First entry at the Red Dawn barracks
Perched on the edge of the roof to her barracks where no one could spot her easily and a breeze toying with the end of her braid, Lonnie looked out over the complex thoughtfully with her noteputer balanced on her lap with the ease of long practice."Computer, new journal entry," she said softly.
The only response was the typical chime, toned down so that anyone passing underneath the overhang wouldn't hear it.
"So, I'm now part of the Red Dawn, this is my first day in a new life as a merc. Funny, it's so completely different from my life in the LAAF, yet it shares the same elements. Only makes sense in that both are professional armies, but this… I'm not sure what I expected, but it's not really what I expected."
"Met my new Lancemates last night, the Lt. is a former warrior from Solaris VII. My first instinct was to wonder what the commander was on at the time when he made that decision, but having started to get to know him and the others… The commander definitely made the best choice. Of all of us, Richardson has real combat experience in a mech, it may not be on a true battlefield, but it makes a telling difference. How ironic, the one person who was trained to be an officer has no desire to pursue that position. I know that my former classmates would be horrified that someone like him would be commanding someone of my training and position. Fools."
She was silent for a moment, watching as some of the other early risers went by, sleepily chatting amongst themselves. "Anyway, with regards to the rest of the lance... Jain is a Canopian, Victor from the Free World League. Again, we're different, but similar. But then again, all professional soldiers have things in common. And once again I'm finding that my old issues with trust keep coming up. I need to trust these people, I want to trust them, hell I think I can come to like to them. But I can't get myself to trust them."
"Of course, what doesn't help is the fact we're all in a co-ed barracks. Granted we're all adults, but I've never shared a room with more than one person, and the opposite sex especially. Thankfully none of them have hit on me yet, and I hope they don't. We'll be seeing combat together and the last thing I need is someone holding a grudge at the fact I broke one or both hands when they tried to grope me."
She sighed softly in annoyance at the memories of past incidents.
Carefully, the slim woman propped her elbows on her knees then rested her chin on her clasped hands. "I don't even know if I can get myself to trust Captain Dante or Commander Kasperov. Especially after that meal yesterday being nothing but a test. Guess those years at Nagelring left their mark after all. After that hell, it's a wonder I even want to be a soldier… But what else can I do after all those years of training? It's stupid to waste it, and I'm fairly sure that I can contribute something to this company, even if it's just being a mech jock. And I know just how well I'd do in civilian life."
She snorted at herself."Listen to me, I sound like some idiot drama queen on an even more idiotic holovid. All 'woe is me' crap. Shit. Guess I didn't drink enough coffee this morning."
A sudden grin lit up her face, "At least they have good coffee, and the food isn't going to kill me. Better than some of the crap I ate on those awful hunting trips, and they did stock the unit fridge with some good stuff. It's a barracks, and a temporary one, but the command staff did what they could to make it reasonably comfortable. There's even a bit of a workout room. Dad was right, this is a good outfit."
There was silence for a moment as she contemplated her new life, "So besides working on rebuilding my body, I'll have to work on rebuilding the inside. Just need to remember to take it slow. At least some of them have a good sense of humor. Captain Dante bet our transport driver Taylor that he couldn't get us to our barracks in under ten minutes last night."
"That was some ride, Taylor is one hell of a driver, and as way of apology he gave us a bottle of Glenlivit. Pity it was hard liquor, wouldn't have minded a bit of booze to soften my nerves last night, but just can't bring myself to touch that stuff."
"First thing I need to work on is to forget being so formal. God, that's going to be difficult, with the exception of it just being Alex, Elise and a few others, or the rare times Dad and Uncle Sledge visited, I've had no choice but to be formal. The ruckus mom would kick up if I didn't call her Lady Mother."
She shook her head, the tail end of her braid swishing along the line of her shoulders when it wasn't being toyed with by the bit of breeze.
Keeping the 'puter balanced, Lonnie stretched a bit, then leaned back slightly, hands braced behind her and looked up at the sky with troubled dark blue eyes."Dad and Uncle Sledge both work for the unit, and I know I need to tell them who I am at some point. Was going to wait until I could prove myself to the unit…" She trailed off as her eyes darkened further."But I don't think I can wait, it's not right keeping them in the dark like that. Mom never really worried about me, only what I could do to advance her power. But they care. I told Uncle Sledge some of my plan, but not all of it, so just sending him an email telling him I'm okay wasn't fair just because I wanted to prove something to myself."
She straightened up. "I need to talk to them soon, maybe see if there's time tonight, depending on what my schedule is. Maybe see if I can meet them at Cabella's for dinner."Her lovely face was still for a moment as she thought that over, then a subtle tension went out of her slim frame. "Yeah, that's a good plan providing there's time, or if not dinner, maybe dessert. Signor Cabella makes a sinfully good tiramisu…"
"Now to see if how the day goes…"
"Computer, end journal entry."
The only response was the typical chime, toned down so that anyone passing underneath the overhang wouldn't hear it.
"So, I'm now part of the Red Dawn, this is my first day in a new life as a merc. Funny, it's so completely different from my life in the LAAF, yet it shares the same elements. Only makes sense in that both are professional armies, but this… I'm not sure what I expected, but it's not really what I expected."
"Met my new Lancemates last night, the Lt. is a former warrior from Solaris VII. My first instinct was to wonder what the commander was on at the time when he made that decision, but having started to get to know him and the others… The commander definitely made the best choice. Of all of us, Richardson has real combat experience in a mech, it may not be on a true battlefield, but it makes a telling difference. How ironic, the one person who was trained to be an officer has no desire to pursue that position. I know that my former classmates would be horrified that someone like him would be commanding someone of my training and position. Fools."
She was silent for a moment, watching as some of the other early risers went by, sleepily chatting amongst themselves. "Anyway, with regards to the rest of the lance... Jain is a Canopian, Victor from the Free World League. Again, we're different, but similar. But then again, all professional soldiers have things in common. And once again I'm finding that my old issues with trust keep coming up. I need to trust these people, I want to trust them, hell I think I can come to like to them. But I can't get myself to trust them."
"Of course, what doesn't help is the fact we're all in a co-ed barracks. Granted we're all adults, but I've never shared a room with more than one person, and the opposite sex especially. Thankfully none of them have hit on me yet, and I hope they don't. We'll be seeing combat together and the last thing I need is someone holding a grudge at the fact I broke one or both hands when they tried to grope me."
She sighed softly in annoyance at the memories of past incidents.
Carefully, the slim woman propped her elbows on her knees then rested her chin on her clasped hands. "I don't even know if I can get myself to trust Captain Dante or Commander Kasperov. Especially after that meal yesterday being nothing but a test. Guess those years at Nagelring left their mark after all. After that hell, it's a wonder I even want to be a soldier… But what else can I do after all those years of training? It's stupid to waste it, and I'm fairly sure that I can contribute something to this company, even if it's just being a mech jock. And I know just how well I'd do in civilian life."
She snorted at herself."Listen to me, I sound like some idiot drama queen on an even more idiotic holovid. All 'woe is me' crap. Shit. Guess I didn't drink enough coffee this morning."
A sudden grin lit up her face, "At least they have good coffee, and the food isn't going to kill me. Better than some of the crap I ate on those awful hunting trips, and they did stock the unit fridge with some good stuff. It's a barracks, and a temporary one, but the command staff did what they could to make it reasonably comfortable. There's even a bit of a workout room. Dad was right, this is a good outfit."
There was silence for a moment as she contemplated her new life, "So besides working on rebuilding my body, I'll have to work on rebuilding the inside. Just need to remember to take it slow. At least some of them have a good sense of humor. Captain Dante bet our transport driver Taylor that he couldn't get us to our barracks in under ten minutes last night."
"That was some ride, Taylor is one hell of a driver, and as way of apology he gave us a bottle of Glenlivit. Pity it was hard liquor, wouldn't have minded a bit of booze to soften my nerves last night, but just can't bring myself to touch that stuff."
"First thing I need to work on is to forget being so formal. God, that's going to be difficult, with the exception of it just being Alex, Elise and a few others, or the rare times Dad and Uncle Sledge visited, I've had no choice but to be formal. The ruckus mom would kick up if I didn't call her Lady Mother."
She shook her head, the tail end of her braid swishing along the line of her shoulders when it wasn't being toyed with by the bit of breeze.
Keeping the 'puter balanced, Lonnie stretched a bit, then leaned back slightly, hands braced behind her and looked up at the sky with troubled dark blue eyes."Dad and Uncle Sledge both work for the unit, and I know I need to tell them who I am at some point. Was going to wait until I could prove myself to the unit…" She trailed off as her eyes darkened further."But I don't think I can wait, it's not right keeping them in the dark like that. Mom never really worried about me, only what I could do to advance her power. But they care. I told Uncle Sledge some of my plan, but not all of it, so just sending him an email telling him I'm okay wasn't fair just because I wanted to prove something to myself."
She straightened up. "I need to talk to them soon, maybe see if there's time tonight, depending on what my schedule is. Maybe see if I can meet them at Cabella's for dinner."Her lovely face was still for a moment as she thought that over, then a subtle tension went out of her slim frame. "Yeah, that's a good plan providing there's time, or if not dinner, maybe dessert. Signor Cabella makes a sinfully good tiramisu…"
"Now to see if how the day goes…"
"Computer, end journal entry."
posted by Reika at 8:52 PM
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