The alarm clock on the side of his small bedside table read 0400. Max slowly hauled himself upwards, a cool early morning breeze sending chills along his exposed upper half before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, feet planted firmly on the ground; he had fifteen minutes to get himself dressed for an early morning run.

Once he had hit the roads of Tierney, Maxwell had fallen into step, his music loud enough so the rhythmic footfalls were partially drowned out but yet low enough so that he still had awareness of what was around him. This was his daily routine, occasionally switching it up for the gym rather than a long outdoor run. Today was such day, where he ditched the treadmill for proper ground, uneven slabs of the sidewalks to the occasional incline. Max had been running, lapping the time every 1.5 km and attempting to bypass the previous time.

Soon enough, it was 0600, the sun having just peeked up over the horizon. Maxwell could feel the rays hitting his face, competing with the sweat that had accumulated on his body as he made his way back to his own room; changing into uniform as he then made his way towards the mess hall, greeting those he saw along the way with a soft 'good morning' as he made a b-line for the mess.


Tag:: Col. Stephanie Huntley

0300. Rise and shine. Get up, get dressed, go running with an over grown Rottweiler, take a shower, get dressed for work, check on her husband and the teenagers. Somewhere in there was grabbing something to eat. That was no short cry of time consuming. Especially when it came to James and him pushing buttons this early in the morning. His military habits meant he was awake with her. Just go back to bed already.

Grabbing herself a brewed cup of tea before she left, she hopped up into her truck at 0530. That's how long dealing with her morning routine was. When you were a parent... things changed. She was still adjusting to certain things, and a married life was one of them.

Soon she was parking her truck in the lot. She lived on the other side of the base and she usually opted for driving. Stephanie had to pass by the mess hall in order to get into the building from the parking lot. It wasn't usually her choice of food, especially since she was such a picky eater.

Stephanie entered into the mess hall looking for someone she needed to see at some point in her day. A voluntold appointment of sorts. She was in the middle of letting this lieutenant know where he was going on be and when. Hearing an unfamiliar voice she almost snapped at someone for interrupting her conversation. Noting the rank on the Lt. colonel's sleeve she smirked. "Well someone is cheerful this morning."

Tag: Lt. Col Maxwell Strickland

Maxwell had always been a moderately fast eater; even Tanya had to tell him to slow down when he was simply supposed to be relaxing with her on a lazy Sunday but it had been ingrained, never knowing when they were going to be called out on rescue missions or when they needed to be thrown into action. The fork scrapped against his plate as he began on the second half of his breakfast, only taking a break to reach for the juice. He was getting his mind focused on the day, knowing that at some point, he would be needing to see the CO to discuss plans.

"Well someone is cheerful this morning."

His head had snapped upwards, at the voice, looking up and focusing in on the face, "Morning, Colonel. Can't complain about the morning so far, had a pleasant run," Max replied, with a polite smile on his face. "Yourself?"

Watching the Lt. Colonel’s head snap was all but amusing to her. Someone might be a little on edge or maybe he was just acute on the senses. Oh she hated when the question was turned back on her about how she was doing. “Just another morning.” She replied. That was the simple version of the morning chaos every morning of making sure all three teens were ready and making sure that her husband was okay with her heading out to work. Some days it was more complicated than others.

Stephanie wasn’t a woman of too many words. Though she couldn’t see how anyone ate this when they didn’t have to do so. Just the smell of the place made Stephanie want to head out but she had a little more respect for people than that. “You’re actually eating this crap?” She made a face. How could anyone stand it?


Tag: Lt. Col Maxwell Strickland

“Just another morning.”

Maxwell nodded, "At least it isn't a bad one."

He had stopped eating, as the colonel stood. He shrugged a shoulder, as he hid the amusement on his face as he watched the colonel pull a face. At the end of the day, food was indeed food, whether it tasted nice or nasty, it was energy that could be burned off throughout the day. "It's not that bad. Compared to the stuff my aunt used to make when I used to go over, this is heavenly. Just don't tell her that."

Realising they had yet to exchange names, he stood up, extending his hand. "Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell Strickland. Sorry, I know introductions tend to go prior to conversation, Colonel."

Bad morning was in the eye of the beholder. It was everything that had become normal to her but it wasn’t the same as her own normal. Today was a rougher day in that department but it was personal and she didn’t need to delve into that with the flyboy.

Stephanie was probably the pickiest eater on the entirety of the base. Talking about the woman who used seaweed bars for ratios and decided that vegetarian MRE’s were barely edible. His first mistake was having meat on his plate. She felt nauseous just the smell of the place made her wish she’d not come in here.

"Colonel Stephanie Amberson.” Her name was a complicated mess of things. Either of her married surnames were difficult for her to digest for a large number of reasons not even relevant. When he apologized she just gave him a stare, as if daring him to apologize again.

There was a pause. “You must be the new executive officer that I’ve been expecting.” She decided to show that she was well up on what was happening on base.

Tag: Lt. Col Maxwell Strickland

Max had frozen up slightly at the glare that had been shot his way, his back straightening ever so slightly. Was he not supposed to apologise for slip-ups? Not that he was much one for asking or questioning a superior on such minor action.

“You must be the new executive officer that I’ve been expecting.”

"Aye Colonel." Maxwell replied with a slight nod of his head. Of course he was expected, he mentally chatised himself for being a little slow on the draw when it came to getting to grips with the new unit that he had been tasked with being second-in-command.

He cut himself short before another apology could slip out of his mouth as he straightened up his cutlery and rose from his seat, indicating that he was indeed finished with breakfast.