driftfleet | dreams in digital

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dreams in digital

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C

Connor

D - F

G - I

Haggar

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Lup

(last updated: 1/21/19)

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[The message was military mission orders, detailing a plan called "Operation Meteor", a plan that involved massive destruction. Several space colonies were to be knocked free from their orbits around Earth so that they would fall to the surface from the pull of gravity, bringing about something akin to a nuclear winter. In the chaotic aftermath of the destruction, five mobile suits called Gundams would descend from the remaining colonies to the planet below to enforce military order and rule over the survivors.

As the message faded, a video began to play. (Starts at 5:19, ends at 6:51.)

The hangar was dark, and there was a massive black robot laying on its back. It looked to be almost, but not quite complete. There was a young boy with a long braid attaching a device to it. Once he was sure it was secure, he ran out of the room... and, convinced he was going to end it all, he pressed the button on a small device in his hand.

.....

Nothing happened.

He panicked, confused, pressing it a few more times before looking back into the hangar, wondering what he'd done wrong.]

Duo.

[Startled, the boy turned to face an older man with a long scarecrow-like nose and an umbrella-shaped mop of grey hair. The detonator pins from all those devices Duo had placed dropped to the floor. They spoke, Duo arguing against the mission, how he didn't want to be part of a massacre. The old man called him out on his gun, knowing the boy planned to kill him. Duo revealed that he intended not only to destroy Deathscythe and kill the old man, but everyone else on the ship, including himself. But the old man convinced Duo there was another way. Outsmart him, he challenged the boy... steal Deathscythe and ignore the mission. Become the God of Death.

Duo was baffled, but intrigued. The man walked away, telling Duo that there was a man in the Pacific Ocean who could help him once he arrived on the surface. Duo smirked, twirling his pistol around his finger as he made his decision... he'd do it.

The video faded to black, the screen once again showing the mission orders... green pixelated text on a black screen.]

Edited 2019-02-21 21:33 (UTC)

[Tyrion frowned as the video ended, tipping his chin slightly as he processed everything he had seen. Whomever this boy was - he was shown to be both righteous and reckless in the same breath. What did that mean, to the situation they were in?

He sighed, and went to the next item in the room - the news report.]

[The report came up on the screen, talking about OZ moving into the space colonies, but it faded, shifting to a memory (6:17 to 8:25).

Duo was in space, his Gundam heavily outmatched by the enemies new mobile suites. He was soundly defeated, and tried to self-destruct his Gundam, only to realize that the mechanism to do that was damaged and not functional.

Just his luck... he passed out from the strain.

After Duo passed out, the memory shifted to a news report again. (Same video, starting at 8:31, ending at 8:57. The report continues at 9:37 to 9:40.) It covered a Gundam pilot, specifically Duo, having been captured. OZ and colonies were cooperating to eradicate the threat from the Gundams. The people of the colonies seemed to be happy about this, though the feelings emanating from the video said otherwise. Duo was not convinced. The report continued, showing the damaged Gundam on a massive flatbed being transported through the streets of the colony C-102, crowds jeering at it from the sides.

The report shifted back to a memory... (same video, starting at 10:40...)

Duo was cuffed and seated in a chair near a desk. Several officers in uniform surrounded him. He looked injured, exhausted, his head hanging down as a man in a spacesuit sat down at the desk.]

I wasn't expecting the pilot of that Gundam to be just a kid.

[Duo opened his eyes as the man spoke. He almost took offense at being called 'just a kid', his entire posture changing to something more confrontational than beat down.]

Well, excuse me! So I've wounded your pride, have I?

[Sure, he was hurt, but his spirit wasn't completely broken, yet. The guards moved in to hold on to him, just in case he tried something.]

That's nothing compared to how your pride's suffered. You'll be executed. The people's feelings towards the execution will unite the colonies. [The man almost chuckled.] I never expected to utilize the Gundam pilots in this way.

[Duo struggled against the hold on him.]

Why, you- [One the guard struck him from behind, but he fought the urge to pass out for a few more seconds...] God damn all of you to Hell!

[And everything on the TV screen went dark.]

[Tyrion hummed softly, moving around the room once more as he looked around with greater appreciation.]

At every turn, people have turned against you, young man. They have used you to make their own needs met. I understand all too well what that feels like.

[He went to the screen with the young girl, with the too bright blue eye and red hair that reminded him strongly of Sansa.]

[[The girl on the screen introduced herself as Mariemeia, heir to Treize Khushrenada, the former world sovereign. She proceeded to then claim rule over the Earth Sphere, stating that Operation Meteor would still take place with the remnants of colony L3-X1999. If anyone tried to stop her and the Barton Foundation, they would kill Vice Foreign Minister Dorlan... formerly known as Queen Relena Peacecraft.

The announcement faded, and the video was more like a memory again. Three Gundams, a black one with bat wings and a scythe, a bluish green one with a half clown mask on its face and gatling guns on its arms, and a blue-grey one duel-wielding curved blades, were battling against an army of mobile suits. Not far from them, two other suits, a smaller white suit with a pointed head, and a blue and white suit with a golden crested helmet, also fought against this army. The memory was with the pilot of the black suit... Duo.

They were running out of steam. One of the blades from the blue-grey suit had broken. The blue and green suit dropped its gun, having run out of ammo. They backed up against Duo's suit as Duo lost power to his scythe.

The other two suits were also back to back and surrounded. It looked bleak. They discussed the option of self-detonating their suits, but that would take out too many innocent lives in the city around them. Was this the end?

But then the proximity alarm rang out. Another suit? Where? Above them! They looked up. It was Wing Zero... a white suit with red and blue markings, badly damaged, hung in the air above them. The angel-like wings on its back seemed to be falling to pieces, and it held a massive gun with the one operational arm.

It fired. Several times. The beam came crashing down on a bunker not far from their location. Then... an explosion. Duo heard Quatre cry out Heero's name, and Noin say, "No!" He clenched his jaw. That couldn't be it, could it?

But now, crowds of people began surrounding them. Bystanders, blocking the way of the enemy suits, protecting the Gundams that had fought against them. People on foot... in the streets, clogging access. Duo spotted another suit on his radar.

It was another Gundam. Green, with red and gold, both arms capable of extending, but it stood motionless, also surrounded by the protesters as if they were protecting it with their bodies. It was was also badly damaged.

By now, the army couldn't move without killing innocent people, and they stopped fighting, waiting for orders from their superiors... but those orders never came.

The battle... was over.

The memory faded, shifting to Duo with two others standing on a hill overlooking his Gundam along with the other two he had been battling along side. He raised his hand, a small device similar to the one he had used when attempting to destroy Deathscythe before Operation Meteor, and pressed the button. The three Gundams exploded in a flash of light.

Duo called the blond boy to his left Quatre. The other, a taller boy with a bluish turtleneck and hair that hung into his face, talked about if he still had a name. The other two insisted that Trowa was a good name for him. He seemed to accept that. The three of them seemed to come out of this as good friends. The memory faded away, leaving a black screen.

Tyrion would hear the distinct sound of a soft slap, like someone catching something in their hand. If he turned, Duo was leaning on the counter, tossing an apple and catching it. He was watching Tyrion.]

[Tyrion only turned around to the sound of the solid object slapping against something soft, like skin. One golden blonde eyebrow raised as he saw the young man from all the videos before him. He supposed they were taking each other's measure, after all this.]

So, you seem to like to champion the long stakes causes. Is it because you believe yourself to be another diamond in the rough, or you just like playing the odds by your own particular set of rules?

Probably the latter, but I figure... hey, I'm only alive by sheer luck, so why should someone else do all the dirty work? At least, this way, my life means something instead of just being another street orphan.

[Duo shrugged. There was something deep to what he said, something below the casual surface image he presented. He was hiding his true feelings, not that his words were necessarily a lie.]

I do not think that is necessarily all that it is. You are very good at putting on a facade -- however I have seen you in many different views.

[He nods towards the screen.]

You are a true believer. In what, I am not certain ... but this is more than just dying a hero. You are willing to sacrifice everything for a cause. So I must ask - what cause are you dying for now?

Well, you're right about one thing. I'm no hero. But I do tend to end up fighting a lot of losing battles.

[Duo leaned his chin in his hand as he rested against the counter.]

And cause? That depends. Here or back home?

At least you are honest enough to admit it.

[Tyrion answered with a faint smile, before he gave the younger man a thoughtful, penetrating gaze.]

I am curious to hear both.

Well, back home, it started as revenge. An organization called OZ assassinated a pacifist leader who was representing the space colonies. So, a group called the Barton Foundation decided to drop a colony on Earth in revenge. Except, that wasn't the only part of it.

But, you saw that. The orders. We didn't know about the colony drop until the night before we were supposed to launch. We just thought we were going to drop the Gundams and fight the OZ soldiers... take them out of the picture. After the assassination, they were basically holding the colonies hostage anyway... oppressing them, keeping them under military rule. So, we had to fight back... for our freedom.

From there, it just ended up being about making sure people who only wanted power didn't try to take over the world again.

[He took a breath.]

As for here... well, I was in the last cycle. But, we got out. We haven't figured out how to go home, yet, but, while we're here, we're going to stick it to Atroma as much as we can... and hopefully find a way to get you guys out, too... at some point. We just need to figure out how.

[Tyrion listened to all of these keenly folding his hands over his knees as he sat down on the floor. His mis-matched eyes were pensive.]

So what happened to everyone else in your cycle? Were they murdered? Sent home? Dropped off on some foreign planet? What about the Atroma, what is their end goal? What do they get from this show of theirs? Why is there no King, or ... what is the word, government that we can ask aid from? Is there no galactic space knights to protect innocent people from the Atroma's machinations?

[A pause, and then.] ....do they own all the planets we travel to?

All of the above? Well, not murdered directly as in someone literally walking up and knifing them in the back, but a lot died during the escape attempt. Some disappeared completely... those of us left guess they were sent home. We're not exactly sure. There aren't a lot of us left. The few times we've hit Atroma through you guys, there's been some occasional retaliation. When the Marsiva shot off that canon, it took out a good portion of our group.

[He sighed.]

There's no real intergalactic body to oversee all this stuff. And, from what we've found, it looks like the show used be voluntary. But an issue with getting people who wanted to be on the show cropped up, so Atroma took things into their own hands to get passengers and contestants. We haven't figured out the end goal, yet.

[Duo shook his head.]

We don't really know if they own them all. That one passenger... Shiro? He kept us updated. Said you guys found a planet that had been some failed terraforming experiment. Maybe they are owned, maybe not. And don't even get me started on what the deal is with those singing planets. All the weird energy and stuff is definitely outside my league.

[Tyrion sighed then, wandering around Duo's dream room for a moment. Glowering at the screen where the girl was - the angry one.]

Well, a few more questions answered and about a dozen more crop up. Seven, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on some sort of tome on the Lords of Atroma themselves.

You and me both, buddy.

[Duo gave Tyrion a weak and understanding smile.

The girl on the screen was definitely talking, but it was muted for now. Though, if Tyrion were to figure out how to turn the volume on, he'd hear what she was saying.]

[Tyrion moved forward to touch the screen, to see if he could turn up the volume.]

We are looking for answers always, though, aren't we?

Seems that way.

[Normally, the TV in question wouldn't have reacted to a screen touch, but this was calibrations and a dream world. It worked... But she was still talking with her speech about the colonies and gifts her father had given her for the people. But something about it slowly changed. The girl morphed out of her military clothes and into civilian ones. And she seemed to now be in the care of a woman with brown hair. Both looked like they had seen some rough times, but they were content. Clearly, the girl had been reformed.]

She wasn't so bad after all. [Duo was watching it as well.] Just misguided in the worst way, and by the same person who tried to manipulate me and the other Gundam pilots into committing mass murder. The woman... her name is Lady Une. She's in charge of a peacekeeping force now. I and the other guys sometimes help her out. She wasn't always so nice, either, but she changed, too.

That's the one thing I've learned a lot in life. People change.

[As he spoke, the images on the screen showed Duo with the other boys who had been fighting alongside him wearing jackets like what the woman wore, and doing missions. Nothing big or with giant robots anymore, but small things to prevent power-hungry people from trying to take over the Earth Sphere again.]

[Tyrion looked at the boys - young men? Young men. If you had seen that much blood, destruction and betrayal ... you had earned the title of man, as far as Tyrion was concerned.

He hummed softly, before he added.]

It also shows one that despite one's differences ... people from all different walks of life can come together.

Yeah. They can. We have here, I'd think. Which is good. Because it means we can learn to work together when the time comes for us to enact a plan.

We just... need to figure that plan out first.

Yes, and that is the problem.

[He sighed, turning away from the screen, and back to Duo, his expression wry.]

I came here in the hopes of learning something new. I have learned much - but nothing that will really help with a plan to free us all.

[Duo shrugged.]

Sorry. We've been pretty open, but there's only so much I can let go of here. [He tapped the spot behind his left ear.] Not all of the Interceptors have their augments anymore... but you guys all do.

Maybe... maybe this'll get our leader to agree that we need to start sharing a bit more. Something the Mrs Doc and I can talk to him about when we get back to them.

[Duo had no doubt they were going to get away again.]

[He sighed out slowly.]

Well, that would b a good idea ... that and if we can find a way to get these augments out on our own,

[Duo nodded.]

I'll say this... getting past that horrible sense of dread that comes with attempting to do it is one of the hardest parts.

[He sighed softly, before his lips curved at the corners.]

Oh that sense of dread is never coming to an end ...

[Duo smirked a little.]

Oh, I didn't say it ended... just that it's hard to get yourself to get past it... like, trying to ignore it in order to do what you need. It's pretty hairy.

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