Rossiya remained silent, as did her companion, Alec. The two of them were on the shores of the beach, Rossiya coming here at Alec's request. Though she said nothing, she knew the purpose of being here.
She killed Freeman.
Considering the situation they were in, there were no good options available. But, given what she knew about Alec, he must have imagined there was a way to beat Cassius without sacrificing Freeman. That train of thought stayed with him through the journey back, causing him to unknowingly distance himself from the rest of the group.
Then one afternoon, after having a decent helping of fried fish, Alec called Rossiya to a secluded part of the base, where the two could talk without any prying ears.
"I've been thinking," he said, finally breaking the silence "about what happened to Freeman. As much as I'd like to think that there were some options available, you made the right decision Rossiya."
"What?" she asked, her eyes open wide in surprise.
"There was a fight, the island was burning, it was chaos all around," said Alec "in that moment, you saw there was only one way to get rid of an enemy and you took it."
"So, you're not made at me?"
"I was," he replied "at the start I was. I imagined so many scenarios where we could have saved him, but in reality, I doubt any of them were possible. In the end, you did what you thought was right and I can't blame you or get mad at you for making that decision."
"And I also want to apologize for taking so long to realize that," he added "I just hope we can move forward from that."
"I'd like that," said Rossiya "you're the only friend we've got on Earth and I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us Alec."
"That's good," he said, letting out a huge sigh of relief "I was really worried how this was going to pan out."
"Now that that's out of the way, what's going to happen with Alexis?" asked Rossiya.
"I honestly….. don't know," he replied, looking up.
None of them could really blame Alexis for reacting the way she did. After Marblehead stitched up her injury, Alec told her what happened to Freeman. In response, she went hysterical then collapsed. After a quick scan, they found out she was in a coma, no doubt caused by the sudden revelation. For now, Bearn and Marblehead built a bed and set up a few devices to monitor her condition, but even they didn't know when or if she was ever going to wake up.
When the crew aboard the Defiant returned, they did so to a much larger base. In the time they were off on the island, Whitney and Manny created a small, but functioning community. There were a group of people who went scavenging for supplies and another group who went fishing. There was also a group that kept an eye on the sky, alerting the rest of the base in case they spotted any Siren ships.
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It was three days since the team arrived on the island. On one fine morning, Essex came out of the ship and saw Rossiya Shangri-La seated at the edge of the ship, watching the waters.
Seeing as she did not react to her, Essex understood that Shangri-La did not realize she was here. Taking advantage of that, the brains of the Eagle Union group crept closer to the aircraft carrier. When she was close, she pounced on Shangri-La, tickling her sides as punishment for lowering her guard.
"AAAHHH stop it Essex," wailed Shangri-La, but her tormentor was not hearing any of that.
After having her fun, she stopped her assault and backed away. Meanwhile Shangri-La was on the floor, clutching her sides.
"No fair," she said, adjusting her glasses while getting to her feet "you know how ticklish I am."
"All the more reason to be aware of your surroundings," said Essex with a smug expression "so what were you doing?"
"Just… watching the waters," she replied "no thinking, no reminiscing, just watching the waters and letting my mind relax."
"That's good. We all need a break every now and then," said Essex.
Just then, the pair heard a loud yawn, followed by Tashkent, Rossiya and Gangut emerging from the lower decks.
"Greetings," said Tashkent "are we interrupting something?"
"I was just letting my mind go blank," said Shangri-La "till sis here came in."
"Ahahah that's just me having a little fun."
"Ah, so you were the reason we heard all that wailing," said Gangut.
"Sorry."
"Anyway, have you girls got any plans for the day?"
"I think I'm going to help the humans with the fishing," replied Gangut "it's always good to have an extra pair of hands for jobs like this."
"Not sure really," replied Tashkent "some of the girls are thinking of relaxing on the beach. I might join them."
"I think I'll join you," added Rossiya "last night's conversation didn't go as well as I'd hoped."
"He still refusing to make it official?" asked Shangri-La.
"There's a saying the humans have," began Rossiya "it goes: 'they're a leader in name alone.' Alec is the opposite. He's proven to be a leader time and time again, yet when I ask him to make it official, he's always got the same excuse."
"Then let it go Rossiya," suggested Essex.
"Huh?"
"Think about it Rossiya. He's been helping us out ever since we came here. Everyone likes him and he gets along well with all of us. If he doesn't want to officially become a leader then why press the issue?"
"It's not as though we don't listen to Alec unless he's got a fancy title," added Shangri-La
"Maybe you're right," said Rossiya "maybe I should stop trying to force him into this."
"By the way, where is he?" asked Essex.
"I remember him talking about how he'd be having meetings with Whitney and that Manny all through the day," replied Tashkent "apparently they want to introduce him to the other members on the island for whatever reason."
"Well since we don't know where we're going next," added Tashkent "now would be a good time to get some training done."
"Good idea," said Essex "I'll go get Bremerton and the others."
With that idea in mind, the girls got the rest of the fleet together and decided to spend much of the day on training and honing their skills as a team. Reno and Marblehead opted to work on some modifications to their weapon systems, with Reno in particular wanting to design a pair of arm cannons for herself.
This is what the girls did throughout the day… well almost all of them.
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A little bit after having a good breakfast, Alec was finally able to get away from Whitney and Manny. Fun as it was to meet the people in charge of fishing and security, Alec preferred being in the company of the girls and working to figure out how he could get them back home.
"Home," he muttered to himself, on the way to the Defiant "I wonder how it's like over in that world? Are those girls okay?"
Though the girls kept on a brave face and focused their efforts into defeating the Sirens, he could tell how they all wanted to go back. It made sense in all honesty: they were aliens in an unfamiliar world, while their home was dealing with a whole slew of problems.
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Reno working on the piece of armor on her hands.
"You look busy Reno," he said aloud to her.
"Oh hey Alec," she said, turning to him "this? Nah, I'm just doing a few calibrations on my arm cannons?"
"Arm cannons?" he repeated.
"Yeah, I figured what's the harm in having a little extra firepower?"
As if to answer that question, the cannon she was working on accidentally discharged and blasted a hole in a vegetable vendor's cart.
"Those poor cabbages never stood a chance," he said, then grabbed Reno and took her away before the vendor came after them.
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"Training for the whole day?" he asked after hearing the story from Reno.
"Well not the whole day, we'll definitely take a break for lunch and an afternoon siesta, but yeah, we'll be training."
"Why?"
"To make sure we're in tiptop fighting form."
"But you already are."
"Then this will help us stay that way," she said "well, at least most of us will be in top form."
Alec raised his eyebrow, wondering what she meant. Reno in response, simply pointed to the beach, where a number of lawn chairs had been laid out along with two large sheets. The occupants were Richelieu, Bearn, La Galisonniere, Algerie, Vauquelin and Jeanne D'Arc.
As Alec and Reno came closer, Alec noticed how the girls were all wearing swimsuits instead of their usual clothes.
"Hey Richelieu," he said "enjoying the sun?"
"Indeed we are Alec," she replied "fun as it would be to get some training done, the girls and I opted to relax a little. There's nothing wrong in that is there?"
"Nothing wrong with that at all," he replied "by the way, where'd you get your swimsuits from?"
"From the Defiant of course," she replied "there's a whole closet full of them."
"That just so happens to fit you all to a tee?"
"We do have naturally proportional bodies Alec," commented Reno and got a stare from Alec. She was one of the last two people in the group who could say something like that.
"Hmm, now that I think about it," said Alec, turning to the ship "we never really did figure out who owned the thing."
"We all thought you did," said Richelieu, rising up from her chair.
"Haha, there's no way I could afford something as gaudy as that," said Alec.
"Well, it worked out well for us in the end."
"Hey Alec," called La Galisonniere "do you mind rubbing some sun tan on my back?"
"Wha-?"
"Oh come on don't be shy."
"I'll get back to my tinkering. See you later," said Reno, running off before Alec could react.
This left Alec in the unfortunate (or fortunate depending on your stance) position of having to not only apply sun tan lotion to some of the girls, but also fetch them a few drinks. He was so busy running back and forth, that he did not notice the group of young men approach Richelieu and the other girls.
"And well, we thought it'd be fun for all of us to hang out," said one of the guys, who looked to be the leader of the group "I hear you don't know much about the place and we can show you some of the fun spots on the island."
"What's going on here?" asked Alec.
"You're that Amos guy right?" asked one of the guys, not noticing the glares the girls gave him for mistaking Alec's name "we were just trying to help the girls get better acquainted with the area."
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
"By showing them the sights," replied one guy. "There are plenty of places that offer a great view of the island and a few secluded spots that I think the girls will like."
"This isn't exactly the tourist spot it used to be and we're not exactly in the position to go sightseeing," he countered.
"Aw come on Aaron," said another guy, further aggravating the girls "don't be such a stick in the mud. We just want to have some fun, that's all."
"Well if its fun you want," said Algerie, getting up from the sheet "I have just the plan."
"How about this boys," she said "we'll play a game of volleyball. If you win, we'll go out with you and if we lose then….. you'll leave us alone."
"That sounds like a novel idea," added Richelieu.
"Well we are supposed to do a little work today," said Vauquelin "after all, relaxing in the sun is fun and all but without some exercise, it seems like a wasted effort."
"Um, girls are you sure you want to do that?" asked Alec, remembering how the girls could lift heavy weights without breaking a sweat.
"Of course we do," replied Bearn "and you're going to be the referee."
"HUH?"
"He does have a point," said another guy "you girls don't look that…. Athletic."
"Oh don't worry," said Richelieu, sporting a smile that could melt ice "we'll let the results speak for themselves."
With that said, Alec proceeded to make a makeshift beach volleyball pitch. He also explained the rules to the girls and marked the out of bound zones with some tall sticks. With all that done, he took his place a few feet away from the net.
Since there were only five guys, Bearn opted to stay out of the match and help Alec keep score.
"We'll make sure to go easy on you," said the leader, throwing the volleyball up and hitting it, sending it to their side.
The ball was headed to where La Galisonniere was. She could have easily reacted to the serve and return the ball, but instead, opted to miss the shot and let it hit the ground.
"Oh my, that was going by so fast," she said, trying to sound surprised "I could barely react to it."
'What is she trying to do with an act like that?' wondered Alec 'no one is going to buy that fake surprised act.'
"Nice one bro," said one of the guys, high-fiving the leader "she didn't see it coming."
'Well, clearly I was wrong,' he thought
"One point to the guys," said Alec, pointing his hand to the guys. Bearn also added a point to the scoreboard to help keep track of the match.
"Now the girls will serve."
Algerie threw the ball up, intending for Vauquelin to hit the ball to the other side. Vauquelin however, aimed for the net instead.
"Dang it," she said, in a fake show of frustration "I was aiming for them but hit the net instead."
"That's alright dear," said Jeanne D'Arc.
'OK, seriously who would buy that load of bologna?' shouted Alec in his mind.
"Haha, this is too easy man," said one of the guys.
"At this rate, we're sure to win," added another guy.
The guys were so busy congratulating themselves, they failed to notice the sly smiles on all the girl's faces.
"Oh crap," he said, under his breath, while Bearn updated the scoreboard "so that's what they're planning."
"Our turn," said the guy and threw the ball in the air. One guy came to hit it, but instead of hitting it to the girls, he decided to hit it up. This allowed a third guy to come and slam his fists into the ball, sending it flying to the other side. Given what they had already seen, they knew they'd be scoring the next point as well.
"One point to the girls," declared Alec, surprising the guys.
"Huh?" asked the leader "are you blind ref?"
"Are you?" countered Alec and pointed to their side. The guys looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw the volleyball was indeed on their side, still spinning in the sand.
"This is our turn now, right?" asked Richelieu.
The guys were a little confused by what was going on, but they quickly shook it off and threw the ball to Richelieu.
The leader of her group casually threw the ball up and down a few times, all the while sizing her opponents up. When she knew what to do, she threw the ball up to an incredible height, that seemed impossible to reach. Well, almost impossible to reach.
Algerie leapt a few meters up with ease before slapping the volleyball and sending it barreling towards the guys. It goes without saying that none of the guys were able to react in time.
From then on, the rest of the match was a foregone conclusion. Alec watched the girls rack point after point without really putting much effort into it. The same could not be said for the guys, who kept scrambling from one side to the other, trying to react or mount up a defense but the girls were simply too much for them.
It went to a point where Alec gestured to Bearn to stop keeping score. Considering how wide a lead Richelieu and the girls had, there was no way the guys could make it up.
This match (if you could call a massacre a match) went on for about half an hour. It could have gone on longer, but Alec decided to end the match as an act of mercy.
"Well that was a good way to get the blood flowing," commented Jeanne D'Arc "we should do this more often."
"I don't think these guys will be interested in a second round," said Vauquelin, pointing at the guys who were on the sand, covered in sweat and struggling to catch their breath.
"And by the way," said Algerie, walking up to the leader of the guys "his name is Alec. Try not to forget it."
"Come Alec," said La Galisonniere "they mentioned there were plenty of nice places on the beach. Show us."
"Huh?"
"Yes, that'll be a great way to cool down," said Vauquelin, as she and the others grabbed Alec's arms before he could make up some excuse and leave.
"H-hey, hold… on a….. second," said the leader of the guys, slowly getting to his feet "what about… what about us?"
"Maybe when you're feeling better we'll play another match," said Richelieu, followed by a coy smile.
In response, the guy fell on his back, not at all wanting to endure what happened a second time around.
(AN: as always I'll try and keep uploading on a weekly basis. If things get better on my side i can upload more frequently)