Chapter Thirty-Nine: Title Pending(I still haven't thought of one… edit: 1k words and still don't have one)
New Avalon, Federated Suns, December 29th, 3008
"You're going to need to send someone with my message to the rest of my unit." I told Ian and Hanse, we had been sitting and plotting for a good week or so now. "They can spend the time training and building up further defenses while I'm gone, but it still doesn't look good for a unit to be without its commander for a while."
"We'll put the Marksman on a garrison and defense contract with raiding clauses." Hanse said. "And we'll have it in there that we're borrowing you for consulting work with the Third Davion Guards RCT." Hanse paused. "It'll work as a cover pretty well if we disguise the Third being gone on training exercises to see if we're going to adopt the Marksman's unit organization or not."
"That should work," I thought out loud. "I'll send a handwritten and encoded letter to my XO and a recorded message for them along with the contract details."
"Being gone for a year isn't very good optics though." I said. "If the Third and I are gone for a year people will start to wonder."
"You raise a good point…"
We continued to hammer out the fine details of our planned raid over the rest of the days until the new year. After we had gotten the details set we had made "Public" the details of the Marksman's contract and that I was being granted a title and a landhold as a result of destroying a third of the Big Mac.
January 1st, 3009
"Make sure this gets to both Major Sheppard and to Major Peterson." I said, handing Mathis a sealed note and a package to go with it. "I'm counting on you to make sure that the Messenger gets there in one piece while I'm gone and to help everyone hold down the fort."
"Yes sir." Mathis replied. "Anything you want me to tell them that's not in the letter?" He asked.
"Just to keep up the good work." I said, "Thanks for all of your hard work Mathis, make sure you take a vacation when you get back."
"I'll take a week or two off before getting back into it." He replied. "See you when you return Colonel." He came to attention and gave a snappy salute before boarding the Messenger and getting ready to take off.
A couple of hours later… 3rd Davion RCT dropship…
It was kind of funny. After I had decided to tell the Davions about Helm a few months ago I had gone over the SLIC records at my disposal all over again and had actually found documentation regarding the Brian and the cache within. The irony of it was not lost on me at all.
Shaking my head, I stopped woolgathering and made sure my harness was strapped in tight and there was no fraying. After all those years ago and the destroyed Quickdraw I was still paranoid that I would lose my footing and die if my straps snapped like that pirates did.
Hanse just grinned at me from his seat across the room from me. "You okay there?" He asked. "You look a little bit concerned."
"One the first mech kills I got before making Ace was on a Quickdraw being piloted by a pirate. They didn't maintain her straps and when I took out the ankle…" I trailed off.
"The straps snapped and she died in some horrific way I imagine." Hanse finished, nodding in understanding.
"Yeah, ever since then I triple check any straps before I go anywhere." I said, not caring if it made me seem paranoid.
"I've seen stranger rituals from career soldiers." Hanse said, "We're going to be here for a while, so tell me… Why did you decide on a six man team…"
Kentares IV Draconis March, Federated Suns January 2nd, 3008
"Put your backs into it!" Sergeant Kerensky yelled at the platoon she was training. "I wanted this wall up yesterday!"
The Marksman had made helping the construction of the base a part of the physical conditioning for the new recruits.
"Now go drink water!" Kerensky yelled' "You have a sixty second water break and then we're heading out to the field!" She had really started to enjoy this. The Clans had never had a boot camp sort of experience, and watching people that she was in charge of teaching learn, develop, and grow was extremely satisfying. Well that, and she got to yell at people.
"Get in Formation! Move it people!" The platoon stumbled into formation and began to run towards the field that had been repurposed into an advanced obstacle course.
"Drop and give me fifty push ups, and then hit the course." Kerensky ordered. She wanted them exhausted before they hit the course so she could use it as a lesson. She then traded places with her DI partner and went to wait at the end of the course.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Kerensky heard from her DI partner on the other side of the course. "Swing your legs over that log! What do you mean you can't do it?! Go to the back of the line!"
The sounds of drill instructors made Sheppard smile. He might actually request permission to be permanently placed on training rotations to help get the next generation of Marksmen set up. Plus, he actually enjoyed teaching and was good at it to boot. Parker would do a good job at filling Peterson's shoes and Peterson was already a second XO in all but name anyway.
"I'll have to write down some changes to the command structure soon." Sheppard said to himself as he wrote that down.
"Hey Peterson!" He called as he saw the other man walking somewhere. "Can I talk for a second?"
"Yeah Sheppard," Peterson replied. "What's up?"
"I'm thinking about stepping down in order to man the home base and training facilities." Sheppard told him directly. "Would your wife be opposed to you becoming XO?"
"Probably wouldn't be opposed at all actually." Peterson responded. "We have both been enjoying the time together while on garrison, and she likes that I love my job…." He paused "Give me a day or so to talk it over with Francesca and I'll get back to you."
"Alright then, I'm headed to the Argo in a couple of hours to get the work up done for the cloning." Sheppard said, having gotten approval to get the operation done.
"Make sure you get the head doc!" Peterson called over his shoulder, "I know she's scary, but she's also the best."
March 14th, 3009
"Why a Treble clef necklace?" Hanse Davion asked me as I spotted for him in the ship's gym.
"It was a Christmas present from my little sister." I said, helping him rack the weights he had been using.
"Ahh," Hanse replied. "I'm sorry.."
I stopped him from making any apologies. "No need to apologize Hanse," I said, getting set for my own reps. "It's not the first time I've been asked, and it won't be the last."
"And I guess you left a wife behind as well?" He asked, figuring he might as well be blunt about it.
"Yeah," I said wistfully. "She would have never believed me if I told her that this would have happened."
"Do you have a picture?" Hanse asked curious to see what kind of woman would marry a man like Hull."
"I do actually," I pulled out a picture that I had printed using some of the devices on the Messenger years ago and handed it to Hanse. It was a picture I had taken when she wasn't expecting it, and even though it didn't capture her when she was dolled up, or in fancy clothes or a dress, It was a picture of her on my parents farm, holding a hunting rifle slung across her back and telling me not to take a picture. "I've got better ones saved somewhere." I told Hanse, "But this one is my favorite."
"Do you have anyone you've got an eye on?" I asked Hanse, trying to get to know him better.
"Well, there is this one girl…" He said