Ship/Member: 8jun, 97z Major Tags: Character Death Additional Tags: N/A Permission to remix: Yes
***
The end of the world doesn’t look quite like Minghao expects. For one, it’s too bright, too many lights. For another, there are too many trees and too much wildlife; it was a definite far cry from the nuclear wasteland everyone thought the world would end with. He’s always thought that by the time humanity managed to lay waste to the Earth, they would have also stripmined her of all her resources, dug out her cores and left her hollow.
Nobody could have expected the monsters that came from the sky and sea instead.
Nobody thought they would live to survive it but by some miracle, scientists managed to produce a way to generate contained nuclear fusions, an infinite source of energy. It was the breakthrough advancement of the century, the lightning in the bottle innovation that changed the course of a war. Minghao has no doubt that without it, there wouldn’t be any humanity left to puzzle at the state of their world now.
But no war was without consequences and even with hulking metal robots powered by the same reaction that burns through the sun, they were still fighting creatures of never-before-seen proportions and strength and someone had to pilot those mechs. The government set up training centers and strategic strongholds, recruited the most promising pilots the army and civilian population had to offer, the ones who were ready to die for god and country. Recruits were taught to look death in the eye and take the swing anyways, that it was an honor to be shot out of the sky like Icarus too close to the sun.
None of them were taught what to do if they survived. None of them truly expected to survive.
Minghao had never meant to start piloting at all but Junhui had turned out to be a phenom in the sims and Minghao would have followed him anywhere, would have died for him like other men would have died for god and country. They endure basics together, huddled in their shared dorm trading stories about their terrifying sergeant, and live out of each other's pockets as much as possible through training.
The first time they actually get to pilot real mechs is a revelation for them both, Junhui whooping into his comms the entire time while Minghao is simply too breathless to scream. It’s also the first time they kiss, wide eyes and fumbling, high off the adrenaline of rocketing through the sky defying all laws of physics.
It becomes a sort of routine; Minghao and Junhui fly thirteen missions together and against all odds, they make it home together every time. They fly together, eat together, sleep together; they trade messy desperate kisses when they survive, just to remember that they were alive together, that they aren’t one of the many who had fallen to the seemingly endless siege of monsters from god knows where.
It becomes a sort of ritual; everytime, Minghao looks at Junhui, the curve of his eyes and the dip in his smile, and thinks desperately I love you. I love you. I love you. Until the words become stuck in his lungs, caught in between his teeth. Everytime, he swallows his words, the things he’s not allowed to want and cannot hope to have in these hopeless times.
“They want me to go on a flight alone,” Junhui says one day, “Not a fight, just a recon patrol.”
Minghao frowns. Junhui was the most talented pilot they had but everyone knew that solo recon patrols were too dangerous, researchers only beginning to unravel the monster behavior patterns.
“Why aren’t they sending anyone with you?” Minghao asks.
Why aren’t they sending me with you?
Junhui shrugs, “Too many pilots lost in the last fight, they don’t want to risk anymore people.”
Please don’t go, Minghao wants to say.
“Come back safe.” Minghao says.
The base never even recovers the mech in the end.
Seokmin and Mingyu are the only pilots who dual pilot a mech. Minghao meets them shortly after Junhui’s funeral and they fall in together almost immediately, bonded by age and pre-army interests and a kindred grief. Neither of them ask Minghao about Junhui but they know, everyone knows.
Watching Seokmin and Mingyu work is a marvel. Unlike Minghao and Junhui, who never were even in a mech together, the two of them never seemed to agree on anything. Mingyu purposely leaves out Seokmin’s laundry in spite when he’s cleaning their dorm and Seokmin likes to wait until Mingyu answers any question just to respond in the negative. They can never agree on anything for lunch, are constantly arguing over which is the best flavor of ice cream, and yet, Minghao has never seen any pair like them.
They speak in half spoken sentences, a foreign language born out of knowing someone so intimately you can tell their thoughts from the tilt of their head, the flicker in their eyes. Seokmin is always reaching for Mingyu, leaning towards him, seeking him out in a crowd; actions so practiced they are now more instinct than thought and Mingyu reciprocates everytime.
It was impossible for Minghao not to be drawn into their orbit, for their presence to fill in the cracks of his ribs like kintsugi, mending along the frayed edges of his loss.
When the researchers announce that the number of monsters were dwindling, their numbers no longer replenishing each time one falls, the three of them celebrate the news together.
“I want to build a house by the beach, after all this is over.” Minghao tells Seokmin and Mingyu, heart hammering in his chest with hope.
Mingyu tilts his head and says, more than a little amused, “At the beach? With all the fighting over the water we’ve done?”
He never asks if he or Seokmin is invited, if this would be a house for the three of them. He knows it is.
Minghao nods and Mingyu says, “Alright. We’ll build a house by the beach.”
“With a dog, we need to have a dog.” Seokmin says, sounding absolutely convinced that this house by the beach would not be perfect without a terrier nipping at their heels.
Minghao laughs and says, “We’ll also have a dog.”
Minghao hears it when they are ripped out of the sky, comm link a static shock before falling silent.
So the world hadn’t actually ended, but Minghao sits on the ledge of his cockpit and thinks of everyone who hadn’t made it back to him, the ones who hadn’t made it home. He thinks of Mingyu and Seokmin and Junhui. He thinks about the house on the beach, the dog, the words he never said caught in his throat like needles.
He thinks of what it might have been like to die with them.
--
largely pacrim, vaguely other mecha inspired. I didn't think the worldbuilding through tbh.
[FILL] built on the ashes of our hope
Major Tags: Character Death
Additional Tags: N/A
Permission to remix: Yes
***
The end of the world doesn’t look quite like Minghao expects. For one, it’s too bright, too many lights. For another, there are too many trees and too much wildlife; it was a definite far cry from the nuclear wasteland everyone thought the world would end with. He’s always thought that by the time humanity managed to lay waste to the Earth, they would have also stripmined her of all her resources, dug out her cores and left her hollow.
Nobody could have expected the monsters that came from the sky and sea instead.
Nobody thought they would live to survive it but by some miracle, scientists managed to produce a way to generate contained nuclear fusions, an infinite source of energy. It was the breakthrough advancement of the century, the lightning in the bottle innovation that changed the course of a war. Minghao has no doubt that without it, there wouldn’t be any humanity left to puzzle at the state of their world now.
But no war was without consequences and even with hulking metal robots powered by the same reaction that burns through the sun, they were still fighting creatures of never-before-seen proportions and strength and someone had to pilot those mechs. The government set up training centers and strategic strongholds, recruited the most promising pilots the army and civilian population had to offer, the ones who were ready to die for god and country. Recruits were taught to look death in the eye and take the swing anyways, that it was an honor to be shot out of the sky like Icarus too close to the sun.
None of them were taught what to do if they survived. None of them truly expected to survive.
Minghao had never meant to start piloting at all but Junhui had turned out to be a phenom in the sims and Minghao would have followed him anywhere, would have died for him like other men would have died for god and country. They endure basics together, huddled in their shared dorm trading stories about their terrifying sergeant, and live out of each other's pockets as much as possible through training.
The first time they actually get to pilot real mechs is a revelation for them both, Junhui whooping into his comms the entire time while Minghao is simply too breathless to scream. It’s also the first time they kiss, wide eyes and fumbling, high off the adrenaline of rocketing through the sky defying all laws of physics.
It becomes a sort of routine; Minghao and Junhui fly thirteen missions together and against all odds, they make it home together every time. They fly together, eat together, sleep together; they trade messy desperate kisses when they survive, just to remember that they were alive together, that they aren’t one of the many who had fallen to the seemingly endless siege of monsters from god knows where.
It becomes a sort of ritual; everytime, Minghao looks at Junhui, the curve of his eyes and the dip in his smile, and thinks desperately I love you. I love you. I love you. Until the words become stuck in his lungs, caught in between his teeth. Everytime, he swallows his words, the things he’s not allowed to want and cannot hope to have in these hopeless times.
“They want me to go on a flight alone,” Junhui says one day, “Not a fight, just a recon patrol.”
Minghao frowns. Junhui was the most talented pilot they had but everyone knew that solo recon patrols were too dangerous, researchers only beginning to unravel the monster behavior patterns.
“Why aren’t they sending anyone with you?” Minghao asks.
Why aren’t they sending me with you?
Junhui shrugs, “Too many pilots lost in the last fight, they don’t want to risk anymore people.”
Please don’t go, Minghao wants to say.
“Come back safe.” Minghao says.
The base never even recovers the mech in the end.
Seokmin and Mingyu are the only pilots who dual pilot a mech. Minghao meets them shortly after Junhui’s funeral and they fall in together almost immediately, bonded by age and pre-army interests and a kindred grief. Neither of them ask Minghao about Junhui but they know, everyone knows.
Watching Seokmin and Mingyu work is a marvel. Unlike Minghao and Junhui, who never were even in a mech together, the two of them never seemed to agree on anything. Mingyu purposely leaves out Seokmin’s laundry in spite when he’s cleaning their dorm and Seokmin likes to wait until Mingyu answers any question just to respond in the negative. They can never agree on anything for lunch, are constantly arguing over which is the best flavor of ice cream, and yet, Minghao has never seen any pair like them.
They speak in half spoken sentences, a foreign language born out of knowing someone so intimately you can tell their thoughts from the tilt of their head, the flicker in their eyes. Seokmin is always reaching for Mingyu, leaning towards him, seeking him out in a crowd; actions so practiced they are now more instinct than thought and Mingyu reciprocates everytime.
It was impossible for Minghao not to be drawn into their orbit, for their presence to fill in the cracks of his ribs like kintsugi, mending along the frayed edges of his loss.
When the researchers announce that the number of monsters were dwindling, their numbers no longer replenishing each time one falls, the three of them celebrate the news together.
“I want to build a house by the beach, after all this is over.” Minghao tells Seokmin and Mingyu, heart hammering in his chest with hope.
Mingyu tilts his head and says, more than a little amused, “At the beach? With all the fighting over the water we’ve done?”
He never asks if he or Seokmin is invited, if this would be a house for the three of them. He knows it is.
Minghao nods and Mingyu says, “Alright. We’ll build a house by the beach.”
“With a dog, we need to have a dog.” Seokmin says, sounding absolutely convinced that this house by the beach would not be perfect without a terrier nipping at their heels.
Minghao laughs and says, “We’ll also have a dog.”
Minghao hears it when they are ripped out of the sky, comm link a static shock before falling silent.
So the world hadn’t actually ended, but Minghao sits on the ledge of his cockpit and thinks of everyone who hadn’t made it back to him, the ones who hadn’t made it home. He thinks of Mingyu and Seokmin and Junhui. He thinks about the house on the beach, the dog, the words he never said caught in his throat like needles.
He thinks of what it might have been like to die with them.
--
largely pacrim, vaguely other mecha inspired. I didn't think the worldbuilding through tbh.