Post by pinksoyuz on Feb 6, 2010 17:49:11 GMT -5
One of many dotting the corridors of the space station, a screen displayed an image of a woman clad in red staring straight into the camera. Nadia watched with little enthusiasm as the newscaster repetitively tapped her fingers against a tablet while reading from the teleprompter. While certainly not a hobby of hers, the test pilot always found it interesting, if not downright humorous, as to the degree of censorship and propaganda cleverly injected into state sanctioned media broadcasts. Of course it wasn't much, given the ease with which people could find the truth, but often times one had to find amusement in the most insignificant of places.
"Say, what's a gal like you doing in a uniform?" came voice from behind her. Male, from the sounds of it with a hint of playfulness in its sound. "You know what big bad Ohm does to Zeon girls, don't ya?"
Nadia continued to watch the broadcast and initially paid little attention to the attention getter, normally giving people the cold treatment at times like these. But something about her felt different this time around, almost a bit adventurous, and her mind couldn't help but take the bait.
"No, why don't you tell me?" she said in a sarcastic manner, turning around to get a better look at the soldier. Much to her surprise, however, the man exhibited several remarkably attractive features that almost any girl would swoon over. "Better yet, why don't you show me?"
Her eyes remained steely and resolute, and a seductive smirk sent an unambiguous message to the male. Yet behind the confident facade lay a cloud of apprehension and anxiety as Nadia never dared to utter such provocative words in her life. What was she doing? And why did everything seemed a wee bit out of place all of a sudden? Now that she thought about it, there lacked a suspicious amount of people roaming the corridors.
Yet as quickly as Nadia realized these things, she felt cold hard steel pressing up against her back and the warmth of person's body on her chest. Instinctively she turned her head away to defend herself from the male's advances, but it was only a matter of time before she'd succumb to almost three decades of pent up frustration and repression. The better half of her judgment quickly lost an audience and any sort of inhibition that remained in her was utter destroyed when the male began lightly kissing her neck.
~
Nadia's arms came together to embrace him even closer, but instead of the warm tactile sense of human flesh, she felt a cold and rather wet sensation that smeared itself all over her hands. Her face cringed at the shock and she opened her eyes to find herself in a bed with a few beads of fluid floating lazily in and around the cabin.
Ugh. Drool.
She closed her eyes in an earnest attempt to return to the disappearing dream, but her rapidly increasing heart rate proved that to now be impossible. With nothing more to do, the test pilot released a loud groan of defeat and unstrapped herself from the bed before sliding open the door to her cabin. A low grumble from her abdomen beckoned for Nadia to quickly don on her military blouse and trousers and make for the mess hall post haste.
~
Being back on a dedicated warship offered amenities that the CTC simply could not provide, and Nadia welcomed the brief retreat taken aboard one of Zeon's finest ships of the line. Bigger sleeping quarters, closer lavatories, and palatable meals meant that one would be going into battle comfortably. And it here that a minor inconvenience in the form of a curious soldier appeared in front of her, blocking her way to the rest of the vessel.
"Hey, you're Nadia Adelaide, right?" he asked, sizing up the lady in uniform before realizing that he outranked her and formalities wouldn't be necessary. "What brings you out here into space?"
"Yes, I'm seaman Nadia Adelaide," she answered, carefully nodding her head up and down to emphasize her words. "I'm just uh, out here. You know, testing equipment."
"Testing equipment huh?" he said with a confused look on his face. "From what I've heard, you're a fairly competent pilot."
"Yeah, it's just part of my job with Zeonic," Nadia replied, looking a bit distracted and uneasy, and most importantly a bit gaunt from a lack of nutrition. "Though I'd much prefer if the Earth Federation didn't shoot at me upon sight."
"Zeonic? The guys that make the Zaku?" he asked, unsure of what the test pilot meant.
"Yeah, that's the one," she confirmed, giving a consolatory thumbs up to the guy. "I've been contracted by the ZMF to test a prototype."
"Contracted huh? Like a merc?" he asked with a hint of disdain evident in his voice.
"I wouldn't say a merc," defended the test pilot.
"But you're only here because your employers told you to fight for us?" he shot back while formulating second thoughts about the female Zeonic pilot.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Nadia replied, growing a bit uneasy with the tone that the male soldier presented.
"So you aren't interested in our war for independence?"
"I don't pay much attention to politics, sorry."
"You didn't answer my question."
"I'm sorry, no. I don't have any interest in the war for independence."
Her last statement seemed to justify the man's incessant questioning and from the look of things, also allowed him to seat himself on the moral high horse. "See, people like you are dangerous to the ZMF. Hell, to any military. You have no real reason for fighting with us other than the fact that you get a big fat paycheck."
Nadia could help but laugh, making mental note of the paltry sum she currently received from the Duchy. No, her interests lay in the capital provided by Zeonic after her brief stint in the ZMF. "I don't do this for the money, I'll have you know that."
"So would you would ever defect?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer my question!"
Shrugging, Nadia gave up and replied, "Defecting is bad for relations and therefore bad for business, so no, I normally wouldn't do that."
"Normally?"
"Well, I work under a different contract than you guys do. I mean, you signed a contract when you enlisted, right? Well, I did too, but obviously mine is different and a tad bit more flexible. With enough persuasion and resources, anything could happen."
"Then that makes you a merc."
"Look, I'm not here to exonerate myself to you," she snapped back, making it perfectly clear that she was not very appreciative of his petty insults. "If my employers want me to work with the Federation, then I work with the Federation. If they want me to go sleep with one of those Jovians, then I do so, because in the end, Zeonic has what I want and I have what it needs."
Usually Nadia avoided such confrontational tones, but this Zeon grunt libeling her and the recently botched dream fresh on her mind, all the pieces were coming together to brew a hostile demeanor. After all she probably wouldn't sleep with a JDEG official, but being tasked to collaborate with Federation scientists? She held no reservations against that as she believed that science belonged to no specific political ideology or nation. Hopefully this soldier would understand her stance without arguing as Nadia resumed her trek to the food facilities on the ship. Before turning a corner, she glanced back and offered a few words of encouragement to the spirited soldier.
"But, don't worry. It's called Zeonic Company for a reason."
"Say, what's a gal like you doing in a uniform?" came voice from behind her. Male, from the sounds of it with a hint of playfulness in its sound. "You know what big bad Ohm does to Zeon girls, don't ya?"
Nadia continued to watch the broadcast and initially paid little attention to the attention getter, normally giving people the cold treatment at times like these. But something about her felt different this time around, almost a bit adventurous, and her mind couldn't help but take the bait.
"No, why don't you tell me?" she said in a sarcastic manner, turning around to get a better look at the soldier. Much to her surprise, however, the man exhibited several remarkably attractive features that almost any girl would swoon over. "Better yet, why don't you show me?"
Her eyes remained steely and resolute, and a seductive smirk sent an unambiguous message to the male. Yet behind the confident facade lay a cloud of apprehension and anxiety as Nadia never dared to utter such provocative words in her life. What was she doing? And why did everything seemed a wee bit out of place all of a sudden? Now that she thought about it, there lacked a suspicious amount of people roaming the corridors.
Yet as quickly as Nadia realized these things, she felt cold hard steel pressing up against her back and the warmth of person's body on her chest. Instinctively she turned her head away to defend herself from the male's advances, but it was only a matter of time before she'd succumb to almost three decades of pent up frustration and repression. The better half of her judgment quickly lost an audience and any sort of inhibition that remained in her was utter destroyed when the male began lightly kissing her neck.
~
Nadia's arms came together to embrace him even closer, but instead of the warm tactile sense of human flesh, she felt a cold and rather wet sensation that smeared itself all over her hands. Her face cringed at the shock and she opened her eyes to find herself in a bed with a few beads of fluid floating lazily in and around the cabin.
Ugh. Drool.
She closed her eyes in an earnest attempt to return to the disappearing dream, but her rapidly increasing heart rate proved that to now be impossible. With nothing more to do, the test pilot released a loud groan of defeat and unstrapped herself from the bed before sliding open the door to her cabin. A low grumble from her abdomen beckoned for Nadia to quickly don on her military blouse and trousers and make for the mess hall post haste.
~
Being back on a dedicated warship offered amenities that the CTC simply could not provide, and Nadia welcomed the brief retreat taken aboard one of Zeon's finest ships of the line. Bigger sleeping quarters, closer lavatories, and palatable meals meant that one would be going into battle comfortably. And it here that a minor inconvenience in the form of a curious soldier appeared in front of her, blocking her way to the rest of the vessel.
"Hey, you're Nadia Adelaide, right?" he asked, sizing up the lady in uniform before realizing that he outranked her and formalities wouldn't be necessary. "What brings you out here into space?"
"Yes, I'm seaman Nadia Adelaide," she answered, carefully nodding her head up and down to emphasize her words. "I'm just uh, out here. You know, testing equipment."
"Testing equipment huh?" he said with a confused look on his face. "From what I've heard, you're a fairly competent pilot."
"Yeah, it's just part of my job with Zeonic," Nadia replied, looking a bit distracted and uneasy, and most importantly a bit gaunt from a lack of nutrition. "Though I'd much prefer if the Earth Federation didn't shoot at me upon sight."
"Zeonic? The guys that make the Zaku?" he asked, unsure of what the test pilot meant.
"Yeah, that's the one," she confirmed, giving a consolatory thumbs up to the guy. "I've been contracted by the ZMF to test a prototype."
"Contracted huh? Like a merc?" he asked with a hint of disdain evident in his voice.
"I wouldn't say a merc," defended the test pilot.
"But you're only here because your employers told you to fight for us?" he shot back while formulating second thoughts about the female Zeonic pilot.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Nadia replied, growing a bit uneasy with the tone that the male soldier presented.
"So you aren't interested in our war for independence?"
"I don't pay much attention to politics, sorry."
"You didn't answer my question."
"I'm sorry, no. I don't have any interest in the war for independence."
Her last statement seemed to justify the man's incessant questioning and from the look of things, also allowed him to seat himself on the moral high horse. "See, people like you are dangerous to the ZMF. Hell, to any military. You have no real reason for fighting with us other than the fact that you get a big fat paycheck."
Nadia could help but laugh, making mental note of the paltry sum she currently received from the Duchy. No, her interests lay in the capital provided by Zeonic after her brief stint in the ZMF. "I don't do this for the money, I'll have you know that."
"So would you would ever defect?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer my question!"
Shrugging, Nadia gave up and replied, "Defecting is bad for relations and therefore bad for business, so no, I normally wouldn't do that."
"Normally?"
"Well, I work under a different contract than you guys do. I mean, you signed a contract when you enlisted, right? Well, I did too, but obviously mine is different and a tad bit more flexible. With enough persuasion and resources, anything could happen."
"Then that makes you a merc."
"Look, I'm not here to exonerate myself to you," she snapped back, making it perfectly clear that she was not very appreciative of his petty insults. "If my employers want me to work with the Federation, then I work with the Federation. If they want me to go sleep with one of those Jovians, then I do so, because in the end, Zeonic has what I want and I have what it needs."
Usually Nadia avoided such confrontational tones, but this Zeon grunt libeling her and the recently botched dream fresh on her mind, all the pieces were coming together to brew a hostile demeanor. After all she probably wouldn't sleep with a JDEG official, but being tasked to collaborate with Federation scientists? She held no reservations against that as she believed that science belonged to no specific political ideology or nation. Hopefully this soldier would understand her stance without arguing as Nadia resumed her trek to the food facilities on the ship. Before turning a corner, she glanced back and offered a few words of encouragement to the spirited soldier.
"But, don't worry. It's called Zeonic Company for a reason."
