Madison’s story

The wind ran through the strands of her hair, a cold touch that spoke of the coming winter that was to soon be upon them in them in the coming weeks. She cared not though, as she gazed across that lake taking in all the sights of the surrounding woods and the breeze that seemed to sweep up from the water, bringing with it the scent of the lake and the late blooming flowers of the season. Despite this, she had been lost in thought, mesmerized by her own strands of hair that seemed to have a life of their own as they weaved and waved about her.

She had been sitting by the lake’s edge for sometime, reflecting on her inner thoughts and where they would take her to. In some cases, it was self reflection on her own life choices. While at other times she found herself dreaming of a fantasy of adventuring alongside those who came before during what was known as the time of the frontier days. Other times she found herself drifting off from the frontier days to the sky ships that were high over head her. Where she wondered what life would be like to return to where life had begun on ancient Terra. 

No matter what level of captivation danced about her, it was those sky ships that always broke her concentration. She would always sweep her hair back with her hands and look up in the evening sky, a sky that was becoming more and more grey by the moment, as a ship would rise up to take its load to the inner orbit ring where the cargo would then be transferred to another more sturdy vessel capable of riding the currents of the stars back to Terra. This was the way of life on Anatres IV, a world that had been terraformed from ages before to become a breadbasket of life for those who continued to live on the home planet, the seat of an intergalactic republic.

After the lifter had moved on, Madison would become lost in another day dream, her amber colored hair resuming a life of its own and her resuming the cycle. That is until the cold become too much and her clothing not enough to stem its growing numbness upon her skin. She could feel it soaking into her bones and it was after she watched the last sky ship descend back groundward, empty of cargo, that she decided to pack it up and return to her home. The evening was late and life on Anatres IV began early. She stood up, stretched and knew by the way her joints felt that she had been there for much too long. Well it was that way every time after all and it had to be accepted. 

It was only then, as she made the trek back home, that she thought of her brother. He was a warjack, a member of the protectors who had brought order to Anatres IV back during the long ago frontier days. They had evolved from a group of vigilantes who had enforced order with warsuits to evolve over the many ages to become the guardian force for the world. Seth had been young when he was accepted into the Order of Raven Knights, younger than most but he had an aptitude that was unlike any before, or so was spoken of in hushed tones around the keep. In either case, Seth had gone to become counted among those honored enough to pilot a warjack. 

It was an honor that Madison had longed would be hers one day and that was what brought her to Macross Lake to daydream and reflect on what she would need to do become a warjack pilot as good as her brother Seth. As she shuffled off to her family keep, she reflected on her most favorite memory of Seth. A day that would not only showcased his sense of charisma but also his ability to make a scene. Despite his predilection to pilot the ancient warjack suits, Seth had always been a larger than life personality. It was this character trait that found him completing a larger than life stunt upon his induction as a full member of the Order.

From on high orbit, Seth dropped his warjack, with amazing skill, into the courtyard of his family’s ancient keep. Both the family and the servants were unsure what had occurred as whallops of dust, debris and a thundering racket had rained down upon all at keep hall of the Fairchilds. It wasn’t until the noise had subsided and the dust had fallen back into place, that those around came to the realization that is was not a crashed lander that had caused such a scene. Rather, upon the triumphant laughing of Seth did they realize that in their keep courtyard stood the most potent warmachine of time and out of its pilot chassis stood one of their own. It was that moment, a younger Madison had looked upon   her brother with proud awe and she rushed forward to climb up into his waiting arms.

The evening was not wasted and soon a feast was made around the warjack, presided over by the Lord of Marcoss, master of the keep and father of both Madison and Seth. Seth regalled them with stories of his life so far in the Order and toast after toast was made with strong liquor as the family reaffirmed their bonds of kinship with one another. Well into the night did Seth play into this larger than life personality that would see him become the future Lord of Marcoss. It was a memory that Madison looked upon fondly as she returned to the keep and too dreamed of one day seeing her on mark made upon the family name. 

The End or …..