2010-04-26 - A Voice in Space

As it goes, a single Mobile Suit is hovering at safe orbit high above the Earth Sphere, waiting. A single mobile suit, bathed in the glow of the planet, reflecting on the cameras and on the visor of the flight helmet. Her hands hold the controls lightly, only applying the slightest touches of thrust when she requires it.

Rachel Miu Athha breathes slowly, calmly. Staring at the Earth like this, the way it is now. Aside from the flow of air trapped within the cockpit and the muted hum of a Mobile Suit, Orb's other princess seems to be lost in looking at the planet she was born on. Though her left eye is still covered with a medical-style eyepatch, there's a light in that visible right eye that makes even her smile just a little bit, even if unknowingly.

Like a child in awe. Like someone captivated by something. Like something stirring in her heart.

After a buzzing noise in her ear, the distinctly pink MVF-M11C Murasame turns a bit away from the planet, toward the transport ship breaking through the atmosphere and heading her way. It's small, nothing important to look at or speak of, but the pink Murasame drifts toward it long enough to rest a hand on the hull, giving the space-boat and Mobile Suit a brief and unhackable skinlink communications.

After a few moments, the hand retracts. The craft continues heading into space as the angle changes, and the Murasame glides in a position to follow.

The Murasame isn't the only pink Mobile Suit out in space. Granted, the Ahead Smultron is more od a dark magenta than a light pink, but it's close enough to Soma's distinct colors that she's kept since she first went into the field with the Tieren Taozi.

Today, the Smultron is flying on its own. Soma isn't intending to attack anywhere, but she does need to make a rendesvous in China and had no desire to make the entire Shirogane detour toward the earth to drop her off. The Ahead was perfectly capable of making the trip to earth without escort. Besides, with space being so big, what are the chances of running into any trouble?

Of course, just as she's thinking this, Soma notices the early warning sensors blipping. "Not EFA... not A-LAWS..." And not civilian. That means it's an enemy. After checking in quickly with the Shirogane, Soma steers her Ahead on an interception course. Orange GN Tau particles trail behind the Smultron as it flies in toward the transport and its escort.

There is no warning. There is no announcement. There is only a single bright orange beam fired from the Ahead Smultron toward the ship and its escort.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has attacked Rachel Miu Athha. GN Beam Rifle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has missed you with her GN Beam Rifle attack.

Moving to a flanking position, the Murasame's in an optimal position for both a forward and rear attack; equal distances and range for all things. The cockpit's HUD displays a critical error, however-- one in the form of a warning, a shot being fired toward both the ship and her Mobile Suit from behind.

The natural reaction is almost instantaneous. With a double tap of the button under her left pinky finger and a shift of the sticks, the Murasame's shield drops from the higher-up, hands-free position on the forearm to a proper position on the forearm. Turning around, the shield is used to deflect the shot into space; the shield itself looking little more than singed in the process.

Drawing a beam saber, the blade ignites in a bright green glow, the blade held in a backhanded grip. Only then does she actually realize who it is. Her eye widens, and the white-haired girl's blood runs cold. A natural Newtype or not, her sixth sense feels a distinct sting. It would feel like a weight on her shoulders, a sudden rush of emotions-- though with the gear designed to block things like that out, no doubt the A-LAWS Lieutenant wouldn't be able to catch it.

Without even a notice or communication, she knows who the pilot of the Mobile Suit is. It was /her/ machine, from the magenta armor to the burnt orange particles spewing out of the back, and nobody else but the Chinese super-soldier would ever try to pilot that thing. Her radio clicks on long enough to address the ship: "Get out of here, I'll hold her off."

And then her attention turns forward.

She doesn't make a single motion. She doesn't strike, blaze toward her target, or draw the beam rifle. Instead, the pink MVF-M11C Murasame holds position like some kind of sentinel; guarding the path beyond to the fleeing Katharon cargo ship. The calm breathing becomes a little more jagged.

"Soma..."

That first shot was as close to a warning shot as Soma ever gives. That is... if it had hit, it probably wouldn't have destroyed either ship or Mobile Suit outright. Probably. Look, Super Soldiers don't -do- warning shots.

The fact that the Murasame managed to avoid it is only of minor annoyance to Soma. When she isn't fired upon immediately, she accelerates her Smultron forward. With the rifle still held in the right hand, the left reaches over to draw a beam saber and ignite it, the blade burning the same orange color as the beams and the particles spraying from the GN drive.

While it's true that her helmet blocks out the majority of mental interference, Soma can still sense things strongly enough. She can feel that her enemy is a Newtype... or at least has similar powers. When the transport ship starts moving off, Soma tilts her head slightly. "You really think you can keep me at bay on your own?" This pilot is either very brave or ignorant of who she is. Either way, she plans on making sort work of the Murasame. And yet, in the bac k of her mind, something seems so... familiar. She isn't quite sure why, though.

With no attacks coming from the Katharon suit, Soma accelerates in quickly, bringing the beam saber around. If there was any doubt that Soma was the one in the Smultron, this maneuver should dispel them... what other pilot would charge in so recklessly?

COMBAT: Soma Peries's GN Beam Saber has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has attacked Rachel Miu Athha. GN Beam Saber added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has missed you with her GN Beam Saber attack.

COMBAT: You have missed Soma Peries with your Elbow Strike counter attack.

'You really think you can keep me at bay on your own?'

It's like a knife that cuts into her heart. Fighting someone like Mister Bushido was one thing, but this is something that feels a whole lot more personal. There's something significant there, but the younger Athha sister can't grasp it. It hovers beyond the edge of her senses; shadows in her mind and heart that flicker and touch at her. She can feel her eye warming, watering up.

She watches Soma attack, but it's like she's watching someone else's guncam footage. The situation is too /wrong/ to be real, but it's happening all the same. She watches that beam saber with her indescribable expression, the swing that comes so dangerously close to her that it threatens to tear a gash through the cockpit bloc that would undoubtedly be lethal.

"Soma," she whispers again, voice caught in her throat.

Her mind pauses at that moment.

Her body, her Mobile Suit, does something entirely different.

The Murasame's thrusters blaze to life, the machine dipping hard to the side. In that same motion, it moves dangerously close to the Smultron, the Orb unit very nearly cracking an elbow across the back of the machine's head. In that one movement, she's floating easily behind the Smultron, watching the flow of GN particles spraying toward her and the pink Mobile Suit.

Her eye still sees the Smultron from the front. The Murasame slips into view behind it, hovering there for a moment before it's as though her senses rubberband back to her body. She's still breathing hard.

"SOMA!!"

Lurching forward, the Murasame's back-gripped beam saber is brought out to full extension. She waits for the Ahead Smultron to turn around before she strikes, swinging the blade out in one harsh, deep arc that, in a perfect world, would tear through actuators and motors, sever cables and power lines, and carve clear through solid chassis in an attempt to flat-out behead the machine in one shot.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Your attack has been added to Soma Peries's queue.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has attacked Soma Peries. Beam Saber added to their queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have struck Soma Peries with a major critical hit using Beam Saber.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has missed you with her GN Beam Saber counter attack.

Well, how is Soma supposed to know who this is? In her mind, it's just someone in a bright pink Mobile Suit guarding a ship she would love to shoot down.

When the Murasame manages to evade her strike, Soma is a little surprised... but not so much that she doesn't keep out of the way of the elbow that swings back at her suit. "You'll have to be faster than that!" And then her opponent suddenly is.

As useful as the GN Tau drives are, they are very big, very obvious targets. Especially now that some Katharon pilots apparently are being taught to go right for the GN drives, it makes fighting them a little different. Not necessarily harder... but different. Soma knows how to deal with that, though. As the beam saber swings in, she pulls her Ahead back and brings her own around to catch it--

SOMA!!

What was that? The Super Soldier blinks as she feels -something- touching her mind. The helmet blocks out most of it, but there's a very vague sense of... something. It's briefly enough to break her concentration, and the Murasame's beam saber cuts deeply into the Smultron's armor. It misses the GN drive, but there's a deep gash in the right torso. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Soma quickly spins the maneuvering fin to make sure it's still operational before swinging out with her beam saber again.

It's a feint, really, just meant to buy her a second or two to reach up and unfasten her helmet. She needs her full senses.. she needs to feel what that was that was pressing on her mind. With the helmet off, though, she directs her suit forward, and the Smultron lifts its beam saber again...

...before jabbing the GN beam rifle forward instead, unloading a full barrage of orange beam fire from both barrels at close range.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Soma Peries's GN Rifle Dual Mode has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has attacked Rachel Miu Athha. GN Rifle Dual Mode added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has struck you with a devastating critical hit using GN Rifle Dual Mode!

A scream that resonates so loudly that she doesn't even realize she's doing it. The echo is lost on her ears as she swings; her beam saber collides and tears through the void. Slicing deeply through the armor of the Ahead Smultron, the beam saber pulls back enough to be removed from the dark crimson unit and still remain held up in a backhanded grip, as though her followup attack paused right then and there.

She did it. She hit her.

Soma.

Lost in her own shock, her body again makes movements that her mind doesn't even seem to register. The Murasame's left arm swings upward to interpose that shield between the muzzles of the Smultron's rifle, though it's to little effect. Beams tear through the shield and rip through the armor, rupture internal components, and lay a general hellish barrage on the Mobile Suit.

Once it's over, the green eyes under the helmet that sit below that Gundam-like crest on the tip of the helmet, burst once with glowing light.

In the cockpit, she can hear things. The clicking of buttons being tapped, the sound of the control sticks sliding smoothly and almost totally quietly across the grooves in the pilot's seat. The ruined shield retracts from across the chest in response, lurching against the forearm to free up her left hand. She hasn't blinked. She hasn't gotten angry or smiled, she hasn't found herself wanting to tear her opponent's GN Drive out with her bare hands.

All of her motions are smooth and without hesitation, as though her body were more on autopilot than the on-board computer was. Hot tears roll down the sides of her face; the gauze pad over her left eye starts to turn wet. It radiates from her just as easily as she can feel the A-LAWS super-soldier's presence in the Smultron.

"... Don't make me do this... Soma..."

The Murasame's right-hand beam saber is released just long enough to be caught in a forward grip. A second saber is taken up by the left hand, held backhanded, and swung forward. Like Soma's attack, it's a feint: The foregripped beam saber swings around in a swift, sharp strike from shoulder to hip. The backhanded beam saber lurches forward for a low blow across the Smultron's abdomen. The foregripped saber comes across the Murasame's chest and lashes outward one more time at the Ahead's neck, while the backhanded saber is thrust in an outward-hooking motion to catch and dig through the lower abdomen in a tearing motion.

"I don't want to fight you!!"

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have turned on your [Strike] spirit command.

COMBAT: Your attack has been added to Soma Peries's queue.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has attacked Soma Peries. Beam Saber Assault added to their queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have struck Soma Peries with a devastating critical hit using Beam Saber Assault.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has counter attacked for a minor hit using GN Beam Rifle!

Don't make me do this.

Something about this fighting style seems familiar. True, there are any number of pilots out there specializing in beam sabers, but something in Soma's head just keeps screaming at her that she -knows- this style. The first swing is neatly blocked by Soma's own beam saber, but... well, she's not bad at close combat at all, but she's much better with the rifle. The Smultron manages to squeeze off a single shot before having to go into survival mode. A few more of the swings are blocked, but not enough. Another deep cut is melted into the torso, then the right shoulder plating is shorn clearnly off and goes hurtling off into space. It's only Soma's quick reflexes that prevent that final swing from cutting the Ahead in half, as the maneuvering fin rotates and sprays orange GN particles off to the side, shoving the Mobile Suit away. Judging by the sparks flying from the slices in the armor, as well as the slowness with which the arms seem to move, there was some heavy damage dealt there.

I don't want to fight you.

"What?" Amber eyes blink once in confusion. With her helmet now off, she can hear... or rather, she can -feel- a very familiar presence. There's a lot less aggression there than she would have figured given the situation, but... it's so familiar. "Who are you?!" Soma, on the other hand, has plenty of aggression, and she's radiating it strongly. "You're so familiar and yet..." The rifle is brought up and pointed at the Murasame. "If you do not want to fight, then you can die! Now tell me who you are!"

This is wrong. Something is wrong, so very wrong. Soma's mind is screaming at her to stop, even as she pulls the trigger of the beam rifle. Wrong no don't do this don't fight friend ally comrade familiar I know this person.

COMBAT: Soma Peries's GN Beam Rifle Snipe has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has attacked Rachel Miu Athha. GN Beam Rifle Snipe added to their queue.

COMBAT: Soma Peries has struck you with a major hit using GN Beam Rifle Snipe!

Soma screamed, 'Then you can die!'

The shield swings up one more time, but the state that its in is entirely remembered only after the point of no return is crossed. Though it does manage to absorb some of the shot fired her way, Rachel's Murasame is far from being a miracle worker or superweapon; the beam shears through the armor and rips into the right side of the chest.

Tessa grinned. 'This is what Mithril exists for.'

The cockpit sparks and snaps, parts of the panoramic display sputter into segmented monitor pieces instead of a single seamless image. A burst of flames erupt from the hole in the chest before rippling out like water into the absolute zero temperatures of space and flickering off into nothingness.

Cagalli was five pounds of trigger weight from a fatal mistake. 'You don't have to be what you were made to be.'

Hovering there, the pink Murasame looks like a dead body that floats through space. The shield cracks a few times along the surface; the warped defensive measure detaches from the forearm as the magbolts and brackets holding it in place break. A few arcs of electricity bridge wildly around the hole in the chest.

Amuro's voice was reassuring. 'Hey, I know how you feel.'

The cockpit's lights flicker as the display occasionally breaks into snow and glitchy static on the right-hand side. She already knows the camera's fine-- it's the connection to the cockpit that's damaged. If she stays like this... if she does nothing, she's going to die. Lieutenant Soma Peries strikes her down, gets another kill in her books, and the world moves forward for the A-LAWS.

"... I ..."

Reaching up to her helmet, Rachel feels the blast of air against her neck as she pulls it off. Moving it to her side, her eye closes. Still streaked with tears, still alternating between deep and shuddering breaths, her left hand reaches up to the medical gauze eyepatch covering her left eye, gloved fingers gripping the fabric and tape. With a sharp pull, the elastic strings snap at the corners and the tape holding the gauze beneath pull away.

"... I don't..."

Two golden-color eyes open, lit with determination. The Murasame suddenly lurches as though it's heart restarted. Lurching backward with a burst of movement, the Mobile Suit grips the destroyed shield in it's left hand. It zigs left, rolls to the right, and gets well beyond melee range with the Smultron. Then, it arcs. Briefly, her thoughts turn to Amuro. Tessa. Cagalli...

In the relative form of a jet fighter, the MVF-M11C Murasame cuts a line through space, looking to slam front-end first into the Ahead Smultron and /keep going/.

"I'M NOT GONNA DIE!!"

Rachel Miu Athha's MVF-M11C Murasame transforms into its Murasame FM mode.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Your attack has been added to Soma Peries's queue.

COMBAT: Rachel Miu Athha has attacked Soma Peries. Ramming Speed added to their queue.

COMBAT: You have struck Soma Peries with a devastating hit using Ramming Speed.

Knock Out! Soma Peries's GNX-704T-SP Ahead Smultron unit has become disabled!

COMBAT: Soma Peries has missed you with her GN Beam Rifle counter attack.

Life is full of what-ifs. To be honest, Soma could have died any number of times before today. She was nearly killed a handful of times. Cagalli once, Subject E-0057 once, MITHRIL once... Her very existence is highly improbably, an exerimental designer baby raised with inhuman powers. She doesn't deserve to exist in this world. It's really only a matter of time before she has to let go of her unearned life and move on.

Soma is not fatalistic, though. She knows she will die one day. She is a soldier and was created for that purpose. All Soma can hope is that she's able to do something useful with her life.

I'm not gonna die!

Soma hears that loud and clear in her head. She surges forward, the Smultron firing a single shot before the Murasame plows into it. The nsoecone pierces right through the already damaged torso, just below the cockpit, and all the systems go black.

Within the cockpit, there is nothing. Nothing but Soma's own thoughts. Nothing but the echo of what she heard. Not going to die. Can't die here. Not going to... and for some reason, in the blackness of the cockpit, Soma can see so much more clearly. The reason why this has all felt so familiar. So very familiar...

"...Lieutenant Triald?" Her voice is soft, and yet it carries. With her mind focused in the inky blackness, Soma can almost feel Ralla right there in front of her. But... how?

Her eyes are focused on the target, clear as day. The Murasame blazes toward the Smultron, but not by instinct or knee-jerk reactions. Not because of reflex or acting almost as though her limbs are pre-programmed. No... this was her own will, strong as it may or may not be.

The Smultron gets closer and closer and closer and--

CRACK

For a moment, the impact is hard enough for the unhelmeted girl to black out. Her body hasn't been the same since soaking up enough GN particles to power herself if she were a Mobile Suit, and the distance carried by the flying Morgenroete-designed machine is somewhat surprising. Letting out a grunt as her left eye squints, Rachel slows the machine down; retros touch-and-go until both units are at a complete stop. Then, the Murasame's shield detaches from the body.

In a few more moments, the pink-colored Murasame has returned to it's heavily battered and damaged Mobile Suit state. In a few more moments, the shield is pulled out of the Smultron's body while the other hand holds it steady, a careless release consigning the utterly ruined shield to the black depths behind them.

As the Murasame draws ever-closer to the Ahead, and stops, the cockpit hatches open. The cockpit depressurizes with a rush of air and a few bits of loose debris sweeping out into space, and Rachel Miu Athha steps out onto the short platform at the hatch entrance. Her helmet is on and sealed, her visor is closed but transparent enough for her face to be seen.

Drifting to the hatch of the Smultron, Rachel's hands fan out against the familiar exterior, close to her own chest. Her head rests against the hull, and her eyes close. She's still crying.

"... Soma... I'm so sorry..."

Soma can feel the sensation of the shield being pulled free of her Mobile Suit. She can feel herself... not dying. She can feel that presence getting closer and closer. Her eyes close, despite not being able to see anything in the blackness of the cockpit anyway. It helps her focus, and she can almost see the form of the othe rpilot floating toward her and... and...

It takes a moment for Soma to parse the fact that she can feel Rachel hugging her Mobile Suit. "...you're alive." Reaching up, she grabs her helmet again and... does not put it on. She could put it on. She could go out there to meet Ralla. But her helmet would also block out the Quantum brainwaves she's feeling. So she just holds her helmet in her hands and -feels-. "How?"

Physical contact.

Physical contact is her safety net in certain situations, something that other members of Katharon-- or at least a very select few-- know about. She would prefer to have the Lieutenant, but for whatever reason, Soma Peries is not coming out of that cockpit. She can't see the one person whom even as a Cyber-Newtype she called "her friend."

Hands and body pressed against the exterior hatch of the Ahead Smultron, head leaned forward, her shoulders shift to and fro as she continues to cry, breaths becoming jagged and mixed with the occasional sob. Lieutenant Triald-- Rachel-- allows her fingers to claw against the armor a little bit as her arms come in closer, elbows to her chest and knuckles under her chin.

"I was pulled out of the cockpit. I-- I thought I was going to die. They rescued me and I..." She pauses, long enough to sniffle.

"Soma... I've wanted to talk to you... to Leo... so badly..." she says, murmuring into the visor and Smultron's chest. "... I've w-wanted to call so many times... I've... I just..."

"... I can't go back anymore..."

The Super Soldier sheds no tears. She isn't even sure if she -can-. She can definitely feel the sorrow from the younger pilot, though, and it weighs heavy on her. "Lieutenant Triald..." Pulled out of the cockpit. Rescued. "'They'... but your foot." One hand slowly closes, clenched into a fist. "It was all a lie?"

She wanted to talk to Soma. She... she's using Soma's first name. When did that come about? This person isn't acting like Ralla, yet at the same time there's no doubt that it is Ralla. "I do not understand." Slowly, she shakes her head, silver hair floating freely all about her thanks to the lack of helmet. "You could have killed me but did not." Soma is reminded of the square gun she has clipped to her suit. How easy would it be to put on her helmet, open the cockpit, and shoot an enemy combatant? She was trained for that sort of thing. She's done if before. She... can't even keep that thought in her mind. It's out of the question.

"You should come back. Everyone was... sad. Captain Stenbuck and Warrant Officer Halevy and..." Well, Michael didn't seem sad. But Ralla says she can't. "I do not understand," Soma repeats.

An obvious lie. One that Mithril paid out the ear to arrange for, but even Rachel knew that such a lie would never last for extended periods of time. People like Soma Peries. People like Latooni Subota. Even people like Excellen Browning-- people who couldn't understand their feelings, people who could investigate better than some lifelong detectives... people who just care. If only she had known the extent of the searching that had been carried out by these people...

... No. That would just make this hurt even more than it already does. All the tears she's shed, all of the nightmares and comfort she's felt.

The emotions.

"I-- I have something now, Soma... something I can't ever let go of. I... if I return to the A-LAWS, I'll l-lose that. I can't... I won't..."

Turning her head one way, toward the planet, then toward space, she tries to get an estimate of their positions. The orbital ring, patrol routes... if those haven't changed, then she might just be able to do something about this.

"Please, Lieutenant... Soma... don't tell him about this. The Captain, h-he--" She makes another noise. While at the core, it is definately the girl Soma once knew, the flood, the strength of those emotions... "I won't ask you to come with me... and I know you have no obligation to listen to me. I-- I know that," she says, sounding just as pained as she feels. "Maybe one day... but right now, I'm... I'm Rachel Miu Athha. Ralla Traln Triald is ... is no more."

It takes a few minutes before she speaks: "I'm going to push you into into range of patrol route C-12F. If you watch your systems you should be found before too long."

Pushing off from the hull of the Smultron, the white-haired girl returns to the cockpit of the Murasame, closing the hatches and allowing the cockpit to pressurize again. With careful, steady hands, the Murasame grips onto the Ahead Smultron and gives it a relatively gentle-- in the terms of a Mobile Suit, anyway-- push toward a point in space not all that horribly far off from regular security patrols.

"... good-bye, Soma... for now... good-bye..."

It's difficult. Soma can feel all those emotions. She can sympathize with them. She can even feel some of them... but she can't express them, not obviously.

Can't return. "Why--?" And before she finishes the question, Soma feels that she knows. Ralla has a new place that she belongs. New friends. New family. New teammates. A new Mobile Suit. She no longer needs them. She...

"I will... not speak of it." It's the best promise Soma can give. If she's asked directly, she won't be able to lie, but she's not going to be bringing the topic up on her own. The secret is probably safe. "Lieutenant Ralla Traln Triald is dead. I agree. You--"

Pause. Wait. "Athha?" Soma blinks, but the contact is broken as Rachel pushes off. Cagalli Yula Athha. A storm of emotions begins to rage inside Soma. Hatred. Rage. Confusion. Friendship. Back to confusion, because it's always popular. She doesn't say another word as her Smultron is pushed into the path of the security patrol that will surely come.

Until it does, she can only think about Ralla Traln Triald--Rachel and the hated Athha name. She can only ask herself why.