Chapter 2
I decided I could reminisce about my past and try to make sense of it later. First, I had to get myself and my comrades out of danger. Although I was technically a private, I still knew more than the two other soldiers scattered around my proximity. Most of them were brand new, green rooks, who could barely hold a weapon much less defend themselves. On any 'normal' day, or what one could not call 'normal,' I was besides my few friends and assigned to team Delta. At the moment I was leading two rookies out of fire and towards the awaiting pick up point. To my right was Chandler, a soft red-head who strangely reminded me of my sister. He just blended in and was never given any special awards or marks of honor. He just managed to scrape by completely unnoticed by any drill sergeants and was just referred to as 'that ginger guy,' as Hoffman gently put it. And to my left was my worse nightmare. The cocky, 19 year-old thought he could do anything and decided about an hour ago that he didn't need to take orders from a chick, and nearly had gotten his head blown off a few times because of it. James was agitating and arrogant to say the least.
I noticed both of them flailing and drowning under the pressure at the current moment. Chandler was sticking his whole head over the barrier to have a look at the enemy's position then quickly ducking to avoid the incoming gun fire that resulted. I sighed as I pulled out a frag. This is gonna be a long morning, I thought to myself grudgingly.
I blindly threw the grenade with a feminine shout of "Frag out!" as we all huddled with our heads down as we heard the BOOM that resonated. With some flanking fire from the newbies the three of us were able to quickly pick off the last few remaining grubs.
"We need to get to pick-up point A now!" I snarled at the new recruits. My tone must have put fear into their bones because they both responded with a "yes ma'am!" and began to trot after me. We were only a few hundred feet away from the building that we needed to get to the top of where the Raven would be awaiting us. I could already see its black silhouette a few hundred yards to the west flying towards the building. We threw our heads down and flat-out sprinted for the cover of the structure. Once we had climbed most of the stairs without incident, I breathed a sigh of relief as we hurtled ourselves into the cabin of the helicopter. We took our seats and James hit the side of the chopper a few times to let the pilot know we were good to go. I took my hair out of the mangled bun it was in and let it fall down the sides of my armor. It landed in gentle waves just below my shoulders… I still had no idea why they let me keep it long instead of cropped. I guess they probably just had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment then the length of a gear's hair.
"Close one, heh, Nikki?" Chandler said to me through a freckled face with a smile. I let out a short 'hah' of a laugh and nodded. I heard a snort from James.
"Piece of cake if you ask me, ladies," he emphasized. I ignored his answer completely.
"So Nikki, you heading back to your squad after we get back?" Chandler asked in an attempt to keep a conversation going. I just smiled at him.
"I've been away from the guys for a few weeks on this mission, longest apart since I joined them a few years ago," I said gruffly, not in the mood to talk. I let my head fall back against the cool metal behind me and let my mind wander. Where was I in reminiscing about my past… Ah, yes, the day after E-Day in my mother's chambers…
My mother had removed her ceremonial armor and grand attire to rest in some leather clothing. The exact details escape me, but she still could look like an intimidating dictator in simple clothing. For a moment I could see past her fake mask and see just the face of my mom as her eyes softened for a second… Her simple looks were a slap in the face to me, and just how human-looking she really was seemed to jump out at me. Although her eyes had a unique green/blue color and her features slightly pale, I still had no idea if she was Locust or human… She never would tell me a strait answer. That was one of my biggest questions, along with who my father was… I didn't know if I was human or Locust.
Having a lost identity as a child was hard on me, but because I was constantly surrounded by the beasts of the Locust army I picked up their ticks and attributes. I was completely isolated from the humans and their ways of life. Faint radio waves I managed to listen to on late nights was the only clue into their culture I had. Not to say I didn't enjoy being able to be agile and menacing like those who surrounded me… I just wished I wasn't so animal-like all the time. And in the present day I still do wish I could let go of some habits like growling at someone when I got frustrated with them…
I was standing a few feet away from my mother's bed, and she was sitting on it in an exhausted heap, with her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. I could feel tears behind my eyes threatening to spill out.
"Just understand… You will understand my actions when you become the next ruler… The humans of Sera are wrong. I can't explain it to a child." I suddenly felt the anger rise in my body at her words… The way she talked down to me like I was a servant and not her child made a burn of anger rise through my throat.
"They haven't even done anything to us!" I screeched and my voice cracked. She sighed and closed her eyes tighter together, if that was even possible.
"Do not argue with me again out there," she nodded her head towards the door and the general palace outside of her room. "You embarrassed me in front of my entire royal guard earlier today." I sighed in defeat as I realized her 'queen mode' could not be lulled away from her for a second into my mother so she could see the errors of her actions. I slowly began to shake my head.
"I'm leaving. Forever." Were my simple words as I turned to leave. I could hear condescending laughter behind me.
"This time you almost sounded serious! You may be wise for your age, but you're still just a small, insignificant child!" I heard through guffawing behind me. I let out a snarl that could easily have been taken to be a Theron Guard's vocals as I stormed back to my room. I could hear the clicking and shuffling of Skorge's armor as he followed a distance behind me, obviously on orders from my mom that I wasn't to be let go anywhere. I took the stairs down a floor and threw open the doors to my room. I slammed them behind me as hard as I could, then gently heard it click as it was opened and closed again. I quickly began to throw random assortments of items such as clothes into a leather bag. I had done this for show many times, but this time something was different.
I refused to cry because of Skorge's presence. He had always watched me with a critical eye, almost like he had pity for me and knew something that I did not. The way he looked at me was like he could see into my future, into my destiny. He always held himself in a formal, do-as-I-say manner, but he always did treat me decently, and with respect. I shrugged it off as the fact that one day he knew he would be serving me, so he knew he had to keep himself formal around me. I went back to my door and to my surprise he opened it for me and motioned for myself to go through. Without looking at me he said, "Unescorted, someone will stop and question you. Go along with what I say." His cold words seemed to have some compassion in them and I nodded as he grabbed the bag for me and I began to follow him faithfully, just like a puppy…
CRASH.
My eyes flew open as I was jerked and tossed around in my seat in the raven. I made a small high pitched noise in surprise as I was thrown out the left side of the aircraft. I put my hands over my head as I began to fall… or not. I was lying on the ground looking like an idiot. I could hear laughed to my front.
"Nice one princess; that was so attractive." I heard cockily from in front of me. I grinned up at Dom who held out a hand and gently helped me up. Dom was one of the men with whom I had had the pleasure of spending the last few years working with. Despite his sometimes nice appearance was a killer; I had seen him snap on more than one occasion.
I was just happy to finally be back at the makeshift base a few hours flight from where I was sent to help handle some Locust activity; very few knew of my past. Those that did always sent me to sniff out curious incidents.
Dom seemed more… cheery at the moment, so I decided to prod as to why.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" I asked with a small smile as I began to run my fingers though my hair and we moved off to our temporary dorms at head quarters. Even though I was only about 5'5", I had a stalking gate, like an animal, and could easily keep up with Dom's huge frame.
"Anya told me some news on Maria today… They found a girl fitting her description at some piece of shit Stranded camp! Day after tomorrow we're being sent there because of some suspicious Stranded activity and Locust sightings, so maybe I can find her." I could see his eyes looking off into a distant area, and the smile that formed as he spoke of his long lost love. I gave him a small pat on his huge shoulder with a genuine smile.
"That's great Dom; I really hope we find her." He returned my smile.
"I'll lead the way, you, me, and everyone else on Delta is sharing the same apartment… It's gonna get crowded," he said gently. Great. I would get to spend the next two days in cramped quarters with four guys. Not that in our last few years of being a loose working unit I hadn't spent a lot of time with them in less than luxurious locations… it was just weird for me, I guess.
Dom led me through several hallways, and I found myself following him just like a puppy…
Skorge snarled dangerously low at large Theron Guard who threw us a strange look as we were waiting for an elevator to take us up to the surface. The large Theron Guard selected a button, and Skorge pressed one a few above it. It was going to look like we would be getting off a few floors above him. We waited in silence as the other Guard got off before he pushed the top button that would bring us to the surface.
"You will take a Reaver to the outskirts of Jacinto… It is not heavily guarded and you will look like a small child lost after yesterday's attack on the surface-dwellers. You can walk into the city and someone will take you in." I simply nodded as we arrived at our destination. As Skorge began to prepare a Reaver with some extra provisions I remember asking him, "Why are you helping me?" He stopped what he was doing and turned to me. He kneeled in front of me and held onto my shoulders with giant hands.
"If you stay here-" He began before he cut himself off. "It is just better if you leave. Queen Myrrah, she… Is not planning good things for you and your sister," he told me gently, trying to make sure I could understand. I nodded simply and told him I got what he was telling me… I told him I thought the war was wrong. I thought he might kill me for that because he seemed like a strait, loyal member to the Locust party. He sighed. "Wise beyond your years." Grit was in his voice, making me cringe. He suddenly stood and picked me up effortlessly and placed me on the Reaver, strapping me in. "Go." He commanded, and before I could say good bye, the Reaver was off and flying, with caused me to gasp and grip tightly to not fall off.
