Flight of the Redhawks (Closed for Kaybee)

[Lonegladius]

Lysander "Ander" Ironstar ran a rough hand through his short cut hair. He felt like he had been up for hours looking over the battlefeed from the last mission. One time when he was younger his first team leader had said that many burdens await those who join the ranks of command. The young Ironstar had not believed the man, only looked on with awe as he led their team through victorious missions and harrowing firefights.

Now Ander was in charge of the Redhawks, a team of marines and specialists that were part of the United Space Command Marines. They were part of Taskforce Gemini, stationed in the Bahtu sector of space. The region was near the border of wildspace, far from Earth and with a smattering of colonies ranging from gigantic city worlds to common agri planets with a few farm encampments. The marine teams could be dispatched on a moment's notice to any planet within a day's travel on the A-72 Lightbolt shuttles but too many times they could only secure the area, look for survivors and then track and eliminate those responsible.

It was a hard truth that they didn't teach in the academy and Ander was still getting used to it. The war had been different, then there was an enemy, a threat they could stop before they made it to the planet. Now Ander and the Redhawks chased ghosts and pirates. As he leaned back in the hard backed chair in the command theater he prepared to play the logs again. A small smile broke when he saw a familiar figure, with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes and he froze the frame for a moment before playing it on. He wondered how long he'd been awake and knew he should get some rest but as he watched the firefight play out he just relaxed there in the theater.

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Seph Yorig was once again playing holochess with the squad sniper Dantis. The rookie that he was Seph lost nearly every game to the dark skinned sniper but he never let it get him down. It was just something new that he would learn and master, the former thief thought as he grinned watching Dantis move his Bishop. There had been many new things Seph had learned in the military, drilling, firing, marching, tactical awareness the list went on. But to him he felt he had become the master of all and he smiled at the thought that what the courts had figured as a punishment would make him into force of nature once he was done with his four years in the marines.

 

[Kaybee]

Meylin narrowed her eyes as she examined the target paper, frowning at the cluster of scorch marks that marked her shots. Held delicately in her left hand was the standard issue service rifle she had received in basic training. "Piece of... Rrgh!" In a sudden fit of activity the recent recruit to the Redhawks hurled the gun across the firing range, sending it bouncing off the wall to clatter to the floor. In the dead silence that immediately followed she realized what she'd done and looked about nervously, breathing a sigh of relief as she realized the spacious room was as empty as it had been when she'd walked in there not twenty minutes ago. For a rookie, her aim with the weapon was far and beyond what it should have been but for Meylin the weapon was a step down from the aged carbine she'd grown up firing, the differences in weight and recoil turning all her practised motions to steady her aim and compensate for her recoil into a detriment to her accuracy.

After another long moment of silence passed by Meylin sighed. Boots clanking on the deckplating, the young woman strode over to where her Rifle lay and picked it up, cradling it as she had been taught with a frown still on her face as she hefted the unnaturally light weapon experimentally. More moments passed in quiet contemplation before, with yet another resigned sigh, the rookie made her way back towards her booth. A few quick touches upon the screen next to her place and the target began to reset itself, sliding back towards the far end of the training range. With a grim expression, She raised the stock to her shoulder again and in the quiet of the range the familiar sound of firing started once more.

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"Oh come on." The woman's voice cut across the sounds of combat coming from the speakers. "Were you planning to spend another night watching battle data until you fall asleep at your desk?" Selana smirked as she pushed off the doorframe. "I mean-" she motioned towards the screen "-You've watched these enough that you've probably memorized them by now. What more is there to learn?" She began to walk, stepping alongside the seated leader of the Redhawks and placing a hand on his shoulder. "At the very least you could use your down time to actually have some down time. The rest of the team is off relaxing and you should join them."

 

[Lonegladius]

Seph paused at the door to the firing range. He watched Meylin a little bit longer for the moment as she set up another target. He wasn't spying on her persay only curious to see what his squadmate would do with the new target. He didn't like angry teammates since he always felt anger in a mission was only good if the goal was getting someone killed. So he hung over at the door occasionally peering into the circular porthole while fiddlign with a blaze cigarette and wanting to light it up badly though he'd already been busted twice by the regs sergeant.

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Ander turned when he heard the voice and he gave a small nod when he noticed Selena. The captain gave her a small smile as he watched the brown haired girl stride forward into the room and rest a hand on his shoulder. His frustration immediately faded slightly and he looked into her blue eyes. Part of him wanted to stroke her fingers gently but instead he just opened and closed his eyes slowly.

"I know and at this rate I'm sure the lack of sleep from reviewing it is statistically going to cost me more than not watching them but it's just part of my mindset for so long now hah. He stood up and looked at her, his favorite amongst the Redhawks when he wasn't supposed to have one. There were military couples amongst the United Space Command but it was still a bit of a taboo that few jumped into. It was for that reason they generally kept their forays quiet or well at least as quiet as they could manage while enjoying themselves. Looking at her in her uniform Ander couldn't help but think back to how it had felt coming back from a mission and then grabbing a hold of Selena after they'd gotten squared away with their superiors.

"Word is we'll be heading for the Tuli sector in a day or so. Lot of pirate and slaver activity so I want to be ready."