Ninth Light

[curseu_reflexes]

[In the wake of the most recent mission, you'll find a disheartening sight if you enter the hangar.  The HK-1138' Corona lies in a crumpled, ruined heap off in a side designated for unsalvagable wrecks, the entire machine nearly split in twain height-wise, a huge chunk of it just fucking gone.  Those parts from before?  Yeah, phoney.  All of them

Comments

[wimpy_cure_ever]

Julia...?

[Hana had been lucky that she didn't get too banged up by the whole incident. However, she saw Julia in this state and it hurt her badly. Just before the mission, she was all smiles, laughing over the fact that they had experienced two different effects of gravity new to them over their time. And now...]

Julia...

[it was heartbreaking to see her like that.]

[curseu_reflexes]

[Julia's crying softly, hands still clumsily gripping the controls of her current machine.]

It... it's over, Hana...

[wimpy_cure_ever]

D-Don't say that! Y-You can't give up like that! People are counting on you!

[At least, that's what she's hoping]

[curseu_reflexes]

But it's true!

[Her head fell forward, and she just looked down at her lap as tears fell down onto her legs.]

I was such a fool... going out into battle and always risking the only machine in existence I can pilot; one not even meant for combat!

I'm no soldier either... all I did for a whole year was just do exhibitions in controlled environments!

[thestrayhawk]

[Opening the cockpit of the machine she was currently fumbling in, having Julia hammer in details about Irgelions to him he knew exactly what was wrong.]

Julia...come on.

[Offering his hand to her he felt that the place that Julia needed to be was definitely not the cockpit of a machine.]

[curseu_reflexes]

[Julia weakly looked at it, her throat tightening as she saw it. Ichitaka wanted to help, wanted to get her somewhere where she could feel better. But she stayed glued to the seat.]

I-Ichitaka...

[thestrayhawk]

I know, of course I know but...you can't just stay in here Julia.

[curseu_reflexes]

R-right...

[She hated to face the fact, but Ichitaka was right, and she slowly pulled herself out of the machine, her mouth painfully dry.]

I need to get my things packed up... see if there's a colony close by you could drop me off at...

[chases_aliens]

[Dita's seen this before, the way Julia was trying her hardest. She's seen it in many of her crewmates, her family. Silently, she went over to Julia and opened the cockpit.]

Julia... that's enough, you're going to break.

[curseu_reflexes]

Dita... I...

... I probably already have. The moment that Shu destroyed the Corona... that's what sealed my fate.

[chases_aliens]

It's not just that... c'mon. [And carefully she's going to lift Julia out of the mecha, curling her into her arms as she hugged her friend.]

[curseu_reflexes]

[Getting pulled in close, Julia just clung to Dita and continued to cry. She didn't even want to ask if she needed the Corona itself for that combining thing. That would be selfish; wrong. Dita was a pirate and a soldier... not like her.]

[crystal_energy]

[Arika's been distracted for the past few weeks, but she snuck into the hangar to see what people were up to]

Julia?

[She'd never seen Julia upset over something]

[curseu_reflexes]

A... rika?

[She's more than a touched confused, but she just tries to look away.]

I just... I was trying to see if I could use another machine now... the Corona's gone and... and I can't use anything

[crystal_energy]

Can't you just fix it? I'll help!

[curseu_reflexes]

That... that won't work!

Too much of it's damaged, important parts... parts we can't just replace with any old piece of scrap!

It's gone. Over. Without the Corona I can't fight, and the people with the means to repair the Corona would probably rather see me dead.

[vjockey]

Julia!

[Have Cheng rush over, ignoring what pains were still in his body despite having gotten back on his feet. Emergency catch. There was one around somewhere...there. To say the soldier was shaken to see the Irgelion like this was understatement. He knew that expression. He's had it far too many times.]

Its alright...

[He extends his hand into the cockpit, reaching out for her.]

Please...

[curseu_reflexes]

Cheng, I...

[She just sniffs loudly.]

R-remember when I talked, about how humans could grow past limitations...?

[Another sniff as she tried to wipe her tears away. There was so much, though, and her eyes were red and puffy.]

T-this is what separates humans and Irgelions. If I were human this wouldn't be any obstacle at all...

[vjockey]

[He lowers his hand, merely using it to keep him where he was now

FIRST TIME THIS LOG I'VE HAD TO USE A DIFFERENT ICON

[curseu_reflexes]

Become... a soldier?

[She gulped weakly.]

But I can't... I'd be one that doesn't have a weapon, can't have a weapon. Nothing would change...

No... it'd be impossible. And a waste of your time too.