Wow. Been a while. I blame other projects and my new job- five months old yesterday!
In that time, I've watched the vast majority of Gundam. I've played the games. This idea- UC Gundam, based off a cyberpunk Earth- still strikes me as worthy of being told... but it's just a tiny bit huge for me. If I want to see it done justice, I'll need to get people writing it with me- omake, stories in the setting, or something- and that means getting interest.
So I'm going back to basics. I'm rewriting my original idea into something less expository and more fic-ish. Hopefully, I can get it polished a bit, maybe even get it out of beta, and then get a good story thread going from there- so please! Comment! Let me know how I can make this better!
**********
Why now? Spirit, why did it have to happen now?"Hey!" I looked up, right into a pair of mischievous blue eyes and a sea of neon-pink hair. Sara. Of course it'd be her. She never lets me brood in peace. "No time to mope, sis! Cap says we launch in two minutes!"
Despite myself, her attitude rubbed off on me. I found myself quirking a grin as I stood up and checked my seals. "Acknowledged." I pushed off, floating over to the gear locker. Didn't take long to grab my kit for the job- my best shock knuckles, a collapsible sword, some grenades- and make my way through the cramped room towards the airlock. Sara was already there, of course. Light as it is, my gear doesn't carry itself.
We stood there for a few awkward seconds, boots locked to the deck, staring at the blackness of space through the viewport.
"Hey."
I turned to look at Sara. She looked up at me, uncharacteristically serious.
"Want to talk about it?"
I dithered for a few seconds. "Well... remember what I told you about the bells?"
Sara scrunched her face up in thought. "That's... that family curse thing you told me about, right? The one that hit your mom?"
"And her mother, too." I shifted awkwardly- a hard thing to do in nullgrav. "They're ringing in my head, now."
She opened her mouth to speak... but I held up a hand. "We'll talk about it later." The rest of our party- two men in their own suits- floated up next to us. "Dieter, Redman. Glad you could make it. Ready?"
The taller of the two straightened up, hand snapping up towards a salute... before he realized what he was doing, and lowered his arm abashedly. "Sorry. Old habits." He turned towards the viewport, icy blue eyes looking into the distance. Looks like something personal. Best not to pry. "I would not miss this... not for anything."
Next to him, the other man was sitting on the ground, busily digging through some of the many pockets festooning his suit. Typical. "Redman? Side 3 to Redman!" He jerked upright, dropping the box he'd been fiddling with as he floated up to the roof. "Yes- AH! MY CHIPS!" He dove for the ground again, carefully grabbing the box and the half-dozen memory chips that'd popped out of it when it hit the floor, before stashing it in a pocket. "Yes, Boss! Ready, Boss!"
It took all my patience to stifle a sigh. Why, of all the deckers in the Sphere, did we have to pick THIS one? Thankfully, the pilot cut in at just the right moment.
"Thirty seconds, everyone. Fit your helmets, check your seals, and hold on; we're turning in five!" I grabbed my helmet, fitting it to the rest of my suit, and braced myself.
With equal parts rattling and roaring, thrusters kicked in. Gravity hit us like a sledgehammer, forcing us into the deck. Outside the viewport, the stars drifted downward as our transport spun end-over-end... and then we were being forced up towards the roof as the pilot stopped the spin.
"Twenty seconds!" Behind us, the inner door of the airlock sealed itself.
"Woooooooow! Look at that!"
I settled myself, reacclimating to nullgrav, and looked out the window. So what, Sara? It's just another colony. You've seen one colony, you've seen them all.
"That," spoke up Dieter, a touch of wistfulness in his accented voice, "was once Das Volksrad... my home. Now," he snorted, scorn coloring his words "it is only Zeonic Corp, Laboratory Three."Bitter much? Good motivator.
"Ten seconds! Shut off maglocks!" The room went from quiet, to breezy, to quiet again as the atmosphere was pumped out of it.
"No, it isn't." Dieter and Sara looked over at me quizzically as my transmission reached them. "It's our target- nothing more."
"Braking in three seconds! Opening outer lock!"
With a rumble of machinery- I could feel it through the deck, even in vacuum- the door in front of us opened, exposing us to the vastness of space.
"Braking now!" For a brief moment, I could feel the thrusters engage-
-and then nothing, as the world of the transport fell away. Nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the quiet whirr of my suit's life support. Despite the presence of my team around me, I found myself relaxing.
It was peaceful out there, in a way inside never gets. I relished it for as long as I could.
All too soon- far sooner than I'd've liked- my helmet comp started to beep. A timer- red and blinking in a way I was sure was designed to be impossible to ignore- appeared in my HUD, counting down from 00:30. Time to get back to work. I feathered my suit's thrusters, neatly somersaulting end-over-end, and reached my arms out.
Dieter's hand was there immediately, gripping mine firmly. Sara's smaller hand was there shortly after. Good. Now, to close the circle... I looked up, at the side opposite me... and saw Redman flailing, still upside-down. ...damnit. No comms yet, can't get over there- how do I-
Before I could act, I saw Dieter reach out, grab a flailing arm when it came close enough, and give him a firm spin. Well, that'll get him spun around, but how do you plan to-
Redman spun back around. Through his faceplate, I could see the terror in his eyes- incoherent, unreasoning, animalistic dread- fade, as Dieter clasped his arm on his way back around. Sara followed shortly after, mere seconds before we felt the jerk of our thrusters kicking in, slowing our descent onto the surface of the colony. That's a relief.
**********
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
In that time, I've watched the vast majority of Gundam. I've played the games. This idea- UC Gundam, based off a cyberpunk Earth- still strikes me as worthy of being told... but it's just a tiny bit huge for me. If I want to see it done justice, I'll need to get people writing it with me- omake, stories in the setting, or something- and that means getting interest.
So I'm going back to basics. I'm rewriting my original idea into something less expository and more fic-ish. Hopefully, I can get it polished a bit, maybe even get it out of beta, and then get a good story thread going from there- so please! Comment! Let me know how I can make this better!
**********
Why now? Spirit, why did it have to happen now?"Hey!" I looked up, right into a pair of mischievous blue eyes and a sea of neon-pink hair. Sara. Of course it'd be her. She never lets me brood in peace. "No time to mope, sis! Cap says we launch in two minutes!"
Despite myself, her attitude rubbed off on me. I found myself quirking a grin as I stood up and checked my seals. "Acknowledged." I pushed off, floating over to the gear locker. Didn't take long to grab my kit for the job- my best shock knuckles, a collapsible sword, some grenades- and make my way through the cramped room towards the airlock. Sara was already there, of course. Light as it is, my gear doesn't carry itself.
We stood there for a few awkward seconds, boots locked to the deck, staring at the blackness of space through the viewport.
"Hey."
I turned to look at Sara. She looked up at me, uncharacteristically serious.
"Want to talk about it?"
I dithered for a few seconds. "Well... remember what I told you about the bells?"
Sara scrunched her face up in thought. "That's... that family curse thing you told me about, right? The one that hit your mom?"
"And her mother, too." I shifted awkwardly- a hard thing to do in nullgrav. "They're ringing in my head, now."
She opened her mouth to speak... but I held up a hand. "We'll talk about it later." The rest of our party- two men in their own suits- floated up next to us. "Dieter, Redman. Glad you could make it. Ready?"
The taller of the two straightened up, hand snapping up towards a salute... before he realized what he was doing, and lowered his arm abashedly. "Sorry. Old habits." He turned towards the viewport, icy blue eyes looking into the distance. Looks like something personal. Best not to pry. "I would not miss this... not for anything."
Next to him, the other man was sitting on the ground, busily digging through some of the many pockets festooning his suit. Typical. "Redman? Side 3 to Redman!" He jerked upright, dropping the box he'd been fiddling with as he floated up to the roof. "Yes- AH! MY CHIPS!" He dove for the ground again, carefully grabbing the box and the half-dozen memory chips that'd popped out of it when it hit the floor, before stashing it in a pocket. "Yes, Boss! Ready, Boss!"
It took all my patience to stifle a sigh. Why, of all the deckers in the Sphere, did we have to pick THIS one? Thankfully, the pilot cut in at just the right moment.
"Thirty seconds, everyone. Fit your helmets, check your seals, and hold on; we're turning in five!" I grabbed my helmet, fitting it to the rest of my suit, and braced myself.
With equal parts rattling and roaring, thrusters kicked in. Gravity hit us like a sledgehammer, forcing us into the deck. Outside the viewport, the stars drifted downward as our transport spun end-over-end... and then we were being forced up towards the roof as the pilot stopped the spin.
"Twenty seconds!" Behind us, the inner door of the airlock sealed itself.
"Woooooooow! Look at that!"
I settled myself, reacclimating to nullgrav, and looked out the window. So what, Sara? It's just another colony. You've seen one colony, you've seen them all.
"That," spoke up Dieter, a touch of wistfulness in his accented voice, "was once Das Volksrad... my home. Now," he snorted, scorn coloring his words "it is only Zeonic Corp, Laboratory Three."Bitter much? Good motivator.
"Ten seconds! Shut off maglocks!" The room went from quiet, to breezy, to quiet again as the atmosphere was pumped out of it.
"No, it isn't." Dieter and Sara looked over at me quizzically as my transmission reached them. "It's our target- nothing more."
"Braking in three seconds! Opening outer lock!"
With a rumble of machinery- I could feel it through the deck, even in vacuum- the door in front of us opened, exposing us to the vastness of space.
"Braking now!" For a brief moment, I could feel the thrusters engage-
-and then nothing, as the world of the transport fell away. Nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the quiet whirr of my suit's life support. Despite the presence of my team around me, I found myself relaxing.
It was peaceful out there, in a way inside never gets. I relished it for as long as I could.
All too soon- far sooner than I'd've liked- my helmet comp started to beep. A timer- red and blinking in a way I was sure was designed to be impossible to ignore- appeared in my HUD, counting down from 00:30. Time to get back to work. I feathered my suit's thrusters, neatly somersaulting end-over-end, and reached my arms out.
Dieter's hand was there immediately, gripping mine firmly. Sara's smaller hand was there shortly after. Good. Now, to close the circle... I looked up, at the side opposite me... and saw Redman flailing, still upside-down. ...damnit. No comms yet, can't get over there- how do I-
Before I could act, I saw Dieter reach out, grab a flailing arm when it came close enough, and give him a firm spin. Well, that'll get him spun around, but how do you plan to-
Redman spun back around. Through his faceplate, I could see the terror in his eyes- incoherent, unreasoning, animalistic dread- fade, as Dieter clasped his arm on his way back around. Sara followed shortly after, mere seconds before we felt the jerk of our thrusters kicking in, slowing our descent onto the surface of the colony. That's a relief.
**********
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.