Chapter 8
"Hey Bryan, come over here and help me if you're going to be here!" Kenny shouted, so that Bryan, who was on the other side of the jet could hear him.
"Coming Kenny!" Bryan shouted. He jogged around and looked down at Kenny as he was working on the wheel. "What do you need?" Bryan asked as Kenny finally unlocked the wheel.
"The new wheel thats in the box on the table." Kenny said as he rolled the old one across the floor where it landed neatly with the others.
"New material?" Bryan asked as he rolled the wheel to Kenny. Kenny nodded as he took it from Bryan and started latching it into place.
"Yup, will make take-off and landing smoother. Alright, done. Check that off my list of things to do." Kenny sighed as he stood up and brushed his pants off.
"So Lee is helping Spence out with the new uniform modifications that Spence wants ESWAT to have for combat." Bryan informed him.
"Good, I'm so glad that Lee's here." Kenny sighed, taking a swing of his water bottle. "It's great to have another engineer who actually knows what they're doing." Kenny growled and Bryan laughed.
"Oh relax Kenny my man." Bryan chuckled, clapping his friend on the back. "The newbies are learning."
"Yea." Kenny huffed. "Slowly. And where the hell are Ty, Max and Hilary? If Ty's playing with the hover-boards again, my dad is going to have my ass."
"Relax, I'll go find them, ok?" Bryan said calmly. "You're stressed out. Take a breather for a moment and leave Tyson to me, ok?"
Kenny sighed, relaxing and he nodded. "Ok, thanks Bry." Bryan smiled and nodded, leaving Kenny to his jet.
Bryan walked around the jet and towards the next hanger over. The 'Military Hanger' was actually about 14 or so hangers of varying sizes.
"Bryan!" A voice shouted and Bryan looked to his right.
"Tala?" Bryan asked, shocked. Then he noticed the two girls that he met last night in the ESWAT uniforms, Tia and Millie if he remembered correctly. Then he noticed the older guy that looked very much like Tia and Bryan thought that it must be Ray Kon, her brother, that Mariah knew. So this was the squad that Kenny, Ty, Hil, and Maxie brought back? Tala's squad?
"Hey man!" Tala smiled and he gave his old friend a hug. "I didn't know that you were transferred to Amenia."
"Yea man." Bryan smiled. "Easy job really, until we have to go back to earth for various missions. So you're the squad that was rescued from Earth."
"Oh yea." Tala nodded. "Bry, this is my best friend, Master Gunnery Sergeant Kai Hiwatari, you already met his sister, First Sergeant Ray Kon, Tia's brother and First Sergeant Megan David. Guys, this is Gunnery Sergeant Bryan Kuznetsov."
Bryan nodded. "Nice to meet you guys."
"So hows Spence?" Tala asked, where is he? Kai knows him from the Academy."
"Spence is good, in the hanger with Lee, fussing over ESWAT combat suits. So Kai, you went to RMCA?" Bryan asked.
Kai nodded. "Yup, grew up with bonehead over here in Siberia."
"Oi!"
"Ah, so you're the 'cold hearted bastard best friend of mine' that Tala always talked about in class." Bryan chuckled.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Yup. Tala always did exaggerate a lot back then." Tala laughed nervously at the look Kai was giving him.
Megan smirked. "You said that Spence was with Lee in the hanger?" She said, saving Tala from Kai's wrath.
Bryan nodded. "Yea, Spence will be glad to see you two." He nodded to Kai and Tala. "And if I remember correctly, then you two know Mariah's brother Lee too, right?" He asked Tia and Ray.
"Yea, I was best friends with the both of them." Ray nodded.
"Well, then lets get going." Millie said.
"So, Kenny was talking earlier about how you guys were thinking of joining ESWAT in order to get back down on Earth. Is that true?" Bryan asked, as they walked over to the hanger that Bryan told them that Spencer and Lee were in.
Ray nodded. "Yea, we talked to Chief of Staff Walker this morning and she said that she'll talk to Captain Reynolds."
Bryan nodded. "Very nice. So what squad are you two assigned to?" He asked Tia and Millie.
"E-Squad 020." Millie said.
"Spencer's squad." Tia nodded.
"Nice, I'm sure Spence would love to have you girls. He has one girl thats..." Bryan broke off laughing. "Lets just say she has a big mouth and a very small brain."
"Ohhh, I love to torture those kind of girls." Tia laughed, rubbing her hands together. Ray groaned and ran his hand over his face.
"Oh boy. Now there is no stopping her."
Megan and Tala laughed as even Kai chuckled.
Bryan chuckled as the group walked in. "Spence would definitely appreciate it if you knocked her down a peg or two. Other then you two, she's the only girl on the squad and the guys are done dealing with her."
"Done dealing with who?" A voice asked. Megan was currently in awe of the guy's huge size. She was 5'3" and 120 lbs and Bryan was 6'6" and 290 lbs. He was more than twice her size!
"Spencer!" Tala smiled and he jogged over, giving Spencer a hug.
"Tala!" Spencer laughed. "Oh my gosh! And Kai too! Haha, its a reunion!"
"Hey Spence." Kai smirked, giving his friend a hug. "How are you?"
"Great!" Spencer smiled.
"Yea, we heard that you're in ESWAT now." Tala smiled.
"Oh, yea, head of my own squad too. And I just got two more added to my squad I found out this morning." Spencer nodded. "A Corporal Millie Hiwatari? Sister of yours Kai?"
"Yup, thats me." Millie smiled, then she saluted. "Corporal Millie Hiwatari, sir."
And Tia followed. "Lance Corporal Tia Kon, sir." Spencer smiled and saluted in response.
"Ah, good to meet you two. I wasn't planning on seeing you until later today."
"Yea, well my brother and I wanted to see Lee and Kai and Tala wanted to find you and Bryan." Tia explained.
"And this is your squad Kai?" Spencer asked.
Kai nodded. "Yup, Tia's older brother First Sergeant Ray Kon and First Sergeant Megan David." He introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Ray and Megan nodded.
"So you're the squad that was rescued from Earth, huh?" Spencer asked.
"Yea, they are and they're planning on joining ESWAT too." Bryan said.
"Really?" Spencer asked, shocked. "Well we could really use you guys."
"Thanks." Megan smiled.
"Spence! I got your-" The voice cut off as a guy rounded the corner. "Ray? Tia?"
"Lee!" Tia smiled and she ran into his arms. Lee's eyes widened and he smiled, hugging her tight. Back in the academy, Lee was like an older brother to Tia. Lee looked like he could be Ray's twin, but his hair was slightly longer, his skin tone was slightly darker and his facial features were different.
"Hey T. Ray." Lee smiled as he then hugged Ray. "What are you two doing here?"
"I'm ESWAT now." Tia informed.
"And it was my squad that was rescued from the mobile suit attack in NYC." Ray said.
"Haha, nice." Lee nodded. "Have you seen Mariah yet?"
Tia nodded. "Yea, she, Mathilda, Millie and I are suite-mates until Millie and I move into the ESWAT Barracks."
Lee nodded, smiling. "Of course. Has she driven you nuts yet with her girly-girl antics?" He laughed and Ray, Megan and Tia joined him.
"Oh, not yet, but she's getting there." Millie smirked. "Corporal Millie Hiwatari." She introduced herself.
"Master Sergeant Lee Kon." Lee said. "And you guys are?"
"Oh, sorry guys." Ray smiled. "Lee, this is my squad, First Sergeant Megan David, Master Gunnery Sergeant Tala Valkov and our leader Master Gunnery Sergeant Kai Hiwatari, Millie's older brother."
"Tala and Kai are also friends of mine and Bryan from our academy days Lee." Spencer said.
"And you guys are staying with Ty, Hil and Max, right?" Lee asked.
Megan nodded. "Yup. Mariah and Hilary are like two peas in a pod. Apparently Mattie and I are too tomboyish for them." She smirked and the boys laughed.
"Haha. Thats like Mariah." Lee chuckled. "So you and Mattie get along then?"
"Mhmm. We're best friends now!" Megan giggled. Lee laughed out loud.
"Oh I bet Mariah and Hilary love that. Haha."
"Are you making fun of me again?" The group turned around to see Mariah and Mathilda walking towards them, still in their utility uniforms. Mathilda smiled as Mariah had a glare on her face, hands on her hips, golden orbs staring right at her brother.
"Yup." Lee smirked. "So you found your new best friend Mattie?" He asked, pointedly ignoring his sister now.
"Oh yea." Mathilda laughed and she and Megan wrapped their arms around the other's shoulders. "Meg and I are too good for Hil and Mar."
"Oi! I heard that!" A voice screeched and out came Hilary from the back of the hanger, a mock glare on her face. Following her was Tyson and Max. Well, Max was dragging Tyson...
"Oh Hil!" Mariah sighed in mock relief. "Thank god you're here to save me from these Tomboys."
The guys rolled their eyes as Mathilda, Megan, Tia and Millie laughed.
"Oh Mariah." Hilary sighed dramatically, holding Mariah close. "It's ok, it's ok." The two girls started cracking up, tears in their eyes.
"Alright, you two done with the theatrics?" Spencer asked, at teasing glint in his eyes.
Mariah rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up Spence." She said, pushing him, or trying...
Spencer laughed as he barely budged from her shove. Mariah pouted and put both of her hands on his stomach, trying to push him over. The entire grouped started laughing as Mariah was losing her feet from underneath her. Hilary laughed and helped her best friend by giving Spencer a little Java super strength push. Spencer was pushed back a couple feet and had to steady himself.
"Oi!" Spencer shouted as everyone laughed. "Not fair with the Java strength!"
Hilary smiled. "You can thank Kenny for that. He taught me how to harness it and use it more effectively."
"KENNY!" Spencer shouted and everyone had to cover their ears.
A second later, Kenny was sticking his head out of the hanger he was in. "WHAT!" He shouted. Spencer motioned him with a finger and Kenny sighed, jogging over. "What Spence?"
"You taught Hil how to use her strength?" Spence asked as everyone else was snickering.
"Yea, so she could defend herself on one of her crazy ass missions to earth!" Kenny said. "She's lucky she always succeeds or the Prime Minister would lock her up."
"Hey!" Hilary shouted defiantly and everyone laughed again.
"So now she can kick my ass?" Spencer whined. It was interesting to comprehend a guy of his size whining, Megan thought. Then she snickered.
"Oh man up Marine." Kenny rolled his eyes.
"Oh Spence you haven't changed one bit." Tala laughed, clapping Spencer on the back.
"Come on Spence." Bryan laughed. "Relax, didn't you and Lee have something to do with your new combat uniforms?" He said, taking his best friend's mind off the fact that Hilary, the girly-girl just pushed him around.
"Oh yea!" Lee said. "It's done!"
"It's done?" Spence smiled. "Lets go and see it!"
"Can we come?" Tia asked.
"Of course!" Spencer smiled. "You and Millie will both be wearing it eventually!"
The group made their way further into the hanger and to the corner that Lee was working in.
"Alright Spence. Here it is!" Lee smiled, excited. He held up the suit first. "Alright we got the durable but lightweight suit that you wanted. But the colors of ESWAT, white and green aren't good colors for combat so we went with the good old black." Lee starts. "We gave the shoulders, hips and knees more room for movement as we've heard complaints. Now the padding and armor thats integrated in the suit is top of the line and not even available to the military just yet. It's ultra flexible for the freedom of movement, but when needed, the armor will hold up against just about anything. Knifes, bullets, grenades, etc. But if a high caliber bomb goes off anywhere within a 10 yard radius of you, the suit won't protect you." Lee smirked.
"Well geez, hopefully you're not that toast." Bryan chuckled.
Lee chuckled. "Hopefully. Anyway, there are many secret pockets in the suit. Mostly around the sleeves, where you can hid various items if you're in a pinch. There is also a pocket in the lower back in case your hands get tied. It's easy access and comes with a pocket knife already in it. Then it has a hood in the collar that you can pull out with one hand and a button on your wrist that will allow the suit to become invisible. Also on your wrist is your Connexus. It looks like the old school bluetooth. Hook it on your ear and a screen will wrap around in front of your eyes from ear to ear. It's a version of the screen that you would see in one of the mobile suits, only for foot soldiers."
"Ohhhhh too cool..." Tyson grinned, kneeling down, looking at the one that was on the bench so that everyone could see what it looked like.
Lee flicked his ear and Tyson squeaked as everyone laughed. "No touching." Lee told him. Tyson sighed, but nodded and went back to standing next to Max.
"And last are the boots. Men's are normal combat boots and the women's are up to the knees. Both are form fitting, and yet have ample room in the ankle for free movement. And both have pockets on the outside of the boot for knives or whatever else you need. These boots also have the best traction of any shoe ever. If needed, tiny spikes will shoot out from the bottom of the shoe for more traction, such as on ice."
"This is awesome Lee." Spencer laughed, looking over everything again. "Am I glad that you are here or what! You're a genius!" Kenny coughed and everyone laughed. "Oh, except for Kenny of course. He is the true genius here."
Kenny nodded. "Thank you Spence. Thats more like it." He chuckled. "Alright Lee, we better get back to work before my dad shows up and-"
"And kick your ass?" Jake laughed, appearing behind his son. Kenny squeaked and jumped up in the air at his father's voice.
"Jesus Dad!" Kenny shouted turning around to see his father smirking down at him.
"Sorry Kenny." Jake smiled, then he turned to Spencer. "So, you like it?"
Spencer nodded. "Oh, very much so. It's perfect."
Jake nodded. "Good, I had to pull some strings with the Advanced Tech guys to get some of that stuff. Captain Reynolds was reluctant to let it go, but when he heard to it was for you, he agreed. Regardless of the fact that Kenny created most of the stuff to begin with." He smiled, looking at his son with pride.
"Well thanks for everything Chief." Spencer smiled, the chuckled, including Kenny. "Chiefs." It was a running gag, cause everyone called Jake, Chief, a shortened version of his rank, but everyone also called Kenny, Chief, cause he was often the Chief Officer in charge of most of the projects, even though he was only a Corporal.
"You're very welcome Spencer. Anything for ESWAT. Now, Kenny was right Lee. You two still have a lot to do." Jake reminded them, turning to walk out. "Please get to it!"
"Yes sir!" Lee called. Jake waved as he disappeared outside. "Alright, guess its time for me to go back to work. It was great seeing you Ray. Hopefully you stick around, uh?" He smiled as he shook hands with Ray.
Ray smiled. "Oh yea, it'll be great catching up with you and Mar."
"See you later T." Lee smiled as he hugged her quickly.
"Go back to work you slacker." Tia laughed and Mariah joined in with her as Lee and Ray chuckled.
"Ah shut up." Lee rolled his eyes. The group said goodbye and headed out, with Kenny leaving them as well so that he could get back to his own work.
"So when are we going to meet the rest of the squad?" Tia asked, skipping so that she ended up at Spencer's side.
"How about now?" Spencer asked. "I'm sure they'd love to meet you. The guys anyway. I don't know about-"
Millie waved his worried away. "Bryan told us. Don't worry about us, we can take her."
Spencer smirked. "Well then, alright."
