Post by Dareck on Feb 22, 2017 17:03:37 GMT -8
Notch, saw, crash. Notch, saw, crash. Dareck had been at it for hours, a trail of felled trees as tall as his forestry mech behind him. It was easy really, once the coffee hit you and the rhythm of work got into your head. In his ‘Mech, it was easy to lose himself in the work and the sound of his diamond bladed saw that was his right arm chewing through the trees. Before he knew it, the trail was cut for miles as Dareck worked to fill his quota for the day. Pausing his work for a moment, he reached for his thermos, taking a large swig of coffee. He flipped on his rear camera, taking a look at the trail behind him. A perfect pattern, as usual.
Putting his drink to the side, he went to rev up his ‘Mech again when his mic crackled to life.
“04, this is dispatch, come on back to base, we’re shutting down operations for the day.” Dareck frowned. This was unusual. It wasn’t even mid-afternoon yet.
Dareck keyed the comm, “04 to dispatch. A bit early to be cutting work isn’t it? I still have a quarter of my quota to fill.”
“I hear you, but this is coming from head. They’re killing operations for the day. It’s weird I agree. I reckon we’ll have more word on why by the time you get back,” the voice replied.
Dareck looked out at the expanse of trees in front of him, endless trees as far as the eyes could see. A heavily forested world, Carstairs was one of the many worlds that supplied the Commonwealth with its lumber supplies, and well enough out of the way that it was never in danger of anything short of an official equipment inspection.
Sighing, Dareck started up his ’Mech, turned it around and started trundling back towards basecamp.
As Dareck guided his ‘Mech into camp, a controller pointed him towards an empty bay. Dareck backed into the bay and cut power. Opening his canopy, he rolled out his ladder and slid down it.
He turned to his tech and grinned, “Purrs like a kitten today, Dieter.”
His tech nodded, “Good to hear. Glad we got that saw fixed up for you. Be sad to have a diamond fragment flying through your cockpit.”
“Morbid as always, aren’t you?”
His tech smirked “Gotta keep you down to earth somehow. Lord knows you lose all sense of reality while you’re logging”
“Ha! Thanks Dieter. Imma go grab some chow and then find out why we’ve been grounded so early.”
Dieter spoke over his shoulder as he turned to walk away, “ Someone said something about a strange ship in orbit. A big one.”
“A ship? Random inspection you think?”
Dieter shrugged. “With a ship as big as the one they’re talking about? Not likely. Could be the Clans.”
“Really, Dieter? The Clans? At a backwater planet like this? I doubt it. Who needs to be brought down to earth now? The Clans are just a boogeyman to us. I doubt we’ll ever see them.”
“Hey I’m just telling you what the rumor is right now,” Dieter replied nonchalantly.
“Alright, well, I’m off to chow. See ya,” Dareck threw dieter a mocking salute and strode off towards the chow hall.
Entering the chow hall, Dareck surveyed the room, and found his longtime friend Marten in the corner, digging into a plate of bratwurst and sauerkraut. Grabbing a plate for himself from the line, he sat across from Marten. Taking a drink from his thermos, he drilled Marten with a questioning look. Marten shook his head.
“I don’t know either, Dareck.”
“I haven’t even asked a question.” He retorted.
“You don’t have to, we’re all wondering. The rumor is a large ship in orbit, and we’re supposed to be getting an address from up top here soon. Everyone’s antsy.”
“Why am I always the last one to hear anything?” Dareck asked.
Marten shook his head. “Because you always take your damn time getting back so everyone else does the cleanup, you fuck.”
Dareck beamed. “Right you are!” He frowned. “But still. A large ship in orbit? My tech seems to think it’s the Clans.”
“Who else would park a massive ship in orbit?”
Dareck shook his head this time. “Who knows. But the clans? We’re hardly a military target.”
Marten took a bite before continuing. “I don’t know man. Could be a scouting party. Could be the full invasion force, looking to make this a forward base. Could be they just want the trees.”
“The trees? Youre kidding me. There’s forested worlds closer to the fighting.”
Marten nodded. “ That’s true, but not any that aren’t being contested by Commonwealth forces.”
The food suddenly tasted like ash in Dareck’s mouth as he realized that what Marten said made perfect sense. Uncontested resources. Damn. He tried to quiet his mind, saying “Well, maybe. Maybe it’s nothing. We’ll find out from the top soon I guess.”
As the two men sat there eating, sirens suddenly sounded in the distance, along with a large shock rumbling through the ground that shook the chowhall.
“What the he-“ Marten started as sirens went off even closer. A man burst into the hall.
“Everyone out! Station wide evacuation! Lets go!”
Dareck and Marten jumped up, moving with the group out of the chow hall. Jostling to stay in line as everyone moved out, another rumble shook the hall, drawing a few gasps and yelps from the crowd as everyone started moving faster. Finally clearing the building, Dareck saw several trucks outside and foremen pointing people towards them
“Lets go! Everyone move to the trucks and load up in quick, orderly fashion!” Another shockwave, more yells as people moved to the trucks faster. Dareck looked up at the sky and saw, for the first time in his life, a ship on reentry towards the planets surface. He couldn’t believe that what he was seeing was real.
Large, and rounded like an egg, the ship sported thrusters on its aft and what looked like very large weapons that dotted the ships surface. The thrusters fired, golden streams of plasma that slowed the descent of the large ship as it fell towards the ground, and made it spin in place. As it spun, Dareck saw the crest on the ship.
A green bird of prey grasping a katana. The Clans had come to Carstairs.
Putting his drink to the side, he went to rev up his ‘Mech again when his mic crackled to life.
“04, this is dispatch, come on back to base, we’re shutting down operations for the day.” Dareck frowned. This was unusual. It wasn’t even mid-afternoon yet.
Dareck keyed the comm, “04 to dispatch. A bit early to be cutting work isn’t it? I still have a quarter of my quota to fill.”
“I hear you, but this is coming from head. They’re killing operations for the day. It’s weird I agree. I reckon we’ll have more word on why by the time you get back,” the voice replied.
Dareck looked out at the expanse of trees in front of him, endless trees as far as the eyes could see. A heavily forested world, Carstairs was one of the many worlds that supplied the Commonwealth with its lumber supplies, and well enough out of the way that it was never in danger of anything short of an official equipment inspection.
Sighing, Dareck started up his ’Mech, turned it around and started trundling back towards basecamp.
As Dareck guided his ‘Mech into camp, a controller pointed him towards an empty bay. Dareck backed into the bay and cut power. Opening his canopy, he rolled out his ladder and slid down it.
He turned to his tech and grinned, “Purrs like a kitten today, Dieter.”
His tech nodded, “Good to hear. Glad we got that saw fixed up for you. Be sad to have a diamond fragment flying through your cockpit.”
“Morbid as always, aren’t you?”
His tech smirked “Gotta keep you down to earth somehow. Lord knows you lose all sense of reality while you’re logging”
“Ha! Thanks Dieter. Imma go grab some chow and then find out why we’ve been grounded so early.”
Dieter spoke over his shoulder as he turned to walk away, “ Someone said something about a strange ship in orbit. A big one.”
“A ship? Random inspection you think?”
Dieter shrugged. “With a ship as big as the one they’re talking about? Not likely. Could be the Clans.”
“Really, Dieter? The Clans? At a backwater planet like this? I doubt it. Who needs to be brought down to earth now? The Clans are just a boogeyman to us. I doubt we’ll ever see them.”
“Hey I’m just telling you what the rumor is right now,” Dieter replied nonchalantly.
“Alright, well, I’m off to chow. See ya,” Dareck threw dieter a mocking salute and strode off towards the chow hall.
Entering the chow hall, Dareck surveyed the room, and found his longtime friend Marten in the corner, digging into a plate of bratwurst and sauerkraut. Grabbing a plate for himself from the line, he sat across from Marten. Taking a drink from his thermos, he drilled Marten with a questioning look. Marten shook his head.
“I don’t know either, Dareck.”
“I haven’t even asked a question.” He retorted.
“You don’t have to, we’re all wondering. The rumor is a large ship in orbit, and we’re supposed to be getting an address from up top here soon. Everyone’s antsy.”
“Why am I always the last one to hear anything?” Dareck asked.
Marten shook his head. “Because you always take your damn time getting back so everyone else does the cleanup, you fuck.”
Dareck beamed. “Right you are!” He frowned. “But still. A large ship in orbit? My tech seems to think it’s the Clans.”
“Who else would park a massive ship in orbit?”
Dareck shook his head this time. “Who knows. But the clans? We’re hardly a military target.”
Marten took a bite before continuing. “I don’t know man. Could be a scouting party. Could be the full invasion force, looking to make this a forward base. Could be they just want the trees.”
“The trees? Youre kidding me. There’s forested worlds closer to the fighting.”
Marten nodded. “ That’s true, but not any that aren’t being contested by Commonwealth forces.”
The food suddenly tasted like ash in Dareck’s mouth as he realized that what Marten said made perfect sense. Uncontested resources. Damn. He tried to quiet his mind, saying “Well, maybe. Maybe it’s nothing. We’ll find out from the top soon I guess.”
As the two men sat there eating, sirens suddenly sounded in the distance, along with a large shock rumbling through the ground that shook the chowhall.
“What the he-“ Marten started as sirens went off even closer. A man burst into the hall.
“Everyone out! Station wide evacuation! Lets go!”
Dareck and Marten jumped up, moving with the group out of the chow hall. Jostling to stay in line as everyone moved out, another rumble shook the hall, drawing a few gasps and yelps from the crowd as everyone started moving faster. Finally clearing the building, Dareck saw several trucks outside and foremen pointing people towards them
“Lets go! Everyone move to the trucks and load up in quick, orderly fashion!” Another shockwave, more yells as people moved to the trucks faster. Dareck looked up at the sky and saw, for the first time in his life, a ship on reentry towards the planets surface. He couldn’t believe that what he was seeing was real.
Large, and rounded like an egg, the ship sported thrusters on its aft and what looked like very large weapons that dotted the ships surface. The thrusters fired, golden streams of plasma that slowed the descent of the large ship as it fell towards the ground, and made it spin in place. As it spun, Dareck saw the crest on the ship.
A green bird of prey grasping a katana. The Clans had come to Carstairs.