#but tbf he is head over heels for her so Joker did well tying with that XD

[systems-alliance-pilot]

Final message:

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His search for a private place for this recording had led him home; the message began with one very tall pilot shuffling in his well worn but still surprisingly small cockpit. "You'd think after all these years I'd have figured out the best way to get in here, and yet....gah." Stretching his neck and shoulders, Owen finally stopped moving around and looked to the console above his flight controls. "Right: that'll do for now."

A warm smile spread across his face as Owen pushed the longer strands of hair back off his forehead. "Hi, J." He paused and took a moment to think about how he was going to word this. "I've...honestly, I don't know what I've been doing. I keep trying to think how I'm going to say everything but nothing seems right, y'know? I don't want this to sound rehearsed but I also don't wanna miss anything..."

Relaxing back into his chair, the pilot looked up through his canopy. "I can't believe it's nearly done. All these years, all this fighting and it's just....ending." He closed his eyes. "Seems too good to be true." His eyes opened and returned to the screen in front of him. "And this whole....thing...is in case it turns out to be."

His infamous smirk appeared for the first time in months. "You didn't think I'd leave without a contingency plan, did you? I'm not about to fly into Hell itself without a cheeky little message to my best friend and greatest rival." Sitting back, he absent mindedly began playing with some of his controls and fell into another temporary silence.

"When I joined the Alliance, all I wanted was to escape; to run from what I was. I didn't want anything beyond a new start....but I got so much more." Owen bit his bottom lip as his eyes began to water. "Skills, friends...family. J, meeting you is, without doubt, my greatest memory of this whole gig: you are my best friend and you are my brother and I....I fucking love you, man. I don't say it but you, Gunny, your mam and dad....you made me feel wanted and loved and I've never....I'd never had that before and I can't...I can't thank you enough for it."

A shaky breath left him as he looked back to the heavens and laughed at his current situation. "Fuck...I really am shit with emotional stuff, aren't I?"

His left wrist illuminated as he activated his omnitool. "One last present from me, lad." Within moments, the message was encoded with dozens of vids and holos. Some were from Arcturus, a few were proof he could have shot him down when he stole the original Normandy, but several were from the few periods of leave he got to spend with the Moreau family. He'd marked one vid and one holo in particular as his favourite: the picture was of two baby faced pilots and one very young girl, Owen - arm in cast - was wedged between a beaming Joker and Hilary. The vid was of Owen picking up and spinning 'Gunny' onto his shoulder so she could pretend to fly and attack her brother.

Owen sighed as the beep of a successful transfer reached his ears. The crease between his eyes deepened as the order for all officers to report to the war room boomed throughout the ship.

With a deep inhale, he brought a genuine smile to his face and looked directly at the camera. "Let's show these marines how it's done ey, lad?" He chuckled and reached for the disconnect button.

"Ad astra, per aspera, brother. I'll see you soon."

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@facedtogether

Song - x