the first post of the new arc. i do have some more saved but i would still start it from here:
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Standing aboard the bridge of the DropShip Wayward Son, Major Justin Radcliffe felt out of place. Procedures that he didn’t fully understand were being carried out by a crew he was incapable of leading, all in an environment that was fundamentally different from what he was used to. Still, awkward as he felt, Justin was glad he had accepted the Captain’s invitation to witness their last jump. He watched as the crew went about their business, totally focused on their own assignments, but kept an eye on the primary bridge monitor.
Standing in the center of the Wayward Son’s bridge was Captain Edward Churchill, a man Justin had come to admire and respect during the trip. Though only a couple years older than the Major, Churchill seemed to have the experience and knowledge of a man three times his age. The Heavy Cav’s entire command staff had taken to eating dinner together during the trip, and during those late ‘night’ conversations Edward always stole the show with his rapier wit and seemingly boundless intelligence. Now, in his element, however, he was a different man. Like his crew, he was completely focused on his duty. His expression only softened when the captain of the Wanderer, his wife Melanie, reported her DropShip’s readiness over the comm.
“Major, I would appreciate it if you’d have a seat and buckle in.” Churchill stated aloud while working on a computer console.
Somewhat surprised, Justin looked around the bridge for a seat but couldn’t find one. Before he could ask the Captain, the veteran spacer was thumbing over his shoulder at the captain’s chair.
“Edward, I can’t sit there. That’d be like letting someone else pilot my mech.”
The Captain turned and smiled. “It’s not like it makes you the captain... it’s just a chair, Justin.”
Without another word of protest, Radcliffe stomped over with his magnetic boots and took a seat. Just as he was buckling himself in, Captain Churchill gave the JumpShip the all clear. In exactly 61 seconds, the Heavy Cav would arrive in their final destination: the Loxley system.
“Now, Major, if you’d be so kind as to punch that large red button near your right pinky...” Naturally Justin looked down, and his digit was indeed resting on a large rectangular button. Not wanting to question the ship’s master, depressed the button. The sound of the ship’s jump alarm nearly scared Justin to death. A knot began to form in his stomach as he watched the countdown on the main display. It wasn’t nervousness or fear of the jump, but excitement. After six long months in space he was leading his unit down to the surface of his homeworld. It was an indescribable feeling, one that he thought he’d never experience after his departure from the LCAF.
As the timer reached zero, everyone on the ship began to feel an indescribable pull. It felt to Justin like the universe itself was reaching inside him and grasping his soul, then throwing it 30 light years. As reality reformed and the vertigo cleared, Captain Churchill ordered his men into action. The Wayward Son and the Wanderer broke free from the JumpShip and began their burn towards Loxley, a trip that would take several days. Slowly gravity began to return as the ship’s speed increased, and when the gravity stabilized Justin released his five-point restraint and stood.
“Excellent work, Captain,” he said, extending a hand to Churchill. “I quite enjoyed making your acquaintance on the journey.”
“Likewise, Major. After we drop you off we’re going to be doing a few cargo runs, but we’ll be back in a couple weeks to start taking on local jobs. It’s unfortunate, but the only way to cover our operating costs.”
“True, but they’re just jobs. Leaving to run cargo for a bit doesn’t mean you’re no longer a Cavalier, right?”
Edward gave Justin a broad smile. “Yes indeed. Now, get outta' here. Be sure your land-lovers are ready to get off my ship the moment we land. We’ve got our own work to do up here.”
With a laugh Justin called the service lift and descended down into the depths of the old Fortress-class DropShip. The lift unexpectidly stopped on C-Deck; crew quarters. When the doors opened Justin was surprised to see Lieutenant Minori Kushieda and Sergeant Taiga Aisaka, his AeroSpace jocks, waiting to board the lift. They were obviously more surprised to see him, however, and jumped back like kids who’s hands had been caught in a cookie jar. When Justin noticed that they were wearing their flight gear he understood why. He remained in the lift, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I don’t seem to recall ordering a CAP, Spitfire.” Justin said evenly, waiting to hear what the pair was up to.
“Well, ah, we were just trying to be…” Lt. Kushieda started, her voice light and almost playful.
“Proactive.” Sgt. Aisaka finished, he tone borderline insolent. All Justin could do was shake his head and try not to laugh.
Of all the new warriors in the unit, Minori and Aisaka were by far the most colorful, and popular. He had to admit that the two were a fascinating pair. Though they claimed to be sisters, the young women were polar opposites in almost every way. Minori Kushieda, the older sister, was a tall Caucasian red-head brimming with energy. She was sweet, kind, and athletic, and her “Spitfire” callsign suited her perfectly. Taiga Aisaka, on the other hand, was as petite as she was fiery, with more traditional Asian features and long brown hair. The men had taken to calling her “The Palm-Top Tiger”, a reference not only to her name but also her ferocious attitude. She was snappy, sarcastic, and aggressive, but Minori kept her in line. Where Minori got along with everyone, Aisaka was guarded and only showed her (considerable) affection for Minori. The male Cavaliers (and a few female as well) stumbled all over themselves around both women, and the entire unit was seemingly divided into two groups: Minori fans and Aisaka fans.
However, their prowess in combat made up for any personnel idiosyncrasies. They had come from the DCMS and were remarkably skilled for their age, but their Dispossessed status had kept any unit from hiring them. Justin had picked them up on a favorable long-term contract, and he was extremely happy to have AeroSpace support for his unit. He knew that some of the men joked about his hiring two exceptionally attractive young women, but he was willing to bear the jokes if it got skilled pilots in the Chippewas.
“Loxley is a Lyran core-world, only a jump from Coventry. I think we’ll be okay.” Justin replied, cocking his head to the side.
“Well if that’s the case, then why are we here in the first place?” Taiga asked, smirking at her CO. Minori quickly nudged her with her hip, knocking the tiny pilot off balance slightly.
“Sir, we just want to make a grand entrance into the system. Shake the dust off our wings, ya’know?” Minori said sweetly, obviously eager to get back into the cockpit.
He tried not to show it, but despite himself Radcliffe smiled and unfolded his arms, stepping to the side so the pair could get into the lift. Both women smiled and ran into the lift, and Justin got an idea of how excited is crew was to get back to work. Justin restarted the lift to the combat bays while Lt. Minori bounced up and down happily, rewarding Justin with a blinding smile.
“Thanks skipper, yer’ the best!” Minori chirped, then kissed Justin on the cheek.
When the lift’s doors opened at the combat bay a second later, Minori skipped out happily, with most of the bay looking on. Taiga snickered as she stepped out of the lift, the closest she ever gotten to giving Justin a smile, then followed her sister. The Major simply stood in place, shocked, blushing, and hoping that no one was looking his way. After rubbing his cheek he proceeded out of the lift, laughing to himself.
Such is the mercenary life, I suppose. No wonder all the best Lyran soldiers go into private contract work.
As it so happened, the personel lifts were in the central regions of the bay, where most of the unit’s tanks were parked. It was a standard feature of most DropShips, as vehicles didn’t make use of drop shoots. Many of the tankers were already at their machines, working to free them from half a year of lockdown. The tank crews were able to remove the extra chains and straps on the tanks themselves, while each machine’s tech was responsible for removing thick vines of fiber-optic cables. The cables were part of the DropShip’s simulator systems, allowing warriors to train in their actual vehicles against all the other machines on the network. The network itself was fragile, given the state of it’s LostTech server, but it was generally stable enough for a company to train all at once. Despite the advanced simulator systems, Justin’s first priority dirtside would be setting up a full-unit exercise, not only to knock the rust off his machines but help his unit reintegrate.
As he was making his way towards the Mech cubicles, Justin walked past the cubicle containing two of his Armored Cav’s Pegasus hovercraft. He heard muffled talking on the other side of the tank but didn’t see anyone, so out of curiosity he walked around to the other side. No one there either. Then he noticed that the tank’s entry ramp was down, and that the voices were coming from inside the hovercraft. Walking to the rear of the vehicle, he knocked on the hull before stepping in. Lt. Commander Tan Hong Yu and Staff Sergeant Thomas Murphy were sitting before a bank of computer screens and consoles.
“Gentlemen” Justin said easily, trying not to interrupt too abruptly, “how goes the unpacking?”
“Hey, boss.” Hong Yu replied, turning his chair to face Justin. “We really just started, but so far so good.”
Behind him, the other man backed up, turned, and rolled his wheelchair forward. The chair still threw Justin a bit, but Murphy had thus far proven to be an excellent addition to the unit. His knowledge of the Pegasus' sensor technology was boosting the entire unit's effectinveness, and he also brought a unique new weapon to the Heavy Cav’s arsenal. His hovercraft, the one the men were in now, was equipped to command two Darkstar Unmanned Arial Vehicles, UAVs that flew high over the battlefield and relayed precious information back to the hovertank. The Son’s simulator system couldn’t handle the drones, but Justin knew that they would be major assets in real battle.
“If anything was going to get shaken up in transit it would have been this custom gear.” Murphy explained as he rolled forward, “Obviously it’s not a factory option, so it’s not perfectly integrated into the vehicle. Still, all the controls and relays look fully operation, and the Darkstar’s themselves are reading as ready for action.”
After chatting for a few minutes, Justin made his was back out of the tank and continued towards the section of Mech cubicles assigned to Viper lance. A handful of warriors and techs were milling about, so Justin decided to simply ask aloud and hope that someone could point him in the right direction.
“Has anyone seen Captain Takeda?” Justin asked, yelling to be heard over the sounds of powered machinery and excited conversation.
“He’s down on the E-Deck , skipper.” replied MechWarrior James, who was half hanging out of his newly-acquired Gladiator’s cockpit. “He’s running some ‘extended training’ with Buggerman and the leathernecks.”
“Thanks James.” The Major said as he walked back to the lift he’d just used to reach the bay. After a brief ride he was on E-Deck, the largest deck on the ship, which housed the infantry barracks and training grounds. Unlike the Mechs and tanks, troopers needed firing ranges and open space to hone and maintain their skills. Luckily Fortress-class DropShip’s training areas were well equipped, utilizing modular panels to produce an almost infinite variety of training environments. Well, any kind of urban environment at least.
Sure enough, Ken and Lieutenant Ron Buggerman were working with a platoon of Cavalier infantry. However, instead of being on the gun range the troopers were doing close combat training. Ken had insisted that the troops be versed in CQC given the possibility of Combine attack, and as he correctly pointed out it was one of the only things they could learn aboard a DropShip. While Ken and some of his star kendo students had their full sparing gear on, complete with bamboo swords, the Heavy Cav troops wore their combat garb and carried nightsticks. The tonfa were small, light weight, and easy to carry, and left one hand free for grappling or using a sidearm. The idea behind Ken’s training was to teach the men how to fend off a sword attack long enough to ready a pistol or retreat. There was just no way to train the soldiers in true swordsmanship in such a short time, and most of them were not suited for the training anyway. The results were quite excellent… the men had become far more confident in close quarters and had an extra, unexpected weapon to use against the enemy.
While Ken was leading the training secession, Lt. Buggerman was sitting off to the side looking on. He seemed to be the only one who noticed Justin’s entrance, beckoning the CO to join him instead of trying yell over the racket of slapping bamboo swords.
“Hey boss.” He said simply, chomping on a cigar.
“Ken wastes no time, does he?”
That got a snicker out of the grizzled infantryman. “He can be a real ball-buster, sure. As soon as we got gravity back it was right back to the ring… he wasn’t very happy about pausing for the jump. At least he knows what he’s talkin’ ‘bout, though.”
“Why aren’t you in there, L.T.? I’m sure you could smack these kids around without breaking a sweat.”
Buggerman barked out a single laugh. “Nah, you can’t teach this old devildog new tricks. You need someone shot, though, let me know.”
Justin sat down on the deck, beside Buggerman, and grinned. “Ron, if I didn’t know you better I’d say you were in a good mood.”
The Mechanized Cav commander turned his head and gave Justin a cigar-crushing smile. “Well hell yeah I am. I can’t wait to get off this tin can. Between the lack gravity and the damn jumps, the only thing I’ve felt these last few months is nausea. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to get dirtside so badly in my entire g**d*** life.”
Justin returned Buggerman’s smile. He didn’t suffer from jump sickness or even have a problem with the microgravity, but he was borderline allergic to the drugs required for long-term space travel. “I hear you. The meds have been killing me. But just think, in less than a week we’ll be at our new post.”
Buggerman chewed on his cigar for a few moments, watching Ken as he used a reverse strike to knock a trooper right off his feet. “Say, skipper, what’s this place like, anyway? Anything fun to do down there?”
Radcliffe closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the bulkhead. “I know everyone says this about their homeworld, but Loxley is the most beautiful planet I’ve ever been on. Most of the planet’s cities are either in temperate or alpine regions. Everywhere you go it’s cool and green, and since the oxygen levels are a bit higher than standard the air always seems crisp and clear. There is some seismic activity no matter where you go, and new mountains are always being built. If you’ve ever been to Scotland or the Colorado region of North America on Terra, you’d have an idea of what it’ll be like at our post.”
Buggerman seemed to like what he was hearing. “And where are we being posted? We going to be on the beach or in major city? Preferably both, with tons of booze and women.”
Justin laughed again, and Ken took notice of his CO’s presence. He’d ordered the men to continue the exercise, and he arrived as Justin’s laughter stopped. “We’re going to be stationed in New Dallas, a major city at the base of the Grey Mountians. No beaches, but there are ski resorts up in the mountains. The city itself is the largest on the planet, and the primary concentration of Terran Hegemony refugees, like my family. We’ll be garrisoning Fort Worth, a mini Castle Brian on the outskirts of the metroplex. It’s basically the area I grew up in.”
“A Castle Brian of any size is most impressive.” Ken commented, wiping his brow with a towel. “They were not often constructed outside of the Hegemony.”
“Loxley was a major supply point for the SDLF, during both the conquest of the Rim Worlds and the return to the Hegemony. The castle was supposedly there to support and defend the factories and facilities that were built during the war, but the industries pulled up stakes when the SLDF left for good. When the economic bubble popped Loxley lost a lot of it’s population. However, before the Second Sucession War refugees from New Dallas arrived and helped the world get back on it’s feet. My ‘people’ were able to maintain the castle and get some of the smaller factories running, and my ancestors were recruited into the LCAF. Been loyal to House Steiner ever since, repayment for the hospitality.”
Ken dropped to the deck, joining Justin and Ron’s discussion. “It sounds like your family and Loxley are deeply intertwined, Major. Am I correct in assuming that has something to do with our receiving this post?”
“Yup. Though really it’s the Storm family. They led the migration from the planet of New Dallas to the city of New Dallas, which is what the renamed the capital. Anyway, Fort Worth is it’s own self-contained city. It has facilities for an SLDF combined-arms regiment, so we’ll have plenty of space. We’ll have our own airstrip and a trio of DropShip landing pads, so as soon as we land we’re going to offload right onto the base. I am assuming that Colonel Storm will be there to meet us, but I’m by no means sure. Oh, and be warned, this may be mercs dealing with mercs, but it’s still the Lyran Commonwealth, meaning that we’ll have some fancy-pants event to attend to. Non-negotiable. It's just comes with the territory in these parts.”
Ken simply nodded his understanding, while Buggerman made a sour face. Apparently the L.T. was so distraught that he needed to light up his cigar, but Justin stopped him. “Any who lights up on my DropShip will go to the event in a ballroom gown. And I am not fraking kidding.”
While Buggerman put away his matchbox with a horrified expression, Justin laughed and levered himself up onto his feet. “Captain, most everyone is in the bay, getting their gear out of long-term lockdown. Personally, I think it’s a little premature, but I understand. Hell, I may as well go down there get Grace unshackled. Wanna come?”
“I appreciate the offer, Major,” Ken replied, dropping his towel to the deck and putting his kendo helmet back on, “but I have a lesson to continue. However, I will not be far behind.”
Justin started walking towards the hatch and back to the lift, slapping Buggerman on the shoulder and gaving Ken a wrist-salute. “See you later, fellas. If there’s anything else you want to talk about, just let me know.”
“Sir.”
It didn’t take long for Justin to get back to the bay, which was now bustling with activity. Almost all of the MechWarriors were now in the bay, along with all the technical staff. While walking towards the cubicle where his Mech was racked he passed by nearly all of the Heavy Cav’s Mechs, marveling at the gunmetal grey finish on each machine. He also passed by recently promoted Sergeant Major Carlos Monkfish, who was using a torque wrench to undo the chain binding his Hunchback to deck. Looking on was his daughter Pepper, who had joined rejoined her father now that he had a stable job. While Lt. Kushieda and Sgt, Aisaka were indeed popular, they couldn’t quite compare to Carlos’ daughter. She was exceptionally smart and well behaved, and her smile could charge a JumpShip. It didn’t take long for her to become the unit’s little darling. Every day she would visit with each and every member of the Heavy Cav, even if it was just to say hello to a crewman who’s name she couldn’t quite remember. Whenever Pepper came around everyone set aside what they were doing, taking the opportunity to have a little sunshine injected into their otherwise tedious days in space.
Carlos and several other members of the unit were schooling her in their off hours. While her father handled general studies, Justin took her though his collection of history and philosophy books, which she seemed to be quite taken with. Hong Yu and any free techs ran an introductory shop class (she was apparently interested in working on Lunk with her father), while Gillian Albin handled math lessons. Ken had her speaking better Japanese than her father, and the Mechanized Cav medics were giving science lessons. The classes were on a daily rotation, and had in fact proven so popular that other Cavaliers began to attend as well. Their interest had thrilled Justin… idle transit time was painfully boring and soldiers often took to somewhat questionable methods of passing the time. Not only were his men staying out of trouble, but they were learning something in the process.
After Justin finished speaking with Carlos and Pepper he kept walking until he was at Staff Sergeant Aaron Erickson’s cubicle. Erickson was one of the newer MechWarriors that the Cav had picked up on their trek through the Inner Sphere, and so far seemed to fit in quite well. Erickson was replacing Sven, who was staying on Tanguray as Baroness Nikita’s personal bodyguard and head of security. Erickson was an excellent pilot, and since the unit had an open spot in the command lance Justin had hired him and assigned him a salvaged Victor. He saw a lot of himself in the MechWarrior, which had helped them become friends faster than he normally would have expected. Aaron had also served in the LCAF and left because of the foolish bureaucracy that hampered the organization, hoping that he would have better luck going freelance. They had even found him on Solaris, in quite the same way then-Princess Nikita had found him.
Erickson was on his Victor’s left shoulder, working to disengage one of the chains that bound the Mech to the bay’s maintained frame. “How’s it going up there, Aaron?” Justin called, managing to get the pilot’s attention without startling him. They talked for a moment, then Justin moved on to his own cubicle.
While Justin wasn’t surprised to see Master Tech Paul Ryan working to remove the simulator cabling from his Mech, he was somewhat surprised to see Jillian Albin arguing with the grease monkey’s backside. Jillian was Thomas Albin’s daughter. She had been working as Albin Armaments’ CFO during the liberation of Tanguray, and despite her age she was a very well educated and experienced businesswoman. Justin still didn’t fully understand why she had wanted to accompany the unit, as she had never actually signed on with the Heavy Cav. Jillian handled all of the unit’s procurement orders and accounting, basically making her the unit’s quartermaster and negotiation representative. Though officially listed as the unit’s Captian Technician, you wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at her. Unlike Ryan and his techs she wore the cloths of someone who worked with paper and not with her hands. Today she was dressed a finely tailored pencil skirt, blouse, and heels, an outfit that stood in stark contrast to the bustling Mech bay.
“Is there a problem, Ms. Albin?” Justin asked as he approached.
Jillian turned just enough to give him an annoyed look. That wasn’t good. Though most of the Cavaliers found her likable enough, she was somewhat moody. If she was frustrated or upset you would know it, and it was quite difficult to keep from upsetting her further.
“Actually there is, Mr. Radcliffe. What is going on here?” she asked, spreading her arms wide to take in the entire bay. “We won’t be making planetfall for nearly six days. There is absolutely no reason to break out your Mechs and tanks now, and certainly no reason to waste fuel on a pointless Combat Patrol.”
Justin blinked, somewhat surprised she actually knew that he’d allowed the Angels to stretch out their wings. “To be blunt, it’s a matter of morale. Everyone is excited, getting ready for the landing. It’s only natural, seeing as we’ve been in the black for over six months. This is all work that has to be done before we unload, so why not do it right now? It’s not like we are going to start walking around the bay. We’re just removing the long-term safeties, that’s all. If we make everyone wait we’ll have a lot of grumpy mercs moping around, and that’s never good. Besides, everyone’s full of energy now. I bet we’ll get everything out of deep storage in half the normal time.” Jillian huffed and adjusted her glasses.
Master Tech Ryan wiggled his way out of the Thunderbolt’s torso compartments, his face already streaked with grease and lubricant. “Thank you, skipper! I tell ya’, unless she hears it from you whatever I say is crap. I explained it to her just like that, an-“
The Major raised a hand, forestalling the tech’s rant. “Don’t worry about it, Ryan. We’ve all just got a little cabin fever, that’s all.” Justin turned back to Jillian, who still didn’t look happy and lowered his voice. “Have you gone over the unloading and supply plans set by the LCAF?”
The question seemed to perk her up a bit. “Yes. The 5th Lyran Guards have already vacated the facility completely. A couple platoons of local security personnel are looking after The Fort for now, and we will also have plenty of locals on hand to unload the ships.”
“Excellent. Good job, Jillian.” To his surprise, the young woman smiled. However, the smile proved fleeting. A tech came over and began questioning her about some parts he had yet to receive, so she excused herself and went with him.
“I don’t know, skipper. I know she’s Mr. Albin’s daughter and technically my boss, but she’s a real piece of work. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s real nice to look at but a pain in the ass to work with.”
“Yeah, well, we all have our little problems in life, Paul. Speaking of which, is it ready?” Justin asked, his eyes full of hope.
The Master Tech game Justin a reassuring grin. “You bet, skipper. Marissa finished it up just the other day. Hey, I don’t mean to pry, but where did you get that picture? The Tharkad Sports Illustrated ladies issue or something? You can tell me, I wont judge.” he whispered, with a wink and a nudge.
Justin laughed and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t mind telling you, but you’re not going to believe me.”
“Try me.” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Remember when I had handed you the modifications list for rebuilding Grace?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember me telling you that Grace and I had come up with the layout together, based on analysis from the battles and my combat style?”
“Vaguely, yes.”
“Well, that wasn’t the only thing she had some input on. She told me that she had sifted through her old files… holopics from years back, even back when she was reassembled on New Dallas after The Liberation. She found someone who she thought looked, well, how she thought she would look. Gave me the basic outline and a sample image; everything. That’s what I handed off to Marissa. Honestly, I didn’t come up with it at all.”
Justin held his breath while Ryan stared at him. After a few minutes of silence he finally spoke out. “I believe you.”
“Really?”
“Yes sir.” Ryan replied, his expression serious. “Sir, on the inside your Mech is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. You may not have an advanced targeting computer or electronic warfare gear, but it’s some of the most sophisticated tech I’ve ever seen. I knew it had to be LostTech. Sir, I’ve never had an actual conversation with a computer before you came along. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if she composed a freaking symphony. Why do you think I work on your Mech?”
That got a laugh out of Justin, and some of the strain in his voice and body bled away. “Sorry, but I’m just relived. Whenever I talk about her everyone looks at me like I’m a crackpot. Anyway, let’s see it.”
Ryan gestured to the cherry picker beside the mech. The new SRM launcher pod was draped with a thick canvass blanket. When Ryan pulled it off, Justin was ecstatic. He quickly took a picture with his comm. unit and hoped onto the Mech’s shoulder and into the cockpit.
“Grace,” he said aloud as he fired up the Mech’s electronics, “have I got a surprise for you.” He locked the comm. unit into a cradle on the dash, and the picture he’d taken of the new nose art was downloaded into Grace’s memory. “Check this out. Whatchya’ think?”
Six days later
The Wayward Son hadn’t been on the ground for thirty seconds before the combat bays were swarming with personel. MechWarriors were either running to their machines or climbing up to their cockpits… if he didn’t know better, Justin would have thought his men were scrambling to disembark in a hot LZ.
Perhaps it was, depending on one’s viewpoint. The landing at Fort Worth had gone as smoothly as he had expected, and now it was time for the men to unload the Mechs and tanks. Otherwise it would be impossible for the ground crews to get at the Son’s cargo bays, and besides, a parade of Mechs marching out of a DropShip was far more impressive than a stream of forklifts hauling shipping containers.
Justin, Ken, and Jillian were standing on the DropShip’s decks, patiently waiting for the ramp to lower. Unlike the rest of the men, they would be walking out on foot to meet with their welcoming party. Justin still wasn’t even sure there would be one, but he was betting his knowledge of Lyran military protocol would keep him from looking like an ass. As MechWarriors and crews mounted their warhorses the floor of the bay began to clear. Lt. Buggerman and his single platoon (the others were aboard the Wanderer) moved up to form a detail around the command officers, and Justin still felt a swell of pride when he saw all the men together in their duty uniforms. Radcliffe and Takada were waiting theirs as well, though their berets were folded and tucked under the epaulets of their barrack dress pullovers. While Ms. Albin didn’t wear a uniform, she was wearing what Justin assumed to be the most fashionable cloths available.
As the ramp began to lower, a gust of chilly air blasted Justin in the face. It felt wonder, and tasted nothing like the stale recycled air he’d been breathing for months. Ethan walked his Phoenix Hawk up in front of the ramp, ready to begin leading the unloading as soon as the ramp hit the ground. As the tarmac became visible three figures were standing in the distance, though Justin couldn’t actually tell who they were.
“Well Ken… we made it. We actually made it.”