((This is a series I'm trying to start outside of FIO Reports involving individuals who were part of the Project Anslo was in. This following is NOT Anslo talking.))
“Hello Again” (Part 1/x)
Genisis
Auever Beach
I can’t remember the last time I was on a planet and didn’t need breathing equipment before today. Neither can I remember the last time I felt a breeze caress my cheeks or smell the aroma of natural plant life surround me. Not before I found this place. The sounds and sights before me stretched out in an almost dream like maze of nostalgic wanderlust, welcoming my rare bout of sentimentality with open arms. I hadn’t felt the way I did finding this place in a very long time. It’s like a homecoming. Had it already been five years since we were all together?
But what are five years to a supposed immortal? Who cares about half a decade? I couldn’t help but smile to myself at these questions, these remnants of a foolish youth long gone and replaced with experience and wisdom not freely gained. Five years were five years and the illusion of their frivolousness has long since been shattered in my eyes. I had sacrificed a lot to get to where I am now. We gave up so much for so little early on, learning life’s toughest lessons in the hardest ways until we understood how things worked. By then it was a bit late, but better late than never. It just hurt to have been separated right when we were all becoming such close friends.
I wonder if that’s why I’m here now. I wonder if that’s the same reason he staked his claim here. Does he remember the good times hidden between all the hurt? Does he remember that deployment on Intaki and goofing around post-op? I know I can’t forget him splashing Lavula with a bunch of salt water out of nowhere. I thought she’d get upset as she always did, blowing antics out of proportion. I can’t blame her for getting angry if she had though, given the circumstances. But for once, she smiled. She genuinely smiled and laughed for the first time since we’d all been together. With that, our first little outing was born, waiting on that beach for extract. The worries we had, the pain we felt, the needles we dealt with, and the endless testing we were forced into just disappeared for a fleeting moment. I guess she realized like a lot of us had that all we really could count on was each other. The need for walls and facades had no place in our circle.
I’m glad we got to have more times like that. Project or not, it was a wonderful thing to enjoy. Each time we came together, we grew fonder of each other. It wasn’t so much a romantic sense between us, but more familial. We all came together in hopes to serve our home more and to keep our allies safe. We cherished freedom of choice above all and used that gift to submit ourselves to be better protectors of that freedom. At first, that was all we had in common. We’d walk through jungles just like this one, surrounded by the sights and sounds of God’s handy work through evolution. The sight, smells, sounds, tastes, all of it was right there for us to experience. Despite all of it, the first few ops together we did nothing but get in and out. It wasn’t until a few ops and training missions in and a few rather painful tests later that people started to talk.
We confided in each other in small groups at first. After a while, we all clung to each other. We were the only family around and the only one we’d see for what very may well have been the rest of our lives. No matter what they did to us or made us do, we still found comfort in each other. We all suffered the same crap, all had the same bait and switch pulled on us, and in that suffering we found sanity and a reason to keep going. It’s just horrible it ended the way it did. We had to scatter across the cluster just to stay alive. I haven’t seen any of them in so long. I really miss them. I had missed them for a while, but it was only recently that I worked up the nerve to even try to touch base with them. It was dangerous sure, but wasn’t that what we were built for? Sure it’s a textbook case of an unneeded risk, but I write my own textbook now, not the Federation, not the FIO. It’s a risk worth taking. It’s-
Wow.
It’s just like the beach on Intaki. It’s almost the same as our first vacation spot. Endless sapphire waves crashing against each other in competition to reach the shore first, towers of rock and plants reaching to the sky, teeming with life large and small, tall and wispy waterfalls to and fro. I bet the deepest parts of this jungle are even more beautiful. I should take off my ocular patches and see this. They’re different now, not like what I was born with, but they’re still my eyes.
Aah…much better... So clear... So crisp... This place is beautiful. You really outdid yourself finding this place, Anslo. Now, if I could just find the right time to talk to you. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in. But hey, maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you want to see everyone else again too. Yeah, I’m sure you do. Why else come here? Why else own a beach like this? It’s just one big living, breathing memory for us. When we all finally gather here, it’ll be one big family reunion done against all odds? So many things I want to ask you.
Do you still wear those bandages, or did you find a treatment?
Has Rev talked to you at all? I remember you two were like twins.
Do you know where Marie went? She was always the most fragile of our little group.
Most importantly, what have you been up to for so long?
I can’t wait to sit down and chat with you Anslo. I hope you won’t be upset with me still. I hope that this is the start of a big reunion for all of us. Do you hope the same?
Do you?
Author
Topic: [Character] Anslo (Read 9547 times)