2023-05-26: Realism
- Log: 2023-05-26 Realism
- Cast: Sheryl Nome, Alto Saotome
- Where: Federation Administrative Region of Dakar
- OOC - IC Date: May 27, UC 0097 (2023)
- Summary: Alto and Sheryl argue about what happened at Dakar.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
It figures that almost as soon as Sheryl finally manages to disengage from the Mu Gundam and get away, the forces attacking Dakar call a retreat and leave the area. Of course, that's because they got the surrenders from the people they wanted and duly kidnapped them, but still. It's more than upsetting to have seen Rikka and Akane fighting with those aggressors, not to mention those weird codenames they were going by, but to have Alto chew her out too...
'That was idiotic! You could have gotten yourself killed!' So Alto had said on the way to the next city over, where they landed their VFs and are now having a rooftop 'chat.' But Sheryl's stubborn and willful and, above all, a perfectionist. She looks halfway between sulky and miserable, her flight suit helmet under one arm, as they stand opposite one another, her VF hanging together by a wing and a prayer.
"I wasn't trying to pick a fight with anyone, you know," she finally says, just above a mumble, as she looks away. Her hair is tied back in a thick braid, and her drop earring hangs from one ear--even with a helmet on, she's never without it. "And maybe I shouldn't have followed you, but is it my fault I was worried about you? We were in the middle of practice and then suddenly you drop everything to go fight a war!"
As much as she tries to reframe the narrative and turn things around, though, there is a clear admission in the middle of that defensiveness there.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
"What did you expect would happen!? You're not flying a shuttle. It's a military fighter! That's all you need to become a valid target on a chaotic battlefield." Alto waves his hand emphatically at Sheryl across the rooftop. He'd left his helmet in the cockpit of the Messiah that now leans over in GERWALK mode.
And a chaotic battlefield it was. Alto still isn't entirely sure what was going on. It's not like he has access to first class intelligence about all the events going on in the Earth Sphere. But that just made this situation all the more difficult. If it had been a planned mission that Sheryl had stumbled into, Alto probably wouldn't have been quite so worried. But as it stood, trying to keep himself alive while also watching after Sheryl in that mess had made things quite a bit more difficult.
But now Sheryl tries to turn it on him, pointing out his sudden leaving during their training session. Alto frowns, crossing his arms, "Of course I had to go! It's my JOB! I would expect YOU of all people to understand that!"
Alto spins around, taking a few steps closer to the edge of the roof as he looks out upon the view, not actually see it. Alto runs his hand through his hair, sighing in some frustration, "Maybe you're not cut out for this after all. Maybe it was a bad idea..."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Alto strikes not just one but two very good points, and Sheryl flinches, the rouge of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. She didn't actually know about his first point, and the second point is one she knows all too well. All together, it makes his third point--that maybe she isn't cut out for flying after all--hit that much harder. What can she really say about any of it, after all? And she knows all too keenly that chasing after him ended up putting Alto in danger, too.
But Sheryl's a proud person. Admitting that Alto's right is just too much for her right now. As he stalks off towards the edge of the roof, she watches him go, then averts her eyes. "...If you got orders to go fight, then do you know something about what all that was about? Rikka--that girl we were fighting--she's supposed to be a civilian. Her and the girl who was ordering her around too--Akane." With sudden heat, Sheryl insists, "She shouldn't have been there. Neither of them."
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto is a little surprised that Sheryl hadn't tried to contest his previous words more seriously. Perhaps he had hit the mark more than he expected... Which just goes to prove the point further. Sheryl changes the subject, choosing not to address it. Calming down a little bit, Alto decides to let the matter pass.
Turning to face Sheryl once more, Alto looks a bit more thoughtful, "I didn't get much... Simply that the city was under attack and needed defending. I'm guessing that the Federation didn't know much either. At least, the office that had sent the order."
"As for Akane and Rikka... Well, I don't know either of them much." Alto frowns once more, "But for people who shouldn't have been there, they were sure as hell doing a good job of fighting."
Alto tilts his head out of curiosity as he asks Sheryl, "How well do you know them?"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
If nothing else, it's frustrating to Sheryl that something she's putting serious effort into isn't paying off the way she'd hoped. To hear that she might be ill-suited to it entirely hurts. But because it hurts, she changes the subject--and Alto lets her.
Her lips purse into a frown when Alto admits he hadn't gotten any information either--just an order to sortie. She doesn't like that, but she knows that's hardly Alto's fault. As he said: it's his job. When you find yourself suddenly on stage, you don't have time to ask question; you just have to perform.
"They're both friends of mine. Rikka helped me write a song recently, and Akane was the one who inspired it," she replies. "Do you remember Obelisk? I performed it at the live I did at Mihoshi Academy. That's the one."
Swear to me by your tears / That a miracle will cling to you / And you'll leap over the wreckage / In a rising curve... Alto might remember that song. Sheryl puffs a little breath, eyebrows furrowed in open worry. "Akane was in a bad place, and Rikka used my song to help her get better. ...Or so I thought. They were both so happy; I don't know what's going on with them..."
It isn't any excuse. Sheryl followed Alto into the battlefield well before she learned about the pilot of the Mu Gundam. It's unmistakable that she's upset about it, though.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto nods a little as Sheryl mentions the Mihoshi Academy concert and the Obelisk song, "Unfortunately it seems like it didn't do the trick." Or so either of them is aware.
Alto ruffles his hair a little in frustration, jostling his ponytail, "I don't really know what's going on! With those two. Or with that Leina Ashta." He's sure he's heard that name somewhere before. He just can't place it. Did they meet? Or did he only hear it in passing? But it seems like she's another one who didn't belong there. At least, not in the way she was.
Ultimately though... "It's not really our problem. Whatever's going on. We're probably just better off leaving it alone..." It's not like they don't have their own issues to worry about.
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl clenches her jaw, creating a subtle ripple in her cheeks, when Alto states the (seeming) obvious. Her song wasn't enough--at least, not in the long term. If it had been Ranka's song, would it have kept all this from happening? ...She'll keep that thought to herself.
"I don't either," she says unhappily. "The way Leina talked--it was like she wasn't Leina at all. She's the successor to the Yumi Foundation, you know. She's a strong-willed woman, from what I've seen. All that talk she made about--how everything is doomed, and all that nonsense... it just wasn't like her." She looks away. "...But then, I barely know her."
Leina was also a big fan of her songs. And yet there she was, and here they are. Alto says it's better they leave it alone.
"..." She half-turns and steps towards the edge of the roof, gazing out at the smoking cityscape in the distance. "...So you're telling me to abandon my friends?"
She sounds calm, in the same way the interior of a glacier is calm.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto pauses... He can't exactly say 'Yes' to that, can he?
But what is the alternative? What do they do now? They don't know the details about what's going on. They don't know what caused this. They don't know how they can help...
"Do you have a plan? Any idea of where to go from here?"
Alto moves forward to stand beside Sheryl, looking out towards the same point, "I get the feeling that whatever's going on, it's big. Do you really think there's anything you can do to help?"
Alto pauses again. It's a little harsh, but... "Be realistic. What are you going to do?"
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
"..."
Again, Sheryl is silent for a moment. But this time, instead of that cold anger, there's an air of helplessness to it. It's palpable through the way she bows her head, conceding his point once again without saying anything.
She could ask Grace to look into it, of course. Sheryl trusts in her abilities--she wouldn't be surprised if Grace already started looking into it, already knows what happened. But Grace already doesn't like her interest in becoming a fighting pilot. She hasn't stopped her, and has even supported her, but she hasn't been afraid to voice how she doesn't like it. Sheryl's sure Grace will take her turn to scold her for this, too. Even if Grace did give her information, what could she do?
"...I don't know," she admits quietly, bowing her head.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto certainly doesn't feel great about bringing Sheryl down like this... This the reality of the world they live in. They're only two people... What can they do to really change anything?
... And yet, watching Sheryl...
Alto sighs in resignation, rubbing the back of his neck, "Let's track down the Nadesico... Lucine was at that battle. I get the feeling that she-and maybe the others on the Nadesico-will know more about what's going on."
Alto smirks a little, "Besides, you kind of trashed your fighter. It's going to need repairs... And I think SMS is more likely to take it away from you permanently if we take it to them."
<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.
Sheryl blinks as Alto brings up Lucine. "Oh, that's right," she utters. She'd talked to her, of course, but Lucine ended up engaging a different--opponent, not *enemy*--and there was so much going on that it had ended up slipping her mind entirely. A smile starts to creep up her lips--
Until Alto points out she trashed her Variable Fighter. Sheryl instead groans and rolls her eyes. "Don't even start! Grace isn't going to let me hear the end of this. At least the bill is no object." Plenty of royalties coming in all the time, even if she is on hiatus.
Still, the idea does bring her spirits up, and when she settles, it's with a smile after all. "All right! We have a plan after all, then. I'll ask Grace to get in touch with them and come pick us up. She's going to give me an earful for this, but she's going to want me to go somewhere safe, after all!"
And as trashed as her VF is, the transmitter still works. It won't be hard to send out a message--and what's the Nadesico going to do, ignore it?