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for siriusly
[A series of distress calls start coming in directly to the SDF. Official lines from a particular 'Homeworld', but no identity or rank attached. These calls always have specific details relating to pirate attacks in Homeworld space.]
-Binary Cluster colony 12, population 10,000-10,200 depending on commercial traffic, under attack by five ships. Vega Platoon recommended. Map of stable solar jetstreams for rail establishment forthcoming.
-Former pirate outpost abandoned. Reviewed by Homeworld officials already. Location information and investigation permissions unlocked for use by Spica train. Shared analysis delayed until full review is concluded.
-Asteroid 37 mining colony, population 200, Sirius Platoon recommended with additional evacuation cars. Stellar coordinates forthcoming.
[There are several of these over the span of a few months. What they don't know is that on Earth, it gives the general the opportunity to speak to leadership. To say that any Earth invasion has to be delayed indefinitely while the SDF is working to resolve the pirate problems. Because, while the General is strong, many Homeworlders are on par with humans. Just a few of them are exceptional; each outpost has some sizable representatives of the leadership, and there usually aren't enough of them to hold off entire pirate fleets.]
[It eventually even comes out that the death tolls that the SDF counts are incorrect. It's shared by some medical staff that the Homeworld has a program where willing participants will carry someone's consciousness into space, the two of them essentially doubling their experience while one body stays on the Homeworld. They share a body and exchange use of it, but if that shared body should die, the body on the Homeworld dies as well. The death tolls by the pirates are actually a quarter larger than what has been recorded by the SDF, and too many empty husks had to be removed from stasis because their owners would never be returning.]
[It's enough to drive the leadership to trust a military with more experience with a shared enemy.]
[Not all of the Homeworlders can be convinced to trust humans, though, and warned of an incoming pirate attack a security leader acts on too quickly. He sees humans coming, no matter their mode of transportation, and decides it's a cover for the pirates.]
[The moment the General hears about this absolute idiocy in the process of it happening, and realizes what platoon was supposed to be in charge of that mission, he's having a ship launched from Earth with some valuable staff on board. He knows if he doesn't hurry, those pirates will still be coming and that platoon will be doubly fucked.]
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does this also mean that sometimes, after opinions are formed, Manabu does a little insubordination to reach the end goal? yeah. yeah...]
Just hold position and let me do this!
["this" being the insane idea of launching one of the smaller craft out of the train and sailing straight toward the aggressive fleet. but it's not like it's the most insane thing: he didn't completely remove gun turrets. they're just not active, that's all.
look: if these guys don't believe what they see on a screen or in their pings, then getting right up into their eyeballs with the right regalia, the right amount of trust...that has to count for something. pirates aren't going to blindly throw themselves at an openly hostile target like this, and even if they were, Manabu has the credentials to verify himself if they let him board! so getting this far as a patsy would mean just throwing himself to wolves!
better him than the rest of the platoon, clearly. and he is repeatedly hailing with SDF codes, giving them ample time to give him the better benefit of the doubt.
this is very reckless and the captain is extremely clear about that, but he can't move the rest of Big One without triggering all out fire. the cannons are off and power is rerouted to shielding, just in case this goes sideways before reason wins the day. if it wins the day.
"Manabu, they're sighting you," one of the crew warns, and not for the first time.]
So I'm sighted. They're not firing.
["They will!"]
They won't. [probably. but if they do, he's the one with the best chance of evading, given his flight record. it's fine.
probably!
he sends another ping.] C'mon...Just...trust me, here...!
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[Volley two doesn't hit its mark. Volley two is intercepted by a large Homeworld ship that swings out of FTL right between Manabu's craft and the facility, its shields already up for what it thought would be incoming pirates, not friendly fire.]
[What anyone with open comms hears is a livid, volcanic booming voice. No visual of the speaker yet. The insignia of the Homeworld is the only accompanying image.]
Ceasefire! Everyone stationed here will be punished. The speed at which you adjust your cannon trajectory away from the train will dictate the severity!
["General! We're sorry, sir. We thought that-"]
Your ability to think has failed us so now you only obey. Understood? My apologies for their conduct, Captain. Proceed.
[The General has no idea that it's Manabu in that wayward craft but he really should have suspected it. Right then, he's just focused on stopping any hostile actions before the situation gets worse. Behind him, a waif of a woman who looks like the embodiment of everyone whose dreamed of an aethereal pixie alien princess is going over some health files, reviewing human anatomy (not too dissimilar from theirs) that was intended to be used for torture, now it would have to be used to save people. Several other workers, including Rooney, mill around him in preparation for defense and evac.]
[The lines are now full of various departments trying to apologize to the General, save for the leadership, who is now being soundly ignored.]
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well. since he's not currently exploded...back to business, right?]
This is SDF's Sirius Platoon, and we're trying to get a confirm of readiness for an incoming pirate fleet - one that we're not part of! We have fleet details we can share when ready. [not a virus or whatever that other guy was convinced of!]
And not to sound bossy, but our estimates put their warp-jump arrival pretty close to the wire here, so!
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I am aware, Officer. They should cooperate now.
[The word 'officer' is still in tone with command, but close enough to how he usually says it that it might give some pause. But he's not wrong. Some of the facility security are crying like Taylor Swift just said she was disappointed in them.]
I've brought my medic. If you allow her to assist the she'll bring her primary weapon and in the event of invasion, hand control to her brother who would then defend the infirmary. [She's one of the people carrying two people inside of one body.] I'll direct half of the reinforcements I brought to the facility. If your train gives permission, I'll bring the other half aboard.
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wow the one adult shorter than manabu. in all the galaxy
I am legally obligated to make fun of tiny characters and I don't want to end up in court
i respect the dedication to justice (bullying manabu for his height)
just so much tiny violence
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[Oh! He- his teeth! He never laughs this hard in public. He flushes about the reddest Manabu has probably seen, and covers his mouth like the few people here would suddenly unsee that. He could say bad dentistry? Maybe?]
[After the blush, though, the waitress seems to be taking pity on him, as his more pitiful looks surprisingly tend to get sympathy as much as his bigger moods intimidate, and she brings them their water and takes an order of Mapo Tofu from him and whatever else they ask for on top of what they take from the cart.]
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You can ask him about it later, yeah?
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[And again, for what's visible of his face, he manages to look impossibly fond again.]
I'll ask him if you can watch us fight. [Because Manabu seemed to like that kind of thing.] We break things so we usually pick unoccupied areas. [Or chase each other like gibbons around rooftops. He's going to get nostalgic thinking about it.]
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...
well, Taro's a space general, so...] Mmmn...that guy's got something to do with politics, then... [beat.
waving:] Auh, I won't ask! So you won't be on the hook for answering. Just thinking out loud.
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[Manabu gets a couple of pictures, too- notably one of him in his stupid house-cleaning apron holding up C-018 to the camera in timed selfie-mode, like he thought of showing the robot cat mid-cleaning spree. Included is a video of the creature scampering after a clothespin and swearing at it for being a wily opponent.]
[Some of the rest of the time is spent on breaking the substantial decryption on that USB drive, overseeing and tracking Rooney team's progress. Once he thought on what the dying human had said about the infiltrators in human organizations, he put Muller on the case of finding out whichever ones she could sleuth out, which meant sending her out to negotiate with the SDF. Manabu might get at least one report of the General actually showing up somewhere off-world. Not for long, but mostly because some particular types of soldiers are going to remember a visiting female interrogator in a tight fitted leather uniform and a General with a deep voice showing conspicuous amounts of torso showing up at an official building.]
[It's nothing he can talk to Manabu about in case they've started watching his phone after repeated encounters, other than saying he's going off-world and he'll make sure he replies as soon as he's back.]
[He does as he said, just in case. The hotel room is one with two beds, though through several warm showers he wonders what it would be like to just use one. Or hell, right on a rooftop. Or in a dark corner, risking discovery. In uniform. Out of uniform. His imagination has, fortunately, never had many constraints on it. His imagination, unfortunately, does make the want grow more and now he has less reason to fight it into silence (when not at work anyway).]
[And of course, he gets a few of the pandas. The best one being a panda cub clinging to the zookeepers leg. That ends up reminding him of the first time he met Manabu, and becomes one of the highlights of his panda album.]
[By the time the festival rolls around, he takes a train down and waits at the station for Manabu, wondering what the appropriate way to greet him would be.]
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his timing isn't the most efficient, which is why he shows up to the station a bit late and still laden with his travel duffel when he can easily spy the tallest guy anywhere, and before he can check himself, Manabu's trotting over with a grin.]
Hey-! Wait long?
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[
Sorry, Manabu.]Not too long. [He's better at entertaining himself.] You look good.
[He looks absolutely no different than normal. He's getting cosmetic enhancements by absence. But... he doesn't know- do you offer a hand? Maybe he just leads. Yes, that's what he'll do. He'll just start walking towards the hotel.] It's this way.
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Everything all healed up okay?
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[He's out pretty quickly, so if Manabu wants to wage an escape from the situation, he can. But he's pretty content and still, and he can't remember the last time that he slept with another person in the bed with him.]
[Though by the time he does wake up, he has worked his way to lying on his back, and if Manabu's still there, an arm tucked under him or a leg over one of his.]
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but moving now when he can hear Taro's breathing level out would be next to criminal. criminal! so he has to. be very still. try not to go insane with his thoughts coupled with the sensory experience of being so close to someone.
Will I know...if I mess this up?
...
He smells nice.
thinking more on the nice things is better than worrying on the what-could-happens, and it does help lull him into a kind of doze by the time Taro moves and startles him back awake, holding his breath until he's settled again.
needless to say, Manabu's not getting very well rested through all this, and there's really no one to fault for it. unless you wanna fault the General for not wearing him out. but c'mon man.
by the time Taro wakes up, Manabu's eyes blink open automatically, looking like an underslept college student. this lack of sleep has spared the General from getting decked by flailing limbs, for when Manabu does properly sleep, he does ridiculous sprawls.]
...Muh.
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[He supposes that means when he gets the other futon, it'll have to be a second one and not just a larger one that he'd share. But he can make it work. Better to figure this out now, if he actually does intend to stay with him on some of his downtime. Or get better at tiring him out, but that requires some conversations even he's not ready to have. If Manabu didn't know how to kiss, what would he know about sex beyond tonight? Hell, there are concepts his people don't even know- for good reason, he's never even heard of a blow job, as he's of a species that can't mind their teeth.]
[He carefully gets out of bed.] Try to sleep a little bit more. [He goes over to his duffel bag, pulling out his daily (predictably black) clothes and starts changing right there.] I'll go do our laundry.
[The General is very good at being a housewife, at least.]
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he turns and buries his head in the pillow, grumbling something or other. it'd be good to just get up and endure the day, let the next sleep hit harder, but he at least tries to lie still and see if dozing is an option. he's not much of a napper...unless he's trying to read something. shoulda brought a boring book.
a couple minutes later he sighs, doing a push-up on the bed and pulling his knees under him.
after a yawn:] I don't need it, it's fine. Need some help?
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[In the meantime, it's back to work (even overtime) at 'home'. ...Odd to be thinking of Earth in that way.]
[He sends Manabu a piece of paper with the design of the outlet the key should be placed in under his made up name, wrapped in a personal letter so that it would probably not be intercepted and it wouldn't be on his phone should someone confiscate that. The letter, likely much to Manabu's horror, is just a full two reiterating the things he's already told him he likes about him in excruciating lyrical detail.]
[His people build a bunch of test robots based off the ones they confiscated just to repeatedly fight, destroy, and exploit weaknesses on. That research and some of the SDF's anti-piracy work that his planet is interested in take up much of his time. His life is pretty low-key for most of their time apart, and all of the messages Manabu get from him are mundane.]
[At one point there's an attack during on a meeting about piracy that he's at- not aimed at him, aimed at the other SDF members there to consult with him. On a negative note, people get hurt. On a positive, everyone survives thanks to his quick reflexes and the General's knee-jerk rage-fueled violence at being provoked puts him in a better position to visit worlds on the rail lines.]
[It's just a waiting game at this point, to see if Manabu comes back, or if he finds something and the General needs to go out there. In the meantime he just passively looks forward to every time the distant soldier checks in with him.]
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he misses him bad. bad enough that the pages of prose given him don't do the psychic damage they ought to, but instead get reread, then safely stowed in the pocket he keeps an old, dented harmonica in. close to his heart.
there's some scolding to endure when this impatience effects his work ethic, and a few pinches where reality has to check him: romance is not the only thing going on in the universe, and people still need protecting. and so the adjustments continue, and time, relative to the place and space, moves on.
...he may get a bit older, but he never gets any taller. alas.
time off doesn't roll over into a bank, so Manabu's subject to waiting to replenish, so more's the anguish in waiting to come back. maybe if he did get hurt again? that's stupid. he won't do that. not on purpose.
months later, Taro's personal will get a ping.]
Remember the scavenger hunt?
I think i found a clue
[along with a link to some general information on a verdant colony planet. but instead of the main page, it's directly linked to some featurette about ruins in the forests. hmm!!]
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[What is not a vacation is the full two days of emails and calling that follow. And one wouldn't think of that as exhausting, usually, but any situation where the process is, 'Call person A. Person A directs to person B. Person B approves. Call person C. Person C tells you to circle back to person A and then get back to them.]
[But he does eventually let Manabu know with a little thumbs-up emoji. He orders Rooney to make a dud key that they'll keep in a well-guarded briefcase and a couple of functioning keys that'll be concealed in other luggage. Manabu probably hears it from his people before he hears it from the General- weird fighty space elves are going to be coming out to the lush planet. Why? No one's saying, but two of the pop-star popular execs are going to be on board. The science guy (Looney? Booney? Rooney? Which one was it?) and the nameless Scorpion guy. You know, that one. Cue some idiots arguing about whether they can score with a hot space elf if they bring an entourage and they can seduce one of the black-and-white uniformed cosmic sprites, they might be the first human to nail one, surely.]
[It's so lucky that Big One is the closest train that can provide SDF supervision. What a wonderful, timely coincidence.]
[In contrast to the noble blue of the SDF when the other ship arrives, the staff that get off first with their black and white uniforms look extra stark.]
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rewriting a bit because he should at least let the man drink some of his water
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[Rooney's still acting a little strange. The general asks him what's the matter, and he says simply that he's never seen them rub any of their backs like that. Which makes him realize that he saw that, and he might need to offer more explanations later.]
[He has to decide then if he'll try to make it look more innocent, focus on the 'none of your business', or do what he's inclined to do- talk up Manabu as the highly skilled, adorable, capable, upright and dutiful soldier that he is. That's something that'll have to sit in the back of his mind for deeper conversation.]
[By the time that any of the overseeing officers show up, the black-and-white clad group is already on the scene, using instruments to look around for a possibly moss-covered keyhole.]
[In a timely fashion, before the General can do more than acknowledge Manabu with a nod, one of the workers shouts. He's found it. It's also had moss peeled back away from it- someone found it, tried to use it, and failed.]
[The General worries about the integrity of the systems after all this time, but when he puts his own key in things start grinding, stone moving against stone.]
[Considering the circumstances, the General stands near Rooney protectively as he's setting up drones, watching every entrance and exit like a hawk.] Captain Bulge, are you going to be moving with us or taking up the rear? [So he knows whether he needs to be the one at the back. Not that he doesn't trust his soldiers, but he knows what he's best for. Rooney's good at solving the technical mysteries. He's good for keeping track of numbers and hurting things very badly.]
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[the team arrives in entire, and when a sign of progress signals a need for some excursion into the unknown, CMO Yuki and David are assigned to stay topside, as it were, to monitor any effects that may or may not happen outside of the site or signal emergencies that require them to withdraw. there's a sidebar wherein the captain reasserts that he is going to join the guild members despite the concerns and that gets closed with mixed reactions.
at the inquiry from the General, Bulge does indicate he'll take point ahead with the others in the General's party. this relegates Manabu and Louis to playing bodyguards to the human archaeologists who are...well....... you ever try to tell a child how to play with THEIR favorite toys? there's a lot of jaw-clenching and finger clenching and stifled indignation at THEIR finds being coopted by foreigners. it's a bit of a Thing here, and Manabu's going to have to practice a lot of self-control and not tell off the very people he's been assigned to behave around...]
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[Rooney tosses out a rolling drone, which bounces down some stairs that opened up after a chunk of ruins became a hole in the ruins once the key was turned. He's unsurprisingly good at ignoring the archeologists- after all, they've got a history of inviting themselves onto planets. And that it's humans who didn't come from here originally? It makes it easier to ignore them. But he casually assures them, in his chirpy bastard way, that they get to see what's in here too.]
[Playing nice can be a pain, though.]
[So far so good, though. Despite the early paranoia, there aren't any horrific traps (yet). There are some dangerous and steep drop offs where whatever railings existed had long since degraded, though. Flickering lights that just came on struggling on whatever ancient power systems are still straining. And Rooney's taking the time to diligently check each room to make sure they walk into breathable air and signal in case they need to put on a filtration mask or something.]
[So far so good.]
[The General continues to take up the back, but slows down considerably at one point, listening for footsteps that seem to come from the direction they came from and not the other.]
[The good find is a nice big observatory of a room, one with a console that, when switched on, starts displaying star system positions from a centuries ago- some have moved since, but are still identifiable. Portions of the big starmap are flickering or are completely out, and Rooney's immediately ready to start working on the tech to get the rest of that map up and running.]
Hey, General. It looks like someone else wanted to set up a system to track interstellar pathways. ...General? ....Geneerraaaal.
Shh. Shut up, Rooney! [The General's at the back, staring out the exit.] ...We're being followed. They're definitely back there.
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pressing ffw thru the action scene for my weakass sanity 🥲
You can survive! Fight, win, punch it in the face!
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Self-indulgent sad nonsense
[Then there's an alert that comes through that Earth is under attack. It's not from the Homeworld- from a species making use of robots and drones. The warnings they'd been getting for some time.]
[There's a staunch planetary defense to evacuate and protect the endangered areas. There are reports that Homeworlders are also pushing back the enemy forces (surely Manabu would know his man would never let the zoo or the park where his favorite good tree children are com under threat). He's out there fighting by those humans he was meant to kill for as long as he can.]
[As military updates and news reports roll in, there's no update from the General. In that whole time, no word. Not until shortly before one last terrible piece of information comes in.]
[The alien menace is being held back, driven back, even. Chances of victory are increasing. But whenever Big One is closer to Earth, there are military reports that Homeworld Headquarters has been destroyed, and there have been wounded and casualties.]
[Back in the harrowing hours before Headquarters falls, as they're besieged not by rangers but by competitors, the General has a hectic time getting his people onto evacuation ships. As it happens, it's not a moment where he has to fill out paperwork, to actually resign from his rank. It's a harrowing one of him carrying Ur/Ashe's unconscious frame onto the ship and tenderly coaxing her awake just to make sure they're both still in there. It's a sad moment where he has to tell Rooney, the man he's known the longest out of anyone else here, that he has to hold back the forces so they can escape. Where he (somewhat ridiculously) shoves judgement panda into his hands and tells him that he has to make him take care of himself now. To just remember the General would be upset to find out if he wasn't.]
[He gives Trigger and Muller respectful nods to make sure they take off with staff, knowing they won't care about the platitudes so much. It's then that he almost, almost sends Manabu a message. But when he opens the IM, he sees pictures of the nice coffee he had a week ago, and tree blossoms, and a panda.]
[He stares a good long time, as long as he can allow himself anyway. He decides that he's always said what needed to be said. He wants that IM full of all the good things they left for each other, not whatever this is going to be. So he sends one last message, hearing the sound of motors and whirring from approaching constructs.]
I told C018 to stay home so no one would shoot him by mistake. Take him with you.
[He knows Manabu's not a cat person but he's got an android friend. Maybe they will get along.]
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what's new is the multi-pronged approach, but then, humanity hasn't been this far-reaching before. so a homeworld invasion would be priority one for even the SDF, but Destiny, where the SDF is based, finds itself under assault as well. this, too, isn't new, but the scope...
well. there's a lot going on, long and short of it. and between the interstellar distance and spotty relays, any message is long in coming or going.
eventually, one blips in, backdated:]
Where are you
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[Because when the General receives it, with the gaps in time and message arrival and his own distractions, he's sitting at a desk with powered-down displays as the building is being picked apart by Earthling workers, and those drones and constructs are being dragged away. They've taken the few Homeworld stragglers in for medical care, but it's no longer like he has an army at his back. It's just him. And he's strong, but not nearly as resourceful.]
[It's so long before he has the will to text. He'll never admit that he almost wishes he didn't have to- his carefully structured life, hundreds of years of purpose, has been demolished in an incident beyond his control.]
Headquarters.
Warp gate is down. No power.
[He's messy with oil and blood and he hates the feeling of it on his skin, sticky and deplorable, dirt caked in there. He wants to be home. But he can't go home so he has to hope his home away from home is still standing.]
[Headquarters is so damn far away from anything, it feels like.]
Are you safe?
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