She hadn't gone to Jose's funeral.
A deep unsettling feeling would settle in her belly when she thought of going and it would burn when she looked at the envelope that now sat on the small dining room table of her apartment. She stared at it for hours when she first received it. Hesitant to open it knowing what was inside. It sat there on the dining table for three days before she mustered up the nerve to open it. She looked over the details slowly then shoved the card back into the envelope and threw it back onto the table.
She wouldn't go she decided almost immediately. She just couldn't bring herself to go. She had already mourned for him in her own way. Not only that but the thought of seeing him dead, skin with a pasty sheen to it made her wont to cry. That was not the Jose she wanted to remember.
She was sure he would understand.
Ranil had never seen anything quite as big as the Warped Callisto. The biggest vessel she had ever been on was a military transport and compared to the colony vessel in front of her it was nothing but a toy in comparison. She stood by the boarding platform for a good couple minutes just looking up at the behemoth. Though, that was a Waylen-Yutani funded vessel for you. Huge and over the top in every way. She had no doubt that the inside was just as ridiculous as the outside. Slowly she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she began her trek up the boarding plat form. One inside she made her way through the check in which reminded her of when she got her driver's license with the silly questions like what's your eye color, contacts or glasses. From there she and the other military persons were herded to an auditorium on the high levels of the Warped Callisto to be briefed.
She sighed as she shoved her bag under the seat she sat on looking up at the stage as she did so. A tall man well into his thirties stood straight with his arms behind his back in front of the podium. A rather pleased look on his face as people continued to pour into the auditorium. A Waylen-Yutani spokesmen no doubt though she didn't see why he was there when the man himself, Charles Bishop Waylend, was sitting but a couple feet away…Maybe not then. It wasn't much longer -about ten minutes- before the doors were closed and the room fell completely silent.
"Welcome!" The voice was so sudden it made Ranil jump in her seat.
Charles Bishop Waylend the owner stood. A broad smile painted his face.
"You have all signed up for a most important position. The continued protection of the Colonists on Prospect is a vital task that has been assigned to you all. To protect them you will need to know what you will be protecting them from. The native animals are brutes. Very territorial and don't have the sense of fear instilled in them that predators of Earth do. It is your job to protect the Civilians till they do." He said looking over the crowd of Military. "Now I will hand this over to Doctor Dolance Rezwon."
Waylend nodded to the man at the podium as he sat. Dolance moved then from the podium to the far right of the stage in a slow leasurly pace. Arms behind his back.
"I am Dolance Rezwon as Mr. Waylend said. I am one of the many that have researched Prospects native species since colonizing started began two years ago. Right now it is my job to inform you of the dangers that they are and how to effectively protect others and yourself." As he spoke the lights dimmed and a picture began to materialize behind him. "First I will go over the ones you will need to look out for at all times..."
She stopped listening to most of what he said after the second picture became clear on screen. All she needed to know was how to take them down and if they had some sort of natural poison she needed to be wary of. Not the creatures personality and bone structure. Ridiculous.
She could see many felt the same. The guy in front of her feel asleep with in the first half-hour.
Now that was just sad.
She didn't know how long Dolance talked but she was glad when he finished his speech. Handing over the podium Waylend gave a grand end speech then they were dismissed. Ranil waited till the auditorium was mostly empty till she herself left. Finding where she needed to go was simple. Six levels down was the military sec. where all military was to report to their rooms to become acquainted with their new squad. She would admit she was a bit nervous. Her team would probably be made up of a bunch of roudy young Marines out to make aname for them self or something of the like and she didn't much like the though. She hoped her platoon was full of more seasoned fighters. Not some cocky young blood ready to fire his pistol at any moving shadow.
'What are you worrying about? You're just meeting some new faces.' She thought to herself trying to calm her nerves. 'No worries They'll be...'
What? Great, fantastic, all you might have imagined?
Sighing she ran her hand through her short mahogany colored hair. Nervously she made her way down the hall to her 'Barrack's' where she would meet her team. As well as be in Crio for most of the trip from what she under stood. The halls looked much the same with nothing but numbers on the doors and walls to distinguish where you were and maybe a picture or two but not much else.
KM-320 was painted black on the metal door. Her destination. Ranil stood there for a good minute calming her nerves as wiped hand sweaty hands on her pants. Sighing she quickly slid her access key that gave a beep and the door she stood in front of slid open with a hiss. A sigh of relief left her as she saw no one. Quickly she moved into the room dropping her things next to the closest Crio Pod.
One word to describe them was loud. Conversation was a constant with her new platoon. Not once it seemed for the whole week aboard the warped Callisto had been docked before heading out for Prospect was it quite with them. At first Ranil felt a bit overwhelming by them. Not just the talking and cruel joking but just how dominant their personalities were. The fact that they all got along was a mystery in itself. Though it was obvious that there was a limit to what could be said and done to one another. Her new Russian friend Diederich Petroy made that very clear when he pummeled Randy Covack down a couple pegs for something he said. She wasn't quite sure exactly what was said between the two but next thing everyone knew Diederich and all his 6"9', two hundred plus pounds of muscle had Randy pinned on his back cursing like a sailor as his fist hit Randy's face like a sledge hammer. He hit him a good two more times before it seemed to register with everyone what was happening. Then the whole room it seemed was in movement.
The first to reach them was Silvica, the team's albino android who grabbed Diederich by the shoulders and threw him across the room and from the looks of it with little effort on her part. Just as quick he was up on his feet, a feral look on his face. A string of curses in his native tongue followed in quick succession as he glared at silvica who was in a crouched defensive stance, prepared should Petroy decided to retaliate for whatever reason. Randys good friend David Sovet was standing over him amused and laughing. He was tall and lanky. Ranil dubbed him the red head step child of the group because of his hair. He laughed at her when she told him shrugged his shoulders and took it as a compliment. Which she wasn't sure if she meant it to be taken that way. Off in the corner of the room was Andy Rodane, arms crossed glaring at the two in disproval. She was an intimidating woman. Ranil had been more than just a little scared of her. Tall with dark skin, cool blue eyes, silent, and imposing. A force, she learned, to be reckoned with.
Of to her right was Steve Wildens. Her new teams Platoon leader. He was by far the loudest out of all of them and he was already off on a tirade. Yelling at the three for being a bunch of idiot and how they better hurry there asses over to the medic bay and back. Grudgingly the two made their way out the door as it slid closed with a hiss. Laughter filled the room and she glanced over at the last of her squad. Melany Redants was bowed over slightly laughing like seeing the two reprimanded was the funniest thing on earth. There wasn't much to be said about her. Ranil got the feeling that she thought she was all that and a bag of chips. She may have been kind of drop dead gorgeous but that didn't mean much in the military of at the very least that's what Ranil though. Though they got along well enough.
"So newbie what do y'ah think?" Andy questioned as she stood beside her Crio pod in full military gear.
Sighing Ranil adjusted her gear. "Not sure…" she replied slowly. "Why full gear? Do they intend to send us out immediately after landing?"
A shrug of her shoulders was her answer. A frown settled on her face as she glanced at the others. Full gear, grumbling to one another about the inconvenience of it.
"These Crio pods are small enough as is." David wined out in frustration. Ranil half expected him to stomp his foot.
"Could be worse you now." Randy said with a smile on his face, wincing slightly because of the bruising. "They could have made us get into these things naked!" He added glancing over at Melany who promptly flipped him off.
"I don't know if I like the sound of that." David replied. "I'm not very fond of the thought of seeing the serge naked."
Ranil couldn't help herself from laughing at that along with the others it seemed. Diederich who rarely cracked a smile was chuckling at that one. Wildens gave a deadly glare in their direction, lips pulled into a thin line. Seconds later the room fell quiet one more.
They stood there in relative silence for a few more minutes before the door slid open and a middle aged woman walked in. She looked at them all each in turn. Checking things off on the chart she'd brought in with her. In a rare instance she asked a question and once answered she moved on. The inspection of them all took less than ten minutes and the woman took her place by the door. From there she explained how crio worked and when they would be woken up. The whole trip would take fifteen months and they wouldn't be awake for it.
"Now please lay within the crio pod and I will take care of the rest." She said as she walked over to the left by the door where the main computer sat.
Slowly she pulled herself into the crio pod and tried to situate herself once lying down. Fidgeting her legs in discomfort she looked over at the woman who oddly hadn't even given a name and she didn't even have a name tag. Something about that didn't sit well with her. It made her stomach twist painfully as a numb sensation settled in her legs. Quickly she forced any unpleasant thoughts away and closed her eyes, focused her mind on every breath she took.
'No point in worrying yourself now over something so Pointless.' She grumbled to herself as the crio pod closed and locked with a loud clack and hiss.