Chapter Five: The UNS Eternity

Ren and his friends gathered in front of the battleship UNS Eternity. This ship was part of the main assault fleet, ordered to fight against the Centauri Empire.

"This is really happening..." Tyler said, looking at the massive ship in front of him. Over four thousand feet in total length and about 450 feet in total height. It was the standard size of a battleship for the United Nations on Earth.

Ren had picked Tyler, Scarlet, and Lily as those allowed to sign up with him due to Captain Aurora's offer.

They waited with about two dozen other students from the New York Academy for Captain Aurora to arrive and give them their introduction.

After a few minutes of waiting, they saw Captain Aurora arrive at the entrance of the UNS Eternity.

"Attention!" a man yelled out, gathering all of the recruits attention.

"Captain Aurora will speak with you newbies; she deserves your full attention and respect." the man said.

"Thank you, Vice Captain; as you may or may not know, my name is Captain Aurora. Starting from today on, you will be troops under my name; some of you are sentinel pilots, and some of you will be working on the ship as engineers or other ship staff. First rule: I don't allow insubordination; if you have concerns over an order, that's fine, but always follow my word first. Second Rule: Clean up your trash. I don't like messes, so if you make a mess and don't clean it up, you will clean the entire deck. Third Rule: We are now family, and while there are always fights in the family, we will support each other at the end of the day. Understood?" Captain Aurora stated.

"Yes ma'am." the new recruits said in unison.

"Good, now get your asses on board and find your assignments!" Captain Aurora said.

The recruits did just that; in total, they had seven new sentinel pilots, three new engineers, and two new mechanics, which is about average for every school the ship will go to; after all, they will be heading to ten different academies by the end of the week.

Ren, along with his friends, arrived at the designated location for sentinel pilots and waited for awhile.

"So Ren? What do you think about our new captain? She's a beauty, isn't she?" Tyler said.

"No denying it, she is." Ren commentated.

Scarlett and Lily stared at Ren when he said that; that was not what they wanted to hear.

"Recruits!" a man yelled out to the seven new sentinel pilots.

"My name is Matthew Slater, and I'm one of the squad leaders for the sentinels. Follow me to the hanger." The man introduced himself.

He was in his early thirties with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he also had a look to him that screamed he was a military veteran.

The group followed him to the hanger, where all the sentinels were being worked on by maintenance crews made up of the mechanics that work on the sentinels constantly.

"This is where you will report whenever it's time for combat and/or training exercises, as well as when the mechanics call for you to adjust your sentinels. We have over one hundred and twenty sentinel pilots at the ready, including you, and we will have more once recruiting season is over and we head back into space. You have one more day to say goodbye to your family and pack any essentials you have. Each of you will share a room with about four other people, so be prepared to have roommates. Now each of you will be called down by the mechanic crew to adjust your settings for your assigned sentinel later this week. Now find your assigned rooms, and after that, go back to the city and say goodbye to your families. Understood." Squad Leader Matthew said.

"Yes sir!" the new recruits responded.

Everyone left the hanger and went to their assigned rooms, but let's just say things were kind of awkward.

"Huh?" Tyler said, looking at the assignment list.

"You have to be kidding me, right?" Scarlet said.

"Well...this is awkward." Ren commentated.

They looked at the list, and Tyler and Lily were both assigned to separate rooms; however, Ren and Scarlet both had the same room number.

"There has to have been an issue with the assignments." Lily said.

"I'll be making a request to change rooms and stay with Lily; this can't be right." Scarlet said still looking at the assignment board.

"Nothing, we can do about it right now; if you want to Scarlet you can submit the request; we have to go back to our houses now." Ren said.

"Wait, you don't have a problem with this?" Scarlet asked.

"Not really; I don't know why I would." Ren said.

Scarlet sighed and said "Just forget about it."

"Ren, what are you going to do?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked Lily, who seemed worried.

"We are all going home, but you..." Lily was saying before being interrupted.

"I'll just stay in the dorm rooms; after all, they have to be vacated for a few days." Ren said before Scarlet stopped him.

"No, Ren, how about you join me? Lily is staying the night at my family's house; you could always come too." Scarlet said.

"You sure? I don't want to show up without being wanted." Ren asked.

"Sure, my mother loves having you around. Lily is staying with me because she lives farther south and doesn't want to make the trip. We don't have a guest room, but you can take the couch." Scarlet said.

"Thank you, Scarlet. I appreciate it." Ren said.

"It's no big deal..." Scarlet said while blushing.

"I mean, you could stay with my folks?" Tyler asked.

"Sorry, man, but your guest room bed is like sleeping on a tree log; I'll take a couch any day." Ren said laughing.

"Fair enough, man, I wouldn't miss a chance to stay with two beauties either." Tyler commentated.

"You know my dad doesn't really like you or Ren; it's going to be hard enough having Ren over." Scarlet said laughing.

"I still don't understand why your dad doesn't like me, Scarlett." Tyler commentated.

"Could have something to do with you breaking his vegetable plants." Scarlett said.

"He still hasn't forgiven me? It's been two years!" Tyler yelled out.

"You don't mess with a man's vegetable plants." Ren commentated.

"Then why doesn't he like you?" Tyler asked.

Ren put his hand to his chin and said "I've yet to figure that out."

The four kept talking before splitting up, with Ren going with Scarlet and Lily to Scarlet's house.

"You, sure I'm going to be allowed to stay there?" Ren asked Scarlet.

"Yeah, mom's been wondering when you would stop by again; I think she misses your cooking." Scarlet said.

"Well, maybe I should make something for dinner as a thank you." Ren said.

Scarlet smiled and asked "She would love that, and so would I. What was that dish you made last time you stayed at my place?

"Oh, it was steak, chicken, and shrimp fajitas." Ren answered.

"They were really good!" Scarlet said.

"Could I try some one day?" Lily asked.

"Sure! In fact, are you guys planning to make something for dinner?" Ren asked.

"No, we were honestly going to order out." Scarlet said.

"Well, instead, how about we head to the store real quick and I can make some again?" Ren said.

"Yes! I've been trying to remake them myself but haven't been able to get the recipe down." Scarlet said.

"I sent you the ingredients; it shouldn't have been that hard not to remake." Ren said.

"I know, but sometimes it really does depend on who's making it." Scarlet said.

With that, the three went by the local grocery store to buy the ingredients for the food and walked over to Scarlet's house.

*Knock Knock Knock*

Scarlet knocked on the front door, and it was her mother who answered it.

"Scarlet! It's so good to see that you're home." her mother responded.

"It's good to see you too, Mom; it's only been a few weeks, though." Scarlett responded.

"That's forever, although I guess I'll have to get used to it with you shipping out this week, her mother said. Then her mother took notice of Ren and Lily behind her. "Oh, Ren and Lily, are you two staying with us tonight?"

"Hello, Mrs. Rose, that is, if you don't mind." Ren said.

"It's good to see you again Mrs. Rose." Lily responded.

"Of course it's fine; I trust you two as if you were my own kids. Come on in." Mrs. Rose said.

Rose looked a lot like her daughter, with long red hair and beautiful blue eyes. She was in her late thirties, so she was still fairly young.

"What are those groceries in your hand, Ren?" Mrs. Rose said.

"Oh, Scarlet was telling me that you really like those fajitas I made last time we were here, and since she said you didn't have any dinner plans, I thought I'd make some." Ren said.

"Really! I'll get the kitchen ready. Robert should be home in about an hour, and Emily is upstairs on her computer." Mrs. Rose said.

Ren and Rose went into the kitchen to start preparing the food, while Scarlet and Lily went upstairs to her room.

The last night for a long time they would be on Earth, and that night was just getting started.

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