Futuristic The Flyaway Soldier

[PopcornPie]

Meleiko had found the diary, and was skimming through it herself; she barely knew anything in it. "Mommy", "Daddy", "school", "cake"...it was all so foreign to her. Yet she could only see herself in place of the crude sketch of a woman. Supporting the younger troopers, caring for them, being the one to mourn for them...was she a "mommy"? Was it put in her by her own "mommy"? Was she only treating them with kindness because it felt right? Her heart fell like a ship with a hole shot in its fuel tank. All the kindness she showed was, nine times out of ten, all for naught. She nearly lost Nanome today, nearly added her to the collection of squadmates who'd been either killed, marked missing, or both. Deep down, she knew what Welkin was saying was true. All around the galaxy, people were ripped from their beloved squadmates and forced to die in undignified ways. Her own fabricated screams chilled her bones. "I want it to stop..." She whispered. Then, as if taking a moment to pray for everyone she'd lost, she silently trudged forward, carrying the diary, taking everyone in her arms and presenting them to Welkin. "I don't want to see anyone lost anymore..." She sobbed.

"I don't want to be lost anymore, either." Nanome replied bittersweetly.

 

[Fortunate Son]

He took a breath, and knew that somewhere down the line he'd regret this in some way or another. "Alright... then here's what you need to do. This area is technically on the fringe of EDF space, so occasional patrols do pass through here. Set your ships to autopilot themselves up well out of atmosphere and away from the planet. Then set their self-destruct sequence." He said. "It'll leave a debris field and they might think you died in battle." He sighed, "Take a memento if you want, but remember that you'll have each other. We need to do this quickly."

 

[PopcornPie]

"Meleiko, we are not agreeing to this!" Tirides growled. "He's spewing nonsense!"

"Nanome, this is all your fault!" Fieriba roared, struggling to get free. Nanome simply looked at her apologetically.

There was no changing Meleiko's mind. Their comrade had completely, utterly snapped. "This is for our own good!" She cried, stuffing them in Nova's ship. "There's no way out of this! We're staying together!" She flew towards their ships, prepared to disable their trackers, and send them flying away, just as Welkin recommended.

Unfortunately, the patrol Welkin mentioned was advancing, and their steely eyes quickly picked up on the scene. Guns came out of their ships like vultures appearing from their nests, ready to feast on the dead ships below them.

 

[Fortunate Son]

Welkin had just been about to knock some sense into Tirides before he froze, his eyes widening. "We have to go, NOW!" He shouted. "Those are K-21 Hunters, multi-role attack ships! We're sitting ducks here on the ground!." He shouted. He ran to set up the defensive guns on his own ship, someone had to cover them until he could get them on board, they had to get out of here.

He worked quickly and set up his own targeting computer. He locked in on the four ships and, with the press of a button, activated his defenses. Another defensive cannon appeared from the top of the ship with two barrels. Without warning, it locked onto the first fighter and opened up. The blaster fire erupted from it so quickly that the individual shots couldn't be heard, instead, it was just a whirring noise as green bolts of superheated gas streaked into the sky.

 

[PopcornPie]

Nanome had already run out to help Meleiko, when the engines made her stop cold. They all did. "K-21 Hunters...I've seen those before!" She yelped, watching in horror as their guns charged up. With an unintelligible scream, Meleiko snatched Nanome and carried her towards Welkin.

The eight could barely watch as their ships were shot at, Nanome especially. That hunk of junk had gotten her through so much. She'd had it since day one. It was loyal to her alone, everyone else had to struggle to start it. She couldn't see it get blown to bits in all that smoke, but she was grateful for it.

"I...I..." Tirides knelt down, his jaw weighed down by the defeat.

 

[Fortunate Son]

Risking getting caught in the fire, Welkin charged out from his own ship. He would get the others moving, getting them on board. "Go, get on the ship!" He shouted. Seeing Tirides like that, he practically grabbed the young soldier up and part dragged part got him moving under his own steam to the ship. "We have to get out of here. Do any of you know how to man a gunners position?" he asked, making for the cockpit.

 

[PopcornPie]

"We all do!" Fieriba yelled happily, the fire in her eyes indicating that she wanted said position. Meleiko cuddled the stunned Mawzey, while Tirides continued to hyperventilate. Nanome hastily took out her blaster, followed by Hecca, Daminigo, and Tikido. "The weak spot is beneath the canopy, right?" Nanome hollered, sweating. This was no time to waste ammo on wild guesses.

 

[Fortunate Son]

The auto cannon hit one, blowing an engine off and sending it spiraling into the dirt. “Either there because of the fuel tank, or shoot it right in its engines! The ship is tough, but the engines won’t take much!” He said. “I need a co-pilot up here to man forward facing weapons! Gunners positions are remote, the two computers there and there control them, ventral on the left, dorsal on the right! The rest of you, hang on!” He called out as he fired up the engines.

 

[PopcornPie]

"Nice hit!" Vixina called, laughing as the patroller fell, shattering like glass. "You need a co-pilot? I'll take it from here." She smoothly slipped onto the copilot seat, quickly acquainting herself with the controls. "I wonder if I should start with dorsal or ventrall..." She giggled.

The rest tightly gripped whatever they could, shooting at anyone who appeared to come out alive. They ended up creating a small snowstorm, suffocating the pilots.

 

[Fortunate Son]

"Neither." Welkin said. "You're gonna control our forward-facing offensive weapons." He said as he started the ship up. He got them moving quickly, laying the power down as he started climbing. "Hang on!" He said as they kept getting faster. "I'm jumping once we leave atmosphere."

 

[PopcornPie]

Meleiko, paranoid that someone was going to fall out, harshly tugged everyone closer to the center of the ship. All nine hearts were racing, but Vixina did the best job of hiding it. "Forward-facing, got it! It's what I'm best at!" She aimed carefully, shooting sparingly. When the ship began to move, she clung to the seat, hugging the controls.

 

[Fortunate Son]

He nodded some, just focused on getting them out. Once the engines were warmed up, he opened up the throttle to full, getting faster and faster. He then grinned as they hit space. "Hold on tight! This is gonna be a wild jump!" He shouted. He punched in some coordinates for empty space a ways away and then hit the hyperdrive, they jumped away.

 

[PopcornPie]

The nine of them nearly slid off the ship, while their stomachs nearly slid out of their ribs. Everything was a multicolored blur, as though someone attached a slab of wet paint to the inside right before it hyperjumped, and the paint was thrown to the side. Since when could ships go this fast?! It scared Meleiko into hugging as many of her compatriots as she could as tightly as she could, while Nanome held the journal just as close.

 

[Fortunate Son]

He settled into his seat, eventually the feeling of acceleration left them as the ship settled, still in hyperspace. "Here in an hour, we'll be in the next system. You've all never seen hyperjumps like that have you? Your fighters couldn't do them I'm guessing, and the ship you were stationed on probably had inertial dampers to cancel out the feeling."

 

[PopcornPie]

"Not at all." Fieriba whimpered. "Our ships can easily cross a galaxy on their own in a standard Yuxorg hour. Well, they could..." She glared at Nanome, her eyes glowing from the heat. Nanome could feel her skin blister, no matter how far apart the two were. Tikodo chuckled dryly. "I guess we really jumped into this adventure, huh? Ow!" Fieriba had turned her attention to him, smacking him. "This is no time to joke! We're definitely lost now!" Mawzey watched the planet shrink through the window, her hand outstretched, her jaw agape and her eyes wide to form an overdramatic expression. "All our ships...blown to bits..." "Nice work, Nanome." Hecca sighed. "Though, in your defense, we all should've been more discreet..." Nanome's lip quivered. "You guys shouldn't have come looking for me." She finally admitted. "You should've just let me be lost." Hecca's expression melted slightly, and he patted her on the shoulder. "Ah, you're a naïve dolt, but you're still our teammate. We couldn't let ya fend for yourself. I just wish you didn't just leave like that." "And Commander will figure out what happened to us, right?" Daminigo pressed up against the window expectantly. Meleiko grinned. "Exactly! We'll all go home, and...we'll probably be severely punished...but at least we'll all be at her mercy together." Then the group fell silent, with Nanome shivering. Not even Meleiko could sugarcoat it. They were going to be flayed alive for this.

 

[Fortunate Son]

"Before you all think of going home... remember that you're in a ship that was just involved with the destruction of your entire squadron's ships. Nevermind taht military groups don't look too kindly on deserters." He said with a nod. "It's your choice though, I'll try to help you.

 

[PopcornPie]

It looked like the soldiers didn't hear him, but the opposite was true; they were huddled in the center of the ship, hissing to one another.

"Now what?!" Mawzey cried. "We're stranded with a stranger now! When they find us, we're going to be pummeled!"

"Now, hold on..." Vixina stammered. "If we lay low for long enough, they'll presume us dead. Then we'll be free."

"Yeah, it's not like they'll go on a rampage on Mizuwul or anything!" Fieriba threw her arms in the air. "They'll find our footprints or something, and then we'll all be wanted!"

"But don't we want to be wanted?" Daminigo asked shyly.

"Technically, NO!" Fieriba shot back. "The idea was to get Nanome to come back to her senses and return before we were missed! Once they figure out that we ran away, and they most definitely have by now, they'll already have a line of punishments waiting for us! But it'll still be better than the basement, right, Nanome?...oh, NOW where did she go?"

"I saw her walking that way." Tikido thumbed to the back of the ship.

Indeed, Nanome had broken away from the group as soon as she had a chance. She knew they all blamed her for this. She made herself small, hiding her nose in her arms. For once, she barely made a sound, but flinched every time her name was mentioned.

 

[Fortunate Son]

Welkin sighed some, listenign to it all. After a moment, he'd had enough. "They'll probably consider you dead. From the way the crash pattern looked, it wouldn't be hard to see that you all got caught off guard by a EDF patrol and were wiped out, taking a few with you." He said. "Most ship explosions and fires burn so hot that anything flesh and bone will be incenerated. As for your footprints, you all landed in a marsh, the water will hide them."

He then turned back, "And maybe you could be a touch kinder to your scared, concerned, teamate who run away fro something she very strongly believes in." he said, standing up and heading back. He'd search around for Nanome and kneel down, "Hey kid, you okay?" He asked, voice actually a bit soft.

 

[PopcornPie]

Hecca nodded thoughtfully. "Hey, you're right! Not to mention, such a wet climate probably brings consistent rain, which could also help cover things up!...But I don't want to be considered dead..."
"Me neither." Mawzey whined. "If we're presumed dead, we can't go out in society! We'll have to isolate ourselves!"
"We don't know that!" Tirides exclaimed. "If we hurry back to civilization now, we can clear up the confusion! If we hurry, we could only be dead for a day, tops!"
"And then we'll all be dead for real once Commander finds us..." Daminigo whimpered.
"But that's better than being presumed dead!" Fieriba hissed. "We'll be severely punished, but at least we'll be punished at home!"
"I'd prefer an enemy prison camp." Tikido chuckled darkly.

Welkin's anger quieted them for a moment, and they watched him leave. "Kinder!? I don't think I've scolded her enough!" Fieriba argued. "I mean, what was she thinking?! Hell, it weren't for that Welkin guy, Nanome would've-" she finally stopped when she heard a sniffle.

"Not really." Nanome whined, not even bothering to look at Welkin. "They're all right. It was so selfish of me to run away! And now we're all presumed dead, because of me!...and because of this stupid book!" She pushed the diary away. "Commander always said I was the weak link..."

"Well...yes, you are the weakest of us." Fieriba stepped in, sitting down next to her. "But the idea was that you got stronger, and some days I think you were really coming along, and then you just-" She snarled. "-threw it all away! Were you trying to have this happen to you and you alone? Did you really think yourself that worthless?!"

"I didn't want it to happen at all." Nanome replied quietly. "I wasn't trying to throw it all away." She lied. "I just..."

"Really wanted answers." Fieriba reached over to grab the diary. "Nanome, don't you remember what Commander said? She said we were rescues."

"But rescues from where? From what people? That's all I wanted to know..."

"Well, Nano...I mean, kid...ughh..." Fieriba struggled, and over the course of the struggle she lost the intensity of her voice. "...We were most likely all alone when they found us. So, unless this was some kind of agreement, well...whoever gave birth to us probably didn't care."

 

[Fortunate Son]

He sighed, shaking his head, "There were stories... the IDF reportedly kidnapped kids and indoctrinated them as child shoulders, trying to make our forces think twice before shooting." He said. Welkin shook his head at Fierba, "I might not know much, but I know any leader or second in command worth half a damn doesn't constantly berate one member of the group and made them feel like shit." He said, settling into his seat. "Maybe before you ridicule others, consider your own shortcomings and consider how shitty they make you feel when someone else brings them up. Or do I need to recall how you, as the commander, did not consider keeping half your unit in the sky for air superiority and got successfully ambushed and destroyed by an enemy force with half your number."

 

[Fortunate Son]

soldiers** not shoulders XD

 

[PopcornPie]

Fieriba snapped around to look at him. "Hey, I'm not the commander." She snorted. "I'm not even second in command. Nobody is. Though Tirides comes close." She looked back, seeing Tirides admiring the view. "In order to find this dolt..." The "dolt" was rather soft in tone compared to all her other insults. "We pretty much had to run away ourselves. Our commander is probably still back at the mothership, wondering where the hell we ran off to." She sighed, laying her hand on Nanome's scalp. "That's why I'm so pissed. Not just because you ran off without telling us, but you'd have hell to pay if the others found you before we could. You know how brutal they're allowed to be!" Nanome nodded tearfully, remembering every last bruise she'd gotten. "Honestly, Nan, I at least would've made a greater effort to fake being shot down." Fieriba shook her head.

 

[Fortunate Son]

"If they're so brutal, then why would you want to go back?" He asked simply. "Why would you go back to someplace where they let you be hurt... I just... don't think they value you as much as you like to think."

 

[PopcornPie]

"Because we have a job to do!" Fieriba threw her arms up in that air. "We don't like the treatment, but we're fed and sheltered so we can go and kill earthlings and whoever is allied with them. Discipline is tough, but all you can do is suck it up." Nanome's turn to speak. "She's right, Welkin. We've just got to push through the cruelty. It's how we learn."

 

[Fortunate Son]

Welkin just sighed, shaking his head, "And what if I told you you were killing your own kind?" He asked. "What if I told you that treatment might never end? Because you aren't like the others in your IDF, and you'll never be like them, and they'll only ever see you as humans they trained to kill other humans?"