Apologies for the brief absence. It’s just that being here on this M2 Hercules, being part of this mission, it’s all been a little distracting. Plus, I’ve never been on a flight this long before, and space travel really does a number on my inner clock. I hadn’t even realized it had been two days since my last post. In that time, I’ve explored every inch of this ship that I’m allowed to (and at least a few inches that I am not), met a lot of interesting people from all over the universe, and learned way more about the Hercules, and tactical lift/landing operations, than I could have ever imagined.

The Hercules are the heart and soul of Sword of Hope. Crusader's direct involvement has made the entire operation feasible.

The ship somehow seems even bigger when you’re inside of it. Our Hercules (which, according to the crew is nicknamed Mama Bird) has a tank and one of those off-road buggy things in its hull, in addition to the makeshift barracks that we volunteers currently call home. One crew member, a salty old navy vet named Abe, claims to have known a guy that fit three Auroras in an M2 hull. While that seems dubious, the sheer size and capacity of the ship interior is impressive, and I imagine almost limitless cargo configurations are possible, if you were to get creative with it. It’s obvious though, that the cargo bay wasn’t designed to accommodate personnel, and one of the other volunteers keeps wondering loudly why they couldn’t bring a starliner along for us. Abe says Charon III is no place for a starliner, and I’m inclined to believe him on that one.



I hate to cut this post short, but the sirens are going off. We’ll be breaking atmosphere on Charon any time now, and we’ve been running drills to make sure we’re ready if the ship takes live fire. This is all getting very real, very quickly, but being in the Mama Bird makes me feel safe and oddly enough, almost comfortable. I, for one, am happy to forego the amenities of a starliner for the apparent durability of the M2.