Hey, guys! I love the support for my last two AC7 stories, Nobody Likes You When You're 23 and If I Die Tomorrow. This one ties right into those. If you're starting here, you're probably gonna be lost. That being said, here we go.

November 17th, 2019. 0900 hours.

Oured, Osea. The Hexagon.

It was a bright, crisp autumn morning in Oured. Major Jason Briggs, Tac Name "Trigger," was making his way through the halls of Osea's Military High Command, no longer masking his annoyance at the proceedings he was attending. Not to mention, his Class "A" uniform made him feel like he was suffocating.

"Two weeks," he thought bitterly. "Two fucking weeks. I just want to see her again."

He arrived at the hearing room and just walked in, not bothering to knock.

"Major Briggs. So happy you could join us."

"Colonel Grimm, can we just get this over with?" Briggs replied, sitting in the chair that he believed his ass to be permanently etched into.

Grimm remained stoic as he observed Briggs. "We'll be wrapping up soon."

Briggs's expression darkened. "No disrespect intended, sir, but you've been feeding me that same bull for the last five days. What more could you possibly need?"

"We just need to clear up some discrepancies," Grimm replied.

"About what?"

"Your dogfight with Mister X-"

"Oh, dear Jesus Titty-Fucking Christ!" Briggs snapped and stood up.

"Major, please calm d-"

"No! We've been through this three times in the last two fucking weeks! Strider Squadron and the LRSSG raided Shilage Castle because relief from Osea wasn't coming. We were hung out to dry by you assholes at High Command and we did what we had to do to survive. Sol Squadron tried to intercept, and we shot down three of five. Mihaly showed up in an X-02S equipped with a rail gun. He and I proceeded to duel, and after five minutes, I managed to shoot him down. He bailed out but he's paralyzed, no longer able to fly. With him no longer a threat, we were able to end this stupid war."

A silence fell over the other officers on the review board. Grimm eyed the young pilot before closing the folder in front of him. "I believe we're done here, Major. You're free to go."

"Hallelujah." Briggs turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him and knocking a picture of Harling off the wall.

...-_-...

International Space Elevator. Same day. 1700 local time.

Avril Mead sighed, turning her eyes toward the sky, scanning for any sign of the F-35 that had taken off two weeks earlier.

"Goddamn it," she thought. "Where are you, Jason? I want to see you. Hurry up and get back here... Dumbass."

She turned her attention back to the other refugees that had set up camp at the Space Elevator.

The next morning, 0630 local time.

Briggs managed to hitch a ride on a supply helicopter to the Space Elevator. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. He hadn't seen Avril in two weeks, but it felt like forever. He snapped out of his thoughts as the CH-47 began its descent. He ditched the uniform for civilian clothes for the first time in almost a year. God, was it liberating.

"Major, have you been to the encampment yet?" One of the relief workers was trying to make conversation, but Briggs was only half paying attention.

"What?"

"I asked if you've been to the encampment yet."

"I have, actually. My girlfriend helped set it up."

"Oh."

Briggs hadn't really looked at the person talking to him, but at the dejected tone, he decided to turn his head. She was blonde. Cute, but not Briggs's type by any means. His thoughts drifted back to Avril as the chopper landed. Once the cargo door opened, Briggs bolted off the copter, looking for Avril left and right, questioning refugees all over the island.

"You seen Avril? You know where Avril is? Where can I find Avril?" Nobody answered him. He was about to lose it when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, dumbass. It's about time you showed up."

And that's Chapter 1. Be sure to bomb those "favorite" and "follow" buttons and drop a review! (Also, the F-35 has VTOL, or Vertical Take-Off Landing, capabilities. One could very easily land at the Space Elevator)