En Route to Ronin - "The Marine"

Posted on Thu Jul 2nd, 2009 @ 11:51pm by Commander Jordan Gunning

Mission: Dark Discoveries
Location: Hopper

Jordan sat trying his hardest to avoid the gaze of the Marine Sergeant sitting across from him. The Hopper that they were currently being transported in was a very impressive, if spartan little ship but to examine her in more detail would mean looking up into the cold dead eyes of that thug. Jordan had always had a problem with Marines ever since his posting on the Psiren.

It had not been seen as a disciplinary incident and the three marines that he had managed to get the upper hand on had never seen fit to press charges but Jordan always remembered it as the first time he realised he would not be corrupted by the villainy he so often saw around him. The three marines had been smuggling chemical stimulants onto the ship and, because they were outwith the direct chain of command, they thought they were above the law. When Jordan had gone to blow their operation; they did not go quietly.

He could feel the eyes of this marine boring into his skull as he persisted in staring at the deck plate, trying to read the tiny imprinted serial number on its edge. The hum of the Hopper's engines was the only present sound as the other personnel sat in complete silence, anticipating some kind of confrontation.

Despite the lack of any actual incident, there was a tangible air of antagonism hanging heavy in the passenger compartment. Jordan eventually decided that he'd had enough of this nonsense. He slowly raised his head until he was sitting perfectly straight in his seat. The marine looked back at him with a sudden air of concern in is eyes.

"Are you alright, Lieutenant? You're not Spacesick are you?" He spoke in a voice much softer than anything Jordan had anticipated.

He shot back a confused glance, suddenly realising that the issue had been in his head and the compartment had been quiet because the passengers were worried he was ill. "No, no. I'm fine, thank you."

Jordan wanted the deck plate to disappear and suck him out into space. He was embarassed to look any of them in the eye again. He sat in complete silence, staring out of the viewing port as he saw a huge form appear in the corner.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please prepare for docking with Starbase Ronin," came the voice of the pilot over the communication system, "we'd like to thank you for flying Air Sta-OW! What was that f-"

The communications channel was cut, denoting his co-pilot took little pleasure in his sense of humour. At least he wasn't the only one who felt stupid.