James Walker's Story

On board the FS-03 Redemption.

James was laying down on his bed, clutching a small stuffed gorilla close to him. He had been in that position for a few hours now. He couldn't sleep, but he didn't want to get up just yet. Moments from his past filled his thoughts as he laid in the dark.

"I'm sorry for your lost Jim. I will understand if you need more time to-"

"No. I'm ready for my orders, I wouldn't be here if it were otherwise. I've been cleared for active duty by the doctors and I am ready to report."

"Still, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you and your wife. I heard he was intrested in becoming a pilot for the Marines. And just one more year 'til he graduated high school."

"What are my orders. Sir."

"... I'm aware that you requested to be reassigned to one of our Vigilance class warship before your sons accident. Is that something that still interests you?"

James lifted the stuffed animal in front of him. It had black and grey fur with solid black buttons for eyes, and a banana on one hand. The gorilla was wearing a white shirt with 'WORLD'S BEST DAD' printed on it. A few moments of silence past before his wrist comm beeped, it was a message. James sat up and placed the stuffed animal on his desk before answering his comm.

"This is Commander Walker." He spoke into wrist communicator, not bothering to turn on the holographic screen.

"Sir, we have arrived in the Arcturus System. All the safety checks have been performed and we will be ready to dock in the Iridosis Station in an hour." A voce spoke through the wrist comm.

"No. We won't be going to the space station, not unless it's absolutely necessary. We are to go directly to New Sidney, to the city of Atoms. I will be at the bridge shortly." He said before turning off the comm and standing up and stretching. His body was sore from laying down for so long.

His thoughts turned to what awaited him at Iridosis. James hasn't seen his parents in a few years ago, last time his father got drunk and knocked James out after losing a arm-wrestling to him. He smiled thinking of the memory, but it was short lived once he remember that his parents doesn't know what happened to Icarus. The commander grabbed his gunbelt from the back of his desk chair and walked out of the room.

On board the F.F.S. Redemption: two weeks before the Salient arrived at the Arcturus System.

Nia steadied her breath as she took aim. She tightened the grib on the long object she was holding and closed one eye before she took her shot. A loud crack shattered the silence in the room as the cue ball sped across the billiards table, knocking the 8-ball in to the corner pocket. Nia raised her pool stick over her head in victory and began to rotate her hips as if dancing to music that wasn't playing.

"Bullshit," a man standing next to her yelled as he throw his stick on the table, "you said you suck at billiards." He shook his head.

"No I didn't, I said I'm not as good at pool as I am at darts." She said with a big smile. "Now who's next?"

Before anyone could answer her challenge, her wrist comm started beeping. "Sorry boys, maybe next time." She said before placing the pool stick on the table and raising her wrist up towards her face.

"This is Lieutenant Martinez. What you got?" She spoke into the comm.

" Martinez, this is the commander. You need to be at the bridge. Now."

Nia didn't respond, there was no need since she was sure Commander Walker already move on from giving her orders. She didn't mind that hee doesn't waste time on formalities.

"Looks like Grumpy is up from his nap. He's probably going to make us to battle drills all morning." The man by the pool table said to the few other soldiers in the room, followed by a laughter.

"I'm sorry, sergeant, I wasn't aware that your middle name was 'whiny-bitch'." She said, a smile still on her face. The room exploded with laughter as she walked out of the room. It wasn't a long walk to the bridge, she hardly had time to button up her officer coat before walking into the command center of the ship.

"Commander Walker, you needed to see me?" She asked as she walked up to the only one standing.

James looked the young lieutenant up and down. "This is the first mission we've been assigned together, so I don't expect you to understand where I'm coming from. However, when we have approached our destination, I expect my second in command to be at the bridge ready to receive my orders, and not be playing a game of billiards." He spoke sternly.

"My apologies, I understand, sir, and it won't happen again. What are my orders sir?" She asked, straightening her posture and looking forward.

"After we've descended into New Sydney atmosphere, you will take a hand full of men with you to the outskirts of Atoms and collect Intel on the local insurgents. I will take the remaining men and locate a secure and, if possible, discreet location to orbit the planet." James lifted his wrist and activated his comm to display a holographic image of New Sydney with several points of interest highlighted throughout the planet. "I'm updating the briefing to you now." James didn't want to say anything more than what was necessary. "I also sent the list of men you will be taking with you."

"You mean I don't get to pick the men myself?" She asked, finally breaking her bearing. She opened her mouth to say more but James spoke before she could.

"I need you to get everyone on this ship in tip-top shape, not just work with the best of them." James looked at his disappointed lieutenant for a few moments before finally cracking. "You can choose someone to be your right hand, but other than that, you follow my list. Understood?"

"I understand, sir." She said, gaining back her bearing aside from the smile on her face. The was the closest thing to a victory she had over the old man. She would take what she can get for now.

On board the Redemption
Two weeks before the Salient arrived at the Arcurus System.

James lifted his wrist and with is other hand typed in a code allowing him speak through the ships intercom. "Attention crew, this is Commander Walker. We will begin our decent into New Sydney shortly, prepare for turbulence. Once we have arrived I will expect everyone to report to their post and obtain their mission briefing from their direct superiors." And with that the commander switched the comm link off and walked over toward a nearby safety rail, holding onto it tightly with one hand as he observed the decent patter on the screen in front of him.

As the ship began to shake from the turbulence, the commander glanced at his hands, steady. his mind lingered on thoughts of his wife back home. Shortly after they lost their son in the accident, after funeral and the crying, James notice a slight trimmer in his wife's hands. At first it was subtle, but as it got worst as time went on he convinced his wife to consult a doctor. The results showed nothing was physically wrong with her, it was post-traumatic stress disorder. James was reassigned shortly after her diagnostic. Maybe I left too soon. He thought as gripped his free hand into a fist.

---

Nataliana walked briskly to the common room just outside the living quarters. As she arrived, the ships internal intercom buzzed before James voice came through.

"Attention crew, this is Commander Walker. We will begin our decent into New Sydney shortly, prepare for turbulence. Once we have arrived I will expect everyone to report to their post and obtain their mission briefing from their direct superiors."

Another short buzz from the intercom and the message was over. Nia looked around at all the soldiers, some were still playing their card games, a few stopped what they were doing and looked at the lieutenant. "Right, you head the man." she said walking over to the main computer terminal, typing a few words and and pressing her hand against the screen as it scanned her prints. Immediately the things in the room began to static and disappear; the dart board and the darts, the pool cues and the balls, the playing cards, they all disappeared.

There were a few moans and complaints from the men, but the room quickly quieted down as the entire room began to shake, "Tighten up. were heading into the atmosphere ." Nia yelled as she took a seat nearby. The several moments of turbulence soon past and the ship was sailing smooth again. The lieutenant stood up to address the room again. "Alright gents, we have a job to do. I need every one in here now." she shouted towards the living quarters, a few more men walked into the commons. the part of the ship served as the common area and living quarters for all the marines, making it an ideal location for their briefing room.

Nia waited for everyone to join in the commons before continuing. "Let see, I'll be calling the names of the unfortunate ones that will be joining me for a stroll on the surface. Two four man squads, and i don't want to hear any complaining on who didn't get to go. Commander picked these names himself. Joseph it be the leader of the second squad." she motioned to one a black officer leaning against the wall. "Henry, Ricky and Conner, you three will be with Joseph. Gabriel, Frank, and Pete, you guys are with me." Several men looked around the room at the soldiers whose names were called. Nia knew why, if she got to pick the men going, she wouldn't have picked to newest members for this mission. "Alright, if I called your names, gear up and meet at the drop off in 30." She said before turning to leave, before she was able to make it to her room she heard Ricky voice.

"Drop off? what's that?"

A few men laughed loudly as Nia tried to hide her annoyance. "The Orbital drop station. the location at the back of the sip where we... get dropped off. We on a classified mission, a transport ship is to public. we'd need air clearance. The rest of you shits are on security rotation." She said before entering her quarters and shutting the door behind her.

Aboard the F.S.S. Redemption

"Attention crew, this is Commander Walker. We will begin our decent into New Sydney shortly, prepare for turbulence. Once we have arrived I will expect everyone to report to their post and obtain their mission briefing from their direct superiors."

Connor found himself picking up his things and heading down to his quarters to get dressed, but to do that he had to go through the recreation center, where the majority of the soldiers were. He wasn't particularly anti-social, but he didn't necessarily want to deal with others' complaints and issues at the moment. As he began walking through the corridor, the ship began to shake from the descent into the planet's atmosphere. The shaking caused him to go down to one knee, and when it was finally over it took him a moment to stand back up. He was exhausted from his training, but he had orders to follow and a job to do. He walked into the room, some soldiers snickering as he did.

"What's so funny?" he said, looking over at the soldiers sitting at the table.

"Nia's gonna be so pissed," one said. Connor looked at them in confusion.

"What do you mean?" The soldiers began to laugh.

"Dude, you just missed Nia's briefing, any regular commander would rip their damned peon for that," the soldier said, waiting for Connor's response. He mouthed the word, "fuck," before gathering himself again.

"Where'd she go?" he asked.

"Back to her room, why?"

"Well, I should approach her about what I missed," he said, his voice trailing off. He began walking to where he would find Nia, before one of the soldiers called out to him.

"Connor!"

"What?" he said, annoyed with the soldiers now.

"Don't die-"

"How 'bout don't get shot on your first deployment, freshmeat, or should I call you meatshield? I need a new one since my last one wore out," he said, interrupting the antagonizing soldier. It sent everyone hollering in laughter as Connor smirked and finally got to Nia's door. He knocked on the door, waiting for her response.

Written with conspicuousconartist in RPG Write.

Aboard the F.S.S. Redemption.

Connor looked at Nia dead in the eyes; he wasn't afraid of leadership, he was afraid more so of the truth. He opened his mouth, gulping, preparing himself for the worst of what could happen.

"I was in the fitness room when you gave the briefing apparently, making my way over to the recreation center where you'd probably give the briefing to everyone, and judging by the shit I got from all the other soldiers, I missed something important," he said, his voice still confident.

Nia bit her lip as she heard Connors explanation., waiting for him to finish before uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her hips. "So you missed what the commander said over the intercom? You are supposed to report for your briefing, the fitness room is not a long walk exactly." Connor remained in his rather stiff posture, listening to what his commander had to say.

"It's not an easy walk when the ship is traversing the atmosphere, and I did hear Commander Walker, but what did I miss anyways?" he asked, getting a little more to the point. He wasn't interested in all the little details or critiques on his lateness to a briefing. The consequences of his actions would run their course, he thought.

The lieutenant lowered her eyebrows at Connor's response. Was he giving her attitude? She moved closer to him and raise her voice so that other people could hear, "I don't care if you lost one of your fucking legs, you come when you're ordered to." She looked him up and down before continuing, "You are to report to Lieutenant Joseph. You're in his firing team for our mission. We're going on the surface of the planet to gather information on the insurgency." She said with a calmer tone than before. Connor looked at her a bit more sincerely, not arguing with his commander, but rather agreeing.

"Thank you, lieutenant..." he said, his voice trailing off. "I'm sorry for wasting your time," he said in a lower voice. In his mind, thousands of scenarios of how the future could play out, what he could've done, started simulating in his mind. He expected something like, "Sorry doesn't cut it," or "Just don't do it again," or something of which would doubt him. But that's only because he doubted himself

Nia turned to looked back to the shower calling her name. Being trapped in a tin can for months at a time with mostly men was enough to make even the most rugged woman feel unclean. The lieutenant was one of the few female Marines on board, but the others were pilots and technicians mostly, not combat effective. She turned back to the Sargent Second class, keeping a stern look on her face. I can't believe Commander Walker wanted him as second in command of this mission. She thought.

"Well like I said before, you should be getting ready for the drop off. Have you done a drop off since training? The pods we use are a lot smaller and faster than most, designed for quicker insertion. Were you one of the ones that you throw up in the pod?" she asked with a slight smile.

"It's tough for me to handle the feeling of free-falling, but not much makes me vomit," Connor replied, "but that's only just a small part of the mission." He glanced over at the clock, and then began looking around the commander's quarters. His mind was always jumping from one thought to the next, sometimes he could be taken as not paying attention to the situation before him, but that wasn't necessarily true. The fact that Nia's top was a bit revealing didn't really seem to phase him. "Will we be given any information on the terrain or enemy's influence in the area?" he asked, thinking a bit further ahead for himself as an individual. "It'd help to give a general mindset of how we should go about this mission," he added.

"Well I did throw up my first few times." She admitted. "The drop off can be a bitch." Nia looked back into her room as she noticed something catching Connors attention. There was several articles of clothing thrown about everywhere and the trash was over flowing. This was not considered an acceptable living condition for a Marine officer, and Nia felt slightly more embarrassed about her filthy room than her inappropriate attire.

She turned back to Connor once he began asking more about the mission. "Never been to New Sydney? The whole place is a desert. We'll be landing near the outskirts of the city of Atom, a cliff city. We should be hitting ground a few hours before the first sunrise. As far aw we can tell, the insurgency isn't base in the city, but there has been reports of small enemy convoys traveling through. So we set up just out side the city and log any suspicious activity we see leaving or entering Atom." Nia explained as she glanced at the clock; there goes her opportunity to take a proper shower.

"Alright," he said, thinking more deeply inside his mind about the mission. "I'm going to go get ready with what time I have left," he said, waiting for something reminiscent of a dismissal from the lieutenant. If it wasn't for the trash or herself, Nia might smell Connor's sweat stronger.

"That would be wise," the lieutenant agreed. "See you at the drop off Seargent," she said before stepping back and typing the lock code on the keypad by the door, shutting it it immediately. Once she was alone in her quarters again she lifted her arm and brought her nose closer to her armpit, checking herself and quickly pulling her head back up. Eyes widened, she quickly wiggled out of her pants, leaving them on the floor as she pulled her tank top off and headed to the bathroom.