2024-10-28: Old Friends and New Secrets
- Log: Old Comrades and New Secrets
- Cast: Liam 7-020, Aurora Dusk
- Where:China, off the coast of Hangzhou, near impact site
- OOC - IC Date: 0099-10-28
- Summary: Liam's support against a Pseudo-Zonder turns out to be Aurora Dusk, an old friend from the Crucible, now a Gaia Saber. They share an emotional reunion and exchange numbers while Liam hopes that she escaped as opposed to being transferred. Unfortunately, that hope is in vain...
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Another day, another attack on innocent people who were already suffering.
A pair of giants duel on the coast of Hangzhou. The aggressor is an amalgamation of impact wreckage--twisted beams, shattered glass, broken concrete. Its flowing metal 'skin' is studded with armor from a dozen REA wanzers, whose pilots barely managed to eject before they were absorbed. Animated by repurposed computer systems, and the rage and despair of the human trapped in its core, the Pseudo-Zonder was only narrowly diverted from what's left of Shanghai.
Its opponent is a colossal machine, heavily-armored and sturdily-built. The Akashima holds the Pseudo-Zonder by its throat--or what would pass for it, given its bipedal form is mostly a suggestion--while its other hand grips a Progressive Blade. Metal grinds against the Pseudo-Zonder's barrier as the Akashima's pilot searches for a weak spot in the field.
In the machine's cockpit, Liam grits his teeth, his hands tightening on the sticks. "Come on," Liam pleads, with the person trapped within the Pseudo-Zonder... and perhaps the universe in general. "Come on!" The wounds his blade tore in the thing's armor are already stitching themselves back together.
But he has to fight. He can't let it resume its rampage. The people here have seen the sky fall. They're like him. He can't fail them.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
NERV isn't the only force that saw the kaiju appear.
It's perfectly possible to take on a kaiju of this size with one unit, but it's still better to outnumber the enemy, when you can... and besides, NERV aren't the only organisation with things at stake in this region.
And so, a single Nightmare Plus takes off from its berth in a nearby airbase to lend aid. One should be sufficient. There's no need to deploy an entire squadron to support an Akashima in a battle like this.
Besides, the pilot is pretty good at what she does, she thinks.
NERV is given advance warning, of course. A message comes in, informing them that a nearby airbase is deploying a fighter as support, and to pass the note along to their pilot - less "would you like support" and more "we're supporting you, be advised." It's not a very long message, and the specific agency sending it may or may not be obvious.
Said fighter comes screaming overhead, performing what many people would recognise as a barrel roll as it passes over the Akashima's back and flies over the amalgamation of twisted wreckage currently trying to make more wreckage. (Many people would be wrong - rolling about your longitudinal axis like this is an aileron roll. The machine's pilot appreciates the difference.)
Then, the variable fighter's pilot grits her teeth and pulls the flight stick, rapidly pulling a tight, high speed, high G turn to face the Zonder, missile lock tone beeping and then holding. "Vogel-3, supporting NERV unit." It's a girl's voice... about 19 or so, give or take a couple. Probably take. After announcing her warning over the radio, she releases her payload in a circus of white streaks that impact the Zonder, blowing holes in its liquid surface.
Then, even as the monster's new wounds begin sealing themselves, the Nightmare pulls low to the ground. The mystery pilot positions herself so as to avoid crossfire with the Akashima, then engages the transformation mechanism, taking battroid form and firing at the Zonder with a VF beam rifle. "Suppressing." Yep, that sure is suppressing fire... it's also hitting the Zonder, so that's a plus.
The pilot's voice might be recognisable to Liam... or not. It's been a little while... but voices don't change that much between the ages of 14-15 and 18-19, do they?
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
The REA's first response didn't fare well against the Zonder, as evidenced by the wreckage adorning its hide. There is backup coming--at least, that's what the man on the comm told Liam, and Ibuki, when she dispatched him--but it feels like it's taking its sweet time. He hears the words 'a fighter', and grits his teeth until they grind together. NERV dispatched three more Akashimas after he made first contact, but even at top speed, they'll take time to arrive. He doesn't know what the local REA garrison is doing.
The Pseudo-Zonder's barrier starts to strain beneath the blade. The field flickers, strobing in and out. Liam glances down and sees the kaiju's right arm--which he almost severed--stitching back into place. The twisted remains of an apartment building slide downwards, mending the wound. It raises a massive fist, and shrieks dissonant nonsense.
The missiles hit a moment later. The shriek turns into an agonized scream. The stressed barrier pops like a soap bubble. A sense of deja vu rises in the back of Liam's mind, and a moment later, his augmented nervous system realizes why. That voice. He recognizes her.
At the moment, it is secondary to the Zonder. "Thanks for the assist, Vogel-3," Liam grates out. His voice is deeper, now, but there might be something familiar in his presence nevertheless. The VF's beam fire scythes through the mass comprising the Pseudo-Zonder's left leg. The kaiju lists heavily to that side, screaming as it loses its balance. Now held up by the Akashima, its defensive barrier collapsed, it claws at its foe with its free hand. A horrible tearing-metal squeal splits the air.
A moment later, Liam's Progressive Knife punctures its torso, and slides down, laying open the layers of twisted structural steel. Inside is a translucent violet sphere, tiny compared to the monster--barely the size of a human twisted in the fetal position, for that's what it contains.
With tender, precise care, the Akashima plucks the core free, tearing the cables holding it in place.
"Target disabled."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Recognition. A memory wriggles, slowly, then quickly. A tingle of familiarity rattles across the newcomer's enhanced senses. It takes a little while to process - it's been four years, and maybe one or two octaves, she didn't study music - but it's definitely the same voice. She lets out a little gasp that the radio doesn't pick up. Of course Aurora recognises-
"-Liam?"
After launching its beams, the VF draws a heat sword and begins closing into CQC range. An unnecessary gesture, as its partner proves.
It skids to a halt... or does whatever the closest midair hovering approximation of that is, landing on the ground, not softly, but not overly heavily for its size, still holding its blade.
"Psuedo-Zonder kill confirmed," Aurora echoes, for the benefit of her own comms. Well, 'kill'. The target is destroyed, and you could call the psuedo-Zonder dead. Military terminology is like that. Aurora sucks in a breath, and, tugging on her control stick, she makes her Nightmare - the one she pilots, not the kind she sees at night - transform into Gerwalk mode and kneel in a resting position. It'd be easy to climb out from this posture, and she will, as soon as Liam does. Which he probably will. She would.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Recognition. A memory wriggles, slowly, then quickly. A tingle of familiarity rattles across the newcomer's enhanced senses. It takes a little while to process - it's been four years, and maybe one or two octaves, she didn't study music - but it's definitely the same voice. She lets out a little gasp that the radio doesn't pick up. Of course Aurora recognises-
"-Liam?"
After launching its beams, the VF draws a heat sword and begins closing into CQC range. An unnecessary gesture, as its partner proves.
It skids to a halt... or does whatever the closest midair hovering approximation of that is, landing on the ground, not softly, but not overly heavily for its size, still holding its blade.
"Psuedo-Zonder kill confirmed," Aurora echoes, for the benefit of her own comms. Well, 'kill'. The target is destroyed, and you could call the psuedo-Zonder dead. Military terminology is like that. Aurora sucks in a breath, and, tugging on her control stick, she makes her Nightmare - the one she pilots, not the kind she sees at night - transform into Gerwalk mode and kneel in a resting position. It'd be easy to climb out from this posture, and she will, as soon as Liam does. Which he probably will. She would.
A figure clad in a black MS flight suit clambers out of the Nightmare at the same time as the Akashima disgorges its pilot, feet landing on the ground. She runs up to Liam, and pulls off her helmet, revealing... a recognisable face, most likely. Teal hair falls on the black suit. Icy blue eyes shimmer, and her uncertain expression melts into one of happy relief as her gaze sets on an old friend, and her usual slightly-detached mask slips. This is Aurora Dusk, four years later.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
It takes precision to pull a Core out with a machine this size. Between his training and his augmentations, Liam is up to the task. The Akashima cups the tiny sphere in its hands, and steps forwards, onto the beach. Then the other pilot--Aurora, he reminds himself, it's her, somehow--says his name. Hope and terror flood into his heart.
"Aurora," Liam chokes out. She's alive. She's here. He has to get to her, but first, he has to get the victim to safety. The Akashima bends a knee, and stoops down, gently lowering its hands. A small tilt forward sends the core rolling out of them, and it comes to a halt on the beach. A few ambulances and military vehicles on the periphery ignite their lights, and speed towards the sphere.
The Akashima is so large that a normal ladder wouldn't suffice for exit on the ground. Instead, Liam descends on a zipline, landing at the Akashima's feet in a crouch. "Aurora!" he cries. Dressed in a grey-and-maroon NERV flightsuit, he's only a little taller than he was, but he was already a big, well-built man when he last met her.
It takes everything he has not to sweep her up and hug her and cry into her shoulder. He knows he didn't like being touched, after he escaped. "You're alive." Liam's gas-flame-blue eyes start to mist over. "Thought I'd never see you again. Are you..." Okay? Free now? The possibility that she's not hangs over him like a guillotine, but for now, all that matters is that she's alive, and here.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"Yeah... I'm alive. It's me." Aurora is very glad Liam is fine, too.
Unfortunately for Liam, that guillotine has already descended, not that he knows it. In the meantime, he can imagine as he pleases. It's at least true that she's left the Crucible! Look on the bright side! Plus, she's alive and here, which is pretty good for a lab rat.
Aurora picks up on Liam's restrained first instinct, and she demonstrates that she's fine with hugs in the most direct way possible. Her arms are a lot stronger than they look... a perk of being enhanced. "It's been so long... I was worried. I missed you... I'm glad you're okay." She lets it all pour out - the worry, the relief. Too many people AREN'T okay... there are a lot of things that can kill people like them, not to mention Break the World. Aurora, too, has seen the falling sky...
Once she pulls away to give him a break, she takes note of his flight suit. Aurora recognises a lot of standard uniforms on sight, past and present - it's important to recognise your allies on sight. Your enemies, too. The various bloc forces, Londo Bell, Gaia Sabers, G-Hound, old Federation, Titans... Sleeves, various Dawn of Fold types, various Zeon, Terminal, ZAFT... "You're with NERV now?" She keeps smiling... she seems happy about it. All things considered, it's great to have him on the same side as her.
Aurora's own uniform and colours are fairly generic. It's hard to spot the livery when her unit is deployed, but her flight suit bears the insignia of her armed forces - the emblem of the Gaia Sabers. It's not obtrusive, but Liam may notice it, now or later. Where she came from got lost in the shuffle, after all...
"How... have you been?"
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam glances over his shoulder as the sirens come to a halt. An ambulance has pulled up to the quiescent Core, military vehicles flanking it on either side. Paramedics and technicians clamber out, carrying a stretcher, portable vitals monitors, other gear. As they descend on the Zonder Core, and the victim inside, Liam wonders for a moment what will happen to that person. A little flutter of anxiety that isn't directed at Aurora.
Aurora hugs him. Liam goes still for a moment, and then hugs her back. To him, that kind of physical pressure isn't uncomfortable--and he's sure the same is true for her. "I missed you, too," he whispers. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you." He wanted so badly to take someone else with him, but there was no way he could do it. They would've noticed a stowaway in the Proto Helios, and even if they wouldn't, Liam wouldn't risk their lives inside that machine. He was built to pilot it, despite the danger.
"...Yeah. You're..." Liam glances down at the patches, and a little lump settles in his throat. He reminds himself that the Gaia Sabers are NUNE regulars, now, at least as far as terrestrial operations are concerned. "With the Gaia Sabers?"
"It's been rough," Liam admits. "I've been so worried about everyone." He always was one to worry, especially about the younger ones.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora is a little worried about the person inside the Zonder, but she's got other priorities right now. The ambulances will handle it. Her role was to destroy the kaiju. She's used to death, anyway. Everyone is in this century, or so she thinks. People with hearts like hers don't last long unless they learn to guard themselves...
Liam guesses correctly that some types of pressure are good for Aurora, and she reacts well. It's a natural place to be for her... they have a rapport, even considering the camaraderie of mulched children.
"I know. It's alright," she reassures him. Aurora understands that he couldn't bring her... and she's glad he didn't try. She wouldn't have been able to come with him, anyway. Wouldn't have been free to make that decision, wouldn't have been able to stay with him, would have been a liability. Besides... she wouldn't have been able to take that machine. Cyber-Newtype aren't quite the same as cyborgs... even if they're pretty tough.
With the Gaia Sabers, he asks. She nods, confirming it. Not that it was in doubt. "Yeah. I get shuffled around a bit... I'm glad we're on the same side." Again, the relief. It really was possible for them to have wound up on opposite sides...
There's nothing suspicious about it. Basically everyone is in the Gaia Sabers now. Most of NUNE's military is part of a cross-bloc force like G-Hound... is that weird?
"I was worried too." She shakes her head. "I can't tell you what happened to everyone back there... it's been a while. I hope they're okay, too." Her voice is still soft, if a little older to match its owner.
"You sound... different, now," she observes. Not just older. There's something... easier in his voice, she thinks. He used to be so robotic. Something else she's glad to hear.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"I'm glad, too," Liam says. Even if there's a part of him that doesn't know if that will last. Everything seems even more tenuous these days, and he hates it. He doesn't know if he could fight for his life against another former Crucible subject.
Liam's hands settle on Aurora's shoulders, gripping firmly. Would she disappear if he let go? It feels like it, as illogical as he knows it is. And he doesn't know how to ask the obvious question: Did she get out, like he did? Or did her handler decide to leave, and take Aurora with her? She wasn't like him, or Desmond, or so many of the others. She was brought there by someone Hephaestus knew from his days at the old Titans labs.
"I hope so, too," Liam says. "I think about them every day. Things are... real different, out here." Aurora tells him he sounds different. "Yeah. Not being terrified of being disciplined for saying too much, or having an accent--that'll do it. Talking with normal people..."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora doesn't think she would be able to take fighting Liam in actual mortal combat either. (She leaves whether or not she would be able to unsaid. She is, after all, a weapon.)
Feeling him here though, through his hands and his thought-presence, grounds her. She puts her hands on top of his, reminding herself that he's here and not about to disappear.
As long as Liam doesn't ask that question, it'll go unanswered. Aurora is fine with that. She'd have to lie to him, anyway. Satisfaction doesn't always bring the cat back when her mother's involved.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"...Yeah," Liam says. It sounds weird to him, but it's true. His fellow pilots at NERV--Kaworu, Sho, Gai, Mari, Go. Rena and Eight and Anita, even if he can't talk with them much anymore. Alto and Ranka. Leina. Sheryl. And of course...
"NERV's been like a home to me. First place I felt was like that since Dublin." The lab was a kind of home, but he never felt safe there, just 'less in danger'. Horrible things happened outside. Horrible things happened in there, too. "I have my own place now, in Tokyo-3. And... my girlfriend and I... have a place in Orb. She works for Nergal."
"I'm happy you've found people... Friends?" Aurora indulges in the sentimentality of the moment. It's obvious that Liam would have friends. He's great!
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Dublin. Their shared history... not that Aurora was in Dublin. "I was worried, after the... after Junius. It... was a bad time for me." Her colony drop was 0083. Operation Stardust... the birth of the Titans, and her genesis as a Cyber-Newtype. She suppresses a shudder. "...Yeah. Home..." She doesn't remember her home, though. She was a toddler when it happened... to her, 'home' means wherever she's staying... or the lab, the same way 'mom' means...
Wait, his girlfriend? "You have a girlfriend? What's she like?" She's happy for him. Back then, she wasn't really able to picture him dating... If he's found someone, it's surely someone as nice as he is.
"Orb is your home now, huh..." That concerns her. Orb was a dangerous place to be during the last war... it always tends to get dragged into these conflicts. Joining NUNE - signing a treaty, but the nuance doesn't matter to her - doesn't entirely balm those fears. ZAFT could always turn it into a battleground... Aurora resolves not to let that happen. "I hope it stays safe there. With the treaty..." On the bright side again: being on the same side as ORB means she won't be invading Liam's home!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"I was worried, too." Liam didn't know where Crucible's lab was, or if Aurora was even still there. He still doesn't know where it is, and the uncertainty of it invites dark speculation if he thinks about it too much. "It was too much. I needed medicine just to sleep. Didn't stop the nightmares."
Aurora changes the subject, and--however accidentally--throws Liam a lifeline. "She's the sweetest," he says, after a moment to mentally change gears. "She was born on Mars, and came here with the Nadesico. She's been through a lot, too. She loves to garden, and we like watching TV and cooking together." He nods. "Yeah. Tokyo-3 and Orb. And I hope so, too."
"You said you were moving around a lot," Liam says, after another moment. "Is there anywhere you're staying, or... do you have a phone?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Needing medicine... Aurora understands needing medicine. She's always been dependent on it to make sure her brain and body keep working correcty, and she always keeps it on her everywhere she goes. To go without would be foolish. "I... yeah, the nightmares," she says, with a tone of underlying trepidation. Stupid thing to say, really. Didn't need to be said - of course she understands.
Aurora smiles when she hears Liam recount his girlfriend. The way he's talking, this really is someone special to him. "Mars... we've all been through a lot, huh." Terrible business. Lizards, right?
"I get redeployed a lot, so a house call would be impossible... I do have a phone, though!" She perks up. If he's asking to exchange numbers, it's because he wants to keep in touch! Aurora doesn't often have a reason to exchange numbers like this! For... various reasons. Regardless, Aurora is ready for it. Phone number get!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"...Yeah," Liam says. He runs a gloved hand across his head--which is still shaved, like it was back in the Crucible. The scars from repeated brain surgeries are starting to fade, at least. The one across his brow is still there, but only if you really look.
"Be sure to take care of yourself, okay? I'm... seeing some people, for what happened. They've been real helpful." It's the absolute least Liam can do for someone who's been through the same horror he has. Another drop survivor, to go with all the newly-minted drop survivors. God, he thinks. Is this just how the world works, now?
"Yeah. I think it was part of why she really got me. She wasn't scared. I... if you want to meet her, I can... see if she's interested." That fluttery nervous feeling comes back. He wants to know for sure Aurora's okay, and he wants to throw her lifelines if she's not. Lucine might be able to pick up on things he can't.
But he hasn't forgotten the night he woke up from his nightmare, and she woke up from hers. He'd dreamed he was a raging monster. She'd dreamed she was a brain in a jar, slaved to a funnel system for eternity.
Liam's hand trembles a little as he reaches into a pocket and pulls out his phone. A few taps of the screen, and his public contact information appears in Aurora's address book.
Crucible already knows where he lives, and who he works for. Desmond had all the information he needed to try and kidnap him. It's not like he'd be passing out anything they don't already know, if the worst is still true.
Liam hopes against hope that it's not.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora's scars aren't visible. The really invasive procedures were a long time ago. It's mostly just... routine treatments, now. Not that those aren't invasive in their own right... but they don't require shaving her head.
"Mm. I'm trying my best... I think I'd like to meet her." Maybe she can and maybe she can't. Aurora has a clingy soul... but she's learnt to close herself off when it's needed. She saves the contact information and makes the note to seek them out as soon as possible.
There's no issue with giving Aurora this information... she tells herself. She knows she's a risk. But there's no going back now... she was doomed the moment this became an option. She'll just have to do her own hoping.
"How is work?" Just a little chitchat.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam smiles. "I'll let her know. If you want to call me or text me, that's my cell I just gave you." The main cell. The burner cell is for other purposes, and, God willing, he will not have to use it yet. "I'm going to be seeing her later this week, so... I'll let you know, then?" Liam wants to leave both Lucine and Aurora an out, if either one needs it.
'How is work?'
Liam blinks. A laugh bubbles up before he can stop it. 'Work'. They're both adults, now, right? With jobs? Jobs that involve killing. "It's... mostly waiting for the next one of those to show up," Liam says. "Though I haven't fought a Pseudo-Zonder in a while. Mostly just the Vajra, these days, though we do get the odd kaiju..."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora nods. "I'll be in touch." With her main phone, naturally. Burners are for tasks you don't want to be tracked on. "I'd like that."
She's been working for a while, but... Formal jobs, huh. The kind that pay actual money... "There sure are a lot of kaiju out there... Work's been hectic on my end, on account of... everything." Aurora looks off to the side. After Break the World especially, things got way more... more. "The entire world feels like a boiling pot these days. Everybody's running around, and the buildup is intense..." Aurora knows the next war isn't just inevitable, it's already here. She's fighting in it. This is just the opening act before it's publically acknowledged. Both sides are already preparing for it.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
'I'd like that'.
Liam smiles. "I think she'd like meeting you." He's going to have to warn her about everything, of course, but the thought is sincere.
"Everything, right." Liam doesn't want to ask. He nods, and he doesn't quite meet Aurora's eyes as she keeps talking. Liam glances back at the core--or rather, the person the core has become--as the medics load them onto the stretcher. He hopes their life will start to change for the better, now that this ordeal is over.
"Yeah. I wish things were different." Now Liam meets Aurora's eyes. He's sick of all the pointless cruelty, all the murder, all the excuses by those in power--but there is a tiny thread of hope in him that kept him alive. It refuses to die, even now.
Something beeps in the Akashima's cockpit, far above. Liam cranes his neck to listen. "That's probably mission control," he says. "I need to answer. But... you've got the number, right?" There's a faint, pleading glint in his eye. He doesn't want to lose her again.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Yes, everything. Maybe it's for the better he doesn't ask for specifics. There's no need to, anyway. Everybody knows what's going on. Aurora herself has been scrambling behind the scenes.
She meets Liam's gaze. "Me too." From this angle, it almost looks like her eyes are shining. 'But I know it can't'. She leaves those words unsaid. She knows what the world is... what she is. She is a weapon at best... at worst, maybe something more than that. Still, this blade has the reason it was forged, and it does its best to live up to its cause, just like the machines she pilots.
"...Yeah. I should get going too... We'll meet again. For sure." On foot, in peaceful terms. She answers his pleading with her determination... not that she has much right to act soothing, the way she is.
Aurora returns to her machine, and the Nightmare Plus takes flight and shifts to fighter mode, flying off into the horizon. She's already lost so much... but these two, at least, have found each other again.
God have mercy on their souls.