Oh, Millie, I'm so sorry.

We heard about the ambush. We scrambled what we could, but by the time they got there, it was too late.

Reinhardt was a hero, no doubt. Though I'm not sure the "real truth" will come out regarding his passing. Somehow, I doubt "killed by a Wyvern's fist" has that mythic ring to it. Already, scuttlebutt has him dying while single-handedly putting four Robbie 'Mechs down with only a small laser. Regardless, however, he was a true hero, even if he was a Steiner.

I'm wondering if they're killing Pops, too. He's just slowly losing touch, Millie. This thing with his son is eating away at him… I'm finding myself reminding him constantly over little things—things he never needed prompting for before. And yesterday, his latest test run went thirty minutes long - for a painstaking half-hour we completely lost him. O'Reilly was going crazy—he'd mobilized some of the Cadre to do a search (we can't lose this 'Mech to anything, it's too valuable!) and just as he was giving them final updates, Pops appeared back on the grid. He couldn't remember what'd happened. I checked the onboard log (we've got a small red box recorder in each prototype cockpit) and that data's missing as well. Which tells me Pops messed with the system, since he's one of only three who could do so (and me being one, O'Reilly the other). I confronted him about it, said he was out visiting his old homestead. I'd forgotten he'd raised his family around here. It's gotta be tough, watching the familiar burn around him. I told him next time to let me know, just in case.

Oh! They named the 'Mech finally. Apparently Jackson got fixated on "Legionnaire". Considering it's designed as a fast, cheap, easily made replacement 'Mech with incredible striking power, we're not terribly surprised. From what we figure, Jackson's going to want a pack of these commanded by a Centurion pilot, to fit with ancient Roman history.

You know what the selling point of this beastie is? Modular framing. You know how the Cennie is one of the worst 'Mechs to modify? Well, without going into excruciating detail, the Legionnaire's frame is so modular it could be made in someone's basement, if it's big enough. Ok, maybe not.

But the frame really is easy to construct. The rotary is easily dropped into a half-shell on top, over the insulated cockpit, with the TagCo leads already in place. The only thing wrong—from my view—is that we're unable to get the ammo belt feed to thread into the rotary from underneath. The weapon simply has a nasty jam rate if force-fed, rather than gravity-fed. So in order to accommodate it, we have to string the belt from the top of the torso into the weapon. Hopefully the profile is slight enough to keep it from being targeted, otherwise it's just a string of firecrackers waiting to go off.

So what do you think about the fact that the 5th FedCom rode to our "rescue" a while back? We still don't know the whole story—last supply run was six weeks ago and the last broadcast antenna in the area got fried… of all things, by a lightning strike. I don't think we're still too sure what to think about it all… I will admit I'm grateful they took out a WarShip, it helps us immensely since now we can do extended testing runs into the wilderness. Plus, apparently Davion's shifting forces around more—another lance appeared in our bay last night for rearming. I think he's slowly rotating forces through here to get loaded up with the last of the special munitions the Cadre had with them—we need all the edge we can get. I can't help but think we're getting ready for something major, but what I don't know. I'm unaware of any major Blakist units nearby, though since I'm only a lowly engineer, I'm not exactly privy to all the hot intel that comes in.

Actually, I think I like that level of separation. Keeps me focused on the job at hand.

Duty calls. Love you lots.

Robert