Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Comic-7

Ten years earlier

-

How had Ramirez gotten picked for this mission?

He had no damn clue.

He was basically straight out of bootcamp when it happened, barely out of graduation to be hones. To be fair, Ramirez hadn't really planned any of his life out very well, for the longest time he was going to go to the winter Olympics and win a gold medal in ice skating and then.... Well he wasn't entirely sure, maybe he would coach or soemthing, but a last minute crisis of self and a very spur of the moment decision had seen him on a bus to boot cam.

Now Ramirez wasn't lazy, not by any means. He came for ma hard working family who prided themselves on being the best at whatever they were passionate about. His younger brother was already a football star, his sister was going to be an Olympic boxer, and his older sister was probably the smartest person he had ever known, and then there was him. He had been one of the best skaters on the team until his self-crisis had led hi to that bus.

Turns out it wasn't motivation or work ethic he lacked but discipline.

Clearly he hadn't known what he was getting into. Months of exercise, drills, no partying, no alcohol, no girls or boys had, if not changed his perspective, than at least mellowed him out a little. His parents had worried that he wouldn't like it, but, as it turned out, structure was the one thing in his life that he had really been missing.

Then bootcamp was over and he was at graduation ceremony, in his new dress uniform swearing an oath he found he was way more serious about than he had ever been about ice skating.

His father and mother, long since over the shock of his decision, were proud of him running up to hug him when the ceremony was finally over, and the solemn moment passed.

"So what happens now?" His mother asked, already to business.

Abuela waved her off, "give the boy a minute to breathe, we can get to that step in a minute."

He hugged his Abuela.

She stepped back to look at him and straightened out the front of his uniform, "Look like your grandfather in that uniform."

"Congratulations." He said to her with a smirk on his face.

She frowned at him, "For what."

"Grandad must have been sexy as hell, so, again, congratulations."

She huffed, "I see boot camp couldn't get that tongue out of your head ."

He grinned, "Nope, pretty sure it made it worse."

"Private Ramirez!" The group of them looked up, and Ramirez snapped to attention as an unfamiliar face, and an unfamiliar uniform appeared through the crowd. The man that approached wasn't a marine, and the little silver pins on his shoulder marked him out as UNSC air division. he wasn't entirely sure he needed to salute this man, but he thought it would be better safe than sorry.

'At ease."

He dropped his hand, "I'm sorry sir, but we haven't...."

"Met before, no, but we have been watching you closely."

Ramirez glanced back at his parents not entirely sure where this was going, "Uh, sir?"

The man adjusted a stack of files under one arm, "My name is Colonel Palmer, and I'm here as a representative of the Enterprise mission command."

Ramirez raised an eyebrow, "You mean the spaceship."

"Yes I mean the spaceship. You catch on quick for a jarhead." Ramirez smiled with a little bit of the good natured ribbing.