Chapter One: Eastern Wind
|...|...|...|
Fort Grays Island, East of Usea
May 16th, 2019.
0900hrs.
|...|...|...|
Life returned to normal practically overnight, with the exception that they were at war with Erusea. The base still showed the effects of the previous afternoon's bombing, but lights and electrical systems were back in working order and the damaged hangars and buildings were getting the necessary repairs. Thankfully, no casualties and everyone was safe and sound, if not just a little scraped and bruised. They got started on maintenance without any complaints and while everyone enjoyed a day off, the tension was high among the staff.
HQ was busy planning out their next move, so the pilots were left on the ground once again with the base still on high alert in case the Eruseans tried again. In the distance, the sun was starting to climb higher in the sky, raising the temperature ever so slightly. Birds called out and took to the sky, out towards the water as if they were all going to relax on the little strip of sand one could hardly consider a beach.
Inside, the television in the mess hall had remained on the OBC since yesterday, and all it did was repeat what they'd already been hearing. Erusea declared war, launched drones, targeted naval ports, damaged aircraft carriers, etcetera, etcetera. Naomi noticed that they mentioned Harling more than they had before. They kept talking about his possible whereabouts and whether or not he was still alive, having been touring the Space Elevator at the time it was taken by Erusean forces.
Perhaps, being an Osean citizen, she should feel a bit more concern for the former president, but she was too lazy when it came to politics to really know a lot about the guy. That, and she was too young to care too much about his policies and actions during his term. After all, she was thirteen in the last war and had far more important things to do than worry about presidents. She knew that her older sister, a medic who served on the first Kestrel, respected the guy a hell of a lot. What was the big deal, though?
"I hate to break it to you, but the more you stab at it and the less you eat, the worse it's gonna to taste." Brownie's voice brought her back into reality and Naomi watched her roommate take a seat beside her with a bowl of cereal. A quicker option as opposed to Naomi's dried out omelet, but likely tasted just as strange. The food was getting better the longer they were on the base, but the right consistency of not too dry and not too wet was something that the cook couldn't get right. Brownie didn't seem at all bothered by the likely dated milk and stale cereal, but she never complained about things like that.
"Ahh, but you see, the more I stab at it, the less resemblance it has to a brick and the more edible it becomes," Naomi replied, poking the omelet harder with her fork for emphasis. Her goal hadn't been to actually break it up, it was more of just fidgeting with something while getting lost in thought. By now it was probably cold, and a simple sample of her meal would confirm this. Easier said than done. She continued to stab at it to put off having to actually eat. "What took you so long? I can't imagine there's much of a line."
Brownie stirred the contents of her bowl, trying to get the cereal as soft as possible without getting it too soggy. "Knocker wanted to have a chat with me, that's all," she answered with a shrug, finally getting a spoonful of cereal.
Naomi kept at her omelet, trying to cut it into more exact pieces. "I hear he's pissed about getting a separate debriefing from HQ," Naomi said, glancing across the room where she spotted Knocker speaking with Boggard. "Apparently they explained the 'deal with the drones' and then chewed his ass out for asking so many questions. Clown told me they pulled the 'follow orders more, question less' card on him."
"That's only partly true," Brownie corrected, swallowing her food quickly so she could talk. "They pulled that card on him and explained the drone problem and everything, but he doesn't seem too mad about it. Of course, he probably let off some steam by talking to Clown since he likes to be at least somewhat level headed when talking to us."
"Yeah...I guess he just wants to be the glue that holds everyone together..." She began to slouch a little in her seat as the conversation started to die down. Naomi and Brownie usually got along pretty well, but they had a lot of differences when it came to interests and hobbies, so a lot of conversation was usually talking about their squadron, funny stuff so and so did, who got yelled at, etcetera. It was all they had in common, really.
Putting their differences aside to get along and be what one might consider 'friends' wasn't too hard, but debates weren't uncommon if the topic ever shifted into interests and preferences and hobbies. For every one similarity they managed to find at least six differences came with it. Similarities? The Air Force was their passion early on, they both enjoyed the arts, and doing stuff outside was the best. Differences? Too many. For example, Brownie preferred movies and Naomi liked books; Brownie liked dogs and Naomi liked both but preferred cats; Brownie was an early bird and Naomi was a night owl. It went on and on.
That wasn't to say they didn't make an effort to get along. "Boggard and Footpad are getting some of the others together for another poker game today, if you're interested," Brownie offered after breakfast. Naomi opened her mouth to decline the invitation, but Brownie tried to get her to agree regardless. "Oh, c'mon. Don't use the excuse that you don't know how the game works. You watched us play so I know you know how at this point."
Naomi smiled and followed Brownie out. "Fine. But I'm not sitting next to Boggard and he can't deal, either. First game y'all played, he cheated like there was no tomorrow."
"Fair enough."
|...|...|...|
May 17th, 2019.
0650hrs.
HQ had told them the previous evening that they were all to report for a briefing at 0700, having finally figured out what their next move was. The full day of relaxation, if you could call it that, had softened most of the pilots to the point where they groaned and moped about all through dinner that night. Regardless, they were all up bright and early to prepare for the day, and on time as well.
Naomi, Brownie, and a pilot they called Faun stepped into the briefing room together. Faun was always sort of just 'there' and liked to stay in the background for the most part. He was lanky and always well-groomed, and had a natural charm about him. Everyone seemed to trust him and he was probably one of the saner, experienced pilots on the base, aside from Knocker.
"Room's packed again," Faun observed as he took an empty seat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, moving sluggishly as if he was still half-asleep. Brownie and Naomi joined him, Naomi relaxing in almost the same manner. Brownie was the only one of the three of them that was actually completely awake and ready to go whenever. Faun took some persuasion and a couple of cups of coffee, whereas Naomi could wake up completely by way of extremely cold water. Caffeine and Naomi didn't mix.
Faun leaned forward after a few minutes on the rather uncomfortable chair after he grew tired awkward position he was in. "Briefer isn't even here, yet," he pointed out. "Must've fallen back asleep, eh?" Naomi lifted her head and surveyed the room. Faun was right. No briefer, no base commander. Knocker wasn't there, either. "Can't believe we had to get our asses out of bed this early to be on time and the briefing probably won't start for another thirty minutes..."
"They'll be here soon enough." Brownie shrugged, disinterested with any complaints her comrades had. As if on cue, the briefer entered the room, followed closely by Knocker, who rushed over to sit up front. She nodded and spoke in a superior sort of way, "You see? Just a matter of patience."
The briefer took his place, clearing his throat. "Everyone quiet down," he ordered, and the hushed conversations quickly faded out. Surveying the room as he always did, making sure he had everyone's full attention as the briefing screen lit up, he cleared his throat. "Shall we get this started, then? Erusea has made a declaration to the Osean Federation and all countries on the Usean continent stationing the IUN Peacekeeping Force that we are now at war."
"No shit Sherlock..." Naomi muttered scornfully, earning a strained laugh that could be mistaken easily for a cough from Brownie. Faun's lips curled into a half-smirk, but he kept his eyes straight ahead and appeared to be paying close attention, same as Brownie.
"Right after the declaration was made, surprise attacks began around the continent that have inflicted major damage to our armed forces," he went on, either pretending to not have heard Naomi's remark or having genuinely not heard it. "Forces aligned with Erusea are currently appearing throughout Usea. The combination of these forces has overwhelmed the majority of the continent, and they are now encroaching on us in the east."
The screen that displayed the map previously had Erusea colored red to stand out among the normal blue, and the red then expanded across the continent to show the reach of the Erusean forces and their allies. Most of the continent was engulfed by red, only the far most southeastern side still appearing in blue. The map then shifted, zooming in towards Erusea to a specific location off the coast of the country.
"Additionally, the multi-national space elevator has been seized by the Erusean military." The map now displayed photos taken of the space elevator off in the upper right hand corner. It looked so crisp and clean, hard to believe a military presence had been taken up on it, even if these photos were taken prior. It just seemed too...important. Like it should be invincible. The briefer explained, "After the previous war, the space elevator became both a symbol of peace and a valuable asset in the fight against growing energy concerns. Whoever has control over it will have enormous influence over the entire continent."
"Well, that explains why one of their first moves was to take it then," Naomi whispered to Brownie, leaning towards her friend so she could hear her. "They have control over the space elevator, they gain basically a shit-ton of power, as such gaining respect, followed by the likelihood of more allies, thereby raising their chances of winning the war. So it sounds like our next move — surely — is to try and take it back, right?"
The briefer went on. "We can not turn a blind eye to this critical situation." The map quickly zoomed from the elevator and onto Fort Grays Island. "The Fort Grays Air Base Squadron has been entered into the order of battle to reclaim the elevator as an advance element." Naomi, having been a little too pleased with herself, realized then that they wouldn't be taking care of the space elevator that day. "First, you will attack all hostiles coming in the east of Scofield Plateau to stop any interference with the allied ground troops."
"Dammit..." Naomi cursed under her breath. "I hate ground targets...they were hell to deal with in training..."
"The enemy has deployed several vehicles equipped with anti-air radar along the roads. You are to destroy them." The tension in his tone increased, as if he was making it clear that they weren't to hold back. A clear, absolute, no loopholes order. They were just some ground targets, though. No big deal, right? "They should not pose much of a threat. However, there is a high likelihood that the attack will draw more enemy air support. If that happens, fight them off swiftly and establish air superiority. Dismissed."
"Step one begins, then," Naomi said as she and the others got up from their seats. "As soon as we're able to reclaim the elevator, we've as good as won the war. At least, that's how he makes it out to seem."
Faun nodded thoughtfully. "Possibly. But what about Harling? It's possible he's still there, right? If we reclaim the elevator and he's alive, then that might bring some hope to Osea."
"The chances of him being alive and being at the elevator are slim to none, Faun," Brownie pointed out. "He either got out — alive and well but still hiding from Erusean troops in the area, even then the idea he's still alive is questionable at best — or he died when the elevator was taken. There doesn't seem to be much in between." Brownie, ever the realist, didn't look at all disheartened. It's possible she was, but she didn't show it if she was.
Naomi let out a sigh as they continued on their way to the hangar. "I hope you're wrong, Brownie," she said to her. "I may not be some massive Harling fan, but there's no denying what getting him back would do for moral both among the troops and the civilians back in Osea. If he's dead, then we'll have lost more than one symbol of hope and peace for Osea."
"Let's just keep going how they're sending us out — one step at a time — focusing on one mission at a time.," Faun suggested. "And we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, it's out of our hands regardless of what happens. Well, at least for now, anyways."
|...|...|...|
Scofields Plateau, Southeastern Usea.
May 17th, 2019.
1000hrs.
"Yo, Trigger!" Boggard's voice came over the radio, abrupt but not harsh. He'd been fairly quiet the whole flight to the plateau, but now he seemed ready to talk. "Don't forget to keep count out there. Whoever has the most kills by the end of the mission...uhh...well, I'll think of a prize or something."
"But if I have no idea what the prize will be, then why should I humor you?" Naomi asked him, but no response came. Sighing, she decided, "Alright, how about this: If I win, then you'll finally help me practice some self-defense stuff and whatnot. In other words, you have to spar with me. And if you win, then I'll give you back the money I won off of you in poker yesterday. Sound like a good deal?"
There was a moment of silence, as if he was considering the options. "Eh, what's the worse that could happen," he replied coolly. "It's a deal. May the best pilot win."
"Settle down, you two," Sky Keeper ordered them. "You're coming within range of the enemy." They flew a little closer, Naomi putting on the afterburners on the F-16 she was flying to get closer to where the targets were supposed to be. "Current target is on rails, but there're still military vehicles and anti-air weaponry. Destroy the target, but HQ has made it clear that no harm should come to civilians and no damage is to be done to public facilities."
"But, uh...any aircraft shot down could land in civilian territory," Brownie pointed out. She was right, and the order was going to be difficult to follow. None of them had control over where their enemies crashed, and it seemed that the Osean military was trying to outdo Erusea, prove that they could avoid harming civilians with actual pilots instead of computers and programming.
"No point arguing," Knocker told them. "That's how war is these days."
Sky Keeper ignored their chatter. "Do you have visual on the anti-air radar vehicles? They should be close."
"Yup." Clown replied simply as they all closed in and broke formation. Naomi angled the plane towards the ground, Boggard flying close on her six in a race to reach the target first. Naomi got a lock, she fired and pulled out of the dive as the vehicle blew up, grinning to herself as she moved onto the next targets. Three of them, practically lined up. One by one, she took them out, then on her way to the next and just as she got a lock, Boggard stole the kill from her.
"That's one for me, Trigger," Boggard announced, flying up beside her and then breaking off as she dove towards another set of targets.
"Doesn't seem too difficult or like they're putting up much of a fight, honestly," Naomi replied, beginning to get cocky. Boggard took out another vehicle and was catching up, but things seemed to be moving at a steady pace. "Too simple."
"Trigger, calm down," Knocker snapped at her. "You need to stay focused and quit getting overconfident. Ground targets might as well be target practice. Now stop getting so trigger happy and ease off a little on the afterburners before you miss your target. Accuracy is more important than speed." Sighing, she eased back after Knocker's little, slowing down a little while still taking out the targets nearest to her.
"Hey, Boggard, what's your score so far?" Footpad asked out of the blue, having been quiet for some time now. "Trigger's up to eight, I think."
"Seven, actually," Naomi corrected, gunning down a radar vehicle and taking out an AA gun along with it.
Boggard replied, "I've got four so far. I'm catching up, Trigger!"
"Focus on the mission!" Knocker raised his voice up enough so that it would get their attention and get his point across. "Worry about your competition after we get done and get out of here." And silence fell among the pilots, taken aback by Knocker's order. That was a first, even for him. Both he and Clown seemed on edge, uncomfortable with being in enemy territory, especially with far less experienced pilots. They didn't want anyone to slip up, if Naomi read the situation and understood their actions correctly.
The mission continued, one by one, they took down the radar vehicles, Sky Keeper informing them of how many were left. There weren't many, and they'd all be gone soon enough. There seemed to be nothing to it. Perhaps Knocker was right and it was just a more extreme target practice. "Enemy interceptors inbound," Sky Keeper informed them as they got deeper into the enemy's territory. "Prepare to engage in thirty seconds."
"Wilco, here they come," Knocker replied.
"Take them down," Clown ordered. Naomi remained focused on the remaining ground targets whereas Golem Squadron and Clown focused on the enemies right in front of them in the air. Daring to glance up and out into the sky above her, she saw four missiles streaking towards the enemy fighters. All of them hit their targets, and just like that, the planes were down.
Knocker came on again, sounding much calmer than before, "Okay, recruits. Pay attention to who's on what side. The newest IFF is connected to our entire force via satellites. It's reliable, so trust your radars."
Naomi took out the last of the vehicles, then pulled up, checking the radar for the next target. "That was the last radar vehicle! Great work!" Sky Keeper praised them. A pause, and then Sky Keeper told them, "Radar vehicles destroyed but the interceptor shows no sign of retreating. Take it out. Continue with the mission and crush as many as you can." Naomi pulled her plane away from the ground and towards the enemy planes behind her. She got a lock and fired, hitting the unsuspecting fighter that had been focused on Clown rather than on her.
The others continued to engage the enemies in the air, so she went back to the ground targets, getting tired of radar warnings blaring in her ear as the AA guns fired at her. The battle was starting to pick up as the Eruseans likely became more aware and active, getting off of their asses to do something. Naomi veered away from the gas tanks she'd just took out and towards the control tower. If she took that out, it would likely help them out some. The enemy pilots would no longer be receiving clear instruction, especially those on the verge of taking off. No other option presented itself, so as she flew close enough, Naomi fired two missiles at it and then took out a nearby radar tower with her gun before circling back around to take care of the rest of the ground targets in the area.
"Golem 1! Enemy will crash into residential area!" Brownie announced to Knocker, her voice practically dripping with concern in spite of her trying to maintain a mature, official tone.
"Just worry about staying alive for now." Knocker told her casually, not seeming at all concerned by HQ's order of 'no harm is to come to civilians'. It was inevitable. "Keep your mind focused." Naomi joined the others in the fray up in the air, climbing up until she was near Clown, trying to get a lock on the Erusean MiG that was trying to shoot down Clown while he chased after another plane. Eventually, it pulled away from Clown and Naomi followed it, eventually getting a lock, she fired it and veered in another direction, towards the remaining enemies.
"Wait, so you want us to take down the enemy without damaging any public facilities?" Clown asked out of nowhere, having finally taken down the plane he was chasing after. Exasperated and without a reply, he added, "That's gonna be a circus."
"Well...your name is Clown, so maybe you'll be able to manage it." It was a really bad joke, and judging by the sigh she received from Clown as a response, he thought so too. Naomi made a dive for the enemy base to take out yet another AA gun, followed by a watch tower. As she pulled up, something on the ground caught her eye. "Mage 2 to Mage 1 and Golem 1...something weird's happening on the ground...I'm coming back your way, this doesn't look good."
Blurred because of distance, she could just barely make out a row of containers, like the ones that OBC had showed footage of launching the drones, slowly opening up it would seem. That definitely was not a good sign. Naomi turned away from the base and put on the afterburners, returning to formation with the others as they all tried to process what was going on. Within a few seconds, several new blips appeared on the radar. "What happened?" Knocker demanded as they approached the new formation. "Status report!"
"Multiple bogeys on radar! They're close!" Sky Keeper replied.
"Wait...they're being launched." Clown said as more joined them.
"You're cleared to engage!" Sky Keeper told them urgently. "They're probably hostile." Naomi sighed, upset not only that they couldn't get a break, but also that everyone seemed to find it perfectly acceptable to point out the obvious. She'd grown used to it, and Sky Keeper was nice enough that she didn't openly complain about it. The group quickly closed on the drones, however, as soon as they fired upon getting a lock, the bogeys dodged out of the way.
"Clown, these things are ridiculous!" Naomi shouted, growing frustrated as every time she fired they dodged out of the way. Being overconfident really would come back around on you, no wonder her mother and pretty much everyone else she knew always warned her of it. No wonder Knocker had gotten mad earlier.
"Judgin' by the way they look and move, they've gotta be drones!" Clown said as he barely managed to stick to one's tail.
"Well spotted, Clown," Knocker answered. "No doubt about it, we're definitely dealing with UAVs. But that doesn't change a thing. Just think of them as somewhat clever decoys. Take them all down!" Easy for him to say, he was the only one that had managed to shoot one down so far. Naomi was having difficulty keeping a lock on one. Knocker spoke again, "These drones have great agility. All aircraft, you know what high-G turns are, right? Use 'em."
Naomi put this to practice, getting a lock on one but turning quickly so she was tilted to the side and aimed ahead of the drone. She pressed down on fire and the drone flew directly into the missile, blowing up on impact with it and falling into the farmland below them. "HQ, this is Golem 1. Bandits confirmed as UAVs," Knocker radioed in to get HQ up to date with the current situation. Naomi and the others continued to pursue the drones. "Repeat. Bandits are drones."
"Golem 1, that doesn't matter!" HQ responded. "Destroy all enemy fighters and get out!" Easier said than done. For every one they destroyed, it felt like more appeared, but according to the radar they were slowly disappearing. Brownie and Knocker flow close to one another, while Footpad and Boggard flew close by, in between Clown and Naomi. Boggard continued to chase down targets near Naomi, even attempting to steal some of her kills.
"It doesn't matter?" Knocker echoed, sounding perplexed. Naomi did find it a bit odd that, after HQ made such a big deal about knowing whether or not there were any drones from the first fight, they'd say it doesn't matter.
"He's saying, 'The war can change in an instant. Get over it.'" Clown said in a bitter tone, but Naomi didn't know if the bitterness was directed at HQ or Knocker or both. HQ seemed the most logical choice of the three, especially considering Knocker was in charge and he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Yeah, I just wish they'd give us a bit more warning." Knocker grumbled.
Naomi flew up, alongside Clown, and together they pursued the same drone. Simultaneously getting a lock and firing, they both took it down. "Enemy UAV confirmed destroyed. Hell yeah." The way he was talking, you could practically see the smile on his face.
"Golem Squadron, you're not going to let Mage get all the glory, are ya?" Knocker asked his own wingman. A couple of confident 'no's and 'this one's mine!' sounded off in response as the two squadrons began a friendly competition to get the last of the drones out of the sky. Naomi and Clown were getting the most of the enemies, barely leaving much for Golem.
"Mage 2 has taken down an enemy!" Brownie announced. "How many is that now?"
"I forgot, honestly," Boggard replied. "But I think she's winning."
"Just two more!" Clown said.
Naomi maneuvered carefully after one of the drones that had strayed away from its companion and into the clouds. Every time she got a lock, it would dart out of the way or she'd lose it and it would manage to get out of sight. She remembered that Knocker had told her on the first day she arrived and they went on some sort of 'breaking in' flight or something like that, and something she'd learned in training. The clouds didn't only provide poor visibility, but they could mess with the HUD and radar. Every time she fired, she seemed to lose track of it on radar, as such losing the lock she had on it.
After what felt like ages, she chased it out of the clouds and got a clear, good view and lock on it. Beep! Beep! Beep! Naomi fired and the frustrating little devil was history. "One to go," Sky Keeper informed them. "Let's get through this without any casualties." The last drone was being pursued by Golem Squadron and Clown, and Naomi was almost on top of it, in gun range. She pulled the trigger and kept within range. After hitting it enough to slow it down, she fired a missile and put it out of its misery.
"Nice kill, Trigger!" Brownie praised her. "Enemy aircraft confirmed down." Naomi smiled to herself and turned around to head back towards the others.
"The skies are clear. Nice work everyone." Sky Keeper said to them. "Mission complete. RTB."
"No casualties," Knocker pointed out. "We couldn't have done any better. Returning to base."
Naomi was satisfied with going back and pleased that none of them had been shot down, but Brownie didn't seem convinced or satisfied with that. "I don't know," she said uncertainly. "Maybe the bandits we took down caused civilian casualties." Naomi didn't really think about that, and honestly there was no way they'd know unless Osea or Erusea reported it on the news.
"No point arguin'. That's how war is these days." Clown replied matter-of-factly.
Knocker added, "You shoot, someone gets killed. The guys in charge take care of the rest." There was no room left for discussion, and a silence fell among them all as they made their way back home.
|...|...|...|
Fort Grays Island, East of Usea.
May 18th, 2019.
1300hrs.
Naomi went out to the hangar with Brownie and Faun to meet up with Footpad and Boggard. In all honesty, both of them had forgotten how many they had, although everyone continued to insist that Boggard had lost. "You won as far as we're concerned, Trigger," Brownie said to her as they approached the open hangar doors. "Which means you get to fight Boggard, and this I want to see." There was a hint of amusement in her voice and her concern about civilian casualties hadn't been brought up and in fact seemed to be the farthest thing from her mind.
"Not necessarily," Faun spoke up. "Footpad is pretty good at keeping notes and I think he mentioned having added it all up when he invited me to come with. He's got a good memory, y'know, so the numbers will speak for themselves." Naomi nodded in agreement, causing Brownie to cross her arms and put on a mildly annoyed expression. Naomi and Faun both grinned at her until they reached the hangars, because then Faun broke off and cheerfully greeted Footpad.
"When he told us he was friends with Footpad, I didn't expect such...friendliness. Around here, I figured 'friends' meant 'he's literally one of the few people willing to play cards with me so what choice do I have'," Naomi said to Brownie as the two approached more slowly, watching the eager conversation take place from a distance. "Are they roommates or something?"
"If not, they probably hang out more often than we think," Brownie replied. "I thought Boggard and Footpad bunked together, though. I might be wrong."
Boggard grinned wildly as they finally came within earshot. "Hello there, ladies!" He spread out his arms, raising them high in the air as if they were about to witness some extravagant event unfolding right before their eyes.
Naomi crossed her arms just as Brownie had done, shaking her head and smirking. "I can already tell just by that dumb look on your face that you won, correct?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, yes and no," Footpad said just as Boggard went to say something. "It's actually a tie, if you count the kills he stole from you and the ones that he took down with help. I hadn't expected so many, or that he'd catch up, but this is all if memory serves me correctly. So, we worked out a reward for both of you. Trigger, you also technically 'won', so he has to spar with you, and as agreed if Boggard won, you have to give him back the money you won off of him in poker."
She reached into her flight suit's pocket and pulling out a neat roll of a couple of twenty zollar bills, at least adding up to Ƶ60.00. "Fine, here you go," Naomi said, handing it over to Boggard. "Winning it off of you was one of my better accomplishments with card games, though, considering how often you like to cheat." He quickly took the money, smirking at her.
"I'll pretend I'm not hurt by that," he replied, stuffing the money in his own pocket. The smirk he wore quickly faded. "When do you expect me to spar with you?"
"ASAP!" It was Naomi's turn to grin, and Brownie and the others joined in. "I can wait, but not too long, because I'm looking forward to kicking your ass way more than I probably should be." Boggard gave a dry laugh in response, then skulked off to the hangar, saying something about getting ready to get it over and done with. Naomi waited patiently.
She thought about how good it was that they all had time to relax and have a bit of fun, and not to mention they were one step closer to reclaiming the space elevator, which put HQ in an exceptionally good mood, which put everyone else in a good mood. Brownie was also growing a bit more lighthearted in spite of the war. As it was looking, they had things made in the shade.