Late Arrivals

0600 hours. The sun had yet to come up and already Cady was in her lab
working away one of her projects.

Cady squealed happily and nearly skipped out of the lab. Her findings had
actually been comparable to the current Ramrod unit. Lowering the angle of
incline would make the Ramrod unit faster, why she hadn't seen that before
was beyond her.

She thought back to that summer five years ago, she'd only been ten, but
she'd been April Eagle's shadow, they'd called her Little April. She smiled
in the memory of that summer when they'd allowed her into the Academy with
her big brother and his crew mate to observe them. Bluntly put the Academy
wanted Catherine Quinn Rider, they had to catch her interest and keep it
peeked through the summer so that she would apply for admittance. They did.

She'd excelled through her classes and participated extracurricularly as the
only female on the Academy's wrestling team and also played the violin in
the Academy's Orchestra. Her most prized activity however was that she was
drum major of the Academy's marching band.

Now, her alterations on the Ramrod design specs had been tested in a lab and
now there would be a mecha for the Neophytes! She smiled, it would only
take six, maybe seven months to build and by the end of that time their
training would be complete. She had been disappointed when her name had not
appeared on the roster for the five positions available, however the fifth
had yet to be assigned.

Now they would have a reason to truly call her Little April, she was right
on track with her mentors path, developing a mecha...

"Lieutenant Rider."

Cady turned, "Yes, sir?" She asked as she put down the blue prints for the
new mecha. She glanced at the clock, 0653.

"Commander Eagle has arrived and wishes to speak with you."

"Sir, I'm in the middle of testing the hulk strengths on the new design."

"Lieutenant, that’s an order."

Cady sighed, saluted. "Yes, sir."

She left the lab where she had been diligently working with he captain and
was brought out and lead through a series of corridors to a conference
room.

She entered the room and saw the familiar face of her mentors father and
nearly forgot herself, she ran forward to great him but stopped short.

"Catherine Quinn Rider! How dare you stop before me and not give this old
man a hug!"

She giggled then hugged him. "How are you Commander?"

"Cady, no formalities. you know that."

She flushed, "Yes, sir."

"Now I hear you were disappointed to find yourself not selected as a
Neophyte. " He looked at her and watched her nod. "Well tats because I
haven't made it out here yet to ask my favorite shadow if she would like to
be part of the team itself.."

She looked at him, her eyes bright and hopeful. "Are you sure they want
me?"

He laughed. "We were waiting for you to finish your design testing on the
Ramrod II project. Of course you're aware that your design requires a
fifth Sheriff and since you designed and will most likely authorize remote
authority to build it, well we couldn't see why not.."

Cady laughed. She hated it when the high muckety mucks played head games
but if it meant a place on the team she wasn't going to complain.

"Now then, your team has already begun to assemble at the Ramrod I. It's a
good hour's ride out there if you plan to join them any time soon and you
wouldn't want to be late for training your first day..."

She quickly hugged the Commander and excused herself, she sprinted to the
lab, grabbed her design specs and her models to show April and ran to her
quarters.

Cady quickly packed her models in styrofoam casing before wrapping them in
pillow cases. Then she packed her duffel bag as fast as she could, filling
it with clothes shoes and a teddy bear before cramming inside of it her
models.

She then filled her saddlebags full of books and rolled up her blanket.
Within a half an hour Cady Rider was on her way. She silently prayed she
wouldn't be stepping on her brothers toes.

The next thing she did was step into her silver armor which immediately
snapped into place.

Pulling her waist length blonde hair into meatballs she secured the twin
buns with barrettes before her dropping a helmet into place upon her head.
she secured her saber in it's place, a sheath of gold which was belted at
her right side before she lifted her belongings into her arms.

Over her left shoulder she placed the heavy saddlebags and then her duffel
bag before picking up her blanket and tucking it under her arm. She smiled
as she left the dormitory for the last time. Her parents would send the
rest of her belongings too her which she would pack into place on board the
Ramrod Equalizer.

The walk to the stables was a short one and Cady couldn't help but feel a
sense of nostalgia, this place had been home for so long and now she was
going to leave it behind. With a sad smile she whistled and called out,
"Chaser!"

Within seconds her mount was in front of her. She secured the saddlebags
in place as well as her bed roll before mounting and shifting the weight of
her duffel bag evenly across her back. With a smile she kicked her heals
into the Wind Chasers flanks. The unit bolted into the air in a gallop
before it began to accelerate.

She couldn't help but picture her brother’s surprise in her mind's eye when
she arrived, nor could she wait to see the look on April's face when she
showed her the working model of the Ramrod Titania as well as the design
specs which were carefully secured in her duffel.
____________________________________________________________

Before her, in what appeared to be a well sheltered valley lay the Ramrod I,
the Equalizer. A single light was lit within the unit itself and that light
was the one in the cock pit. Cady immediately realized the only person awake
was whoever happened to have been elected to be on duty. She smiled, it was
just before 0800 and she new what happened every morning on Ramrod at 0800
unless her brother had specifically dictated that there would be a rest bit
and the crew would sleep in.

She was almost glad she hadn't arrived with the others. Smiling she put
Wind Chaser into a gentle walk, as she got closer she frowned, the internal
sensors should have picked up the fact that she had entered the units
personal fields, which meant who ever had been stuck with being on duty was
asleep.

She laughed, she wasn't surprised. With a mischievous smile she decided to
do some incredibly childlike, she reined Chaser in and hovered up to the
units only true window, which consisted of about five feet of glass, and
knocked.

To her disappointment no one appeared to be inside, maybe her brother had
called for a rest bit after all.

"Curious and curiouser..." Ramrod seemed locked tighter than old Fort
Knox and not a soul was around. The landing bay doors were down, curious
she entered and dumped her gear before mounting Wind Chaser again and
heading out.

Calming her racing and excited heart she took a deep breath and closed her
eyes and listened. The sound of metal clashing against metal.

She dismounted, leaving Wind Chaser behind her and drew her own saber and
moved towards the sounds she heard.

Before her in a clearing were Saber Rider, FireBall, Colt and April. Each
instructed a young partner in sword play.

FireBall lunged forward at a young raven-haired girl.

“C’mon, Circe. You can do better than that. Impress me, Goddess.” He challenged.

The girl remained solemn, steadily dodging Fireball’s attacks. In an instant, she sidestepped, and brought her rapier onto Fireball’s neck.

“This seems to be a draw, Raceboy. I studied with a katana if you forget.” She said, looking down at him.

With Colt, a tall boy sparred tirelessly with the cowboy. After a while, Colt’s sword ended up at the boy’s neck.

“Shucks, Brent, seems you’re the only one I can beat in a swordplay.” Colt laughed.

April was partnered with a girl, her long red hair caught up in a ponytail.

“That’s it, Diana, circling movements. Anticipate your opponent’s movements. This is strategy, I think.”

“Oui, April.” She stood for a moment, trying to see April’s next move, her rapier still moving in defense against April’s attack. Then her quick eyes saw April sidestep. In one fluid motion, she moved in, the tip of her sword pointed at April.

“Je suis d’accord. I agree with you.” She smiled.

Saber’s partner, Cady noted with surprise, was a boy of about her age. Saber parred easily with him, once in a while giving out tips and pointing out his mistakes and strong points.

After a few minutes, they stopped for a break.

Cady watched as they stepped apart, all eight laughing. She smiled at them.

She could hear Star Sheriffs discussing something, the Neophytes wanted to
see Saber in a real fight. Cady smiled. She stepped out of the trees and
into the clearing as Saber Rider made quick work of Fire Ball and April.
Colt held up his hands.

"No way, Pard.. I know when I've met my match..." Colt drawled.

Smiling she boldly called out, "But I know when I haven't."

They looked up at her and she smiled as she pulled off her helmet.

"Quinn!" Saber Rider called and she ran forward.

"Come on big brother. it's time for a work out.." She laughed. With a
secret internal laugh she bowed to her brother as did her brother to her and
together they fought.

"Damn.. look at that girl go.. who is she?" Fire Ball asked.

April smiled and Colt whistled. "Whoever she is she's actually giving Saber
a good fight!"

April nodded. "That’s right Colt."

Colt whistled again as Cady disarmed Saber Rider. Saber leapt backwards and
picked up his sword and laughed. "Quinn you've learned some new tricks."

Fire Ball was shocked. "I've never seen anyone disarm Saber before."

Colt watched her. "She's quite a cute one. April you know who she is?"

April smiled knowingly. "That Colt, is Catherine Quinn Rider, Saber's
little sister."

"Saber's got a sister?" Colt asked as the Neophytes gathered around the
sparring Riders.

"Yeah he does, she was around when I built Ramrod, the Academy wanted her so
they stuck her with me and her brother for a summer, the one I built Ramrod,
they couldn't get rid of her after that." April told them.

Colt looked at his watch. "They've been at it for almost fifteen minutes!"

Cady parried and then thrust forward again disarming her brother but this
time she rested the tip of her blade at the base of his throat.

Cady was breathing heavily when her brother gave her a slight nod. "Well
how did I do?"

Saber hugged his sister after she dropped her weapon. "It's amazing Quinn
you seemed to have only gotten better."
____________________________________________________________

End

Disclaimer: Added text and character speeches written by Phoenix.


Late Arrivals 0600 hours. The sun had yet to come up and already Cady was in her lab working away one of her projects. Cady squealed happily and nearly skipped out of the lab. Her findings had actually been comparable to the current Ramrod unit. Lowering the angle of incline would make the Ramrod unit faster, why she hadn't seen that before was beyond her. She thought back to that summer five years ago, she'd only been ten, but she'd been April Eagle's shadow, they'd called her Little April. She smiled in the memory of that summer when they'd allowed her into the Academy with her big brother and his crew mate to observe them. Bluntly put the Academy wanted Catherine Quinn Rider, they had to catch her interest and keep it peeked through the summer so that she would apply for admittance. They did. She'd excelled through her classes and participated extracurricularly as the only female on the Academy's wrestling team and also played the violin in the Academy's Orchestra. Her most prized activity however was that she was drum major of the Academy's marching band. Now, her alterations on the Ramrod design specs had been tested in a lab and now there would be a mecha for the Neophytes! She smiled, it would only take six, maybe seven months to build and by the end of that time their training would be complete. She had been disappointed when her name had not appeared on the roster for the five positions available, however the fifth had yet to be assigned. Now they would have a reason to truly call her Little April, she was right on track with her mentors path, developing a mecha... "Lieutenant Rider." Cady turned, "Yes, sir?" She asked as she put down the blue prints for the new mecha. She glanced at the clock, 0653. "Commander Eagle has arrived and wishes to speak with you." "Sir, I'm in the middle of testing the hulk strengths on the new design." "Lieutenant, that’s an order." Cady sighed, saluted. "Yes, sir." She left the lab where she had been diligently working with he captain and was brought out and lead through a series of corridors to a conference room. She entered the room and saw the familiar face of her mentors father and nearly forgot herself, she ran forward to great him but stopped short. "Catherine Quinn Rider! How dare you stop before me and not give this old man a hug!" She giggled then hugged him. "How are you Commander?" "Cady, no formalities. you know that." She flushed, "Yes, sir." "Now I hear you were disappointed to find yourself not selected as a Neophyte. " He looked at her and watched her nod. "Well tats because I haven't made it out here yet to ask my favorite shadow if she would like to be part of the team itself.." She looked at him, her eyes bright and hopeful. "Are you sure they want me?" He laughed. "We were waiting for you to finish your design testing on the Ramrod II project. Of course you're aware that your design requires a fifth Sheriff and since you designed and will most likely authorize remote authority to build it, well we couldn't see why not.." Cady laughed. She hated it when the high muckety mucks played head games but if it meant a place on the team she wasn't going to complain. "Now then, your team has already begun to assemble at the Ramrod I. It's a good hour's ride out there if you plan to join them any time soon and you wouldn't want to be late for training your first day..." She quickly hugged the Commander and excused herself, she sprinted to the lab, grabbed her design specs and her models to show April and ran to her quarters. Cady quickly packed her models in styrofoam casing before wrapping them in pillow cases. Then she packed her duffel bag as fast as she could, filling it with clothes shoes and a teddy bear before cramming inside of it her models. She then filled her saddlebags full of books and rolled up her blanket. Within a half an hour Cady Rider was on her way. She silently prayed she wouldn't be stepping on her brothers toes. The next thing she did was step into her silver armor which immediately snapped into place. Pulling her waist length blonde hair into meatballs she secured the twin buns with barrettes before her dropping a helmet into place upon her head. she secured her saber in it's place, a sheath of gold which was belted at her right side before she lifted her belongings into her arms. Over her left shoulder she placed the heavy saddlebags and then her duffel bag before picking up her blanket and tucking it under her arm. She smiled as she left the dormitory for the last time. Her parents would send the rest of her belongings too her which she would pack into place on board the Ramrod Equalizer. The walk to the stables was a short one and Cady couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia, this place had been home for so long and now she was going to leave it behind. With a sad smile she whistled and called out, "Chaser!" Within seconds her mount was in front of her. She secured the saddlebags in place as well as her bed roll before mounting and shifting the weight of her duffel bag evenly across her back. With a smile she kicked her heals into the Wind Chasers flanks. The unit bolted into the air in a gallop before it began to accelerate. She couldn't help but picture her brother’s surprise in her mind's eye when she arrived, nor could she wait to see the look on April's face when she showed her the working model of the Ramrod Titania as well as the design specs which were carefully secured in her duffel. ____________________________________________________________ Before her, in what appeared to be a well sheltered valley lay the Ramrod I, the Equalizer. A single light was lit within the unit itself and that light was the one in the cock pit. Cady immediately realized the only person awake was whoever happened to have been elected to be on duty. She smiled, it was just before 0800 and she new what happened every morning on Ramrod at 0800 unless her brother had specifically dictated that there would be a rest bit and the crew would sleep in. She was almost glad she hadn't arrived with the others. Smiling she put Wind Chaser into a gentle walk, as she got closer she frowned, the internal sensors should have picked up the fact that she had entered the units personal fields, which meant who ever had been stuck with being on duty was asleep. She laughed, she wasn't surprised. With a mischievous smile she decided to do some incredibly childlike, she reined Chaser in and hovered up to the units only true window, which consisted of about five feet of glass, and knocked. To her disappointment no one appeared to be inside, maybe her brother had called for a rest bit after all. "Curious and curiouser..." Ramrod seemed locked tighter than old Fort Knox and not a soul was around. The landing bay doors were down, curious she entered and dumped her gear before mounting Wind Chaser again and heading out. Calming her racing and excited heart she took a deep breath and closed her eyes and listened. The sound of metal clashing against metal. She dismounted, leaving Wind Chaser behind her and drew her own saber and moved towards the sounds she heard. Before her in a clearing were Saber Rider, FireBall, Colt and April. Each instructed a young partner in sword play. FireBall lunged forward at a young raven-haired girl. “C’mon, Circe. You can do better than that. Impress me, Goddess.” He challenged. The girl remained solemn, steadily dodging Fireball’s attacks. In an instant, she sidestepped, and brought her rapier onto Fireball’s neck. “This seems to be a draw, Raceboy. I studied with a katana if you forget.” She said, looking down at him. With Colt, a tall boy sparred tirelessly with the cowboy. After a while, Colt’s sword ended up at the boy’s neck. “Shucks, Brent, seems you’re the only one I can beat in a swordplay.” Colt laughed. April was partnered with a girl, her long red hair caught up in a ponytail. “That’s it, Diana, circling movements. Anticipate your opponent’s movements. This is strategy, I think.” “Oui, April.” She stood for a moment, trying to see April’s next move, her rapier still moving in defense against April’s attack. Then her quick eyes saw April sidestep. In one fluid motion, she moved in, the tip of her sword pointed at April. “Je suis d’accord. I agree with you.” She smiled. Saber’s partner, Cady noted with surprise, was a boy of about her age. Saber parred easily with him, once in a while giving out tips and pointing out his mistakes and strong points. After a few minutes, they stopped for a break. Cady watched as they stepped apart, all eight laughing. She smiled at them. She could hear Star Sheriffs discussing something, the Neophytes wanted to see Saber in a real fight. Cady smiled. She stepped out of the trees and into the clearing as Saber Rider made quick work of Fire Ball and April. Colt held up his hands. "No way, Pard.. I know when I've met my match..." Colt drawled. Smiling she boldly called out, "But I know when I haven't." They looked up at her and she smiled as she pulled off her helmet. "Quinn!" Saber Rider called and she ran forward. "Come on big brother. it's time for a work out.." She laughed. With a secret internal laugh she bowed to her brother as did her brother to her and together they fought. "Damn.. look at that girl go.. who is she?" Fire Ball asked. April smiled and Colt whistled. "Whoever she is she's actually giving Saber a good fight!" April nodded. "That’s right Colt." Colt whistled again as Cady disarmed Saber Rider. Saber leapt backwards and picked up his sword and laughed. "Quinn you've learned some new tricks." Fire Ball was shocked. "I've never seen anyone disarm Saber before." Colt watched her. "She's quite a cute one. April you know who she is?" April smiled knowingly. "That Colt, is Catherine Quinn Rider, Saber's little sister." "Saber's got a sister?" Colt asked as the Neophytes gathered around the sparring Riders. "Yeah he does, she was around when I built Ramrod, the Academy wanted her so they stuck her with me and her brother for a summer, the one I built Ramrod, they couldn't get rid of her after that." April told them. Colt looked at his watch. "They've been at it for almost fifteen minutes!" Cady parried and then thrust forward again disarming her brother but this time she rested the tip of her blade at the base of his throat. Cady was breathing heavily when her brother gave her a slight nod. "Well how did I do?" Saber hugged his sister after she dropped her weapon. "It's amazing Quinn you seemed to have only gotten better." ____________________________________________________________ End Disclaimer: Added text and character speeches written by Phoenix.