Sarin didn't think now was a good time to point out that Kita had made her this way. Unless, Kita was indeed trying to make the person she wished she could be. Sarin wasn't sure how she felt about that. Flattered. Still wouldn't that only breed contempt?
"Kita, sweetie, it's ok. We—"
Sarin looked up and realized Kita was gone. She glided around. She looked down and the cloud shifted. A black shape was hurling towards the ground. Sarin flapped her wings, rolled over, and dove after Kita.
Kita was in a flat spin, plummeting through the cloud. Having trouble keeping visual contact because of the cloud cover, Sarin dove as fast as she could. In a break in the clouds, Sarin could see Kita only a hundred yards ahead.
Catching up to Kita in the middle of the cloud, Sarin reached out and grabbed Kita's arm. In response, Kita yanked herself away. The ground became a concern for Sarin. She had no idea how close they were. I don't want to find out the hard way. She rolled over, slide under Kita, and grabbed her by the wings. Kita struggled, but Sarin opened her wings, arresting their decent and taking them up in a large arc.
Kita struggled, but gave up after a while. Back high in the clouds, Sarin let her go.
"Why couldn't you have just let me go?" Kita yelled.
"And have to go down to the surface and have to explain to all your soldiers, friends, and partner that I just let you fall to your death. I'd rather race you head long into the ground," Sarin yelled back.
"Fine, leave me alone." Kita said. She turned around and sulked.
"No, I won't. You're not a failure. You've got thousands of people down there who'd beg to differ. No one sees the events of the last few weeks as your failure. We were caught flatfooted and unaware. It's only because you train your people to think on their own that they came looking for us and were resourceful enough to come get us. If it wasn't for your leadership I couldn't have taken over when you and Snowy went down. For everything put in our path to destroy us, our walking out of that exit shows we're not failures. Failures would still be down there being munched on by a raptor.
"Don't say you want to be me, you made me. If you're going to hate me for it, I'll have Omega remove as much of it as possible. I love you the way you are, but how many times do we have to tell you this before it gets through that thick head of yours?" Sarin reached out and knocked on Kita's forehead.
The gesture shocked Kita. "It will always be at least once more," Kita answered after a long silence.
"No, screw that. You know it, you're just afraid to admit it. You're not being humble, you're being stupid. If you admit it, then you've got to expect it from yourself. If you expect it from yourself, it shows you have confidence in yourself. You're arrogant when it comes to your combat skills. You need to start thinking that way about your leadership skills. Those skills are going to be more important. Everything flows from you, including confidence. Even if you don't feel it, you need to learn to fake it. The rest of us aren't going to put with this self doubting routine." Sarin cocked her head to one side and gave Kita a sly smile.
Kita nodded and looked down at the cloud below.
"It's not that bad, I swear," Sarin said giving her a hug.
Kissing Kita a few times on the cheek, Sarin held her hoping she'd feel better. The soft kisses at the nap of her neck caught her by surprise. As they climbed up her neck, she felt the nice tingle go up her spine that caused her to take in a deep breath. Kita's lips found hers and the soft kisses quickly became deeper. Picking her up, Kita wrap her legs around her. Kita's kisses become hungrier and Sarin was happy to oblige.
Suddenly Kita jerked away.
Sarin looked at her startled. "I do something wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I can't do this. It was a mistake," Kita said panicked.
"What?" Sarin said confused.
"I can't do this knowing Snowy's down there sick and possibly dying. It's not right."
"But there's nothing you can do."
"I can worry. What if something goes wrong? What do I tell her? The last thing I want to tell her is I was up in the clouds making out with you. I'm sorry you don't love her like I do and can do this with a clear conscious," Kita said harshly.
"That's not fair. I love her plenty. Unlike you, I'm not obligated to care."
"Lucky you."
Kita let go of Sarin and dove for the ground.
"Kita, wait!" Sarin called after her. "That's not what I meant. I choose to care." She sighed to herself as she dove after Kita.
Following Kita down, Sarin turned invisible. She didn't want Kita to run away from her, at the same time, she wanted to be close in case Kita tried something again. The trajectory didn't take them back to the Black Legion. She could see Death's Brigade lined up waiting for action.
Kita landed in front of the row's of tanks. The nearby soldiers stopped what they were doing and saluted her. Kita returned it as Colonel Delta Seven and Sergeant Major Four Eight Fox rushing toward her and saluted.
"It's good to see you safe Commander. We were worried," said Delta Seven.
Kita laughed. "I didn't know you worried, Colonel."
"A good commander worries about many things, including the status of our commander and benefactor."
"And her I thought we were friends," Kita joked.
"If you would like. Normally, friendship between superior and subordinate is not allowed."
Kita nodded. "I've never found it a problem as long as both sides know where one starts and the other ends."
"Indeed that is important. So, what's troubling you?" he said astutely.
"And her I thought I was doing a good job of burying my troubles."
"You're young and masking your emotions is not something you've learn to do well."
"You really don't want to listen to me whine about my long list of problems."
"I understand it's what friends do. Sergeant Major, you can return to your duties." Four Eight Fox nodded and left. "Come, let's take a walk and you can tell me. Even if I can do nothing but listen, it will benefit you."
"I didn't think you were born with a human side," Kita said lightly.
"It is an important part of being a commander. It helps to identify and understand your subordinates. You seem to be a natural at this. We're also given a number of classes on psychology. So, tell me what's on your mind that worries a woman who just broke free of an underground prison?"
Kita took a deep breath and started at the beginning. She went into more detail with him over her leadership failures. Delta Seven listened intently, not interrupting her, but gave her encouraging facial expressions and gestures. When she finished, he nodded and stood for a moment digesting what she'd told him. He drew his pistol and pointed it at her.
Delta Seven drew his pistol so fast, Sarin was slow to react drawing hers. Kita took a defensive stance. She debated if she should shoot or not. During her internal debate, Delta Seven put the pistol away.
"You are not a failure, Commander," said Delta Seven. "A failure would have given up and surrendered. Instead, you took up a fighting stance to defend yourself. You and we have definitely suffered some setbacks, but you are taking ownership of wrongs that were out of your control. Your friends need to sort themselves out. You can help, but there issues are theirs, not yours. You must understand that you are the target the Master is after. He know if you go down, we go down. That he know this is and try to exploit it is not a failure. Your have compensated for this by having others around you who can take over and outflank these attacks. Even if they're attack succeeds. But, because you have these people you succeed and he fails, because you survive.
"The Master know The Forges meant much to us. At least three battles have been fought here. War is a game of chess. Both sides make moves and countermoves. The Master's strategy of tunneling was brilliant and unforeseen by us. If anything, it is a failure of imagination on our part and it has cost us a resource that will take a long time reestablish. It is a setback, not a failure. They only way we can fail is if you die. As long as you live, they can't win, because you possess the tools to always be there to stop them.
"You must look at these setbacks as opportunities. Our advisory has shown he can strike at us deep in our own territory. Let us show him that we can strike anywhere in the world. This raid for the children you purpose is an excellent way to demonstrate this. It should be more than just a rescue. It should be a statement. We should drop as much firepower as we can and destroy this ranch. It is an important location for them, much like The Forges was to us. Let us return the favor. They razed The Forges. Let us raze this ranch. Let us send them a message that if they wish to up the stakes we are happy to play the game.
"The Master can't beat us. He know this. Our resources are not as vast as his, but our armies are better. You and your friends tip the balance in our favor. Only you can beat us by beating yourself."
Kita took a deep breath. "I think I get it. It'll be hard to get out of my own way."
"It's not as hard as you think. Break the cycle of thinking you're a failure and the rest will come into place. It's all there. You just have to let it come out."
"Right. When we get back to Leedings we'll start work on our reply." Kita smiled.
"Good idea."
"So what have you been doing in my absence?"
"Playing opposition for your main army."
"How are they doing? I'm under the impression they were doing well."
"They're getting better."
***
Standing with Delta Seven and Thorne, Kita waited for the Black Watch to immerge from the tubes. Delta Seven suggested having a formal greeting as a sign of respect and congratulations for the men coming out. Kita liked the idea and a contingent of Black Legion and Death's Brigade soldiers with a platoon of tanks were on either side of the entrance to the tube.
The familiar sound of the pipes came from the tube exit. What started as a hollow muffled wail, became a high shrill melody as the pipers exited the tube. Kita called everyone to attention and then to present arms.
The pipers marched past Kita and peeled off at the end of the line to continue playing as their unit marched by. Behind the pipers came the most critically injured, Snowy among them. Just beyond the formation, a shuttle sat waiting for them. The injured were marched straight to the shuttle and loaded.
The main force marched by in formation. Each unit saluted as they marched by on their way to a designated bivouac site. Zidin and Frostbane brought up the rear.
The ceremony complete, Kita rushed to the shuttle. She stopped at each wounded person that was awake to give them thanks. Stopping at Snowy last, she got a nasty look from Anthrax.
"Don't worry," said Tina."She hasn't gotten any worse since you left."
"Thanks." Kita gave Tina a hug and kissed Snowy before exiting the shuttle. After she exited, Paladin limped up the ramp carrying pieces of himself.
"I do believe another design change is in order," He said to Kita as he went by.
"You've got plenty of time to work on it."
After watching the shuttle lift off, Kita walked among her troops thanking them for a job well done.
***
Kita gave last minute instructions to her commanders before heading to the shuttle. She felt guilty for leaving them behind, but when some of the men asked her why she was down there with them and not up with Snowy, she replied her first duty was to them. Since then she'd been told multiple times from every unit and rank that she needed to go up to Roost and look after Snowy. They could take care of themselves. She relented and had the shuttle come back down to get her. She'd planned on going up later after everyone was settled in for the night. From out of the crowd, she could see Clyde rushing toward her.
"Kita, what should I do?" He yelled over the engines.
Four Commandoes with their full kit came trotting up the ramp around him. Sighing, she waved him up. He looked at Commandoes and groaned.
"Get ready for the ride of your life." She smirked and motioned for the ramp to close.
The shuttle's engines went from a whine to a roar as it took off into the cloud-filled sky. Once they were airborne, Kita looked at the five men.
"Gentlemen, consider this your warning order. The angel Anthrax has decided she wants to see the world up close. The rest of us haven't been able to convince her it's a dangerous place." The men chuckled a bit, even Clyde. "I'm not going to tell her she can't go. If she wants to see what we already know, that's her choice. I'm not going to send her out alone. You five are going to be her unseen chaperone."
"What? Me? You're sending me?" Clyde said stupidly.
Kita rolled her eyes. "No, the other fifth man in here, if I said four men and a boy that would include you. Of course, you. In fact, you're going to be the one in charge. These are your men for however long she decides to be gone, Corporal MacPhee, and Specialists Gunn, Stewart, and Bruce. Men this is Clyde, formally of the Red Legion Scouts. He's going to be in charge of you, but he's going to need to be trained up. He spent a couple of days attached to Sergeant McBride's unit, so he's gotten a little bit. While we're up here make the most of your time."
The other men nodded.
"how can you put me in charge when I don't know anything about them or what they do?" said Clyde.
Kita shook her head. "You're in charge because you know the Red Legion's operating procedures and can stay away from them. You have plenty of experience running small, highly trained teams like these. You're not going to be the first commander who's ever been trained on the job by her sergeants and officers. Just make sure you listen to what they tell you, understand?"
Clyde nodded, but looked unconvinced.
"Good. Corporal, take some of the visiting officers quarters for you when you get there. You have priority access to the simulator and training room. Gentlemen, enjoy the rest of your flight."
Kita left them to go sit by herself in the front of the shuttle. She'd let Clyde and his men get acquainted and didn't think they'd want her standing over them. Sitting down, Sarin appeared next to her.
"Nothing like throwing the poor guy into the fire," she remarked casually.
"And here I thought you would have snuck onto the medical shuttle," Kita said coldly.
"And miss this charming conversation? Plus, I should be at least wounded to get on that one. For this one, I thought being a bitch would be enough," said Sarin snarkily.
"Yes, but there's only room for one, so either shut up or go lower the ramp and fly home," Kita snarled.
Sarin took the hint.
***
The shuttle landed with a gentle thump and the ramp lowered. The familiar smells of the space station told Kita she was home. Somehow, you could miss the smell of recycled air. She waited for Clyde and his team to exit. McPhee led the way, taking a right out of the hanger into the main part of the station.
She left once they disappeared from view. She noticed Sarin didn't get up with her, which she didn't mind. Trying to move at a normal pace, she made her way to the medical ward.
The place was busy. Most of the beds were full, but no one was in the overflow or in the suites.
No one in the suites meant Snowy was still in surgery. Pushing her way past nurses and staff doctors, she went to the operating suites. Half way there, she was met by an older lady in a nurses uniform that she didn't recognize.
"I don't know who or what you are, but you're not authorized to be in here. Please leave," The older nurse ordered Kita.
Kita's brow lowered and her eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
"I'm head nurse Jeanine Appleton. This is my ward, and I took over three weeks ago. Now, whoever you are you must leave."
"Nurse Appleton, I'm Kita and this is my station. I'll go where I wish."
"I'm sorry, but this is restricted to medical personal. I doubt you own this station. It is a registered UEE station. Visiting hours are posted at the door." Nurse Appleton was able to keep her voice professionally sweet and still fill it with anger and impatience.
Kita leaned down so she was eye level with the nurse. "Lady, I own you. Now get out of my way."
Pushing her way past the stunned nurse, Kita went to the observation window of the operating suite that contained Snowy. Inside her specialized medical team led by Doctor Harper working on reattaching Snowy's arm. It looked like they'd just started and connecting limbs was a lengthy process. Along with the team, Anthrax and Tina were helping. Or rather Anthrax was doing as little as possible and Tina was making sure she didn't do anything against Snowy.
rP*