Spacelog Entry
20116-555:
Corneria shut down our strike force after the last incident in our first-run against the Venomian Armada. The Mandarian Arwings where to costly to maintain, let alone to replace any of them that got lost in battle. Although these were not excuses to stop any mission to take place in the future, Captain Jason A. Riley retired from the CFE elite, going back to his life of boxing and trying to forget the atrocity of losing a friend in battle.
I exiled myself to a secluded area in a nearby galaxy, away from everybody and everything. I found out that there was deserves vacant in the infantry forces sent to that place, therefore I sign up for the sake of keeping my military skills sharp and active.
All of this happened right after the wake for Ensign Wrangler Kardiak was over. He had neither family nor friends among the Cornerian forces, therefore me; Jason, and a few others from CEF were present at the funeral. It must have been difficult for Jason to let go of one of his closest friends in the aerial force.
My days as pilot seemed long forgotten, that is, until I received a holo-message from Admiral Corgan to request my presence back in Corneria. I found out that the invitation was for Jason as well; fate would string our threads together once more...
-Martyr Desertfox.
Chapter 1: Bittersweet Victory
Jason rested his left arm on the lawn chair while he held the newspaper with the other. A photo of him holding the title belt did not bring him any joy or amusement, much to his own discomfort.
On his left, a small crystal table, which held a holo-com device that has played four messages about ten minutes ago. Two of them were from news reporters that were pt on hold when they asked for an interview the night he won the boxing match. One of them was about his medic asking for another appointment to take a look to that left eye of his (which was fully functional, it simply swollen the night he received Mandrill's pounding, but the physician wanted to make it a big deal), the last message was the only one that perplexed him the most.
Fame was not in it.
Worried doctors were not in it.
Family was not in it.
"CEF Headquarters, to recipient Jason O'Reily:
Your presence is required one week from the date marked on this message. One of our officers will pick you on your home address at 0700 hours.
Sincerely,
Gral. Pepper, CEF HQ"
The General's image faded as the message finished. It has been exactly one week after it was sent to his locker room that night in the boxing stadium, making his victory quite a bitter one.
On the other hand, it was right on time as the officers that handed him the holo-chip walked out Mandrill, who was in a rampage trying to get Jason after the gold was taken from his bloody hands.
"Hrm."
He glanced over at the digital clock, blinking six fifty-eight in the morning. He closed his eyes, expecting his visitor to appear outside his apartment in any minute.
buzz!
"Right on cue."
Jason stretched and walked towards the door, dressed on a wine-colored sweater and faded jeans, with brown boots that made heavy thuds on the carpeted room.
buzz!
Jason turned on the intercom near the doorframe, without turning on the mini-monitor that was above the blinking buttons.
"Hello?"
"Captain Jason O'Reily? I've come to hitch you a ride, sir." Replied a cheery female voice at the other end.
Hitch you a ride?
"Alright, I will be right out." Said Jason, opening the door slowly, his head looking to see who was that CEF just sent. A pink-furred cat in military uniform waved slightly, as she flashed a big smile.
Kat.
Tires squealed as Kat drove along the vast highway that connected the city. Jason felt glad that he was wearing a safety belt.
"General Pepper has been hunting for you for weeks, Captain. CEF has been busy for sometime now, trying to contact officers around the clock. Something big's going on, but no one but the General and a few senior officers know what. They didn't let us-the small people- have all the juicy details."
Jason rubbed the end of his nose with his hand, trying not to let her know that he did not want any part of this. She shifted gears in her sports car, evading any traffic that accumulated at that time of day. One intersection after another, she shifted gears, dashing or slowing down on the busy highway around the city.
"I hope I am not boring you with this talk, sir. I am just trying to eat up time while I get you there." Kat looked at him for a second, her face beaming while her sunglasses reflected the glittering sun above.
"Not at all, Kat." Jason said, grinning and hoping there would be nothing else said until he reached his destination.
The CEF building was the first thing he saw in the horizon, white marbled over blue, proudly standing between the big city and the mountains that were behind it. This was the biggest building that was beside the aerial launch base that was used to deploy Arwing fighters into space. Sounds of ground tanks as well as space fighters filled the air around, muting the motor sounds of Kat's sports car. Headquarters looked good, being repaired after the last attack from Venom. Everything seemed the same around the premises before Jason.
He felt like arriving home after a long exile.
Kat pulled over to the security booth at the entrance of the military base, slowing down as a stripped sign lowered in front of her car. The door from the booth opened as a military officer came out, walking to the side of the vehicle.
"Good afternoon, may I see your credentials, please."
Kat handed the officer two plastic credentials, one red coated with a silver stripe, the other, blue with a white stripe on its side. The officer swiped the red credential on his holographic reader, data reading trough a holographic display. It revealed a body frame of Kat, with her stats reading on the side. A green light flashed on the device, approving it.
The officer swiped the blue card, displaying the same contents of it, only this time there was no figure frame and the only words appearing on the screen were "CODE 0015: GUEST". A few moments later, Jason's name and stats appeared, with a photo of his profile and the security bar reading CIVILIAN. This time, the light was blue blinking for a few moments, and then turning green.
The officer gave the credentials back to Kat, nodding at her as he went back inside the booth. The sign went up a few seconds later, allowing Kat mobilize her vehicle inside slowly. Jason turned and looked at her, a bit puzzled.
"I've run into a few problems the last time I sped here," Kat replied to his silent question, her smile still beaming on her face. "But enough about me, we're almost there". Her car was half the speed when it rode trough a long paved road. Arwing garages, walking armored tanks, and officers in training were side by side as Jason gazed upon the short tour.
Jason looked up at the sky turning gray, announcing the coming of a rainstorm. His mind was drifting into thoughts as dark as the clouds above as Kat parked the car in front of one of the main building at CEF. He wondered if the change in weather was to foreshadow on events yet to come.
Corneria shut down our strike force after the last incident in our first-run against the Venomian Armada. The Mandarian Arwings where to costly to maintain, let alone to replace any of them that got lost in battle. Although these were not excuses to stop any mission to take place in the future, Captain Jason A. Riley retired from the CFE elite, going back to his life of boxing and trying to forget the atrocity of losing a friend in battle.
I exiled myself to a secluded area in a nearby galaxy, away from everybody and everything. I found out that there was deserves vacant in the infantry forces sent to that place, therefore I sign up for the sake of keeping my military skills sharp and active.
All of this happened right after the wake for Ensign Wrangler Kardiak was over. He had neither family nor friends among the Cornerian forces, therefore me; Jason, and a few others from CEF were present at the funeral. It must have been difficult for Jason to let go of one of his closest friends in the aerial force.
My days as pilot seemed long forgotten, that is, until I received a holo-message from Admiral Corgan to request my presence back in Corneria. I found out that the invitation was for Jason as well; fate would string our threads together once more...
-Martyr Desertfox.
Chapter 1: Bittersweet Victory
Jason rested his left arm on the lawn chair while he held the newspaper with the other. A photo of him holding the title belt did not bring him any joy or amusement, much to his own discomfort.
On his left, a small crystal table, which held a holo-com device that has played four messages about ten minutes ago. Two of them were from news reporters that were pt on hold when they asked for an interview the night he won the boxing match. One of them was about his medic asking for another appointment to take a look to that left eye of his (which was fully functional, it simply swollen the night he received Mandrill's pounding, but the physician wanted to make it a big deal), the last message was the only one that perplexed him the most.
Fame was not in it.
Worried doctors were not in it.
Family was not in it.
"CEF Headquarters, to recipient Jason O'Reily:
Your presence is required one week from the date marked on this message. One of our officers will pick you on your home address at 0700 hours.
Sincerely,
Gral. Pepper, CEF HQ"
The General's image faded as the message finished. It has been exactly one week after it was sent to his locker room that night in the boxing stadium, making his victory quite a bitter one.
On the other hand, it was right on time as the officers that handed him the holo-chip walked out Mandrill, who was in a rampage trying to get Jason after the gold was taken from his bloody hands.
"Hrm."
He glanced over at the digital clock, blinking six fifty-eight in the morning. He closed his eyes, expecting his visitor to appear outside his apartment in any minute.
buzz!
"Right on cue."
Jason stretched and walked towards the door, dressed on a wine-colored sweater and faded jeans, with brown boots that made heavy thuds on the carpeted room.
buzz!
Jason turned on the intercom near the doorframe, without turning on the mini-monitor that was above the blinking buttons.
"Hello?"
"Captain Jason O'Reily? I've come to hitch you a ride, sir." Replied a cheery female voice at the other end.
Hitch you a ride?
"Alright, I will be right out." Said Jason, opening the door slowly, his head looking to see who was that CEF just sent. A pink-furred cat in military uniform waved slightly, as she flashed a big smile.
Kat.
Tires squealed as Kat drove along the vast highway that connected the city. Jason felt glad that he was wearing a safety belt.
"General Pepper has been hunting for you for weeks, Captain. CEF has been busy for sometime now, trying to contact officers around the clock. Something big's going on, but no one but the General and a few senior officers know what. They didn't let us-the small people- have all the juicy details."
Jason rubbed the end of his nose with his hand, trying not to let her know that he did not want any part of this. She shifted gears in her sports car, evading any traffic that accumulated at that time of day. One intersection after another, she shifted gears, dashing or slowing down on the busy highway around the city.
"I hope I am not boring you with this talk, sir. I am just trying to eat up time while I get you there." Kat looked at him for a second, her face beaming while her sunglasses reflected the glittering sun above.
"Not at all, Kat." Jason said, grinning and hoping there would be nothing else said until he reached his destination.
The CEF building was the first thing he saw in the horizon, white marbled over blue, proudly standing between the big city and the mountains that were behind it. This was the biggest building that was beside the aerial launch base that was used to deploy Arwing fighters into space. Sounds of ground tanks as well as space fighters filled the air around, muting the motor sounds of Kat's sports car. Headquarters looked good, being repaired after the last attack from Venom. Everything seemed the same around the premises before Jason.
He felt like arriving home after a long exile.
Kat pulled over to the security booth at the entrance of the military base, slowing down as a stripped sign lowered in front of her car. The door from the booth opened as a military officer came out, walking to the side of the vehicle.
"Good afternoon, may I see your credentials, please."
Kat handed the officer two plastic credentials, one red coated with a silver stripe, the other, blue with a white stripe on its side. The officer swiped the red credential on his holographic reader, data reading trough a holographic display. It revealed a body frame of Kat, with her stats reading on the side. A green light flashed on the device, approving it.
The officer swiped the blue card, displaying the same contents of it, only this time there was no figure frame and the only words appearing on the screen were "CODE 0015: GUEST". A few moments later, Jason's name and stats appeared, with a photo of his profile and the security bar reading CIVILIAN. This time, the light was blue blinking for a few moments, and then turning green.
The officer gave the credentials back to Kat, nodding at her as he went back inside the booth. The sign went up a few seconds later, allowing Kat mobilize her vehicle inside slowly. Jason turned and looked at her, a bit puzzled.
"I've run into a few problems the last time I sped here," Kat replied to his silent question, her smile still beaming on her face. "But enough about me, we're almost there". Her car was half the speed when it rode trough a long paved road. Arwing garages, walking armored tanks, and officers in training were side by side as Jason gazed upon the short tour.
Jason looked up at the sky turning gray, announcing the coming of a rainstorm. His mind was drifting into thoughts as dark as the clouds above as Kat parked the car in front of one of the main building at CEF. He wondered if the change in weather was to foreshadow on events yet to come.