The next morning everyone had begun packing their belongings. They were allowed to take their personal clothes for relaxation days when they were off duty; however, every time they were on duty, they had an assigned military uniform with different colored shoulders representing what branch they were part of. Pilots, for example, had blue sleeves on, and on the shoulder was their rank represented by an insignia.
Ren got up and cooked breakfast for Rose and Scarlet to say thank you for letting him stay there that night. Every time they tell him he doesn't have to do that, he refuses and says it's his way of saying thanks, which none of them can turn down. Rose was like a mother to him, so it was only right after all.
After everyone had eaten breakfast, came the goodbyes. Rose walked up to them and hugged the kids tightly. She didn't want to let them go; after all, they wouldn't see each other for months at the earliest and years at the latest. She couldn't even begin to imagine the plethora of terrible events that could transpire within that timeframe.
At the door, both Ren and Scarlet had their bags at the ready as Rose was crying. Her eyeliner had begun running down her face in sadness. She was terrified.
Scarlet and Ren looked at each other and nodded, both walking up to her and giving her a tight hug.
"We'll be fine, Mom. I should be home by Christmas." Scarlet said.
"You don't have to worry. I will do everything in my power to look after Scarlet." Ren added on.
Rose hugged the two back and kept crying.
"It just hurts seeing you two leave and not knowing when or if I'll see you again. I love you both so much."
Ren and Scarlet smiled. "We know," they said.
"But don't worry, we'll be looking out for each other, right, Ren?"
"Yeah. I have her back, and she has mine. Plus Tyler and Lily will be with us too."
Rose nodded and gave her final goodbyes as she watched them walk out the door. She didn't take her eyes off of them until they had disappeared from sight. Anxiety now filling her heart as she turned around and the tears flowed once more.
Ren and Scarlet, meanwhile, called up Tyler and Lily as they all decided to meet at a nearby cafe. They both, as well, were now dressed in their military uniforms, and they all sat together ordering their coffees. They still had about forty minutes until the meet time, so they had time to kill.
"So you guys ready?" Tyler said, smiling, he was excited about living out his dream and taking this next step. While Lily looked fairly anxious. Her shy demeanor showing through her worry.
"I-I can't believe we're about to board an actual UNS ship." Lily said.
"What do you know about it?" Tyler asked Ren.
"The UNS Eternity, captained by Captain Aurora Palmer. It has been a part of three battles, each time suffering minimal damage and casualties. According to the database, it's one of the most reliable ships out there." Ren explained.
"So we're joining one of the best ships off the bat?" Scarlet said, which Ren nodded. "That's awesome!"
"Yeah, according to the database, they employ about 150 sentinel pilots at all times and rotate battle groups. I don't know where we're assigned yet, though." Ren said.
"Guess that's just a wait and see." Tyler said as he took a sip of his coffee.
After they finished and paid the bill, the four of them headed to the spaceport in the city. There were already many ships landing and picking up new recruits as every graduating student from the academy was being deployed within a four-day period depending on when their ship arrived.
The four walked over to Dock Gate D and waited. There was a holographic sign reading "UNS Eternity" meaning this was their station. The four of them looked around, and there were a good number of students heading onboard, about forty in all, a mix of sentinel pilots, ship mechanics, and officers in training. Ren noted there weren't any other members of the top ten of his academy there except for him, Scarlet, and Lily, meaning everyone went to different ships. He looked at the recruitment database and noted his rival Callum, who was recruited by the UNS Birmingham, one of the ships that came in the first wave of building them.
As the four of them waited, their anxiety built up. Today was the first day of their new lives as official UNS soldiers.
Soon they heard the announcer speak.
"Now boarding, UNS Eternity. I repeat, Now boarding, UNS Eternity."
The four of them nodded to each other and stood up to walk out the gate with the rest of the class. As they walked out, that's where they saw it.
The UNS Eternity.
A fusion reactor-powered titanium battle plate-built machine that's 480 meters (1574.8 feet) in length, 145 meters (475 feet) in width, and 140 meters (459 feet) tall. A man built a masterpiece,and Ren's new home.
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