U.N.E.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Kimberly had been wrong. It only took the black military SUV with tinted windows and government plates fifteen minutes to pull up outside Angela's home. That had barely been enough time for either of them to pack up everything they had brought and get outside before the horn was honked in impatience. Normally such an action that late at night would be met with annoyance from the people living on the street, but not this time. Either the neighbours were already fast asleep or they were stuck looking out their windows at where the UNE Hive had been visible a few minutes ago.

Angela barely had any time to say goodbye to her parents as Alexander hurried her out of the house and to the waiting vehicle, his military dress uniform still on and not done up properly. He did however offer to load up all their bags to give her a few moments of privacy, and Angela was extremely grateful for that. Still, it allowed her to say the word goodbye and hug both her parents quickly before hopping into the dark interior of the SUV behind Alex. It was hard watching her parents concerned faces slip past the tinted windows and Angela had to fight back tears. She had no idea when or if she would ever see them again.

With a UNE Hive barrelling down towards the Earth nothing was certain, and that thought was reflected in both Angela and Alexander as they sat in silence. Even the driver and navigator in the front seats seemed tense and not a single word was spoken. Hell, Angela didn't even know where they were being taken. They simply sped down the highway and away from the small town of Lake Crystal. Considering the world seemed to be falling apart at the seams she guessed they were headed back to the front lines.

The journey was long, and that was really saying something considering she figured that the SUV was travelling at over one hundred miles per hour through the dark and slightly bumpy highways. Whenever they got near another small town or had to cross through a busy part of the highway the driver would flip on the police lights attached to the vehicle and continue on, not even slowing down for a second. It was quite impressive and for a few moments Angela felt like some big time military VIP. It actually even took her a second to realize that was probably exactly what she and Alexander were.

Being home for a week had dulled the true importance of their job and their Mechs a little, and only once Angela was back inside a military vehicle did she suddenly realize it again. The X-04 squadron and the Aegis were the most advanced fighting unit in the world at the moment, and with a new UNE Hive appearing it was only natural that they would be called back into action. It was such a sad end to the vacation though. There was just too much to think about, so much worry and fear running through Angela's mind that it was hard to reflect on it. She had almost completely forgotten about the almost kiss she nearly shared with Alexander. It also seemed like he had forgotten as well as he wasn't even so much as looking at her as they shot through the night.

After an unknown period of time passed Angela gazed back out the tinted windows to find that they were in a large city. Street lights flickered past as their light shone on them for barely a second and in the distance she began to make out a large building with a massive tower ahead. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were approaching an airport.

Instead of pulling up to one of the front entrances like Angela first thought they might, the black SUV pulled off onto a small service road that led towards the interior of the airport. They pulled up to a security checkpoint where a thin man in a police uniform asked for the drivers ID and then waved them on, opening a large and heavy looking gate that lead towards the runway. A few moments later the vehicle came to a stop and Angela peered out the window to find a massive passenger plane already sitting on the runway, it's engines roaring and ready to go. Which was strange considering there was a large portable staircase sitting next to an open door near the front, a person standing at the top and waving them on.