06-19-2015, 03:30 AM
Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles
Ames Research Station, Kepler System
Libertonian Marine Corps
June 14, 821 AS
![[Image: avSdccp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/avSdccp.png)
A tall marine, clad in standard Libertonian lightweight synthetic armor adorned with all sorts of livery, stood at a lax position, arms crossed and leaning on a large reinforced blast door, supposedly on full alert while guarding a ship from any would be infiltrators. His standard-issue service pistol was placed firmly in an old, worn-out holster, while his Enforcer III tachyon carbine was slung behind him.
He'd seen his fair share of combat, against the Rheinlanders and Gallics in both theaters of war, and was summarily disappointed once he was transferred to a marine detachment aboard the Lansing. To make matters worse, their ship made a detour to Ames Research Station, where now he was posted up as a guard in the ghost town of an installation.
"Ey, Dutch, look alive," muttered his partner, Lance Corporal Kojo Agu, better known as Romeo, a young marine scout sniper. Not many others aboard the ship loathed being there as much as he did, at least from what Dutch saw. He pointed down the hall to indicate that Captain Michael Morse, escorted by a Kusarian-looking companion, was treading this way.
Miles snapped to attention just as Michael rounded the corner, the Captain's companion visually startled by the appearance of two large men in armored suits with rifles. Not a problem; it was a natural response.
Both marines raised a salute to the Navy officer, who saluted back. A stern look on his face, Morse turned to Corporal Miles after deducing that he was the highest ranking marine present.
"I'll be bringing a guest aboard, Corporal," he declared.
Miles simply nodded and rapped the door twice with his gloved hand, prompting the two marines on the other side to open the door. They promptly saluted Captain Morse, who let out a "carry on" after giving his own salute, and then watched as he gestured for the civilian to come along.
For the duration of the encounter, their eyes had been fixed on the small Kusarian woman who accompanied Morse, cold gazes shielded by polarized visors. Once the airlock door shut behind them, their visors unpolarized, giving way to a series of dissatisfied facial expressions.
"We spent an hour standing here waiting for that?" cried Romeo, who let his carbine dangle down from it's sling at his side.
"They call him Michael "Mixed Priorities" Morse for a reason, Romeo."
"Yeah, but come on! You saw the cardamine injector on her, too, right? Do you even know what they say about Kusarians with injectors?"
"Calm yourself, Romeo. I trust the man's sense of judgement; let the squid have his happy fun time or whatever."
"This is a Navy vessel, Dutch, not some kind of playground for whatever girl he picks up at a bar! What if this ship gets copied down the line by some Golden Chrysanthemum folks? How the hell are we supposed to explain that?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Romeo, calm down. She's probably not even a GC to begin with."
"Oho, yeah, right. You know that injector? Surefire sign of a GC. Hell, I bet you saw the same model when you boarded that Tridente all those years ago."
"...Bah, big deal. So she's got GC affiliation, why does it matter? Squid's the one to get court-martialed, not us."
"Not us? This is a recipe for disaster, Dutch! We'll be looking back on this in the future and wondering why the hell we let that bi--"
"Ey, marine! Can it!" came through the blast door, muffled by layers of reinforcement.
Agu stopped talking, glaring at the door, while Miles assumed his more lax position.
"He's got a point, Romeo. You're getting awfully riled up over this."
"Riled up? Of course I'm riled up," hissed Romeo, trying not to raise his voice too loudly, "we just let that terrorist onboard a Navy vessel! I can't believe Captain Morse just went ahead and did that!"
"I can't believe it as much as the next guy, but come on. I'm sure Morse won't show her that much."
Agu tried to speak again, but was silenced by Miles.
"Just let it happen, Romeo. Nothing we can do."
The terminal lance stammered a bit, and returned to his regular position at the door. Silence filled the halls once more, until Agu piped up again.
"...Did you see the way she was looking at me?"
Dutch's disappointed face disappeared behind the polarized visor while he raised a gloved hand to meet it, letting out a sigh.
It was going to be a long night.
Ames Research Station, Kepler System
Libertonian Marine Corps
June 14, 821 AS
A tall marine, clad in standard Libertonian lightweight synthetic armor adorned with all sorts of livery, stood at a lax position, arms crossed and leaning on a large reinforced blast door, supposedly on full alert while guarding a ship from any would be infiltrators. His standard-issue service pistol was placed firmly in an old, worn-out holster, while his Enforcer III tachyon carbine was slung behind him.
He'd seen his fair share of combat, against the Rheinlanders and Gallics in both theaters of war, and was summarily disappointed once he was transferred to a marine detachment aboard the Lansing. To make matters worse, their ship made a detour to Ames Research Station, where now he was posted up as a guard in the ghost town of an installation.
"Ey, Dutch, look alive," muttered his partner, Lance Corporal Kojo Agu, better known as Romeo, a young marine scout sniper. Not many others aboard the ship loathed being there as much as he did, at least from what Dutch saw. He pointed down the hall to indicate that Captain Michael Morse, escorted by a Kusarian-looking companion, was treading this way.
Miles snapped to attention just as Michael rounded the corner, the Captain's companion visually startled by the appearance of two large men in armored suits with rifles. Not a problem; it was a natural response.
Both marines raised a salute to the Navy officer, who saluted back. A stern look on his face, Morse turned to Corporal Miles after deducing that he was the highest ranking marine present.
"I'll be bringing a guest aboard, Corporal," he declared.
Miles simply nodded and rapped the door twice with his gloved hand, prompting the two marines on the other side to open the door. They promptly saluted Captain Morse, who let out a "carry on" after giving his own salute, and then watched as he gestured for the civilian to come along.
For the duration of the encounter, their eyes had been fixed on the small Kusarian woman who accompanied Morse, cold gazes shielded by polarized visors. Once the airlock door shut behind them, their visors unpolarized, giving way to a series of dissatisfied facial expressions.
"We spent an hour standing here waiting for that?" cried Romeo, who let his carbine dangle down from it's sling at his side.
"They call him Michael "Mixed Priorities" Morse for a reason, Romeo."
"Yeah, but come on! You saw the cardamine injector on her, too, right? Do you even know what they say about Kusarians with injectors?"
"Calm yourself, Romeo. I trust the man's sense of judgement; let the squid have his happy fun time or whatever."
"This is a Navy vessel, Dutch, not some kind of playground for whatever girl he picks up at a bar! What if this ship gets copied down the line by some Golden Chrysanthemum folks? How the hell are we supposed to explain that?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Romeo, calm down. She's probably not even a GC to begin with."
"Oho, yeah, right. You know that injector? Surefire sign of a GC. Hell, I bet you saw the same model when you boarded that Tridente all those years ago."
"...Bah, big deal. So she's got GC affiliation, why does it matter? Squid's the one to get court-martialed, not us."
"Not us? This is a recipe for disaster, Dutch! We'll be looking back on this in the future and wondering why the hell we let that bi--"
"Ey, marine! Can it!" came through the blast door, muffled by layers of reinforcement.
Agu stopped talking, glaring at the door, while Miles assumed his more lax position.
"He's got a point, Romeo. You're getting awfully riled up over this."
"Riled up? Of course I'm riled up," hissed Romeo, trying not to raise his voice too loudly, "we just let that terrorist onboard a Navy vessel! I can't believe Captain Morse just went ahead and did that!"
"I can't believe it as much as the next guy, but come on. I'm sure Morse won't show her that much."
Agu tried to speak again, but was silenced by Miles.
"Just let it happen, Romeo. Nothing we can do."
The terminal lance stammered a bit, and returned to his regular position at the door. Silence filled the halls once more, until Agu piped up again.
"...Did you see the way she was looking at me?"
Dutch's disappointed face disappeared behind the polarized visor while he raised a gloved hand to meet it, letting out a sigh.
It was going to be a long night.