[b]Ishkaar
Azura Colony
Militia Central Command[/b]

Captain Adrian Garroway silently paced about the central holotable of the command center, the skeleton night staff leaving him alone to his musings. The silence galled him as a soldier. A veteran of the Sovereign Colonies Wars, the very idea of a command center being in such a state was anathema to him. But there was no choice, there were too few specialists to maintain the command center on a full-time basis. Instead a staggered on-watch, off-watch system stretched out the limited manpower available in addition to a lot more automation and VI-management than he was comfortable with. It was either this or not having any command staff aboard the Endeavor, which was already running on a skeleton crew besides the troops stationed up there.

Tapping the table to bring up a command console, he brought up a report from the recon corps. Grissom and Ramos colonies were acting up lately. More radical speeches and aggressive movements coming from Azura's neighbors on Ishkaar, calls for fighting for what they needed to survive in the face of rising native hostility and the lack of resupply from their sponsors in the Independent Systems Commonwealth making them desperate.

Making them look towards Azura, who just recieved a shipment of drones from the Eudaimonia Foundation which could be bought and shipped quickly while a full expeditionary force was being assembled and fueled up for the long jump to Dacyria. Those reinforcements were a long ways away.

In the morning, he'd have to talk to the President about what to do about their neighbors. And all the other newcomers to this world that were streaming in. He'd already received "offers" by PMC's offering security and order in exchange for basing and "amenities". Prices and terms verging on extortion in Adrian's opinion. He knew exactly what those mercs intended to turn this research colony into, and what they would likely look for. Not just for pretty faces and bars, but the valuable research data they held on bioengineering likely worth a fortune to someone. Not going to happen on his watch.

If Azura was to survive, it would have to deal with these problems by itself. And he was already beginning to think of a plan. Planning for said plan was interrupted though when an urgant report was relayed from a satellite drone just above Ramos.

"Get me the Endeavor on the horn!"

[b]High Orbit
Colonial Starship Endeavor
Crew Quarters, Section 7[/b]

One thing that could be said for a colony ship was that it had plenty of space. Especially when a ship meant for 7,000 was occupied by just 300. The large central cargo bays when emptied of cargo and colonization supplies and improvised barracks offered plenty of room for anyone still onboard. Plenty of room for Zeta Squad to set up a impromptu training arena to practice in their Jackets against an array of training drones.

At the center was a lion-eared young man dancing against spinning remotes, with plenty of onlookers watching the show above on walkways. The Lion stomped left and right, firing bursts from his right-arm machinegun whilst serving and ducking the buzzing remote drones as best he could, only to catch a drone straight in the chest from a single mistep, sending him smacking into the side of the impromptu arena.

"Five minutes, nineteen seconds! Improvement of five seconds Tanner!" Called out Jaeger as he punched the off-switch command on the drone remote, sending the bots back into their alcove. "You alright down there?"

"Not certain sir. Can't feel my body." Slurred Claus from his slumped position with a large dent in his Jacket's chestplate. "Does it have to be so hard sergeant?"

"Tanner, the lieutenant can go at level 10 drones for a solid hour and she ain't a combat-type like you." Remarked the Pointman from his perch. "This is just embarrassing. Sain, Kent, go pick him up." The masked soldier gestured at the pair of clones.

"No need boss, the lion's pride is already on deck." Said Sain as a side gate into the arena opened, and Claus was promptly released from his Jacket's restraints by three sets of helping hands, with two concerned Hornet pilots and a Jacket-jock girl checking him for injuries and pressing a sports drink into his mouth and consoling him with a pat on the head to his dismay and verbal disagreement, before finally accepting being pampered when none of the three were relenting.

"Seriously? Why does this guy get all the girls?" Sain asked his clone brother as they both watched Claus be forcibly attended to while Jaeger and the Pointman left to get suited up for their own round of sparring. "I know he's good in a Jacket and in the sack, but that doesn't explain his popularity wherever he goes."

"Maybe he got pheromones in his lion-kit?" Postulated Kent, mildly amused by how Claus was now attempting to walk without ending up with a lady on both arms despite barely being able to stand on his own after the impact. It had been a recurring pattern with their squadmate to accumulate something of a 'pride' like a real Lion wherever he stayed for a period of time without even putting much dedicated thought to women unless they spelled out their relationship to his face, which they did. Personally, Kent had little interest himself in such personal affairs, free-love being one of the major tenents of the Eudaimonia Foundation afterall, but his brother-clone Sain simply wouldn't shut up about it.

"Could be it. We ought to ask. Oh snap, here comes the lieutenant." Both clones snapped to attention at the characteristic footsteps of Lieutenant May as she strode across the catwalks with a firm resolve in full Jacket armor, with both shoulders and arms loaded with guns and firepower. Yet the most stunning thing about her at first glance were the pink stripes across her armor and weapons to match her genetically-ingrained pink hair. Not that it made her any less fearsome in the eyes of the Westinghouse clones as she turned her glare down at the scene below.

"Tanner! Bishop! Redrosa! Mapleton! Stop playing around and clean this up! Training is canceled, briefing from command in five minutes!" Ordered Lieutenant May, her soprano voice starkly contrasting with her harsh tone as she didn't even bat an eyelid at the scene before her. "Be prepared for rapid deployment, it looks like Ramos is about to make the first move on us, and I want Zeta at the ready! Do you hear me?"

"WE HEAR YOU MA'AM!"