The First Sortie [Voice]

[yellowthirteen]

[There’s a brief sound of static, and a gust of wind.]

…This is a priority two distress call. I am extra-vehicular and need an extraction immediately. Repeating, this is Yellow 13 sending a priority two distress call. I’m without my gear in the snow. No sign of my plane anywhere. Presence of the enemy is unknown at this time.

[Another gust of wind tears through the recording, followed by a very audible shiver.]

Can anyone read me? …Just where am I?

Comments

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, muchly so. If you'd like, you're free to stay until you've found somewhere to stay. We've sleeping quarters in the back.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

That would be perfect. While I'm here, if you need me for something, make sure to ask.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

Unless you'd like to go rest now, pleasant conversation is always welcome.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

[He nods, but closes his eyes.]

I've never been much of a conversationalist. ...But for you, I'll try.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

Tell me about your world, then. If it's no trouble, I mean.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

It's a world of many countries. And many wars. Though so many of us hate them, it seems an inevitable tragedy of our nature.

...And then there was Ulysses.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

Ulysses?

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

Ulysses was an asteroid that fell from space. The world's powers knew it was to come for several years, and built many countermeasures to try to destroy it. Ulysses itself was big enough that if struck our world, the world as we knew it would end, engulfed into a never-ending nuclear winter.

[A pause, and a deep, but almost relieved sigh.]

That's not what happened. My home country Erusea helped construct a railgun battery known as Stonehenge meant to shoot the asteroid down as it entered the atmosphere. Six years ago, on third of July, 1999, Ulysses made planetfall, but before Stonehenge could engage it, the asteroid shattered into thousands of fragments. Stonehenge still destroyed many of the larger fragments, but... hundreds of smaller pieces broke through.

The world goes on, but 500,000 people died that day on the Usean Continent alone. Hundreds of thousands more were injured. Farbanti, the Erusian capital, was struck directly with a fragment, sinking a whole district into the sea. Millions worldwide were displaced. ...It was the greatest natural disaster in the history of our world.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

That's horrible...

[But she doesn't want to let him dwell on the sad on his first day.] But far better than the alternative, for certain.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

Yes. It was the beginning of hard times for Erusea and other nations. But we were thankful that we were alive, and that the world did not end.

But... Ulysses itself is responsible for at least one war, probably two. The Usean Continental War, where I served Erusea, started in 2003.

As for the second... hard to say what those damn Belkans were thinking. And if Ulysses even played into their decision.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

I too lived through war, though it was a single long one rather than multiple shorter ones... An experience I'd care not to repeat.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

That's now a sentiment I will agree with. Though I did not see the horrors of war up close from the cockpit of my fighter, I lost many people who were important to me.

But... I cannot claim I was noble enough that I did not want to fight. I still remain proud of my squadron and of our skill. We were the best. And we made Erusea proud.

But now my days of defending the skies are over. Peace is a welcome change.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

Peace is... common enough, here in Luceti.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

[Thirteen makes a noise of agreement.]

The experiments concern me, but if life is quiet here... maybe it's not so bad.

[martelandmany.livejournal.com]

I don't intend to lie to you, the experiments are often miserable or at the very least distressing, but we always pull through.

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you have to fly right through the storm to emerge victorious.