Letter to an old friend
February 7, 3072
Outreach
Red Dawn Barracks
Smiling tiredly, Lonnie re-read the message that Kasperov had sent out to the Dark Horse Irregulars, once known simply as Bravo, and was now truly a combined arms unit with the addition of armor to the existing mech, battle armor and aerospace assests. She swiveled her chair around so that the back was facing towards the desk as she stretched out her legs and decided that it wouldn't hurt anything if she put off the paperwork for a few more minutes. The chair turned back towards the desk and its occupant picked up the single rose that had been waiting for her when she'd returned from her debriefing after the day's mock combat.
A soft chime came from her noteputer in response to the softly spoken, "New letter" as she absently sniffed at the delicate scent of the flower.
"Hey Alex, it's Lonnie. I'm sorry for being such a lousy correspondent lately, but considering what happened a few weeks ago between my promotion and the.... incident, I'm sure you know why. Anyway, this is more than just a quick 'I miss you' message. I just wanted to give some good news for once. And please, don't pass out in shock, you'll terrify Elise." Her voice was warm with the love she held for her brother-of-her-heart and lightened with gentle laughter.
"First of all, you're allowed to say 'I told you so' as well as giving me a swift kick to the ass if you so wish. These last few weeks of training have shown me that I did indeed learn a thing or two in that hellhole. And that my tactical knowledge isn’t as stunted as I thought it was. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.”
She paused for a moment, still absently holding the rose in one hand as she mentally composed what her next words would be.
“Due to OpSec I can’t tell you too much, but considering what you’re doing, I know you understand. But I can tell you this. We’re going to be taking the knife and shoving it to the hilt into the hearts of those bastard children of Kerensky. By the time we’re done they’re going to finally start to understand that the Inner Sphere in general and the Red Dawn in particular aren’t things to be trifled with. I know, I know, I normally am not that blood thirsty, I’m picking up just how strongly some of the others in the unit feel about the Clans. Don’t worry, I’m still somewhat dispassionate while on the field of battle.”
“Which brings me to today’s exercise and don’t worry I won’t go into details, I know how you feel about them. Let’s just say that I managed to keep the damage, as simulated as it may have been, to a minimum. No casualties, but there were damaged mechs, but the salvage we would have gotten more than made up for that. This was better than the last exercise which I definitely won’t go into except to note there were casualties and it was ugly even if we did win. Heh, now here’s a scary thought for you. The possibility of me piloting a mech with some Clan tech. And yes, the only way you’d be able to play with any of it is if you signed on with the Dawn and even then I don’t think you’d be given a lot of access. Especially since Uncle Billy knows about your reputation and I’d make sure that Nicholai knew what he’d be dealing with also.”
A grin lit up her features as she remembered some of the escapades Alex had gotten them into, at the time they weren’t funny, but given the softening of time they were now. Then she sobered as she realized what she said in her last sentence and sighed ruefully.
“Yes, I called my commander by first name… ah hell. It was bound to come out eventually, Dad already knows, but hasn’t shown if he approves or not. I… I fell for my commander of all people. And it seems he’s fallen for me as well. Needless to say it’s made an interesting life already more so. Needless to say we’re both doing what we can to keep it from having an impact on the unit.”
With another silent sigh she leaned her left elbow on her desk and propped her chin in her cupped hand, the right still holding the rose and shook her head at herself. And had to bite off an oath as she saw the time.
“Anyway, I need to cut the message short, have another meeting before dinner. Take care of yourself brother-mine. And as always, send my love to Elise.”
Before she allowed herself to erase that message and make another, she abruptly hit send and initiated the appropriate protocols to make sure it routed appropriately. Not having anything else on hand, she stuck the rose in a cup with water and headed out of her office.
Outreach
Red Dawn Barracks
Smiling tiredly, Lonnie re-read the message that Kasperov had sent out to the Dark Horse Irregulars, once known simply as Bravo, and was now truly a combined arms unit with the addition of armor to the existing mech, battle armor and aerospace assests. She swiveled her chair around so that the back was facing towards the desk as she stretched out her legs and decided that it wouldn't hurt anything if she put off the paperwork for a few more minutes. The chair turned back towards the desk and its occupant picked up the single rose that had been waiting for her when she'd returned from her debriefing after the day's mock combat.
A soft chime came from her noteputer in response to the softly spoken, "New letter" as she absently sniffed at the delicate scent of the flower.
"Hey Alex, it's Lonnie. I'm sorry for being such a lousy correspondent lately, but considering what happened a few weeks ago between my promotion and the.... incident, I'm sure you know why. Anyway, this is more than just a quick 'I miss you' message. I just wanted to give some good news for once. And please, don't pass out in shock, you'll terrify Elise." Her voice was warm with the love she held for her brother-of-her-heart and lightened with gentle laughter.
"First of all, you're allowed to say 'I told you so' as well as giving me a swift kick to the ass if you so wish. These last few weeks of training have shown me that I did indeed learn a thing or two in that hellhole. And that my tactical knowledge isn’t as stunted as I thought it was. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.”
She paused for a moment, still absently holding the rose in one hand as she mentally composed what her next words would be.
“Due to OpSec I can’t tell you too much, but considering what you’re doing, I know you understand. But I can tell you this. We’re going to be taking the knife and shoving it to the hilt into the hearts of those bastard children of Kerensky. By the time we’re done they’re going to finally start to understand that the Inner Sphere in general and the Red Dawn in particular aren’t things to be trifled with. I know, I know, I normally am not that blood thirsty, I’m picking up just how strongly some of the others in the unit feel about the Clans. Don’t worry, I’m still somewhat dispassionate while on the field of battle.”
“Which brings me to today’s exercise and don’t worry I won’t go into details, I know how you feel about them. Let’s just say that I managed to keep the damage, as simulated as it may have been, to a minimum. No casualties, but there were damaged mechs, but the salvage we would have gotten more than made up for that. This was better than the last exercise which I definitely won’t go into except to note there were casualties and it was ugly even if we did win. Heh, now here’s a scary thought for you. The possibility of me piloting a mech with some Clan tech. And yes, the only way you’d be able to play with any of it is if you signed on with the Dawn and even then I don’t think you’d be given a lot of access. Especially since Uncle Billy knows about your reputation and I’d make sure that Nicholai knew what he’d be dealing with also.”
A grin lit up her features as she remembered some of the escapades Alex had gotten them into, at the time they weren’t funny, but given the softening of time they were now. Then she sobered as she realized what she said in her last sentence and sighed ruefully.
“Yes, I called my commander by first name… ah hell. It was bound to come out eventually, Dad already knows, but hasn’t shown if he approves or not. I… I fell for my commander of all people. And it seems he’s fallen for me as well. Needless to say it’s made an interesting life already more so. Needless to say we’re both doing what we can to keep it from having an impact on the unit.”
With another silent sigh she leaned her left elbow on her desk and propped her chin in her cupped hand, the right still holding the rose and shook her head at herself. And had to bite off an oath as she saw the time.
“Anyway, I need to cut the message short, have another meeting before dinner. Take care of yourself brother-mine. And as always, send my love to Elise.”
Before she allowed herself to erase that message and make another, she abruptly hit send and initiated the appropriate protocols to make sure it routed appropriately. Not having anything else on hand, she stuck the rose in a cup with water and headed out of her office.
posted by Reika at 2:47 AM
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