U.N.E.

Chapter Three

"Cheer up, Angie!" Sarah called out to her and nudged her slightly as she sat down next to her. "It's not like you've been taken off the project. Just show how great of a pilot you really are and I'm sure they'll give you your command back."

Angela forced a smile on her face and nodded gently but didn't reply. The two girls continued to sit there in the harsh sun and the heat washed over their already overheated bodies as the day only got hotter. It was threatening to be a real scorcher and Angela planned on spending most of it indoors where she could remain cool. That was the one bad thing about being on the X-04 Project. Being located in Nevada it was hot all the time, even during the winter months. And for a girl who had grown up and spent the majority of her life in Minnesota she was having trouble adapting to this hotter and dryer weather. She had no idea how Michelle and Lisa put up with it, considering they were both from much colder places than even she.

After a few minutes the other two members of the original project crew stopped their morning exercise routine and found their way over to Angela and Sarah. Michelle grabbed a small cooler she had brought with her and passed out bottles of ice cold water before sitting down on the implanted grass and stretching out her legs. All four of them were covered in sweat and Angela couldn't wait to go and take a shower, but for right now she didn't feel like moving from where she was. She wasn't comfortable by any means, but she couldn't find the will to get up.

"Hey, isn't that Captain Richards?" Michelle asked and was pointing towards the parking lot of the personnel barracks. Looking over Angela could just make out the thin woman walking out of the building and towards a small car parked near the front while dressed in civilian clothing. A few seconds later an almost dejected looking Lieutenant Woods exited the building and joined the senior officer in the car. The clothes he was wearing looked about a size too small from him and he obviously didn't seem pleased to be in them.

"What's the kid doing with her?" Sarah asked. "Where the hell are they even going? It almost looks like they're heading into town or something."

"Maybe they are..." Lisa answered quietly and Angela had to strain her ears to hear the girl.

"That's not fair! Off base passes are nearly impossible to get and that kid gets one his second day here? Where's the justice in that?"

"Damn," Michelle sighed and laid back against the cool grass under them. "I figured he would get clearance to go into town and do some shopping and I was going to convince Kimberly to let me tag along. I just didn't expect them to leave this early in the morning."

Angela looked over at her friend and flashed her and odd look. "How could you possibly know that he would be allowed off base?"

"It's not too hard to figure out if you just think about it. He was trapped in a dying country for his entire life and then he got injured in the last battle. I heard he had to be sent to Germany to recover because he broke most of the bones in his body, so he wasn't really allowed to go anywhere. As soon as he got released from the hospital there he was shipped here."

"I guess that makes sense," Sarah said begrudgingly. "The PX here doesn't really have much in the way of good things. But still, it's not really fair if you ask me."

"I feel sad for him," Lisa whispered and now she suddenly found three sets of surprised eyes on her. "W... what?"

"Why in the world would you feel sad for him?" Sarah demanded. With Sarah being the really brash and poignant member of the group and Lisa being as timid as she was they didn't get along as well as everyone else did. They didn't hate each other or anything, they just didn't work well together unless they were inside their Mechs.

"Because he looks so sad, and even his fighting had some sadness in it. He lost everything he ever knew and then gets forced to take command of a unit of people he doesn't even know. How can you not feel sad for him? I... I want to be his friend and cheer him up..." Lisa replied in an unusually straight forward and concise manner. For a moment the girls could only stare at her in surprise, but it quickly wore off for Michelle.