Day two: 08:30 local time ( 29-hour clock )

I pop my neck as I wake up. I take a look at the clock as I yawn. Eight-thirty. Six hours till noon.
"Good morning, Pilot Cooper"

I scratch my head. "Morning CV. Anything interesting happen during the night?"

"No anomalies noted in the past eight hours, Pilot Cooper"

I nod, ever so slightly. "Thanks, CV"

"Would you like me to run basic decon?"

I shake my head in agreement. "In lieu of a good bath, yes. Unless someone was clever enough to rig a shower somewhere here"

"I detect no shower mechanisms in the vicinity, Pilot Cooper"

I sigh. "Alright then. Run basic decon"

"Running decon"

A field pulses through the center of CV's frame, cleansing CV's interior mechanisms and myself. "Decon complete"
I pull the hatch at the top of CV's pod and hop out. Good thing about CV's decon subsystems is that I can sleep in my suit and be completely cleaned the next morning.
"Morning Melissa"

I nod to David. "David. Sleep well?"

"Ask me after I'm done with my bean juice"

I chuckle. "Bean juice?"

David takes a large swig from his cup and slams it down on the counter. Thank goodness for metal cups. "Bean juice"

I smirk. "That's the first time I've heard coffee called that"

David nods. "Catches most people off guard. There's more coffee over the firepit"
I nod, then go get myself a cup of coffee

[-]

Day two: 10:36 local time ( 29-hour clock )

"Ma'am, Charlie Actual here. We're detecting some kind of proximity signal. I'm guessing we tripped something during our patrol and it's going off now. Going to investigate now, will update when we center in"

I look to CV with a wild grin on my face. "Alright Charlie Squad. Keep me updated"
I turn to Doctor Grayson. "We have something!"

The good doctor grins as well. "Finally! Guys, start packing up the camp, we'll be heading deeper into the ruins"

"Bravo, Delta, and Echo squads, form up on me. We're about to relocate"

I climb up into CV's piloting chamber. "What do you think we'll find, CV?"

"Something new, I expect. Perhaps a hint as to what the construct is?"

I grin. "Here's hoping"

"Squads Bravo, Delta, and Echo have arrived"

"Alright. Open up the hatch" I take a look at the squads. "Okay, Charlie squad found something deep in the ruins, so while the eggheads pack things up, we're gonna go make sure the area is devoid of any mechanical traps or the like. We clear?"

David nods. "Clear as crystal, ma'am"

I nod, then sit back in CV's cockpit. "Move out!"

[-]

Day two: 12:49 local time ( 29-hour clock )

"Ma'am, Charlie Actual. We've located the source of the signal. It appears to be a large spire of some kind. We believe it may have the answers our eggheads are looking for"

I nod. "Good copy, Charlie Actual. Bravo, Delta, and Echo squads are en-route, and will help secure the area before our eggheads arrive. How copy?"

"Good copy. Will perform local recon. Over and out"

I sigh, relieved. "Well, at least it'll be easy to find our new campsite"

"A giant spire, in an open area? Yah, shouldn't be a hassle"

I smirk. "CV, you getting snarky with me?"

"I would never, Pilot Cooper"

"Right"

I hop out of CV's chassis and start walking with Bravo Squad. "Melissa"

I nod. "David"

"Charlie Squad find our signal source?"

I nod again. "Giant spire in a big open area"

David shakes his head. "Crazy"

"You're telling me"

I look at David. "Hey, was your dad Eli Anderson?"

David gives me a confused, shocked look. "Yah, how'd you find out?"

"Your last name. Dad was curious"

David shakes his head. "Heh. Of course he was. You know your dad beat my dad's record in the gauntlet, right?"

I nod. "And I beat his record when I ran the gauntlet. Oh, you should've seen the look on Field Commander Briggs' face when I cleared the finish line"

"I'm calling bullshit"

I turn to face him, an eyebrow high and a grin on my face. "Call Field Commander Briggs if you don't believe me. I'm not going to lie to you, David"

I hear Cameron chuckle, along with the other two riflemen. "I think that's the first time I've heard Anderson curse on this little trip, ma'am"

"And there's our giant spire. Charlie Squad, we see the giant spire. How we looking?"

"All clear ma'am. Campsite is prepped and ready for our eggheads"

[-]

Day two: 13:26 local time ( 29-hour clock )

I nod as Doctor Grayson and his team arrive. "Welcome to the camp, Doc. Make yourself at home"

Grayson nods. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander Cooper. Now, what are your thoughts on this… giant spire construct?"

I look to the Spire. "We think it's the main activation and communications array with the construct. We've found some symbols in the area that we saw on the construct on our way to Shanxi"

Grayson nods. "That's good to hear. Perhaps we'll also uncover some record of why this construct wasn't activated… or how it came to be deactivated. In any case, it looks like we'll have an interesting and productive time here"

I nod. "Let's take a look at the terminals here, then"

[-]

Day two: 16:42 local time ( 29-hour clock )

I finish cleaning my rifle for the umpteenth time as Charlie Squad returns from their patrol. Our turn now.
"Bravo Squad, form up"

Cameron, Lyon, and Burke walk over. "Patrol time, boss?" Cameron asks.
I nod.

"Finally. Getting bored of watching Lt. Cmdr. Cooper tap away at a terminal" Burke says.

I turn to face Burke. "Even with that view?"

Lyon chuckles. "You know how protocol is. Can't fraternize a whole lot with the higher ups, even when they look that good"

I shake my head. "Move out"

"Anything we need to look for, boss?" I hear Cameron ask

"Not really. We're in a secure location, surrounded by defenses, and not a hint of hostile wildlife to bother us. Unless something drops on top of our camp, which is highly unlikely, I doubt we'll see any action"

I hear Burke sigh. "I hate boring posts"

I nod. "Me too, but at least the pay's good"

Everyone laughs at that.
Our patrol is rather quiet after that. We make our rounds, thinking about home, or our next assignment, or whether or not we'll see a conflict in our lifetimes. My thoughts return to my parents. The few memories I have of Dad before he went to Typhon. The stories Mother told me of the Militia and the SRS. Eventually, I find myself thinking about something new, but something that shouldn't surprise me:
Piloting my own Titan.
It's a possibility, to be sure. If I trained hard enough, I could get Pilot certification and get my own Titan. If I did, what titan would I pick though?
Ion?
For a moment, I picture myself in an Ion cockpit, pouring automatic fire in close quarters, destroying all with a massive laser core. It's powerful, but doesn't appeal to me.
What about Northstar? With the improvements to her kit, and the swapping out of a plasma railgun for a quad launcher, I could hover above the battlefield, raining death and endless missiles upon enemies. It does have a certain appeal, but I shake my head.
Of course, I could pick -
"Hey boss, you there?"

I nod. Heh. Got distracted. "Yah, yah. I'm here. Just thinking. What's up Cameron?"

Cameron shakes his head. "Word from the Lt. Cmdr. Eggheads found a working terminal, apparently, and got it legible enough to tell us what we're doing here"

"And? What's that?"

"Boss, apparently, it's called a Mass Relay, and it requires this new rock called element zero to function. Boss lady wants us to find some, if we can"

I nod. Makes sense that the big construct would require some magic space rocks to work. "Alright then. Tell Lt. Cmdr. Cooper that we'll keep our eyes peeled"

[-]

Well, got chapter 5 done! Two more chapters and this arc should be complete ( I say should be, but this could take a bit ) In any case, I felt I should mention that I've set up communities on Discord and on Reddit if you wanna join and hang out with me ( Really, I don't mind. I'm a huge freakin' extrovert )

Discord: /EGApJWS

Reddit: r/Random_Writings/