(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9h_FmmDtwcQ/TkWBhEQm8NI/AAAAAAAABFs/zAjdm4rAZCI/s400/CCG_Unlimited_Hatchetman_S.jpg)<br/><br/><strong>Ranna Krannok<br/>Perimeter Watch/ Bastion Command Dome</strong><br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/>The dullness of perimeter duty was not lost on Ranna as she followed Graff's Marauder around the field by a hundred meters or so.  Swapping the heads up display which made up the whole of Harlequin's faceplate from visible light to Ultraviolet she watched as the wash of colors signified heat and cold across the open bowl of the base.  Nothing red or orange moved along the cool blues and blacks of the mountain perimeter aside from the other mechs of the recon lance only a few klicks away.  Ranna lazily toggled through the companies comm nets listening in on the random speculation regarding their new found enemy.<br/><br/><em>"Alright guys, looks like this is a wrap.  Lets head back to the Bastion, it looks like we are getting ready to head out.  Little Bit take point, Harlequin watch our six."</em>The call on the Lance net brought Ranna back from her automatic state of tracking nothing in the wilderness.  She found herself laughing internally while shaking her head at the call for her to bring up the lance's rear.  Realizing that she would be terribly useless at this point if anything came charging out of the brush.  The long range PPC's and lasers of the Marauder would have been more useful.<br/><br/>Happy to be inside the defensive circle of the ever vigilant Bastion's weapon arc, Ranna walked Harlequin up the ramp and slowly backed into her mech bay.  The whining power down of the mech's systems and the cool rush of mountain air greeted her happily as she popped the hatch at the back of Harlequin's head.  Donning her leather jacket, she walked out onto the shoulder, pulling a BattleRom drive from a compartment at the back of the head before climbing the ladder to the upper catwalks.<br/><br/>Returning to her quarters, Ranna stripped off her jumpsuit, replacing the tight fitting garment with a pair of baggy green fatigues and a red t-shirt.  Throwing the leather jacket back on, she purposefully walked through the corridors to the mess hall to grab some food before their debrief.  The shudder of power behind Bastion's rise into space along with Walter's call to the company to meet in the command dome signaled her lunch was over.<br/><br/>Making her way through the ship as gravity was slowly replaced by weightlessness, Ranna found the command dome and quietly slipped in, finding her usual seat at the edge of the briefing table.  She listened quietly as Walter began the debrief, his assessment of their performance biting hard into the pride of all in the room.  Ranna kept her face emotionless.  She had not seen  how the rest of the assault had unfolded, but she knew that her Lance had accomplished it's mission without fail.  While Ranna couldn't argue with the strength of the unit and the cohesion of the unit, she didn't believe Walter's assessment that the company's assault had been so bad as to warrant such attacks.<br/><br/>Finally Perkins stepped up, blunting the fullness of Walter's assault.  Ranna found him the most curious of the previous company and likely the most like her, but she continue to keep her face clear of any emotion while she listened intently on his points.  She found his points to be much the same as hers regarding Graff, and while she didn't know what happened with Miyoko and Miho further out on the field, she wasn't surprised they had pulled Preston's ire.<br/><br/>When Perkins asked for questions and comments, Ranna resisted the urge to step forward and offer her thoughts.  Too many times in the past her thoughts had been thrown back at her as too radical or not in line with company policy, so she waited to hear the rest.