I feel, feel like I'm a grandpa,
I feel, feel like I'm already 80 years old,
And my skin's so cold,
I need a new body and I need a new soul.
FIDLAR - No Waves
(This takes place approximately six months after Mission 4)
Crimson Kestrel, Lounge
The mood was quite subdued. The tree hadn't even been put up properly. The decorations were missing and it seemed the festive spirit was sapped by events in the middle of the year being so dire. Loss, destruction, upset, and unwelcome surprise.
Things were growing though. Like one of the bushfires on Delsauria, new life grew from all the ash and char. The ecosystem there was comparably hostile as the line of work Luca and company were in. Images of a world aflame were still in the back of Luca's mind, just waiting to be thrown into the projector of his mind's eye at slightest notice.
Here on the Kestrel, Luca and John were lying down together on the couch in ill-wearing Yuletide sweaters, legs resting on each other's chests and beside them as they watched a Yuletide movie together on TV, having recovered from the worst of it all physically, but mentally a lot weighed heavy on them. Few words were exchanged other than the dialect of Nepleslian grunts to grab the cookies, grab the popcorn, turn up the volume, turn down the volume, or get up and grab a drink.
John made a grunt for some beer, looking over to the mini-fridge. Luca shook his head - he was liking what was going on. John thumped Luca with his heel, grunting again. Luca interposed his hand between John's slippered heel and his chest, annoyed. Once the scene had passed, the captain begun moving reluctantly.
"Y'know, nobody would believe we live like this." Luca pointed out as he started to slink out of the couch, pushing himself backwards. "I turned down so many requests to appear at the malls in Yamatai this year, did all my shopping online."
John shuffled and stretched his legs after Luca had given him sufficient room, scratching his face. "After Kennewes I don't blame you," he replied, "you need the time to get your shit together."
"You too, after whatever the hell happened on Albini. DATASS are still scratching their heads how it happened." Luca stumbled over to the mini-fridge and fossicked for another bottle of Guthrie Pale Ale. "They still don't know who's responsible and they keep asking us to fill the blanks. Aiesu's blank on the issue too."
"She's still a liability, Luca."
"Echelon says otherwise, she's got Aiesu's transmissions under her thumb - anything that smells wrong, we space her." He twisted the cap off and left it on the floor, looking at the TV. "Besides, Aiesu doesn't know what the hell happened either, I mean, who attacks with rocks when everyone has lasers and nukes?"
John snorted. That was one way of putting them - the lack of sense of the attack muddied things considerably. "Yeah. Rocks." Luca sat back down and passed the beer to John, who raised in faint cheers before having a swing and letting Luca settle back into his rut.
The others around the Kestrel were also to their own devices this holiday season, either picking up pieces, or fitting them together. Ranging from chunks of metal, gun parts, data and information; or one's wits. Some found the repetition calming, while others found it down the neck of a bottle or a pixie stick or strumming the steel strings of a bass guitar.
Still, some Yuletide gifts were resting under the plainly dressed tree. Notably, one of them appeared to be a package about a metre and a half long, addressed to Tamamo. Some other bits and bobs - most notably a few ingots of pure Nerimum were stacked in a pile with a ribbon around them addressed to Allison from John. Melissa had bought everyone Delsaurian survival knives, with wooden handles and large blades - now those were knives.
Luca hadn't put much thought into the other gifts, the usual assortment of Lewis Pasco nonsense with crates of ammunition and some personalised firearms and parts for everyone. John gave everyone a generous pay bonus of 10,000 KS each. Apparently the demand for energy drink jumped out in the Nepleslian West and with it, a lot of cash came in.
Still, it felt like someone had never left, as Luca looked over to the battered armchair where the team's Sourcian used to sit. The memory wouldn't go away, and Luca tried to keep his attention on the television.
I feel, feel like I'm already 80 years old,
And my skin's so cold,
I need a new body and I need a new soul.
FIDLAR - No Waves
(This takes place approximately six months after Mission 4)
Crimson Kestrel, Lounge
The mood was quite subdued. The tree hadn't even been put up properly. The decorations were missing and it seemed the festive spirit was sapped by events in the middle of the year being so dire. Loss, destruction, upset, and unwelcome surprise.
Things were growing though. Like one of the bushfires on Delsauria, new life grew from all the ash and char. The ecosystem there was comparably hostile as the line of work Luca and company were in. Images of a world aflame were still in the back of Luca's mind, just waiting to be thrown into the projector of his mind's eye at slightest notice.
Here on the Kestrel, Luca and John were lying down together on the couch in ill-wearing Yuletide sweaters, legs resting on each other's chests and beside them as they watched a Yuletide movie together on TV, having recovered from the worst of it all physically, but mentally a lot weighed heavy on them. Few words were exchanged other than the dialect of Nepleslian grunts to grab the cookies, grab the popcorn, turn up the volume, turn down the volume, or get up and grab a drink.
John made a grunt for some beer, looking over to the mini-fridge. Luca shook his head - he was liking what was going on. John thumped Luca with his heel, grunting again. Luca interposed his hand between John's slippered heel and his chest, annoyed. Once the scene had passed, the captain begun moving reluctantly.
"Y'know, nobody would believe we live like this." Luca pointed out as he started to slink out of the couch, pushing himself backwards. "I turned down so many requests to appear at the malls in Yamatai this year, did all my shopping online."
John shuffled and stretched his legs after Luca had given him sufficient room, scratching his face. "After Kennewes I don't blame you," he replied, "you need the time to get your shit together."
"You too, after whatever the hell happened on Albini. DATASS are still scratching their heads how it happened." Luca stumbled over to the mini-fridge and fossicked for another bottle of Guthrie Pale Ale. "They still don't know who's responsible and they keep asking us to fill the blanks. Aiesu's blank on the issue too."
"She's still a liability, Luca."
"Echelon says otherwise, she's got Aiesu's transmissions under her thumb - anything that smells wrong, we space her." He twisted the cap off and left it on the floor, looking at the TV. "Besides, Aiesu doesn't know what the hell happened either, I mean, who attacks with rocks when everyone has lasers and nukes?"
John snorted. That was one way of putting them - the lack of sense of the attack muddied things considerably. "Yeah. Rocks." Luca sat back down and passed the beer to John, who raised in faint cheers before having a swing and letting Luca settle back into his rut.
The others around the Kestrel were also to their own devices this holiday season, either picking up pieces, or fitting them together. Ranging from chunks of metal, gun parts, data and information; or one's wits. Some found the repetition calming, while others found it down the neck of a bottle or a pixie stick or strumming the steel strings of a bass guitar.
Still, some Yuletide gifts were resting under the plainly dressed tree. Notably, one of them appeared to be a package about a metre and a half long, addressed to Tamamo. Some other bits and bobs - most notably a few ingots of pure Nerimum were stacked in a pile with a ribbon around them addressed to Allison from John. Melissa had bought everyone Delsaurian survival knives, with wooden handles and large blades - now those were knives.
Luca hadn't put much thought into the other gifts, the usual assortment of Lewis Pasco nonsense with crates of ammunition and some personalised firearms and parts for everyone. John gave everyone a generous pay bonus of 10,000 KS each. Apparently the demand for energy drink jumped out in the Nepleslian West and with it, a lot of cash came in.
Still, it felt like someone had never left, as Luca looked over to the battered armchair where the team's Sourcian used to sit. The memory wouldn't go away, and Luca tried to keep his attention on the television.