The only solace Edwin has found, within these past few hellish years, has been working with his hands. It was the only way for him to really make time fly. It helped to get his mind off of things, and just relax a little, well, as much as he could relax during times like these anyway. While he was no expert when it came to mechanics, he was fairly knowledgeable when it came to his own mech. Phoenix was his baby after all. A project he was quite proud of, and valued more than he wanted to admit.<br/><br/>He shook out a rag and wiped the sweat from his brow. Repairing Phoenix was important, but he knew he should take his own well-being into consideration. He was really feeling the exhaustion sinking in deeper the longer he worked here. What good would he be to the crew if he threw himself into battle half-asleep? What would he accomplish?<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Edwin?</span>Underdog’s voice broke the silence Edwin had been enjoying.<br/><br/>“Yeah, what is it?” He sighed heavily. His tone came off sounding rather irritating, which had not been his intention. However, he didn’t do anything to correct it.<br/><br/>[/i]The captain wishes to inform you that we’re going to waiting a week before this mission is carried out. You are also assigned cleaning duty during this time.[/]<br/><br/>“Are you fucking serious? A week?”<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">That’s what the captain’s message had said. Think about it, though, the ship has suffered heavy damage that will take awhile to repair. We need to collect ourselves, rest up, and then tackle what’s ahead.</span><br/><br/>Edwin snarled and rested his head against Phoenix, then punched it, feeling his temper rise a bit. “Yeah, but if I would’ve known that, I wouldn’t have left early. Damn…” He punched Phoenix again.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Punching the mech won’t help anything, Edwin… With all due respect, if you hadn’t acted so hastily, you would have known.</span><br/><br/>“Whatever…” Anger was boiling within him, with the desire to be unleashed; he’d probably snap at the next person who tried speaking to him. Damn it all to Hell. He could honestly not fucking believe this shit. Here he thought he was being launched into battle again, and now he was stuck cleaning the fucking ship all week. Well, just fuck that, he thought, let the people who actually do those jobs take care of it like they’re supposed to. Repairing Phoenix was much more important than that.<br/><br/>His thoughts had wandered to everything that happened during that battle and every battle before that. It was a terrible nightmare that played in a continuous loop in his mind. Each and every time, he had come back alive. But each and every time, he only felt vengeance and the desire to avenge his fallen comrades. It was a shame to see morale being crushed further and further, the crew whittling away and being reduced to a mere handful of people. That was why he wanted to keep fighting and be in top shape.<br/><br/>What good would cleaning do if people were dying? He would rather live to fight another day and come home to a pig sty than watch someone get blown to bits because he wasn’t out there to defend the ship.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">You don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.</span>Underdog interrupted again.<span style="font-style: italic">If you would have-</span><br/><br/>By now, Edwin was just done with this conversation, “Save it,” he growled. “Maybe that’s why I’m so fucking pissed.” He wondered if Underdog had been reading his thoughts again.<br/><br/>No further conversation happened after that and Edwin as able to finally get a bit of peace and quiet. He worked on Phoenix a little longer, brushing off any offers to help him. Cleaning duty or no, he would rather not leave his mech in such a sad state, he would finish the job before he got around to his punishment. The Children might decide to not wait around a week before they struck again. Edwin was always thinking out the worst case scenario, even if the possibilities were low. He would be ready to go out there and keep fighting.