Sheesh. Sorry to take so long, but it's been a busy week - errands,
cleaning, laundry, shaving the dog, you know - all the fun-fun domestic
chores that are part of life. :)
Anyway. Be warned; snippage throughout.
CHAAAAAARRRGGE!
metal walls. It wasn't the neat, tidy building seen before the
Zentraedi War. Odors of lubricating fluids, stagnant water, and
human sweat mingled; warning the sisters of what awaited them
suggest: mingled; warning -> mingled, warning
Katherine sighed. "There's not much money available for
maintenance anymore. Not since that idiot Leonard started taking
everything for his precious ASC."
ASC: refresh my memory? Can't recall what it was, offhand...
With a shake of her head, Samantha sidestepped an odd-looking
blob floating in a puddle left over from the brief
Eewww...
thunderstorm that blew through an hour before. "Well, where do
you want to start looking?"
Katherine glanced around until she spotted a small office
just inside the main hangar doors. "How about over there?"
Inside the hangar, the smells intensified. Katherine
wrinkled her nose at the odors while Samantha disguised her
discomfort with a well placed handkerchief.
Sissy! :)
The odors were only slightly better in the small office. A
bored-looking officer reading a trashy novel gave them a rude
glance before turning back to his book and asking what they
wanted. When Katherine told him who they were looking for, he
was less than helpful. Rifling through some papers and glancing
round like he didn't recognize where he was, the man finally and
typo: and
would be swarming over the fighters, performing every sort of
imaginable repair, check, or upgrade. Instead, only a few
enlisted people could be seen. Most of them looked like they
were more interested in finding a good place to nap than doing
anything productive. Their officers were notable by their
absence.
Wow. Sounds like the sales office across the hall from me at work. :)
The Foxes rounded a large crate and came to a stop at the
sight of a Veritech standing majestically in Battloid mode.
Towering over everything in the hangar like a metal man surveying
his domain, the forty-two foot wonder of Robotechnology looked
like something that belonged more in a reconstruction facility
than an active squadron's hangar. Its formerly distinctive red
and gold color was smudged off in places, mud splattered its
underside, streaks of fluid cut a network of trails across its
legs, even the squadron insignia looked worn and lifeless. The
craft had obviously seen better days.
"There she is," Samantha said indicating a figure on her
back with her upper torso partially obscured beneath one of the
Battloid's giant feet, looking like someone who'd recently been
stepped on.
*squish*
The closer they got, the more detail they noticed about the
person underneath the fighter. She was a big woman, not fat,
just big. Katherine estimated her to be at least six feet tall
and powerfully built.
Eeep! *ducks*
"Excuse me," Katherine said as they approached. "Are you
Lieutenant Daisy Mills?"
*snarf!*
The figure under the Veritech's foot slid out and
repositioned a three foot long wrench to a fitting on the outside
of the fighter's massive leg. "Yeah, that's me. Who's asking?"
she said without so much as a glance their way.
"I'm Captain Katherine Fox and this is Lieutenant Samantha
Fox. We'd like to talk to you about your assignment." Katherine
winced when Daisy's knuckles raked painfully against the
unforgiving metal as the wrench failed to hold its grip on an
oversized fitting. She also wrinkled her nose a bit at the way
the girl was dressed. Grease-stained coveralls, worn boots, and
her coal black hair, she guessed to be shoulder length, was
Suggest changing:
Grease-stained coveralls, worn boots, and her coal black hair, she
guessed to be shoulder length, was restrained by ...
to
Grease-stained coveralls, worn boots, and shoulder-length coal-black
hair, which was restrained by ...
Daisy stopped tugging and hung her head. With a sigh she
waved a hand towards the rest of the seemingly empty hangar.
"You *see* any maintenance crew? I mean, besides those picking
their noses or taking naps."
Ick! Funny, but.. ick! :)
All three jumped as the voice echoed in the mostly-empty
hangar. Daisy banged her head on the blast chamber walls causing
an avalanche of black, sooty material to coat her upper body.
She slid out from under the foot sputtering and snarling.
"Who the hell is that?" Samantha exclaimed, wiggling a
finger in her ear like the voice from above was still ringing.
Um... that last sentence just doesn't parse for me. I *think* I
understand, but...
"My sister, Virginia," Daisy growled while brushing off her
coveralls. "She's definitely *not* a Veritech pilot."
The head of the Battloid noisily slid forward and a single
seat extended through the opening created. A slightly built
young lady's head poked into view.
*snort* The first thing that popped into my mind was a girl with
exposed wiring showing through her skull. I'd suggest something like:
A head poked into view, revealing a slightly-built young lady
perched in the cockpit.
or
A slightly-built young lady perched in the cockpit, her head just
poking into view.
"She's a pilot?" Samantha gasped. She obviously didn't
think so either.
"She's a helicopter pilot,' the Daisy said apologetically.
'the Daisy'? :)
Oh, and typo: pilot,' -> pilot,"
"Helicopter pilot?" Katherine asked, looking at Daisy who'd
switched to reclining against the outside of the Veritech's leg
while continuing to wipe off her clothing.
Considering that she's been handling a blast chamber, I'd imagine her
attempting to wipe off her clothing is doing more harm than good... :)
"Well, she'd certainly qualify," Daisy said glaring up at
her younger sister.
"I heard that!" Virginia's voice screeched over the
loudspeaker causing everyone in the hangar to cover their ears.
SOFASPUD: (wincing in pain) Did that have to be so LOUD? :)
"Damn it, Ginnie! Turn that thing off before you deafen
everyone!" Daisy yelled.
SOFASPUD: (muttering, wiggling one finger in left ear) Too late...
"All right!" Virginia angrily yelled back, this time without
the artificial aid. It wasn't much better. For such a little
person, she had a piercing voice. "You're always yelling at me!"
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
"DO NOT!"
"BIG BOOBS!"
"MICROBUTT!"
*blink blink*
THESE are RDF PILOTS?!? :)
Grudgingly, Daisy pushed herself to her feet and stood next
to Samantha, towering over the younger Fox sister. Katherine
blinked at the woman. Daisy was easily six to eight inches
taller and a lot more sturdily built. She also noticed how the
woman's coveralls appeared to be in a losing battle trying to
restrain and contain her impressive dimensions. She swallowed,
blinked again and attempted to guess the woman's bust size. On a
scale from 'Missing In Action' to her own 'Not Bad At All', she
rated Daisy somewhere around 'Oh My God!'.
Eeep!
Quick! Fetch me some gauze and some dark glasses! Hurry!
Daisy glanced between the Fox sisters before abandoning her
grubby rag in favor of an arm, wiping her nose from forearm to
knuckles. Samantha groaned in dismay. This woman was *not* an
academy grad.
Virginia stepped onto an access platform high above their
heads and quietly climbed down to the hangar floor, ending next
to Katherine but still eyeing her older sister. The two sisters
couldn't be more different. Where Daisy was as big as any man on
the base, Virginia was petite, almost tiny in comparison. She
was also strikingly beautiful. Flawless skin a few shades
lighter than most Lakota and otherwise perfectly formed features,
she stood barely five feet tall in her boots and looked like
something seen previously on the cover of fashion magazines -
back when they used to produce such extravagances.
Nooooooo.... *nosebleed*
"Well, I had a little trouble in flight school. That's why
I fly choppers," the younger Mills sheepishly admitted to the
floor while she toyed with the zipper on her spotless flight
suit. "I don't know why it happens but I sometimes have trouble
when an aircraft goes fast. It's like the plane is flying me. I
don't feel like I'm in control as much as I do in a chopper."
Well, she won't hack it. Anime Law Number 191-B: All pilots, regardless
of skill, medical/mental condition, or age, shall have utter and total
disregard for any and all speed limits, regulations, and recommendations,
and shall attempt to violate any and all aforementioned limits, regulations,
and recommendations whenever and wherever possible.
(hey, 191-C is worse - it deals with armaments!)
;)
Samantha threw her body in front of the charging Daisy only
to feel herself being absorbed by the woman's massive front end.
Moments before suffocation, she came into contact with a rock-solid
chest. Putting her shoulder into the effort, her dress
shoes sliding across the hangar floor, she eventually brought up
short the still snarling Daisy - but just barely.
Um... yikes?
"Perhaps you better go get cleaned up by yourself,"
Katherine said loudly like a scolding mother. Reaching behind
she snagged the younger Mills sister by the collar and pulled her
around to look directly into the shorter woman's eyes. "Miss
Virginia and I are going to have a little talk."
Yes, ma'am.
shrugging her slender shoulders. "Look, I don't want to cause
any trouble for you guys. I'll just stay here, shuttling crap
from one shitty place to another."
Guilt-trip alert! Guilt-trip alert!
enough hand-eye coordination to fly a helicopter, I'm certain you
can be trained in a Veritech."
*wince* Hoo-boy, is she gonna regret THAT statement. :)
"How you gonna do that?" Samantha asked with raised
eyebrows.
"The same way I did you - only quicker."
"Great," Samantha grumbled with a disbelieving blink. "We
don't even have any Veritechs yet and already you're thinking of
ways to crash them."
Hah!
He frantically looked around for somewhere besides the floor
to put the unconscious woman. It was either Cindy's desk or the
sofa in his office. He eyed the organized chaos that was his
Admin Officer's desk before deciding on the sofa. Scooping the
limp figure into his harms, he struggled to get her through the
*cough* um, typo: harms -> arms
:)
In disbelief, he hung up the phone. He wasn't going to
leave his name in hopes that some overworked RN or disinterested
doctor would eventually call. Besides, how would he explain what
happened? Yes, doctor, she just wandered in and passed out in my
arms. No, this rarely happens out here. They're usually awake
when they throw themselves at me.
Jeff sighed. Even his sense of humor seemed out of place.
What?!? *I* thought it was funny... :)
"You look like you haven't eaten in two days either," Jeff
observed. When she nodded, he pulled out one of the survival
ration bars he kept in a desk drawer for emergencies and tossed
Ah, yes, nothing like those all-night sitting-there-and-looking-busy
runs to make for that peckish feeling. :)
it her way.
She caught the bag with one hand and tore it open, biting
off a large chunk. "It all happened so quickly. I don't know
"Ib all habbened doh quickly. I dob't bow how maby died..."
Hey, ratbars are gooey, sticky, and (IMO) about as appetizing as
week-old gorgonzola - I'd imagine she'd be having a bit of a difficult time
talking. :)
Of course, the one I had *had* been sitting in the trunk of a car for
about two years... :)
Arriving like a visiting head of state, the pompous officer
began demanding things, like the complete plans for the base. He
claimed the ASC would be taking over soon and that there was no
place in the new world order for the RDF. Of course, the ASC
would entertain requests from the pilots for non-flying positions
but the rest would be dismissed as soon as possible.
O-u-c-h. Oh, that wouldn't have made him too many friends, that's for
sure.
That was bad enough but when he demanded the RDF Security
Forces clear out a local town to provide a wider free-fire zone
for his Hover Tanks, the *real* grumbling began. Some of the RDF
D'oh. Just remembered what ASC stood for. Army of the Southern Cross,
right?
Yeesh.
it was all over, I was arrested by the mutineers as a traitor and
locked in the Day Room."
Um, arrested by the mutineers as a *traitor*. Pot, kettle, black,
anyone?
As her voice faded away in embarrassment over what she was
admitting, Jeff turned to look out the window. He'd always
advocated that should life deal you a losing hand, you just upset
the card table and take the initiative back - by whatever means
necessary. The world since the Zintraedi War had taught him that
sp: Zintraedi -> Zentraedi
when left to their own devices, most humans were little better
than the animals they shared this scarred world with. The fact
this officer had used sex to gain her freedom only meant she was
more resourceful than most.
He turned back to the now silent Lieutenant. "Did he let
you go?"
Wrong question. Her eyes squeezed shut. He could see her
teeth clenched and her hands ball into fists. "I... I let
him..." She appeared to be on the verge of crying, sweat crowned
her forehead. "In the middle I..." She swallowed hard. "I used
his knife..." she said with a hard exhale.
Eeyowch. Smart girl, and one tough cookie, but... that's gotta suck
(and I'm not talking about the guy, here).
"From there, it was a four hundred mile running battle with
Fighter Pods, old Falcon jets, and even a pair of, I think,
Falcons? As in, the F-16?
Possible, I guess, but I have a hard time believing that an F-16 Falcon
is capable of seriously threatening a Veritech. Same goes for the Migs.
"You do know we'll have to deal with RDF Command at some
point," he said as a warning. He knew how suspicious the RDF was
to those they considered disloyal. Her 'escape' could be
interpreted as a rouse to get someone deep in the RDF, to report
sp: rouse -> ruse
Virginia introduced everyone and was about to introduce her
roommate when the girl snatched Katherine's glass and took a long
drink. Setting the glass back down with an authoritative
'thump', she wiped her right hand on her uniform skirt and
extended it Katherine's way. "Gloria Graywolf," she said
proudly. "All my friends call me GeeGee. Get it?"
Aaarrggh... must... have... insulin...
Ok, check this out:
Katherine interrupted Gloria's attempt at explaining how she
came by her innovative nickname. "I think we all 'get it'," she
said, shaking the eager young woman's hand. She critically eyed
GeeGee as the girl snagged half of Virginia's sandwich.
and, a paragraph or so later,
Gloria absently snatched half of Virginia's sandwich and
took a big bite. "Thirteen-Foxtrot, eh? You have my
condolences," she said, spitting bits of sandwich as she talked.
So, um, did she steal the whole thing?
A darker thought occurred to her. It was based on a woman's
age-old dislike at being seduced and abandoned. She felt she'd
been lied to. It was a feeling of being violated, abandoned
after he'd gotten what he wanted from her. In this case, her
name on a transfer. She began to do a slow burn.
Fitting, but it really makes me start to wonder (not just this, but the
trend I've been seeing). Did any of these people actually THINK about it
before they joined the RDF? I mean, no one can shut off how they feel, but
there is such a thing as being professional (or, at the very least,
following orders...)
Not that it makes much difference to me - the story works, as is - but
I've been wondering.
the main room. Jeff didn't like the odds. All it would take is
one or two more in his office and he'd feel trapped. He wondered
if this was the way Custer went.
Oh, yeah, torn apart by vengeful women. What a way to go... I guess...
*blink*
He meant for them to leave and close the door. Instead, Ona
kicked the door shut with her heel and continued to glare his
way.
Nice definition of privacy. :)
Jeff gripped the phone in one hand and ran another through
his graying hair. There was no way he could retire on Lakota
lands after abandoning his squadron right before they were to go
into battle. If he was lucky, his wife might still talk to him.
It was a sure bet no one else would.
"I really wish you're reconsider," he said softly.
typo: you're -> you'd
"So, you gonna take this squadron or do I send Summers
over?"
"Damn right, I will!" he growled. Slamming down the phone,
he shot a withering look Katherine's. "What?"
suggest: Katherine's -> at Katherine
Well, damn. Yet another excellent chapter of what's shaping up to be a
very good fic. I'm really looking forward to what's coming next!
Overall, I'd say you've nailed pretty much just the right tone. Very
good stuff, my friend.
And, again, sorry it took so long. :(
Brian Payne
sofaspud@sofaspud.org
http://www.sofaspud.org