-Marcus wakes at night thankful that they didn't get overrun that day, and he got up just in time to see the sun set, he got his new coat with his proper ranking and his official Callsign and Squadron Name-
Marcus: My official Uniform...
-Marcus gets his suit on and he prepares for dispatch-
Over Comms: MSOS: Staff Sergeant Prepare for launch, Proto 4 and 5 are preparing for dispatch as well.
-Marcus looks through the glass and the light was fading, Marcus was raised on the platform and prepared for battle at any time, they were demoralized, but over night the base was coming along smoothly, the ships were now contained inside buildings with only their turrets exposed to fire on approaching enemies-
Marcus: Private McCarty, Sitrep.
Pvt. McCarty: Bot much movement after the raid this morning our shift change is coming soon...
-Marcus, Killjoy and Cyclops hold position and check the horizon, and they receive massive amounts of comm signals from above in the atmosphere and explosions as well-
Marcus: This is SSGT. Fox, all units scatter and run for cover we have debris from orbit incoming!
-All the units take cover and all the soldiers on the ground in normal suits take cover under friendly mobile suits and inside the buildings-
Marcus: Ship, signal the allied group above tell them to force the enemy to move, we are having shrapnel and debris raining on our heads.
MSOS: Durandal to orbiting allied ships, cease fire and move the engagement, you are causing the higher risk of injuring allies amongst the peacekeeping forces!
-The fleet above responds and they are the Albatross Hunting Co. and they were coming as reinforcements with 2 hero's from pas wars in tow, one of which was already making his way down, the second saw the advance of enemy forces and she notified the Durandal of the enemies advance-
Marcus: We have incoming, open fire!
-Marcus starts firing his rifle then he sees it, a red dot descending from the heavens and it is howling-
Marcus: Who is that?
-The unit lands and it is among the enemy, GM's Guncannons, Jesta and Jesta Cannons and Nemos with heavy cannons-
Marcus: Is that the...
Killjoy: Yeah...it's dad, his mobile suit is different from what it was but it's definitely him.
Cyclops: Let's hope he doesn't notice us.
Marcus: Why?
Cyclops: We told you this already we signed up and were put on assignment without his approval.
Marcus: McCarty, open fire, give Mr. Elion some covering fire.
-The Astraea F2M2 looked different and Marcus checked its IFF signal and it was registered as the F2M2 Kai-
Marcus: I'm going out there, deploying Buster sword and heavy marksman rifle.
-Marcus charges out and he first attacks with the Buster sword, he swings and crushes a GM, a Guncannon fires at him but he dodges and gets below it and hits it aside-
???: Rahhhh!
-The Astraea F2M2 Kai attacks and slices a Nemo in half then a special GM comes along, a GM Striker attacks and it has its lance cut in half and the GM with it, then a beam is fired from above and destroys 1 GM and another is fired and it takes down 2 Jesta Cannons and kills 1 Jesta-
Marcus: Watch out sir!
-A squadron of GMs swarm the Astraea F2M2 Kai and Marcus gets in between them and flips one by pushing the tip in between the enemies armor plates and lifting him and then kills another 2 by using the rifle, firing it quickly, the Astraea F2M2 Kai takes fire and they are lined up back to back and they are firing covering each other, and the encounter ends with the enemy GMs and Guncannons remaining retreating, among the destroyed suits are destroyed Jestas, Jesta Cannons, GMs, GM Strikers and Nemos-
???: We fight well together don't we?
Marcus: Sure, but who are you?
???: Ah yes, I am Carter J. Elion, I believe two of your squadron members are my kin, I'm here to take them back.
-Marcus is confused and brings him back to the ship and they talk inside the hangar bay-
Marcus: I don't understand, what do you mean by "Take them back".
Carter: I meant it just as it is said. Now where are they?
Killjoy: Here father.
Cyclops: I am sorry father but we cannot leave, we have committed ourselves to the cause.
Carter: For what? Money? That can be paid off easily!
Cyclops: No we have committed ourselves to the cause for something much bigger than ourselves as well as for some of our own reasons as well.
Killjoy: Agreed and even if you reprimanded our boss we would go AWOL just so we can stay here and assist. Don't you want the people back home to be free from being raided by pirates? If we stop them here, it will stop, as it is currently if it doesn't stop it may be the cause for another war, remember the economics of a system if we are suffocating from not having certain resources than it will cause a war to raid others to get those supplies and we will be no better than those pirates.
Cyclops: I hate to admit it father but you have gotten weaker...your resolve has dissipated since the last time I saw you. Not only that but we know the risks, you have to allow us to make our own choices and deal with the consequences.
Marcus: Sir...despite your rank in and their second in command we will keep them safe.
Carter: You call that safe!? You were nearly crushed by debris and almost got defeated trying to get back to your battle stations.
Marcus: Which is the fleet commands fault not ours. Don't blame us for something we do not have control over. Regardless of that incident hopefully your fleet has landed by now, we can fortify their location as soon as they land. And I heard some new units to replace the Reginlaze lancers were coming, is your fleet carrying that?
Carter: Yes we are carrying them, here's the bill.
Marcus: Send it to HQ not to me, I didn't make the request.
-Marcus guides them to the bridge and since he and Carter were last in the line, Marcus pulls Carter to the side-
Marcus: Phew now we can finally talk.
Carter: What?
Marcus: I needed to thank you, believe it or not you saved my life when the colony I was living on was destroyed but you saved me from becoming a useless piece of debris floating around in space. I'm surprised you don't recognize me...maybe the mustache is throwing you off.
-Carter's eyes widen and he realizes who he is-
Carter: Oh shit...my bad I totally almost ripped you a new one when I got pissed off earlier.
Marcus: Think nothing of it, after all there was not much we could do with debris landing all around us. This conversation is over.
-They catch up with Cyclops and Killjoy and head to the bridge without waiting and start the debriefing-
Ship Captain: I have to thank you, war hero of the second Sol-Mulungu war for delivering our cargo for us and bringing backup. Will you be staying?
Carter: Yes because a very stubborn set of thorns stinging my conscience is telling me to stay.
???: I hope so, it would definitely make it easier for life back at home.
-A woman walks in with her helmet on and her visor is darkened and she takes off her helmet showing a set of eyes seeming to be constantly moving inside the iris of her eyes and with a amber color to them as well-
Carter: This is my wife and combat partner Liz, the one who shot those targets from orbit as well. Our sniper, although starting shy she became very ambitious.
Liz: Oh please dear, no need to embarrass me in front of our allies.
Marcus: Yes, putting that aside we need to take inventory of the weapons ammunition and equipment on hand.
-It took a few hours and when they were done Marcus looked outside to see that the Durandals sister ship the Ascalon had landed, the Ascalon was a half battleship/half aircraft carrier hybrid which was hyper modified to store, work on and deploy mobile suits, the original designs of the Durandal and Ascalon were mothballed after the first inter galaxy war and the Ascalon went first but came out last for refits as it was hard to refit compared to the Durandal, during the past wars the Ascalon was sold out to people who could afford it because it was not owned by one but by many companies now it is only owned by one, the Durandal was in the hands on a singular Captain who made his own PMC organization and bought a whole fleets worth of ships-
Marcus: One ADN WMD...? Just what is command planning exactly...
Ship Captain: Probably a nuclear football. Someone will have to deliver it personally, taking it by aircraft would have it be under risk of being destroyed in route. But yes that does seem overkill.
-An absolute destruction nuclear bomb completely incinerates everything within a 500 mile radius and were typically delivered by dropping the payload via a fighter jet or transformable mobile suit. The other way was delivering it via a long range cannon shot, both ways could be easily intercepted by CIWS fire and Railgun automated defenses. To deliver it by hand is risky but possible but when delivered a pilot only has approximately 45 Minutes to escape the detonation radius-
Marcus: Jeez, hopefully I don't have to be the one to deliver it.
Ship Captain: Well we might have to draw straws for that.
-Marcus dislikes the idea but visits the hangar and turns in the manifest report from the debriefing to the quartermaster Ford who logs it all and marks down everything that is accounted for which encompasses everything delivered-
Ford: Oh look it says "Prototype equipment, ammo and weapons" looks like you and that team of yours will have some new toys to test.
Marcus: Great...
Ford: Don't give me that, let's see a WMD, a Nanolaminate covered lance that has been densified to resist heavy armor, a set of heat cannon rounds and it looks like a sniper rifle, whoa a high end Anti-G force suit, that's an exotic piece of equipment.
-Marcus likes the idea of that piece of equipment, as he enjoyed using the lance from the old suit he used but having a newer stronger one would look great with him using it-