CHAPTER SIX: CONNECTING
"Whoa!" Hibiki yelled as a Harvester pod exploded next to him. "Watch that aim of yours, Ed!!"
"Sorry! This is the first time we've tried this!" Ed replied. "The Dread Wind cannon is prone to off-balance! Dita! Get us stabilized! Those pods are in our faces!! The rest of you, cover us!"
The Black Vandread stood motionless in the middle of the battle, its obsidian cannon brimming with energy and its apogee motors firing furiously. It looked like a literal combination, with the Black Vanguard simply sitting on a transformed Blue Dread, a large forked cannon poking out of the union. The other Dreads whizzed around them, blasting away at anything that moved. The energy accumulated to a point and the cannon blasted one more time, a blue pillar of fire decimating hundreds of enemy fighters and damaging their carrier.
"They're retreating!" someone on the bridge shouted.
"Radar confirms it, bridge. The carrier is warping out!"
The egg-shaped carrier soon disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving its drones suddenly bereft of power and motionless. Gascgone gave the signal to return and everyone followed. The Dread Wind disassembled and joined the recovery team. Techs rushed to receive the fighters as their pilots exited their cockpits.
"The Dread Wind isn't looking too useful. I think we'd better stick to the combos we're used to. I felt like I was standing in tar back there," Ed reported to Meia, who was checking things on a clipboard.
"Nevertheless, we might need that power sometime. Good work, Ed."
"Nah," he jeered, pointing to Hibiki and Dita, "those two give us some power! This is why I want to be in the Dread. The BV just seems heavy to me."
Meia nodded and made note. Ed didn't move, staring at the back of the board.
"What else?"
"Oh, nothing." Ed snapped out of it, walking out of the hangar.
" Ed?" Dita asked, noticing his change of mood.
"Eh, he's always like that after we don't blow up anything! I wouldn't worry about him." Barnett said.
Meia looked up from her board and caught Ed's shadow as it slunk away from the dimly-lit corridor.
"He's a perfectionist." Meia said to everyone's surprise. "If things don't go 100% well, he gets worried about it. Leave him to me," she continued, drawing more looks of surprise.
She managed to catch up with him in the one place she knew he would be. He was silently staring at the piano keys, the only sound in the room being the sound of his breathing He sighed and flicked open his left thumb. A small flame came out, its red light reflecting in the window panes.
"Oh yeah.I don't smoke anymore. That's it. This clunking inside is my lungs.or rather my new lungs. I killed them before.Dana always told me to quit, so did those assholes from R&D.I-"
"Talking to yourself, first sign of insanity." Meia interrupted.
"Talking to me, second. What brings you here to the piano?" he looked up at her.
"I thought I could use the company. You always play this thing after we come back from a mission. I just go to my room and sleep. So it beats walking around bored."
"To tell you the truth, I could use the company myself. I'd better get used to it on this ship."
"What did you do before? Wait, I didn't mean to say-" she was about to ask, but suddenly remembered his nightmares.
"I usually sat alone in a corner and smoked a few. Full-bodied humans don't get along with cyborgs much on the Lunar Colonies. Many 'borgs were spies for rival manufacturers, you see. They would act all nice at work but plant bombs and other things when our backs were turned. Even people with leg implants were routinely scanned ,even though they did nothing but water the plants. I'm not used to this team thing, Meia. I always kept myself to myself, avoiding problems with full-bods. I always solve my own problems. "
"I told them you were a perfectionist. Was I wrong?"
"Damn wrong. I'm an alien."
Meia' s eyebrows arced, " An alien?"
"I still feel like I'm the odd guy out here. I don't know.just drop it, okay? "
She got up and sat next to him on the piano, trying to mimic his stance. "Don't sound like an idiot. It's not you at all, Ed. Now teach me how to play."
"You're kidding me. I told you, I don't remember."
"But you know. If you teach me how to know, that's enough. Now that's an order, teacher."
Pai hid in a corner, noting down furiously on her notepad. "Pai check. Those two are getting close already. This is interesting."
Ed pressed the A key, followed by Meia pressing the corresponding note on the next octave. The fast learner she was, Meia found it difficult to keep up with him but tried anyway. He shot her a look and smiled, showing off a one-handed pizzicato. He started giggling and began playing with both hands. Only this time he was singing softly to it.
"Hey, I can't learn all that!" she frowned.
"I remember who taught me. My mother. She always sang this lullaby to me when I was little!" he beamed.
"My mother sang me a song too.but I have no idea how to sing it anymore. That was long ago."
"You don't have to sing a song to know it. Just remember how it made you feel. Each word is meant to say something."
"Each word, huh?" she looked at the piano. She looked down on the keys and closed her eyes. She was swaying to a song only she could hear, humming along. She felt Ed's arm go across her shoulder, swaying along with her. A single tear went down her cheek.
"Meia?"
"I also have good memories, Ed. My mother, the warm feeling I got in her arms.I'm also afraid of screwing up, losing people I care about to accidents and betrayal. See? You're not an alien at all, Eddie. We're cut from the same cloth." Meia sighed.
"We're two crabs, watch us hide in our shells. Come close and we claw you. Ask us to come close to you, we walk sideways. That might sum us up, blue- eyes."
"We're sitting here, though. You haven't pinched me yet."
"Is that a request, blue-eyes? "
"You're one of us, Edward van Dyke. One of my team. One of my friends. I'd do for you what I expect you for me, as does everyone else. Remember that the next time you end up in here." she rested her hand on his shoulder, looking him firmly in the eye. His hand rested on hers.
"Blue-eyes, you're a lifesaver. Did anyone ever tell you that you're 100 times better looking when you actually make sense?" he looked away, not able to meet her gaze.
"You don't know who you're talking to, boy," she sneered.
"Do come again. We can talk about our sad, sad pasts over a bottle of brandy sometime," Ed winked, "and then who knows? You and me could make a complete U-turn and end up fist-fighting in the hallway."
"I'd kick your butt anyway." Meia found that she was still looking at him.
"I like the first. part ..better." Ed didn't move his gaze either. He saw that her face was getting closer, almost as close as the first time. She had her eyes open, so she didn't seem to mind. Pai crunched up in the corner, afraid of the possible outcome. Their faces simply hovered next to each other, unable to move. Their eyes were fixed on each other while their jaws drooped. Ed's arm was still around Meia' s shoulder. Neither knew what was coming over them, but their accelerated heartbeats were beginning to make themselves heard. Time ticked slower for this moment.
"Meia.seriously.anytime you want, the talking I mean." She looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. He twisted his own thumb around hers and held it up.
"Here's a sign."
"Appreciate that, Ed."
"Pai check!" she whispered, closing her book.
The alarm rang out again, with people scurrying around and klaxons blaring. Meia and Ed got up and ran towards the hangar. Jura' s voice rang out over Meia' s comm.
"Leader! The big egg's back! And it's got a friend!"
"Sounds like Double Dread time, eh, Ed?" Meia looked back at him.
"I live to serve, blue-eyes! Now let's get rockin'!"
The Black Dread and White Dread burst out of dock together, merging to form the twin Dread. It fired to the front of the formation, with Ed and Meia' s faces, hungry for battle appearing on the viewscreen. Dita and Barnett cheered for Meia while Gascgone grinned. They saw that Ed was now side by side with Meia in the cockpit, with him holding the throttles while she held the dome controllers. The look on their faces was disturbingly identical.
"Let's massacre' em!!" they said in unison, Ed's wild cowboy yell following
"Whoa!" Hibiki yelled as a Harvester pod exploded next to him. "Watch that aim of yours, Ed!!"
"Sorry! This is the first time we've tried this!" Ed replied. "The Dread Wind cannon is prone to off-balance! Dita! Get us stabilized! Those pods are in our faces!! The rest of you, cover us!"
The Black Vandread stood motionless in the middle of the battle, its obsidian cannon brimming with energy and its apogee motors firing furiously. It looked like a literal combination, with the Black Vanguard simply sitting on a transformed Blue Dread, a large forked cannon poking out of the union. The other Dreads whizzed around them, blasting away at anything that moved. The energy accumulated to a point and the cannon blasted one more time, a blue pillar of fire decimating hundreds of enemy fighters and damaging their carrier.
"They're retreating!" someone on the bridge shouted.
"Radar confirms it, bridge. The carrier is warping out!"
The egg-shaped carrier soon disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving its drones suddenly bereft of power and motionless. Gascgone gave the signal to return and everyone followed. The Dread Wind disassembled and joined the recovery team. Techs rushed to receive the fighters as their pilots exited their cockpits.
"The Dread Wind isn't looking too useful. I think we'd better stick to the combos we're used to. I felt like I was standing in tar back there," Ed reported to Meia, who was checking things on a clipboard.
"Nevertheless, we might need that power sometime. Good work, Ed."
"Nah," he jeered, pointing to Hibiki and Dita, "those two give us some power! This is why I want to be in the Dread. The BV just seems heavy to me."
Meia nodded and made note. Ed didn't move, staring at the back of the board.
"What else?"
"Oh, nothing." Ed snapped out of it, walking out of the hangar.
" Ed?" Dita asked, noticing his change of mood.
"Eh, he's always like that after we don't blow up anything! I wouldn't worry about him." Barnett said.
Meia looked up from her board and caught Ed's shadow as it slunk away from the dimly-lit corridor.
"He's a perfectionist." Meia said to everyone's surprise. "If things don't go 100% well, he gets worried about it. Leave him to me," she continued, drawing more looks of surprise.
She managed to catch up with him in the one place she knew he would be. He was silently staring at the piano keys, the only sound in the room being the sound of his breathing He sighed and flicked open his left thumb. A small flame came out, its red light reflecting in the window panes.
"Oh yeah.I don't smoke anymore. That's it. This clunking inside is my lungs.or rather my new lungs. I killed them before.Dana always told me to quit, so did those assholes from R&D.I-"
"Talking to yourself, first sign of insanity." Meia interrupted.
"Talking to me, second. What brings you here to the piano?" he looked up at her.
"I thought I could use the company. You always play this thing after we come back from a mission. I just go to my room and sleep. So it beats walking around bored."
"To tell you the truth, I could use the company myself. I'd better get used to it on this ship."
"What did you do before? Wait, I didn't mean to say-" she was about to ask, but suddenly remembered his nightmares.
"I usually sat alone in a corner and smoked a few. Full-bodied humans don't get along with cyborgs much on the Lunar Colonies. Many 'borgs were spies for rival manufacturers, you see. They would act all nice at work but plant bombs and other things when our backs were turned. Even people with leg implants were routinely scanned ,even though they did nothing but water the plants. I'm not used to this team thing, Meia. I always kept myself to myself, avoiding problems with full-bods. I always solve my own problems. "
"I told them you were a perfectionist. Was I wrong?"
"Damn wrong. I'm an alien."
Meia' s eyebrows arced, " An alien?"
"I still feel like I'm the odd guy out here. I don't know.just drop it, okay? "
She got up and sat next to him on the piano, trying to mimic his stance. "Don't sound like an idiot. It's not you at all, Ed. Now teach me how to play."
"You're kidding me. I told you, I don't remember."
"But you know. If you teach me how to know, that's enough. Now that's an order, teacher."
Pai hid in a corner, noting down furiously on her notepad. "Pai check. Those two are getting close already. This is interesting."
Ed pressed the A key, followed by Meia pressing the corresponding note on the next octave. The fast learner she was, Meia found it difficult to keep up with him but tried anyway. He shot her a look and smiled, showing off a one-handed pizzicato. He started giggling and began playing with both hands. Only this time he was singing softly to it.
"Hey, I can't learn all that!" she frowned.
"I remember who taught me. My mother. She always sang this lullaby to me when I was little!" he beamed.
"My mother sang me a song too.but I have no idea how to sing it anymore. That was long ago."
"You don't have to sing a song to know it. Just remember how it made you feel. Each word is meant to say something."
"Each word, huh?" she looked at the piano. She looked down on the keys and closed her eyes. She was swaying to a song only she could hear, humming along. She felt Ed's arm go across her shoulder, swaying along with her. A single tear went down her cheek.
"Meia?"
"I also have good memories, Ed. My mother, the warm feeling I got in her arms.I'm also afraid of screwing up, losing people I care about to accidents and betrayal. See? You're not an alien at all, Eddie. We're cut from the same cloth." Meia sighed.
"We're two crabs, watch us hide in our shells. Come close and we claw you. Ask us to come close to you, we walk sideways. That might sum us up, blue- eyes."
"We're sitting here, though. You haven't pinched me yet."
"Is that a request, blue-eyes? "
"You're one of us, Edward van Dyke. One of my team. One of my friends. I'd do for you what I expect you for me, as does everyone else. Remember that the next time you end up in here." she rested her hand on his shoulder, looking him firmly in the eye. His hand rested on hers.
"Blue-eyes, you're a lifesaver. Did anyone ever tell you that you're 100 times better looking when you actually make sense?" he looked away, not able to meet her gaze.
"You don't know who you're talking to, boy," she sneered.
"Do come again. We can talk about our sad, sad pasts over a bottle of brandy sometime," Ed winked, "and then who knows? You and me could make a complete U-turn and end up fist-fighting in the hallway."
"I'd kick your butt anyway." Meia found that she was still looking at him.
"I like the first. part ..better." Ed didn't move his gaze either. He saw that her face was getting closer, almost as close as the first time. She had her eyes open, so she didn't seem to mind. Pai crunched up in the corner, afraid of the possible outcome. Their faces simply hovered next to each other, unable to move. Their eyes were fixed on each other while their jaws drooped. Ed's arm was still around Meia' s shoulder. Neither knew what was coming over them, but their accelerated heartbeats were beginning to make themselves heard. Time ticked slower for this moment.
"Meia.seriously.anytime you want, the talking I mean." She looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. He twisted his own thumb around hers and held it up.
"Here's a sign."
"Appreciate that, Ed."
"Pai check!" she whispered, closing her book.
The alarm rang out again, with people scurrying around and klaxons blaring. Meia and Ed got up and ran towards the hangar. Jura' s voice rang out over Meia' s comm.
"Leader! The big egg's back! And it's got a friend!"
"Sounds like Double Dread time, eh, Ed?" Meia looked back at him.
"I live to serve, blue-eyes! Now let's get rockin'!"
The Black Dread and White Dread burst out of dock together, merging to form the twin Dread. It fired to the front of the formation, with Ed and Meia' s faces, hungry for battle appearing on the viewscreen. Dita and Barnett cheered for Meia while Gascgone grinned. They saw that Ed was now side by side with Meia in the cockpit, with him holding the throttles while she held the dome controllers. The look on their faces was disturbingly identical.
"Let's massacre' em!!" they said in unison, Ed's wild cowboy yell following