Planet Destiny

1000 hours-1200 hours

Current Conditions: N/A

Georgia rumbled down the line of the Galaxy Railways, Bill's coaches clattering behind her. It was roughly 5 hours of journey time between Tabito and Planet Destiny on the Oberon Mainline, she knew this because she's run this route with her ore trains for the past 15 years of her life. She knew every inch of the line and knew every kink, every bump, every flicker in the Magnetic Barrier, every generator, all the train's schedules, and every signal by heart and yet....it felt longer....more lonely than usual. It was probably the last time she would be able to take this route in its entirety for a while, not many trains ran the route so it was unlikely she would be sent out here by the SDF.

Georgia chuckled bitterly as that thought crossed her mind. There was always a part of her that wished the SDF chose her instead of her brother to be converted into a Battle Train. She always wished she would get a chance, maybe even fight alongside her brother as the train of another platoon...she never expected that this was how she'd get her chance.

Georgia: "Fate, you are one cruel mistress." she groaned, unhappily.

John: "Hm? What was that Georgia?" he asked, leaning out of her cab.

Georgia: "Nothing John. Don't worry about it." she replied.

John: "Um...ok? But if you need to talk you'll have the mechanics and their Sexaroid Yuki." he said.

Georgia: "Wait....not you?" she asked.

John: "Of course not me, I'm not needed as your driver anymore, you'll have a fancy new guy....David Young I believe his name was." he said.

Georgia: "But.....why?" she asked.

John: "I'm not SDF Georgia." he replied, "I can't stay with you through this part of your life."

Georgia: "But....you're my driver..." she trailed off.

John: "I know Georgia." he said, patting her cab, "But, I don't have much of a choice, I'm not physically fit enough to join the SDF with you and there'll be no guarantee that I end up with you even if I manage to join the SDF."

Georgia: "I......I understand." she said, sadly.

John: "It's ok Old Mare." he said, comfortingly, "It's just the way the world works. I'll still see you every now and then."

Georgia: "It won't be the same as having you in my cab though." she whined.

John had no reply for that and simply patted his engine's cab and controls in an attempt to comfort the poor engine. Georgia simply looked down at her buffers, her life had changed so drastically since her brother died and she didn't like it one bit.

Georgia: "Why did you have to die?" she asked, turning to her brother's whistle, "Why couldn't it have been someone else?"

The whistle gave no reply of course, sitting there lifelessly on her running board, almost tauntingly.

Soon enough, she reached Planet Destiny, it was a large, Earth-like Planet which started and ended thousands of journeys every single day. On the way in she dodged many express trains and interplanetary suburban trains loaded with people who flocked to the windows to get even a glimpse of Georgia as she thundered past.

Georgia: "Don't they notice that I'm not Bill?" she questioned.

John: "I think they're chalking your dirty appearance up to you just being worked hard or something." he shrugged, "Plus, the damage from Yesterday kinda implies you're limping home from a battle."

Georgia: "I-...I see..." she trailed off.

Georgia descended through the atmosphere, taking in the sights of Planet Destiny, the place always drew an awestruck gasp out of her especially because of how much green there was compared to Planet Tabito. The infrastructure was modern and flowing unlike the industrial and dirty infrastructure of Tabito; the station was massive compared to the tiny junction station of Tabito; there was a massive city full of skyscrapers, shops, apartments, and other things; and at the center of all of this was a massive complex which housed the Headquarters for all of the Galaxy Railways.

Usually she would be switched onto the freight line and descend to ground level before parking in the marshaling yard which, while still modern, was a little tired and dingy compared to the rest of the city. But since she was now a part of the SDF she was switched onto the SDF arrival track and descended into a large structure which built into the side of a large mountain overlooking the city.

Georgia: "Home sweet home." she muttered, entering the structure.

Her wheels soon touched the rails and they felt smooth damn smooth way smoother than the shunting yards and leagues smoother than the track back on Tabito. Georgia slowly came to a halt next to Bill's old platform where a mechanic was waiting for her. Next to her were the platforms of Bert and Freya, both colleagues of Bill's. Only one rake of coaches was visible, they were white with a red roof, a red undercarriage, and a streamlined design unlike the very traditional design of Bill's blue and black coaches. As for the mechanic, he was an older man, with white hair, wrinkled features, and a gruff face, he wore a wrinkled and dirty gray jumpsuit, standard uniform for SDF mechanics. The man was rather tall and seemed very experienced in the field of engineering.

Whitman: "I assume you're Georgia." he said, gruffly.

Georgia: "That's me." she nodded, "And you are?"

Whitman: "Heh, where are my manners nowadays? Isamu Whitman, I'm going to be your new Chief Mechanic." he replied.

Georgia: "It's nice to meet you Mr Whitman." she smiled.

Whitman: "It's nice to meet you too Georgia." he nodded, "Bill told me a lot about you."

Georgia: "Nothing but good things, I hope." she said, bashfully.

Whitman: "You can say that. He went on and on about how temperamental you always are and never once stopped talking about you to Bert and Freya, I'm sure they got tired of hearing about you after a while." he chuckled, his face shifting into one of sorrow as he patted her running board, "I'm sorry for your loss old mare, I'm gonna miss that cheeky son of a gun."

Georgia: "I'm going to miss him too." she sighed, looking down at her cowcatcher, "What was he like around the other engines?"

Whitman: "A natural born leader." he replied, "I swear, the only reason this place is still in one piece is because of him."

Georgia giggled, already picturing her brother in the leader role.

Whitman: "Now, let's get to work converting you into a Battle Train." he said.

Georgia: "Ok then." she nodded.

John: "Good luck Georgia." he said, patting Georgia's running board.

Georgia: "Do you have to go John?" she asked.

John: "I already told you Georgia, I'm not SDF." he said, sadly, "I couldn't stay if I wanted to, I'll visit you when I can Georgia."

Georgia sighed, she knew this already but hearing the answer still made her sad, John soon left for home as Georgia was uncoupled from Bill's coaches and lowered deeper into the SDF's Facility via elevator with Whitman in her cab. When the Elevator reached the bottom of its travel, she was met with a team of mechanics, all wearing similar gray jumpsuits as the elevator came to a halt in the SDF's dedicated maintenance bay. The walls were white, cranes hung from the ceiling, spare parts lay everywhere, mechanics ran around doing various tasks on engines in the distance, and when the elevator came to a stop she saw there was a pit that covered her entire length so the mechanics could easily get to her undercarriage.

Georgia: "Whoa..." she trailed off, looking around her.

???: "Bill! There you are! I thought you'd.....wait....you're not Bill." said a voice from right beside her.

Georgia, shocked at the sudden noise, looked to her left to see a sleek battle train sitting next to her on the adjacent track, the engine was a little lower than Georgia, necessitating the Freight Engine to look down past her running board to look the odd engine in the eye. She was painted white with a red roof and a red undercarriage like the coaches upstairs, and she had a similarly streamlined form, she did not resemble anything from Earth and appears to have been specifically designed for the SDF. Her face was underneath her Platoon's emblem, a blue badge with a white Goddess-like figure and a gold border, and she sported reddish brown eyes and feminine features. This was Flame Swallow or better known as Freya by her colleagues.

Freya: "Hello? You haven't answered my question yet." she said.

Georgia: "I'm Georgia, Bill's little sister." she replied.

Freya: "Georgia....? Oh! You're that little sister of his that he couldn't stop running his mouth off about." she said, recognizing her, "I'm Freya, it's nice to finally meet you....but...I'm assuming we're not meeting on the best terms."

Georgia: "Yeah......Bill's gone." she said, sadly looking down at her brother's whistle which was still on her running board.

Freya: "Oh....I'm sorry." she apologized.

Georgia: "Thank you, I'm coming to terms with it." she said, her boiler pressure slowly dropping.

Freya: "Ok....if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you." she said, "I'm the fleet's therapist after all."

Georgia: "Thanks Freya." she smiled, nodding thankfully, "Say....what's got you stuck here?"

Freya: "I burst a valve during one of my missions." she admitted, sheepishly, "Strange of me to do it though, usually Bert is the one causing damage to himself."

Georgia: "How long will you be out of action?" she asked.

Freya: "Oh, not long at all.." she replied, "You however are gonna be stuck here for a lot longer."

Georgia: "I see." she nodded.

The sound of something rolling along the floor is heard and Georgia saw 2 of her mechanics moving a green barrel onto her tender and next to her fuel filler cap. This was Green Water, a sort of Anesthetic for living vehicles. It was administered to living vehicles by being poured into their systems. Of course, Georgia doesn't technically have traditional fuel of any kind so a special tank in her tender would take on the green water and initiate its effects, this was a proven process especially back on Earth where sentient rolling stock were built with tanks under their frames for this exact purpose.

Akatsuki: "Alright Georgia." he said, "We're gonna pour this into your tender now."

Georgia: "Ok, I'll see you guys when you wake me up." she said.

Whitman: "Any requests for modifications?" he asked.

Georgia: "I wanna keep my eye color and my original whistle ... .just....maybe add my brother's whistle somewhere else on my boiler." she replied.

Whitman: "Alright, we'll see what we can do." he nodded, "Pour it Akatsuki!"

Akatsuki nodded and tipped over the green barrel. The green water flowed into her tank and Georgia drifted off to sleep, allowing the mechanics to get to work overhauling her. Freya on the other hand simply watched, her repairs did not require the use of Green Water so she tried to occupy herself by using her very advanced scanners to watch the various staff of Headquarters go about their daily lives. There was juicy gossip everywhere she looked and a lot of blackmail to be collected. Suddenly however, she was broken out of her spying trance by her Captain.

Captain Julia: "Having fun there Freya?" she asked, teasingly.

Freya: "C-Captain Julia!" she yelped, "S-sorry, I'm just..."

Captain Julia: "Bored?" she chuckled, "I know old girl. I know all too well."

Captain Julia was a 30-ish year old woman with sharp features, white European Skin, blue eyes, and a head of blonde hair. She had a motherly or big sister-like aura about her and was seen as such by her crew and her engine. She was currently wearing Spica Platoon's uniform which was essentially a red version of Sirius Platoon's female uniform with Spica Platoon's badge.

Captain Julia: "So, what kinda blackmail'd ya pick up this time?" she asked, sitting on her engine's streamlined skirt.

Freya: "Countless tons of the stuff." she replied, "At least 5 crushes have been admitted in the general vicinity and somehow they all form a love pentagon. There's also a bunch of shady dealings with the Secret Intelligence Agency, a bunch of fancy rumors, and a lot of stuff pertaining to the engine beside me."

Captain Julia: "Ah yes, Bill's little sister, right?" she asked, turning to Georgia, "What about her?"

Freya: "Well, not a lot of incriminating or controversial stuff really." she shrugged, " Mostly stuff about how they can make her better than her brother."

Captain Julia: "Makes sense." she nodded, "Anything else girl?"

Freya: "Not much." she replied, "...well, not much the NDA you made me sign doesn't cover."

Since Freya's little habit of spying on people had been going on for some time, Captain Julia had made her engine sign an NDA so she couldn't disclose any of the more sensitive information she picked up over her sensors. This sensitive information included relationships, government scandals, government secrets, secrets that are meant to be taken to the grave, things that will come out naturally, frisky moments between the staff, and other things.

Captain Julia: "Good girl." she smiled, patting her engine's streamlined cowling, "Now, since I'm going to be off duty for the next few hours, how about we play a game?"

Freya: "What kind of game?" she asked, excitedly.

Captain Julia: "Some Chess perhaps?" she suggested.

Freya: "Ooh! I love chess!" she said, happily, "But wait.....don't you always lose against me? Since I am technically a computer."

Captain Julia: "I don't mind old friend." she replied, setting up the board, "Besides, it's a fun way to think of strategy and problem solving. Now, white or black?"

Freya: "I'll play black." she replied, "Give you more of a chance today ma'am."

Captain Julia: "Alright then." she grinned, moving her piece, "Your turn."

With that, Freya and her Captain entered an intense game of Chess.

Guella Branchline

1100 hours

Current Conditions: Clear

While Georgia was undergoing her refit and Freya was getting repaired, the Galaxy continued on as usual, meaning there was no shortage of incidents for the rest of the SDF to respond to. One such incident was occurring on this little branchline. A train had been attacked by an enemy destroyer due to suspicions of espionage. The 641 Express was led by a steam engine named Beau much like Georgia, Bill, and Charlie. Unlike said engines however, Beau was built to resemble a classic American 4-4-0 with a sort of steampunk aesthetic, he was painted bright orange with a yellow cab, red wheels, and silver fittings.

Guellan Destroyer: "Galaxy Express number 641, surrender your cargo and peacefully hand over your passengers!" she ordered, "This is your final warning."

Beau: "C'mon Eliza, I ain't carrying any spies!" he called, a heavy American Accent in his voice, "Y'know I'd be stupid for tryin' anythin' like that with you 'round."

Eliza: "A passenger on your train is rousing suspicion from my superiors." she said, "Whatever the case, I demand you come to a stop and surrender this passenger for questioning."

Beau: "Which passenger?" he asked, "Y'know I've got over a hundred of the guys, how would I know who's a spy?"

Eliza: "Just come to a halt and my crew will find the spy." she said.

Before Beau could continue annoying Eliza, a trio of hyperthermal blue blasts raced past Eliza and separated her from the slightly damaged Beau. An SDF train roared into view soon after and put himself in between 641 and the destroyer, keeping Eliza from continuing. The engine was a dark, forest green with gold lining surrounding his boiler and streamlined running board. His boiler resembles the boiler of the S1 Duplex used by the Pennsylvania Railroad but his wheels were a strange 0-8-8-4 Wheel Configuration which would realistically leave him very front heavy. The engine also had a rake of green coaches with gray roofs and undercarriages. This was Iron Berger or Bert of Vega Platoon. Somehow despite his wheel configuration and looks being that of a steam engine, Bert was an electric engine thus he did not billow steam or smoke like Georgia or Bill did.

Bert: "This is the SDF, Vega Platoon." he said, "Power down your weapons and peel off from the 641 Express! Galaxy Railways tracks are neutral zones and belong to no planetary nation! If you continue your attack I will open fire on your stupid ass!"

Eliza: "Tch, SDF slave." she scoffed, "You have no right to get in between me and my prey!"

Bert: "Yes I do." he growled, aiming his weaponry at the Destroyer, "Now either back up or I show ya why I got the title of the most heavily armed member of the SDF."

Eliza growled, she wasn't going to back down to some stupid train. She powered up her weaponry and got ready for round 2.

Bert: "Sir, she's not complying." he reported.

Inside his tender, was a crew made entirely up of men unlike Sirius Platoon which had a few female officers and Spica Platoon which was entirely made up of women. Captain Ryusaku Murase was the leader of this Platoon, his skin tone was darker, his hair was black, and his eyes were brown. His face was riddled with scars from an incident in the relatively recent past.

Captain Murase: "I'm well aware of that Bert and I sure as hell ain't gonna get shot down by some dinky little Destroyer." he said, confidently, "Lower the orbit shields, arm the main battery, and aim at the Destroyer."

Vega Platoon: "Let's get that son of a bitch!/Yeah! Bring the pain Bert!/Let's teach 'em a lesson!" they said on top of each other.

Bert took aim with his main armaments.

Bert: "Hasta La Vista, baby." he grinned.

With a wordless command, Bert blasted the enemy into oblivion with 2 salvos from his main guns.

Bert: "Rest in pieces ya filthy Commy piece of shit." he said.

Beau: "You've been watchin' way too many of them old Earth Movies Bert." he chuckled, puffing alongside the SDF train.

Bert: "What can I say? They're good." he shrugged, "You need any assistance?"

Beau: "Do I look like I need assistance sonny?" he asked, incredulously, "I can easily get back underway."

Beau began puffing away.

Moritz Schneider: "Well, he's moving alright and that is his safe cruising speed but we'll know more when he's planet side." he said, scanning the visual feed.

Jose Antonio Valdiva: "Good, I don't need to fiddle around with the couplings." he said, kicking his feet up and leaning back in his chair.

Captain Murase: "Don't relax just yet Jose." he said, "We're not outta this yet. Bert, escort the 641 to the next stop just in case."

Bert: "Yes sir." he saluted, following the 641.

As Bert followed Beau to the next stop he looked down at the little photo he had on his running board. It was of himself, Freya, and Bill on a vacation planet. He was focusing specifically on Freya's image, he had a small crush on the Battle Train and wanted to get closer to her.

Bert: "Sir? Is it about time we headed back to Destiny?" he asked, "We've been out here for a solid week after all."

Captain Murase: "Hm....I thought we were out for a day." he hummed.

Jose: "Aw man, I knew the food stores were weirdly low!" he complained.

Schneider: "Ease off Jose." he said, swiveling his chair 90 degrees, "Sir, we should finish escorting the 641 Express before heading back to Planet Destiny."

Silver: "Yeah, protocol and all that junk." he added.

Captain Murase: "Alright, sorry old boy but your lady friend can wait." he joked.

Bert: "M-me and Freya aren't that close." he blushed.

Captain Murase: "Never said it was Freya boy." he chuckled.

Bert blushed even further causing the other members of the platoon to gasp and swoon dramatically.

Bert: "Shove it you guys." he groaned, wishing he could hide somehow.

Silver: "Someone's got the hots for the angular ones huh?" he teased.

Jose: "You got the hots for the smart ones eh? Smart move." he nodded.

Schneider: "I'm not one for love....but nothing is against vehicles being engaged in romance." he replied, keeping a constant eye on the 641.

Jose: "Wha-? Was that the best you could do Schneider?" he asked, incredulously.

Schneider: "I'm not teasing, I'm being supportive." he replied, not once looking up from his screen, "If the guy wants love we shouldn't ridicule him for it."

Jose: "C'mon! He knows it's all in good fun!" he said.

Silver: "Yeah! Don't ya Bert?" he asked, patting his control console.

In response Bert sent a little more energy into Silver's console causing it to overheat.

Silver: "Ow....ow....ow! Ow! Fuck! Shit! Damn it Bert! Stop! Ouch!" he yelped, his hands dancing on his console.

Captain Murase: "That's enough old boy." he chuckled, "Let Silver get back to work so we can hurry back to Destiny."

Bert: "Yes sir." he said, reluctantly lowering the amount of power he was putting into Silver's controls.

Bert refocused on the path ahead and followed the 641 to its next stop.

Planet Destiny

2000 hours

Current Conditions: Clear

Back on Planet Destiny, Captain Julia had gone back to patrolling the station leaving Freya with nothing much to do so she fired up her scanners and went back to spying on the staff of Headquarters. Next to her, Georgia's frames were coming together, her undercarriage had been upgraded to properly take advantage of her new horsepower figures, her smokebox had been taken off her old freight boiler while a new, upgraded, SDF boiler was brought in via crane.

Freya: "Crush.....Government Secret......Upgrades........Upgrades...........Budget Cut..........More Government Secrets....another crush......Poverty Stuff..........High Profile Escort mission, blegh.......uh-huh...............ooh." she muttered, listening into various conversations.

Akatsuki: "What's up Freya?" he asked, watching over Georgia's smokebox.

Freya: "Someone from the Secret Intelligence Agency is talking about the incident yesterday." she replied, still listening in on the conversation.

Whitman: "And?" he pressed, guiding the people operating the crane holding Georgia's new boiler, "What are they saying about it?"

Freya: "It's mostly about what attacked Bill." she replied, "Something about how the materials making up the Destroyer are completely unknown to this universe."

Akatsuki: "So, what does that mean for us?" he asked.

Freya: "Nothing at the moment though they are saying that the increase in Dimensional Holes may be their doing." she replied, "Nothing but theories and stuff right now though."

Whitman: "Well, keep us all posted Freya." he instructed, "They have a tendency of hiding important things until the very last second after all."

Akatsuki: "Don't remind us." he said, grimly.

Freya: "I'm on it, they won't be keeping secrets while I'm here." she said, refocusing her sensors.

Suddenly the elevator for Bert's platform lowered into view, causing the maintenance staff to quickly move out of the way as he arrived in the maintenance bay.

Bert: "Hey hey hey Party People!" he greeted, blasting his horn as the elevator reached the bottom of its travel.

Freya: "Hello Bert." she said, rolling her eyes, "Where've you been?"

Bert: "Being a Really Useful Engine as always." he replied.

Freya scoffed with a chuckle.

Freya: "Still as chipper as always." she said.

Bert: "Of course I am." he grinned, noticing Georgia's undercarriage next to him, "Why's Bill in pieces?"

Freya: "You haven't heard of what happened, have you?" she asked.

Bert: "Heard of....what?" he questioned.

Freya: "Bert....Bill's dead." she explained, "He and Captain Yuuki sacrificed themselves against some unknonw Destroyer."

Bert: "Wha-? How-? Th-then who the hell is this?" he demanded.

Freya: "That is Georgia, Bill's little sister." she replied, "And his replacement since the Galaxy Railways doesn't want the public to know about the incident."

Bert: "W-why did no one tell me?" he demanded, "I'm his best damn friend someone should have told me about this!"

Freya: "I'm assuming because they all assumed someone else would have told you or your platoon by now." she replied, "I'm sorry Bert."

Bert just looked down at his streamlined cowcatcher, sad at the loss of his brother and best friend.

Freya: "Georgia arrived this morning." she said, "She's a nice sort. I think you'll get along with her."

Bert stayed silent.

Freya: "Well....if you ever need to talk, I'm here for ya." she said, shifting on her axles to nudge her streamlined skirt against Bert's.

Bert blushed a bit at the contact before shifting on his own axles to nudge her back.....much to the dismay of the poor mechanics who now had to replace their streamlined plating and repaint them.

Whitman: "Alright you 2, flirt later, right now we need to focus on this girl's retrofit." he called.

Freya: "Yes sir." she said, settling back on her axles properly.

Bert: "Yes sir." he sighed, reluctantly doing the same.

Soon enough a new boiler was carried into view, it was a slightly upgraded version of Bill's old boiler, able to put out more horsepower while also resembling the old boiler just enough for the regular public to not notice a thing.

Freya: "Wow, is she almost done already?" she asked, shocked.

Whitman: "Yeah, the boys on Tabito did a great job keeping her in immaculate condition." he grinned, patting Georgia's running board, "No rust, no metal fatigue, no nothing. Just needed to clean the grime and dirt off of her."

Akatsuki: "Made our job easy." he said, "And it'll make the officers' jobs easier since they don't have to find a reason as to why Big 1 is MIA for a few weeks."

Whitman: "Yeah, but she will be out of action for another day if you keep slacking off." he snapped, grumpily, "Get back to work Akatsuki."

Akatsuki chuckled and went back to work helping install Georgia's new boiler.

Bert: "By the way...you said something about the Railways not wanting the public to know." he said.

Freya: "Yes, I overheard some of the higher ups saying that the public would go into a panic and not wanna use the railways because of a one time event." she said, "So they want to sweep the entire event under the rug including Bill's sacrifice."

Bert: "That's such bullshit." he said, "He deserves to be memorialized."

Freya: "I know, but there's nothing we can do about it." she sighed, "If something drastic happens, maybe they'll let the public know. But for now, we're the only people who are supposed to know the truth and that's how it'll stay."

Bert: "Seriously?" he questioned, "Come on, you know it's not right, why are you sticking so close to the rules?"

Freya: "Because sticking the rules is what will keep us alive." she replied, "We're not people Bert, we can't just rebel whenever we want to and survive. All they have to do is sign a dotted line and we're off to the scrapyard."

Bert was about to make a retort before shutting up, Freya was right after all. When a human rebels, the worst the company can do is fire them which is bad but they cannot physically harm the person. When an engine rebels however there is no such liberty, an engine is in essence a machine and if it is refusing to work then the company which owns them has every right to send the engine to the scrapyard. It wasn't a fair system by any means and people were protesting this fact but nothing significant has been done to change the

Destiny Station

2100 hours

Current Conditions: Clear

Charlie was sizzling impatiently under the big canopy of Destiny Station. Destiny Station was a massive place which resembled the big terminus stations of Earth such as King's Cross in London. It featured a large, glass canopy, about 300 platforms, multiple ticketing booths, and an army of SDF Platoons patrolling at all times to make sure any petty theft did not go unpunished. Just in case the humans missed something, spherical guardbots floated over the platforms, watching every corner of the big station and feeding Headquarters real time information on anything going on.

Charlie was looking forward to getting back to his route, the Galaxy Mainline. It was a long stretch of track going from Earth to Andromeda and then back in a sort of loop, stops were plentiful and the schedule was tight but Charlie always managed and being the fastest train in the SDF certainly helped keep his Express the most prestigious and pricey route on the Galaxy Railways schedule. It had however been over 4 hours since he had let Sirius Platoon off and he was still waiting for clearance to take off.

Charlie: "Come on!" he shouted, giving 3 impatient blasts of his whistle, "I can't leave my route waiting any longer!"

Conductor: "Patience Charlie." he said, inside his boiler, "We'll be going shortly after the 550 departs."

Charlie: "We better." he pouted, letting off a furious amount of steam, "I wanna get back to work as quickly as possible."

Conductor: "And we will, just be patient, the controllers are stressed enough as is." he chided.

Charlie: "You're right, you're right." he said, breathing deeply to try and calm down.

As Charlie waited one of the shunters suddenly pushed a line of Cattle Cars into the platform next to him.

Charlie: "Wha-? Oi! What kinda joke is this ya son of a bitch?" he demanded, "Why are these trucks here?!"

Shunter 1: "Don't know what to tell ya man." he shrugged, "Yards are full, Yard Master told me to leave these trucks here to be taken somewhere in the Trader System."

Charlie: "Great." he groaned, "First I'm taken off my route, then I'm delayed getting back on my route, and now I have to deal with a filthy goods train right next to me!"

Shunter 1: "Well, suck it up big guy." he chuckled, backing away, "You'll have to deal with it."

Charlie huffed again before sliding his smoke deflectors forward in indignance. As he waited, one of the Spica Girls walked over to have a talk. She was relatively short with brown hair, gray eyes, and glasses. She was wearing Spica Platoon's Uniform and had a sci-fi comm in her ear connected to the rest of her platoon mates and the Command Center. This was Ai Matsuura.

Ai Matsuura: "Hello Charlie, you ok?" she asked.

Charlie: "I'd be better if there wasn't a freight train next to me." he pouted, "Why can't I leave anyway?"

Ai: "Ah, I see." she nodded, sympathetically, "Well, it can't be helped, Command is prioritizing the freight trains since the yards are full."

Charlie: "Fine." he sighed, "I suppose I can get behind their reasoning."

Ai: "That's good to hear Charlie." she smiled, "How is Andromeda by the way?"

Charlie: "Oh, it is beautiful this time of year." he replied, "Usually I would be halfway there by now but because of these special circumstances I'm a little late."

Ai: "Aw, it's ok Charlie, you'll be there soon enough." she said, patting his smoke deflectors, "The yards will be clear soon enough and you'll be outta here within 2 hours."

Charlie: "Very well." he sighed, "I guess I can wait 2 hours."

Ai giggled at that and, before they could begin conversing casually, the sound of another engine's booming whistle suddenly interrupted their thoughts. Charlie looked forward and saw an engine very much like Bill and Georgia began backing down on the freight train next to Charlie. The engine was completely black, his smokebox was a dark, battleship gray unlike the bright white of Bill and Georgia. The engine was also considerably more dirty and grimy than Georgia was, covered in more rust than Charlie would care to talk about, and billowed dark clouds of black steam as he coupled up to the large train behind him. As he came alongside Charlie, he saw that the engine's number plate read '8000'.

Charlie: "Hello." he greeted, sliding his smoke deflectors back.

'8000' glared down at the Express Engine and blasted a wall of steam in Charlie's face.

Charlie: "Oh!" he coughed, "That's just nice. I was only trying to say hello."

8000: "Hmph, why would you?" he questioned.

Charlie:"You just remind me of someone I met." he replied.

8000: "Really?" he questioned, "Who?"

Charlie: "Another G8000 named Georgia." he said.

8000: "Ah, my naive little sister." he said, wheeshing steam.

Ai: "That's no way to talk about your little sibling." she said.

8000: "And what're you going to do about it pipsqueak? It ain't illegal." he said, "And besides, she and I aren't close thanks to G8001."

Ai: "Bill?" she questioned.

8000: "Yes, ever since he was chosen for SDF work instead of Freight Work, my naive little sister could do nothing but fawn over his line of work." he wheeshed, "She should have been looking up to me. Not him."

Charlie: "Well, she is doing well for herself if you're curious." he said, rolling his eyes.

8000: "And I wasn't." he replied, gruffly.

Ai suddenly put a hand up to her comm and turned to 8000.

Ai: "8000, you're clear to depart." she relsyed.

8000: "Finally!" he huffed, blasting steam out of almost every nook and cranny on him, "This gaudy station is no place for an engine like me."

With that, 8000 clanked and wheezed out of the station with his long train with Charlie being unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his fumes.

Charlie: "Ugh, bastard." he said, using his smoke deflectors to fan the smoke away.

Ai: "Yeah, sorry about him, he doesn't much like the Galaxy Railways." she apologized.

Charlie: "I can tell." he replied, "What kinda penny pincher did they sell him too?"

Ai: "Would you be surprised if I said the Bureau of Agriculture?" she asked.

Charlie: "Well, I guess I'm not since he coupled up to some cattle wagons." he replied, "But uh....why is he in such an abyssmal state?"

Ai: "Penny pinching." she sighed, she then heard something in her comm, "Oh, lucky day Charlie, you're clear to depart."

Charlie: "Finally!" he shouted, "Let's go conductor."

Conductor: "Yes, let's." he nodded, closing the doors of the train.

Charlie gave 2 blasts of his whistle before huffing and puffing out of the station with his heavy train clattering behind him. As he took off, he saw 8000 still climbing into the atmosphere so, deciding to be cheeky, the Express Engine quickly picked up speed, flexing his muscle as the fastest train in the Galaxy Railways and overtook 8000, wheeshing steam in his face and holding his whistle down.

8000: "Git!" he barked.

Charlie laughed before quickly traversing the points and making his way back onto the Galaxy Mainline.

Maintenance Depot, Planet Destiny

2230 hours

Current Conditions: Cloudy

It felt like it had been hours since the Green Water had been tipped into her tender. Georgia was incredibly bored, trapped in a sort of mindscape while the mechanics worked to bring her physical body up to spec with the most modern SDF Combat Trains. She had nothing to do in this state, all she could do was maybe remember things from her life and just replay them over and over again.

Suddenly she felt something, the first thing she felt in the last few hours in fact, it was the sensation of her systems coming online. She managed to pry her eyes open and she was treated to the feeling of steam building up in her boiler and a mechanic polishing her number plate.

Georgia: "What time is it?" she yawned.

Akatsuki: "About....30 past 10." he replied, currently checking on her front left cylinders, "Welcome back to the land of the living Georgia."

Georgia: "Morning Mr Akatsuki." she said, gently stretching on her axles.

Mechanic 1: "Easy Georgia." he called from her undercarriage, "Some of us are under here!"

Georgia: "Sorry, I just feel so stiff." she complained.

Whitman: "Stay still Old Mare, we'll be finished with you soon enough." he said, "Your tender will be ready tomorrow morning."

Georgia: "Ok, I'll wait." she sighed.

Georgia began looking around at her surroundings and noticed Freya getting ready to depart and Bert fast asleep and snoring.

Freya: "Good morning sleepyhead." she teased.

Georgia: "You heading out?" she asked.

Freya: "Of course." she replied, "The SDF never sleeps after all. Since Bert over there just came in, I need to head out and take over for him."

Georgia: "Are you fully repaired already?" she asked.

Freya: "Of course." she replied, "You think a simple repair takes longer than the refit you just had? I was just waiting until someone else came in so I could get back to work."

Georgia: "I see." she nodded, "Well, dry rails and smooth running out there."

Freya: "Thanks." she said, Spica Platoon boarding her tender and the elevator beginning to lift her up, "I hope I see you on the railway soon!"

Georgia simply smiles as Freya disappears from sight leaving her alone, bored, and stuck in one place with the mechanics and a snoring engine as company. Georgia looked at her new number plate and her brother's whistle now positioned near the middle of her boiler and sighed. 

Georgia: "I miss you bro..." she sighed, sadly, "But I'll make sure your sacrifice won't be for nothing." 

With that silent declaration, Georgia went to sleep, awaiting her tender and her first mission. 

A/N:

Andy: And that is the second chapter done. 

Missouri 3.0: It's going a little slowly sir. 

Andy: Yeah, mostly because the series doesn't dwell on the time between the first and second episodes much. It doesn't show the Yuuki brothers growing up, it doesn't show when Sirius Platoon got its new Big 1, it doesn't show when members retired or when they first boarded Big 1, etc. 

Georgia: Well, I appreciate being noticed at least, there's no fanfiction on my series anywhere. 

Andy: What do you think possessed me to make you? dieHero, DrFrostwire0; what do you guys think? Is there anything I can improve on? Any bits you really liked? Lemme know. Anyways, I gotta go, see you all next week.