Nadesico – Truth and Consequences by StarFire
[email protected]
Author's Note: Legal stuff: Nadesico, its plot, and its characters are property of Xebec and I am in no way affiliated with them. This is my first attempt at fanfic so any feedback, even on mechanical and writing issues is appreciated. Please ask permission before distributing.
Takes place soon after the Nadesico series but disregards Prince of Darkness movie.
Chapter 1: Message from the Past
A cold winter wind swept across the bare Martian landscape under the burgundy evening sky. The ruins of Utopia Colony, silent and crumbling, seemed to mock the idea that this area had been teeming with human habitation only years before. Now dilapidated buildings and scattered flora were the only signs of the former occupants. Today, however, for the first time since the last visit by the Nadesico over 18 months earlier, Utopia would have visitors.
The five troop transports appeared first as dots in the horizon. This belied the fact they were each about four times as large as 20th century Earth C-5 Galaxy transports. As they approached, wind and dust whipped into a frenzy as their engines rotated to a vertical position to land. Inside each transport were approximately 1,000 United Earth Forces (UEF) marines. Their job was to occupy Utopia Colony, prepare it for habitation once more, and use it as a forward base in the continued war against the Jovians.
Ever since the battle at the North Pole, hopes for peace had first risen and then faded as factions on both sides refused to let the fighting die. A news blackout on Earth and a gag order on the crew of the Nadesico had discredited or suppressed most of the information regarding boson jumping. For the Jovians, sadly Shiratori was only the first of their martyrs. On Jupiter, the hawkish factions in the military orchestrated a number of frightening assassinations of civilian leaders in order to silence their own doves. Three months after the incident where Captain Yurika had jettisoned the Nadesico and the boson jump computer into space, fighting renewed as intensely as before.
The Jovians' position had been significantly weakened though. The UEF forces had successfully driven them from Mars and pushed the front lines to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter where environmental hazards were now making combat even more dangerous. In order to better conduct the fighting, which was rapidly becoming a stalemate, the UEF was moving a large segment of military command to Mars to more rapidly identify and deal with the Jovians. This was the reason for the landing of the troops.
Following the holographic maps in their visors, the marines spread throughout the colony first establishing fortifications and communications and then checking buildings to see if they were still in good enough shape to be usable. One detachment under a Lieutenant Sean Baker swept its assigned area looking for habitations for personnel. Most of the buildings were at the brink of collapse. They found one old school though whose gymnasium was intact enough to be at least a temporary shelter. He ordered his men to rest and began to set up shop. "Ok, you lazy bastards. I'll give you an hour break and after that we're setting up all night. You can sleep tomorrow morning once the patrols start." Then men ambled out of the gym and began to walk, whistle, gamble, or whatever else fit their fancy. One group of young privates was discussing the latest in military cuisine.
"I swear to God our military rations are recycled crap. Improvement my ass, I bet UEF spends more on cabaret girls than keeping us nourished," one man, tall and built but only a little over the minimum age piped in. Another, a female in her mid-20s, agreed, "I would kill for a burger right now, hell even one of those stale Kentucky Fried Burgers & Chicken patties." The third, a short and skinny kid who looked like he was still in middle school silently nodded in agreement. As they made their way down the avenue to the residential areas the skinny one stopped in his tracks noticing a can lying on the curb.
"Hey guys, doesn't super-canned tuna fish last for 20 years sealed?" he asked with a sudden excitement. The other two looked down and saw what had caught his eye: a can of super-canned tuna fish dated only five years ago. The girl quickly took out her swiss army knife and opened the can. They whiffed the contents with trepidation. Fishy but not spoiled. "Tuna sure beats rations any day," she said grinning as she began to eat the contents.
"Hey I found that!" he complained.
"Chill out man, there are probably plenty of those cans around. See these are houses," the other male marine replied.
"Hey! Remember command said no looting of any premises for booty. We'll get in trouble if we're caught," she admonished them through a mouthful of tuna.
"We won't take anything back. We'll just eat it here and say we aren't hungry at dinner time," the skinny one exclaimed.
The three looked at each other and then went to the first house they saw. They noticed on the door that this residence had once belonged to a family called the Tenkawas. They first searched the ground floor but coming up empty they soon headed into the basement. There they miraculously found almost 40 cans of various foods that had been left untouched by both the bombing and the starving Utopia survivors. "Hot damn! We're goin' to feast tonight!" the tall one said rubbing his hands in excitement.
"I got my portable stove on me so we can even cook!" his female companion added in. "Let's find some pots and utensils." Rummaging through the garbage in the basement they found an assortment of pots and pans. Opening one of the pots, a dutch oven, they found a large cookbook entitled, Tenkawa Family Special Recipes. "Hey you guys, want to use this? Maybe we can make some real home cooking?" the short, skinny one asked.
"Are you crazy? We don't have time for that now. We only have about thirty minutes left. It's called eat and run." the woman told him.
"OK, whatever," he said absent mindedly tossing the book behind him. The book hit the wall and the force of the impact knocked a small optical disc out that had been hidden on the inside cover.
"Hey what the heck is that?" she asked. The tall marine stood up from his surveying of the food bounty and looked at it. "It's an optical disc of course, what else?" he replied.
"I know that but why keep it with a written cookbook? Most people only have a cookbook on disc or a written one not both."
"Eh, who cares," he scoffed and went back to surveying the food.
The skinny one having nothing better to do while the others got the food together picked it up in curiosity. "I wonder what the people were like who lived here," he thought. He placed the disc in his playback unit that would send the signal to his visor. Immediately in his visor appeared the holographic image of a middle-aged Japanese man with slightly graying hair and a lab coat. The man first smiled and began to speak, "Akito, if you are seeing this than you are alright." The man's smile then dropped and he looked down. "If you are watching this then it probably also means that your mother and I are no longer with you and that my greatest fears have come true. Son, I have much to tell you and most of it will shock you. You may watch this as many times as necessary to ease your disbelief but please listen to my words and follow my instructions very carefully…"
"Hey guys! I think you might want to see this…"
[email protected]
Author's Note: Legal stuff: Nadesico, its plot, and its characters are property of Xebec and I am in no way affiliated with them. This is my first attempt at fanfic so any feedback, even on mechanical and writing issues is appreciated. Please ask permission before distributing.
Takes place soon after the Nadesico series but disregards Prince of Darkness movie.
Chapter 1: Message from the Past
A cold winter wind swept across the bare Martian landscape under the burgundy evening sky. The ruins of Utopia Colony, silent and crumbling, seemed to mock the idea that this area had been teeming with human habitation only years before. Now dilapidated buildings and scattered flora were the only signs of the former occupants. Today, however, for the first time since the last visit by the Nadesico over 18 months earlier, Utopia would have visitors.
The five troop transports appeared first as dots in the horizon. This belied the fact they were each about four times as large as 20th century Earth C-5 Galaxy transports. As they approached, wind and dust whipped into a frenzy as their engines rotated to a vertical position to land. Inside each transport were approximately 1,000 United Earth Forces (UEF) marines. Their job was to occupy Utopia Colony, prepare it for habitation once more, and use it as a forward base in the continued war against the Jovians.
Ever since the battle at the North Pole, hopes for peace had first risen and then faded as factions on both sides refused to let the fighting die. A news blackout on Earth and a gag order on the crew of the Nadesico had discredited or suppressed most of the information regarding boson jumping. For the Jovians, sadly Shiratori was only the first of their martyrs. On Jupiter, the hawkish factions in the military orchestrated a number of frightening assassinations of civilian leaders in order to silence their own doves. Three months after the incident where Captain Yurika had jettisoned the Nadesico and the boson jump computer into space, fighting renewed as intensely as before.
The Jovians' position had been significantly weakened though. The UEF forces had successfully driven them from Mars and pushed the front lines to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter where environmental hazards were now making combat even more dangerous. In order to better conduct the fighting, which was rapidly becoming a stalemate, the UEF was moving a large segment of military command to Mars to more rapidly identify and deal with the Jovians. This was the reason for the landing of the troops.
Following the holographic maps in their visors, the marines spread throughout the colony first establishing fortifications and communications and then checking buildings to see if they were still in good enough shape to be usable. One detachment under a Lieutenant Sean Baker swept its assigned area looking for habitations for personnel. Most of the buildings were at the brink of collapse. They found one old school though whose gymnasium was intact enough to be at least a temporary shelter. He ordered his men to rest and began to set up shop. "Ok, you lazy bastards. I'll give you an hour break and after that we're setting up all night. You can sleep tomorrow morning once the patrols start." Then men ambled out of the gym and began to walk, whistle, gamble, or whatever else fit their fancy. One group of young privates was discussing the latest in military cuisine.
"I swear to God our military rations are recycled crap. Improvement my ass, I bet UEF spends more on cabaret girls than keeping us nourished," one man, tall and built but only a little over the minimum age piped in. Another, a female in her mid-20s, agreed, "I would kill for a burger right now, hell even one of those stale Kentucky Fried Burgers & Chicken patties." The third, a short and skinny kid who looked like he was still in middle school silently nodded in agreement. As they made their way down the avenue to the residential areas the skinny one stopped in his tracks noticing a can lying on the curb.
"Hey guys, doesn't super-canned tuna fish last for 20 years sealed?" he asked with a sudden excitement. The other two looked down and saw what had caught his eye: a can of super-canned tuna fish dated only five years ago. The girl quickly took out her swiss army knife and opened the can. They whiffed the contents with trepidation. Fishy but not spoiled. "Tuna sure beats rations any day," she said grinning as she began to eat the contents.
"Hey I found that!" he complained.
"Chill out man, there are probably plenty of those cans around. See these are houses," the other male marine replied.
"Hey! Remember command said no looting of any premises for booty. We'll get in trouble if we're caught," she admonished them through a mouthful of tuna.
"We won't take anything back. We'll just eat it here and say we aren't hungry at dinner time," the skinny one exclaimed.
The three looked at each other and then went to the first house they saw. They noticed on the door that this residence had once belonged to a family called the Tenkawas. They first searched the ground floor but coming up empty they soon headed into the basement. There they miraculously found almost 40 cans of various foods that had been left untouched by both the bombing and the starving Utopia survivors. "Hot damn! We're goin' to feast tonight!" the tall one said rubbing his hands in excitement.
"I got my portable stove on me so we can even cook!" his female companion added in. "Let's find some pots and utensils." Rummaging through the garbage in the basement they found an assortment of pots and pans. Opening one of the pots, a dutch oven, they found a large cookbook entitled, Tenkawa Family Special Recipes. "Hey you guys, want to use this? Maybe we can make some real home cooking?" the short, skinny one asked.
"Are you crazy? We don't have time for that now. We only have about thirty minutes left. It's called eat and run." the woman told him.
"OK, whatever," he said absent mindedly tossing the book behind him. The book hit the wall and the force of the impact knocked a small optical disc out that had been hidden on the inside cover.
"Hey what the heck is that?" she asked. The tall marine stood up from his surveying of the food bounty and looked at it. "It's an optical disc of course, what else?" he replied.
"I know that but why keep it with a written cookbook? Most people only have a cookbook on disc or a written one not both."
"Eh, who cares," he scoffed and went back to surveying the food.
The skinny one having nothing better to do while the others got the food together picked it up in curiosity. "I wonder what the people were like who lived here," he thought. He placed the disc in his playback unit that would send the signal to his visor. Immediately in his visor appeared the holographic image of a middle-aged Japanese man with slightly graying hair and a lab coat. The man first smiled and began to speak, "Akito, if you are seeing this than you are alright." The man's smile then dropped and he looked down. "If you are watching this then it probably also means that your mother and I are no longer with you and that my greatest fears have come true. Son, I have much to tell you and most of it will shock you. You may watch this as many times as necessary to ease your disbelief but please listen to my words and follow my instructions very carefully…"
"Hey guys! I think you might want to see this…"