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Vicuna’s been in mechs since… since Grace. She couldn’t afford not to. Her skillset is highly specialized, and she’s not going to let it go to waste on some isolated station orbiting a nothing planet. (She’s not about to let Righteousness benefit from it either, but saying that while she’s forced to rely on Joie’s charity seems like a bad move.)
But for all Vicuna’s problems with the Vanguard, she can’t claim to find fault with their facilities. Their Rigger obstacle course is extensive and elaborate, building from simple tests of one’s maneuverability to a complex maze whose proper path even Vicuna couldn’t run on her first try.
Of course, that was back when she was still half-expecting the Rigger to reach out to her and whisper what to do. She’s long since killed that instinct. She’s mastered the course, too, relearning how much pressure to apply for the finest adjustments in speed and which ominous creaking noises are signals of an actual problem and not just the side effect of being far inferior machines. And so, after what felt, as she lived it, to be a million years but looking back only seems to be the blink of an eye, she’s ready to leave the compound under her own power.
This won’t be the departure that matters. Loath as she is to admit it, Vicuna isn’t ready to be a public figure again, and she will be as soon as some random citizen sees her in the open and takes a blurry picture. When her fuel runs out, she’ll have to turn around and beg for more of Joie’s scraps. But until then, she can pretend she’s still her own person.
Or as free as she can be with an escort, anyway. Territory had insisted on accompanying her. She’d claimed it was in case Vicuna up and needed to be dragged home, and Vicuna had scoffed. Even so, she hadn’t argued. Somehow, Territory’s presence has become comforting to her. The antagonism of their conversations keeps her grounded somehow, focused on the threat she can deal with immediately.
It helps that Defiance isn’t joining them. Vicuna doesn’t need any more reasons to fixate on what she can no longer have.
They launch directly into space. She misses planets, but she’s never felt fully safe on Tetrakal. The Diaspora’s name may not carry much weight in the sector anymore, but it’s hard for her to shake the lingering distrust of OriCon. She suspects the feeling is mutual. Even if it’s not, it’s easier to justify staying offworld if it’s other people’s problem rather than her own.
For an instant, she’s weightless and free. She’s left every expectation behind, on the station or Sigilia or even Garden. She is a pair of hands on the controls, and she can do anything.
It doesn’t take long for her elation to burst. She remembers another time she sat at the helm of an empty metal shell, staring into a star that was impossibly bright. If she is weightless, it is only because she has been unmoored.
“Hey.” Territory’s voice comes through the commlink bright and crisp, though some of its sharpness seems lost in transmission. “If you don’t have anywhere in mind for this field trip of yours, there’s something I want to show you.” Vicuna can practically hear the smirk form. “That is, if you think you can keep up.”
“I know you think you’re so talented, but that’s just because you haven’t seen me in action yet.” Vicuna lets the familiar banter tether her to this moment. “But by all means, show me whatever it is you think is so impressive.”
Vicuna hears thrusters whir to life over the comms as Territory’s borrowed Rigger shoots into motion. She leans forward, letting muscle memory keep her right on Territory’s heels.
Their mechs are identical, twin refurbished Rooks painted with the tacky Vanguard insignia, so she can’t outspeed Territory. What she can do is outmaneuver her, take the turns sharper and anticipate Territory’s moves so she doesn’t lose momentum. The gap between them wasn’t wide to begin with, but it’s starting to close.
Territory hits the brakes. She’s gradual about it, not yet at a standstill, but Vicuna has to veer to the side to avoid hitting her. She slows down, a little disappointed. “Couldn’t stand that I had a real shot at beating you? You’re not normally such a sore loser.”
“Yeah, normally I don’t lose at all.” Territory’s Rigger beckons Vicuna closer. “Anyway, come on, we’re here.”
Vicuna looks around skeptically. As far as she can tell, this is just an empty patch of space. But she can’t deny her curiosity, especially with Territory acting so strangely. She does as she’s told without protest.
“Great. Now let’s watch the moon rise.”
Vicuna turns to Tetrakal automatically. For a moment, she can’t tell that anything is changing. Then she notices the shape coming over the horizon. It’s smaller than she expected, but clearer, too. She can begin to make out individual craters from here.
Neither of them says anything as it rises. It has a quiet sort of beauty, more notable for how subtle it is. Even so, Vicuna can’t help but wonder what Territory’s thinking, or how she discovered this in the first place.
It only takes a few minutes for the moon to become fully visible past Tetrakal’s edge. When it is, Vicuna finally works up the nerve to open the commlink again. “Thank you.”
“Yeah.” Territory’s voice is equally subdued. Vicuna wants to know what kind of face she’s making even as she’s glad Territory can’t see Vicuna’s own. “I came out here after Representative Joie gave me that medal. Mostly, I needed to get away before I punched her in the face. It felt like she was mocking me, you know?”
Vicuna makes a soft sound of agreement. Joie always manages to seem faintly insincere or condescending, though if she is putting up a persona, she’s good at keeping the cracks from showing.
“I found this by accident. I was looking down at the planet, trying to remember why I cared about the people on it, when I noticed the moon was just visible on the horizon. I’d never really left the planet before the war, and then, you know, the war. It was the first time I could see the beauty out here, not just the emptiness.” Territory lets the words hang in the air before continuing, some of her usual brashness returning to her voice. “Of course, it was much harder to find when I actually looked for it. I half thought you’d look the wrong way and ruin the surprise.” She adds, with more of her usual brashness, “Lucky you’re easy to distract.”
“You’re just saying that because you want an excuse to make up for the fact that I’m a better pilot than you,” Vicuna says, only half paying attention. She’s still thinking about the concepts of beauty and emptiness coexisting. It’s kind of absurd, since clearly they’re looking at something, but she admits that the moon wouldn’t be so beautiful if it weren’t set against the vast expanse of nothing behind it.
Vicuna’s not inclined to work in metaphors. She’s much happier with concrete problems and concrete solutions, a clear path from where she is to where she needs to be. Even she can see this one, though. Territory has never bothered with subtlety.
Maybe that’s why she’s so able to get through to Vicuna. There’s an understanding there, even if Vicuna doesn’t want to put it into words. She thinks Territory gets it anyway. That’s kind of the point.