A hero's crushing realization of human mortality

[herodrawing]

Miss Kanade?

Mr Yancy... and Raleigh, too?

[It doesn't take long for someone to break news to Izuru. The young pilot just stands there, in shock.]

I wasn't even there. I wanted to go to the concert, but...

Why did it happen?

[Some wannabe heroes try to act tough. Izuru is not one of them, at least not now. Tears start to well in his eyes.]

Comments

[ugyuuya]

[Passing by Izuru after returning from some of the funeral duties for the fallen pilots Yuuya pauses and turns to the younger pilot with a semi-complicated look on his face.]

Hey Izuru, come on sit down over here. [he guides the pilot to a seat in a semi-out of the way side corridor.] You have to realize that sometimes these things happen, it's never pleasant but it's a reality of what we do. Any one of the things out there could kill us just as dead as the Kaiju or we may be called upon to sacrifice ourselves like Kanade, TSFs carry extremely powerful self-destruct charges for dedicated anti-BETA operations, mostly Hive assaults but they are standard equipment.

Yancy died trying to save more lives, which he succeeded in and Kanade saved pretty much everyone who was present in that mission with her sacrifice. Nobody is happy that these things happened and sadly there isn't anything we can do to fix it but as long as you remember them then that's the important part.

Eishi get their name from a Japanese word that roughly translates as "guardian". It's not uncommon for a unit that has been too depleted to give up any chance of escape to buy other units to retreat or to complete a critical mission objective. I at one point said that the pilots involved with the UG group qualified for that name after their first encounter with the BETA but it would seem that it was a more appropriate name then I originally expected.

They died knowing the risks and what could or, in Kanade's case, would happen to them. You can be sad and there's no shame in crying over lost friends but remember that they stood proud even through to the end and that their sacrifices gave others the chance to live.

[majestic_keiki]

[At least he is not alone. Kei is there and as the tears begin, she quietly reaches out to give him a hug in an attempt to comfort him.]

[cloningblues]

...Kanade sacrificed her life to protect us. If she didn't, even more people would die there. Including me and Kei, probably.

[break_the_nine]

No...

[Izuru, you aren't alone in the crying department. Despite a disagreement regarding Lana way back when, Leos really appreciated everything that Yancy did for him. He never really met Raleigh but he saw that interview on TV. He hadn't the chance to share friendship pudding with the brothers.]

No... No...nonono...

[He saw Kanade once. It was a tiny meeting, just her taking her medicine and the resulting conversation thereof. But he heard a lot of things about her. Idol. Heroine. Leos just bought his first Zwei Wing album as a reward for a job well done after he was done cleaning up and had planned to ask for both members to sign it.]

Nononoonono! No... Its not- they're... I don't...I.. -hic-

[Despite being older than Izuru by a fair margin he was all but a few steps from completely falling apart and sobbing himself into the floor. Loss... he wasn't good at dealing with it. And he was doing so well with therapy...]

[keep_your_dignity]

SOMETIMES THERE'S JUST NO OTHER WAY TO GET THE MISSION DONE, HITACHI.

KEEP HER IN MEMORY AND KEEP GOING. IT'S ALL YOU CAN DO.

AS FOR ME, I INTEND TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THE FUCKTARD THAT GOT BECKETT KILLED WHEN WE FIND HIM.

[dolorous_sensei]

Because bad things happen. Like what I always says.