2008-07-13 - First Sunset

Orb Union Islands A chain of independent islands, the Orb Union has remarkably nondiscriminatory policies and a solid military in spite of its small size. Its true claim to fame, however, is its status as the opinion leaders of a fairly substantial coalition of nations and organizations that are unhappy with both the DC and the EFA. Well-situated strategically, it has a staggering amount of geothermal energy to draw on, and a well-kept war infrastructure thanks to the partially nationalized Morgenroete, Inc.

The beach is a lovely place for a walk, as long as you don't mind getting the sand between your toes. And the occasional crab. Or twig. Sometimes a dead seagull or a used condom, if you're in a secluded cove. The point is, Amuro Ray likes beaches, and that is where he is now. The sun is on its downward arc, and the White Devil has somehow managed to escape Beltorchika's psychotic grasp for a few minutes of Alone Time. A light breeze ruffles his 'fro and sets his blazer dancing. Its sleeves are rolled up, as are the cuffs of his jeans. One hand loosely holds his fancy leather shoes, and he seems to be rolling a small object around in his other hand. Bare feet rest in the surf, slowly sinking into the wet sand as the waves inexorably pile it up over his skin. On his face, a quiet smile. "I wish you were here to see this, Lalah."

Apolly Bay will likely end up disrupting this 'Alone Time.' He's nowhere near close enough to overhear Amuro, but Apolly walks onto the sunset-decorated beach all the same. It takes him a few moments to even realize Amuro is here, and with an intrigued "Eh?", Apolly walks closer to the ace. He at least recognizes Amuro, even if they haven't spoken much before.

A subtle brush across Amuro's enhanced perceptions alerts him to a new presence on this deserted beach, and he slowly turns his head towards Apolly. Seeing who it is, he smiles and waves with the small-object-holding hand. The Newtype doesn't move from his position, however. This is either because he really likes where he's standing, or because his feet are now too buried in wet sand to move without far too much effort to be seemly. "Hey Apolly. What brings you here?" Amuro calls. "Come check out this sunset, I have a hunch it's gonna be a doozy."

Apolly Bay isn't getting too close, apparently not as keen on tide-water as Amuro is. And when prompted for why he's here, Apolly has no truly insightful answer. "They told me to go kill some time while they finish adjusting the filters, so... here I am." And then he looks skyward, a bit intrigued and confused. "What's so special about it? ...Besides it being a sunset." They're still a semi-new sight to a spacenoid.

Amuro lets out a short laugh. "I TOLD them, all they need to do is alter the hepa induction level to 2.5um. Those guys are stubborn, though." He shakes his head. "They always insist on running test after test after test. It's like, enough tests! Just do what you already know works!" The Newtype rolls his neck, sighs. "Though I guess it's probably safer to go through the whole 6-hour battery of tests every time." He looks up, the sun nearing the horizon. "There aren't very many clouds, for one. So we've got a clear view straight out to the ocean, and that means the sun's going to go down right on the horizon from our point of view. Smooth sailing all the way down." A shrug. "I don't know, Apolly. Like I said, just a hunch."

Apolly Bay momentarily looks back to Amuro, surprised by the 'technobabble.' "Heh. Didn't know you knew maintenance like that. But..." His gaze returns to the sky, "...I'll buy that. Hunches usually work out, so let's see your amazing sunset." Apolly's tone sounds a bit sardonic and dry-wit, but there's no obvious mockery or distrust to it. "Though I think you're right. I'd rather they be completely sure my Rick Dias is good to go, than assuming anything."

"Yeah, I'm way into electronic engineering," Amuro says, perhaps reading Apolly's unspoken question on his face. "It runs in the family. My dad designed the Gundam. I invented Haro and also designed the Dijeh." A twist of his mouth. "Which coincidentally is based on the Rick Dias." Amuro looks down, revealing the object in his hand: a round, flat stone. "It's a solid machine," he comments, arm snapping back and forward, wrist loose, flinging the stone out over the water. It hits, skips across the water several times, then finally pierces the waves and sinks away to a watery grave. "Doesn't need a lot of maintenance like the Jim series, cockpit's roomier than the Zakus." Another short laugh, and he looks to Apolly. "But I'm sure you know aaaaaall about that cramped little Zaku cockpit."

Apolly Bay makes an appreciative whistle to Amuro's credentials. "I had no idea. Seven years ago," Amuro just brought it up, indirectly, "To me... you were just the 'White Devil.' No face, not much of a name, just the Gundam nobody really wanted to get too close to. But you know," He returns Amuro's look, some homeland pride showing. "Zakus weren't so bad. I upgraded to a Dom as soon as I could, but there's nothing really wrong with the Zaku. It's kind of different seeing you," A finger-point at Amuro, "In Zeon-style machines."

Amuro nods, eyes growing slightly distant. "Yeah. Back then, I..." a lengthy pause. The Ace chews on his free hand's thumbnail a little, one of those Newtype Protagonist tics. "I didn't understand what I was doing most of the time, to be honest. It was kind of a big shock when it finally hit home that there were PEOPLE in those other mobile suits, you know?" Another pause, and he smiles again. "The Zaku was a fine machine, Apolly. It was revolutionary. Mobile suits wouldn't be where they are today without it." Then a nod, a slight shrug again. "What can I say? Zeonic engineering topped EFF engineering when they started pumping out Gelgoogs. Credit where it's due."

Apolly Bay doesn't seem to react much to Amuro's thumb-biting, aside from an eye-raise that goes away when Amuro resumes speaking. "I guess so. I've known that anyone getting shot down is someone that won't go home, but that's been about it to me. Never really felt bad about it, everyone knows what they're getting into." Then there's that satisfied smirk again, "And as for the Gelgoog... I always felt it was a step back from the Dom. Just trying to copy the Gundam rather than doing something new like we had been. But even with both of those..." Apolly makes a self-conscious back of head scratch, "I'm not sure what went wrong. Guess it doesn't matter too much though. I'm here, you're here, and now the stakes are a lot higher than just Zeon's independence."

"Yeah. A lot of people didn't go home after the One Year War," Amuro says a little sadly. "But the important part is protecting the people can't fight for themselves, or who don't know how to protect themselves from exploitation. The people who just want to live peaceful lives, you know?" He frowns. "It's like everything that happened back then was for nothing. People keep fighting, people keep dying." "Well, either way, people have been designing some amazing new things in terms of mobile suits. Have you seen the Methuss? They're prototyping for a transformable mobile suit, designed by that Camille kid." He laughs. "Imagine, we won't have to ride those Dodais any more! We can just flip a switch and boom, your robot turns into a jet."

"Eh? You're just full of surprises..." Apolly's first comment to Amuro's philosophy. "You sound almost like some of the guys back home, minus the yelling about 'Feddies' every third word. But don't let this get to you... some of it has to be done." Then Apolly raises an eye, intrigued by this Methuss talk. "Camille's something else. Almost reminds me of you in a way, but... I never really had a problem with Dodais." He's visibly suspicious of this advancement. "Sounds like they're trying to make these things too complex. I'm happy with what I've got. Never had a bazooka ready and said I needed a jet mode instead..."

"Well the way I figure it, it's better to have a jet mode and not need it, than to need a jet mode and not have it," Amuro states with confidence. "I can't count the number of times a little extra travelling speed would have spelled the difference between life and death." The White Devil just shakes his head. "I know what you mean though, Apolly. Now don't get me wrong, the Gundam was an amazing machine, but... when was I ever going to need a giant, rocket-propelled hammer?" He turns to the Zeon vet, raising his hands in a helpless gesture. "Honestly! Bright fired that thing out to me in the middle of a major battle and the whole time I'm just thinking, 'Boy, I wish I had a laser rifle'."

Apolly Bay is outright astounded by that. "A... ...hammer." He repeats that in self-confirmation. "A hammer. Like this?" Apolly makes a wrist-flick motion as if trying to swing a ball-and-hammer forward, and stares at his wrist afterward. "What kind of Mobile Suit needs that? That's the sort of junk I'd expect on one of those Super... ...wait." Realization hits Apolly very suddenly, and he laughs. "You had me going for a sec. That's a good one, I'll have to see if we can get one of those for Lt. Quattro as a gag gift."

Amuro's eyes grow. "No, no! I'm completely serious!" he insists. "They gave me a giant freaking hammer!" Amuro repeats Apolly's mimed wrist-snapping motion. "Damn thing nearly got me killed. Most impractical weapon conceivable for a warzone." His head shakes, "with the Gundam, the EFF was just trying to make something iconic, a 'super weapon', so on some levels I understand why they'd do something like that, but it's, it's just /common sense/ that any pilot worth his salt would rather have a laser rifle than a rocket hammer."

Apolly Bay /stares./ He wasn't expecting Amuro to be sincere about that. ".../Why./ I'm envisioning you trying to use that now and... ...agh." He has no articulate words for how stupid that is. "That's politics and bureaucracy for you, I guess. Just be glad you're rid of that stupid thing."

Amuro blows out a long breath, dangling his shoes a little. "Tell me about it, man." But at last, the sun is beginning to set. The sky melts into a field of rainbow fire. Red, gold, purple, green, blue, and everything in between. It's as if a master Impressionist has whipped out his thumb and begun smudging vibrant swathes of colours across the sky, as the blazing orb of Humanity's star begins to sink below the waves... which are throwing up a rippling reflection of the fire in the sky. Amuro's breath catches in his throat as he watches the spectacle. "I /knew/ it," he breathes, overawed by the planet's majesty. "Just look at that, Apolly. This is what we're working to save." A smile touches on his face.

Apolly Bay is about to say a little more, when Amuro points out what Apolly had only vaguely noticed; the sunset. He looks up, quiet for a few seconds... and is taking this far, far more casually than Amuro, arms folded together. "That is something. I don't know if that's exactly what we're fighting for, warrior-philosopher... but I'll say your hunch was right."

Amuro, having been born on Earth, may just be slightly more susceptible to sunsets. Or maybe he's just a little less of a man's man than Apolly. Either way, he beams into the sunset, luxuriating in the dying beams of the day's sun. "Well, not JUST this, obviously," he admits. "But saving the planet from further harm, that's one of our aims in AEUG. As I understand it, at least." The colours darken and begin to fade into black and grey as the sun leaves the sky, and Amuro turns again to look at Apolly. "I just like to have a bit of a reminder, every now and then," he explains. Then, he looks down at his feet, buried up to above the ankles in wet sand by now, and laughs. "Persistent little waves, aren't they." A quiet smile. "But they've got the right idea. Slow and steady, erode the old ways, build the new ways. Maybe some day people like us won't be necessary." He looks up, eyes unfocused. "Wouldn't that be nice." He doesn't really sound convinced.

Apolly Bay is clearly amused by Amuro's behavior. He's keeping a healthy distance from it, but is humored. "I wouldn't worry too much about that... it's not like we're taking Mobile Suit-scale chainsaws to the trees. And as for not needing us?" Apolly's arms unfold, making a one-armed shrug after that. "I hope so. I don't want to still be piloting when I'm sixty. I bet by then I'll want your waves and sunsets and even a cozy fireplace. But for now?" Apolly turns around, facing away from the beach. "This isn't so bad. It was nice getting a chance to finally meet you, but I'm going to head back soon."

Amuro turns towards Apolly, skepticism writ large across his face. "Have you SEEN the Lumber Gundam?" he asks, incredulous. "Taking mobil suit-scale chainsaws to trees is /exactly what it does/." Then, he shakes his head, amused in his turn. "I know what you mean, but I don't think we-- humanity-- are very good for the Earth's health right now. But it's a pipe dream to think of moving everyone off it." As Apolly announces his intentions to leave, Amuro gives a bit of a wave. "Have a good night, Apolly. I should probably get back soon as well; who knows when Beltorchika will start harrassing people to come find me." A deep sigh. /Women/.