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Post by Amy81 on Jan 13, 2010 14:45:29 GMT -6
The old Caprican gripped the joystick with steely determination, watching with less than perfect vision as the fuel indicators dropped steadily as hungry turbos ate into his fuel. He rubbed at his eyes, tears and age conspiring to make what he was trying to do all that much harder.
He'd planned the whole thing well. He'd hoped he'd not clubbed the true pilot of this viper too hard when he'd knocked him out. He wasn't a man of violence, but the call of the past was too much for him and he wasn't about to let this chance go by.
Jumping the warrior was only one of the gambles he took, and he counted on the confusion of the scramble to launch to allow him to actually get inside a viper. It shouldn't have worked, there were so many things that could have happened to stop him, but he'd kept his head down and helmet on, and after that.... well it had been 30 yarhens or so but he'd once been a pretty good fighter pilot in his day.
So long ago he'd lost everything, his entire family on his beloved Caprica, and agonizingly he had forced himself to land back on the Galactica as she'd set out to flee the Cylon treachery. Now, amazingly, that world now stretched out before him through the canopy window. No fires, no open wounds of flame marred that beautiful world, and soon he would see his family again....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 13, 2010 14:58:15 GMT -6
The fireball, when it exploded so near to him, shook him fearfully out of his ever distant thoughts. He'd been careful to stay in formation, then peel off and stay well away from the battle above Caprica. He wasn't here to fight. He'd tried that once. No, this time he was here only for his family, and this time he wasn't too late...
Another explosion, closer if it was possible, rocked his viper, and the old man's fear was replaced with something else. His body might have been past his prime, but in his mind he suddenly was a young man again.
"Wanna play, huh?" he said in a gruff sounding voice, and he coughed to clear his throat. He remembered the evasive moves like it was yesterday, and the strain of G forces hit him harder than he remembered them as he engaged his braking flaps and reverse thrusters. But the move worked, and in a blink the persuing cylon raider swooped past him.
He let out a laugh, hitting the turbos and getting slammed back into his seat as he set course to follow the raider. He watched his attack computer as the cylon danced around the bulls eye at the center of the screen.
"Come on" he whispered. "Come on you golmonging, tin-plated frakker!" His hands began to sweat as his thumb twitched toward the button to fire....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 15, 2010 9:49:06 GMT -6
The Cylon wouldn't line up so the old man began to fire away at random at the elusive enemy. His laser blasts chased the cylon to the left, then to the right, but he couldn't make a direct hit.
The old man glanced nervously at his fuel gauge. His tanks were now half empty. When he looked back up the cylon was no longer in sight. His head jerked around nervously, then he forced himself to calm down and checked his rear scan, but nothing showed. The warrior deep inside him didn't like to leave things unresolved so he brought the viper around in a tight loop and tried forward scan again.
His impatience grew as he thought of Caprica below and his family there alive again. His wife Junne, his body ached just thinking of her just as it had for 30-some yarhens. His daughters April and May.... he slammed his thigh in disgust for losing the Cylon, and for the frakking robots getting in his way to begin with.
And suddenly it was there, dropping out of nowhere directly in front of him. Lasers flashed toward him as he instinctively fired his own in return. Too late he thought, I'm a half millicenton too late....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 17, 2010 9:43:06 GMT -6
In an instant everything turned blindingly bright white around the old man. Final thoughts flooded his mind. He thought it ironic that his journey into the past would lead to his family being alive and he dead. I'd gladly take the exchange, he thought....
Then the bright light faded as he flew through the tremendous fireball. The Cylon ship was gone! Somehow his shots had found the mark and all that remained of the enemy were fragments. A check of his scanner confirmed it. Not bad for an old man, he thought. A wave of relief passed over him as the beautiful night sky of Caprica once again stretched out below him.
Not risking further contact with the enemy he pushed the control stick forward and began his decent into the atmosphere....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 18, 2010 14:19:22 GMT -6
Guiding his ship to the spacedrome nearest to his home, he caught a hovercab and soon found himself looking out the window at familiar streets that he thought he'd never see again. His wife Junne again flooded his thoughts. To see her again, to hold her, and his children! To fling May around his shoulders like he had done that last night before his leave was over.... Before....
He suddenly realized the cab driver was staring at him in the rear view mirror.
"Forgive me" the driver said. "But what's up? It's not Veteran's Day, and...." he chuckled a moment, "...it's not All Hallows Night. So what's with the uniform old timer?"
The old man sat there in silence. He held his hands out in front of him and looked at them a moment, then brought them up to feel his face. He'd forgotten. Like a stupid old man he'd forgotten. There wouldn't be a reunion. He couldn't sweep his wife off her feet. He wouldn't be able to....
"Okay pal" the driver said bringing the hover cab to a stop. "Here's the address. Five cubits even."
In silence the old man climbed out, reached into his pocket and fished out five cubits that had clearly seen better days. He fumbled for one more, then handed them over.
"Jeeez" the driver said, "You take a hammer to these or something?" When the old man said nothing, the driver gave him a second glance then drove away.
The old man stood at the curb, looking across the street at a living memory. His house, with it's neatly trimmed lawn and flowers on either side of the walkway leading up to the front door. But it might have been miles away, and in a sense it was.
It took the old man a long while before he finally, slowly crossed the street....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 19, 2010 12:32:42 GMT -6
He stopped again partway up the walk. He stood there, staring at the house. As the fully bloomed flowers bathed him in sweet smells of springtime, he watched the light flickering through the drawn curtains of the picture window. He could make out movement occasionally, a small shadow skipped by, then a larger one following close behind....
His trance was broken by a noise to his right. A low growl came from the bushes, then a daggit came rushing at him at full speed. He flinched, only for a moment, then bent down, arms extended toward the animal.
"Buddy!" he exclaimed as the daggit leaped up on hind legs to began lathering him with affection. He let the daggit lick his face as he began to laugh. Then he held the daggit away long enough to get a good look. "Buddy! You know it's me, boy! My age doesn't matter to you now, does it?"
The daggit answered by barking away happily, straining to lean in close enough to lick the old man's face again. Laughing again, the man hugged the daggit tightly. "Aw, Buddy!" he cried out.
The reunion was interrupted by the bright porch light coming on. Both the man and the daggit looked over at the house, then the animal took off and ran through the opening front door. A woman was there, straining to see into the night.
"Who's there?" she asked. "Hello?"
The man slowly stood up, not knowing what to say....
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 20, 2010 13:32:55 GMT -6
"I'm sorry if my daggit disturbed your walk" the woman said as she moved out onto the steps of the house. Her eyes were still adjusting to the changes in light. She could make out the man's warrior uniform.
"It was no disturbance" the old man replied after a moment. "He's quite a friendly pooch."
The woman looked puzzled. "Hmmm, he isn't usually. Not to strangers anyway."
A small girl stepped out and held tight to her mother's leg. "Is that grampa?" she asked. The old man looked at her with glistening eyes.
The woman looked down at her daughter. "Of course it isn't" she answered.
"Looks like grampa" the girl said flatly, then turned and ran back inside.
The woman took a fresh look at the man, then nearly gasped.... "I'm sorry" she apologized. "It's just that...."
The man's mind raced as he saw her expression. All he wanted to do was scream 'It's me!'. But after his long improbable journey it was more than a little bitter to stand in front of her and know that it was the one thing he could not do. He struggled hard to keep his composure.
"Uh, I'm sorry too" he finally said. "Let me introduce myself? I'm Kurt's uncle. From the military...?"
"Kurt never mentioned an uncle in the Colonial service" she said cautiously.
The man raised a hand. "No, he wouldn't have. Classified stuff. Operations, sealed orders... Uh, hard to explain." He faked a laugh and shrugged his shoulders.
"Well" the woman said with a slight smile. "There is no doubting the family resemblance, and it explains my daggit's behavior toward you. He knows family. You have a name?"
"Uh..." the man stammered a moment. "Francis" he finally said.
"Kurt's middle name...." the woman said thoughtfully. "Well, I'm sorry but Kurt's not here. He's back with the fleet for the signing of the peace treaty. But you are welcome to come in if you'd like...."
"Very gracious of you" the old man said. "I'd like that very much...."
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