"It should only be a few more minutes until we dock... Hrefna, have you been informed of the emergence of a Colony heading for this system? The orbital scans have shown thousands of those Chukanid carriers drifting through space towards us. Perhaps the deaths have called out to them..."
Brynhild ran her hand over her Eldi LMG as she cleaned the heavy weapon's barrel, giving it the care it deserved after a long deployment down on the ground; her voice was as steady and cool as ever, complimenting her controlled movements to make her as eye-catching as I remember.
Scary, yes, but definitely someone that it was difficult to look away from with her almost ethereal beauty, even more so since everyone inside of this Orbital Carrier agreed that one of the sexiest things ever was a woman with a well maintained firearm.
Beside her, I quietly went through my own maintenance as I cleaned out the receiver and ensured the next magazine would slide in smoothly and without any issue at all, my ever present hesitancy to communicate with someone openly causing me to just shake my head in reply.
"Yes... The scans returned a day ago, and they determined the Colony was approximately two days away. Our orders are likely about to shift from single planetary strategy to system wide strategy. If that is the case, our mechs are about to see far more frequent use."
Racking back the bolt handle and inspecting the interior of her receiver, Brynhild nodded to herself and carefully slid the bolt back into place as she added "If it comes to it, you need to be careful out there, Hrefna. Your file is laden with inconsistencies when it comes to handling your mech in space. Far too aggressive or too passive... You need to find balance and patience, which I know you have."
I paused at that and looked up to meet her sapphire gaze, mulling over her words and thinking about the dissonance that always seemed to pop up the moment I got into a mech's cockpit; there was just something euphoric about it that I couldn't get anywhere else, and the freedom that came with it was addicting.
"That... I've been trying to rein it in, Brynhild, but..."
The older woman nodded slowly as she turned back to her Eldi, running her finger across its long barrel as she murmured "The zeal of youth being as hot as it is, I find it hard to ask you to temper it considering your record is as flawless as one can hope for, and yet... where others will have small failures, I cannot foresee you facing minuscule. You shall either shine brilliantly like the stars, or explode spectacularly eventually..."
Letting out a sigh, Brynhild paused and stared at the ground for a few moments before she said "I do not mean to belittle or jinx you, Hrefna, but I have seen it far too many times before to not say something. Rein in your passion and temper it with the patience I know you have, Hrefna. For your sake."
The rumbling of the Orbital Carrier shook us both as we docked with the 'Vessel of Gymir', cutting our conversation there as we both gathered our gear and made our way back into our mechs, connecting to them once more and unlocking their boots from the floor as we marched into one of the many holds inside of the 'Vessel of Gymir'.
There were dozens of laborers and mechanics waiting for us to return, and the moment we reached the designated zones for our mechs they streamed forwards to begin repairing, rearming and otherwise touching up each of them as we disembarked once more.
Brynhild just gave me a nod before she walked out on her own, the older woman leaving me with my thoughts as I slowly walked towards the bridge, anticipating the meeting more than I had before thanks to her information.
I wasn't offended nor angry at what she had said to me, since it was something I knew myself; I was far too enthusiastic when inside of my mech, and the consequences that had already happened because I overextended or just had too much 'zeal' during a fight had made themselves known already.
The only reason the reprimands hadn't begun to pile up was because I didn't risk my squad mate's lives nor did I do something that resulted in major losses; like Brynhild said, I hadn't had any failures just yet, but... well...
Tempting fate wasn't something I was fond of, so I took her words to heart and picked up the pace as I felt the terminal on my wrist buzz, the call to head to the bridge finally coming.
There were dozens of troops already gathering around the giant room that housed the 'brain' of the ship, both in terms of robotics and mechanics as well as the human element, which were currently standing on the raised platform looking down over us.
Foringi 'Hela' stood out from the rest, the current controller of this vessel looking over everyone with her stern, weighty gaze as she slowly took in the growing number of soldiers on her bridge; the cold mechanical eye that had been built into the side of her skull to replace her lost eye whirred softly as she zoomed in on the faces of those she deemed important.
The eery blue glow of that eye was matched by the wisdom and age of her other, natural blue eye, and as she looked at me I nodded at the Foringi before taking my spot near the front of the group.
More and more people continued to filter inside, and soon I was standing beside other Einherjar as we awaited new orders and whatever other news that needed to be given to us, the sheer amount of us causing the soldiers behind us to begin murmuring in confusion and concern.
"Silence..."
The sharp voice of Foringi 'Hela' cut through their voices like a knife, and the silence she wanted was given a heartbeat later as we all stiffened up and turned our attention entirely towards her.