Kindling, Awaiting a Spark (ShadowVigilante1)

August 29, OE 102
Russian Skies, enroute to Moscow
11:27a.m.

The pair had been flying for a couple hours now in more or less total silence, aboard the carrier that would take them the rest of the way as to conserve energy. This sorta thing was the kind that sets Gideon on edge. As such, in order to break the silence, he would speak up.

"So....you said your name is Priscilla, right?" A simple question, something to break the silence and the ice. Hah, irony. Still, it was better than nothing at all. Besides, this was the only relatively friendly face he had met for a little while now.

"I've uh....never been to Moscow before. Or well, Russia in general. Care to tell me a little about it before we get there?" Such a simple question, but an honest one all the same. Gideon didn't get around as much as he would like to unfortunately. He'd be sitting near Granveil, still wearing his suit. It was strange how it looked almost...bolted to him. More on that later though.

Priscilla would sigh as he broke the silence in the transport’s bay. She would have preferred if he kept silent, but nothing she could do about it now. “Yes, Priscilla Hunt. Just remember not to call me lady, ma’am or whatever other honorifics you have stored in your head.”

She would think about his question on Moscow for a bit, she didn’t really have time to go around, did she? “Well, I’ve only been there for a day, and that was yesterday. Not much I can tell you aside from get the warmest clothes you can find, you’ll freeze to death otherwise.” She would then smirk however, her thoughts moving to his possible reassignment. “But seeing as you’re some deserter, they’ll probably toss you to the ass end of space where the back line is. Probably track down that bastard Thane Ashford while you’re at it, you’ll do everyone on the Moon a service.”

He seemed...relatively unmoved by her jabs. He wasn't so sure on what would happen next and would rather not jump to a conclusion.

"I wouldn't be so sure there. Depending in how things pan out, that may not be the case at all." He spoke plainly as he looked over at her.

"But until that time, until we know for certain, I must apologize because I will still be here." Gideon would exhale softly. Best to change subject.

"I have noticed that you particularly enjoy trying to get under my skin, trying to achieve a rise out of me. Why is that?" It was a simple ask, but there was so, so much more that could possibly be gleaned. "You call me brat, deserter, and I assume other things inside your head and for...what exactly? Are you jealous perhaps? That I chose to live my own way? Walk a path that I choose?" Strangely wise questions coming from him. He didn't show it before but it seemed there was more to him than first appeared.

She would sigh and would shake her head in annoyance. “No, nothing as philosophical as that. I already know how I want to live, and I’m sticking with it. And that is why…”

Priscilla would stand up, looking down at Gideon with a frustrated look. “I absolutely refuse to work or talk with a guy like you who thinks he’s some damn hotshot!” Seriously, why did it have to be that kind of person? They’re the most unstable type of soldier you could have, probably even more than a legitimate maniac. They never follow your rules, orders, or your own codes of conduct. They just do whatever they please, and that was something Priscilla didn’t like one bit.

”Honestly, guys like you need to be reigned in for a lot of things. I hate your damn guts, and it just makes me sick when people like you try to hit on me like it’s the most casual thing in the world.” She said before sighing and sitting down, placing her knees up to her chest as she sat there sulking. “Does that’s answer your question now?”

He would exhale softly. She didn't know him truly enough then.

"You have no idea. I am no hotshot that you believe me to be. I fight in the best way I can. I still follow orders, just not those of people who declare themselves terrorists. If you think I am some wildcard some...maniac with no sense for strategy, you are not looking hard enough." *He would scratch the back of his head as he'd sit down next to her. Or well, relatively. There was still a fair gap between them.

"I fight my own battles. How I fight depends on who I work with. And...when exactly did I try to hit on you? I don't recall any form of such. Unles's there was something I said that was so subtle that I never noticed and only you did? Whatever the case, I apologize regardless." He still seemed very relaxed, just talking to her normally. What was her deal exactly anyways? He barely said anything to her besides a few formal remarks back when they first met. In any case, he'd lean back against the leg of Granveil, looking at the palm of his hand. This suit didn't come off so easily.

"On another note, does this ship have a station for application and removal of exo-suits? I feel that when there is some downtime, I may have use of it." Despite constant insults being flung his way, he remained quite friendly. How did he do it? How did he not snap back?

“Well… whatever, just stay the hell away from me.” She said as she looked the other way after letting him say his piece. ”As long as you do that, we’ll be fine.” She would look back up at the Vysaga afterwards, admiring its construction. An old weapon certainly, but it still served it’s purpose as one. She still wondered how long she had to be a warrior, the sooner this all ends the better for her and her wish to live peacefully.

She would take a glance back at Gideon as he mentioned exo-suits. “No, I don’t think so. Not here, maybe back at base they can do that for you. But they’ll likely confiscate it first considering they might not trust you, so if you need it to walk or something, I suggest keeping it on for a while.” Well… this wasn’t really going anywhere, at least there was that.

”Why are you even wearing that in the first place?” She wondered out loud.

"Simple really. It's to help counter high Gs when flying around at high speeds. I did fly a jet before piloting Granveil here. The suit keeps the blood flowing properly to prevent blackouts. Plus it offer some minor physical enhancement. Though...a part of it is actually my left arm. All prosthetic." Gideon would explain as he held up his left hand, wiggling the fingers. Sure enough, upon close inspection, one could see that the arm was indeed mechanical in nature. Compared to the right arm which looked like, well, what one would expect a form fitted suit to look like on a person.

"But yes, the purpose of it is simple. It's just that putting it on and taking it off is difficult due to it being more or less connected to my body. At least it doesn't itch... Mein Gott...that would be a nightmare." Slipping a little bit of his native language in there absentmindedly, he'd sigh softly.

"Apologies, I tend to slip back into German whenever I get comfortable." It was strange because he barely showed any kind of accent, but there was faint hints at it.

"If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm an open book and I've got nothing else to do at the moment except chat. Which...considering you saved my skin back there, I suppose I should at least thank you as such."

”Guess you fly really fast then. Probably won’t need them for PTs or something like the Vysaga. They already have built in systems to reduce G-Forces from becoming that bad inside the cockpit. I would be mush otherwise given how fast Vysaga can go.” She would have a look at his mechanical hand. She started to wonder a bit how he got it. “I’m guessing you didn’t lose your hand on purpose?” She said still trying to mock him a little to get him to stay away from her. Jeez, this guy was patient, at least that’s something he has all the other creeps.

She would let out a quiet ‘Hmph’ as he talked about the Exo suit getting itchy. “How much German do you even speak? Personally I know a couple of words but I’m not very fluent in it.” Also how exactly could he be comfortable right now? He seemed about ready to squirm out of that Exo suit.

"Oh this?" He would wiggle his cybernetic fingers a bit as he brought the topic to that in question.

"No, it wasn't on purpose actually. During a training exercise, something went wrong and one thing lead to another, which left my arm so battered that there was no choice but to amputate and replace it. As for the other questions..." He would adjust a bit as he would turn to better look at her.

"To begin, I am fluent in German. It was more or less taught to me alongside English. So if I slip between the two, I apologize. And well, on the topic of speed. The fighter I piloted wasn't really outfitted to sustain the pilot through High G maneuvers. Hence, this exo-suit. Though it does do more than just regulate the circulation in my body. It does enhance me physically but not extremely so. But you are correct that I wouldn't really need it for Granveil. Though there is that whole thing with habits. Hard to break." He explained simply, and casually. He spoke to her with respect, but not completely formal. Business casual one might say.

"Though...after all this is said and done, I could absolutely go for a nice cool shower, and maybe a drink or two." He shrugged a bit. Surprisingly enough he looked totally fine in that exo-suit, despite what one may assume about it.

She would nod as he spoke about his missing hand. Well, guess he probably isn’t that careful as she surmised. Hopefully he won’t slip up if they get out together again for some kind of mission. ”Well, I just hope you don’t make me lose any of my own limbs.“

After hearing him speak about speaking German, she couldn’t help be wonder… “Have you ever read some German books in your spare time? I learned German mainly to read those, but I just can’t for the life of me.”

Well… it seems his Exosuit was important to him, sounds like he’d need to have a talk with her commanding officer about it. Besides, it had some useful benefits anyways, he could beat a couple of people to a pulp with that. “Well, if you want to keep it so badly, I recommend talking with Director Sullivan once he gets back. He runs things in the Directory.” She didn’t really care what he did, just as long as she didn’t have anything to do with it.

"Ah, there shouldn't be any loss of body parts. Fear not." Gideon said simply as he glanced back over at her. The topic of German interested him.

"I've read a handful here and there. Though you're not really missing too much. At least to me personally. As for the suit..." He would sit up a bit and stretch a little.

"I'll see about talking to him when I can. But anyways, back to the more important topic." He'd sit back normally again. "There's a few decent reads, and often times they have translations. Though sometimes there's some that don't. It's really a matter of what interests you and what catches your eye. You know?"

“Yeah… I’m not missing much, sure.” She said as he spoke about translations, while most are spot on, of course there’s always somethings which are lost in translation. Which is why… “But then I’d miss out on things that only the original language can convey. Same thing with other texts like those from Asia.”

She would begin to go on a bit of a tangent about other languages aside from German, seemed as if she was starting to get a bit comfortable. “Like in languages such as Chinese or Japanese, the symbols all mean something, and even those symbols are made of even smaller symbols which also themselves mean something on their own.”

”So yes, I’m not missing out on much. But what I do miss might be crucial or the real reason why it was written in the first place.”

"Well said. That certainly is one way to look at it." He would nod a little as they conversed about all this. She wasn't so bad when she relaxed. It was nice.

"And all it takes is an interest in learning the language. Unfortunately some are much more difficult than others. Like the ones you mentioned. Chinese and Japanese? They have a character or symbol for anything, even things that don't have an English version. Though you shouldn't let that deter you if you wanna learn."

“Well, Japanese is at the very least a bit easier than Chinese, but not by much. Probably better off with Japanese though, a lot more of those texts were brought from Earth by the royal family so I can actually read them in their proper form. Princess Kaguya for instance would be one, ironic that they brought that text to the Moon of all places.”

He was right however, she could learn as long as she had the drive. Anything was possible. Anything could be learned… “If you’ve been out and about, have you ever come across any less well off Lunarians with blonde hair?”

Anything, including her brother’s heritage.

"Bit of an odd question. Well, there was one time in my youth I met a boy, about my age who seemed like he wasn't that well off. Though...that was years ago. I cannot say where he is now. But outside of that? To see any Lunarians here is rare in my experience. So I wish I could give a complete answer but that is all I have. Apologies." He sounded genuinely remorseful he didn't know more. Something in his gut told him there was more to that question but he would not press for details. Rather, he figured it might be best to simply let it be for now. It was already a tenuous, fragile alliance, he wished not to break it.

“How old are you again?” She said as she thought about the possibility of her brother having a living biological sibling. One that perhaps he could not remember? Although it could also very well just have been Aurum when he was younger. Grooming him into the proper man took a while according to her father. It could possibly even lead to Aurum himself in due time, she just knows he isn’t gone.

”I just want to know, I’m still just really worried about my older brother. They say he’s gone missing but I know he’s still out there fighting for our home. If he ever does come home, it at least want him to come back to the family he was born into, not the one that’s gone.”

"Oh..I see." He seemed to zone out for a slight moment, remembering something about himself that he swore would stay buried. But, as quickly as it came, he shook it off and looked over at her.

"Whatever the case, I will help you find him. That is, if you'd have me on that venture. You have my word." He said with a nod, holding out his hand to her for a shake.

"He must know he still has family."

“Well… if he still even has one. You could have very just seen him when he was younger, I heard he grew up on the streets before my parents had me. He was… 4 or 5 years old give or take. But I heard he was still rough around the edges until he was 10.”

Wait… what was she saying? She couldn’t just blurt out where her brother came from, that was just disgraceful to both him and her. She would take on an embarrassed look and would immediately rebuke her own statement. “I-I mean… he… he liked hanging around in the streets, made lots of friends there before. Still visits them every now and then of course.”

Well… if Aurum were here, he would probably brush it off but it still embarrassed and pained her slightly to say that her brother was adopted from the poverty stricken populace in Lunaria. He was much more than that for certain.

Surprisingly, Gideon didn't appear bothered by the fact she just spoke about something that maybe shouldn't be brought to someone she just met.

No, Gideon just nodded understandingly at her tale.

"I see. Regardless, I will still help in any form that I can, should you allow it." He stated, clear as day that, despite being a soldier that didn't usually play by the rules and used incredibly unconventional tactics, he still had a heart. Especially when it came to family. That part still stings from deep within his very being. Though a flash of remorse crossed his eyes as he thought back once more to his own youth, but, he would quickly pat those thoughts back down again. He would reminisce later, for now was not the time.

"It is...good to speak about things that weigh upon you. Even something small." He spoke up, offering a few words of wisdom in all this. It was hard, looking for a family that one didn't know if they still drew breath. Gideon went through that before. And he would not wish that fear upon anyone, even those he considered his enemy.

"He's out there, somewhere. Alive. And well, you know what they say about trusting your gut on things." He attempted to be a bit more encouraging, hoping that would cheer Priscilla up in some manner.

“Well, I’ve let you in on it so just do with that information as you feel. Besides, it’s not like I could just ask them to spare a search party for one knight of Lunaria.“ Well, the cat was out of the bag. No point in trying to stop him in helping her in her endeavor. At the very least it would make things easier.

”Well, a lot of things are weighing down on me really. But I suppose those can be saved for another time.” Well, if there even was a next time. What was she even saying any more? She’d lost her track of mind on distancing herself from this guy. Was she… warming up to him? She would shudder in her mind at the thought. That would probably be enough for now.

“I-I wouldn’t have asked about him if I didn’t feel that he was still alive. Even with my crappier Psychodriver abilities. But either way, I think that’s enough.” She would stand up from where she sat and would move to board the Vysaga, deciding to do some preliminary reports before returning back to base. “I do appreciate the thought however. Just don’t let my scarce compliments get to your head.” She said before closing up the cockpit of the Vysaga, enclosing herself within the dark knight.