by the fans for the fans

Metal Fire" by Karen

Her last mission had not gone as well as she had expected that it would and it made no difference that they had been dealing with and unprovoked and complete unknown enemy attack on Space Station Liberty.

Her mission was to find out what had caused the communication
breakdown between Space Station Liberty and Earth Command and deal with it, and restore communications; simple enough really, when one stopped to think about it.

The only hitch in that nice, neat and straightforward plan was the fact the aliens weren't going to go peaceful-like.

For Marie Crystal it was a point of personal pride to never leave any of her own behind and she had carried out her mission.

She's a good soldier, a good officer; she knew when to stand and fight and when to pull out. If she hadn't the casualty
count would have been much higher then they currently stood.

As much as that fact rankles like an itch that she can't reach as much as she tries to squirm around in the hospital bed.

Marie's been around long enough to realize that dwelling on what might have been is about as useful as a pair of two left boots.

Marie Crystal has never liked the sensation of feeling stuck in one place; she has felt a constant need to go, to do. And as she sat up straighter in the bed and reached up to tug at the bandages wrapped around her left temple. Underneath that bandage is a gash which looked worse than it actually was; the result of a collision with the beveled half-moon interior of her cockpit.

Her head still pounds from the medicines the medics have doped her with and she finds it a little difficult to fall asleep because as soon as she closes her eyes she can imagine that she can still hear the lingering echoes of the screams of those who did not make the narrow window of opportunity that was her unit's evacuation of the
space station.

She's angry at what happened, yes, at the unprovoked attack of the yet unknown identity and intentions of the aliens; at the enforced idleness at what she believes is a relatively minor injury; and mainly just angry in general.

It gives her something to fret over, but it still means she's got a lot of time on her hands.

The bandage fall comes loose and she wads it up into a ball and tossed it overhand into the wastebasket in the far corner of the room.

Again she again reaches up to touch the healing scar on her left temple; it is strangely rough to her sensitive
fingers. "That will clear up soon enough," Marie muttered under her breath.

"Then I'll be cleared for active duty. To my way of thinking, 'that can't happen soon enough. Marie laughed, some if not most of her anger fading away as she added. "You just can't keep a good girl down. I figure we may have lost this first battle, but we've just begun to fight."

FIRST.. WELCOME ABOARD. HOPE YOU SIGN IN AND INTRODUCE YOUSELF. AND

NICE READ. THE HEAD SHOT OF MIRIYA KINDA THREW ME OFF SINCE THE STORY WAS ABOUT MARIE.
LET'S SEE WHERE YOU GO WITH THIS.

THIS YOUR FIRST FAN FIC?

Thanks for the comments on the story. I wanted to do a Marie Crystal centric piece so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I have a special fondness for the Southern Cross series and its characters. <grin> Thanks again and take care, karrenia

Nice story
and Welcome to RTX!!!

very nice! Marie is definitely one of my favorite RT characters

Hey! Welcome to the site:) Really good fanfic, can't wait to read more:lol: