Nova tossed and turned in discomfort as she began to come around, after being in an induced coma by the medical staff who were watching attentively throughout the night. The ship was still positioned in the gulf, a fair ways distance away from the coast overnight, much to the annoyance of the Captain who'd rather get the two of you off his ship as soon as possible.

Her restlessness and frolicking had woken you up, whether it was intended or not you weren't quite sure. Nova groaned as she sluggishly brushed away her long hair from the front of her face, the bright blonde streaks of her hair spread across the bed, stark contrast against the cashmere and white hospital style sheets present on the beds in the medical bay of the ship.

"We think you've had Tetanus" One of the nurses said standing at the edge of the bed who had come over noting you were both awake now. Nova shook her head in disagreement, despite not quite knowing what Tetanus even entailed which prompted her to begin teeping into her to find out further details.

"No, I haven't been in contact with any surfaces of metal on an open wound, and the 12th checkbox on your list is yes but the rest is no" The nurse stood aback surprised by what Nova said, as her eyes drew further and further down her checklist she had attached to a clip board. "You two have had" "Yes, that is all, thank you" Nova cut her off sharply and motioned her hand to move on, and preferably leave you two in peace.

The two of you spent the better part of the next week on board the ship as it did it's course and path around the gulf before returning back around to drop the two of you off at the first intended location. You were greeted swiftly and quickly swept further inland and fast under the cover of darkness, being moved to the "Green Zone" which did not encompass most of the ground covered flying overhead.

Tensions were higher in the last few months, which came about after a high ranking general was killed giving a speech to media and journalists. Shot dead by one of the security personnel who was native to the country, which was where Nova and her abilities came into play. The hope was that she would be able to and prevent an event like that from ever unfolding again while the war came to an end.

The end was near, but damage control and public hearts and minds were still put at a forefront now more than ever. Which meant high exposure of high ranking officials in peace talks and agreements, often in front of cameras and public journalists eager to get in on the story, trying to cover every detail from cover to cover.

Armed guards that flanked high ranking officials were no longer a direct option unless moving from place to place. It was thought to have been seen as a gesture towards the wrong direction given that the general idea which was trying to be portrayed was one of peace and confidence in the local police and defence forces to gain back the upper hand on insurgents in the country and neighbouring states.

No longer were private security details used or paid for by high ranking officials, now using detachments of the military themselves as operations had begun winding down throughout the country. Resources were being allocated primarily towards humanitarian relief efforts throughout, and assuring the peace while finishing training operations with local police and military resources.

It was Nova's job to ensure their safety with her abilities but that in itself came with a whole load of issues and factors nobody had quite taken into account beforehand. Nevertheless her services were going to be utilized despite setbacks, particularly with the language barriers that were present.

"What do you mean you can't understand them?" The colonel yelled but Nova was feisty more than ever, spitting back "I can't understand a word they're saying, You think they'd think to themselves in English?" She raised a good point, there was no direct way that even if she was reading someone's mind, it would be under the assumption that she could understand their thoughts.

In her past, you remembered briefly about how she could read the minds of animals, an in particular a cat she had met while being in the slums, a dark part of her past. It was all assumed knowledge, where she would read the minds and determines based off of the actions of what they were doing or going to do, that she could then translate and extrapolate in her head to form words, phrases and meanings.

It made her job a lot more difficult to do, but nevertheless she was an asset who had a particular skill set which could prove very useful in this particular situation. Also given her equipment she could remain in a state of perfect invisibility to almost all forms of modern technologies, apart from direct physical contact with her.

As the weeks passed and she spent countless days spent bored, sitting in base unable to exit without almost a textbook worth of paperwork. Not only was she a security risk off base, but also she was still partly or completely for that matter under the direct guidance and control of the commanding officer, who reported directly to his superiors and then their superiors and well, it was a long chain of command but even Nova lost interest after it went on for too long.

You spent most days following her around and making sure she didn't get herself into any trouble, or start any fights by saying a few things she probably shouldn't have. Nova knew and saw the end in sight, so she sort of took it for granted and let her emotions flow freely knowing there wasn't all too much they could do. On other days she spent the days quietly tucked away in the more quiet areas on base, outside of your quarters but inside and away from the hot desert heat and sandy air which she particularly despised.

On other days she would request permission the visit the medical wards on base, that weren't quite on base at the same time. Instead they were sort of on a separate area of the base, cordoned off and away from armed forces but still close and nearby enough that should anything happen an armed response would still be nearby, particularly important due to how frequently the base came under attack.

Nova was allowed to carry her rifle and generally bear arms for the better part of the day, as did most of the personnel. Nova refused to use the standard issue the military had, and it felt like even more paperwork had to be filled out to even have access to her own rifle, despite being in her own possession.

One day while the two of you spent some time around and about the book store located in a particular corner of the base, she came across a series of books about the Korean war. A war which to this day had not technically ended, "So what happened to North Korea?" She asked with a serious face and paused as she teeped into you. Her eyes widened, she couldn't fathom why a war that could end with a single man's death couldn't be simply resolved.

She thought things through very laterally, she didn't quite take into account the whole picture or the fallout of such actions, only immediate consequences and maybe in things which unfold in the coming hours and days. The further she dug into it, the more it angered her and soon enough she became infuriated. "This dictator needs to be stopped, he's causing suffering to countless of people, and not a single person is doing a thing to stop him!" She got up and began to angrily stomp away but you quickly followed up behind her trying to calm her down.

Nova went out on an outburst, "Why do you guys sit there all day when millions of people face tyranny every day!" she snarled out of anger. They stared at her, not quite sure what to say which she followed up with "Your motto is to free the oppressed, but yet there's millions of people here who are, and none of you are doing a single thing about it!"

It was apparent fairly quickly that she had overstayed her welcome on the base, but as the two of you returned to your bunk you were approached by the base's chaplain. You'd seen him around on base and in the chapel every now and then, but rarely out and about and especially not during the middle of the day. He had overheard Nova's outburst and wanted to further gain an understanding and insight into Nova's mind, what made her tick and how she went about things mentally which allowed her to do the things she does with seemingly very little remorse or regret.

You immediately noticed he spoke with an accent, British, Scottish or something or rather; you weren't quite certain about the specifics but his tone and sincerity of his words quickly reminded you who he was and what he had to say. He was of a shorter build, a fairly aged man who seemingly drew the perfect line between tactically viable clothing and traditional dress and attire for his part. As such he had to look up at Nova, he immediately came off as a very humble man, one true to his word and had clearly influenced and touched many people.

You weren't quite sure how Nova was going to react to him, as she clearly knew that there was no such thing as a higher being, and no guarantee of life beyond death and even if there were it clearly wasn't on top of her priorities and to do list. You noticed her immediately lose her uptight stance and favoured a more relaxed and humble posture when he began to talk. Even though she may not have agreed with quite a few of his beliefs, she still showed him the amount of her own respect that he deserved despite not needing his services.

Nova turned away for a brief moment from her conversation with the Chaplain, raised her and hand and sort of signalled you to return to the bunk. It was clear whatever she was talking about with the Chaplain had not only interested her, but it also meant something to her as usually she wouldn't pass second thought on most things.

Nova walked slowly and treaded carefully as she paced towards the hallowed grounds that were the steps towards the morgue located off to the side of the base. Regularly, and almost too frequently were bodies, caskets being moved towards the building which stood eerily off in one corner of the base. Located somewhat close to the airstrip to allow for bodies to be quickly loaded aboard large cargo planes to bring them home, wherever that may be as it was a large multi-national base, with people from multiple countries and backgrounds.

It was one of the larger buildings on the base she noted as she stepped towards it and walked quietly inside the doors. It was definitely one of the more build up buildings on the base, and one of the few which were kept at such a low temperature, needless to say for good reason. In her timeline, this would have never been seen. War casualties of the far future would often times not have many remains at all left to bury, and even if there were far too many bodies were had to be effectively buried. The dead only lived on in memory and where they died in place, often times with little more than a solemn session in which dog tags were collected from the fallen being the very last time the bodies were interacted with, letting time and decomposition take its place further added by the eventual self-destructing suits of armour which cladded them.

On the sides of the walls were what seemed to be metal cabinets or drawers, with only the door or the front face of it exposed. It didn't take very long at all for her to realize what was in the closed ones juxtaposed to ones which were open and extended. Each steely cabinet door which was closed had some basic details written on them, a name and countries flag. Most of them were grouped together, and it wasn't by coincidence either as typically these people often died in the same operation or day of activity, as she noted with the dates inscribed below the name and flags of the fallen.

The Chaplain left her be, and let her walk around the room at her own pace. He wanted to try to humble her, and make her realize that life is precious and is vigorously taken care of before and after death. He noted her views and her traumatic past in which he was told she hardly ever opened up to anyone about let alone someone she just met.

"There's a ceremony tonight that I think you should attend November" Nova's eyes slowly moved back towards him after she tilted her head back towards him. Her head tilted slightly signalling that she wanted to know more, she didn't quite want to teep into the man anymore. Nova now respected him to a point where she no longer wanted to teep into him, a sign of respect and respected his privacy.

Later that night while standing by her side and albeit standing off to the side of where the ceremony was held you two stood in solemn silence as a candle light vigil was held amongst a fairly small contingent of soldiers, who weren't standing in any particular order or form. They crowded around what appeared to have been a small alter or shrine with a picture of obviously someone who had fallen. Someone started shouting which immediately garnered your attention, it was the name of the fallen soldier and shortly after all the soldiers who were grouped around the chapel shouted at the top of their lungs "Hooah!" followed by the soldiers rank and name.

All throughout that night until early morning you watched on as the honour guard stood guard over the morgue building, where his body lay; Changing turns every hourly interval. The two of you sat on a small mound of sand while Nova leaned in against you, resting her head on your shoulder as she quietly watched on until sunrise. It didn't take you very long to fall asleep but Nova watched on in silence.

As dawn broke over the horizon she picked you up trying very carefully to not wake you in the process, with intent to carry you back to the tent where in turn she would also fall asleep. As she lay in bed, sort of tucked up against you but not at the same time as it had already started to heat up, she lay on her back faced up against the ceiling of the tent, eyes wide open and deep in thought. What had transpired last night had shaken her to her core, her conversation about humility and preciousness of life, how fragile people really were and one of the older phrases that were passed around in texts "memento mori" Together the words meant nothing to her at the time but throughout the night as she watched on from a distance it began to really sink in.

Nova began to relook at her past, looking back at the countless lives she had taken and the countless lives that she had saved, whether intentional or not. At the time, it was all presented to her as all justified kills, they had to be done and orders were orders and the fellows she had lost were all mere losses. Friends, classmates of her very own, the people she spent months and years with during her training at the academy she had killed with her very own hands, never once questioning what it was she was doing and why she was doing it. Never once thinking whether or not someone's task out there was to end her own life. Perhaps they were cutting off loose ends she thought, people that weren't trusted anymore or who weren't following orders as keen as they should be, "traitors to the dominion" they were called which was justifiable enough to warrant the immediate death penalty by her very own hand.

Suddenly she was snapped out of her daze by a knock on the door, it was one of the team leaders from one of the units on base. He wanted to talk to her privately, "Blondie" he called out into the room which at first didn't quite grab her attention. He opened the door wider to the tent, and called out louder "Blondie!" this time getting a response. Nova visibly shook herself out of it and her attention immediately drew towards him. He raised his finger and motioned her to come outside, but by this time he had already gotten accustom to her reading minds.

Nova slowly but surely lazily got out of bed trying once again to not wake you up in the process and slowly walked on over to the door. "We need you for an op, but you probably already know that by now so all I need to know is whether you're in or you're out" One of the team members who you shared your bunk with awoke from the commotion and sarcastically cried out "Sweet! We get the invisible woman!" neither of them were impressed. Before Nova could open her mouth "I'll take that as a yes then, I'll see you in tonight outside my tent" Nova rolled her eyes and went back to bed.

It was going to be the first offensive oriented operation she was going to take part in. It was to avenge the death of their fallen comrade the night before, she could tell the anger and frustration he had not only in his voice but in his mind. In the meantime though, with an hour to herself and some much needed rest she fell backwards onto the bed with a thump and fell asleep for what would turn out to be a long and well-drawn out sleep for the rest of the day.

Long time since I last updated this story, changed the direction of where I wanted to go with it after being unhappy with it (hence the long pause between this and the last chapter) and the direction it was taking. Taking another fresh breath at the story, aiming away from where it was going (hence the time lapse during this chapter as well) and fast tracked it down a path I was a bit more happy with.