Birth of a Pilot

Emil has a spring in his step. Walking down the hallway, all he can think about is the look on the weasley scientist’s face, the look he’ll have when Angelo tells him no. He outpaces his brother and the rest of the crew, though that’s partially because Roxie had to stop and talk to Lorenzo about something. The double doors to Romero’s laboratory come into view, and Emil can’t push them open fast enough. They’re going to beat the staff major at his own game.

“Welcome back!” the middle-aged man greets. “Didja enjoy your little break?”

“Yep! We sure did!” Emil can barely contain a smile. It’s not something he normally does, anyway. Life is too short to hide feelings!

One by one, the rest of the group files in. Emil scouts out the man of the hour himself, Angelo. The dark-haired boy carries a glum look on his face; he’s probably not too thrilled about disappointing Staff Major Romero, even if he doesn’t like him. The blond winks and gives him a pat on the shoulder when he passes by. Angelo flinches. Whoops! Emil keeps forgetting that he doesn’t realize his own strength, which is odd of him to have in the first place, since it never seems to work when he wants it to.

“So what’s your decision, son?” Romero reclines in his chair, looking at Angelo. “Do you want to be apart of the advancement of technology, or do ya’ just wanna pick up pebbles the way you’ve been doing?”

This is just pathetic. Emil only felt like he was being manipulative before, but the researcher is just being blatant now. It’s good that Angelo already made up his mind.

Angelo hesitates.

“You have the floor, Ange.” Emil reassures him.

The frail boy steps forward.

“Do you want to pilot the Starwalker or not?” the researcher reiterates.

“I think... “ 

Emil silently roots for Angelo. 

“I think… I think I do.”

Emil chuckles. “Yeah, sorry Staff Major, but we already--Wait what??”

As his smile fades, Romero’s widens. The possibility of Emil mishearing Angelo’s answer dissipates, leaving him only with the question of why. Why is Angelo changing his mind?

He looks to the rest of his crew. Their faces and gestures make for equally negative reactions. He even recognizes the way Lorenzo’s eyebrows furrow together in an expression of quiet panic. Of all of them, Leon is the most verbal.

“Why?” The rookie’s face looks so distraught. Only once has Emil seen him like this; his hopes of never seeing that again are crumpled up and thrown back in his face. “Why did you--? Ángie, why?”

Angelo holds his arms and swallows. “I-I t-thought I was l-looking out for the c-crew. I thought th-th-that-- the medical staff! I wanted people t-to have the chance to g-go to them and learn a-and--!”

Roxie’s eyes widen. “No!! No, Angelo! That’s what you were thinking about? I talked it over with the captain, he said even if the crew went to go collect rocks, he would allow me to stay with the medical staff!”

“Oh…” The soft-spoken boy stares down at the floor, ashamed.

“It’s okay, Angelo.” Emil pats his back, much softer this time. “Just remember if you have any doubts like this, talk it over with one of us next time, alright?”

“I will…” The blond is barely able to hear Angelo’s reply. He sounds like he’s about to cry.

“So do you still wanna pilot the robot?”

“I don--”

“Now wait just a second, boys!” the researcher interrupts. “I thought we agreed that a deal’s a deal!”

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding.” The captain steps forward.

“Yes, there seems to be!” Romero stands up from his chair, walking over to the group. “I offered you guys a deal, and you and Lieutenant Cauliflower Hair over here agreed to it. The boy gave his answer, with your crew’s best interest at heart, and you guys want him to take it back? That’s not fair at all!”

Emil takes a deep breath. He takes a deep breath because if he says what’s on his mind right now, he’d get them all in trouble.

“But Angelo doesn’t want to pilot the Starwalker anymore.” Leon pulls his brother closer to him. “Doesn’t that change anything?”

Romero smiles. “No.”

“If I may!” Jun clears their throat. “Is it really a good idea to have an unwilling participant test out this heavy machinery, like this? I mean to say, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

“I suppose you’re right,” the researcher concedes, “but he won’t be unwilling when I charge him for insubordination!”

“What?” Emil blurts out. “Excuse me, but excuse me? Can’t we just talk this out? We don’t hafta charge people for insubordination!”

“What my brother means to say,” Lorenzo gives Emil his trademark stare of ‘be quiet before you get yourself into trouble’, “is that this situation is very… complex, and it might be best to get the involvement of a third party--”

“So you’re going to tell your dad on me, is that it?”

Yes. Emil wants to say, and he would’ve said it if Lorenzo hadn’t responded--

“Absolutely not.” The captain shakes his head. “I understand that his involvement might create worries of bias, so we will not be contacting him.

Any other time, Emil would’ve been fine with this. This is not the time. “We? I don’t remember agreeing to this.”

“Well, he is your captain, so…” The middle-aged man shrugs. “Not that I trust you guys’ word at this point, but I do trust the facility’s cameras, and I’m pretty sure they caught all of this. And our past chats too!”

Emil could no longer stand to look at the man. Though he’s unaware of what forces are holding his face in a smile, he knows that he feels very un-smiley right now.

He looks between his brother and Romero. “I think I’m just gonna… excuse myself now.”

The blond nods toward them both and storms directly for the doorway. His crewmates’ worried faces pass by in a blur.

“Lieutenant! Come back here this instant, that is an order!” Lorenzo’s voice is the final straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Emil stops walking. He pivots around, shaking his head and smiling. “What are you going to do?” he replies calmly. “Charge me for insubordination? Cause it seems like everyone else is doing it!”

“It is a possibility! So it would be beneficial for you to come b--”

Emil rushes out of the room faster than his regrets can catch up to him. The hallway in front of him seems much larger than than it ever was. One thing he knows for sure is that it isn’t going to get any shorter until he starts walking. So, he starts walking. He makes it halfway down the the hall when he hears the door behind him open.

“Emil!” It’s Lorenzo. 

Emil stands in place, waiting for his brother to catch up. Wearily, he turns around to look the captain in the eye. Lorenzo, as usual, glances away at first.

“Are you… angry?” the captain asks.

“Yeah.” Emil feels himself cooling off. “Yeah, I was. If I stayed back, I knew I would’ve said something really…” The blond shakes his head, laughing. “...something I shouldn’t have said.”

“I guess it was for the best, then.” Folding his arms, the captain looks to the side.

“I can’t apologize for being mad, though.” Emil takes a breath. “I know you’re trying to look out for the family honor or whatever, but we need to tell Dad about this guy!”

“I don’t understand! Usually, you’re the one saying that we shouldn’t go to him for things like this.”

“That was when people were gossipping and stuff.” The lieutenant captain raises his hands in the air. “Someone’s life is on the line here!”

“I’m aware. But… there has to be another way.” Lorenzo closes his eyes. “Besides, if we talk to Dad now, what would we even say to him? It’s not like we can prove the staff major is being untrustworthy. I’m not even sure if I think he is. He seems more… overzealous than anything.”

“He’s definitely up to something.” There is no way Lorenzo can convince Emil otherwise. He will not back down from this.

Before Emil can elaborate any further, the door opens again. He watches as the rest of his crew files into the hallway. Mia comforts Roxie, who looks more downcast than the lieutenant has ever seen her. Aiden shakes his head, muttering to himself about something, while Jun walks beside him, occasionally offering their thoughts.

“I don’t really get the big deal about insubordination, anyway.” Aiden stretches his neck. “I’ve gotten written up for it tons of times!”

“Not everyone is you, Aiden.” Jun tells him. “‘Sides, your circumstances were a bit different. Depending on who handles the punishments, Angelo could’ve been slapped with a dishonorable discharge.” After saying this, Jun stops and blinks. They look as if they regret something, but then they shake their head as if to expel the thought. Emil doesn’t know what to make of this, but it does make him a little nervous.

“Fine.” Aiden scoffs. “Then I could’ve just snatched him up and ‘kidnapped him.’ Knowing him, the kid can’t fight his way out of a paper bag, so if anyone caught us, they’d just put all the charges on the big scary muscle guy.” He points at himself. “He wouldn’t get in trouble, and he wouldn’t be in that metal deathtrap. Problem solved.”

“I guess that would’ve been a better plan than no plan.” Jun shrugs. “Though I’d rather go with something that only gets Romero punished.”

“What brings you all here?” the captain asks, his bushy brows furrowed once more.

“Romero threatened us all with insubordination if we stayed.” Mia replies.

Of course he did. the lieutenant captain thinks to himself. He feels a pang of regret upon realizing that the others witnessed him getting angry. If anything, he feels like he should apologize for that. To Lorenzo, Aiden, Jun, Roxie, Mia, and… At this point, Emil realizes someone is missing, besides the obvious. “Where’s Rookie?”

“Still in the lab.” Jun answers. “Romero said he’d let one of us stay back if we volunteered to help Angelo get in the robot.”

Leon must want to stay back with his brother as much as he can. Emil sighs. What an awful situation to be in.

“Well,” Emil begins. “Since you’re mostly all here, I guess I should apologize for being all snappy earlier."

Aiden laughs. “You’re sorry? For what? Being the most reasonable person back there?”

“I mean, I don’t wanna, like… undermine anything or anything, but, like, I don’t think anyone blames you.” Jun agrees.

Lorenzo clears his throat. “After hearing your reasoning, I understand why you did what you did. You will not be punished for your actions.”

“Cool!” Emil smiles at his brother. His smile fades into a more serious expression. “So. If we’re not going to tell Dad, what’s our plan of action?”

The captain adjusts his hat, deep in thought. “An investigation into the Starwalker’s construction is what I’m thinking of. That machine had… a lot of oversights, so I imagine there were some procedural violations made along the way. Lieutenant, I will allow you to go contact the Chief Commander.”

Emil’s expression brightens up. “Really?”

Lorenzo nods. “I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to convince him with what we know now, but Ranger Wattson did mention a lack of safety equipment. That will probably be your strongest argument for now. If that doesn’t work, come find me in the Robotics Sector and tell me where he is.”

“Got it!” Emil salutes.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to use cell phones?” Jun suggests.

“Good idea, Ranger Kim. First, we’ll get dressed in our formal uniforms and retrieve our phones from the ship. Then myself and the lieutenant captain will head to our respective destinations. Ranger Allen, then would be a good time for you to meet up with the medical staff.”

“I won’t let Muffinhead’s sacrifice be in vain.” she vows, though much more seriously than usual.

“Captain, I would also like to participate in the investigation.” Jun offers.

“Your help would be very much appreciated.”

“What about us?” Aiden asks. He and Mia are the only ones without an assigned task.

Lorenzo turns away to think.

“Well, one of them’s gotta stay back for Leon.” reminds Emil. He thinks it would be kind of messed up if Leon leaves the lab and finds out everyone left him behind.

“Ranger Kelly, you’re to stay back and wait for Ranger Summers. Ranger Wattson, you stay on the ship, so that Kelly and Summers can retrieve their belongings. Afterwards, the three of you are free to join Ranger Allen with the medical staff, conduct your own investigation into Staff Ranger Romero, or do anything you feel will help with the situation. Relay any important information you find to me via phone.”

“Understood.” Mia salutes. Aiden gives a casual thumbs up.

“Alright, let’s get down to business!” The lieutenant captain pumps his arm.

The group, minus Aiden, follows Lorenzo down the hall. Emil can’t help but to smile. Strategic stuff like this is where his brother truly shines. He hopes everyone else can see the captain the way he does. As much as he appreciates his brother, he doesn’t have the time to focus on that right now. He turns his attention to one goal.

He needs to find his father.