All Hail the Conquering Heroes! [OPEN]

[cityship]

((Takes place several hours after the conclusion of this))

They survived. More than that, it seemed as if they actually won; the Ohm had successfully been driven away from their location. The fight hadn't been easy, which one could easily tell just by looking at the Quarter as it docked in back in Stacy's Hangar.

It had a number of dents, dings, and scorch marks where the Ohm had made their presence felt. Thankfully, there was no obvious serious damage. Still, though every crew member who went out was coming back, one had to wonder about their condition, particularly since they sent ahead a request for medics to be on standby.

But now that the ship was fully docked, and the main hatch opened, it was time to find out.

Comments

[eltneg.livejournal.com]

Tieria opts for silence, his gaze shifting to Sakura. It's true that he was just as uneasy about allowing the medical personnel of this ship to take custody of Setsuna as the others, but what choice did they have? His injuries were far beyond the scope of their medical capabilities, and Tieria wasn't about to sacrifice a comrade for the sake of paranoia.

Though Setsuna's inflexibility was (Unsurprisingly, Tieria muses) steadfastly proving to be an even larger roadblock.

[pinkbridgebunny.livejournal.com]

Feldt had gone quiet as well, though there was something in her eyes, a mix of concern and a bit of anger. Like the others, she didn't trust anyone else on the ship, but Setsuna needed medical attention. She knew that she wouldn't be able to do as well as someone trained in medical. She was good with the Gundams and the Ptolemy, but not a person.

[encourage]

Sakura looked at Setsuna, catching a hint of that glow just as the faint annoyance registered. She didn't much care about the annoyance, if the glow was potentially worrying. Was it natural? Was it due to his injuries? Did it mean something about his stability? A technique she didn't know?

Shoving her suppositions to the side, she frowned. Stubborn people didn't change no matter the world or background, if it wasn't any more endearing to deal with here than back home.

"If you can make it there without incident, then I'll treat you in your quarters." Not defining incident. Not expecting that with his current difficulty in balance and focus that he'd be able to keep it together long enough to get to his quarters.

[a_mere_human]

"Lockon, wait!" Tieria ahd tried to interviene, but by then, it already seemed too late. Lockon had his gun drawn, aimed squarely on young Setsuna F. Seiei.

"Setsuna, I want to shoot you so very badly right now. Let me avenge my family; let me settle the score."

Setsuna didn't beg, plead, or offer any kind of explanation right then. He simply stood still, looking Lockon in the eye as he squeezed the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot was loud enough to snap him out of that particular waking dream, but also transition him into another. Somewhere in between he heard Sakura, but her voice almost registered as background noise.

"...still alive," he muttered absently in response to her.

"I'm still alive!" he shouted at the darkened cockpit of his Gundam. His system had been forced offline mid-battle by Veda, their supercomputer seemingly choosing to sacrifice them to their enemies, the UN forces. But to hell if Setsuna was going to just roll over and take it.

"Move, Exia!" He grabbed the controls, frantically moving them back and forth, trying his best to get some kind of response out of his suit. "Come on, Gundam--"

"Move!" He shoved his arm forward, but instead of pushing Exia's control stick, he found himself shoving Sakura. He used significantly more force than someone of his size and with his injuries should have been able to, his eyes glowing brightly as he did. That glow faded as he came back down to reality, and he could only stand there, surprised, confused, and embarrassed by his outburst.

[eltneg.livejournal.com]

Tieria had intuitively taken a step forward, prepared to intervene if Setsuna's outburst escalated to something more violent. Luckily for all those involved, it hadn't, and Tieria relaxes.

Just what had the Ohm done to him?

[pinkbridgebunny.livejournal.com]

Feldt was watching Setsuna and when he shoved Sakura, she took a step forward, but didn't go past Tieria. It was obvious that she was concerned for the other Meister but she didn't know what would happen if she got closer to him.

[encourage]

He caught her enough off guard to send her stumbling, but with her likewise hold on him it was a step and a half before she forcibly kept herself in place. Her surprise at his strength was short lived -- too much inured to things of that nature from the experiences from home -- it it made her consider him all the more carefully.

What was he seeing? The disconnect (not to mention the glow) was obvious. What kind of head trauma had he experienced? What kind of potential mental damage, if nothing that direct?

"Welcome back," she said, moving on to, "Let's get moving." She didn't feel he'd make it back to his quarters, nor would she allow him to stay there for recovery after this most recent outburst. If there was more going on, if he wasn't distinguishing reality from whatever was going on in his head, he would be a danger to himself and those around him. A danger to his own recovery.

She offered herself as support -- more-so, without asking. The others from Medical would continue to handle the cases here in the interim. She'd do what she could to "handle" Setsuna, and his comrades, in the meantime.

His internal injuries, the ones she'd started healing, were only the start. Ones of the mind? Those were a whole different story.

[a_mere_human]

He pulled away from her, rejecting her offer for support. Not so much because of pride, but more out of fear for Sakura's safety. He didn't know what happened or why, and while all he did was merely push her this time, he could do something worse next time. He figured she could handle herself in a fight, but he still saw no reason to risk her safety, not to mention that any fight with her would likely result in him worsening his injuries with the effort alone.

So, he'd walk on his own, but didn't argue about letting them accompany him. He exited the hangar by his own two feet, at least, though he wouldn't make it too much further than that. Since one moment he was walking down one of Stacy's halls, and the next--

He was trudging through what had to be an endless expanse of desert. The AR-74 he was carrying didn't make this trek any easier. Twelve years old now, he had recently left Krugis behind, the only survivor to walk out of that battle. Aside from his knives and that gun, all he took with him was what little food and supplies he could find.

It was hard to see anything in front of him, the late hour and the light sandstorm making seeing more than a few feet in front of him nearly impossible. However, something small, off on the distance did catch his eye and he headed towards it.

As he got closer, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The object was... a flower. A small, golden flower, out here in the desert. He dropped his gun as he approached it, and took the goggles off of his eyes to get a better look. And, yeah, it was a flower.

It was stupid, but he developed a sudden kinship with it. After all, it was the first living thing he had come across since that last battle. It gave him an odd sense of peace to know that he wasn't the only thing alive out there.

But that peace wasn't to last. The wind was still strong, and the constant gusts had taken their toll. First the petals of the flowers went, ripped off by the wind, then the stem followed. He watched them be carried off by the breeze and he couldn't help but wonder, was going to be his fate? To die out here like that?

If he could still cry, he probably would've. Instead, he turned his head towards the east, the light from the sunrise catching his attention. He still had a future ahead of him, even if he didn't know what it was. But, strangely, instead of the sky getting brighter as the sun rose, the edges of his vision got darker.

He stumbled the next few steps he took, finally collapsing to his knees. He struggled to retain what little consciousness he had, but the injuries had taken their toll. He fought it the whole way, but he still collapsed the ground, falling unconscious.