After hitting paydirt with a nomadic scavenger colony and replenishing their oil and materials, J and V made the fifty-mile journey to rendezvoused with Serial Designation R and immediately hit it off.
While J wasn't the biggest fan of her bright red cheongsam dress and somewhat blasé attitude, she knew a fellow girlboss when she saw one and felt a kindred spirit in the exasperation she clearly felt while dealing with her own unruly subordinates, the "brothers" Serial Designations B and G.
While V wasn't the biggest fan of her "J Lite" corporate knob-gobbling, she very much appreciated her willingness to play on the razor's edge of what was acceptable and dare anyone to say something about it.
They got along so well, both J and V couldn't help but wonder how much better their time on Copper-9 would have been if the three of them had been their own squad. N, at least the one they thought they knew, would've fit right in with B and G, though he most likely still would have lagged far behind them in kills considering their flawless teamwork.
With introductions out of the way, R laid out a simple but brilliant plan. Just last week Serial Designation R risked her life to do some daytime scouting and it had paid off. She had seen clouds of steam billowing from the bunker, which meant there were vents that her squad had somehow missed. They just needed to get to them before they were closed off. Before the sun went down.
So here they were, about an hour before sunset, ninja-running through the streets at breakneck speeds.
While the corporate yes-man in her balked at the idea of taking such risks, J could honestly say she'd never felt such a rush before. She was finally getting a taste of the potential she'd unlocked as an Alpha! Sprinting through ruins at six-hundred and fifty kilometers per hour? Light work now, not even twenty percent output.
'Hmm, should I start slow and make him think he has a chance? Or do I crush him out of the gate?' J started to lose herself in ever more violent fantasies before she looked to her left and saw the look of grim determination on R's face.
J shook her head and refocused herself. They were already saddled with two hyper-aggressive hotheads and a lackey who would always go along with whatever his brother did; even a mission as simple as Operation Unlucky Thirteen could fail if only one of them actually had their head in the game.
Suddenly a message popped up on her HUD.
Crimson_Queen: Almost showtime. Everyone ready?
J couldn't help the small frown at R's choice of username. There was nothing against it in Company policy, but still...
SD-G: Made ready, love.
SD-B: What he said.
SD-V: Oh yeeeeaaaah, been a long time since I had sunburn! Can't wait!
V had been...less than enthused about the plan from the moment daylight was mentioned.
SD-J: That's why we're going the long way around to get to the back of the bunker; the shadow of the building will protect us while we find a vent. Were you paying attention at all?
SD-V: Not really. Too busy having flashbacks to that time I nearly melted in the sun.
SD-J: Which was your own fault. You didn't need the oil and you had already reached your quota for the day; there was absolutely no reason for you to risk it all for ONE toaster.
SD-V: It was taunting me!
SD-J: You could have just shot it.
SD-V: But the oil would've been cold by the time the sun went down!
