"You sure you want to hear this Shia'na? I mean what you're asking about wasn't exactly the highlight of my life. And some of it may be hard for you to hear."
"Please? i'm 16 now father, how did you meet mother? you were both Enforcers right?" Her eager voice silencing any and all response. `I guess i've kept it hidden from her too long.`
He grabs his Coffee, or as he likes to call it "Mud" gesturing fo her to take a seat at the drop down table on the far wall of their Quarters. She Bounces over to the counter grabbing a soft drink before all but teleporting to the seat that had emerged from the wall. They sit and Jonas takes a moment staring into his drink. "C'mon Dad, please?"
"Ok, ok, well remember what the history classes at the acadamy said?" She nodds and he sighs "Well as you know, after we lost the great war, we were scatterd. the Alien Alliance we had been fighting had either beleived us to be extinct or no threat to them anymore, so they left back to wherever they came from, leaving the few of us that had been left across the stars to come back to a destroyed homeworld, earth was a barren." Shia'na seemed bored by this, her loudly sucking her drink through the straw was enough of a hint for him.
"Ok i get the idea, but don't be rude. since then our people have formed an almost mercenary culture, the core ships, The Hellfire, The Redeemer and The Libarian. Those three have basically become a space station, our new homeworld, which we call The Core." Shia'na seemed to deflate at the mention of the Librarian, `The acadamy, she's always hated it there.`
"Any ways, each ship was repurposed to do it's part and it's been this way since, Each smaller ship accepts missions from the Core and Completes them to be paid, thus having the credits to buy supplies and better equipment. Many ships though turned to piracy and other such methods for their Income, and a ship like ours is one of the ones that handle them better. Having both an armed Vessel and a fully trained crew which is also versed in both repelling and initiating bording actions. This is where me and your mother Came in, We were on a ship called the twilight, We were the Platoon leaders of it's Enforcer contigant. At first we'd bump heads at every turn; we honestly couldn't stand one another." He grinned, The look on her face was priceless.
"She even Punched me, twice." Now a look of shock, jonas was trying not to laugh at this point.
Shia'na pulls out a slip of paper from under her epilette, turning it over was a picture he'd given her of his and her mother's wedding day. She couldn't understand how that could be true from what little he'd told her before."Bu- How? You two were married two years after you met right?" He nods, "So how the hell did that work out? you just said you hated each other."
Jonas nodded sagely, now with an empty mug held to his chin. "You're right about that; for the first six months after we met we either ignored each other completly, or were often heard across the ship with our all but throat tearing shouting matches over issues acertaining to our Platoons." Shia'na just gave him a blank look, and in a deadpan voice. "Really dad?"
Jonas was down right amused now, his daughter always could make him laugh but this took the cake. "Yes Shia'na. At that point she would have sooner shoved me out of an airlock than eaten beside me, let alone marry me!" He Laughed out, leaning on the table for support.
Shia'na just looked puzzled, the whole idea of that situation somehow ending up with her as the end result just flew right over her head. It showed to, eybrows scrunched head tilted slightly to one side, moth frozen in a silent "o". It took all jonas had just to stay standing.
"What changed?"
Jonas almost didn't register the question. "Well, it was on an away mission to a moon that a probe had noticed usable Materials on, you know the usual: Water,oxygen Titanium and the other essentials." He paused for any questions, none. "Well after we landed, our two platoons split up, mine to put Nav markers where it was safe to travel by foot to our objectives, hers to establish a perimeter. My Unit broke off in pairs untill it was just me and Sgt Ramirez, You met that little spitfire once didn't you?" Shia'na's head dropped to the table, a muttering sounding suspiciously like, "Don't remind me." eminating from it's surface. "What?" Jonas chuckled.
She only glared in return.
Well as i said it was only me and ramirez, and we were on this clifftop, looking at the geography trying to find where the drone had spotted a large vein of titanium ore exposed in the cliff face. When our radios started chattering, Reports of a fuck tonne of contacts rushing the LZ, we were the furthest out, but we had a vantage, Ramirez could see some of Delta getting dragged away by these six legged mammals with, quoting her, fucking long teeth. Immedetly i gave the order for all of echo to fall back to the Lz and expect hostiles. Ramirez had her long rifle, and had also climbed a really impossible looking tree, Kudos to her, and there was me still on the deck like a lemon, so we agreed an RP and i set off. The Crack of Carbines had died out but i couldn't see any personel standing from the treeline, the report of ramirez's Long rifle echoing contantly across the valley.
Aside for her, for all i knew i was alone." Again Jonas Paused for any questions, he didn't expect Shia'na to practically jump down his throat.
"What happened dad? how did you guys make it out? did anyone else? i know about ramirez but did anyone else survive?"