Consequences in the Future

[Ryder Sarka]

Universal Century 0085. It had been a year and a half since Ryder had joined the Titans, and things had changed for the newly promoted Lieutenant. No longer was he apart of a platoon. He belonged to the Pursuers, a special force within the Titans, and they were at the top of their class. The 8 Mobile Suit pilots apart of this squadron were all assigned to the Alexandria-class ship, the Excalibur. Ryder currently floated around in the hangar of this ship, waiting for it to dock into Konpei Island. Their next assignment was being kept from them, something the Lieutenant didn't enjoy. It never gave him enough time to prepare, but it did give him the extra challenge. However, Ryder already had enough of a challenge, considering he had an outdated mobile suit.

Most members of the team used the Hizack, one of the newer mobile suits, but Ryder was stubborn. He opted to stick with his GM Sniper II, along with another squad-mate, Gabriel. The Ensign loved his GM Quel, which made him an obvious choice to be Ryder's spotter on missions. The Titan watched as one of the Hizacks was being dismantled for spare parts. "It's sad to see her go." said a booming voice behind him. Ryder turned to see the Commander of the Pursuers. "But it's not every day you get to try a new mobile suit, huh?" Ryder smirked as he heard that comment. He knew the commander wished he would use something better, but time and time again, Ryder would refuse. "Well, I hope it works well, Dustin." He responded to the scarred individual. Suddenly, he heard the ship start to connect to the large space station. "That's our cue." said Dustin. "I'll meet you inside Solo- I mean Konpei Island, in room R17." He floated toward a nearby opening as Ryder watched. Every time he saw him, he was reminded of the mistake he made. That Gelgoog Marine haunted him...

Ryder zipped up his uniform and followed suit, but he knew he couldn't catch up. Dustin worked a million miles a minute as a commander and wanted to make sure everything would be ready for their meeting. He looked and saw his teammate. "Gabe!" he yelled out.

 

[Hunter]

Ensign Winter sat hunched on the railing outside of his Quel. Quietly he tapped away at a bulky laptop which was wired up to his mobile suit. He sifted through the lines of numbers and data, a resigned sigh escaping his lips. He had gotten scrutinized over his choice of mobile suit. Lately everyone else had been transitioning to the Hizak, a mobile suit which reminded Gabriel too much of a Zeek unit. Ensign Winter on the other hand opted to maintain his use of the Quel. His decision proved to be both a burden and a blessing; a burden because of his peers criticizing him, and a blessing because the influx of spare parts for his unit from the other Quels. Despite his abundant source of supplies he was faced with having to maintain his unit increasingly on his own. A small price to pay in his mind, he enjoyed solitude. While the world seemed to move on its own, Gabriel remained glued on the past, his mind flowing back to his home, and worse to that damn Zeek who humiliated him in this very unit. He didn’t care that his peers got new units and fancy promotions, he didn’t care that he was merely tolerated; he just wanted to fight, to get revenge. 

Sighing once more from the headache the screen was giving him he finally shut the laptop down, satisfied with his work. He tucked the chords away and cleaned up his station before floating along down the catwalk. 

His eyes wandered from suit to suit and before long he spotted the only other elephant in the room, the GM sniper tucked on the other end of the hangar. His eyes glider along the paneling of the older suit and his attention was stolen when he heard his name, “Gabe!”

The Titan turned around to regard his colleague Ryder. Gabriel snapped into a salute before responding, “yessir?” Ryder was one of the blokes who received a promotion, for what Gabriel couldn’t quite wrap his head around but he wasn’t one for military politics. “You’re still not taking a Hizak Lieutenant?” Gabriel asked quizzically as he floated towards his comrade. “We’re going to make quite the odd couple out there mate…” Gabriel murmured half heartedly.