Bastions in the Sky

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

[On the deck of the Chalice, Alexei stands and looks up as several shadows are cast on the deck. They're far away, but one can make out the sight of 5 aircraft, massive in size and shaped like stealth bombers. Although such a shape would make Alexei panic and head to the Wahrheit to counteract, he seems oddly complacent. He's just staring up at these colossal machines, almost as if he was staring off into space. Care to bother him?]

Comments

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Those yours?

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Not mine... The League's though.

[He's shielding his eyes just to look at them.]

Cities in the sky. I always sorta wished I could be on one of them instead of being stuck down here...

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'd have figured cities in the sky are just wannabe colonies.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't be too far off. They're self sustained, capable of flight indefinitely and service thousands of people. Every one of the people living in those Cradles put all of their faith, their lives, in the hands of the League.

I always figured it was faith well placed. Nobody would dare attack a Cradle without getting a swift beating from Collared. Just seeing one fly overhead though, it just reminds me of Earth Cradle and how easily it came under attack so long ago...

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Well yeah. Some of our enemies don't really put much consideration at all into stuff like that. Like the Invaders.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

I've only seen records of those Invaders... but Ryoma and that Black Getter of his went against them in hand to hand combat?

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Not just him, me too, in Shin Getter Robo!

Granted, doing that isn't entirely the best idea unless you know what you're doing; and from what I've heard from Hayato and Ryouma, the Invaders are loads tougher than when they were put down the first time more than a decade ago.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Taking them on in a situation like that when the Invaders are so... invasive is incredibly risky. Are we sure Ryoma got out of that one completely unscathed?

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Don't understimate Ryouma... besides, my pop got stabbed by one and he's still fine.

The Invaders are dangerous, but assimilation's a more difficult procedure than just touching people. If it were, we'd all be dead by now.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Do tell... [A click is heard, but it's slight, nearly inaudible.] How exactly do they do it?

[not-genki-desu.livejournal.com]

Honestly... hell if I know.

All I know is the process is more complicated than just rubbing up against a person.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a sample needs to be taken, then. Any idea on where we could find some likely candidates? Not saying we should actively infect people just to see how it works, but rather just finding any sort of sample, maybe even some left on the Getter Robo?

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Are those League planes? What are they doing here?

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

They're just flying a path that was designated 10 years ago. Always on a straight forward path, never stopping.

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose they'd stop for trade if we called them?

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

No, they won't. As I stated, they're designed not to stop for anything. It's something they've been doing for a decade. They have their own people to take care of, after all...

[He finally averts his gaze from the sky.]

You remember the Earth Cradle?

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there personally. But I read the records.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

The same concept as the Earth Cradle, but in the sky. They're just called the Cradles. 20,000 people in each of those ships. 100,000 people total... The League keeps their activities away from them. Should everything fail down here, they are the last hint of humanity left. The League does whatever it takes to keep those birds flying...

Whenever I see one, I'm jealous...

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I didn't know the League has such projects.

I don't envy those people, though.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

It's a trapped lifestyle. They're given everything they need to survive, but they're under constant surveillance and can't leave. It's a price to pay to be among the last humans to fade away.

I'd take that over piloting the Wahrheit any day...

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Safety is more important than freedom to you, huh?

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Skyes, you've been down here. You've seen the hell. They don't have to deal with that up there... They have little freedom to leave, but they have freedom inside of their own contained space. It's like a gated community... in the sky.

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Not saying it's a bad choice. Just not wht I'd pick.

If I had to choose between watching the world burn from safety and desperately fighting to prevent it, I'd go with the latter. Hell, I already did, in my SECT days.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

That's one way to look at it, but we have the bodies for fighting. We push them to prevent the world from burning. Some don't deserve that. That Gainer kid got roped into this. He could've just been on that Exodus and not cared, but he got involved with us.

But I can see that... that's what we're here for, right? We do our part, they live comfortably without a care.

[mydutyisnotover.livejournal.com]

Yeah. All the kids on this ship deserve to get some semblance of a normal life. I want to make sure they get at least that.

[aprimeanswer.livejournal.com]

...Cradles.

[PRIME looks up at the massive floating colonies, and just sighs.]

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Rare sight to see. This is your first time seeing one, isn't it, PRIME?

[aprimeanswer.livejournal.com]

In person, yeah.

[He looks up at them, the disgust evident in his face.]

Rather than seek to try and heal the planet, they flee and cage themselves within. Surely they realize that if left unchecked, not even the airspace their precious cradles float in will remain uncontaminated...

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

Watch your tongue, PRIME. Those may be cowards to you, but if everything fails down here, they are the last vestige of our kind. Maybe one day, they'll return to Earth and join us once more. Isn't that your purpose? To make this planet habitable again?

[aprimeanswer.livejournal.com]

[PRIME nods.] Indeed.

Though I wonder if they are truly worthy of inheriting back this planet. What proof is there that it won't end up broken again, after it's been properly repaired?

This world can never be truly healed while fools inhabit it.

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

There is no proof, but the League confides. What the League does is what we follow, and so shall it be, PRIME. Those people have put their faith in us to make this world clear for them to descend. It's our contract to oblige.

[aprimeanswer.livejournal.com]

My duty is thus...The LEAGUE has been good to us, so far, and their presence helps to instill peace. It is...my privelage...to enforce their will...

[His voice trails off into a monotone as he finishes his thought. He shakes his head afterwards, a pained look on his face.]

I know little about them, aside from their presence as a major superpower, and that they have representatives from the OMER Science Tech group. So...tell me, LYNX. What is your opinion of The League of Ruling Companies?

[howling-alone.livejournal.com]

... I exist because of them. As do you. They are a means to an end. That's it.

Whether through good, or bad, the League fulfills its promises most of the time.