Gundam Wing: Walker
Posted: 2002-11-04 11:52am
This is a story I wrote some time ago. It deals with a minor character from the series 'Gundam Wing', an OZ pilot by the name of Walker, who was responsible for Zechs getting the mighty Tallgeese. He died shortly after. I liked the character because he was very well-written, even though he was only around for a single episode. Here goes...
Walker
Part 1
My name is Walker. My first name is Sean, but those close to me call me by my last name. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the year AC 167. My father was a computer programmer for the Earth Sphere Alliance; my mother was a doctor. They're both dead now, killed in a plane crash the year before I graduated from the Lake Victoria Academy. I graduated with honors, first in my class and fifth in the entire history of the Academy. They'd always told me that I'd made them proud, and I'm sure that they would have been ecstatic if they had been alive then.
I'm a mobile suit pilot. I always wanted to be ever since I saw them taking off from Wheeler AFB when was little. I would stand behind the runway's fence, watch a huge Aries take a stance at one end of the concrete, run forward, jump, and never hit the ground. Aries can tuck their legs in for flight mode; it's what they're built for. I could hear the deafening roar of the engines as they powered up and feel the intense wind as they blasted off on a mission. My high place at the Academy assured me that not only would I get an Aries, but command a group of them someday.
Shortly after graduation, before my first posting, I met a Lieutenant named Zechs Marquise and his Lieutenant J.G. Otto. I found Zechs a very intriguing officer, partly because he was first in the Academy's history, and partly because of his proposal. I'd barely even heard of the Specials-or rather, OZ-at the time of graduation. However, I found myself quite interested when he said, "We want you to become a member of our group." I accepted, and was sent to retrain under Instructor Noin, second in Victoria's history. Heh, I sometimes joke around, saying I've still got the bruises.
I thought standard training was tough, but Noin gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "no pain, no gain." We were awakened by drill instructors heaving a trash can down the hall. The jarheads would be all over us; "on your face, down-up-down-up-down-up, you keep pumpin' 'em out until I get tired!" We had reveille at 0500, PT (Physical Training), or a pleasant, eight-mile run at 0505.
The smell of disinfectant became hardwired into our brains. We learned how to use a chisel to scrape years of accumulated crud off a wall so the next guy could slap on a quarter-inch-thick splash of anti-corrosion paint. We spent months wrestling the damn floor buffer up and down corridors, already dog-tired from hours of PT, obstacle courses on foot and in training suits, combat training, small-arms, mindless instructions on how to break down and reassemble a rifle while blindfolded, lectures on battle tactics...hours that always seemed to add up to twenty-six or twenty-eight per day. I noticed Otto watching my class, and especially me. When I asked Instructor Noin about it, I was rebuked with every cadet's least favorite word in the dictionary: "classified."
That was when a miracle happened. We were to go out on a training mission, a real training mission, no safety net this time. The top four of us joined Noin in five Aries: real Aries, no more training suits, oo-rah! Our mission was to destroy six remote-controlled Leo suits in a false city. The mission began smoothly, with us working together and destroying five of the Leos. Noin sat back and let me pretty much take control of the group. That was when it happened. The last remote Leo took off, flying away at top speed. Without waiting for orders, Cadet Nechayev beside me raised his missile launcher and fired, taking out the Leo's engines. However, there would be no celebration. "Oh no!" Noin yelled. "Look out, it's going to hit the research station!" Indeed, the Leo was out of control, falling towards a building containing thirty-five civilians. There was no way to stop it...or was there? Without thinking, I threw my Aries' machine gun to the ground, pumped the engines to full throttle, tucked in the legs, and flew on an intercept course. Unable to actually grab the falling Leo, I simply had my Aries slam into it. The collision knocked out the engine in the right shoulder, and my Aries joined the Leo in a free fall. However, the kinetic energy built up in my suit had knocked the Leo clear of the research building. It crashed into an open plain, while I landed somewhat more gracefully several yards away.
Walker
Part 1
My name is Walker. My first name is Sean, but those close to me call me by my last name. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the year AC 167. My father was a computer programmer for the Earth Sphere Alliance; my mother was a doctor. They're both dead now, killed in a plane crash the year before I graduated from the Lake Victoria Academy. I graduated with honors, first in my class and fifth in the entire history of the Academy. They'd always told me that I'd made them proud, and I'm sure that they would have been ecstatic if they had been alive then.
I'm a mobile suit pilot. I always wanted to be ever since I saw them taking off from Wheeler AFB when was little. I would stand behind the runway's fence, watch a huge Aries take a stance at one end of the concrete, run forward, jump, and never hit the ground. Aries can tuck their legs in for flight mode; it's what they're built for. I could hear the deafening roar of the engines as they powered up and feel the intense wind as they blasted off on a mission. My high place at the Academy assured me that not only would I get an Aries, but command a group of them someday.
Shortly after graduation, before my first posting, I met a Lieutenant named Zechs Marquise and his Lieutenant J.G. Otto. I found Zechs a very intriguing officer, partly because he was first in the Academy's history, and partly because of his proposal. I'd barely even heard of the Specials-or rather, OZ-at the time of graduation. However, I found myself quite interested when he said, "We want you to become a member of our group." I accepted, and was sent to retrain under Instructor Noin, second in Victoria's history. Heh, I sometimes joke around, saying I've still got the bruises.
I thought standard training was tough, but Noin gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "no pain, no gain." We were awakened by drill instructors heaving a trash can down the hall. The jarheads would be all over us; "on your face, down-up-down-up-down-up, you keep pumpin' 'em out until I get tired!" We had reveille at 0500, PT (Physical Training), or a pleasant, eight-mile run at 0505.
The smell of disinfectant became hardwired into our brains. We learned how to use a chisel to scrape years of accumulated crud off a wall so the next guy could slap on a quarter-inch-thick splash of anti-corrosion paint. We spent months wrestling the damn floor buffer up and down corridors, already dog-tired from hours of PT, obstacle courses on foot and in training suits, combat training, small-arms, mindless instructions on how to break down and reassemble a rifle while blindfolded, lectures on battle tactics...hours that always seemed to add up to twenty-six or twenty-eight per day. I noticed Otto watching my class, and especially me. When I asked Instructor Noin about it, I was rebuked with every cadet's least favorite word in the dictionary: "classified."
That was when a miracle happened. We were to go out on a training mission, a real training mission, no safety net this time. The top four of us joined Noin in five Aries: real Aries, no more training suits, oo-rah! Our mission was to destroy six remote-controlled Leo suits in a false city. The mission began smoothly, with us working together and destroying five of the Leos. Noin sat back and let me pretty much take control of the group. That was when it happened. The last remote Leo took off, flying away at top speed. Without waiting for orders, Cadet Nechayev beside me raised his missile launcher and fired, taking out the Leo's engines. However, there would be no celebration. "Oh no!" Noin yelled. "Look out, it's going to hit the research station!" Indeed, the Leo was out of control, falling towards a building containing thirty-five civilians. There was no way to stop it...or was there? Without thinking, I threw my Aries' machine gun to the ground, pumped the engines to full throttle, tucked in the legs, and flew on an intercept course. Unable to actually grab the falling Leo, I simply had my Aries slam into it. The collision knocked out the engine in the right shoulder, and my Aries joined the Leo in a free fall. However, the kinetic energy built up in my suit had knocked the Leo clear of the research building. It crashed into an open plain, while I landed somewhat more gracefully several yards away.