2022-01-20: The People We Leave Behind
- Cast: Rena Lancaster, Guy Shishioh
- Where: Bay Tower, G-Island City
- Date: U.C. 0096 01 20
- Summary: Rena Lancaster pays a visit to Guy Shishioh, shortly after the Brave's return. She brings news of the fate of a former Karaba comrade, in the years (and hours, to him) that he was away.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena Lancaster has been around Nouvelle Tokyo -- and G-Island City and the Bay Tower -- while the Mass Production-type Nu Gundam received repairs. She talked a little to GGG personnel, though not anyone terribly high-ranking for terribly long. She confirmed the Ra Mari, coming to Earth, would pick her up.
But she submitted a request to meet with Commander Shishioh before leaving.
That meeting is now! Rena is sitting in a waiting area in Bay Tower, now; she has her Londo Bell uniform on, with the tan, black and white coat that one would expect. It has Londo Bell's patch on it -- a military unit that Guy may not have heard about until a couple days ago -- and she fiddles with a datapad, going over some of the reports she missed.
There is some staring, though. Bay Tower is a lot different of an atmosphere than Londo Bell's ships and offices.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Much of GGG's infrastructure has moved up to Orbit Base - after the Primeval attack that annihilated the first Bay Tower, they wanted not to have too much infrastructure planetside that would prove an appealing target, especially as the intensity of conflicts only got worse. Bay Tower is, now, mostly research facilities, which contributes to the lax atmosphere, as people in plainclothes or a researcher's labcoat mingle with staff in the jumpsuit-and-vest uniform with the Gutsy Global Guard's three-blue-Gs emblem.
Until a striking figure arrives. Tall; handsome to the point it's more like beautiful; with auburn hair to his waist; and over his green, tight-fit compression shirt and patterned bottoms, a long black coat with gold accents, sleeveless, which reaches down past his knees. It stands out. Nobody else is wearing that outfit. On his shirt's turtleneck collar, which is white instead of green, there is printed the GGG emblem, but this one is green instead of blue. The old logo: For the Gutsy Galaxy Guard.
It's Guy Shishioh who sweeps in, that long, trailing coat sweeping along behind him. He regards Rena with a calm, confident smile. "Rena Lancaster?" he asks. "Sorry for the wait. Turns out there were a lot of missed calls!"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena knows Guy Shishioh mostly through archival footage and photographs. Bailiwick showed her one picture he had, of both of them, together -- one taken sometime after the Primeval War's end, but before their departure -- and they were both in civilian clothing, grinning, and laughing about something. She has the image, saved away on her personal communicator. She saved a lot of the ones Bailiwick sent her.
When he enters, she stands up. He stands out, even without recognizing her. Seeing the person she only saw in stills or brief clips move, in front of her, and address her...
Well, it's a little strange. And nostaglic, for reasons she cannot pin down.
"After five years, I can only imagine. Mine get pretty full if I'm out for a few days." Rena laughs, and then she extends a hand -- unsure if she should salute -- and smiles. "I'm Rena Lancaster. A Lieutenant with Londo Bell. Ah... if you're familiar."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy was a full-body cyborg, once, but that picture of Bailiwick's would be after Guy was transformed by a miracle into an Evoluder, which currently is recursively defined as 'whatever the hell Guy is.' He looked much like he does today, human body and all. In fact, he looked *way too much* like he does today. That would've been eight or nine years ago; Guy looks a little older, but not most of ten years.
Guy takes the hand without expectation. GGG's culture is not particularly military. They've always fancied themselves a particularly full-contact civil services organization, as laughable as that may seem to the bureaucrats.
"Londo Bell," Guy nods. "Right, I remember. They were founded not too long before we, ah, left, right? Nice to meet you, Lieutenant." Pulling back to conversational distance, he gives a warm grin. "You were flying old Bailiwick's colors the other night, right? You knew him?"
*** Redirecting connection to new port ***
Logging Stopped: 1242022 9:13:49 PM
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<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena never quite understood what an Evoluder is. Bailiwick never had a good explanation, either; he knew it was a change, that Guy was not a cyborg any longer, but he never knew the science behind it. In this, they shared something with the world's best scientists.
"Ah, I think so." Five years. But he doesn't look quite old enough. Is that from being an Evoluder...?
Rena is nineteen. She joined well after GGG left. She hesitates, before she nods. "I did. Um--I do. Fly his colors, I mean. He was my mentor, and... he said he thought you'd come back, some day, and that he'd introduce us."
She hesitates, then she breaks her eye contact with Guy, and looks down. "He... didn't make it, but I wanted to make sure I honored his end of the bargain. As best I could."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
And with Guy himself, for that matter.
Guy nods along, but something along the edge of his smile turns brittle when he catches that past tense she's throwing him.
She confirms it with her body language first and her words second. His face turns somber. "...I see. Damn." He glances off to the side himself, composing himself for a spell. "Wish I could've been there. None of us expected everything that happened."
He motions for Rena to sit, if she wants, before stepping over to another seat and claiming it for himself. "So what happened? I know things weren't exactly quiet while we were gone."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I'm sorry," Rena says. Guy doesn't have to be a Newtype to see that it's a fresh wound for her. It likely will be for some time. But, in this case, it is also literally fresh. She nods, when motions to a seat.
Rena sits down, then looks to him. "He was in Londo Bell--ah, you knew that. After AEUG and some Karaba went there. The Lieutenant ended up in command of Kakapo Squadron. He fought in Char's Rebellion..."
It will be a strange thing, if she has to explain Char's Rebellion to Guy Shishioh, Rena thinks.
"And afterward, I joined and was assigned to his squadron. He looked out for me and trained me," she says. "But, six weeks ago--" And here, Rena winces. It's one thing to say he died. It's another to say Guy missed it by barely a month.
"There... was a kaiju attack. It happened to be in the colony I grew up in," Rena says. "And, ah, he... was defending a civilian, but it got him before we could step in. I got promoted, after. So I took his colors, to... try to keep the Kakapo spirit alive."
She can say that with a completely straight face. But, so could Bailiwick.
And then: Yes. Guy's eyes glide shut for a moment. Six weeks. So close. How many other people might Guy have saved, if...no, he can't think like that.
"I see," he finally says, and when his eyes open, and there's that confident, courageous smile back on his face. "We always knew he'd go down fighting. He was that kind of man. To give everything you have protecting people..."
t with Quattro Bajeena wasn't particularly great, but...he knew he was around, at least.
He smiles and shifts his ungloved left hand, which emits a high whine as the G-stone emblem flashes on its back. "That's the spirit of a Brave. He never wanted the name, but we always knew he had the heart. I'm sure he's glad it could be you who'd carry on the torch."************************************************************
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"It's... a little difficult to believe. He tried to drop Axis onto Earth, to force migration to space," Rena says. She shakes her head. "I was in school when it happened. I never met anyone involved, but Bailiwick talked about it a few times."
She feels a little like she undersold it, but it's hard to boil those weeks down -- the tension of wondering if human history would change, the absurdity of watching it on the news, the mixed murmurs in a colony of fear and praise for Char, and her own complicated (if very negative) feelings on Neo-Zeon. That says nothing about the miracle at the end of it.
She feels a little guilty, for a moment; like she mostly came to bring Guy bad news, and things for him to feel guilt for, even if he didn't need it.
So she isn't really expecting that confident, courageous smile. She blinks her eyes once -- they feel hot, but she doesn't get tears in them. Rena smiles back, though, and it's genuine; maybe not as brave as Bailiwick's, but it isn't an entirely sad one.
"He was," she agrees. She looks down at the G-Stone, then, and her eyes widen. It sparkles green; it reminds her a little of a psycho-frame. Something that can, maybe, make a miracle happen. "A Brave... I--ah--thank you, Mister Shishioh. I'm... I'll try to live up to what he could do. I think he'd be very happy to hear you say so."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
It's impossible to fully summarize the monumental gravity of the hinging of an era; Guy doesn't think he'll ever really explain, properly, what happened in the Trinary Solar System, because the desperation of it all, the agony of the Chemical Bolts in his neck, will never really carry across. So knowing, Guy nods slowly. "I wish I could've been there. But, it helps to know that the people who carried our torch were there. People who still believed in courage." He never dips down into sorrow, smiling warmly the whole time. "He'd be calling me a fool about now, I think." He laughs.
Not even a G-Stone; merely the G emblem with the glowing lines tracing around it. The G-Stone itself is somehow fused to Guy, suffused throughout his entire body. If anything defines an Evoluder, it's that fusion of a miraculous power with a man. Guy himself is a G-Stone now, in a way just as literal than the Living G-Stone, Mamoru Amami. But it is surely a light that can bring forth miracles. But he does have his hangups: "Hah! Don't call me Mister, I'm barely twenty-five," he laughs. "Though apparently I'm a Chief, now, if that works for you."
Chief being...the term GGG uses for the head of the organization. Which is odd, 'cuz GGG has one of those already.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena laughs. "Yeah... he probably would be. And probably telling me to not worry so much," she says. "But... I think you're right. People held onto that, even when things looked grim." And they made a miracle happen, but... that might be something for Guy to see for himself. There is ample footage of the Axis Shock, after all.
She looks down at the G emblem, her eyes locked on it for a moment. She looks up -- and then she blinks. "Well... I can call you Chief Shishioh, she says. Does that mean you're replacing Chief Akamatsu, or...?"
Maybe that isn't really her business, but she was curious where he fit in.
There is a moment's pause, before she turns a little bit red and sighs. "I think I got sticking my nose into other people's business from Bailiwick, too," she says, with a roll of her eyes. "For the record. It's not really something I'm supposed to be worried about."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Ah! No, it's uh, complicated." Guy looks a bit bashful, actually, scratching the back of his head. "People think that the Gutsy Galaxy Guard was retooled into the Gutsy Global Guard, but that's not really the case. The Gutsy Galaxy Guard was mostly just put on administrative deep freeze, with a few of the members who stayed behind like Chief Yaginuma staying on the roster." His face turns warm. "So that everyone had a place to come home to. Well, I'm here, now, and we'll get the rest back soon. So the Gutsy Global Guard will continue operations as GGG Blue, and until Taiga is ready to perform his duties again, I'll be the Acting Chief-slash-Mobile Division Captain-slash-Only Member of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard, GGG Green." That's the actual title, it's on the paperwork.
"It's not probing, it'll be distributed soon enough. Bringing something like GGG Green off ice isn't the kind of thing that happens silently. Even if it is only one person, for now."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Oh, that's... that makes a lot of sense," Rena says, after a moment's though. She hesitates, before she puts a hand on the back of her head. The commander of a unit with only one person -- for now. That hope and certainty, that they will get them all back, is a good thought.
She looks back up at him. "I'm glad that you are! Until Chief Taiga is ready to take over. And--ah--I know that GGG Blue and the rest of NERV will be ready to help you, but..." She hesitates for a second. She thinks about what Renais said, again.
"Please, let me know if you need help, Chief!" she says. "It's what Lieutenant Ultrasound would have wanted. And after that fight... I want to help her, if I can."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
It's a bit of a melancholic thought, to be sure, but Guy bears the weight with grace. They'll get them back. He believes that, with his whole heart. If they don't...If they didn't...
No. They will. Because the alternative is unthinkable. Because he will never give up under any circumstances. That is the Oath Sworn Through Courage, after all.
"Not sure I wear it quite as well as Chief Taiga did," Guy says, tugging his collar self-consciously, "but I'll do my best to do honor to the seat."
And then, a confident smile, nodding at Rena's offer. "I'll do that. Right now, all we can do is keep an eye out and try not to let them do too much harm. We're working on solutions for what's got them corrupted, too. Tough to do with not much data, but, well..." he laughs. "I'm sure Bailiwick told you all about how much we were flying by the seats of our pants during the Primeval War. The science team is used to having just north of nothing to go on. The real Key to Victory is just trying to be prepared for anything, mostly."
As for Renais...he nods. "We will. All of them. Might take knocking their heads a bit, but they're all Braves. They'll be fine."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I may not know you well, but I think you're up to the task," Rena says, with a smile.
She nods her head, though -- both at stopping them from doing too much harm and what Bailiwick said. "He mentioned that... a lot of the time, it was just trying your best to get by, and roll with the punches. I'm sure GGG can do it again!" she says, with a little more energy, and she sits up straighter. "And--ah--I'll let you know, if Londo Bell learns anything."
She smiles again. Then, there is a buzz from her communicator. She pulls it out, glancing down at it, and looks up. "Ah... looks like they're calling me back to the Ra Mari. It's been a pleasure, Chief. I think... the Lieutenant would be so glad you're back."
She stands up, tucking her datapad back under one arm.