RSTC: Mother Knows Best
Today is the most anticipated day of the week. Today is mail day. The room rippled with excitement as most troopers waited for their names to be called to collect their mail in various forms and sizes. The lucky ones would get care packages—the contents of which, the Infantry most probably had gone through and approved. The less lucky ones would just get letters. It didn't matter. Anything from home is always welcomed.
"Higgins."
"Here!" The reporter jumped off his seat to collect the small box. He walked back grinning reading the letter that came with his package with glee. "This is great! Mom loves me. This. Is. So. Cool." He cheered when he sat back down between Brutto and Doc, both of whom already got their letters from home. "She sent me night vision lenses." He tore through the wrapper quickly sending bits of paper into the air.
Brutto raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Now, if only you can shred bugs like that, we'll get to go home faster." He commented tossing a football his father had sent him back to Doc.
"Higgins, the bug ripper." Doc grinned. "Now that's a sight."
"What do you have there, Andy?" Gossard peered curiously at the slightly smaller box that the girl was quietly and carefully rummaging through occasionally glancing at the letter lying flat on the table.
Andy looked up at him beaming. "My friends sent me my favorite book, mini discs of new music and shows, a new game for my laptop, and…Interesting…" She glanced at the letter before pulling out a small black cylinder with his name engraved by the side and ear buds handing them to a confused mechanic. "I just mentioned that you've been borrowing mine every now and then." The girl ran her fingers through her now, short hair. "Apparently, in their land, that warrants getting you your own music player. According to the letter, they've loaded it up for you too." She shrugged, taking a mini disc out of the box and looking over the label with a grin.
"Sweet!" Gossard exclaimed. "I love your friends!"
The girl took the book out of the box. "Yeah. I love them too." She smiled fingering the well worn cover.
Carl Jenkins sighed at the sight of the gleeful troopers knowing he wasn't going to be one of them. It wasn't because he didn't have a package of his own. In fact, he was the first Roughneck to receive one. The problem was that it was just that time of the year.
He left the room just as Dizzy's name was called out. While the I-love- people continued inside, he headed towards the empty squad room. The psychic sat down on his bunk staring at the tiny box from home on his lap. "Happy birthday Carl… Have fun with Johnny and Isabel. Love, Mom." He read out loud to himself without much enthusiasm. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves before opening the box.
Carl gave the box's content a questionable look. This was unexpected. He was half expecting confetti to shoot up in the air when he opened the box. Or at least something that would shock him half out of his wits that he'd have to scramble for his morita. Why else would he had opened his package alone? But there was no explosion. No smoke screen like he expected. The box wasn't booby trapped. He reached in gingerly for his present and held it up in the air. There was nothing.
It was just a toy.
So, he read the note that accompanied his present again. The line "Have fun with Johnny and Isabel" caught his eye. He glanced back at the toy his mother had sent him. A sly smile started forming in his lips. "People always said to listen to your mother." He said to noone in particular. He stood up decisively and headed for the washroom.
He needed some water.
--
Lt. Johnny Rico had a trying day. It was filled with and up and a lot of downs. The up is that he got a new holo-game from home which boosted his mood greatly. But his bubble popped right when the squad was ordered down to Hydora along with a few other squads to secure the perimeter on which SICON wanted to hold it's command base. Of course, there were bugs. When were there no bugs? Then, when they got back to the Valley Forge, there was paperwork to contend with-- which he wanted so badly to postponed. But Zim; the ever present Sgt. Zim, sat in his office doing his share. Rico felt so bad for the guy at first that he started on his pile as well. But somewhere in the middle, he realized it was a trick. Zim had gotten him to do something by playing on his 'guilt and shame' emotions. A devious maneuver in the part of the sergeant.
What was the score now? Sgt. Zim- 100, Rico- 0?
He trudged back into the squad room wishing for nothing else but his bunk. When the door opened, a bunch of subdued Roughnecks grunted their greetings from their bunks. It looked like the usual scene. Nothing seemed wrong apart from the bandaged limbs. So he headed towards his bunk right below Dizzy Flores' and plopped down while Dizzy peered at him from above.
Suddenly, his bottom felt cold and... wet. He saw Diz give him a curious teasing look. "Rico, did you just wet yourself?" And with that one question, the squad room's activity screeched to a halt. All eyes were looking at him.
"No." He quickly anwered defensively. "I think I would know if I did right?" He said feigning confidence. However, the cold wet feeling he has was telling him that his bunk was wet.
"Then why is part of your sheets wet?" Carl Jenkins sauntered towards him trying not to crack up.
Rico stood up. "Look..." He tried to start defending himself again.
"Hate to break it to you L.T., but your pants are wet." Diz pointed out before he could finish.
"Like I was trying to say," he tried again holding back his temper, "it's not me!" He eyed the troopers trying to intimidate them. But it was all too late. Hell had broken loose. Higgins had his camera already filming the ensuing mayhem. Andy had shut her laptop down to watch what happened next from her bunk. Doc sat back up grinning as Gossard and Brutto exchanged mischievousexpressions.
"Aww... did little Rico have an accident?" Gossard started cooing.
"Real men can hold it in." Brutto added wagging a finger at his commanding officer.
"Rico," Doc nodded from his bunk. "I have medicine for that disorder. You should've just asked." He said albeit without chuckling.
"Or gone to the washroom." Higgins quipped and the troopers couldn't hold the laughter in anymore.
Rico had been counting to ten, but it wasn't working. Far from it. "LOOK!" He boomed. "It's not me!" He turned grabbing his blanket off his bunk with one sweep revealing what had caused the wetness. The young lieutenant looked triumphantly at the other troopers pointing out the green thing in his bunk. "See?" He gestured towards it.But all the immobile thing gathered were the curious and disgusted stares of the troopers.
"Rico, did you get a new pet in Hydora?" Carl asked staring at the thing.
Andy was squinting with her mouth open trying to get a better view at it. She took a quick glance at Carl Jenkins, who met her gaze but quickly looked away. "Dude, you just sat on a..."Just then, the thing came to life and jumped right for the peering Dizzy Flores.
"A FROG!" The redhead screamed eclipsing the other girl's reaction. She jerked backwards just in time to avoid the frog's path. It instead landed on Johnny Rico's foot.
Rico kicked his leg out several times but the thing wouldn't let go. "Nyaah! Get it off! Get it off!" He called out.
"This is great!" He heard Higgins say. The frog finally loosened and went flying to the air-- landing right on top of his camera. "Aaaah!" The reporter let go of the camera by instinct. The camera fell, but the frog was gone. It had used the height of Higgin's camera and jumped into Dizzy Flores' bed.
The red head's eyes widened with shock. "Holy..." She cried scampering off the top bunk. The frog hopped from that bunk to the Brutto's bunk right beside it.
"Eat football!" Brutto yelled bringing down his present on the unwanted animal. There was a small high pitched sound followed by spurt of liquid in the air. For a second, there was silence in the room.
"Grooss" The girls in the room sounded off their disgust at the same time.
Brutto rolled his eyes in response. "What else did you expect me to do? Smother it with love?" He shrugged while still pinning down the frog on his bed with the football.
Gossard the squished frog wryly. It seemed too green to be real. "Brutto, let me look at that frog." He swatted the boy's football away. He gingerly lifted the frog by its feet letting it hang an arms length away. "Guys? I think you should take a look at this." He smiled.
"What is it?" Dizzy eyed it suspiciously.
Doc caught the grin on the mechanic's face and back to the frog. That smile on the mechanic's face only meant one thing. "It's a species of Berruay Ogfray." He answered knowingly.
"What.. what's that?" Higgins asked.
Rico placed both hands on his hips. "In English please, Doc?" He suggested dryly.
"Rubber frog." Andy answered for the two older troopers trying to stifle her own laughter by hugging her pillow. "Extremely rare in these sectors." She continued on.
"Rubber." The lieutenant repeated obviously unamused. He glared at his chuckling pre-cog friend by his bunk's post. "An animated rubber frog?!" He demanded.
"CARL!" Dizzy Flores crossed her arms at her friend.
The psychic lifted both his hands in defense. "Hey, it was my mom's idea."
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Note: About time they went after something else besides from bugs and skinnies right? It's just fluff. Nothing much. I was playing a starship trooper flash fangame I found while surfing the ST3 fansite and thought of this fic. Oh! and I never noticed how Xander looks like Davy Jones