The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Mission Reprieve

As it would turn out, set up basically meant laid down but not nailed in. They arrived just in time for the beach tent to come flapping at them. The green plastic covering was flapping like an angry ghost. It was flying in Sora's direction, small curved hooks flailing and all.

"Ahh!" Sora yelled as she turned tail and ran. In moments of utter panic, her disguise would slip to reveal long, curved ears and a lack of a fluffy pointed tail.

"Hmm."

Texas did not flee from the plastic tarp. Dropping the beach bag, she sprinted after Sora's fleeing form, the tarp concealing her mostly from view. The Lupus Operator bridged the gap between herself and the tent in a strong leap. Her feet planted in the middle of it, effectively pinning the uncooperative thing to the ground.

Sora whirled around at the sudden noise, eyes still wide as she regarded her defeated adversary. "Oh! Thank goodness you stopped it. I could've been strangled by that awful thing."

Texas snorted, lifting a foot off the tent experimentally. It kept frisking with the wind but otherwise did nothing. She doubted it could've done much damage if it had caught up to Sora, other than wrap around her like a straight jacket. "You should be more careful then. Next time don't leave it unattended if you haven't set up properly."

"I didn't realize it wasn't pegged properly. Sorry about that."

Her ears twitched as breeze ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about it. Let's get back to the rest of our stuff."

****

They returned with the bag to see Exusiai and Croissant already waiting for them. Both operators were surveying the scene with dismay. Their towels were covered in sand, as was the cooler Sora brought with her. The flip flops were blown underneath the four set up chairs. The third one was knocked onto its back, legs sticking up in the air.

"What happened here?" Croissant asked.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with a runaway tent." Exusiai mused. Her wings were shimmering white-gold like her halo, the bright sun barely outdid their light.

"It did. Would you mind holding it down? Need to make sure it's hammered in properly this time." The last thing she wanted was to we whacked in the face by an unruly tarp.

"Sure thing boss. Now where do you want it?" Croissant was eager to help.

Texas directed the Defender operator to place the tent where it should've remained earlier. Exusiai went and retrieved the hammer from the stuffed bag of sunscreen and snacks, tossing it to Texas. She caught it with ease. The peg-shaped nails were easily knocked into the sand. Soon the group was chilling out in their beach chairs, listening to the relaxing sound of the tide.

Texas had a pocky stick between her lips. She was leaned back in her chair, idly listening to her friends talking about relatively meaningless things. It was always nice to have a day off with the three of them, and such a rarity considering how often Sora did live performances. Somewhere in the sky a seagull cawed. A few of the ravenous birds were pecking at the bread Croissant tossed over earlier. The sand dunes swayed with the light breeze.

"So how's things back at Rhodes Island?" Sora asked. She had not been at the Pharmaceutical Company in the past month.

"Eh. Nothing out of the ordinary," Texas said with a shrug.

Exusiai shook her head. "I'm pretty sure a Reunion Squad leader trying to kill us with their grenade launcher/shotgun combo isn't ordinary."

"Wow! Are you guys okay?" Sora was frowning worriedly.