Eric woke up to the birds singing in the forest. His eyes opened slowly, groaning as he stretched.

"Good morning my love." Mia said as she kissed him and nuzzled into his chest.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

She chuckled. "How could I not, my hunk of a husband treated me so well."

Liara started crying, and the couple laughed together. Eric kissed Mia’s head as he got out of bed. He walked into the room, and the baby stopped crying as he consoled her. Eric looked into Liara’s eyes as she grabbed onto his face, cooing. "Don’t grow up too fast, sweetheart."

He took Liara out to the kitchen and strapped her into her high chair. Mia walked over and handed him a bottle.

"Today we get our assistants." Eric said as he fed Liara.

Mia sighed as she began pulling Eggs and bacon from the fridge. She turned the stove on and waited for it to warm up. "Yeah. It will be weird working with the people we used to plan against. Do you think it will be okay?"

Eric laughed. "Did you see how pissed Justin was after realizing he had been duped? That man would probably charge the Empire by himself if he knew he could win."

The skillet started sizzling as Mia dropped the pieces of bacon in. The smell of the delicious American staple began wafting around the house. Eric’s stomach rumbled.

"Mm. I am so happy I taught you the beautiful invention called Bacon. Life isn’t complete without it."

Mia laughed, smacking him over the head with the paper towel roll. "We’ve had bacon, silly. It is just that mana tools do not cook as well or as fast as the electric ones your world has."

"Yeah. It’s crazy to think that what was once a small village made of brick and stone became a proper brick and mortar town. It feels like we brought society forward by two hundred years."

A door adjacent to the kitchen opened. A frizzled mess of red hair and bunny clad slippers sauntered to the table. The teenager sat down, plopping her head down. "Morning." She grumbled, her eyes closed.

"Get your head off the table." Eric said gruffly. He finished feeding Liara, handing the toddler her favorite chew toy. "Don’t try to teach your sister bad manners."

"Fine." Jessica grumbled as she stood up. She massaged her hair back to where it was out of her eyes. "I smelled food."

Mia walked over, putting a plate of fresh bacon and eggs in front of the teen. "Eat up. Today will be a busy day for us all."

Eric stole a piece of bacon from Jessica.

"Dad! Stop it!" The teen grumbled, pulling her plate away from him.

Eric and Mia laughed.

After breakfast, Eric stood in front of the bed. He looked in the mirror and grumbled as he fixed his deployment patch. "Goddamn uniforms." He grumbled. "Oh, you can sew your rank, your name tape, your US Army Tape... but unit patch? Deployment patch? American flag!"

Mia walked up, laughing at his disgruntled face. "Someone’s grumpy today." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Of course I’m grumpy. I’m getting another kid to baby sit."

"Eric... you’re only thirty."

"I might as well be fifty." He groaned as he hugged her. "I see the twenty year olds out partying and think to myself ’yep, never again’."

She laughed as she slid her hand on his chest. "Yeah, cause you know if you leave me with the baby to go drink all night, you’re sleeping on the couch."

Eric’s eyes widened. "You wouldn’t."

"I would."

His hands traced down her back. "That’s a fate worse than death. I will be at home every night Milano isn’t using me as a pack rat."

She laughed, kissing his chest. "I love you."

He sighed, embracing her. "I love you too."

Breaking the embrace, Eric walked into the living room where Jessica was playing with Liara. "Jessica. Today you are getting your new squad. We have decided to integrate more of the young dragons with you."

Jessica groaned.

"Dad, I am only nineteen. I’m too young for an entire squad."

Eric smirked, patting her head.

"I have faith in you kiddo. You are a better leader than you give yourself credit. Go out there and prove to yourself what I already see in you."

Jessica met his gaze. "I won’t let you down."

He kissed her head. "You never do, kid."

He stroked Liara’s ears, earning a coo from the baby before he walked out the front door. He turned to walk towards the vehicle, and paused in his steps.

Hammond was sitting on the hood of Eric’s truck, a cigarette in his hand.

"The fuck are you doing here?"

Hammond’s eyes narrowed at Eric, he waved his prosthetic. "I’m ready to get back to work. I’m cleared for duty."

"....breh."

"Shut up and get in the truck, kid."

Eric sighed. "You know it’s my truck, right?"

"I didn’t stutter."

"You know I outrank you now, right old man?"

Hammond smirked. "Refer to my previous statement."

Eric rubbed his face in his hands. "We’re getting a new kid today. Maybe I outta stick him with you."

"I’m a cripple now."

"You can’t say that while actively carrying a .249 with a prosthetic and smoking a cigarette in your other hand."

The two shared a laugh as they got into Eric’s truck. Eric pulled a sharp U-turn, and Hammond grabbed onto the hand rest. "Are you trying to flip us, you crazy bastard?" The older man grumbled.

Eric smirked. "Brings back memories, doesn’t it?"

Hammond set the .249 aside and rubbed his prosthetic hand against his thigh. "Yeah, teaching your sorry ass to drive nearly caused me to start graying."

"Was that before or after you went bald?"

"Fuck you."

On the way back to Hood Hill, Hamond looked out the window as he smoked. "I can’t believe how much Riemskin has changed." He murmured, looking at a yellow "M" that was lit up. It stood over the road, with more signs like it down the road.

Eric chuckled, looking at a stoplight. They were now on the road to Hood Hill, and the road was changing from city streets to a highway. A speed limit sign was on the right hand side of the road.

"A major highway in the middle of Purple trees is definitely a sight for sore eyes. When Milano and I took General Miher down here, he nearly jumped out of his seat."

Hammond shook his head. "The III corps commander has always been a funny one. He was my first battalion commander. He used to stop briefs and make us all stay in the pushup position when someone said ’yeah’ in a brief."

"Was it you?"

"Nah, it was actually Milano. Milano was a brand new LT at the time, and that man had the hardest time with briefing etiquette."

Eric nearly stopped the truck. His neck creaked as he turned to Hammond. "So you’re telling me, that the General who is now in charge of a three country alliance used to say ’yeah’ in every brief?"

"Yeah."

Eric shook his head. "Fucking cherries."

Hammond laughed. "Amen to that."

After parking in the HQ parking lot, Hammond jumped out of the truck with the .249 hoisted over his shoulder like a shotgun. Soldiers that were working on getting the parking lot swept stared at Hammond like he was a ghost.

"Whats the matter?" Hammond growled as he looked at the gathering. "Never seen a metal arm before? Get back to work!"

The soldiers scrambled away. Hammond was notorious for signing off on shit details, so the E-4 mafia did what they always did best:

Disappeared from sight.

Eric grinned. "Not even back to work for thirty seconds and already scaring the kids off."

Hammond shook his head. "I’ve been away for too long. I’m gonna head to Echo. See how lazy they’ve gotten. Have fun with the new kid."

Eric sighed, rubbing his face. "You too."

They shared a look and Eric headed inside to HQ.

Justin sat at his desk, scratching his ankle monitor. He looked down at it, sighing. "As if i would run anyways." He grumbled as he finished writing a report Eric had asked for.

He looked over the document, reading through it. "Should be good."

He left the room, heading down to the Staff Duty desk.

Eric met with Justin. His arms were crossed as he looked at the younger man. "Did you finish the report?"

"Roger, Master Sergeant."

"Good. Cause today you’re briefing General Milano and General Miher about the rank structure of the Empire. I want to see how you handle a brief with almost no preparation."

Justin swallowed as he looked at Eric. He felt a slight quiver in his legs. "I’ve never briefed a General before."

Eric shook his head. "Well, there’s no time like the present to learn, is there? At the end of the day, you piss the same way they do. We all bleed red. Just because they are General’s doesn’t mean you treat them differently. They are men just like you."