The Measure: Prelude - Part Three

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday
Green Day - Holiday

Eight Years Ago:

"Hallan, why?" The headmaster looked into Hallan's eyes as he spoke, but Hallan looked at the ground.

"I won, and that wasn't good enough for him," Hallan fidgeted in his seat.

"This is the Navy, not some schoolyard, you can't hit your teachers,"

"I apologize sir,"

"That really isn't good enough,"

"I understand sir,"

"I'm putting this incident in your file and there will be a hearing," The headmaster put his hand on the folder sitting in the middle of his desk, "Hallan, would you like to avoid a hearing?"

"Yes sir,"

"Hallan, you're pretty bright. When we did physical tests for entry, we came across a particularly odd result,"

"Sir?"

"We've put up with a lot from you for a reason. You can be a capusleer,"

"What does that mean?" Hallan leaned forward, interested.

"It means you resign from the Academy. We're contracting the work for pilots such as yourself out to some private corps better suited to handle it. Once you graduate their course, you'll automatically graduate from the Academy,"

"A pod pilot training corp?"

"Good Arms Incorporated. One of the best,"

"When do I leave?"

"Now,"

The Measure: Prelude - Part Two

O kinsmen we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Claude McKay - If We Must Die

Eight Years Ago:

A Caldari State Cormorant is an interesting piece of work. It sports eight light neutron blasters, a full compliment of upgraded shielding technology and the speed of a frigate. It was Hallan Turreks first command, and if it looked impressive on the outside, bristling with weapons, it was even more so on the inside.

Hallan sat in a chair connected to a small dais in the middle of the bridge. On his left sat a weapons console and on his right a navigation console merged into his chair. He wore a holographic headset that gave him full sensor information of the entire ship.

He was not alone on the bridge, and he liked it that way. Behind him, he could hear the engineer fiddling with his own console. While in front of him his communications officer adjusted her headset.

"Sir," She began softly, "The Kuricas reports a bogey on scan at fifty-three degrees to the sun, on the plane of the system. They're asking for support,"

"Tell them we're on the way," Hallan said, punching a few commands into his navigation console.

The ship turned, and while Hallan noticed his sensor data changing a bit, inwardly the ship showed no change. He watched the navigation console as his ship slipped into the warp bubble.

"Sir," His communications officer continued, "The Kuricas is reporting more bogies," She went quiet for a moment, "Sir, the Kuricas is down with all hands,"

"That was fast," Hallan said while smiling, happy to find a fight. He played with his navigation console again, and ran his finger along the weapons console. It beeped softly at him.

"Celestis, Vexor, Thorax on scan," He announced, as his communications officer began to relay his message.

"Sir, the fleet is still a few minutes away," the comm officer stated after a moments pause, "What should we do?"

"Keep 'em busy," Hallan said, as he dropped out of warp next to the Celestis. His targeting computers found the somewhat larger Celestis an easy target to lock, and he dumped his cap into the afterburner, closing the distance between them easily. The blasters poured immense damage into the cruiser which in a few moments exploded, it's hold of drones spilling out into space, useless.

The Vexor and Thorax each released a full load of drones, and he began to burn away from the ships. The drones easily caught him, but the cruisers had a bit harder of a time. His blasters turned on the drones, which began to drop. A warrior fell first, then a hobgoblin, each drone targeted and in turn destroyed. As the numbers began to fall, Hallan ordered an about face and began to burn straight for the Thorax. It's drones had long since been destroyed and the Cormorant began to close the distance even as the Thorax began to run. The Thorax's aft shields began to feel the burn of his blasters, and quietly they winked out of existence. The armor plating around the engines began to peel away. Suddenly an explosion rocked Hallan's own ship as the Vexor had released a new fleet of drones which were now eating away at his armor. The Thorax's engines glowed much more brightly than normal for a moment and the ship went into a death spin, bits of debris flying off as it flew away, lifeless.

"Sir, I'm trying to get our shields back up, but the recharge rate is just not able to handle this kind of damage," Came a voice from behind him, as the engineer frantically worked his station to keep vital systems online.

Hallan turned his attention now to the Vexor, his fragile armor now buckling. He'd decided the drones would take much to long to kill and began to fire on the Vexor itself. The Vexor flew by the Cormorant which focused fire on it's passing starboard side. The Vexor began to crumple as it's shields were easily breached. The Cormorant was now on fire, and it wouldn't be long now before the battle was decided.

The Vexor exploded in a radiating ring of fire, and the drones fell silent. Hallan's ship smoked and burned.

"Freeze simulation," Came a voice from outside the bridge. The man who spoke walked through the door behind Hallan, who turned around to face him.

"Hallan, why do I need to remind you, yet again, that this class is called Tactical Retreats?"

The Measure: Prelude - Part One

Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average.
Garrison Keillor - A Prairie Home Companion

Ten Years Ago:

The alarm clock was deafening and Hallan's eyes shot open. The first rays of light shined through his blinds. He reached over and smacked the top of the clock and it stopped making noise. Satisfied, he rolled over and pulled his covers up further.

A few minutes later, it was back, louder this time, and Hallan growled as he sat up in bed. He reached over and grabbed the clock from his nightstand and threw it against his door. It recoiled and bounced around unharmed on the floor.

Hallan threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, briefly saying "Lights," before the brightness made him wince. He walked over to his dresser with only one eye opened and began rummaging through it for clothes. He looked into the mirror hanging above it and frowned before looking away again.

He pulled out a pair of pants and put them on. He found a t-shirt on the floor and put it on. He opened the door of his room and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He grabbed the doorknob, but he couldn't turn it.

"Treize, get the fuck out of the bathroom man," Hallan pounded on the door three times before continuing, "If you make me late for class today I'm going to fucking kill you,"

There was as small bit of rumbling on the other side of the door before it opened and Hallan rushed past his brother to get inside.

"Mom went out last night and isn't back yet," Treize said as the door closed, "She left a food card on the kitchen table and your mail,"

"Ok," Came a curt reply from inside the bathroom.

-------------------------

Hallan walked down the stairs into the living room. He turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and went into the kitchen. He grabbed the food card off the table and put it in his pocket. He then looked through his mail.

"Bill, Bill, Bill, What?" He dropped the other pieces of mail on the table and turned his head to the side. He let that piece of mail fall back onto the table as well before running into the living room while yelling, "Treize!"

The piece of mail was addressed to Hallan Turrek from the office of recruitment for the Caldari Navy.