“He has a point.” First Sergeant Terra said, approaching her lover as the rest of the 13th support staff cleared out from the briefing room.
“Don’t start.” Trixie said, pulling the hair tie from her head letting her red hair fall across her shoulders.
“You know he’s right. This operation makes no sense strategically for us.”
“Drop it, Nova.” The Major warned once more as she collected the papers off the desk and shuffled them into a folder.
Taking an organizer from the floor, the Mistress opened a section with two fingers and filed away the folder picking up the brown carrier to walk away. Nova held up her arm and shot a stern look towards her Commanding Officer.
“What is the matter with you, Trix? Do you have a death wish? You barely survived your last-“
“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Zulenka shouted, getting in her partners face.
Nova fought back tears as she could see, for the first time, that without a doubt, Trixie’s left iris had turned a bright red. Swallowing hard the blond took a step back and lowered her arm to let her CO pass.
“If you’re not going to trust me either then get the fuck out of my sight, Sergeant.” Trixie spat as she turned her back on the woman.
Pushing through the door to the hallway the Mistress quickly made her way into the turbolift that would take her up to her own private quarters. As the doors closed she broke down into tears, tossing her papers aside, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed.
It’ll be okay, my love.
“Oh my god. Nova!” Aisha said in disbelief as she moved past Seventeen who was busy suiting up.
As the Sergeant embraced her senior non-com in a hug, Seventeen noticed Terra’s face was tear stained and she had been obviously rattled.
“I take it you tried to talk to her as well?” The raven-haired android said as he inserted a clip into his rifle, slapping the bottom of it secure it in place.
“She hates me.” Nova cried into Aisha’s shoulder.
“She’s been through a lot, honey. She doesn’t hate you. We may not agree with what she’s planning, but…”
Seventeen picked up on what she was trying to say. “You think there’s something going on too, don’t you?”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is going on with her and if we don’t figure out what it is we’re going to get killed…or worse. However, I’ve read her service record. Five times.” Sergeant Knudel mused aloud as she strapped the forearm pieces of her armor together.
The three of them were suiting up in the Special Forces locker room that had been designated for the four of them aboard the Sulaco.
“That woman is more soldier than any of us. She’s been on the front line of more battles than most of the Senior Staff combined. How she isn’t running a whole division is a mystery to me.” Sergeant Knudel closed her locker, placing her helmet on the bench.
“However, the one thing I keep reading in the after-action reports from her early career is that during her time as a Staff Sergeant she lost her second in-command to a friendly orbital bombardment. They had to drag her off the field so that the rest of her company wouldn’t get blown to shit. From that point forward, she became extremely ruthless in the field and fiercely protective of everyone under her command.” Aisha reported.
“So, if I’m following you right Aisha. Is that this is out of character behavior?” Seventeen said, placing a hand on Nova’s shoulder as she sat down to get her boots on.
“That was a lovely trip down memory lane. Thank you, Sergeant.” Trixie said from behind them. All three of her compadres turned in surprise to find their commanding officer standing in the doorway all ready to go. Her rifle was slung, her lightsabers were on her belt, and her old pistol was strapped to her right thigh.
“For this operation you’ve all been reassigned to Second Platoon, led by the Lieutenant here.” She motioned to Seventeen. “You’ll be in Habit Two, the second craft. I’ll be in Habit One with First Platoon. Third Platoon will be in the rear with Lieutenant Ramirez.” Trixie’s words were emotionless.
The redhead eyed the three people whom she held most dear and feigned a disappointed look the best she could before taking her leave to prep before launch.
Don’t worry, honey. It’ll all be worth it. Trust me.
As the whisper penetrated her consciousness the Major was forced to place a gloved hand to the wall to stabilized herself. Whoever was communicating with her wasn’t someone tied to Diablo or Palpatine. She was sure of it. They couldn’t be. Could they?
The time had finally come for the mission to start. Easy Company had been assembled in the main hangar for a final run through of how the operation was going to work. Major Zulenka explained how Habit One through Three had been fitted special for this mission and they were going to continuously ferry Easy Company back and forth between the landing zone on Tier 5 that had been designated via intel Trixie compiled. Because of heavy modifications to the armor and the extra anti-air systems onboard, each craft could only carry about twenty soldiers at a time so to get the full company of ARC Troopers down to Tier 5 was going to take 8 different runs, exlcuding ammunition drops and medical evacuation.
The roundtrip time to Tier 5 with the modified LAAT’s was about 30 minutes. That meant that the first three platoons were going to be completely alone for the first half hour. Each ARC Trooper knew what they had to do. They were bred for this. This was there purpose in life. Seventeen, Nova, and Aisha however, all felt extremely uneasy as Major Zulenka ordered everyone into their transports. Without even giving her friends a second glance, Beatrix was already aboard the first transport, helping each trooper on board. The distinct whine of the repulsor engines winding up on the transports filled the main hangar of the Sulaco.
“Alright. Move it out.” Zulenka ordered over the radio.
In unison all three transports lifted off the ground, their engines revving up, bringing the modified gunships into the sky. Within a few seconds the three LAAT’s were out of the hangar and on their way down to Tier 5.
Tears filled Trixie eyes, hidden by her helmet, as she sat back against the wall of her transport, waiting out the ride.
“Don’t start.” Trixie said, pulling the hair tie from her head letting her red hair fall across her shoulders.
“You know he’s right. This operation makes no sense strategically for us.”
“Drop it, Nova.” The Major warned once more as she collected the papers off the desk and shuffled them into a folder.
Taking an organizer from the floor, the Mistress opened a section with two fingers and filed away the folder picking up the brown carrier to walk away. Nova held up her arm and shot a stern look towards her Commanding Officer.
“What is the matter with you, Trix? Do you have a death wish? You barely survived your last-“
“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Zulenka shouted, getting in her partners face.
Nova fought back tears as she could see, for the first time, that without a doubt, Trixie’s left iris had turned a bright red. Swallowing hard the blond took a step back and lowered her arm to let her CO pass.
“If you’re not going to trust me either then get the fuck out of my sight, Sergeant.” Trixie spat as she turned her back on the woman.
Pushing through the door to the hallway the Mistress quickly made her way into the turbolift that would take her up to her own private quarters. As the doors closed she broke down into tears, tossing her papers aside, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed.
It’ll be okay, my love.
***
“Oh my god. Nova!” Aisha said in disbelief as she moved past Seventeen who was busy suiting up.
As the Sergeant embraced her senior non-com in a hug, Seventeen noticed Terra’s face was tear stained and she had been obviously rattled.
“I take it you tried to talk to her as well?” The raven-haired android said as he inserted a clip into his rifle, slapping the bottom of it secure it in place.
“She hates me.” Nova cried into Aisha’s shoulder.
“She’s been through a lot, honey. She doesn’t hate you. We may not agree with what she’s planning, but…”
Seventeen picked up on what she was trying to say. “You think there’s something going on too, don’t you?”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is going on with her and if we don’t figure out what it is we’re going to get killed…or worse. However, I’ve read her service record. Five times.” Sergeant Knudel mused aloud as she strapped the forearm pieces of her armor together.
The three of them were suiting up in the Special Forces locker room that had been designated for the four of them aboard the Sulaco.
“That woman is more soldier than any of us. She’s been on the front line of more battles than most of the Senior Staff combined. How she isn’t running a whole division is a mystery to me.” Sergeant Knudel closed her locker, placing her helmet on the bench.
“However, the one thing I keep reading in the after-action reports from her early career is that during her time as a Staff Sergeant she lost her second in-command to a friendly orbital bombardment. They had to drag her off the field so that the rest of her company wouldn’t get blown to shit. From that point forward, she became extremely ruthless in the field and fiercely protective of everyone under her command.” Aisha reported.
“So, if I’m following you right Aisha. Is that this is out of character behavior?” Seventeen said, placing a hand on Nova’s shoulder as she sat down to get her boots on.
“That was a lovely trip down memory lane. Thank you, Sergeant.” Trixie said from behind them. All three of her compadres turned in surprise to find their commanding officer standing in the doorway all ready to go. Her rifle was slung, her lightsabers were on her belt, and her old pistol was strapped to her right thigh.
“For this operation you’ve all been reassigned to Second Platoon, led by the Lieutenant here.” She motioned to Seventeen. “You’ll be in Habit Two, the second craft. I’ll be in Habit One with First Platoon. Third Platoon will be in the rear with Lieutenant Ramirez.” Trixie’s words were emotionless.
The redhead eyed the three people whom she held most dear and feigned a disappointed look the best she could before taking her leave to prep before launch.
Don’t worry, honey. It’ll all be worth it. Trust me.
As the whisper penetrated her consciousness the Major was forced to place a gloved hand to the wall to stabilized herself. Whoever was communicating with her wasn’t someone tied to Diablo or Palpatine. She was sure of it. They couldn’t be. Could they?
***
The time had finally come for the mission to start. Easy Company had been assembled in the main hangar for a final run through of how the operation was going to work. Major Zulenka explained how Habit One through Three had been fitted special for this mission and they were going to continuously ferry Easy Company back and forth between the landing zone on Tier 5 that had been designated via intel Trixie compiled. Because of heavy modifications to the armor and the extra anti-air systems onboard, each craft could only carry about twenty soldiers at a time so to get the full company of ARC Troopers down to Tier 5 was going to take 8 different runs, exlcuding ammunition drops and medical evacuation.
The roundtrip time to Tier 5 with the modified LAAT’s was about 30 minutes. That meant that the first three platoons were going to be completely alone for the first half hour. Each ARC Trooper knew what they had to do. They were bred for this. This was there purpose in life. Seventeen, Nova, and Aisha however, all felt extremely uneasy as Major Zulenka ordered everyone into their transports. Without even giving her friends a second glance, Beatrix was already aboard the first transport, helping each trooper on board. The distinct whine of the repulsor engines winding up on the transports filled the main hangar of the Sulaco.
“Alright. Move it out.” Zulenka ordered over the radio.
In unison all three transports lifted off the ground, their engines revving up, bringing the modified gunships into the sky. Within a few seconds the three LAAT’s were out of the hangar and on their way down to Tier 5.
Tears filled Trixie eyes, hidden by her helmet, as she sat back against the wall of her transport, waiting out the ride.
Quote:The Ride to Tier 5 -- Click Me
![[Image: tumblr_mas7xraHPJ1r0j0yso1_1280.md.png]](http://www.cytokineindustries.com/chevereto/images/2018/06/28/tumblr_mas7xraHPJ1r0j0yso1_1280.md.png)
![[Image: trixiesig2018.png]](http://www.cytokineindustries.com/chevereto/images/2018/06/12/trixiesig2018.png)