That one day.
10 Apr 2020Spectralfx
(I would highly recommend any potential reader to read my other Logs titled "Day by day" followed by "The day after" in order to have a better context on this one. additionally (once more), sincere Thank you to those who already let me know of their interest for these short stories so far.)That one day.
10 April 3306, System : [Redacted].
A damaged Mamba, painted black and silver is maneuvering frantically in an asteroid belt that surrounds a deep blue gas giant, avoiding some of the rocks by only a few dozen meters. Aboard the ship, a young lady with short, straight black hairs is sitting in the co-pilot seat and is gripping the arms of it in a tense manner. She feels deafened by the sound of her own breathing inside the Remlok helmet she is wearing. The vessel is piloted by a man that she knows capable. At that moment, the Mamba's on board computer reports to the occupants that its flight assist mechanisms are now turned off. She feels tossed around in her seat, only to end up being propelled forward, held in place by the seat belts wrapping her tightly. The young lady then raises her look upward to see what now lies ahead, she flinches due to the sight of an Eagle-class ship getting shredded by a volley from the Mamba's frag cannons. Her breath accelerates as she can feel the inertia of the ship racing backward. She is quickly sent to the back of her seat as the black vessel starts to decelerate thanks to the thrust provided by its main thrusters. At that point, the young lady could not get the images of the aftermath of a larger battle that happened earlier that day off her mind. sooner than later, she is brought back to reality by the sound of an heat sink being ejected from the ship. As frost starts to accumulate on the edges of the canopy, the ship's on board computer reports to its occupants that the silent running mode is now activated. The young lady unable to calm herself down therefore asks at the intention of the pilot in the front seat:
-What now?
Her panicked voice being muffled by her Remlok helmet.
-We pray for backup to arrive before they find us, again.
A muffled deep voice replies to her from the front seat.
- I ... I can't take it anymore!!
The young lady exclaims while undoing her seat belts.
She suddenly starts making a run for the back of the bridge. She fumbles while passing the sliding door that leads to the cargo area. Once there, she can't help but think about something. The young lady had helped design this vessel and she questioned herself about what purpose could such a small cargo rack have? The vessel was constantly coming back from the field significantly damaged, it could have made use of more protection around the cockpit. However, it was the pilot, the man who commissioned the vessel to her in person that insisted that this cargo rack was instrumental in the accomplishment of his missions. The man she trusted above all else, never disclosed to her what they were meant for. Outside of that fact, the vessel was destined purely for a combat role. It must be said that these cargo racks were insufficient to commandeer any significant amounts of supply from any pirated vessel. On these thoughts, the young lady soon elects to venture in the cargo bay in question to find out for herself. It was at that moment, that she finds something that leaves her without a voice...
In front of her lies multiple escape pods, that she fears to be occupied ones at that.
The young lady mentally prepares to witness one of her worst fear come true. She passes one of her hand on the window of an accessible yet lonely pod, In an act to move away the frost that lies on it. The gesture in turn allows her to see what, or rather, who is lying inside. She steps back in horror, bringing both her hands to her Remlok helmet. What lied in those life saving devices were kids, young ones neatly stacked next to each other. It was at that time that a man, the one she trusted so much, made it into in the room. The black leather jacket wearing man simply stood in the doorway, still wearing his black, glossy Remlok helmet. The young lady rapidly presses on her neck and in turn, the Remlok helmet she wore disappears from around her head in an instant. The act revealing an angry looking lady with tears under her eyes. From there, she rushes at the man to grab him by the collar of his jacket with both hands and yells at him with fury:
-You stupid moron!!! What the hell are you doing with slaves in those pods? And not just any kind of slaves! A bunch of kids at that! Don't you remember that back then, it used to be us in those pods!? Why the hell would you do something like this Emmanuel, Answer me dammit!
The pilot had simply raised both of his hands in the air in an act of surrender. The black and opaque Remlok helmet he was wearing hiding his facial expression to this ordeal. Once the young lady was done yelling at him, the man simply pressed on his neck with one of his index. The disappearing helmet in turn reveals the cold, inexpressive eyes that the young lady saw a few days prior back at the landing pad number 18. The young man answered, with the same deep and unfazed voice:
-I will, when you let me.
She therefore releases the collar of the man while also taking a step back. Her face still as red in anger as before, her stare unblinking due to sheer rage. From there, the man continued:
-Those used to be slaves. they are here because I intend to free them by bringing them back to imperial space. From there, they will benefit from the same social programs that allowed you to eventually become a ship engineer…
The deep voice pressed some words carefully, as it was apparent that the young lady was not passively receiving his explanation, she was about to retort when he raised his finger in a gesture to pause her and continued, still unfazed:
-and I will prove it to you.
The man next reaches for a PDA device inside one of the multiple pocket of his black leather jacket and then takes the time to enter some credentials in it. Meanwhile, the young lady with short, straight black hairs simply crosses her arms with one of her feet repeatedly tapping the floor of the cargo bay as she impatiently waits. He ultimately passes the device to her and she receives it with both hands. The young lady's deep brown eyes starts blinking as she passes what appears to be a set pictures. The photos she sees depicts, albeit from a distant perspective, the old officer from the day before supervising the offload of some escape pods from a cobra MK III sitting on a small landing pad. It is followed with another picture of him shaking hands with who she presumes is the pilot of the vessel seen prior. The said pilot is wearing a rag tag arrangement of dirty looking clothing over what probably is a Remlok flight suit. The presumed pilot's jacket is ornamented with the logo of the Kumo crew on its back. The young lady at that instant starts to get the meaning of all this.
She nonetheless took a moment to throw an uncertain look at the man who had just provided the device. The young man had crossed his arms in the meantime and was now simply signaling her, with a gesture of one on his hand, to keep going.
The young lady couldn’t help but fear what lied ahead in the PDA, she had seen enough the day before to expect the worst possible scenario. She nonetheless swallowed her pride and took a deep breath before moving to the next set of pictures, she had come this far, might as well go all the way. The next set of pictures looked like they were taken from an hidden camera at the level of the neck of its wearer.The said images were most likely taken in the bar from yesterday. The young lady could see a crowd of people having a pretty good time. She could vaguely recognize some of the lowlifes she saw outside of the establishment that day at the very least. The next picture was the presumed pilot from earlier sitting at an office desk. The room was a mess with empty glasses all over the place, some even lying broken on the floor. The man portrayed there displayed a surprised expression. The next photo however, she couldn't handle. She suddenly hands over the device with one hand while trying to cover her mouth with the other. Graphic scenes had always made her feel nauseous. She took a moment and said at the intention of the man responsible for all this:
-So that's why you ran out of ammunition on the lethal one yesterday... I'm starting to understand how your plan was changed by my presence. The non-lethal shot was meant for that young officer… wasn’t it?
As she talks, the man with the black leather jacket simply puts away the PDA back in the pocket from where he had initially took it. Following that, the man simply stares at her with the same cold look on his face, without a word. she soon asks, unsatisfied:
-Before I showed up... you were counting on that knife of yours for the old man, weren't you?
There was still nothing from the black leather jacket wearing man. The young lady soon starts repeating a slow nodding motion, all the while offering a serious stare at the man in front of her and inquires:
-Speaking of this knife, may I see it? you know, the one you used to give me an impromptu haircut earlier.
The man nonchalantly complies, pulling it out of his side pocket, leaving it lying in an open palm. the young lady takes note of the fact that there was human skulls with a pair of crossed bones under them all over the damn thing. she raised her look and said to him unamused:
-That’s his knife isn’t it? The knife of the pirate that gave you that scar?
The man in front of her slowly nodded. The young lady immediately continues:
-You were trying to protect me from him that day, I remember. You knew the guy was … doing things to me… I’m surprised he haven’t just killed you straight up for it. We were both still teenagers back then too...
She said visibly taking a cold tone herself. The man finally answered:
-The bastard needed someone to die instead of him, in case his outpost was found by the authorities.
-Yeah, I remember that too… you were his little hero, pilot of a marvelous Eagle, like the one we saw earlier today… the one that didn’t even slow you down… the ship you blew up just for convenience’s sake.
The lady explained with exasperation. Following that point she continued:
-Tell me, that day when this pirate slashed at your face, you got out of that one by eventually killing him too?
Suddenly, she couldn’t help but leave her stare at the corner of the room, she was starting to see a gloomy pattern in all of this. The man replied to her, yet again unfazed:
-Yeah...
She couldn’t help but fustigate:
-But for Christ’s sake! Just how many people have you killed so far?!
At first, the man didn’t answer that, he simply took a deep breath and started to perform a slow, repetitive nodding motion, reminiscent of the one she did earlier, all the while moving toward the lonely occupied escape pod. He simply took a good look at the life saving device before stating with a cold, unfeeling voice:
-A whole lot. Still counting.
The black leather jacket wearing man thereupon took a good look through the window of the pod to see the kids that lied in it. Upon witnessing that, the young lady couldn’t help but feel like she was being quite unfair to him. The man she angrily stared at was partly responsible for her being later saved from the pirate’s cartel. An important fact was that he, Emmanuel, was guiding the marines of the legion that stormed the outpost where she was being tormented. That was already, at least, some decade ago. At that point, the young lady elects to get side by side with him and asks another question, this time on a more forgiving tone:
-Hey Emmanuel, tell me, how many have you saved so far?
The lady couldn’t help but grab her forearm in a gesture that betrayed her embarrassment for the situation. The young man formed a fist with his hand, he was visibly getting frustrated. he simply looked at her without turning his head and stated on a tone tainted by anger:
-Not Enough, Annabelle.
The young lady with short, straight black hairs felt that through that stare and tone, the weight of the world was being put on her shoulder. She collapsed on her knees, feeling like she was being forced downward by the mass of the entire galaxy. The lady soon crosses her arms around her chest and then asks of the man, in distress:
-I ... I can barely afford to think about those days… how… just how do you deal with trying to save everyone like that?
She before long feels the need to put her back against something, so she turns around to put her back against the escape pod. However, the young lady finds no comfort on the irregular side of the life saving device, she instead elects to sits leaning forward, holding her knees together with her arms. The other piled up escape pods that now lied in front of her attracting her gaze. The young lady’s breathing nearly stopped at that moment, her stare going blank. She faintly let go a word:
-everyday…
During that time the black leather jacket wearing man simply looked at her in silence. He couldn’t help but let go a soft understanding sigh for her. He eventually moves to face her, still standing. From there, he offers her a hand in a gesture to help her get up and answers with an understanding voice:
-By not trying to do it alone, that’s what I have Lavigny’s Legion for, among other things.
As the man said that, the young lady couldn’t help but keep staring at the escape pods in front of her. After a moment however, she slowly raises her head to look at the face of the man who tried to offer her some comforting words, what she sees then takes her completely by surprise.
For a change, it was a good surprise. She quickly uses both of her hands to push herself from the floor and jumps to catch him in an embrace. The cargo bay was soon after filled with the sounds of her sobbing interrupted by some chuckles here and there. The man closed his arms around The young lady. She next says to him, her sentence interrupted some of her own sobbing:
-That... took you... so long…
The man holding her relaxed his shoulders a bit and simply replied:
-Yeah, too long.
The lady was very tired, but finally witnessed something that gave her some hope.
-That smile… I missed it so much.
They shared the embrace for a moment. Unfortunately, sooner rather than later, the moment they were having got interrupted by the sound of the ship’s on-board computer. The mechanical voice complained through the sliding door that the temperature of the ship was reaching critical levels. The black leather jacket wearing man tries after that to get the attention of the young lady by putting his hands on both of her shoulders. In response, she simply tighten her embrace. He therefore tells her:
-C’mon now, if we stay like this, some circuit board will start to pop out, I know you hate changing those, right?
-Y-yeah…I guess you’re right.
The young lady softly lets out, giving in to his request, she then drops her arms down and takes a step back. From there it isn’t long until the sound of yet another heat sink getting ejected from the ship is heard from the bridge of the ship. Ice once again fills the edges of the canopy on the bridge.
At that point, the black leather jacket wearing man looks at the young lady and says with a bit of an amused tone:
-That moment we just had over there, does it mean that you are finally giving us a chance?
-Don’t get any ideas!
The young lady let go on an high pitch. She follows up:
-I was just happy to see you smile okay… but you may have convinced me to join that Legion of yours, or something.
-Oh, I see… that’s all it was.
The man replies, visibly hurt inside. He couldn’t help but stare at her with blank eyes. The young lady soon starts searching around the canopy with her own eyes, as to find what to say next, before long she finally let go, a bit nervous:
-Listen, we both know how we feel about each others and I kinda dragged that on forever I know, I know! It’s not you I swear… it’s simply that scar… every times I see it… I get shivers down my spine and … and… I remember that pirate… and...
Her breathing at that moment gets out of control, meanwhile, the man declares on an exasperated tone:
-Funny how that scar always reminded me of who I got it for… as in, why I keep going the way I did.
The young lady’s world stopped upon hearing the revelation of what it meant to him. However, following that, the man with the scar couldn’t help but pull the switch knife from his side pocket and with a simple click noise, he reveals the blade to the stars outside of the canopy above him and says:
-That’s the thing that makes me think of -
-Get rid of that damned knife Emmanuel!
The young lady ordered in a panic, while also taking a step back, she immediately continues with an even more distressed voice:
-It scares the shit out of me! please! I hate it even more than the scar… I beg you.
The eyes of the man blinked with realizations. He made the blade in his hand produce yet another click sound, but this time in an effort to conceal the object of her fears. The sound of it made the lady in front of him flinch with disgust. All the while the man quickly moved, with a military-like walk, to the back of the bridge. As he passed in front of the young lady, she tried to look away. Following that, in an effort to calm herself she let her gaze set itself on some floating asteroids outside the ship’s canopy. Shortly after, the sound of a trash disposal system ejecting something out of the ship was heard and the man rapidly comes back on the bridge.
The young lady with short, straight black hairs then tells the black leather jacket wearing man, with an exhausted voice:
-Look, I am just happy to have seen you smile after all these years of you being so cold. I see what keeps you going now and I want to be part of it now… but right now… I need some rest alright… we both do.
In response, the man passes one of his hand over his face in an act to wake himself up and declares:
-We’ll rest when we’re safe. right now that’s no longer up to us, we ought to pray that the legionnaires get to us before these other bastards do.
The young lady gets side by side with the man and let her head fall sideways on his shoulder before asking:
-Be honest, what are our chances at this point?
The man smiles once more and says on an exhausted, yet humorous tone:
-Oh, but I think they’re pretty good.
-that’s not what I meant! I was asking about… ugh, you know what? never mind… I just hope you know what you are getting yourself into there…
Both of them were standing still in that position until, suddenly, the on board ship computer reported something:
-Ship scan detected.
Both occupant immediately reacts to the alarming news by rushing to their respective seats, putting their Remlok helmets and seat belts back on. It soon turns out however, that the vessel that hailed them was a friendly one. This had been a long day so far, but at least, it had proven not to be their last one, yet.