he found them even more worthwhile now. Wars were fought over things like technology and power, and fought with them, but they were fought by men and women. And everyone claimed that it was people they were fighting for, even if the government's real reason had been power or technology: people's freedom, people's ideas, people's rights - protecting and preserving people and their ways of life.
Or at least, that was the way Kyle saw it. If he ever ran out of people to fight for, he would run out of reasons to fight. He entertained the thought of fighting for himself for an instant, but dismissed it just as quickly; he could not imagine himself doing something like that. Then again, he couldn't have imagined piloting one of the Federation's most fearsome mobile suits 5 years ago, either. The thought made him shudder, alone in his room. He grabbed his coat and headed out into the hallways, on his way to the hangar. His room was a refuge from others, but the hangar was a refuge from himself, and his thoughts.