ARES:Gods of War

Break

In the meanwhile, the Lucky Strikes had gotten some well deserved RnR that they'd collectively decided to spend in the barracks, which had been modified rather extensively to have running hot water, cooking apparatuses and various amenities that they lacked beforehand, even under the command of one of the two up-and-coming officers of the Ark's military. From the window, Pinne watched UNSC Falcon choppers and Pelicans flying off to the city down below, patrols walking through the ever-expanding outpost and the vehicle depot and anti-air defenses being completed.

She felt a tap on her arm and looked up to see Niner handing her a cup of hot chocolate. All of the girls were wearing the more casual parts of their uniforms. For Pinne it was her tank top and baggy pants, for Niner it was a brown tank top, dog tags and shorts, much like Sammy, for Layla it was a nightgown(because Tetra sleepwear) and for Delta and Signal it was their standard uniforms, minus the armor vests.

She smiled and nodded in thanks, then turned about to watch Layla and Sammy playing a co-op video game with fighter jets. Something they'd salvaged during a mission, out of sight of the Chief and the others. She spoke to Niner, "Right mess we got ourselves in..." with a grin as the MG gunner sat herself down. She continued, "I mean, look at us. We've got salaries, dog tags, proper service records... Heh."

"Ha. I know, right? Almost seems magical to some degree," Niner smiled, then took a sip of her own drink and scratched her chin. She added, "All compared to just a few months ago when the Chief first arrived into our lives," her eyes locking onto the UNSC recruitment poster hanging to their right. The Marine saluting as Longswords flew overhead and all.

"Almost like sweet Karma finally decided to give mankind and us an Out from this clusterfuck," Layla quipped as she focused on piloting her aircraft better than Sammy, the two of them extremely focused on their silly little fighter game. The latest in the series, Niner recalled, made by Tetra subsidiary gaming industries to keep people who loved aircraft busy.

"Almost, yeah. You girls seem to be having fun on that Sky Hunters game," Niner inquired. Pinne took a sip from the drink she was brought while Niner asked the two women, "Which is it now, six or seven?" while watching Layla perform an Immelman to try and get on Sammy's tail. The HUD was eerily blue instead of the standard, glowing neon green of aircraft Displays.

"Seven. Unidentified Heaven," Layla almost burst into a giggle at the rhyme, the amusement visible on her face. Niner and Pinne both laughed, however, considering the stupidity. Both seemed to recall, however, that these games were probably a copy after another famous flight arcade/sim game. That or just those games, repackaged for the new fans to enjoy.

"They really need to stop naming games after the sky, man..." Niner quipped, however.

"Eh, I dunno. It's kind of their thing," Layla's hyperfocus didn't mean she couldn't answer. She added, "Plus, Sky Hunters Minus One didn't really have a name, did it?" while keeping her eye on the game still. Seriously, the sheer focus, Pinne thought as she sipped from her hot drink again. The sweetness kinda helped ease her into the RnR mood that was currently permeating the room.

"Fairy and her buddy gave it the name..." Sammy offered, before smiling, "Spanish guitar hit the game outta the park for me, by the way."

"Agreed," The other players of the game confirmed, grinning ear-to-ear. Pinne looked over to Delta as the girl was cleaning her sidearm for a change, while Signal was watching her sappy romcoms on her tablet, headphones in as to not bother the others. Niner herself had noticed that the Executive Squad Lead and their radio-girl were also far more relaxed than usual.

"Speaking of, any of you ever consider becoming pilots?" Sammy offered as she turned back to the game, too, "I hear the UNSC's looking at Nikke staff for the Air Force elements they're gonna be building up pretty soon," and that seemed to take the crew a moment to process. Still, no, not really. None of them thought about engaging in air-to-air against the Raptures. Plus...