HOME | DD

Description
[recording begins]

Meri's log. I really need to organize these better... I'll put this under the header: Laraido.

Log 1

I spent the better part of the evening with Beatha. Weeping in her arms. I honestly thought I had grown numb to the pain, but then some wellspring of emotion broke and I needed... I needed Eibhan, but he's gone. I can't even say goodbye; between the fleet in orbit and that shield surrounding the Palace no one is getting in. I don't really want to think about what happened to his...

Damn it.

I'm not doing this. I cried enough today. But I realized as I lay there that our positions had been reversed not that long ago. On Laraido.

Outside of Eibhan I can safely say she is my closest friend. It wasn’t always like that. Beatha and I had started basic together, and she was so damn... perfect. She never treated me like a princess, which I was grateful for, but I found myself struggling just to meet her skill level, and this unspoken contest broke out between us. We became silent rivals for a non-existent prize, as the Guard did away with any class performance rankings. You either passed, washed out, or were injured too badly to return.

When training was finished, and I was promoted to squad captain she… never said anything, but both of us knew it was because of my status. I excelled in most of the physical activities but she out fought me in most combat exercises and her tactical skills far exceeded mine. Eibhan would call me a firebrand at times, as my solution to most problems was to attack them head on.

I don’t know that she ever resented me for it, but she became withdrawn and I made an effort to make time with her and foster if not friendship then respect and understanding. She married her husband Daneif during that time. They must have been together during Basic, but I didn’t know her well enough to have met him and he was in another cohort. I was touched when they invited us to their modest wedding.

They were happy. Deeply happy. Eibhan and I had dinner with them several times, both on and off base, and they seemed to complete one another. Talked of eventually rotating out, having kids. A small house by the lake. I could never have that kind of peace, but I was happy to see them unravel their dreams for us. But then Laraido…

Laraido happened.

The Fieiran Empire, and Corpspace have always had an uneasy truce. The struggles started long before founding, but burned like buried embers, flaring up from time to time over the centuries. With the vast expanse of the Colonies between us it rarely came to outright conflict, but proxy wars in Colony space were too common. Three years ago, ESI, one the core trio of Corporations who lead Corpspace, made an aggressive push through the Colonies, and we were obligated to respond. Too late, we realized it was only a feint.

Laraido sits on the edges of Fieiran space. Not quite a Colony, but never willing to bow to the throne, they have been allies for hundreds of years. A modest world, it had no minerals or produce of particular value and its manufacturing capabilities were only enough to support local needs. It was on the flanks of the push however, so we were dispatched to make a show of force and give some scant comfort to the residents. We were not expected to face any combat, and indeed the Guard are not a traditional army. We are not trained or equipped for sieges or prolonged combat, and have no armour besides troop carriers.

We never discovered their true target, but less than a month into the campaign the ESI push shifted and the brunt of their forces descended on Laraido. Investigations afterwards determined that they intended it as a forward base but neither they, nor us, were prepared for the hell that ensued. It took three months for Maichell to redeploy the fleets, and by then nearly four fifths of our ranks were injured or dead.

Daneif fell less than a week into the engagement. There was no time to recover his body, little time to grieve, but as we retreated I held her and comforted her. Much as she has now done for me. She said, before I left to return to my quarters, that it eventually became easier. She thought of him less and less as the weeks and years progressed, but the ache never really left her. That hollow where a heart once was.

For me, right now, that hollow has frightfully sharp edges. It’s hard to envision a time where those razors will be dull.

[end recording]

***

I’ve had a terrible block in my muse this week. I finally got some inspiration and finished this scene. This will be a series I expect, as there is more to tell about this part of the backstory. Here we finally reveal Meri’s callsign: Angel. Back in the deep recesses of this story, formed in my late teens (I’m in my 40’s now), when it was about a character named Tirick (whose name I shamelessly stole as my avatar name in the early days of the internet), Angel was meant to have died. I’ve flipped that on its head (and names have largely changed) and must say I’m finding its unravelling far more interesting. In part because I don’t even know yet everywhere it will go.

If you are interested in following along, I have prepared a timeline for the storyboards here: Storyboard Timeline .

Description
[recording begins]

Meri's log. I really need to organize these better... I'll put this under the header: Laraido.

Log 1

I spent the better part of the evening with Beatha. Weeping in her arms. I honestly thought I had grown numb to the pain, but then some wellspring of emotion broke and I needed... I needed Eibhan, but he's gone. I can't even say goodbye; between the fleet in orbit and that shield surrounding the Palace no one is getting in. I don't really want to think about what happened to his...

Damn it.

I'm not doing this. I cried enough today. But I realized as I lay there that our positions had been reversed not that long ago. On Laraido.

Outside of Eibhan I can safely say she is my closest friend. It wasn’t always like that. Beatha and I had started basic together, and she was so damn... perfect. She never treated me like a princess, which I was grateful for, but I found myself struggling just to meet her skill level, and this unspoken contest broke out between us. We became silent rivals for a non-existent prize, as the Guard did away with any class performance rankings. You either passed, washed out, or were injured too badly to return.

When training was finished, and I was promoted to squad captain she… never said anything, but both of us knew it was because of my status. I excelled in most of the physical activities but she out fought me in most combat exercises and her tactical skills far exceeded mine. Eibhan would call me a firebrand at times, as my solution to most problems was to attack them head on.

I don’t know that she ever resented me for it, but she became withdrawn and I made an effort to make time with her and foster if not friendship then respect and understanding. She married her husband Daneif during that time. They must have been together during Basic, but I didn’t know her well enough to have met him and he was in another cohort. I was touched when they invited us to their modest wedding.

They were happy. Deeply happy. Eibhan and I had dinner with them several times, both on and off base, and they seemed to complete one another. Talked of eventually rotating out, having kids. A small house by the lake. I could never have that kind of peace, but I was happy to see them unravel their dreams for us. But then Laraido…

Laraido happened.

The Fieiran Empire, and Corpspace have always had an uneasy truce. The struggles started long before founding, but burned like buried embers, flaring up from time to time over the centuries. With the vast expanse of the Colonies between us it rarely came to outright conflict, but proxy wars in Colony space were too common. Three years ago, ESI, one the core trio of Corporations who lead Corpspace, made an aggressive push through the Colonies, and we were obligated to respond. Too late, we realized it was only a feint.

Laraido sits on the edges of Fieiran space. Not quite a Colony, but never willing to bow to the throne, they have been allies for hundreds of years. A modest world, it had no minerals or produce of particular value and its manufacturing capabilities were only enough to support local needs. It was on the flanks of the push however, so we were dispatched to make a show of force and give some scant comfort to the residents. We were not expected to face any combat, and indeed the Guard are not a traditional army. We are not trained or equipped for sieges or prolonged combat, and have no armour besides troop carriers.

We never discovered their true target, but less than a month into the campaign the ESI push shifted and the brunt of their forces descended on Laraido. Investigations afterwards determined that they intended it as a forward base but neither they, nor us, were prepared for the hell that ensued. It took three months for Maichell to redeploy the fleets, and by then nearly four fifths of our ranks were injured or dead.

Daneif fell less than a week into the engagement. There was no time to recover his body, little time to grieve, but as we retreated I held her and comforted her. Much as she has now done for me. She said, before I left to return to my quarters, that it eventually became easier. She thought of him less and less as the weeks and years progressed, but the ache never really left her. That hollow where a heart once was.

For me, right now, that hollow has frightfully sharp edges. It’s hard to envision a time where those razors will be dull.

[end recording]

***

I’ve had a terrible block in my muse this week. I finally got some inspiration and finished this scene. This will be a series I expect, as there is more to tell about this part of the backstory. Here we finally reveal Meri’s callsign: Angel. Back in the deep recesses of this story, formed in my late teens (I’m in my 40’s now), when it was about a character named Tirick (whose name I shamelessly stole as my avatar name in the early days of the internet), Angel was meant to have died. I’ve flipped that on its head (and names have largely changed) and must say I’m finding its unravelling far more interesting. In part because I don’t even know yet everywhere it will go.

If you are interested in following along, I have prepared a timeline for the storyboards here: Storyboard Timeline .