Maintenance [Open]

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Sure enough, it was there in the vehicle bay - the Freedom. At 18 meters tall, it wasn't the largest craft in the cavernous hangar, but it certainly did present an imposing figure... particularly next to the squadron of low-to-the-ground fighters that Kira didn't recognize.

It was a tool of war - of killing, Kira reminded himself - but it was also a tool which he could use to help people; he could use it to protect people. To protect a world that might truly be gone... it was almost comforting to see something familiar. A reminder of home (and of Lacus, still sleeping in the pod caverns), even if it was a war machine.

Computers were the young man's forte, but he'd become familiar enough with the machine to do a bit of physical maintenance on it too. So anyone in the hangar bay would see the machine's cockpit open in the center of its chest, as he gave everything a cursory inspection, making sure things were in shape.

Unfortunately, the plantsuits didn't make the best toolbelts, even when fashioning makeshift loops at the waist - but when one's was in a cramped crawlspace up to the waist, it made it possible for even enhanced Coordinator reflexes to catch a wrench that slipped out from one of said loops, skidding across the sloped metal of the Mobile Suit's skin before plummeting to the hangar floor below.

He didn't think anyone had been in here with him, but Kira gave a warning shout nonetheless. "Hey...! Look out!"

(ooc: There may be a wrench heading in your character's direction. Especially so for any of the Rogues, since the Freedom Gundam is conveniently next to the X-Wings. WATCH OUT BELOW!)

Comments

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Asuka had been in the middle of tinkering with what she had dubbed "her" X-Wing. It was factory new and she wasn't doing that much to it - just poking around the engines after her learning experience in the Sensoriums. Besides, she had an engineering degree - she had to put that to work somehow. So, it was with a shriek of alarm that she jumped aside to avoid being brained by a falling wrench. She turned to glare in the general direction of "up", voice filling the hanger as she yelled, "Hey! Watch it! You almost killed me, you idiot!"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira scrambled out of the crawlspace, moving to the nearest edge to look down - a red-haired girl had come by when he'd been busy; he hadn't even noticed her. She seemed to be okay, but... still, that'd been too close.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Asuka glared up at him, arms akimbo. "I'm fine, no thanks to you! Watch what you're doing when you're working on your undergrown tin can!"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"Sorry..." he repeated again, giving a little sigh. "I didn't think anyone else was in here."

Well, might as well be productive. "Do you know where I could get a magnetic tool belt - or something like that?"

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Asuka shrugged. At least he honestly was sorry. She was mollified. For now. "I don't know! Ask Commander Antilles or something!"

She frowned up at him. "Who are you, anyway?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"All right, I will." A pause, as he moved over to the side to get a better vantage point down. "I'm Kira. Kira Yamato - I just woke up from the pods. What's your name?"

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

"I'm Asuka! Asuka Langley Soryu!" Asuka tossed her head back with a grin. "I'm a pilot! Is that tin can thing yours?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"It's good to meet you. And you're a ... pilot?" Well, that would explain why she was working on one of the fighters. And besides, she didn't look much younger than he'd been - or some of the others on the Archangel, for that matter.

"...yes, it's mine. It's the Freedom."

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

"The Freedom? It's a bit... small, isn't it?"

Well, just about everything was small when you compared it to Unit 02. She grinned a bit nastily - her robot was better. "What do you fight with it?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"Small? It isn't any smaller than most Mobile Suits." At least, not that Kira was aware of. Did she have bigger in her world?

"What do you mean, what do I fight with it? Do you mean the factions?"

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

"It's about half the size of my Eva," she replied breezily and waved her hand in the general direction of her bright red behemoth. "And yeah, that's exactly what I mean!"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"An Eva...?" Was that what that thing was? "I've never seen a Mobile Suit that looks like that before," he said, genuinely impressed.

There was a very short pause. "I flew against ZAFT pilots first, but we fought the Earth Alliance, too."

[yubyubcommander.livejournal.com]

Wedge had come to do his daily check on his own craft and found himself admiring the 18 meter tall craft. It reminded him of the humanoid battle droids that had been used and manufactured on Balmorra, but it seemed to have a pilot. He gave Kira a friendly wave as he set his tools down and popped open a compartment.

"Nice craft you've got there."

_{[[Since Asuka got the wrench already, I figured this would be okay. Lemme know!]]}

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" Kira said as someone spoke from down on the floor, and slid out of the maintenance crawlspace to peer down - there was someone else there, someone who he hadn't met.

He returned the wave. "Thanks, I'm just glad it's here. Are those fighters yours?"

[yubyubcommander.livejournal.com]

"Yep. T-65 x-wings." He ducks into his panel for a moment, then looks back to Kira.

"I've never seen a piloted craft quite like yours."

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"Where I come from, Mobile Suits like this one are pretty common - but this is a unique model. It's the ZGMF-X10A Freedom... but I just call it a Gundam."

T-65 X-Wings? That had been what Colonel Celchu had called the Rogue Squadron ships, hadn't it? "X-Wings? Then... is this part of Rogue Squadron?"

[yubyubcommander.livejournal.com]

"I like it. Looks like it can deal out some punishment." Wedge nodded, a gesture of respect from one pilot to another.

"And that's us. I'm General Wedge Antilles."

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"It can... if you want to come up, I can show you around the cockpit." There was a cord dangling down from the cockpit with a loop/foothold on the end to stand in.

"I'm Kira Yamato, sir. We've spoken over the communication units before."

[riseupnchargem.livejournal.com]

The sight of the Gundam in the hangar caught Jamie by surprise and made his stomach clench in a sort of excitement; how long had it been since he'd last seen one? While he didn't recognize this particular mobile suit, its design aesthetics - particularly the V-shaped crest on its forehead - were similar enough to the Gundams that had occupied the hangar back on the island to identify it as such. He thought he recalled seeing a post by Kira Yamato on the network, announcing that he'd returned after his lengthy and unexpected absence - was this his Gundam, then?

Jamie trotted over to the humanoid mech - he'd been headed that direction anyway, to spend some time examining the X-Wings - and paced around it, mentally comparing it with the other Gundams he knew. He saw the flash of metal a split second before he heard Kira's yell, and darted out of the way of the falling wrench, beside the Gundam's foot, wincing a bit as the tool struck the floor of the hangar.

Once he'd ascertained that there were no more hunks of metal headed his way, he emerged from his hiding spot and peered up toward the cockpit hatch. "Hey!" he called in (awkward, informal) greeting. "You're, uh. You're Kira, right?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira, meanwhile, had dashed to the edge to look down and make sure that nobody had been hit by the wrench - it didn't seem like the person standing down there had been hit, but it had still been too close for comfort.

"Um, yes. I'm Kira," he called back - and the boy's face and name returned to his memory. "You're... Jamie, right? Are you okay?"

[riseupnchargem.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." Jamie raised one hand in a tentative wave. "Just came in to look over the X-Wings and your Gundam's right next to 'em, so..." He shrugged lightly.

"How've you been? You were gone for a pretty long time."

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira raised his hand to his forehead for a moment - they'd talked before, hadn't they? He'd known of Gundams before... from somewhere else. It was slowly coming back. "I'm as okay as anyone is here," he responded. "It's hard to get used to again."

[riseupnchargem.livejournal.com]

"Mn, guess it would be. Especially with what they're telling us about why we're all supposedly here. Y'know...the Ohm destroying universes and stuff." With one brow arched and a slight curl to his lip, it was fairly plain that Jamie wasn't entirely convinced of this explanation.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

The pilot nodded. "It's a hard story for a lot of people to believe."

[riseupnchargem.livejournal.com]

Jamie cast a speculative glance at Kira. "What d'you think?" he asked. "Do you buy it?"