WotH Chpt 35

==War on the Horizon - Chapter 35==
<<Next Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
----
===Complaints about Flexible Job Roles===
April 7, 3014/7953CRC Serenno, Serenno system, D'Astan Sector, Outer Rim Territories
"Sarge," a recruit gasped as he came to the end of his run. "I thought we were supposed to be armored cavalry, not infantry."
 
"If you think that after boot camp that I'm just going to hand you the keys to a Tiger and walk away, then you've got another thing coming," Sergeant Alan Thompson grinned. "All of you have been slacking off in the last few weeks, you've gotten soft. Well, before you ever set foot in a tank you have to prove that you can hack it with the best of the infantry. I learned my lesson the hard way so that you don't have to."
 
"What lesson is that?" another recruit asked.
 
"Dismounted ops are a thing, just because you're a tanker doesn't mean you won't have to go clear a building or two. Nowadays, you've got more armor, but back in my day, I had to double up on the front plates to survive. So, yeah, we're making sure that you know how to do both jobs inside and out," Thompson nodded to himself as they started to relax. "Now get moving! We're to be back at base in fifteen. If any single one of you falls behind, you all are going to be taking apart the tank and cleaning it before putting it back together. By hand!"
 
The platoon bolted off, the recruits putting the shorter and slower members in the front to not leave them behind.
 
"I should probably catch up to them," Thompson sighed. "Fucking old knees ain't worth shit."
----
===Talk about Intelligence and Sleep===
"Everything alright?" Sienn asked from the kitchen.
 
"Yeah, just getting old." Alan sighed as he eased himself down into a chair by the table. "I've got the kids half convinced I'm invincible though."
 
"And why is that?" Sienn brought over two plates and sat on Alan's lap before trying to stick her tongue down his throat.
 
"Well," Alan shifted Sienn over to her own chair. "For one thing, I managed to land you. The rest of it has more to do with me keeping up and performing their exercises better than they can."
 
"Well, I can show up to help keep the image up if you'd like," the Twi'lek smirked. "The way that they react… It's just fun."
 
"No," Alan shook his head with a wry grin on his face. "I think you've tortured the young soldiers enough."
 
"Aww." she pouted.
 
"You get plenty of opportunities outside of work to mess with people," Alan chuckled. "You'll just have to endure."
 
"Fine," a fork was pointed at the grizzled old mercenary. "But you have to take me somewhere nice for dinner this week."
 
"Fair enough," he agreed. "I think Packer and his wife wanted to invite us out anyway. What with the Colonel busy winning hearts and minds across the Outer Rim."
 
"Not just him," Sienn pointed out as she dropped the teasing tone in her voice. "Your entire unit does a good job at that. Now, I've been meaning to talk to you about a job offer that I got from someone you might know."
 
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "And what offer might that be?"
 
"The guy who's in charge of the Intelligence side of your unit, I think his name is Dunkirk, offered me a spot, and I wanted your opinion before I gave an answer."
 
"His name, is Dunham," Alan laughed. "And he doesn't make job offers lightly. If you think this is the right opportunity, then go for it. I'm stationed here for training purposes unless war breaks out. So I give it another couple of years before I go on active deployments again," he paused in thought. "But ultimately, it's your choice."
 
"I told him I would think about it," Sienn sipped at her drink. "I want to make this, work. And I'm not willing to do anything that would mess with our relationship right now."
 
"Take your time," the Sergeant began eating his meal. "Unless Dunham put a time limit on the offer, it's probably good for at least a month if not two."
 
"I'll have to sleep on it some," the Twi'Lek agreed. "And see if I know anyone else that works with him. I don't want to make a decision like this blindly."
 
"Sounds like a plan," Alan stood up and groaned. "Speaking of sleep, I'm gonna head off to bed. I'm exhausted."
 
"How exhausted are you?" Sienn licked her lips. "Too exhausted for some fun beforehand?""I'm never too exhausted for that."
----
===Unusual sighting in Hyperspace===
"So, nothing yet?" I asked as I stepped onto the bridge of the Messenger, a cup of coffee in hand.
 
"Just some sensor echoes. Nothing concrete yet, but we're also taking it slow, Don't want to miss something because we sped through it."
 
"Stop," Knight Tachi stormed onto the bridge. "We need to stop here and wait. If we continue at our current speed, we jeopardize everything."
 
"Hold up," I cautioned. "I understand that some of you Jedi have foresight. But I'm going to need a bit more to go on than a simple warning. So, is there anything specific that you were warned about?"
 
"No," the Jedi Knight shook her head. "There are times when the Force is clear, but it was not on this one."
 
"Then we move forward even slower," I glanced at my comms officer. "Get our escorts on the horn and have them ready to shoot anything that shows up."
 
"Hear that, Hober, get your gunnery teams on alert."
 
"I read you," the Sting pilot replied. "We're keeping an eye out."
 
The bridge grew quiet as we braced for something to happen. Five minutes of silence, then ten, after fifteen minutes of nothing happening, we began to relax, a few people even letting out sighs of relief before a silver blur flashed out of hyperspace in front of us, followed by a golden blur.
 
"Is that a fucking dragon?" Hober asked after the silver streak continued moving away from the golden blur.
 
"Aye," I replied after a minute. "And it was chasing a space whale."
 
"I… Did not believe that the Ether Drake existed," Knight Tachi said after a moment. "There have always been rumors of it, but never any proof."
 
"Are we good to move again?" I asked after the two giants seemed to move into hyperspace again.
 
"Yes, we are clear to move forward," Siri responded. "I will inform you of any further premonitions."
 
"Thanks," I nodded at the Jedi Knight. "I'm not going to promise that we'll do exactly as you recommend, but we'll at least listen and utilize the information."
 
-----
*; Author's Note : The Ether Drake is stolen from Stellaris. Rumors of space dragons being a thing is something I think makes sense. They travel mainly through hyperspace, so running into them would be a very rare thing.
----
<<Next Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
Chapter 35