Damien sat in silence on the leather seat in the recruitment office, periodically flicking through the literature they had provided in the waiting area. His eyes scanned across various tales of heroism, and countless images of rather proud-looking men and women stood beside military ordinance. A pang of anxiety passed through him as the man sat beside him was called up by the recruiting officer. Damien slowly stood and walked over to the window and looked out onto New London. He felt a mixed sense of pride and fear about what he was about to do.
Damien was tall and well defined with short black hair. He didn't look like the sort that was easily scared, but his purpose here was the most important of his life. As he ran his hands down his cheeks he felt the sharp sting of stubble. Damn... he winced, The one day it actually matters that I don't look like I crawled out of the gutter... His face was gaunt, but today it looked even worse. He had often toyed with the thought of joining up with the Bretonian Police, but never until the preceeding month did he ever consider going into the Armed Forces proper.
"Mr Ried?" Damien looked back to see the recruiting officer holding his door open and beckoning him in. He nodded silently and walked in. "Please take a seat there, Mr Ried." Without question he sat in a chair in front of the recruitment officer's desk.
"Thank you." He managed as the officer sat down at his chair.
"Looks like you're suffering the morning after the night before, eh?" The officer said smiling. Damien managed a weak smile in return, his eyes still staring into space. "Nothing, eh? Don't worry about it, mate. This bit's the easy part!" Again there was silence. "So, you at least going to tell me why you're here?"
"I want to join up." Damien replied, finally acheiving the confidence to make some eye contact.
"So there is somebody home." The officer chuckled. "Alright then, let's get some details down and we'll see where we can put you." He began typing into his terminal, "Well I already know your name. How old are you?"
"Twenty six" Damien replied.
"Alright. Where are you from, mate?"
"Well, I was born here in New London." Damien began, "Got into a rough crowd when I was young. Parents moved me to Leeds to live with my uncle for a while. Ended up staying on as an escort for his small freight business."
"So why aren't you still working for him?" The officer enquired, "Seems to me with the universe as it is, traders make a fortune. Not that we're saying that we don't want you..." The officer hastily added.
Damien sighed and looked down. "We were transporting a shipment of Cobalt and we had to pass through the Taus to get to the buyer."
"Doesn't sound like a picnic..." The officer replied.
"We were attacked by pirates, only there were more of them than we had anticipated." Damien continued, "The transports we were escorting were disabled and were dead in the water within minutes."
"How many of you were escorting them?" The officer asked respectfully.
"Six." Damien replied, "We were hurting badly. Two of us had been killed in the first minute of the ambush and one of the transports had a bunch of breeches. It looked like we were going to be killed when a Kusari patrol came by and drove the pirates back."
"By the sounds of it, you'd want to be signing on with them, mate." The officer said quizically.
"Not after what happened next." Damien replied, "The patrol said we were in their space illegally and that our cargo was property of the Emporer. When we refused to drop the cargo they opened fire. We fled back towards a Bretonain fleet we had passed not long before we were ambushed."
"I take it not a lot of you came back if you're here." The officer noted.
"The damaged transport went down in seconds and the crew were spaced." Damien sat back now looking the recruitment officer in the eyes. "The other transport's cruise engines were fried by the Kusari. When we turned back to buy it some time it was hit by a torpedo and we were dodging fragments of hull and seven thousand tons of Cobalt. We didn't even give it a second thought. Me and the other three escorts used the debris as cover to escape. We all made it back to the fleet and we were allowed safe docking aboard one of the battleships."
"What happened to the other pilots?" The officer asked. "Didn't you stick together?"
"After the destruction of that payload my uncle's business was seriously set back." Damien shrugged, "He couldn't afford to keep us on so we went our separate ways. I returned here to do some freelance trading, but it wasn't the same. I was angry at the pirates, but moreso at the Kusari. I just wanted to repay the BAF's kindness and do something to help them against the Kusari."
"As noble a cause as any, mate!" The officer smiled. "Well that covers history. And Family. Any others apart from your parents on New London and your uncle on Leeds?"
"No." Damien replied. "Is that everything?"
Damien Ried - BAF Recruit - BAF|Ens.Damien.Ried Ivan Zakharov - Freelance Scout/Explorer - Ivan.Zakharov
NOTE: Homing Missiles are not a substitute for accuracy.
Mr D Ried, you will be sent some questions to fill in and then me sent straight back to myself or the Fleet Admiral. If your answers are approved you will me made a member of Her Majesty's Armed Forces.
Signed, Commodore Bentley Ashers
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Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid. - David Hackworth (1930 - 2005)
I am 22 years old, i played freelancer when it first came out. Stopped a few years and then started again last year.
I have amassed some wealth with trading, i fly a percheron. i did some trade runs thru kusary space. Then i got pulled over for owning a bretonian ship. As i wouldnt pay the fine for such prejudice i was shot at. I managed to escape. But now they put me on their Kill On sight list. "lucky me". i found this to be such an injustice that i want to help bretonia regain control of the tau systems so it is safe again for other traders like me.
If there r anymore questions i would be more then happy to respond.
Mr D Ried, you are hereby accepted into Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Well done and good luck. Setting up instructions have been sent to via private channels.
Signed, Commodore Bentley Ashers
[color=#000000]===Message Ends===
Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid. - David Hackworth (1930 - 2005)
![[Image: 220px-Flag-bretonia.png]](http://discoveryfl.com/wiki/images/thumb/9/91/Flag-bretonia.png/220px-Flag-bretonia.png)
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