The CO walked through the door and the pilots got to their
feet and came to attention. “At ease” He said with a wave of his hand when he
reached the podium. The room settled back into their chairs and gave him their full
attention. Mechinator looked around the room and briefly locked eyes with every
pilot here. Just long enough that you felt welcome and a part of the team. This
was one of the many skills that made this pilot a solid leader. He picked up
the control wand and brought the holo tank to life and started his briefing.
“I know there has been a lot of scuttle butt going around
about what kind of war we are going to have this year. Let me put you out of
your misery, it is going to be a squad war this time. I know some of you like
this format and there are those of you who hate it.” He paused and gave a short
chuckle and then continued. “I do know that regardless of your personal
feelings you will give this your best and fight together like the crazy animals
you all are.” The room filled with hearty laughter and more than a few feral
grins.
A grimace quickly flashed across his face before he spoke
again. “Now we get to the part everyone ‘Loves’ best about a Squad War. We must
split our pilots up into a few new units and come up with a name. General
Abbott hates issuing names and as usual left it up to us to put one down on the
paper work so we can get in.” He pushed a button on the control wand and the
entrance form showed up in the holo tank. At the top of the form is the field
for the name of your team and the next one below it was the field for your unit
motto. Both fields still had the default text showing. “Insert_Name_Here” and “Loading…”
as the form will not let go any farther until you filled those two fields in. He
looked back up at the pilots and said. “So, which one of you Monkeys are going
to pick the winning name this time?”
The room burst into a symphony of noise as names were
shouted back to him. Some were rude, some were silly but he did not hear
anything that was very inspiring. From the very back of the room a voice
pierced the noise and demanded silence. Everyone turned around and looked at
Joshua Bourne who had an impish grin on his face. The CO made a gesture for him
to continue.
“Why don’t you just leave the default text in there boss and
send it in to the Craftsman just the way it is” He laughed. “We all hate
thinking up these names so why bother. Send it in that way and let’s move on to
the important task of getting ready for combat.”
Mechinator laughed so hard the buttons on his uniform were
straining and close to popping off. “I love it! I am sure the General will get
a laugh out of this as well. Dissmissed!”