Mission 1: "Green light"
"This is a simple guard task. Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult."
"Rodger that," came the pilot's reply, a slight waver in her voice.
"Relax. You'll do fine. This will be a walk in the park."
A blast of air, very much like that of a snort, was the answer.
Riork chuckled, leaning back into his chair," So…. How do think she'll do?" he asked glancing over at the man who stood behind him.
He was of mixed decent, Caucasian and Hispanic to be exact. At six feet tall, he was a large man with all the girth due to well toned muscle, still strong despite his 40 years. With his close cropped hair, and the deep scar that ran down from his left ear to his chin, Carlos Griswald was an imposing figure.
"Kristine will do fine. She's been holed up in the VR room for the past week, non stop, getting ready for this job. All she needs is experience, as well as having faith in her own skills." Carlos said in his deep Baritone," Once Kris realizes how good she really is… "He said, leaving the thought unfinished.
The technician turned back to the screen, nodding," Yeah, she is talented, I'll give her that." Riork reached out to his right, grabbing at a Styrofoam cup of coffee. He brought the container to his lips and finding it empty, scowled and placed it back down," But aren't you just a bit worried? That's not any other pilot out there, but your daughter, you're only daughter, incase you forgot."
"And a Raven as well." Replied Carlos, unscathed," though I'm not sure how much that means to anyone, anymore." He added quietly.
Riork grunted in reply. He couldn't disagree, it was fact. This was a different world now. The 24 Hours War had shifted the power structure dramatically, throwing everything into chaos. There had always been bounties on other pilots and their ACs, but the War took it to a whole new level of hunting. Everything changed from accepting a job to simply heading out and tracking down the most profitable mark. Quickly, the stronger ACs that the lesser pilots would dread to have to battle (thus keeping them in check), simply vanished. The Warlords took advantage of this vacuum instantly. Those who were considered of lower "grade", or stayed out of the lime light to accept less approved jobs, were now the top of the pack. Now the world was about the survival of the fittest…. All others became memories.
"Kinda funny though…" said Riork.
"What is?"
"How fast Alliance and Vertex became all buddy-buddy after Jack-o disappeared with that explosion. One day, they're trying to slit each others throat, then when all hell breaks loose; it turns to back-clapping and drinking songs.'
Carlos quirked an eyebrow," Drinking songs?"
"Hey, I'm thirsty. Sue me."
Carlos just shook his head at the comment," Anyways… you can't blame either camp for joining forces. Neither had the manpower or resources to stand against the smallest army among the Warlords. Alliance couldn't afford to leave Circ-City undefended and Vertex….well, whatever was left of them didn't even have the will to fight anymore. With both super powers weakened ("That's an understatement," muttered Riork.") Control would fall to whoever could keep it the longest. Anarchy. Pure and simple."
Riork looked at his boss," And you? Would the great Grizzly Bear consider himself one of the top Warlords? A good few would, and that's not something to sneeze at."
Carlos leaned back at the question," Hmm… Personally, I don't fell like I am," he stared at the ceiling," It was just that the few people who remembered me from my days in the Ark sought me ought, and well, I couldn't just turn them----"
The Tech held up a hand," Whoops, sorry to butt in, Boss, but I have to take this," He positioned his headset's mic ne closer to his mouth and nodded with satisfaction when a light blipped on.
"Raven, we have several contacts appearing on our systems. Origins unknown, but defiantly on an attack vector. North by Northeast, near by the up coming canyon opening. ID tags on the enemy MTs registering to those similar to the Warlord Midas. Raven; protect the client's caravan and storage units at all cost. You are clear to engage. Green light."
The transmission ended, and Kris began to move into position. Then the light flickered back on," Oh… one last thing. Any damages to the caravan are coming out of your pay."
Riork shut off the microphone," If that doesn't make her work harder, I don't know what will."