Digging into the past

[duetsavvy]

[1]
So, let me get this straight. That crazy guy who tried to drop Phobos on Earth... he used to be an UG member?

[Brye stabs her salad with a fork, like a professional vegetable torturer.]

You have quite a party going on, you know that?

[2]
[The Grungust Alpha is missing from the hangar in Fort Alhambra!

But the culprit is easy to find, as the big super robot is not too far away - its eye lasers digging into the ground around the base, creating complicated and large-scale images. And the pilot...]


Hey, I'm getting better at this!

Comments

2

[prismphantom]

[That...]

... How were you when you started?

[Seriously. "Better" would mean like... you weren't already good at something.]

[duetsavvy]

Think less Nazca and more... random ridges in the ground, I guess?

But this thing is very responsive! It's large but it's not clumsy at all.

[prismphantom]

Well, the brush is only as good as the hand using it... and yours, well you've already proved that bit.

Planning on branching out then and leave the Huckebein to your partner?

[duetsavvy]

Technically the Gespenst is my unit. Well, was... poor Gespie is in pieces now.

And I don't know. I just felt I had to use it, right now.

[prismphantom]

The spirit of unconventional artistry, perhaps. Couldn't do anything like this in the Gespenst, could you?

[duetsavvy]

If it had eye lasers, then I'm going to be disappointed because no one told me.

[prismphantom]

Well, I suppose we could always write a very polite letter to Captain Linjun and see if he knows.

[duetsavvy]

No need. I can already imagine his response, and I'm pretty sure I won't be far off the mark.

2

[duetmoxie]

[Meanwhile, someone else is at ground level watching this scene.]

Brye, should you really be doing this?

[duetsavvy]

Why not? I mean, I am a pilot and this is an UG mecha.

[duetmoxie]

Well, you're defacing the Fort and using a Super Robot to do it...

[duetsavvy]

Ah, come on! It's not the Fort, just grounds around it - and they sure could use some decoration, for aliens to see from above!

1

[actuallyselfish]

"Yeah...." Dido says, chowing down on a sandwich. "We've had a couple people in the UG who've gone rogue in a bad way. Ingram, Lamia, my friend Sara Harper, Mmph-MphmPh-Mpmmh...."

She chews and swallows. "Honestly? Leos was the nicest of the bunch!" She shudders. "Especially compared to Loni, Ilinka and Desta...the Terrible Trio."

[duetsavvy]

The what now? And that's not a good track record at all, you have to admit...

[actuallyselfish]

"The Terrible Trio," Dido says. Thunder strikes in the distance. "A trust-fund kid with delusions of heroism, his trigger-happy friend, and his obsessive super-soldier love interest." Dido's face's becomes shadowed and grim. "If you ever meet them, don't hold back."

She takes another bite of her sandwich and swallows. "Not a good track record?" She muses in response to Brye's question. "Maybe...but it's a consequence of our recruiting method. The UG recruits the best pilots it can, but the only ace pilots militaries transfer to our service are the troublesome ones."

She raises an eyebrow at Brye.

[duetsavvy]

Hey, I'm not a transfer. I left SSR on my own, and that's because it wasn't as clear cut and selfless as it pictures itself to be!

Oh yeah, by the way...

[actuallyselfish]

"Troublesome isn't always bad," Dido is quick to say. "Sometimes a maverick's just what you need to save the world or right a wrong..."

She coughs. "In any case, was there something you wanted to know?"

[duetsavvy]

That Ingram you mentioned... isn't the name on the memorial wall?

[actuallyselfish]

Dido let out a soft breath. "Ah," she said. "That one's a doozy."

She sits down. "There were actually two Ingram Plisskens that operated in the Unity Group...identical clone warriors from the Balmarian Empire. One of them impersonated the other so he could backstab us in the field...but the other gave his life to nuke the Balmarian invasion fleet."

She sighs. "From our perspective, Plissken was a traitor for a long time. We only learned the truth until the very end...and that's why "Dead End Shot" Ingram's on our wall."

[duetsavvy]

... Okay.

That's a lot to take in all at once. It sounds like treason and trickery is what you had to deal with a lot of times.

1 - This pressure!

[brought_it_back]

Do you have a problem with that?

[duetsavvy]

Not really. I just didn't expect everyone to be so... related.

[brought_it_back]

...

[Eva backs off on the death glare, and gives her taco a nibble.]

...Yes. Well...

We collect strange people. So some things happen.

[duetsavvy]

Is that on purpose, I wonder. "Are you a pilot with lots of emotional baggage and a one of a kind ability? Why not join Unity Group!" This kind of thing? Or is it just coincidence...

1

[majestic_keiki]

It was a mess. He was a nice kid, but unstable. His superiors didn't exactly help in any way either and in the end he left where there were nobody to support him.

[duetsavvy]

What brought him to the breaking point? And nobody did anything?

I don't like the sound of this...

[majestic_keiki]

Neither did I...He got therapy, I asked the commander to take him off the duty roster and try to get him away from Raven's Nest. But the commander didn't and his manager from Raven's Nest kept abusing him and ruining any therapy he might get.

[duetsavvy]

...

[Brye looks very focused and serious right now. She shakes her head ever so slightly.]

[majestic_keiki]

[Kei falls silent as well, leaving quite a bit of awkwardness.]

[duetsavvy]

So, this whole thing has a sense of closure. His story begins and ends with UG.

I've gotten myself into something more complicated than I thought.

[majestic_keiki]

Like you wouldn't imagine. I'm not sure we have a single ordinary soldier among our pilots.

[duetsavvy]

Not exactly what I meant. Though, that too I guess.

[majestic_keiki]

The leadership isn't terribly reliable, so we mostly have to handle ourselves and listen to what outside partners are saying. It kinda works. Most of the time.

...I wouldn't mind somebody more effective in charge. Like Admiral Amane or similar.

[duetsavvy]

Commanders with a more hands on approach can be a pain too, trust me.

And, what is your commander up to now? Is he even regretful about what he let happen to the moon-dropping guy?

[majestic_keiki]

He was killed by Loni and his friends when they broke out of prison. I think the other officers are in charge as a group now rather than having a single commander.

[duetsavvy]

Oh.

[The atmosphere becomes really awkward.]

I see. I didn't know that.

[majestic_keiki]

I should have mentioned it before.

...He was nice, just not very good at standing up to people.

[duetsavvy]

And now he's dead. Sounds like the exact opposite of SSR's Linjun, actually...

[majestic_keiki]

Now that you say it.

[duetsavvy]

Lee Linjun's both alive and a big jerk. And he knows it, because I told him.

... We didn't like each other much.

[majestic_keiki]

I don't think anybody does. I know that the people we helped during the battle with the Vagans didn't and he hasn't exactly made the best impression on the rest of us.

[duetsavvy]

He cares about results, not people. SSR has some good folks who really are trying hard to make the world a better place, but...

You see why the two of us left now, don't you?

[majestic_keiki]

Yes.

How did you even end up working with them?

[duetsavvy]

I was scouted, which sounds silly at first. I wasn't a pilot or a soldier. But I was able to activate the Gespenst's special systems and that's why they offered me a position.

[majestic_keiki]

I see. They must have good information to tell who would be able to.

[duetsavvy]

If it turns out SSR has some kind of population surveillance going on, I'm gonna be very cross... but I don't think it's that. At least I hope it's not that.

[majestic_keiki]

They might have some access to medical records in the countries they're based in, at least.

[duetsavvy]

That still means someone knew about this kind of ability, that I had it - waaay before I did.

I never had that impression from anyone I know.

[majestic_keiki]

They'd have to know there was a good chance you had it to scout you, at least.