2023-05-26: After The Battle

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Out on the bridge, Tempo Astelian looks down into his console, seeing his own reflection in the glossy materials that make it up. Brown eyes, purple hair, brown skin. …There are tears in his eyes, which he wipes on the sleeve of his uniform jacket with a sniff. "No time for that…"

Not that he has a lot to coordinate now; the comms are near-silent now that they're out in space once again. But the crew will have their issues, and it's his responsibility to see to them, to ensure that the right resources are allocated to the right people who need them. And he's going to do it.

"Banagher," Tempo sighs. "...Everyone."

—

Licia Chovan stares up into the viewscreen, seeing space stretch out before the Ra Mari II. She's already locked the ship into a stable orbit as the Captain decides where to go next, and now, seated at her station in uniform still, she's taking up someone else's job to /brood/.

"Leina," she sighs. "...I always avoided you. Because of Zeon. Because of Father…"

She looks down, again. "...But…"

Brown hair, brown eyes, the white-pink-teal uniform of the 3SA's former Federation forces. But her usually easy grin is gone, now. And someone has noticed; the green-haired Enba Rezza approaches from further up on the bridge, their steps quiet as they step, step down.

"Miss Chovan," they say, a formal greeting for their relationship.

"...Enba," she starts, "I don't have the energy for–" Her shoulders slump.

"You don't have to," they say in response, laying a hand on her shoulder. "...I know you left a lot unsaid. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Wouldn't do any good," Licia answers with a shake of her head. "I'm not tired. It just sucks."

"...Then go to the gymnasium, and hit something for a while. That usually helps."

"I guess," sighs the helmswoman. "But I wish…" She looks into Enba's eyes. "I wish I'd talked to her more."

"Then we'll have to find a way to ensure you get that chance," says the ever-reliable XO of the Ra Mari II. "I'll be thinking of how. I aim to have at least three suggestions for the Captain by tomorrow."

"...That's you, all right." Licia starts to rise. "Thanks. I'm going to go do that." Rezza nods, and slides into the seat Licia vacates. …They have some thinking to do, too.

What did they miss, that this was the outcome…?

—

"Everyone's taking it hard," Itsuki Kazama comments grimly. It's an obvious thing to say, maybe, but she thinks it's worth voicing anyway. "But I didn't really know them." She brushes some purple hair out of her face. "...I wonder, if I'd been able to do better, if we wouldn't have had a better negotiating position at the end, there."

"Maybe," says the bearded man standing beside her, as they look over the reports from the battle on the screens. Gidon Kall is a very tall man–and usually loud. But he's quiet and thoughtful now. "But it's no use in thinking what might have been. We've got to look forward. The Captain is counting on us to hold it together."

"The Captain?" Itsuki wonders. "...She seems so together, herself. Like it hardly fazes her what's going on. I feel like it's the other way around. But I suppose you're right. She has to look that way."

"Exactly. So for people like you and me, who aren't taking it as hard… it's all the more important to go on. She relies on us."

"...Yes," Itsuki agrees. "That's what the 'chain of command' is for. It binds us, but it strengthens us, too."

"Heh. I don't know about that. I'm just a civilian contractor. But it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"

—

Eight York finally reaches her quarters, and slumps against the wall near the door when she does, slouching. Here, she doesn't have to show quite the same indomitability as elsewhere on the ship. Here, she can let go a bit. So, she stays there for what feels like a few minutes, just breathing, with her red eyes closed.

She thinks of the many losses of today; pilots who won't ever come home. Friends who are trapped elsewhere. …Older friends, too, with their difficulties. "Banagher, Leina… Ah-ri, Callie…"

"And Rena…"

She sighs, tilting her head back against the wall. She loses track of time that way, until the demands of her aching feet and back force her to move to the couch, and take a seat. Eight unbuttons her uniform jacket on her way to the couch, finally taking a seat again.

Once she does, the doors open again, and Lavhi is at the door, stepping inside and looking around. When he settles on Eight's location, he moves over. "Eight," he says. "Are you all right?"

"I am," the Captain says to someone who doesn't think she needs to be the Captain just now. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"...I see." Lavhi, the gentle green giant of a man (though he is merely very tall Micronized), walks over and takes a seat beside Eight, putting an arm around her. "...I am sorrowful," he says. "For our friends. I worry…"

"I know. I do, too. But… I'm not crying," EIght says. "I should. It's worth crying about. I can cry over Yurika's speeches, or how nice Annie is, or how pretty Rena is. But I'm not crying about this. I wonder if there's something wrong with me?"

"...No," Lavhi says. "Your feelings are what they are. And you are strong. Strong, for your crew. For your friends. However you feel… I am here to listen to it."

"...And I'm here to listen to you," Eight says. "But for me…" She looks up to their ceiling. "I won't cry, because it's not over. I won't mourn, because it's not done. We'll find a way."

"And this is how you feel?"

"It is," Eight says. "...But…" She leans on Lavhi. "I think I could use a little rest, before I figure out how."

Lavhi nods, and curls that arm more tightly around Eight. "Then we shall rest. But I worry. Banagher is a soft soul. He is strong, but this will be hard on him. They will not kill him, I think. But this will not make it easier."

"Yes," Eight agrees. "And Leina… I don't believe this is all her own will."

"Nor I. Perhaps there is a despair that they can draw out. We all hold such things. But it is not her way."

"Exactly. …But…" Eight sighs. "It's such a… a violation. To treat her that way. To know that they were tracing her interactions. The things we talked about… they aren't Vist's to know. They aren't Vist's to use."

"So you will fight?"

"So we'll fight. And get them all back."

"...Just so."

They talk for a while longer, but eventually, they do get some rest.

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