2024-11-14: Shooting Ground
- Log: 2024-11-14: Shooting Ground
- Cast: Flay Allster, Aurora Dusk
- Where: Heaven's Base
- OOC - IC Date: 0099-11-14
- Summary: Flay and Aurora chitchat after a simulator exercise, and learn more about each other.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
The atmosphere at Heaven's Base, the Gaia Sabers' primary base of observation - has once again changed. Gone are many of the fresh recruits who were sold the answer of revenge in response to losing everything to the Break the World incident. Even in the frigid winter winds of Iceland that surround Heaven's Base, the air feels like it's still, as conflict in the Earth Sphere once again slows to an unstable peace kept together by force.
Despite her promotion to First Lieutenant, Flay hasn't had much opportunity to deploy since the Gaia Sabers's latest, disastrous attempt to wipe out the PLANTs - instead having the opportunity to focus on her personal, non-military life. She is a student of Asticassia, after all. Flay thinks she should be happy... but for some reason, that personal life is starting to feel rather empty. Like something's missing. But the Gaia Sabers still have their duties, and many in command are of the opinion that their military needs to be prepared for this lull in conflict to inevitably end. (Whether it's by their own doing or not.)
Which means cross-squadron training exercises! Today, Flay's squad has the opportunity to practice with Aurora's - mostly in mobile suit maneuvers and team tactics. By this point, they're almost done with the actual training part - and it's just Flay and Aurora themselves left at the simulator for basic targeting practice. She doesn't really know this other team well, and having just been made a rank up, she doesn't want to leave a bad impression... so she takes a deep breath, aims the targeting reticle...
And only gets in just over half of the shots. It's a worse performance than the last time she did this - is there something on her mind?
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Lulls in conflict aren't really... lulls, for everyone. There are those who remain active - busy, even - with their duties even in supposed times of peace. And this definitely isn't peacetime. It's the half-time inbetween conflicts, where the players have returned to their benches to talk strategy. And that strategy is, overwhelmingly, "how do we win this war" as opposed to "how do we not have a war". Most of the higher-ups consider the war inevitable at best - at worst, necessary and righteous.
Yes, the Gaia Sabers still have their duties... including Aurora. The pace of the conflict has changed; its existence has not, even if not all of its actors are publicly claimed.
Right now, though, Aurora is the other remaining pilot in the simulator - the pilot wearing the rank tabs of a Second Lieutenant. (Ensign, she thinks. She's more used to Spacy ranks.)
Her own performance in the simulator is the same canned excellence she always brings to training. Force of habit, really. She's been training like this for years. How long has it been since she first set foot in a simulator like this? She was much smaller then, she remembers. Her mind is as still. Everything that she is is here and now... or so it seems. She has other things on her mind, too.
She chances a look out of the corner of her eye at the performance of her partner from the Flay unit, and something like pride stirs in her chest. Let it never be said that Aurora doesn't have pride in her own power.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
When you've already declared a group of people to be your enemy, of course winning the war would become necessary in your eyes. And you're always supposed to fear your enemy, is what Flay's experience has taught her. So why is it that she's been more scared of the people who are supposed to be her allies lately?
She watches the way Aurora shoots, and it couldn't be any more different from her own rough, even frantic shots. While Aurora is efficient and smooth... as if she's become the weapon itself, Flay thinks. Is that what separates them? She certainly can't tell Aurora is proud that she can fight like that.
"...Not bad. I bet this sort of thing comes natural to you, doesn't it?" Flay remarks, her eyes shifting over to Aurora's score. "Oh, right... I'm Flay Allster. I don't think I've ever seen you around the base before." Her uniform marks her as a First Lieutenant, but she doesn't actually say that part. "You don't seem like a new recruit... but you don't seem all that much older than me, either."
"So... who are you?" Despite her tone of voice, she hasn't really caught onto any strangeness. It's just nice to have someone your age around for once.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
There is little separation between Aurora and her weapon in her mind, even when she isn't interfacing with a psycommu. She moves smoothly from contact to contact, feeling more and more comfortable in her seat as her score climbs. Acquire target. Pull trigger. Down. Acquire target. Pull trigger. Down. There is no need to think about it. Her enemies are in front of her, and she destroys them. With each simulated splash, she grows more comfortable in her seat. She has her duties, and she fulfils them.
...Is there no need to think about it? Aurora may not be in the habit of making command level decisions, but one of her many hats is 'counterintelligence officer', and there have been some troubling events lately. Nuclear escalation is one thing. The war may be hurtling towards war, but Aurora has always been at least in reserve for a future war. A secret Jovian society bent on Earth's destruction isn't an enemy she ever expected to face. The conspiracy covering them up is definitely something to keep an eye out for. There are... weird things going on in NUNE in general.
'...natural to you, doesn't it?' Yes, it does. Aurora nods and makes a noise of assent. "It does."
The slightly suspicious tone passes without comment or notice, and the Second Lieutenant answers, nodding to a ranking officer, voice level but not monotone. "Aurora Dusk. I'm a new recruit to the Gaia Sabers," and specifically new to the Gaia Sabers, she leaves implied. She figured the leader of the Flay unit was Flay, and she's heard the name before. Father, fairly influential Blue Cosmos member. Died in the Bloody Valentine war. Served on the Archangel. Signed up for the Gaia Sabers, becoming the Strike E's pilot. Was at the nuclear reprisal attack. She doesn't say any of that out loud.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Flay watches wordlessly as Aurora continues to rack up her score. 3D models of the past and present enemies of the Gaia Sabers explode into such beautiful fireworks... Zeon Zakus and ZAFT GINNs alike. At the end of the day, the enemies Aurora shoots are only simulated... they'll never cry out for their families or wonder if they'll see their partners again. That was probably the hardest part of being there for the nuclear attack.
"The simulator is one thing... but it's different when you're actually out there fighting, isn't it?" Flay answers Aurora's confidence, but Aurora already knows that, doesn't she? "...That kind of power doesn't come naturally to everyone." She concludes, turning to leave the simulator, but also gesturing for Aurora to follow her over to the break area.
Aurora Dusk... the name doesn't ring a bell. It sounds a little unusual, sure, but many names in the Universal Century are. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have Flay's attention. It wouldn't come as a surprise that Aurora is aware of her background, either. "Aurora Dusk... I'll remember that, if we meet on the battlefield." She nods, and then gives the girl a curious look.
"What brought you to the Gaia Sabers, anyway?" She asks. "I mean... most people either have something or someone they want to protect, or they join because they have nothing at all." It was revenge for her father that brought her to the Archangel, and then the Gaia Sabers, but now... "I don't think anyone can fight without a reason."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
As she destroys virtual targets, her mind drifts slightly. Do the cries of her victims reach Aurora? ...well, not reach, exactly. Once you dye something enough of a certain color, you lose the ability to tell when more has been added. So it is with paint, so it is with blood.
Flay's comment brings her back to the world where she has someone in the room with her. "Yeah, it is. It's obvious once you've been in combat that all simulators are at least slightly off." Of course, they both knew that. Flay probably meant something else with her comment, but Aurora answers the question put to her. Now, Flay's next comment gets her attention. No, it does not come naturally to everyone. It didn't come naturally to Aurora, strictly speaking, but the feeling of pride - in her training, in her accomplishments, in the Cyber-Newtype Corps (not that the Gaia Sabers have an official one yet. Yet) - rises all the same.
Aurora follows Flay over. Flay has her attention, too. Does she know? ...Probably not, but sometimes, you can just tell when you meet fellow enhanced personnel. Aurora looks Flay over. You usually can't tell just by looking, but still, her focus is drawn. "I'll remember it too," she says, nodding back. Her own eyes have a glint of curiosity in them, and Flay seems like the kind of person who might be able to tell, even if Aurora is a little distant right now.
Now, what brought her into the Gaia Sabers? The Colonel did, strictly speaking, but Flay is asking for Aurora's reason to fight, she thinks. Thinking back, she brings her hand up to her chest, closing it. "My reason... I'm fighting to protect my home from people who want to destroy it." She shakes her head. "I won't allow any more Break the Worlds." Not just Break the World, not just Genesis. Her reasons stretch all the way back to before she was born. She can't get the sight of the sky falling out of her head... though she's more functional than some of the Cyber-Newtypes she's read about.
Aurora's ice blue eyes swivel on Flay, and she turns her question back on her. "What about you? Why are you here?" Not suspicious. Just curious.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
"Mhm. Of course, you can be as careless as you want in the simulator, because you'll always get another chance." She twists her hair, absently. "But I guess that means you've been in real combat before." Flay's not terribly surprised by that at this point. She doesn't know for sure Aurora is a Cyber-Newtype, even now that her own senses are just slightly wider than they were before... but she can tell Aurora is different, in whatever way she is.
Her own stormy blue eyes meet Aurora's... and she listens, as Aurora explains why she's here, with a certain intensity. "I guess that makes sense..." Flay nods. "The Gaia Sabers are supposed to be the sword that protects the Earth, right? And if the only way to keep the world safe is through power... then there's really no better bet than the Gaia Sabers." That's the bet she made, but after Break the World, after the nuclear retaliation... it's hard to say whether it's paying off.
And Aurora turns the question back on her, and it's something Flay didn't expect. "...I thought I was here for the same reason you were. I was there when Junius Seven fell, you know. And we all fought because we wanted to protect the Earth from it." She says, but then her gaze goes distant. "But I think the truth is just that I was scared." She fully admits. "I mean sure... I was trying to get revenge, too, but in the end, I think I was more was terrified than anything of what would happen if it fell and destroyed the Earth."
"...It's a lot less scary when you actually feel like you're in control, don't you think?" Here, she actually smiles to Aurora. "I guess that's why I decided to become a mobile suit pilot."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"There are no continues in live combat." Aurora nods. "Yeah, I have been." Seeing Flay twist her hair makes Aurora conscious of her own teal hair, and she pats it. "You have, too." Not a question. Aurora knows. That Flay was at the nuclear attack, yes, but also Flay doesn't seem like a rookie anyway.
'If' the only way to keep the world safe is through power is a rhetorical question to Aurora. It's true. That's her way of life. Maybe Flay understands that.
Maybe Aurora never made a bet the same way Flay did, but this is her way of life all the same. "You're right. That's why."
'...when you actually feel like you're in control...' Aurora smiles back, sympathising. She feels safer and more comfortable in the cockpit of a mobile weapon. Because then she has power. Then she has control. Power and safety correlate. Power is what lets you strike down what hurts you. This is why Earth has swords, this is why Aurora is one of them. "Yeah, it is."
"Revenge?"
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
"Continues? What-" Oh. Aurora must be some kind of gamer. Flay drops the question and moves on. "Many times on the Archangel... but I couldn't do a thing." Flay recalls, shaking her head. "It's different now. Now that I have the Strike." Even if sometimes it feels like the battles she fights are pointless... that even the Strike E can't change their outcome.
And if you're a person with power, it's very easy to believe it's the only way to keep things safe. That is - until you run into a situation where even strength alone is not enough. Flay doesn't argue Aurora's point, though. "...Then I'll be counting on you to use that power, to keep us safe." She says instead, with a slow nod.
When Aurora smiles back, Flay visibly relaxes a little - she can tell they've both been more than a little on edge this whole time. Maybe they actually have something in common, as vastly different as they are. But she can't help but wonder what Aurora has been through, to feel the same way. "This might be a weird question... but did you lose your family too?"
"One of the ZAFT remnants who dropped Junius Seven was a part of the team who killed my father. I just couldn't forgive him for that." Flay answers Aurora about her revenge, a bit of that tension returning. "I learned he lost his parents in the war too, when he tried to take me down with him. But..." Flay shakes her head. "Nothing makes what he did okay." She can say that much.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"...and now that you have the Strike, you feel strong. Like you're not powerless anymore," Aurora finishes for her. A familiar feeling.
And if you're a person who's tasted powerlessness, felt the helpless feeling of standing below a falling colony, it's easy to believe that power is the only way to keep things safe, because... it's true. Vincere aut mori. The era's endless battles offer two choices: conquer or die. If you want to continue living, if you want to protect anything, you need power, and you need to use it. This is what Aurora has been taught - by her life, and by others, too. It's a fact of life for her. These feelings are what drive her. Look, Aurora. Flay, too, is counting on you to use that power. Aurora nods back. "I will."
'Too'? Her eyes flicker with comprehension. When she learns that Flay lost her father, it makes sense. Aurora, too, has lost her family. She was too young to remember her parents; the mother she has now is the only one she's ever known, but the burning feeling of having had everything taken from her is still there.
"...Yeah," she answers with slight trepidation. Is it wise to expose this much? ...They ought to be able to understand each other. It's fine. "Stardust. The 0083 colony drop." She has to specify the date because Zeon is awful and won't stop trying to kill everything she knows. "I... was a baby at the time." There is tension, the tension of someone who has been readied to kill over the topic being discussed... and a wistful sadness, too.
"Nothing ever does." Aurora clenches her fist. "...Did you get him?" she asks, hopeful on Flay's behalf.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
"...I suppose that's how it feels," Flay nods. And more than that, it means Kira can live the life he wants to live as well. They should both just be happy, shouldn't they?
It's a tragic view of life that Aurora holds, and Flay takes no comfort in knowing that she, too, is pushing this girl to that end by supporting her decision to fight. "...What will you do next?" Flay asks, with a slight squint as Aurora doesn't hesitate to agree. "If there's finally peace and you don't have to fight anymore?" Does such a future exist for Aurora? For some reason, Flay hopes there is.
"Stardust..." Flay frowns, trying to remember the details... she wasn't old enough to remember either. "Zeon." She mutters, when it clicks into her mind. "I'm sorry they took away your parents," is all she can offer. ...And I get why you'd want to stop them." She nods. "I just wish we could've stopped Junius Seven, too."
"No," Flay answers Aurora's hopeful question. "It was someone else." She doesn't sound resentful about it. It's her burden to share with Rena, after all. "I've made my peace with it... they saved my life after all."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
It's a tragic life Aurora's lead. The question of what she'll do next is... not something she's really considered. The future she works towards is one she might not even believe in. She supposes, that if there was peace... "...Then I'd defend that peace." Aurora's gaze is determined. Peace is never stable; it requires defence. The 'peace' that they've experienced thus far has always been fragile, always been broken. Always been broken because they always let their guard down, as she's been told. Aurora will not let her guard down, if that precious peace is achieved.
"Me too." Yes, Zeon. Aurora's hated enemies, the enemies of the Federation. "I won't let it happen again." She grits her teeth behind her lips. They keep coming back. She'll keep killing them.
She nods at Flay's response. At least the bastard is gone.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Aurora's answer is a simple, straightforward one - but for a member of the Gaia Sabers, it makes sense. "Then you'll never stop fighting," Flay informs Aurora, whether it's a warning or just a statement of fact.
But that anger she sees, even feels, from Aurora when she speaks of Zeon is more than palpable. She hates them, as much as Flay once hated the Coordinators, she imagines. "I hope so," She nods, about never letting it happen again. "The world doesn't need anything like that anymore."
She doesn't linger much about Nicol... her feelings there are still complicated. But their training session is well over by now, and Flay turns to leave. "I've got a few things to take care of," She explains. "But I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Aurora. Take care, okay?" For a superior officer, she sure does just act like a normal girl.