Okay. Some corrections, some new text, some formatting changes to the point that I'm attaching a docx version if that works for people
“Ah, Warrior Kisaki,” Muck observed from the bed he was sitting on as the door to ‘his’ medical cell opened.
“Not warror. Lieutenant. Lieutenant Gamlin, to you,” Gamlin corrected with a grimace before tossing a garment at Muck. “Get Dressed. The Captain wants to see you.”
“Nice of Cap’n Jenius to not demand I go parading through the halls in a backless hospital gown, El Tee.”(1) He shook it out and examined it briefly before starting to slip it on under his hospital gown. “Flight suit? Duty jumpsuit? Either way it seems clear Max doesn’t want me to stand out that much.”
“Jumpsuit, but I’m not going to presume as to the Captain’s intentions. You’ll have to wait and ask him yourself, if you want.”
“I do want. I see you’ve not drawn your sidearm this time though.”
“Should I have?”
“Hard to say Lt. Well, since I don’t remember you doing anything to make me classify you as a threat, but as you’ve drawn down on me at least once that I remember, tells me YOU see ME as a threat.”
“I do.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“No.”
“Oooookay. So, do I lead, or follow?” Muck asked, finishing zipping up the jumpsuit and approaching the door.
Gamlin glared. “Which makes you least comfortable?”
Muck folded his arms and smirked. “Sorry, you’re the one allegedly in charge here Lieutenant. You have to decide. Call it the burden of power, command, or whatever you want. Whatever gets you through the night.”
“Fine. One pace ahead and to my right, then.”
“Just remember you need to tell me which way we need to turn instead of just shooting me. That will turn out bad for one of us. Not going to say which of us, though,” Muck replied, then transferred his attention to the door that slid open in front of the pair. Behind said door was a room that indicated by its décor that where he’d been was something of a cross between an interrogation cell and a hospital treatment room. The quality of the furnishings would seem to indicate people who understood that some people judged them by such things, but refused to allow themselves to be driven to excess. Which matched his memories of the Maximillian and Milia he knew all those years and fica ago.
• * * * * * * *
Gamlin Kizaki did his best to hide any uncertainty about the situation he found himself in as he directed the prisoner his captain and his mayor had… commanded? Entrusted to him? Gamlin supposed the exact status of the person he was escorting was secondary to his ability to deliver him to Captain Jenius’ office safely; but the teachings of his basic flight and combat trainer… aka the Mayor of the Seventh Colony fleet? She’d expect him to be ever vigilant, regardless of if he was in the cockpit of a Valkyrie or escorting a…
Gamlin cursed to himself as he realized that this train of thought had caused him to not be vigilant; that he and this ‘Muck’ had exited the rear entrance of the medical center, headed towards the transport that would take them to their meeting, only to have Muck reach back and pin Gamlin in general, and Gamlin’s sidearm in specific against the faux brick of the building. Gamlin found himself looking down at his chest, at his arm and his now useless sidearm pinned by the metallic arm across his chest for a moment before forcing his gaze up and to the right at the captor he had assumed was HIS captive. Muck had transformed from the Miclone Gamlin thought of him as into his metallic form that Gamlin had seen Muck shift into while unconscious and apparently delirious, given the speed and precision of the transformation just now. He’d opened his mouth to shout; for additional security or just in protest of Muck’s unilateral actions he wasn’t sure; but while he couldn’t actually see Muck’s eyes anymore, nor did a battroid have a mouth, yet somehow the miclone sized VF-1S managed to convey the image of the man who’d been standing there a second ago holding a cautionary finger to his lips in a traditional gesture of silence.
“Hear that, Kisakai?”
“Air Raid Sirens? SHIT. VAMPIRES”
“Vampires? Like flipping Dracula?”
“Doc Chiba doesn’t think so”, Gamlin said, then found himself ducking involuntarily as three enemy fightercraft screamed overhead. “No fang marks. And they don’t kill, but turn their victims into vegetables instead.”
“Dammit. Get your Valk, Gamlin, and get your arse back here.”
“And where are you going to be?”
“Steering to the sound of the guns, Gamlin,” Muck replied, pushing Gamlin away, his wings snapping open in conjunction with his flight thrusters snarling to life. “GET ME SOME VERDAMNED SUPPORT, LIEUTENANT!”
Gamlin rolled with the shove and took off running for the closest ERTS point[2] he recalled, even as he lifted the communicator strapped to his wrist.
“D 3 to Battle 7! D 3 to Battle 7!”
“This is Battle 7. Say your traffic, D-3!”
“Enemy ships INSIDE Island 7, B-7! Requesting immediate Valkyrie Interdiction!” Gamlin snapped as he threw himself down the ERTS chute. “D 3 In-route to scramble in support, B-7!”
“Battle 7 copies all, D 3. Break! ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS! Clear this channel and stand by!” Miho Miho’s voice echoed through Gamlin’s communicator as the Valkyrie pilot sprinted across the transit platform to what emergency protocols told Gamlin would be a transit car that would transport him to the closest transit point to Gamlin’s VF-17.
“D-3. Standby for Battle 7 actual,” Miho warned.
“This is D-3. Go ahead Battle 7 actual!”
“Diamond 3. This is Battle 7 actual.[2] State your location.”
“En route via ERTS to my Valk, Sir.”
“Where is your prisoner Gamlin?”
“To use his own words, Sir, ‘Steering to the sound of the guns.’ SIR! D-3 is scrambling in support, sir!”[4]
“Negative D-3. Lieutenant Gamlin Kisaki, you are now Diamond 1 actual, Not Diamond 3” Maximillian Jenius corrected. “Otherwise, proceed as briefed Lieutenant. Chase those damn mecha out of my fleet and escort ”
“Diamond 1 copies all, Sir!” Gamlin acknowledged as he sprinted across the hanger bay to his waiting Valkyrie, waving away his crew chief as Gamin threw himself into his cockpit.
“Then get out there and bring that wayward sheep home before Island 7 Actual goes ballistic on both of us Diamond 1.”
“Diamond 1. Raja. Out,” Gamlin acknowledged
1) This = LT, = A standard military shorthand for Lieutenant, equivalent to an officer in one of the first 3 Officer ranks of the current military rank system.
2) Emergency Rapid Transit System. An assumed but never seen feature of Island 7 that allows Basara to get to his fighter so quickly. Gamlin using it here is more of its designed purpose, including alerting Gamlin’s deck crew to make sure his Valkyrie is ready to sortie.
3) So, sue me. Trying to evoke what I was trained in as far as ‘real military communication protocols’ here.
“Ah, Warrior Kisaki,” Muck observed from the bed he was sitting on as the door to ‘his’ medical cell opened.
“Not warror. Lieutenant. Lieutenant Gamlin, to you,” Gamlin corrected with a grimace before tossing a garment at Muck. “Get Dressed. The Captain wants to see you.”
“Nice of Cap’n Jenius to not demand I go parading through the halls in a backless hospital gown, El Tee.”(1) He shook it out and examined it briefly before starting to slip it on under his hospital gown. “Flight suit? Duty jumpsuit? Either way it seems clear Max doesn’t want me to stand out that much.”
“Jumpsuit, but I’m not going to presume as to the Captain’s intentions. You’ll have to wait and ask him yourself, if you want.”
“I do want. I see you’ve not drawn your sidearm this time though.”
“Should I have?”
“Hard to say Lt. Well, since I don’t remember you doing anything to make me classify you as a threat, but as you’ve drawn down on me at least once that I remember, tells me YOU see ME as a threat.”
“I do.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“No.”
“Oooookay. So, do I lead, or follow?” Muck asked, finishing zipping up the jumpsuit and approaching the door.
Gamlin glared. “Which makes you least comfortable?”
Muck folded his arms and smirked. “Sorry, you’re the one allegedly in charge here Lieutenant. You have to decide. Call it the burden of power, command, or whatever you want. Whatever gets you through the night.”
“Fine. One pace ahead and to my right, then.”
“Just remember you need to tell me which way we need to turn instead of just shooting me. That will turn out bad for one of us. Not going to say which of us, though,” Muck replied, then transferred his attention to the door that slid open in front of the pair. Behind said door was a room that indicated by its décor that where he’d been was something of a cross between an interrogation cell and a hospital treatment room. The quality of the furnishings would seem to indicate people who understood that some people judged them by such things, but refused to allow themselves to be driven to excess. Which matched his memories of the Maximillian and Milia he knew all those years and fica ago.
• * * * * * * *
Gamlin Kizaki did his best to hide any uncertainty about the situation he found himself in as he directed the prisoner his captain and his mayor had… commanded? Entrusted to him? Gamlin supposed the exact status of the person he was escorting was secondary to his ability to deliver him to Captain Jenius’ office safely; but the teachings of his basic flight and combat trainer… aka the Mayor of the Seventh Colony fleet? She’d expect him to be ever vigilant, regardless of if he was in the cockpit of a Valkyrie or escorting a…
Gamlin cursed to himself as he realized that this train of thought had caused him to not be vigilant; that he and this ‘Muck’ had exited the rear entrance of the medical center, headed towards the transport that would take them to their meeting, only to have Muck reach back and pin Gamlin in general, and Gamlin’s sidearm in specific against the faux brick of the building. Gamlin found himself looking down at his chest, at his arm and his now useless sidearm pinned by the metallic arm across his chest for a moment before forcing his gaze up and to the right at the captor he had assumed was HIS captive. Muck had transformed from the Miclone Gamlin thought of him as into his metallic form that Gamlin had seen Muck shift into while unconscious and apparently delirious, given the speed and precision of the transformation just now. He’d opened his mouth to shout; for additional security or just in protest of Muck’s unilateral actions he wasn’t sure; but while he couldn’t actually see Muck’s eyes anymore, nor did a battroid have a mouth, yet somehow the miclone sized VF-1S managed to convey the image of the man who’d been standing there a second ago holding a cautionary finger to his lips in a traditional gesture of silence.
“Hear that, Kisakai?”
“Air Raid Sirens? SHIT. VAMPIRES”
“Vampires? Like flipping Dracula?”
“Doc Chiba doesn’t think so”, Gamlin said, then found himself ducking involuntarily as three enemy fightercraft screamed overhead. “No fang marks. And they don’t kill, but turn their victims into vegetables instead.”
“Dammit. Get your Valk, Gamlin, and get your arse back here.”
“And where are you going to be?”
“Steering to the sound of the guns, Gamlin,” Muck replied, pushing Gamlin away, his wings snapping open in conjunction with his flight thrusters snarling to life. “GET ME SOME VERDAMNED SUPPORT, LIEUTENANT!”
Gamlin rolled with the shove and took off running for the closest ERTS point[2] he recalled, even as he lifted the communicator strapped to his wrist.
“D 3 to Battle 7! D 3 to Battle 7!”
“This is Battle 7. Say your traffic, D-3!”
“Enemy ships INSIDE Island 7, B-7! Requesting immediate Valkyrie Interdiction!” Gamlin snapped as he threw himself down the ERTS chute. “D 3 In-route to scramble in support, B-7!”
“Battle 7 copies all, D 3. Break! ALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS! Clear this channel and stand by!” Miho Miho’s voice echoed through Gamlin’s communicator as the Valkyrie pilot sprinted across the transit platform to what emergency protocols told Gamlin would be a transit car that would transport him to the closest transit point to Gamlin’s VF-17.
“D-3. Standby for Battle 7 actual,” Miho warned.
“This is D-3. Go ahead Battle 7 actual!”
“Diamond 3. This is Battle 7 actual.[2] State your location.”
“En route via ERTS to my Valk, Sir.”
“Where is your prisoner Gamlin?”
“To use his own words, Sir, ‘Steering to the sound of the guns.’ SIR! D-3 is scrambling in support, sir!”[4]
“Negative D-3. Lieutenant Gamlin Kisaki, you are now Diamond 1 actual, Not Diamond 3” Maximillian Jenius corrected. “Otherwise, proceed as briefed Lieutenant. Chase those damn mecha out of my fleet and escort ”
“Diamond 1 copies all, Sir!” Gamlin acknowledged as he sprinted across the hanger bay to his waiting Valkyrie, waving away his crew chief as Gamin threw himself into his cockpit.
“Then get out there and bring that wayward sheep home before Island 7 Actual goes ballistic on both of us Diamond 1.”
“Diamond 1. Raja. Out,” Gamlin acknowledged
1) This = LT, = A standard military shorthand for Lieutenant, equivalent to an officer in one of the first 3 Officer ranks of the current military rank system.
2) Emergency Rapid Transit System. An assumed but never seen feature of Island 7 that allows Basara to get to his fighter so quickly. Gamlin using it here is more of its designed purpose, including alerting Gamlin’s deck crew to make sure his Valkyrie is ready to sortie.
3) So, sue me. Trying to evoke what I was trained in as far as ‘real military communication protocols’ here.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to rock the sky?
Thats' every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry!
NO QUARTER!
No Quarter by Echo's Children
Thats' every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry!
NO QUARTER!
No Quarter by Echo's Children