Gaian Pyramids III

Following two weeks of investigation the team made around the pyramids and no adverse effects on key equipment they were using, colonel Ryan McRae finally authorized the plan to leave their current camp and proceed towards their original destination.

There was a big commotion all around since the very morning. When walking around, John saw people walking around, making the final preparations before departure. In his case, all personal items he had were already loaded into one of the brawlers, aside from some smaller objects he had on him, using built-in F-suit's backpack.

While most of the people were ready to leave now, there was quite a big group - about thirty - decided to stay in the camp, continuing to work on the settlement.

Even though McRae mentioned not having resources for leaving soldiers to guard, those people were set on staying, planning to rely on colonists who had military background. However, they ended up having a great asset left for the time being, which could be easily used for guard duty - not happily, Ryan made a decision to leave Ursus behind, due to variety of reasons. This also meant the only operator also had to stay - namely Glitter.

Needless to say, Sveta was really angry because of this turn of events. She made quite a scene when told about the plan by colonel McRae.

- I'm not a fucking soldier! This was supposed to be for a moment! I've never agreed to be left in field!

Glitter went on like that for good several minutes, and nearly made Ryan lose it - fortunately, owing to John being there, situation did not escalate.

- She does have a point, colonel - Marlow told him - It really does feel like a huge responsibility for someone who is not a part of military.

McRae sat down and sighed back then.

- So, what I'm supposed to do here? You get that we don't have anyone else who can operate Ursus on any similar level? If we were to leave this mecha without operator, we can lose it. Given how many resources we've lost already...

John knew the situation, and was aware Ryan had a point there. Still, forcing someone who is not a soldier could have unwanted consequences.

- How about giving her a compensation and a guarantee of being released from this duty once different operator is found?

Colonel nodded.

- Yes, that much can be done.

Since Marlow learned quite a bit about Glitter's motivation for joining this expedition, he knew that anything including additional money would easily convince her. And it turned out that, while she was still angry a lot, Sveta finally agreed to new conditions.

Being close to the day of their leave, and having no duties at the moment, John decided to go and visit Glitter as they were not expected to see each other for quite time once he leaves. Besides, during negotiation about her staying in the camp, he also promised to visit her as often as possible - Marlow understood why she was so angry about having to take care of Ursus from the moment he visited mecha's living quarters for the first time.

Ursi were the biggest mecha ever produced, and humongous size came with a lot of useful facilities being available on board. The most important areas were obviously cockpit and engine room, but - since Ursi were originally mining machines operating in space - these MTS had much more to offer, including areas where crew could live during their contracts. Even after being militarized, most of such areas were kept intact, though adjusted to soldiers' needs.

Still, it was obvious that Sveta was finding this assignment to be demanding, based on the state of the place. Sure, she was a specialist when it came to maintenance, but combined with guard duty where Glitter had to stay in cockpit for long periods of time, keeping everything tidy was simply too much. Obviously, they had mechanics help her from time to time, whenever there were no higher priority tasks, but the more focus was put on preparations for departure, the less help she was getting. Right now, there were so many things stored here and there, John had quite a trouble to walk through the room to reach the cockpit, where Sveta should be.

"Should" was the proper word since she told him that when he checked with her beforehand, but it turned out there was no one inside.

Marlow sighed and scratched his head as he looked around the place.

- Glitter, where are you? - he asked loudly, hoping she would reply if she wa somewhere closeby.

After repeating the same a couple of times, he activated his PEC to try communicating using the module. However, this also failed - her PEC was offline based on the status displayed within the interface.

- Where did she go? - he thought to himself, taking a seat by the main console of the cockpit - There should be an intercom of the sort built-in - John started to look around, and his eyes finally found a certain panel - That's it.

The device was quite simple, even archaic, given how similar equipment was built nowadays, so it posed no problem for major to use it.

- Sveta, I'm already in the cockpit, waiting. Please reply if you heard my message.

Messages sent via intercom could be heard pretty much everywhere inside the MTS, though replying with the use of the system required the person to have the panel in reach.

For now, as he had nothing specific to do, Marlow was appreciating the view - cockpit was located high up, in the middle of the mecha's chest, allowing to see kilometers of landscape. Moreover, it was possible to move the cockpit within the Ursus' frame, enabling three hundred sixty degrees view, though it was not something he planned to do without authorization, especially since moving the whole zone would affect all areas on the way and could harm people currently on board.

Several minutes passed with John sitting like that, when Sveta walked into the cockpit. There would be nothing unusual about situation if it was not for her being completely naked, wiping her hair with a towel - due to that, she obviously did not see everything and noticed Marlow only after a moment, immediately covering her exposed body with a towel.

- I wasn't looking - major said quickly, even though it was an obvious lie - I tried to contact you, but you were not replying.

- Don't worry, it's my fault here - she replied, her cheeks red - I finally have a working shower here, and needed to take one after doing some fixes to fibers and servo in the right leg. Really sorry about that.

John felt that he should be one apologizing here, but did not want to drag this embarassing situation on, so he just nodded with a smile.

- Give me a moment - Sveta said, heading towards a door in the central part of the cockpit - I need to put something on.

It took her less than minute - not a surprising thing given she only put on underwear and some bottoms. The look Marlow gave her made Glitter immediately comment:

- You know it's hot inside even with air conditioning, right? That's why I'm not putting a lot of clothes on.

- But I'm not judging - John quickly replied - Still, I guess you are back to your usual self?

- What do you mean?

- The talk with Ryan for example?

Sveta laughed in response.

- C'mon, as long as I'm compensated all is fine.

Obviously, he was aware of her motivation behind joining the expedition, so it was no wonder. In the end, she did not change.

- So, everything's sorted out now?

- Are you that worried about me, John? Sure, it's not the perfect solution for me, given who I'm staying with, but the offer is good. I just hope colonel won't back off.

- Don't you have it signed with his seal, though?

- And what does it change? The chain of command is all messed up right now, and I recall professor Kaller often disagreed with colonel McRae. I mean, I trust him, because of you, but Mathias Kaller is a completely different matter.

- You seem to not like the guy.

- It's not a simple answer like that. It's not a matter of liking or not, it's just he seems to be a type who will do everything to reach his goal. He was responsible for getting the expedition here, and see what happened?

John sighed.

- It's not like anyoune could've expected that, right? Okay, maybe calculations for exiting the tunnel were off, but should Mathias be held responsible?

- I'd say so. He is, or maybe was, the head of this expedition. That means everything that happens is his responsibility in the end.

- I can agree on that to an extent. Still, one person cannot check everything on their own. We've got a lot of people with respective tasks, so it's them who should...

- And they were selected too, someone made that choice. That's why I don't have the best opinion about Kaller.

Marlow was about to continue the talk, but the ground suddenly started to shake.

- What the fuck!? - he shouted, while Sveta quickly sat on the platform by the main control panel.

- You will know when you have a look! - she replied, pointing at something on the screen - I'm going to zoom in.

John moved closer to see the full screen. Ursus was equipped with great optics, therefore capturing a footage from kilometers away could be really precise as long as nothing was blocking the way.

While having admiration for the technology here, what he saw was not optimistic - it turned out pyramid he visited before was badly damaged now. And not only that.

- We've got casualties... Glitter, did you inform...?

- Yes, colonel should already have it, but I didn't get any confirmation yet. It looks really bad, John.

- I know, I'm going to have a talk with Ryan.