Heavy Construct Brooklynn Chapter 3: Home

Nat was standing at the window as the Eridus entered into Gervin. The dark canvas filled with stars gave way to the usual black rock of the Asteroid. It had been a month since they were last in port, as the only ship in an asteroid belt near the gateway to the Orion belt, they were constantly busy looking for rebels. A brief smile touched her lips. She was oddly excited to get a day of shore leave. Word on the ship was that their two-month tour of the shipping lanes in and around the asteroid field had been cut short due to the encounter with the headed mobile suit. Malcolm had heard that the captain let it slip that they were to get a meeting from top Republic officials on the matter. Nat didn’t particularly care about any of that. She was excited to go to the little coffee shop on the west side of the city. It had been her favourite place since being stationed here one year ago. She figured it was high time she invited Rose to go with her.

“So, any big plans for the day off Mr. Hotshot?” Nat shot up straight, she had been so engrossed in thought she somehow missed the heavy footsteps behind her. Zack Sime, shuffled up next to her, resting his body against the wall.

“Not really, probably go have a long shower for a change and get a coffee” she turned top face Sime as she said it. “You going clubbing as usual?”

“Probably, with the way things are turning out who knows when we’ll get back here next. Word is their bringing in two other ships to patrol” Sime was casual with Nat.

“Damn, I guess we really kicked the hornet’s nest by finding that HC with a head. You talk to Zira at all? He gets along better with you”

“Yeah, Jay’s shaken but he’ll manage. Didn’t think I’d ever hear him praise your leadership skills, but he said you saved his life” Sime’s voiced raised pitch at the end inquisitively.

“We got lucky is all, if the headed one had fired instead of kicking me, me and Zira would be space dust right now”

Just after she had said it, a voice came in over the intercom, “Ship is docked and secure, all non-essential personnel, please enjoy your shore leave”

“Well, I guess that’s our cue, see you in two days” Sime shoved off of the wall and began floating down towards the exit. Nat didn’t follow him, instead, making her way to the heavy construct hanger. The sounds of impacts and grinders was fierce as she approached Zira’s machine. There, was a small army of mechanics completing the finishing touches on the construct. It once again featured legs, but it required the entirety of the ship, including pilots to make it that way. After the legs where attached, then it required the special skills of the mechanic staff to ensure the hydraulic systems as well as electronics were working as intended. It meant that Nat had seen very little of Rose these past few days.

“Alright, if we pass this test we can all go home! Jones, get the thigh up and have the calf remain vertical!” She heard Rose’s voice yell. Then, as commanded, the leg began screeching upwards, while bending at the knee. A cacophony of claps and cheers range out. Rose looked past the leg and say Nat standing on the gangway and kicked herself up to meet him.

“You coulda helped instead of just sitting there looking pretty ya know” Nat was always both terrified and delighted when Rose teased her like this.

“I know but then I’d get dirty, look at you, grease is everywhere” Nat fired back

“I thought you liked dirty girls, or at least that’s what the ones in Gervin tell me” Rose winked as she said it

“I uh… a… what?’ Nat was flustered and became red as an apple at the teasing “So anyway, I was… uh… wondering if you wanted to go get coffee tomorrow, there’s this nice place on the other side of Gervin called Kat’s, makes a great espresso and even better cinnamon rolls, if you’re interested, if not it totally get it” The pace of her speech was quickening. Rose moved in on Nat’s space, inches from her face, Rose’s face became serious. “Huh, I always pictured you as a dog person”

“What?” Nat recoiled, visibly confused. “Relax, Nat, I’m always amazed how you can go from the most serious and cool person I know to a stammering mess with barely any prodding. Anyway, I accept your invitation and look forward to the date, does nine sound good” Rose’s smile was genuine and warm, it was infectious, and a smile reached Nat’s lips. “Sure, nine sounds great, meet you there?”

“Sure thing” Rose turned and bounced off to go clean herself and get out of her coveralls. Nat stood there watching her leave before exiting the Eridus. Nat returned to her quarters on the ship briefly before heading out. She changed from her standard issue uniform, a black jacket and pants with her rank of Ensign embossed on it, to a black t-shirt, she wore underneath a black hoodie which she never zipped up. She then made her way off the Eridus.

The city was dark and smelled intensely of sweat and industry. There was a constant hum produced by the several large oxygen generators placed all throughout the city. Nat walked briskly down past to far away from where the dock was. Military types were not too well liked in Gervin, they had penchant to get drunk and mess with locals, so it always paid to not be seen as one around this time of night when the bars were at their busiest. Life in an asteroid city had a usual rhythm, work from five o’clock in the morning to five o’clock at night, get drunk, and repeat the next day. At least that’s what Nat has always observed. She was one of the unlucky, drafted into the military. It was a random lottery with around 50 people being taken from each city. Once selected, one had the choice of either go through seven years of service hoping to make it out alive, or they killed you. After the seven years was the promise of being allowed to choose any occupation one wished to study, free of charge. Though where they were settled after their choice was a matter of state policy. Non-draftees were just forced to be whatever the government needed at that particular moment.

As Nat walked through the narrow streets, she looked up at the towering buildings towards the dark, rocky sky. The artificial lights were turned off at exactly 9:30 P.M. standard republic time. This left there only the harsh streetlights to guide Nat on her way to her small apartment on the other side of the city. Her mind wandered as she passed a bar filled with rowdy miners yelling about their work. Despite the grime and noise of asteroid city life, Nat enjoyed her brief stays in Gervin. Its sheer size allowed her to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the city and become truly an anonymous dot in a sea of people.

This illusion was soon shattered when she reached the outer edge checkpoint. standing in the middle of the street was a troop of 4 republic security staff checking IDs of anyone seeking to enter the middle of the city. Nat quietly slotted herself to be the fourth person in the line. At this time of day, all those with permission to enter the centre district were usually safe tucked in their homes. It was really only delivery people taking food from the more working-class restaurants to the centre. It had become a trend for government personnel and businesspeople to appear more in touch with their subjects by forgoing the refined tastes of the middle district.

As Nat shuffled up to the scanner, she heard a gruff muffled voice come from the covered face of the man two heads taller than her, “scan your ID, state your name and business in the centre district.”

Nat fumbled with her ID and after the beep uttered “Ensign Nathan Welkes, on shore leave from the Eridus and passing through the centre to get to my apartment” As she tried to brush past the man, his hand moved from his rifle, roughly grabbing her.

“It says here you don’t own or rent property in the district, where is this illegal apartment and why does a republic officer have one?” Nat could make out the squint through the man’s googles.

With a sigh, she replied “Its not illegal, I don’t live in the district, I live on the east side of town, it’s late and I’m tired and didn’t want to add an extra an extra hour walking from the ship to the other side of town.” She tried to move forward but the hand stayed in place.

“A republic officer with an apartment in the east side of town? Why?” By this point, one of the other guards had moved beside the man, hands on his rifle.

“Listen” Nat said, attempting to disarm the situation, she did her best to hide her annoyance, “The rent is cheap, I don’t want to spend a fortune on a place I see every 3 months. Us lower commissioned make less than you think we do” Nat backed up as she said it. The man’s grip was iron, and it was beginning to hurt.

The silence of the moment was deafening until the man’s muffled voice began once again, “My superior says you story checks out, he found the record of your apartment, he’s radioed ahead to check point 5 and said if you’re there in 15 minutes they’ll let your through. Next time, don’t waste my time and take the long way around.” With an over dramatic step, he moved aside. Nat quickly took the initiative and began walking through the newly created gap.

“Thank you, I will” she uttered back quickly.

After turning the corner past the checkpoint, Nat jumped into a quick jog. Not only did Nat find the clean wide streets of the middle somewhat distressing, 15 minutes to cross the district gave her little time. Security staff were nearly uniformly drafted from the centre regions of the republic or were the children of officials in the outer regions. In order to appear fair, the upper classes had to go through conscription as well. It just happened that the safest occupations such as security staff were given to politically connected individuals. Nat’s time in the centre was brief. She quickly sped through and barely made the required checkpoint in time. Luckily, there was little hassle as once a sweaty Nat presented herself to the guards of checkpoint 5, they quickly ushered her out of the district.

Nat made it to her small apartment building soon after. She keyed in the code and slumped over as soon as she passed the threshold into the room. She was safe here. It had been a long tour, the events with the headed heavy construct were still fresh in her mind. She grabbed a can of pop from her tiny fridge. She winced as she pulled out a bottle from the liquor cabinet, there was only three fingers of rum left. Pausing briefly, she then dumped the contents of the bottle into a tall glass and filled the remainder with her pop can. Quickly bringing the cup to her lips, she drank until the burn became unbearable. She then sauntered over to a safe and entered in the code. With a beep, the door opened. Inside was a small smattering of clothes, and a dark black wig. She slowly began putting the small black dress on. It fit her small frame rather well and unlike with her pilot suit, she enjoyed how it made her shoulder’s feel. She then put on the wig and stared intently at a mirror. Her heart hurt, yet she savoured the small feeling of belonging in it as well. She felt pretty. It had taken her six months of worrying fear and near breakdowns to purchase this dress, the dress that made everything click into place. She finished the remnants of her drink and sat down on her small uncomfortable couch.

Usually once in the dress, her mind became clear, this time, her thoughts brought her intense worry.

 “What should I do about Rose?”

If her secret came out, she would be expelled from the military and then imprisoned never to escape. Deviation of this sort was simply not tolerated in the republic. More than a few times, she considered taking her HC and fleeing to the nearest rebel base. Yet, stories had circulated about what the rebels did to deserters of the republic. Yet her mind came back to the damning thought once again

“Should I tell Rose?”

She suppressed it once again, no matter how much she felt the urge to scream her realness to the galaxy, particularly those she trusts, doing so would doom them most of all. It was then she realized she hadn’t eaten nearly all day. Her head was beginning to spin, and she stumbled over to her bed, and crashed down, still in her dress and wig.