Ninth Light

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[In the wake of the most recent mission, you'll find a disheartening sight if you enter the hangar.  The HK-1138' Corona lies in a crumpled, ruined heap off in a side designated for unsalvagable wrecks, the entire machine nearly split in twain height-wise, a huge chunk of it just fucking gone.  Those parts from before?  Yeah, phoney.  All of them.  Danconias-Phillips imitation parts and completely incompatible.  You didn't actually think they'd HELP Julia, did you?]

Come on... move... move!

[And elsewhere in the hangar, Julia has been trying as hard as she can to use other machines.  Knightmare Frames.  Mobile Suits.  Everything and anything that currently isn't claimed by someone else just so no stone was unturned.  But it's all for naught.  Her hands fly wildly and clumsily at the controls.  It takes all of her willpower and focus to just a machine to stumble awkwardly forward, and all too often her machine stumbles and falls.  And finally after one failure too many...

[Well, everyone has a breaking point and Julia's just hit hers.]

I can't...

I can't pilot anymore...

Comments

[wimpy-cure-ever.livejournal.com]

Julia...?

[Hana had been lucky that she didn't get too banged up by the whole incident. However, she saw Julia in this state and it hurt her badly. Just before the mission, she was all smiles, laughing over the fact that they had experienced two different effects of gravity new to them over their time. And now...]

Julia...

[it was heartbreaking to see her like that.]

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Julia's crying softly, hands still clumsily gripping the controls of her current machine.]

It... it's over, Hana...

[thestrayhawk.livejournal.com]

[Opening the cockpit of the machine she was currently fumbling in, having Julia hammer in details about Irgelions to him he knew exactly what was wrong.]

Julia...come on.

[Offering his hand to her he felt that the place that Julia needed to be was definitely not the cockpit of a machine.]

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Julia weakly looked at it, her throat tightening as she saw it. Ichitaka wanted to help, wanted to get her somewhere where she could feel better. But she stayed glued to the seat.]

I-Ichitaka...

[chases-aliens.livejournal.com]

[Dita's seen this before, the way Julia was trying her hardest. She's seen it in many of her crewmates, her family. Silently, she went over to Julia and opened the cockpit.]

Julia... that's enough, you're going to break.

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

Dita... I...

... I probably already have. The moment that Shu destroyed the Corona... that's what sealed my fate.

[crystal-energy.livejournal.com]

[Arika's been distracted for the past few weeks, but she snuck into the hangar to see what people were up to]

Julia?

[She'd never seen Julia upset over something]

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

A... rika?

[She's more than a touched confused, but she just tries to look away.]

I just... I was trying to see if I could use another machine now... the Corona's gone and... and I can't use anything

[vjockey.livejournal.com]

Julia!

[Have Cheng rush over, ignoring what pains were still in his body despite having gotten back on his feet. Emergency catch. There was one around somewhere...there. To say the soldier was shaken to see the Irgelion like this was understatement. He knew that expression. He's had it far too many times.]

Its alright...

[He extends his hand into the cockpit, reaching out for her.]

Please...

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

Cheng, I...

[She just sniffs loudly.]

R-remember when I talked, about how humans could grow past limitations...?

[Another sniff as she tried to wipe her tears away. There was so much, though, and her eyes were red and puffy.]

T-this is what separates humans and Irgelions. If I were human this wouldn't be any obstacle at all...

[zetahatsudo.livejournal.com]

[Kamille's in the hanger, watching the poor girl fail. Like she told had told Hana, the Corona was, all things considered, a dud.]

['Maybe if I was actually in the battle I could have helped, but that monster of a machine, Granzon... Even when that badly damaged, it's superior to most everything. Still, this can be handled. It WILL be handled.']

Julia! [Kamille's knocking at the cockpit door rather hard.] Open up! Julia!

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Hearing Kamille's voice, she just freezes up inside of the machine and sighs weakly. She can't bring herself to lock the cockpit up, but she's not going to be opening it of her own accord. Gonna have to do that yourself, Kamille.]

[2hell-weride.livejournal.com]

[[MarKus would be JUST as furious if it were his machine. The controls were a custom layout he did, so... watching her frustrated... Well... he's got an idea!]]

You know... I think between me and Lowe... maybe we can either... rig this cockpit into something else or... at least tweak up the controls so you'll have something...

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

That is a unique idea...

[Que in Alexei?!]

My old suit, the Strayed, has been recently fitted with a modular cockpit. Perhaps you could move the cockpit from the Corona to the Strayed...

[bottleofgundam.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. That battle was just a mess from start to finish.

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Julia's just dead silent. A part of her wants to thank Kinkaid for saving her, another part is too ashamed that nothing would have been lost had she died.]

[chozo_girl]

[And Samus is there. She jumps up to the shoulder of the mobile suit in whose cockpit Julia is]

Julia.

[She seems to be respectfully waiting for her to be willing to talk]

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[She hears Samus, but it still takes her a while to finally just give up on this hopeless venture and just slump in defeat.]

I didn't want to believe it at first...

I... I wanted to hope there was something here that maybe I could still use...

[fermionprincess]

Lady Reilev...

[Alessandra is in a state of moderate undress, because her own armor is held out in her hands. In Julia's direction.]

Memento Mori will always lend you your strength. Even when I am not inside to pilot it.

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

Alessandra, you can't-

I-I mean, why?

[saikyocivrobo]

Julia.

...How important is piloting to you?

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

It was...

... What I had left. I lost my job, I was away from my home, and I thought I could make it up to everyone by helping in battle.

But that's all come to an end.

[limit-of-fate.livejournal.com]

I kind of envy you.

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Oh that's just ridiculous, and she just looks up at Tohya in disbelief.]

What... what are you saying?!?

There's nothing to envy here! I tried and I failed... and I've lost everything that gave me worth!

[emorangerpink]

[Laura spends a little while looking over the wreckage of the Corona, in particular sadly inspecting the remains of the fist plating she helped Lowe assemble and install. After a few minutes of confirming to herself that, nope, that machine is beyond repair, she instead heads to the kitchen to put together whatever she knows Julia likes that's within her skill range.]

Julia. Come on. You need a break.

[And here she is, at the hatch of whatever machine Julia's currently trying, comfort food packed up and ready to deliver.]

[curseu-reflexes.livejournal.com]

[Julia was left speechless when Laura arrived, and she just looked down at the ground in embarrassment and shame.]

I don't... deserve that.