Topic: A Heart's Erosion

Jared Renaux

Date: 2014-05-13 04:31 EST
(A bit of OOC! Jared's a new character that I enjoy writing for. In short, he's sending a broadcast out on a random frequency that'd be picked up by any sort of radio or other such device, so long as it happened to be near enough that frequency to grab the signal. If anyone feels like playing off of this post, by all means, here or IC. The fun's in the play!)

It's the tenth of May, so I guess that makes it a Saturday' You know, days of the week didn't ever really matter much up there, but now that I'm here, grounded, they seem to matter more. What day is the store open, when's that happening" Up there all that mattered was when you were going to jump next and that didn't care about a day, you know" It was just a matter of when. If not now, later. You've got to be ready for it all the time.

It wasn't an uncommon thing, really. It wasn't strange for a Hell Jumper, someone locked within the iron clad walls of compartmentalized thought, to do just what Jared was doing. Currently, he paced back and forth the small room he'd rented in some building near the spaceport. Names didn't even matter anymore" Why name something you're going to lose" Bar girl two point oh. It'd been funny, right' A lame joke, a reason to laugh. No. It'd been a natural defense to the fact that a name implied a memory, an attachment, a relationship. There's a reason his brand of soldiers wore numbers and rank, not patches with names on them.

But yeah, you're probably not from where I'm from, so if anyone's hearing this, you're probably really, really confused why a transmission with a class five encryption code is showing up on some random frequency and there's this guy talking about some random crap, right' Well, back home we used to do this from time to time. We'd, you know, just talk into an open frequency and leave it open for a little while, maybe a few days if we weren't busy. So long as we didn't say where we were or what our names were the top brass didn't really mind. It's good for the morale, but really it keeps you sane. Just knowing that maybe someone can hear you is a big lift, I guess. Being able to talk about anything. You don't know me, I'll never know you, so I can say anything. Maybe someone will respond, I don't know. They normally don't, but sometimes they would. Normally girls, girls still in college or whatever. I guess they thought it was romantic talking to some soldier in deep space. And then they'd get bored and go back to what is is they were doing and, well, we'd stay up here doing what it is we were doing. By the way, that didn't include a lot of porn. We didn't take our armor off enough for that to really be worth the time. Gotta be ready to jump into some random place at any time, you know" Could be here, there. Today, tomorrow. Two weeks from now, twice in one day if you're unlucky.

The voice broke off. Had he ever called Earth home, maybe he'd have had the soft mix of French and Indian that had formed in the basin of the mighty river. He'd just taken a shower with real water. Strange, the way the water beaded up on his skin and didn't just fall off in puddles every where. Real gravity takes some getting used to. His body, clad in gym shorts and running shoes, was a web of ink, a soldier's disguise, that didn't quite cover or hide enough of the circular scars and jagged flesh that could only have been wounds sustained in combat.

Really though, we'd get lonely up there. It's not that easy, I guess, to sit around and just wait. What else can you do, though' This, I guess. Yeah, it'd get lonely. It'd get hard, you know" We wear the visors for a reason. Spartans get gold, Marines don't get any. We get black, it's harder to see through. We wear it so when we're pulling people out of burning buildings, they can't see how hard it is. All they see is someone in black armor with a black helmet and a black visor that comes, in the middle of the shit, to try and pull what?s left out. And then, when the Marines come and get 'em, all they can see is the back of a blank suit of armor. Maybe, I guess this is a weird hope, I think that some might realize that it's harder than it looks. Not physically, we're trained for that. But it's hard, every day, to pick up the pieces, pick 'em out of the ashes, and then pretend like it's alright. Pretend like you're fine to do it again. It's not, man. It's not easy. But it's got to look easy. That's why, really, the visors. We can't ever let anyone see us scared or hurt. That's what it boils down to. You can cry, you can be afraid and you can feel like quitting. I can too, I guess. I just can't let you know that. I can hear, though. I guess this frequency is just another black visor, right"

There was laughter there, soft laughter that hinted at something else. Another current, a second path in the dark waters that threatened, all the time, to consume men and women like him. There was also the sound of a fist hitting what must have been a wall. Over and over again, time and time again. Liquid swished in a bottle, a wet cough spilled over the helmet's recording devices. Sent to a random person, some stranger he'd likely never see, the walls came down for a short second.

Yeah. It's not that easy. Why' So maybe someone else, someone like you, can go be a doctor. Go cure cancer or something. We'll try to give you the time and protection to do it. That's what kept me going. Maybe one of those kids we got out alive would go and do something great, and maybe he'd remember that an unknown Hell Jumper fought and some Hell Jumpers died to give him that chance.

Silence. Moments worth of silence. Even the methodical steps seemed to grow silent and vacant. Time passed, minutes died. Composure was found, the outburst was over.

Anyways. The beer's nice here, some of the girls are pretty and the liquor's cheap. How's the sports scene" I doubt you guys play much baseball, do you? That'd be pretty cool, actually playing baseball on real grass and dirt. Anyways, I'm out. If you recognize my voice at a bar, I'll probably buy you a drink, but I'll deny it, too.

Etain

Date: 2014-05-14 02:21 EST
Adjusting to life high in the hills of North of a village far from the main city was interesting. It was a simple life she lead tending to the small farm and plot of land. It was rare to ever have someone on her front door or even pass by, she was that far away from everything. However, several weeks ago an old man came with a cart asking to trade a chicken, some herbs and grain alcohol she kept for medicinal purposes only.

Three weeks later Etain was fiddling with it the barter. It was an old radio with rabbit ears and tubes inside. It also had a small hand held square you could talk into. The old man showed her how to turn it on and he said the sounds would come if she kept searching. Every day for three weeks nothing, nothing until she heard a man's voice on the other end talking about it being May 10. It was real!

Instead of talking into the small square thing, she listened and answered when he asked questions not really knowing he'd not hear her. Hello' Then she remembered what the old man said, she had to hold the square down. However, it was nearly four hours later before realizing what she had to do.

Pushing the small button, she talked into the small square unsure she'd hear from the man in the sky again.

"I heard you early today, but you did not hear me back. I bartered with an old man for a rad-dee-o. He said if I keep listening someone would come, I had my doubts, but you were there. It is darker right now, but the view is beautiful. I did not understand what you meant by grounded. Where are you jumping" I heard the stillness in your voice with time. Maybe time is not meant to be counted where you are for a season, especially when you now say to be ready."

Lifting her hand off the button for only a moment, but pushing it back down to chide herself. "What a stupid thing to say." She paused and breathed to start again. "I am not where you are from and it sounds like you are from a very faraway place. You are not talking random crap. I am sorry I do not know what a transmission class is. I am on a hill far north in a city, but I am alone like you. It helps to talk, even if you think no one is there. I heard you today, so it is not crap. You are sane. Do not doubt your sanity. I took notes today, I took lots of notes when you were talking. What is deep space" I'm sorry to ask questions that may never be answered. Is it space you find when there is no one" You talked about porn, college girls and jumping. I'm afraid that what I know of those topics are very little."

She lifted her finger from the button for a moment and pressed it back down. "You mentioned a Spartan, and something about visors, but I had to leave for a moment and came back to hear laughter. I'm not sure what is not easy for you. Noise, a hum drown out words at the end except hell jumper, beer and drinking. I'm sorry you are lonely. When I was younger, they would tell tales by the fire of great warriors and how they came to live in the sky. You said space, maybe you are just a star in the heavens and what I'm hearing is not real. If you cannot give your name, I will not ask. If you come back, you can call me Scarlet Dragonfly. Scarlet for short if you want, or nothing because you're probably not real and I'm dreaming, it's happened before. Where I am, the sun is setting. The hands of some god painted the sky orange-purple, it blending together. The air smells like wild flowers and the fires from the town miles away holds a faint scent in the air. I think they are burning logs again, but that is probably not anything you are interested in."

A muffling sound, she put the speaker down, but the button stuck and if he was listening he'd hear a cursing sound, then she sang an old tune. Once done she watched the box. "No one is there you stupid girl, it's all in your imagination." Silence again. "If you are there, I hope your sleep is peaceful. I will tell a tale. Adlee stood on the precipice of a beautiful mountain overlooking a deep valley. Down in the valley the grasses blew with the cool winds of summer. Adlee lived in the valley below, but she often climbed the mountain to stand upon the precipice to see the lands she lived in from another point of view. Beyond the valley, across the way two other mountains surrounded her lovely valley. The elders of her clan chose this valley because they felt protected. Adlee stood quiet and still allowing the winds to caress her face and she thanked the gods for watching over her people. However it was too late. Off in the distance darkness swallowed the light and everything behind was dark. At first she thought it was the summer rains coming, but it was something much darker, something much worse. There was no way for her to warn her people of the eminent danger which awaited them. Like you, she stood alone with choices. If you would like me to tell you the rest of the story, I will keep this rad-ee-oo on and wait. If not, I do hope you find something to keep your head clear and that you are truly real. Be safe Jumper, be safe.?

Then there was only silence.

Jared Renaux

Date: 2014-05-14 06:03 EST
He'd not expected to come home to anything at all. A day spent interviewing, a day spent looking for an actual job, something real.

His helmet, unlike most other technology, was practically flawless. Built to sustain life, built to give a Hell Jumper the edge over an enemy he could never hope to beat, it couldn't, didn't fail. Only when he flipped it back to an old frequency, a set of numbers that'd used to mean something, did he notice the familiar intonation of the AI's voice. It'd recorded something, it'd picked something up. Curious, he sat at the edge of his bed and, for the first time, listened to someone talking back.

Well, we do live in the sky, yeah. I meant grounded because I've not got a posting on a ship yet, so I'm, you know, on the ground"

It seemed to make sense to him, at least.

Our schedule revolved around the jumps, you know. Like I said, we measure time between them, not by days. There is no day and night in space, random person. It's always the same. You're on a hill" Look up, lady. That's space. Past the stars, around 'em and within them. That's space. That's where I come from, more or less. And uh...yeah. I'm not going to talk about porn. Promise"

That one was kind of awkward, it came out from behind a soft bout of laughter.

I'm not too big on fire, no.

The pause there was longer, more strained. Fire, in his mind, could only lead back to the locked away memories. Smoke and fire, ashes and rubble.

Yeah, though. I'm real. Just a person, nothing special, you know" Everyone's got fears, everyone's got hopes and dreams. Our's just die when we put the helmet back on. Anonymity, that's what it is. I like the story, though. Carry on, yeah' And, really, I can't tell you my name. Anonymity, like I said, is a blanket. It's a crutch and an addiction. I'll be alright thought, don't you worry about me. You just take care of yourself, yeah' Oh, shit. I forget. A Spartan is a type of soldier where I'm from, so is a Hell Jumper. But no, lady, I'm not a star.

He laughed again, a sarcastic sound that was muffled by the night's last drink. The bottle, as it always did, seemed to swallow the laughter, it seemed to devour the sounds of humanity.

Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine. Worry about yourself. I bet it's cold up on that hill.

Starlyn Tiri

Date: 2014-05-14 06:25 EST
A new voice broke through the static.

"You're not big fan of fire, Jumper" There's a good time and place for one, but only with a few glasses of wine included."

The boring process of ship repairs. Time is the enemy right now — time and the boredom it could create. Her ships computer system handled everything, all she did was tell it where to go and when. At times like these" She could be thankful for little encounters outside of her norm. Picking up the two voices on a random frequency while trying to pick up possible bounty chatter" Princess.

The almost random ramblings of the male voice had been enough to bring a smile to her face, yet the more feminine one and her kind words caused her to think a moment before speaking out over the radio once more.

"How about another story, Scarlet Dragonfly""

Hand retracted from the communication link and came to rest against her knee. The chair she sat upon now swiveled in a clockwise motion as she tilts her head back. Those augmented eyes turning to stare at the repair process data that gathered on the ships main screen.

At least now she had something to look forward to, and who knows; she might get another story out of it.

Etain

Date: 2014-05-14 18:44 EST
Noise from Jumper broke through the darkness, but his words weren't the same as when he spoke before. This time they were terse and cold. Feeling she did something wrong, the radio was forgotten for several hours. She stood outside the window on the small house on the hill, the sun settled her battle with the moon and rested. The stars were out playing with one another and one shot across the sky in a wild tantrum. It's when she heard the woman's voice asking for another story. "Star."

She named the woman Star, because it was a sign.

The button was stuck so she sat there unsure anyone would hear her, but she decided to start another story. "Hello Star. Hello Jumper. " Silence and she put the small square down from the radio unaware they might help her. "He is angry, or hurt. She is ...I've named her Star, I saw one across the sky." In the background a hound barked low and deep. "Gunter, shh." More noise and she settled in for the story.

"In the age of warriors, they were called away to war and protect the lower lands. The great king made the old Caillech Bheur promise to guard their little plains-land. The gods promised to bless them if warriors fought and won their cause. The little plains would become that beautiful valley filled with milk and honey. The Caillech Bheur created the first mountain which protected the plains-land. Some called her Beira, the queen of winter and all over the lands she created the high mountains to protect the clans. With the deal struck, the Caillech swore to keep guard while they were gone. Many days passed into many nights, and each day the Caillech climbed her mountain to stop the floods from taking the plains-land. In the evening while tending to her cattle upon her mountain, a great spring arose and tried to flood the plains-land. With quick thinking Caillech plunged the heavy stone into the spring to block the waters. Thinking that the rock would hold, she went to rest only a moment and fell asleep. Soon the long stone was pushed up by gushing water out in a great torrent. The water cascading down the mountain side filling the plains-land killing everything. Caillech tried to stop the water, but she could not and filled with sorrow she turned into a large rock. The great king returned to no kingdom. The warriors failed to win their war, but not all hope was lost. The great king's wife said they would start again and went to the stone Caillech turned to. There she named her the Great Hag of winter. In time the Great Hag returned to life in the cold months to create mountains on each side of the plains-land flooded under her watch. As time passed, the water from the big spring returned to the mountain side only the cascade over in a waterfall. The plains-lands were a great valley with grasslands to rival all of the clans for many, many seasons. In time all was made well. Sometimes we endure harshness and times of great sorrow, but in time we find the through the hardest trials come the greatest blessings. I hope for you Star and for you Jumper that in your times of great hardship you will see blessings on the horizon. It is almost time for the sun...and it is not so very cold upon my hill. Spring comes and I smell the blossoms. I hope you see signs of spring."

Silence after ending the story.

Jared Renaux

Date: 2014-05-15 03:33 EST
I'm a lot of things, story girl.

He had no better name. He'd not heard, on purpose, any name given. Names implied connections, they required attachment. His world was one that broke, his world was one that did not understand and could not relate. Kept aside until they were needed, his ilk, the men who so proudly wore the red badge of courage, were shunned and herded away from the masses.

I can relate to the story, really. More than most can imagine, I'd assume.

There was, since he'd left the microphone open, a great sigh that passed across weathered and chapped lips. A bottle, something he'd taken from the Inn, would never chase away the ghosts that lingered around a soul not built to carry such a load. Painfully human, pathetically human. His head shook at the talk of Gods. Powers that had abandoned his people, things that'd walked away, or so it seemed.

Imagine if the water never stopped. That's what the invasion was. They hit, I kid you not, every planet at the same time, on the same day, with the same fleet force. We couldn't hope to fight them, so we gave up Earth. Can you imagine what it's like to incinerate a planet humans called home" Jupiter, Mars, Neptune. All of them. We fought, I guess we were the rocks, the small things that tried to stem the tide, but we didn't turn into rocks. We stayed human and we failed. There's times I wish I was a rock, or fuck, there's times I wish I was just dead. You see, story teller, there's no happy ending in the story I'm able to tell. We all lost, we couldn't win. There's no rock big enough. Each one of the Hunters" We'd throw a battalion at them, normal Marines. Then, when they were all dead, we'd jump in. Sure, we can fight 'em, we did. We'd trade ten of us for one of them. Broken bodies. You see, that's why I'm angry.

He paused to collect his breath, he had to stop from slamming his fist into a wall, his armor. The floor, the bed. Anything.

There's no happy ending because it's not a story. It's my life. There's no rock that stems the tide, there's no Gods that come in and help. We all just lose. We were fighting to buy time, that's all. Each and every day was another bid for my people, humanity, to escape. And what did we get' Blamed. What do we get called" Butchers. What are we" Killers, child killers. We're not super heroes. We fail. We lose, we can't win everything. We aren't Gods. We're humans, we're normal people behind the armor, that's all. And why do we wear the visors no one can see through' Because we're not Gods, because when I pull the body of a dead child out from under a burning building, no one can see my crying. That's why. No one can ever see that. That's the trick, that's my story. We can't be perfect, but they want us to be. Blame us, hate us. Scream at us, people. We don't care, or we don't look like we care. We can't afford to care because, while they'd blame, we'd go back out and fight again. We'd die, we'd walk into hell. They'd just yell at us. So, no. That's my story. There were no Gods, no easy answers. Just broken bodies and ruined worlds.

There was, of all things, the sound of a body hitting a bed, a soft sort of thing followed by the rustle of sheets pulled across that'd never take away the cold touch of reality.

Etain

Date: 2014-05-15 11:47 EST
Hours later she heard words coming through the radio. She'd been sitting at her small piano near the fire, thinking what kind of events would happen in the stars. It's not that she didn't believe all things were possible, because they are. While the voice came through, she listened and stared at the black and white keys.

When he was done and she heard a body hitting bed, she got up from the piano and went over to the small square where she pushed the button still believing that was the way to talk. Pressing hard enough, it was unstuck that time for her say something. "Jumper"you are many things. I'm sorry the waters did not stop for you. I'm sorry that your life has been so filled with turmoil."

She stopped playing. The little crank radio died.

Etain

Date: 2014-05-20 23:38 EST
Cranking the radio listening for any sounds in the air, there was nothing"nothing just like what was left. "It's quiet.?