Will sat at the table in his quarters, busily poring over a couple of manuals in his free time. His concentration was suddenly interrupted by the doors sliding open to reveal Cal, who had just returned to the ship. Will's eyes lit up a bit upon seeing his roommate; there seemed to be a little more cheeriness inside of him for the last several hours. Finding out that your love for someone is being returned in kind can have that kind of effect on most people.
Will leaned back in his chair as he greeted Cal. "Hey! Welcome back. How was your vacation?" he said, as he folded his hands over his stomach. Cal appeared to be a bit tired, but more than anything, he had the look of someone who was buried deep in his own thoughts. "'Vacation', huh? Been holding the fort down okay without me?" he asked. "Things are just great!" Will replied.
Cal stopped walking for a minute to give Will a confused look before moving on to sit on his bed. "You're in a great mood, I see. What are you reading over there?" "Just some manuals on the 'G' variant of the 25," Will replied while stretching out; as if he was playing it cool and nonchalant. Cal stared at him, waiting for the rest of the story. Will saw his lack of reaction and caved in to explain why he was reading the manuals for the sniper-specialized VF-25.
"Commander Lee says that we're not going to be flying our normal missions until Klan returns to duty. Instead, we're going to be spending most of our time on alert status and flying escort within the fleet. Looks like we won't be seeing any action until she gets back," Will announced. Cal clicked his tongue and looked at the floor in disgust. Will smiled at his reaction. "I know, right? That's the same reaction Nene and I had when he told us. His exact words were 'Deal with it'. Anyway, I asked if I could try out the sniper loadout and the Commander didn't have any objection to it. He kind of chuckled at the idea, to be honest. Must be some kind of inside joke..."
Cal looked back up at Will to ask him a question that popped into his head, "Where is Nene, anyways? How's things with you two?" Will was a bit embarrassed because he knew that Cal was aware of the connection between himself and Nene. "Things are just great! I never thought I'd see myself falling for a Meltran like that, but here I am... Anyway, she left the ship to go visit Klan. She heard that Klan is returning to Aimo for a few days and she wanted to check in with her before that happens. I wish we could return to Aimo, even if just for a little while..."
An undeniable urge to take a little nap overcame Cal while he was in the middle of the conversation with Will. He laid down on his bed and responded, "I tell you what... Let me take a little snooze here and I'll meet up with you for lunch. I have some questions to ask you then." Will began to wonder what was on Cal's mind, but turned his attention back to the manuals on the table next to him. His thoughts wandered on to the whereabouts of his beloved Nene, instead.
She sat in the chair once occupied by Klan's doctor when he was talking to Cal the previous day. Klan had a lot of questions for her darling little sister regarding her feelings for Will. "You guys are pretty sneaky... I hadn't suspected a thing, to be honest. I thought you had a thing for Brera Sterne?" Nene's face momentarily displayed a state of shock at her sister's question. "How did you come to that conclusion?" she asked with a defensive tone in her voice. "I saw you looking at him when we were boarding the Quarter a few weeks ago. I haven't forgotten about that look on your face."
Nene smiled and quickly dipped her head a bit before answering. "Yeah, I was a little intrigued by his personality. It seemed like he could use the companionship of someone other than just his sister. I've talked to him on a couple of occasions and he was a pretty interesting and nice guy. It was more of a passing fancy, though," she said as she looked back up to Klan with a gratified smile. "If I run into him while I'm on Aimo, I'll be sure to tell him that you said 'hello'," Klan said with a mischievous smile. Nene didn't like where this was going. "Don't start trouble for me!" she said with a bit of a blush. She sought to change the subject as quickly as possible to avoid any further interrogation by her sister.
"So, speaking of passing fancies, when are you and Cal going to quit acting like a couple of children and start being completely honest with each other?" The feeling of shock overcame Klan. She was very surprised by Nene's question and wondered if it was obvious at all that there was a strange energy being passed between herself and Cal. Subconsciously, she hoped that Nene was just grasping at straws in an attempt to get Klan to reveal the actual truth. "What are you talking about?" she asked, as if Nene's question had just come out of left field.
Nene's confident demeanor indicated that she was well aware of the facts... even if they could quite possibly be circumstantial. "Oh, come on, you mean to tell me that he didn't just spend an entire day watching over you while you slept, 'just because'? You didn't just throw yourself in front of his disabled RVF to save his life, 'just because'? Don't make me laugh..." Klan tried not to smile as she looked forward and away from Nene to process her next response. She sighed as she turned back to Nene and responded, "Okay, just promise that you won't make a big deal out of it..." Nene's face lit up like a Christmas tree in anticipation of her sister's answer. "You're not gonna believe what he told me a little while ago," Klan said as she put her face into her hands to hide the embarrassment from her sister.
…
The bridge on the Macross Quarter remained relatively quiet for the latter part of the current shift. Due to the lack of any skirmishes or communications chatter, the crew found it somewhat difficult to remain alert. Jen had decided to focus her efforts on her inner thoughts. She'd agreed to undertake the training and testing for her promotion, but it would be several days before she is finished. She briefly turned to see Monica finally enjoying the comfort of the Captain's chair. Although Commander Ortiz was officially in charge of the bridge, he was probably busy taking care of his business in the Captain's office nearby. Jen sighed as she turned back towards her console and glared at the screen.
"What's wrong?" she heard a voice say to her. She looked up and towards Bobby, who was standing next to her with a concerned look on his face. She smiled at the fact that he always knows when she needs to be talked to. It's no wonder the girls on the bridge love him so much; he's always there when they need him the most. She turned forward to look out of the bridge and into the darkness of outer space in front of the ship. "I hope I'm doing the right thing," she said. "About training for your promotion?" Bobby asked. Jen nodded in response. Bobby asked another question, "How is that something to be worried about?" His mind quickly began to run through all of the possible responses and with the speed and efficiency of one of the computers on the ship, he selected the correct answer from the long list. "You're worried that you will not have any time to be with Cal, aren't you?"
Jen looked back at Bobby with a bit of a blush, but more of a look of surprise that he knew exactly what she was thinking. With a sense of amazement, she confirmed his guess, "Yeah... how do you do that?" she asked. Bobby just laughed before he moved forward with the conversation, "I'm sure he's a great guy, Jen, but you have to understand that you can't force someone to be in love with you. 90% of the time, it just 'happens'." "What do you mean?" "Well, I'd have to say that the strongest relationships are forged between two people who can easily share their lives and passions together. If you're not that much alike; if you don't have the same things that make you both wake up every morning, the relationship might suffer. Without that, it sometimes works out, but I wouldn't put any money on it."
Jen looked down at her console again to think things over for a moment. "Are you saying that because we're heading in two different directions, that maybe it just isn't in the cards for us?" Bobby frowned at her question. "I don't want to tell you that it's not going to work out, but I will say that you can't get your hopes up too much. If, at some point, your lives intersect again, then it might be the right time to get together with him. This is only my opinion, but it seems that you two are going on diverging paths. You're going to train to become a bridge commander, and he's still in love with flying." Bobby pointed towards Monica, who was still sitting in the Captain's chair. "One of you will be sitting there..." He then pointed out into space. "...the other will be out there flying."
Jen immediately blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, "But Commanders Ozma Lee and Cathy Glass make it work..." Bobby looked at her with a bit of pity, following her desperate answer. "When it comes to relationships, they all don't work the same. You've done more than enough to give Cal a good picture of what you want from him. If he wants to, he'll come back for more. If he doesn't, then now just isn't a good time. You can keep spinning your wheels with him, or you can move forward with other aspirations. If your lives cross again, you both can re-evaluate your relationship together."
She looked out into space again, almost cursing the nothingness for being the thing that attracts Cal to be out there. Realizing the absurdity or her subconscious desire to lash out at something that quite literally isn't tangible, she laughed it off and turned back to Bobby. "You're always right about these kinds of things. I guess I can use the time to focus on my career until the next time we cross paths. I can't focus on both love and career, can I?" "I didn't say you couldn't have both at the same time. You just have to find someone who is walking the same path as you are. It's very possible to have your cake and eat it too." Jen thought about that for a moment. "Well, I guess I see your point. I wonder where I should start, then... ha ha." Bobby had some ideas, but he wasn't going to be specific. "I can think of a couple of people right off the top of my head, but..."
The doors to the Captain's office opened and Commander Ortiz emerged onto the bridge. He pulled the sleeve back from his uniform and checked his watch. After surveying the state of the bridge, he finally spoke, "Okay, I guess that's it for our shift. Wentz, I need to meet with you to discuss the next step of your training. What are you doing later?" Jen looked at Bobby with a strange smile. Bobby still stood looking at Jen with a smile, but he moved his eyes and nodded his head in Commander Ortiz's direction. Jen got his message and turned to answer the Commander's question. "I was going to get something to eat in the mess. Would you like to meet there?" Ortiz responded with a smile and a nod before he left the bridge towards the elevator.
...
After a bit of a power nap, Cal met up with Will in the mess to get back to the conversation they had started earlier. "So, are you going to be flying that 25G today?" Will finished taking a drink from his cup and answered, "Yup! I'm actually pretty excited to give 'er a whirl. It's too bad I probably won't be able to use it in combat for at least a while, since we're going to be leashed to the fleet until Klan gets back. Is your new bird ready to go?" Cal had a bit of food in his mouth when he answered, "Mmhmm..." He finished chewing and swallowed his food before getting to a subject of more pressing matters.
"So, tell me... what's it like to be loved by a woman who, in her natural form, stands at around 35 feet?" Will shook his head and waved the question off like it was nothing. "Bah, that doesn't bother me at all. Why do you ask?" "I was just curious. Actually, I think it's pretty awesome to see you two so close together. I'm almost jealous of you, to be honest," Cal said. He suddenly realized that he might be saying a little too much in regards to Will's relationship with Nene. Will began to look at Cal to see if he could tell what was going through his mind. "Hey, get your own girlfriend... you stay away from mine," he said with a wink. Cal slouched to one side and propped his head up with one hand while he looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I'm working on that," he harmlessly said as his thoughts quickly jumped to Klan.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cal saw Nene enter the mess hall in search of Will. She noticed that she had been seen by Cal and waved off his look while shaking her head and putting her finger in front of her mouth in a gesture to be quiet. Cal looked back down towards Will so he wouldn't give her position away. She started to sneak up on Will, as if she was going to do something to him from behind. Before she could do anything, Cal decided to play a bit of a game with them. "Will, why don't you tell me all about Nene? I'd like to know exactly what you think of her," he said, as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his folded hands. Nene stopped dead in her tracks with a shocked look on her face as she realized that Cal was going to get Will to express his feelings for her.
Will sighed with slight ecstasy and leaned back in his chair. His head almost hit Nene, who was standing directly behind him. She backed off slightly so he wouldn't sense her presence behind him. "Ah, she's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet. It's like being in love with a goddess... She's a perfect angel around me, but when she's out there flying, she's not afraid to deliver the smack-down to anything that comes near us. Beautiful, but deadly to her enemies... the perfect combination in a woman, I'd say." Will stopped when he started to see Cal holding in laughter. He was watching Nene's reaction to Will's words without looking directly at her. A quick glance above his head gave Will an idea as to why Cal was behaving so strangely.
"She's standing right behind me, isn't she?" he said with a huge blush on his face. Will tried to turn around, but Nene stopped him by putting her arms around his shoulders and dropping down to hug him from behind. She nestled her chin onto his shoulder as she spoke, "Aw, you're such a sweetie. You know that when a guy says things like that about his girlfriend to other guys, he really means it." She excitedly kissed him on the cheek and turned her gaze towards Cal, who was a bit embarrassed, but was happy for them. "...and you. You and I are going to have to have a little chat!"
Immediately, Cal knew what this was going to be about. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Will turned his head towards Nene, who still had her chin on his shoulder. "Why? What happened?" he asked. Nene looked at Will and then back at Cal. Her face turned indifferent as she answered, "Oh, he didn't tell you? Well, you're not gonna believe this, but--" Her sentence was interrupted by Cal making a choking noise and waving his hand in a cutting motion at his neck. He wore a look of nervousness as he shook his head at Nene. She stood up and glared back at him accusingly, as if he was expected to divulge all information to his best buddy who was sitting in front of him. Will was still looking at her, waiting for her to finish his sentence. "What? What is it?" he said. She put her arms akimbo and sighed at him while shaking her head with a smile.
…
"Come on, Will! We're leaving you behind if you don't move your ass now!" Cal yelled as he and Nene sped off towards their next waypoint on their patrol route. Will was still busy goofing around with the Dragunov sniper rifle that his 25G used as its main weapon. He pushed off from the hull of the ship he was using to anchor himself while he scanned the asteroid field for a lucky shot at an unsuspecting target in the distance. "I want to fire this thing at a live target!" he said with a pout. Cal smiled at Will's lust for some action, "Don't worry, I am sure we can find something to shoot at. We do seem to attract a lot of trouble as a team, don't we?" Both Nene and Will laughed at his comment as they moved on to their next stop within the fleet.
Cal attentively watched his sensor readouts to see if he could locate any nearby hostiles, but the asteroid field significantly reduced any chances of him seeing anything beyond the fleet's extremities. As if to answer his prayers, the faint flashes of a distant skirmish could be seen out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, look at what we have over here! Let's go check it out!" Nene and Will could see what Cal was talking about and they flew in the direction of the fighting.
Pixie Team set themselves up on the hull of one of the Quiltra-Quelamitz class Zentraedi warships in the fleet. Will began to fumble with the controls of his 25G while he zeroed in on one of the Vajra drones in the distance. "You couldn't hit the broadside of a battleship," Cal taunted. Will tried to ignore Cal's heckling and fired his first shot a live target. The round sailed wide of his intended target, alerting the drone of their positions. "Tch... I told you!" Cal said.
His sensors detected another group of Vajra closing in on the distant skirmish. "Oh crap, they're about to get some more company. Will, you better hit one of them!" Before Will could react, Nene finally interjected into their conversation, "Watch how it's done..." She fired the particle beam cannon that was mounted on the back of her Queadluun into the flight path of the new pack of drones. The particle beam was significantly slower than the sniper rifle's round, but it steadily sailed towards it's intended target. With an impact that could almost be felt way back at Pixie Team's position, the particle beam intercepted the path of one of the drones and slammed into the Vajra, melting through its armor and completely destroying it.
"Holy crap! Now, that's a shot! You'd better be careful, Will, or I might have to steal her away from you!" Cal jokingly said as he grappled Nene's Queadluun with his battroid. "Hey! Try it and I'll beat your ass!" Will yelled back in response. He turned his attention back to tracking down his target once again and his battroid assumed its firing stance. "I can do that too!" He remained silent for a few moments while he zeroed in on his target. He exhaled and then pulled the trigger. The sniper round tore its way through the emptiness of space towards its destination. Time seemed to crawl by slowly as Will watched his shot close in on its target until it pierced through the thick armor of one of the mecha-drones. The Vajra listed away from its initial trajectory and violently exploded.
"Yeah!" Will exclaimed as he pumped his battroid's fist in celebration. Cal remained as nonchalant as could be expected, "Yeah, I knew you could do it all along..." "Keep those kills coming and I'll reward you with a little surprise when we get back onto the Quarter," Nene said with a bit of a swoon. Cal rolled his eyes, "Oh, brother..." Will was excited to take part in Nene's incentive program. Emboldened by her words, he began to search for his next target.
Before long, Cal's sensors alerted him of incoming hostiles. Pixie Team's presence had become an annoyance to the Vajra nearby and they sought to remove the thorn from their sides by destroying the sniping team. "We've got incoming!" Cal declared. He followed Nene as they sped off to intercept the approaching drones. Will remained perched on the hull of the battleship and turned his aim towards the attackers. His two shots yielded another kill before Nene and Cal could even get within range to engage them.
"I told you we'd find you some action!" Cal said as he began to open fire on his target. The Quiltra-Quelamitz battleship began to open fire with its turret emplacements upon detecting the incoming threat. "This is the Kopetz calling Pixie Team. Are you guys trying to stir up trouble for us?" the radio crackled. "No, Sir. We're taking care of our business out here. Thanks for the supporting fire, though!" Nene responded. She closed the fleet comm line and began to laugh into the team channel. Will and Cal were also laughing at the fact that they all were throwing rocks at the hornet nest. Even without Klan, they were still having a lot of fun flying and fighting together.
Through the rain of anti-Vajra fire from the battleship, one of the drones had broken loose from the pack and maneuvered its way into a position to fire upon Will's battroid. "You have one coming in from above you!" Nene exclaimed. Will's sensors alerted him of the impending threat, and he looked up just in time to see incoming projectile fire. He skillfully rolled his battroid out of the way as the shots impacted upon the Kopetz's hull in a sequential pattern.
Rather than fly off to safety, Will boosted off of the ship's hull towards the incoming drone and delicately weaved his way through both friendly and hostile fire while in battroid form. He engaged his attacker by drawing his rifle at close range and pulled the trigger to fire. The two combatants passed each other amongst the chaos of the Kopetz's anti-aircraft fire, appearing to have missed their targets. However, the drone began to float sideways, devoid of any movement before it exploded. Will's battroid remained facing the opposite direction; he had turned a blind eye to his target, knowing full well that he had hit his mark. He transformed back to fighter mode and sped off to find another good sniping position.
"Woo! Did you see that kill? I am just too dangerous!" he exclaimed. While Will looked for a new vantage point, Cal and Nene had very few problems dispatching the few remaining drones who were attacking their position. The turret fire from the battleship slowly subsided as the number of hostile targets gradually reduced to zero. Will was scanning the asteroid field for any more targets to squeeze off some more rounds at. "Looks like our friends out there survived their little fight. Wait... Aw, I see the wreckage of one downed VF. Poor guy..." Will said as he clicked his tongue in disappointment. "It could have been worse. I guess it's a good thing that we took out a couple of their targets for them and drew the fire of this group here. I think I can sleep well tonight if we look at it that way..." Nene remarked.
Pixie Team regrouped into formation and moved onto their next patrol waypoint in the fleet. Will was still charged up about his kills, but he was quite impressed by Nene's long-range kill with her particle beam cannon. "That was one hell of a shot, Nene. I wish I could fly in one of those Queadluuns some time..." he commented. An idea popped into her mind as a reward for Will's three kills during their skirmish. "Oh, I'm sure we can find a way to make that happen."
The three pilots began to pass by the medical frigate that housed their beloved team leader. Nene sighed when she was reminded of her sister still onboard that ship. "I hope she makes it back quickly... I am actually looking forward to what happens when she does," Nene said with a smile in her voice. Cal had a feeling she was directing that statement at him. Before he could even respond, she continued with her assault, "We still need to have that little talk, Cal." Her voice was noticeably accusational, as if he was in trouble... which probably wasn't far from the truth.
Will was still enormously curious as to the nature of this "conversation" that Nene wanted to have with Cal. "What is with this secrecy? Why do you need to talk to him, Nene?" "You're too immature to understand, Will," Cal said with a laugh. "Oh, eat my ass, Cal. Whatever it is, I think I can get Nene to tell me eventually." "That means you'd have to do a little bit of work. That should be enough of a deterrent for you. I'm confident that it can remain a secret for at least a little while," Cal responded.
With the frigate behind them and getting farther away as they moved to their next waypoint, they didn't notice the launching of a shuttlecraft from the ship. Klan sat in one of the seats near a window and could see Nene, Cal, and Will flying away from the shuttle. She briefly gasped as she recognized the Queadluun Rhea, accompanied by a VF and RVF. She reached out with her hand to touch the glass of the viewport in a vain effort to communicate with her pilots.
Something in his mind told Cal to turn his RVF around to see what was going on behind him for just a moment. He stopped his forward progress and switched to battroid form as he turned to see what was drawing his subconscious attention. He saw a shuttlecraft just as it folded into super dimension space, but it initially didn't seem significant to him. He shrugged it off and continued on to catch up with his teammates. Cal's mind ran through the memory of his recent conversation with Klan on the medical frigate. He sighed as he moved his bird back into formation. He wondered how he was going to get through this impending conversation with Nene. Certainly, she was going to grill him for every bit of information she could on the matters concerning himself and her sister.
…
The mess hall was relatively busy serving the crew members who had just completed their shifts. However, Cal shared a table with nobody and ate his meal in silence. It was probably the way he'd prefer it at this point. The only company that he'd be able to tolerate right now would be either Will or Nene, but they were most likely off doing something together. In a way, he had started to envy Will for the fact that he had someone who wanted to spend their free time with him. He was glad to see them happy together, though.
After finishing his short meal, Cal headed back to the hangar to see Ozma in his office. Ozma had stopped him in the halls before he made it to the mess hall and asked him to come by after he finished eating. Cal had wondered if there was going to be some kind of ass-chewing coming his way after Pixie Team's recent sortie. The commander of the Kopetz didn't sound very happy on the radio about the skirmish that was occurring just outside of his ship's hull. When a pilot begins to think that he can do pretty much anything he wants, that attitude usually leads to a lot of trouble.
The atmosphere in Ozma's office was generally calm, though. Ozma invited Cal inside and to take a seat in front of his desk. Ozma got started quickly; he seemed to be in a hurry to get a few things done. Such is the hectic life of a squadron commander... "So, I just got done talking to Klan, who is probably back on Aimo as we speak. She shared a few things with me concerning you..." Cal began to get nervous. That busybody probably spilled the beans to the entire fleet about the words that he shared with her in confidence. It wasn't too bad that just Nene knew, but now Ozma was about to start giving him a hard time about his admitted feelings for Klan.
"She made it clear to me that I leave the rest of your training and development to her as long as you don't mind waiting for her to come back to duty. She seemed to be aware of the fact that you might be a little antsy to complete your assessment test as soon as possible, but she wanted me to ask you if you're okay with waiting for a few days," Ozma said. "That's fine," Cal responded with a shrug. Ozma leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his lap. He began to chuckle as he continued, "According to her, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble if I let you die before she gets back. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm curious nonetheless."
The situation hadn't changed quite yet. Cal was still wondering if he was going to have to try extra hard to squirm his way out of this conversation without giving too much away to Ozma. He could tell that Ozma was not the kind of person to hold gossip-worthy information like this inside of him. If it's a classified matter, he's as solid as a rock. When it comes to information that would lead to the humiliation or embarrassment of one of his chicklings, you can put money on it that he will disseminate it to as many people as he can. It sounds like he belongs on the bridge with the rest of the gossip crew who serve on the command deck.
Cal shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll have to wait until she gets back before we find out," he said with a nonchalant tone. It was easy for Ozma to pick up on Cal's evasiveness. He processed the reaction in his mind for a moment before speaking again, "Well, anyway... I am glad to see that you two are not fighting with each other anymore. Klan speaks very highly of you and I, for one, am interested to see you in action as a team leader some time down the road. Make sure you're ready for your assessment test when she gets back in a few days." "Sir," Cal acknowledged with a nod.
A moment of silence followed Ozma's statement. Both pilots were unsure of whether or not something else needed to be said. For Ozma, he was still wondering if there was something more going on between Klan and Cal, but he wanted to see if Cal would open his mouth about it. Cal began to shift in his chair as if he was preparing to stand. Realizing that he wasn't going to get any more information, Ozma stood up to bid Cal goodbye. Cal began to salute, but was stopped by Ozma before he could get his hand to his head. "Don't get yourself killed out there, Wagner. For the sake of not having a full-sized Meltran bearing down on me because I couldn't keep you alive, just do me that favor." Cal smiled and saluted, "I didn't have any plans to get killed... I plan on living forever, Sir." They laughed a bit at Cal's answer before going their separate ways.
Ozma reflected on Cal's parting statement, "I plan on living forever." The very same words came from his own mouth not too long ago. It looks like Cal has found the pilot's ideal level of confidence and cockiness. It was Ozma's firm belief that all good pilots should be at least a little cocky. While under the intense pressure of overwhelming odds in a battle, that cockiness is all a pilot has to keep them operating at their best performance levels. When an average pilot begins to succumb to his fear of death, a good pilot relies on his confidence and cockiness to stay strong in the face of certain death.
Realizing he had forgotten to ask, Ozma darted to the door and stuck his head out to yell to Cal. Cal was still walking across the hangar towards the living area of the ship when he heard Ozma calling for him. "Wagner! Have you seen your teammates recently?" Cal shrugged as he looked around the hangar. Will's VF was in its storage space, but Nene's Queadluun was missing. It looked like there was some sort of extravehicular activity going on...
The missing Queadluun weaved in and out of the planetoids in the asteroid belt at high speeds. Several of the fleet's capital ships were buzzed by the rogue power armor during its unauthorized flight. The occasional call from the flight-control officers of each ship was ignored by the pilot, who instead chose to turn up the music playing inside of the cockpit to drown out the fleet comm line. "Zero-g Love! Zero-g Love! 4, 3, 2, 1, Zero-g Love..!" the song echoed.
Nene looked to her left shoulder with a smile, where Will had braced himself during the flight. Even though he was wearing his EX-gear, he had to work hard to hold on or he'd be thrown around the cockpit during Nene's furious maneuvering. Despite this fact, the two pilots were having the time of their lives together. Will's first time flying inside of a Queadluun would be a trip he would never forget, even though he wasn't the one at the controls.
After a long period of seemingly-reckless aerospace maneuvering, Nene sought out a good spot to stop for awhile. She turned off the music and opened the Queadluun's hatch to exit the power armor. They both floated out into the openness of space, conveniently oriented in the direction of the distant planet of Aimo. It reflected the Coral star's light back into their eyes with a soothing blue glow. It was no more than a mere speck from their position, but it still shone with the brightness of an incandescent bulb. No doubt, this intense shine was indicative of the strength of the aggregated life living upon that planet. Both the native life of Aimo and the lives of the colonists whom had recently arrived there pierced through the void of space, like a single candle burning in a dark, empty room.
As silence returned to their ears once again, Will had to remark at the appropriateness of the song they were listening to, "Zero-g love, indeed... I've never had so much fun before. Thank you for this, Nene." "Oh, the ride isn't quite done yet!" Nene remarked with a laugh. They both aimlessly floated through space as they marveled at the view of the distant planet, the bright Coral star, the planetoids of the asteroid belt, the ships in the fleet, and the backdrop of millions of stars set in an infinitely large jet-black cloth. There was nothing around to interrupt their time together and in their minds, they wished that it could go on eternally...
