| The Lost Evocati |
| Summary: | AWOL from Areion visits Drips to talk about CPT 'Spank' Duben. |
| Date: | 03 Jan 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | You Know Spank?! |
| Players: |
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| Pilot Berths — Battlestar Cerberus |
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| The battlestar's pilots call this place home. Bunks line the walls with grey curtains to cover their sleeping areas. Lockers sit between each pair of bunks and a round metal table sits in the center, furnished with simple but comfortable steel chairs. A hatch at the rear of the room leads to a communal head. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #311 |
With condition two still hitting the BSG-132, it means pretty much is working around the clock. It is not a rare thing to see Pilots in this room of course, but at this moment, it's not as crowded as it could normally be. Wade just got back from CAP, and before hitting the shower, he is filling up some paperwork. AARs are not going to be created by themselves after all. The man is still wearing his flight suit, the only difference is that the upper half has been removed from his torso and it now rests behind his back against the chair, the arms of the suit wrapped around his waist. Dogtags dangling over his chest at the moment, showing his name and callsign. It does seem that other pilots are around, but most of them are sleeping.
With condition two still hitting the BSG-132, there's been constant traffic in and out of the berths. Pilots coming off duty, crashing for some rack time, circulating back on. So it's a minute before one would really notice the unfamiliar face slipping through the hatch. She's in a flight suit, but it bears the patch of the VX-1 "Spectres" on her arm, not any Cerberus squadron. Average height, dark hair and serious dark eyes, skin that whiter shade of pale those who've served particularly long on space duty get. "So," she observes, to no one in particular. "This is where the Regulars sleep, eh?"
Yes, movement, there's a lot of it around these parts. Wade keeps his focus on the task at hand not really paying a lot of attention to the pilots moving in and out. However, it is only when an unknown voice mentions 'the regulars' that he stops what he is doing and lifts his gaze to look at the newcomer. Granted, the only contact that Wade had with AWOL was during the Raptorball match, so he never saw her face. "Well…" starts the man, leaving his pen on the table and sitting back to look at her "It depends really, what exactly do you mean by…regulars?" He asks this with a very faint smile.
"No offense," the Spectre replies to Wade, striding across the room to meet him. "Regular Navy. It's what Birdie calls you lot. My S-L. Major Finch." The way she says it implies she they are *not* Regulars, though she doesn't immediately elaborate. "I touched my bird down on your deck to refuel after CAP." Why she couldn't do that on the Areion is unclear. "Figured I'd come take a look at how the other half lived." She smiles a little as she says it. "You know a guy callsign Drips, by the way? Kind of been meaning to have some words with him."
Wade just smiles a little more and nods to her "Non taken" He leans back against his seat again and adds "Regular Navy huh? So what are you guys exactly then?" The smile doesn't fade, and he looks down at his paperwork for a few seconds before looking back at her "Double CAP can be a bit of a pain huh?" Another nod "Just ended mine not long ago" Now, he looks around and back at her "A life of luxury, can't you tell?" And now, both eyebrows arch in a little surprise and then he stands up "Well, I'm Wade Duncan, Drips…" he extends his hand to her "What can I do for you?"
"Evocati," is the woman's automatic response to Wade's question, about what they are. "You see, you've got the Reservists on the back lines. Not much, usually. Then you got the Regulars. Doing this for their day job, the regular work. Evocati…it means 'veteran.'" And something more than that, perhaps. There's no haughtiness to it, but there is a deep pride. "You're Evocati, it's your life." She takes his hand, clasping it. "Lieutenant Allison Moran. They call me AWOL. When I was a rook I used to throttle past my section lead if I wasn't careful. Always wanted to push it as fast as I could. Like I was trying to fly away." She chuckles. "Fiasco mentioned he talked to you. About Colton." Spank, that is.
"Evocati" repeats the man, nodding at that. Now, he listens to the explanation and nods again "Well, I've been flying since I was 16, civilian shuttles at that point of course. And I've been flying Vipers for 8 years, if I add the 20 months of Flight School of course" He smiles once again and adds "It's a plasure to meet you Allison." nod "AWOL" Now he hears the reason for her callsign and he can't help but to smile just a little more "During Flight School, I got told many different times that I should stop pushing the birds so hard. I see no reason to do that, and I think we agree. Good, good" He smiles again and then takes a deep breath "Drips…given to me after I was victim of a prank. Other pilots placed my hand into warm water while I was sleeping and I…pee'd myself" He smirks at this and there is evident amusement there. "Oh? Did he?" He swallows and nods again "Colton was my best friend, my wingmate back in the Chimaera and frak…I wanted to be like that guy, the best damn pilot I ever seen"
"Likewise," AWOL says, as to the pleasure bit. She seems to mean it, too. Her countenance seems by nature serious, but his comment about flight school makes he crack another smile. The story makes her laugh outright. "Frakkers." Further mention of Colton dials her mood back down to serious, though. "Yeah. I know. He talked about you sometimes. Spank, I mean. He liked you. And he was damn good…I'm one of the younger ones plucked for the Areion. Sometimes…" She pauses, hesitating. But she does go on. "…sometimes I wonder how in the hells I made it. Why I made it. Spank never made me feel out of place. And he showed me a few tricks without making me feel like an idiot. He was a damn good pilot. Damn good man."
Wade laughs just a little and shakes his head "It happens, back in Corvus the entire Squadron was built with pranksters, and in Chimaera it was no difference. Spank and myself included in the Prankster group." A smile forms on his lips when he hears that apparently, Spank offered good comments about Wade. "How the hells you made it? Well, in my honest opinion, I would say you are pretty good actually. AWOL, we fought against eachother on that Raptorball match now that I recall it." he nods again "Pretty good pilot, honest" Now, he smiles once again, this time, the smile remains and doesn't fade that fast. "That's Spank, always willing to help. He was a great guy and like I mentioned, the best pilot I've seen. I always asked him where he was stationed, but he always told me it was classified, but that it would have been cool to have me there. Guess now I know where he was" The smile is still there and he finishes with "You know, he helped me use what…" he chuckles and shakes his head "My instructors said I had a batshit crazy style of flying. Colton told me that I should never lose that, and he helped me…control it a little better. I owe a lot to that man"
"Evocati is life," AWOL says. And does she sound, maybe, a little somber as she says it? "We all kind of put the rest of it on hold to be a part of the Areion. It's an honor, but it meant your correspondence got heavily redacted. Among other things." That last part makes her smile again, touched with sadness now. "It's not about pulling back on the throttle, Drips. It's about knowing what to do with it."
Wade listens in silence for a moment, but asks "Among other things?" There is a faint smile on his lips and then the man takes a deep breath, sharing that same sadness "He used to say that. A lot actually. See, our Captain paired us together almost always. And it wasn't always because of shore leaves and all that" Now, he clears his throat and says "Allison, I want to know how he died. Granted, we don't live forever but he was damn good. What happened?"
"Spank died a warrior, Drips." For a moment it seems like Allison' going to stop there. But, again, she finally does go on. "Look, this battlestar was built to carry…what? Three hundred pilots? I'm not going to act like you don't know about casualties. We had our share, too. Colton was one of them." Still light on details but she doesn't seem, precisely, unwilling to provide more. "He died fighting. He died in the cockpit, he died Evocati. He earned that much…"
"And that is exactly how he always said that he wanted to die…fighting. We all fly and fight and die." says Wade to AWOL. The man takes a deep breath now and rubs his fingers over his eyes, looking at her again "I do know about casualties AWOL, I do know" He nods to this and adds "The reason I ask is because that man was my best friend and my mentor." He crosses his arms over his chest and then adds "I'm not trying to sniff around in your classified information, I just…you know…" The man looks at her in the eyes and finally nods, adding "You know what I mean. You appreciated him…a lot, I can tell. So, you know"
"Fly and fight and die?" That's a macabre sentiment AWOL can apparently appreciate. "Yeah. So say we all. I know you were. That's why I'm here. He and I…" She stops. Regroups whatever she was going to say. Shrugs. "…we were close, y'know? He was an easy man to love. Wish he was still flying with us." She says it like she's admitting something she's not sure she should. "It was hells for a long time. We'd jump, the Cylons'd track us. We couldn't figure out how. Couldn't figure out why. Turned out to be that bitch…the skinjob. I hear there was a copy of her here on your Deck, called Morgenfield. We had one of our own. Guess she was leading them to us, wherever we'd go…"
Wade nods at the -So say we all-. Now, he lightly arches both eyebrows but the smiles warmly "Oh, I see" he smiles to this and says "Spank always mentioned that, he wanted to settle down, find the right woman." he smiles at that and he nods "It does seem that woman was you." He nods in acceptance to his own word and he adds "I'm glad, I'm glad he found you and I'm glad you found him" He idly rubs on his left arm with his right hand "That man always had good taste" he smiles softly at this and then takes a deep breath "Ah, Morgenfield, yes. She was aboard Cerberus." He clears his throat and explain "I wasn't here all the time, I got picked up from Leonis. My, brother was getting married and I got extended leave to help him out with everything. I sent Spank an invitation for two, but…you know, I never knew if he got it. Two days before the weddings, bombs fell. Most of my family died right there, my brother died a couple days later and I had to…you know…I had to keep going." He shakes his head at this and offers "Yeah, it seems that the Cylons had really good chances to frak with us all"
There's a soft snort from the pale woman. "Neither of us were going to settle down anytime soon. He was a good man, though. Made things easier." Another shrug from her. She says no more about the Cylons, or the attack where Spank met his end. But she does unzip the pocket of her flight suit and pluck out a chain with two small medals strung along it. One a Hermes medallion, symbol of the swift, fun-loving god. The other an old Tauron Stampede Pyramid logo, made to go on a key ring. The chain is extended to Wade. "There wasn't much left of him, but I figured he'd have wanted you to have that."
Wade chuckles softly at that and then nods "He was" When she unzips her pocket, he looks at what she does and there is certain surprise when he sees the Medallion in particular "He always had it with him…the medallion, he said that it was his token for speed…." he laughs a little "mad speeed as he used to call it" He looks at the Tauron Stampede logo and snorts amusedly "Endless discussions on who was best, Tauron Stampede or Picon Panthers. I'm from Picon originally" Now he extends his hand, taking the chain that he offers. He looks at it in silence, for a moment. His gaze moves to meet up with AWOL's and he smiles softly, nodding "Thank you, thank you for coming to talk with me and for, sharing that…I'm sure he loved you a great deal."
"Speed and good luck. Well. Spank had those on his side most of the time. Just not when came down to the last." A woman, about thirty, average height with dark hair and the pale skin that comes with prolonged space service, is in the berths, talking with Wade. Though dressed in a flight suit, she's no Cerberus pilot. Her squadron patch IDs her as a member of the VX-1, the "Spectres." An Areion spook. At that last, she shrugs to Wade. "I wish I could've done better by him. I should've done more."
Wade looks at the medallion and keychain, smiling softly at them as he rubs his thumb on the hermes figure. He nods in silence and hangs the medallion around his neck, letting it fall next to his dogtags. He eyes the keychain again and shakes his head, chuckling. "Speed and Luck. I shall carry them with." He looks at her now and says "A part of him is with you, I'll carry a part of him with me as well" He offers the woman a soft smile and then he admits "I wish I could have been flying with him" He presses his lips together and then nods, focusing his attention on the VX-1 patch. "I understand he was with the…" he stops himself, remembering "Thunderhawks? Was he the SL? He earned the Captain rank right before he was transferred out of Chimaera"
Allison Moran shakes her head at Wade's question. "No. He was recommended for the Areion project by his last CO, but Commander Kepner and Papa - Lieutenant Colonel Baer - hand-picked all the S-Ls. Spank was a little…more independent than I think they liked sometimes." Again, it's sounds like she's admitting something. Or half on the cusp of admitting something shouldn't.
Wade listens to AWOLs words again and finally nods "Yes, that is one of the reasons we were always paired together, we understood eachother and worked well as a team." However, he narrows his eyes a little, there's something else there, he wants to know. "So, both your CO and CAG didn't hold him in good graces?" He rubs his fingers over his chin and he finally asks "What are you not telling me AWOL? There's definitely something on your mind about this matter, I can tell" He is not pushing for answers really, he is trying to find out more about what went down.
"Colton was Evocati, and he died a warriors' death, as befits and Evocati," AWOL replies to that. "And he capped a lot of Cylons in his day. That's all that matters in the end. It's not that Papa didn't hold him in his 'good graces.' It's just…you know how it gets with a CAG, right? You make waves, you get your hand smacked. They respected each other in the end."
"I know how it gets with a CAG, yeah" replies the man, nodding at that "My asshole CAG back in Chimaera delayed my promotion to LT because of a non-polite verbal exchange with another pilot. How fun is that" he shakes his head "That fraking asshole" Yeah, that kinda bothers him, specially for a man who's life is the Military and the Vipers. He takes a deep breath now and shakes his head "I'm sorry, I don' mean to push for information, you've given me a lot already and, and I appreciate that, I honestly do" He clears his throat and takes a deep breath "How long? I mean, how long since he died"
"Wasn't long before we met up with you all over Sagittaron. A little over a month, maybe two, before we joined up with the battlegroup. Sorry I didn't come sooner," AWOL says. "Look, my plane's probably fueled by now. I should be getting back to the barn." Her barn, not his. "It was good meeting you, Wade."
Wade shakes his head "It's ok, at least you decided to stop by, that's what's important." He takes a deep breath and nods to her, offering a smile "It was good meeting you as well, Allison" He then opens his mouth as if to add something that doesn't come out right away "If you want, you can stop by again…or I could visit? Maybe it'll even give your friends a chance to brag about your Vipers and all" he smiles at this and says "Thank you"
"Yeah, if you want," AWOL replies to Wade. "Dizzy's birthday came and went, but Fiasco's going to do it up right on that civvie ship once this condition two shit is done. You should come. We can tell war stories."