Yeah, its a pretty nice feature to have. The new issue is picking the right selections and pieces that fit just right. Will have to admit that its hard not to choose from any final fantasy music when trying to reach out for many other things. I must now learn how to better streamline what I have streamlined!Still in the process of fully checking this out, but I have to say I have never before seen a project that integrates music with key moments in the reading. That is a really, really cool idea. I think a big part of what makes film and video gaming so powerful is music, and its effect on mood and atmosphere. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
- Filler -Spoiler!There comes a time where one wonders what it means to be a good parent. Are the parents judged by the mannerism of their children? Is it the overall base that they have laid out for them? The moral lessons provided? Being there for them when they are needed? Or is it the success that they have achieved by spending many of their years being patient, nurturing and understanding, allowing them to grow at their own pace and rise towards the sunlight between their guardians on their own two legs? For a while, Yoshi had asked himself these questions. For many nights, he stared into the false night sky, stayed up several hours, and thought about these very questions. Now is not one of those times.
Instead, here we have Yoshi giving his daughter, Arethusa, a mini tour of the B-01 support ship. Something he decided to do after their visit from one of ARK’s many shooting ranges; a place where the two and Marean tested Arethusa’s prototype magislash, or a gunslash that shoots techniques in the form of powerful bolts. Not because he thought it was cool; because then he would be lying. In reality, he thought it was awesome and endorsed his daughter’s usage of the new weapon. He even went so far as to be the first to try it out. Surprising to no one, it didn’t blow up in his face. However, Arethusa was very pleased when her mother hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, like she normally loves doing, and take it away from them; more so when her father complemented her, on the craftsmanship and beauty of the gunslash’s stock.
Having left the range with large smiles on their faces and ice cream in their hands, Yoshi plopped open the B-01’s loading ramped and led the group inside, an arm sweeping forward the whole time. Arethusa avoided the walls in hopes that she wouldn’t get her white dress dirty. This became ironic for Yoshi because they had used civilian firearms as well. Which were more primitive compared to their ARKS grade counterparts.
Because it was their day off, everyone wore something casual; and by Marean’s request, Yoshi took his felted ten gallon hat off for once. Arethusa, the little girl who had been the first to skip inside, wore a nice simple white dress. One bought for her by her mother. Behind the tan little girl, Marean wore a gray oversized t-shit for once, displaying the logo of the Ur Titans, a sports team she liked. Yoshi also wore the shirt as a matching t-shirt and jeans combo. Mostly because he didn’t know what to wear on his day off and made an annoyed Marean decide for him. Lucky for the both of them, Marean had been eyeing their clothes for a while now and Yoshi was willing to cough up money for them.
First inside, Arethusa immediately jumped onto the turret seat, powered it on and began to rotate the turret in a clockwise rotation. Second inside, Marean throw down a cushion on her chair and looked behind to watch Yoshi as he installed a makeshift chair on his own on the side of the hull.
“You sure that’s a good place to put it?” Marean asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her eyes scanned the hull around him, imagining the potential bumps on the head that could be had. With his focus mainly on the proper installation of his seat, Yoshi didn’t respond until he was finished. In which he finally said in a confident manner,
“It’ll be fine. I’m more concerned about which mag to install.”
Yoshi then looked up towards the ceiling, his eyes focused on the center of the hull where a small spine lined the roof of the vessel. On the spine, a box; both distinct in shaped as well as empty. While he kept his gaze on the empty carved out hole, Yoshi pulled out a box of his own out from thin air and raised it up in the air.
“I was wondering if pilots got their own mags,” said Marean, her gaze also on the port. Arms knotted, she continued, “Not sure why you would plug it into a wall though.”
“Well, they were handy with giving off warning signs, providing you your local maps, listing objectives and dealing with minor tasks such as adjusting the engines and tending to on the fly repairs,” Yoshi replied, his arms now wiggling in the air, attempting to attach the box onto the ceiling.
“Funny story though and a theory I have,” continued Yoshi.
“Oh?” responded Marean, a hand on her chin, curious of what Yoshi was doing.
“Firstly, I believe the reason pilots truly have these random blow outs are due to these mags. Before, mags would handle the readjustments. Now-a-days, it seems these ships come with programs and AI. So when something happens to the ship, both the program and the mag scramble to fix it and then boom, the ship blows an engine and you’re on the ground freaking out. Anyways, these things also use to be between the legs of the pilot. So when you’re doing your thing, the information you need would be a simple glance away. Then rumors of peeping broke out among the female pilots and a demand for an immediate redesign was made. So it happened and now the mags go here, normally right above the pilots,” Yoshi finished, giving a thumbs up towards Marean the moment he backed away from the window.
Marean only shook her head in disbelief however.
“Anyways,” Yoshi continued, “Since pilot mags tend to be different from our mags, I had to fashion a custom port for my mag. Though, if you want to use yours instead-”
“No, no, I’m fine. I don’t think my mag likes me much anyways. I think it knows I’m not its real master or something,” said Marean, her eye cautiously on the basic mag hovering behind her.
“Fair enough,” Yoshi shrugged. Yoshi quickly looked at his own mag and silently commanded, “Mag man.”
Yoshi’s mag moved forward on command, as if already knowing what to do. Once near Marean’s, a string of lightning stuck the other mag and watched as her mag fall down as a lifeless orb. Marean, ducked out of the way in the process. Satisfied, Yoshi mag returned to its master’s side were it continued to hover as it always has, leaving Marean to flinch in response to the sudden attack and chuck a glare at her smirking human companion,
“What the heck was that for?”
“A memory wipe for safety reasons. You know, with the whole appearance and all,” Yoshi winked.
“Next time, warn me,” scolded Marean, punching Yoshi in the arm, releasing some of her inner rage.
Yoshi raised his arms in surprised and replied, “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Eh…uh… Inanna, you ready to go?” Yoshi asked; his attention now on the still rotating turret base.
Hearing her father’s words, Arethusa lowered from the smooth ceiling and restored the chair to its previous state, made a war face at her father and skipped outside. Yoshi blink twice before he could follow after her with a giggling Marean behind him.
“Are you sure you’re allowed to mess with the equipment though?”
“I’m sure its fine. I mean they bring it back to check on it at all times anyways. You know, for upgrades and stuff. I even got a few extra barrels to try out in the future.”
One eyebrow higher than the other, Marean asked, “Barrels? As in cannons?”
“Yeah, they’re in storage right now,” replied Yoshi, his attention more focused on Arethusa.
“And where did you get these ‘barrels’?” Marean pestered Yoshi.
“I… may have sorta… kinda… used your connections?” Yoshi weakly replied.
“Yoshi,” Marean growled in a low voice.
“Don’t worry, I already paid them. So don’t worry about any surprised favors. Besides, a little extra firepower never hurts.” He then shifted his gaze onto a leering Marean and slightly scooted away. Nervously smirking at her, Yoshi backed off and said, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What? Me? I’m not doing anything,” Marean lied and adopted an innocent pose.
“I said you didn’t owe any favors.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“I also got you that advanced warp drive thingy you always wanted.”
“You what?” asked a surprised Marean, doing her best to keep her voice down.
Choosing not to answer, Yoshi waved an arm in the air and shouted, “Stats, how’s it going?”
Far away, from the other side of the hanger, Stamato waved back at Yoshi as the cowboy’s daughter escorted the angular robot across the hanger floor. While the two approached each other, Marean kept asking Yoshi questions, wanting to know more about what Yoshi bought, but Yoshi still remained silent. Instead, the man shook hands with the much taller CAST and asked, “What brings you here.”
“Yoshi, Marisa,” said Stamato with a curt nod. “The commander requested that I come and inform you that she will be working alongside us, during field operations, once again. Seeing as she has found a suitable replacement and mentioned how crowded the ship has gotten, you are now, and I quote, ‘Promoted to the gunner position of the B-01 space craft’.”
Yoshi reeled back as if he was in pain. He twirled around. His hands tugged on his hair. While he did, Marean though she heard him cry, “I just installed the chair.”
“Alright! Da- the hat man will be blowing holes in the bad guys now!” cheered Arethusa, behind Stamato.
Standing straight up, as if nothing ever happened, Yoshi then asked, a hand held forward without him realizing it, “Mind telling me who this replacement is?”
“Shinobu Shiomi, a priestess who has joined our squad for medical reasons. She is a female newmen, white hair, 167 centimeters-”
“Thanks you, Stats,” Yoshi interrupted, his hand held vertically flat. His hand then wondered over his chin. Spinning in the opposite direction, Yoshi began to think to himself until he swiftly shot back around and asked, “Does she have two different eye colors; one green, the other orange-ish?”
“Behind a pair of contacts, yes,” Stamato replied in an informing manner. “Why?”
“Nothing, I may have to pay her a visit sometime,” Yoshi replied, his gazed on the floor, his hand waving away just above his chin.
“Enigma, may I ask you something?” asked Stamato in a slightly concerned tone.
Yoshi looked up and said, “Sure.”
“I can’t help but notice that you seem to know a lot of newmen women. Do you have a preference for them?”
“No, life just seems to like throwing them at me. So I think anyways. Besides, the priestess has something that belongs to me,” Yoshi lied, his eyes returned to the floor.
“BITOL XOL!” a commanding voice bellowed from the other side of the hanger.
Everyone turned towards the origin of the voice. All of them staring in confusion save for Yoshi, who held a face mixed with dread and anger. His shoulders shuddered. His stomach knotted into a ball. In a calm manner, Yoshi swiftly said, “Stats, we were just about to have lunch. Can you get them something to eat? I’ll catch up to you later.”
“As you wish,” replied Stamato with a bow.
“Inanna, you go on ahead. Ask Stamato about CAST history and some combat pointers,” Marean immediately added.
Yoshi gripped Marean with a shoulder, twisted her around, held a hand towards the large exit doors and said, “You two haven’t eaten anything all day. Go and get something to eat.”
“I’m staying here,” Marean fought back.
“I insist. Go get feed your belly.”
Marean narrowed her eyes at the human. “I’m not leaving you behind, Yoshi,” Marean rebelled in a gruff manner.
Yoshi let off a heavy sigh. Grimacing, wanting to convince her otherwise but chose the path of defeat, Yoshi handed Stamato some money before seeing him and his daughter off. After a short goodbye, Yoshi returned his attention onto the group of newmens strolling up to him. Of the group, each of them had different hair colors and walked in a sort of formation with the leader up front. His hand on the hilt of his weapon at all times. Normally, Yoshi would offer a handshake to people like him. However, he slightly lifted his chin instead. The newmen leader did the same and puffed up his chest while standing in a sort of stance as his group reached the cowboy. As he did, Yoshi lifted his eyebrows in amazement. He was impressed by the tailoring of their armor. Though they wore the gear that anyone in Arks can obtain, the newmen group wore more intricate and decorative versions of their armor. Designs danced in open spaces, contained by laces of gold threads, creases and trimmings. The HUmar armor for example, of the purple hair man behind the leader, had a corded pauldron instead of the normal bulky ones. The FOmar armor of the blue hair man was covered in metallic blue designs. Celtic, Yoshi thought it was called, for they twisted and intertwined on one entire half of his suit.
“Leave, madam. We have no business with you,” barked the leader after bowing slightly in her direction.
“Thank you, but I intend to stay here,” Marean calmly replied, in an attempt to imitate her grandmother’s regal mannerism.
“As you wish,” the newmen responded before glaring back at Yoshi. “Bitol Xol, I assume you know who I am?” he asked with his free hand clutched against his chest.
Yoshi lifted both his arms. “Even while the press and public never go around parading your actions, how can I not know about the great Dimitri? I’m surprised you haven’t come to see me sooner.”
“Were it not for the meddling of the ignorant, your death should have been in an unforeseen tragic accident. One you should have died in. It’s already bad enough that you survived three accidents already.”
Yoshi laughed and said, “So now they send a person like you to take care of me. How tragic.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate me if I were you.”
“Oh don’t worry. I don’t. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother having this conversation.”
“Funny how it normally works the other way around. Sadly, killing you is not the reason why I am here.”
“Then why are you here?”
“As much as it pains me, and my comrades, to say, I have come, in the flesh, to personally grant you immunity from our prosecution. Anno?” clapped Dimitri, “The band of forgiveness.”
On demand, a female newmen of gold hair stepped forward, a velvet pillow held in front of her. Sitting comfortably on top the pillow, a gold band, both futuristic and ancient in appearance, shimmered in the large hanger lights. With one hand, Dimitri methodically raised the band into the air and held his other arm parallel to it on the other side of his torso.
“Fuyu, you may begin the recording.”
“Ready sir,” the newmen replied.
Dimitri cleared his throat.
“Here I stand today to perform a sacred act only preformed to those of the most deserving. Today, I, Dimitri Guliano, stand before the diga born, Bitol Xol, with an offence of my hand of mercy and forgiveness. For it is known, and should be known, that not all diga users are to be punished. Not all diga born are criminals and murders and thus should to be shown acts of kindness. Bitol Xol is one such man who has not only bravely served with honor and pride, but has given us valuable knowledge for many a time and has proven that he is not the man who we have once believed him to be. Today, I, Dimitri Guliano, bestow upon this man our band of forgiveness, a band that pardons him from all accused crimes, a band that makes him an equal to someone such as I, as proof of our acceptance and acknowledgment of his person and being. May he bare this band proudly and show it to the rest of the world that he is not to be hunted, never to be mocked again.”
Dimitri moved the band over by Yoshi. “Bitol, your hand please,” he said in a warm tone of voice. Yoshi did as he asked and lifted his left hand. Once he did, Dimitri stuck it inside the gold ring and shrunk the band until it firmly warped around the human’s arm.
“It is done,” said Dimitri. “Go human and may you bring many victories to our people, your people.” Having said that, the newmen sawed at his neck and instantly dropped his smile. “Tread lightly, human. People are going to be watching you now. Not just by my people, but others as well. Mess up and I will be the first to be there. And I look forward to killing you.”
Dimitri then walked away without ever looking back once. His fellow newmen followed behind, in the same formation they came in. While they did, Yoshi eyed the band they placed on him and had his mag scan it. After a few seconds of sweeping lights, the mag reported no irregularities on the band. That it was simply a mere ornament. With a nod, Yoshi finally said, under his breathe,
“And I look forward to killing you too, stuck up son of a bitch.”
The moment Yoshi started grinding his teeth together, Marean said, after a sighing, “Well, that hap-“
She was interrupted by Yoshi, who tightly clung to her with warmth and said, “Thanks for being there for me.”
It wasn’t often she got a hug from Yoshi, if at all ever. Taken by surprised, blushing a little bit, shoulders now relaxed, she accepted the hug and rested her head on his. Meanwhile, one of Dimitri’s companions noticed the conflicted look of his leader and yearned to know what troubled him. Fuyu approached him and asked, his head held low,
“Is something troubling you, sir?”
“No,” replied Dimitri. “There is nothing to be concerned about. However, I am intrigued.”
“Sir?”
“The monster I saw before, I believe I know why it wants him alive. For a time, I had once believed his breed to be extinct. Apparently, it seems they are now just good at hiding. Fuyu, what does his schedule look like?”
“His ship is called when it is needed, sir. Do you mean to slay him?”
“No, I only wish to confirm my suspicions. And what of his companion?”
“A newcomer, sir, she’s only been with the team for a few days after they had requested for additional members. Due to the increase usage of space crafts, their members have been changing many of their chairs.”
“I see. Good. Have him accompany me on my excursion to Vorpal then, preferably alone.”
“Yes sir.”
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