As soon as Crazy Jane was taken by the medic, Parry turned to run back to the jump. She hadn't taken more than a step or two in that direction, when forms began to appear from nowhere, snapping into being on the tarmac as if out of the ether itself.
Jon was nearly the last one through, holding a bleeding arm and half being shoved by Salta, who appeared almost the same instant.
"Close it!" the Lieutenant shouted. "They're right on our-"
Something snapped through the jump that was neither marine nor prisoner. Parry heard the hiss of the bullet as it whipped away mere centimeters from her helmet, and she half ducked instinctively.
The tarmac had been barely controlled chaos, with groups of prisoners and marines coming from all four directions, and medics rushing in to evacuate those that needed medical attention back from the staging area. Almost everyone ducked or rushed to get out of the way of the bullets now sailing through at least two of the jumps, only adding to the chaos.
It lasted only a moment. As if in a carefully practiced routine, both Eve and Ray dropped their arms, the jumps closing before any Cats or further ordinance could come through. As their arms fell to their sides, they seemed to drag the rest of them downward, and each collapsed in a heap on the ground.
Parry, straightening from her duck, had looked at Jon's bleeding arm first. It was the collapse of the two Nephilim, however, that snagged her full attention. Medics abounded; Jon would be fine, while Eve could be dead.
Still, it was not to Eve she rushed, but to Ray. She tore her helmet off and dropped it, reaching Ray and falling down at her side just before one of the medics. As Parry half lifted the Nephilim into her arms Ray groaned.
Parry choked back a sudden sob of relief, instead offering a smile as Ray's confused eyes opened. "Hey, take it easy," she said, shifting only enough for the medic to quickly take her vitals, then pass her a glass of apple juice.
She had no idea why apple juice helped- something to do with the sugar content and the polyphenols, Ray had tried to explain it- but help it did. Ray drank greedily at the cup, Parry careful to not let her choke, and almost immediately recovered herself.
"I'm ok," she said, gripping Parry's arm and then wiping the back of her hand shakily over her lips.
"Take it slow," the medic told her, and Ray nodded even as she started up to her feet again.
"I'll stay with her," Parry told her, and the medic hurried off to join the others with Eve. Supporting Ray, she held her close as she got back upright. She wobbled a little, pale, before she nodded.
"I'm all right," she said to Parry again, then looked over to the others. "Eve?"
"I think I see her moving. Come on, let's get you somewhere you can sit down."
"Rafe, and the others? Did you get them?" Ray asked, leaning heavily on Parry as they headed toward the makeshift infirmary where the rescued prisoners had been taken.
"Yeah, got them all. We had to get Blade out of the stocks, and Crazy Jane out of solitary. Something went wrong, the Cats got on to us, but it looks like everyone made it back. One or two might have a new hole in their hide."
"I thought I heard Jane laughing," Ray said off-hand, and Parry smiled mirthlessly.
Shade fell over them as they stepped beneath the field hospital tarpaulin. Almost immediately another medic was turning their way, focusing on Ray. She waved them away weakly.
"I'm fine, I just need to sit a moment."
"I'm not hurt," Parry added as the medic then focused her way. The medic nodded, hurrying off to join the others as Parry helped Ray to sit down on one of the empty cots laid out in neat ranks.
"Here comes trouble," Ray said with a smile as she got seated, looking over Parry's shoulder. Turning around to see what she meant, Parry was immediately caught up in a huge bear hug, lifted off her feet.
"You fucking beautiful Princess!" Rafe's voice was rough and choked, and as he set her down again he had tears on his face. "You're alive. We were so certain they'd..."
"I'm fine," Parry said, blinking rapidly as her own eyes were suddenly burning. "We're fine. Jon, and Shadow and I- we…well, it's a long story."
"Ripley?" Rafe said, for the first time seeing her there. "Is that really you?"
"Believe it or not," she said, then gave a half laugh, half cry of surprise as he literally scooped her up off the cot and swung her around as well. Then Judy was there, one arm wrapping around Rafe and Ray and the other grabbing hold of Parry and drawing her in as well.
Parry clung to them all, doing nothing to stop her tears.
Jon, Parry and Ray were drawn away a short time later to undergo a quick debrief with General Rojas, which in some ways came as a bit of a relief. Judy and Rafe were a veritable fountain of questions; questions that they couldn't answer just yet.
While they all still had special dispensation, part of the treaty agreement had been to keep the existence and nature of the Nephilim (and the experiments performed in Project: Lure) a secret to anyone who did not need to know. The truth would come out soon enough, and of course all three of them trusted their Wingmates with their lives, but the fewer people who knew about Ray and her people right now the less chance of that information becoming made public before a formal statement could be made.
Naturally there would be questions. Even many of the marines who had been dispatched for the rescue were not entirely sure what had actually happened. Jumps had clearly been opened without the use of the jump gates, and both Eve and Ray had obviously been instrumental in opening these jumps, but no further information had been dispensed to them regarding these details of the operation.
The prisoners didn't even know that Ray and Eve had been involved in opening the jumps; they had been rushed through too quickly. In that way, it really was no surprise what happened next.
After the debrief with General Rojas, General Bastille had appeared and consulted with him, then asked the three of them down into the underground medical facility that was part of the President's bunker. While the rest of the injured and prisoners had been evacuated to other military hospitals after their rescue, the trio had walked in to a small meeting room on Bastille's heels to find that Dorsa, Briggs, Judy, Rafe, and Evalyn were all already there. All looked far too skinny, and some sported both new and old bruises that told of rough handling. Dorsa was sitting particularly stiffly, a grin that had nothing to do with relief, mirth, or joy on her face.
The group was talking amongst each other in low voices, but that stopped as the others filed in. Ray preceded Parry through the door, and Brigg's eyes landed on her with no recognition for a moment, before her gaze cleared with a fiery sharpness.
Before anyone could speak, she was on her feet, pointing a finger at Caruso.
"General, she needs to be in chains, right this minute!"
"Are you kidding me?" Rafe asked angrily, fixing her with a glare. Dorsa just rolled her eyes, her grin growing a millimeter or two.
Bastille, her brows lifted in mild surprise, looked from Briggs to Ray and then back again. "On what grounds?" she asked.
"She assaulted a superior officer!" Briggs said, and started to walk around the table, shoving her chair out of the way and nearly tripping over Blade as she kept her eyes fixed to Ray. Her finger was shaking, her color high and manic. "She stole Confed property! She conspired with the Kilrathi-"
Rafe stood up, his jaw clenched. Despite his loss of weight, he lacked nothing in the intimidation department. "Oh shut up and sit down, Briggs," he growled at her. "I can't believe you're still on about-"
"She committed treason!" Briggs barked right back, getting into his face. "You may be all right with treason, you great big fucking-"
"Briggs, Gorski, you are both out of line," Bastille told them sternly. "Both of you, sit down right now."
"Madame General-" Briggs shook her head, pointing again, but broke off as Bastille snapped her fingers.
"That is an order, Briggs. Sit down and shut your mouth."
Rafe sat back down with a wry twist to his mouth, and Evalyn reached over and gripped his hand a moment. Briggs shut her mouth with an audible click, then took her seat again to, but her glare toward Ray had lost no fire.
Seeing they were seated, Bastille looked at Ray herself.
"Treason?" she asked casually.
"Yes."
"Conspired with a Kilrathi."
"In a certain light, I suppose…yes."
"This was already revealed when we landed on Provaktor," Jon said. The arm that had been grazed by one of the Kilrathi was held stiffly; the only sign he'd been injured at all. "You may remember, it was in Ray's full deposition submitted during our second hearing. The event in question occurred immediately after your own briefing with Ripley, just as the Kilrathi attacked the Fleet."
"Oh, that," Bastille said, her face smoothing a little. "As I recall that was handled at the time?"
"Merlin and I discussed it and decided that Ray was not an ongoing threat and the matter could be addressed after we returned to home space. Given…circumstances…"
He shrugged, and Bastille nodded.
"Given circumstances," she repeated. "I am not prepared to call into question yours or Merlin's decision. You're in home space now. Consider it addressed and case closed."
Briggs looked simultaneously confused and scandalized. "General Bastille-!"
"Be quiet, Amanda," Bastille said, and this time she sounded exasperated. She took a seat at the table, gesturing at the other three to do the same.
"For those of you who were just released from the prison camp, it gives me no pleasure to inform you that the Kilrathi offensive has successfully pushed us back to Sol, and current intelligence places their arrival in this system within the next ninety hours. Our forces beyond this system have been decimated, and we have it confirmed that Emperor Surc intends to press their offensive until no human being is left alive.
"Now, we have a plan; one that has been worked out in combination with Colonel Diane Rochester, Prince Zuhn Aitken and his loyals, President Ndiaye and the various Fleet Generals, and others in this room."
Here she nodded toward Jon, Parry, and Ray. "However, given circumstances even this plan is not a guarantee we can stop the Kilrathi before they overtake Earth and decimate us. As such, we cannot afford to leave anyone willing and capable of being in this fight out of it. I know that you have all been through a great deal, that some of you have injuries that still need healing, but we cannot afford to hold any of you back. Even civilians in any ship they can find or with any weapon they can muster will be fighting in the next few days."
"Just get us back into pits and give us a chance," Rafe said, and Evalyn tapped her hand on the table in a 'hear-hear' gesture.
"That is our intention," Bastille said, and looked at Reaper. "This evening, Jon, you will be put back into command of Rho Wing launching off of Houston- she's in orbit around Jupiter. Hammer, Tinkerbell; you're back on Rho, along with Crazy Jane, and Blade."
"Ma'am?" Judy leaned forward, looking confused. At the same time she spoke, so did Rafe.
"What? What about Angel and Ripley?"
"We need gaps filled with other Wings," Bastille said calmly, and looked at Parry. "Angel, you are going to be reassigned to Alpha Wing."
Parry blanched, her shock clear on her face. Ray took her hand with a small grin, and Rafe gave a low whistle.
"Alpha?" she heard herself ask.
"With Shadow 'on assignment' as it were, and with the unfortunate passing of Merlin and Tread, we need the pilots. Malibu is the new acting Wing Commander for Alpha Wing. We've also reassigned two experienced SFT pilots, Birdstrike and Torch, to Alpha as well. Keep in mind, these assignments are temporary until after this sorry war is decided, one way or the other. Crazy Jane, your official standing is held suspended-this fight is going to need your pilot skills more than anything else. For now you report to me, not to General Ghislin. Briggs, you have no pilot training but logistics needs a hand, so for now you're also reassigned. You'll be reporting to Colonel Faber on the Houston."
"What about Rip-" Judy started to say again, and Bastille shook her head.
"That's it for now. You have one hour, ladies and gentlemen, before transport leaves this facility for Houston. Be on it, and God help us all."
She got to her feet, and the rest of the room rose in reaction. She did not leave, however, but glanced at Ripley and inclined her head slightly. Ray stayed where she was, and a light hand on Jon and Parry's arms returned them to their seats as well.
The others gave them various looks as they filed out. Jane was still grinning that mirthless grin as she went stiffly, and Parry began to wonder if her callsign hadn't become the truth. Whatever else Parry might have thought about her, the woman was a strong personality, and she wouldn't have stayed quiet like a good little prisoner in that Kilrathi camp. She'd tried to escape, Rafe had said. Put one of the Cats in the ground. Knowing what she did of Jane, Parry strongly doubted that was the first hint of insurrection she had tried to foment, and her being locked in solitary to be executed the following morning had probably not been the first punishment she'd received.
Just the way she's moving, I would be surprised if there weren't lash marks from a whip all over her back and legs.
Parry didn't like Crazy Jane, and probably never would, but the woman certainly had her respect, if nothing else. And if her time in that prison camp had cracked her mind, well…a cracked mind with that much hatred for the Cats could find itself in a lot of worse places than in the pit of a tourney, fighting what may very well be the final hoorah of humankind.
After the last had gone and the door closed, Bastille looked at Ripley.
"I trust you have no reservations about this?"
Ray shook her head slowly. "Options are few."
"Indeed, at this late an hour, options are very few," Bastille agreed, and sighed wearily "I myself may end up in a tourney before all is said and done, and truth be told part of me is all right with that. Part of me wishes I'd never left the pit."
With the others she had been no nonsense, composed. Here among they three, however, and a mantle of exhaustion and pain seemed to slowly fold over her. Her daughter, Diamond, had not been among any of those rescued from any of the prisons. Though Ray had confirmed for her some days before that Jennifer had in fact died back on Provaktor, half crushed in the same rockslide that had nearly buried several of them, some part of the General had gone on hoping.
Parry supposed when it came to a child, some part of a parent always kept on hoping.
Bastille rubbed distractedly at her lips a moment, her eyes far away, before she seemed to remember they were there. "You two realize that the moment you step foot on board the transport to Houston, you revert to your previous clearance and standing within the Confed. No more special dispensation, no more ambassadorial delegation."
"We understand," Jon replied. "I for one expected no less."
"Same," Parry agreed. "Though I did not expect Alpha Wing."
Bastille gave a faint smile, but there was no joy in it. "As I said, it is a temporary assignment. If we survive this godforsaken mess, however, I can almost guarantee that you-both of you- could have any Wing, position, or even command in all the Confed. I think the President and Joint Chiefs owe you that much."
Parry met her eyes. "If we survive this mess, ma'am, I don't think I would ask for anything other than to be back in my old Wing again. I just want to be a pilot. Not a hero, not a delegate…just Angel of Rho Wing."
"Same," Jon said as he smiled at her. "It's where we belong."
"It's where all three of us belong," Parry said, and looked at Ray. She couldn't keep the faint worry off her face as she tentatively added, "Isn't it?"
"Technically, Caruso isn't part of the Confed any more. As an ambassador, she's outside of our jurisdiction," Bastille said, then inclined her head a little. "Even the President doesn't have authority over you anymore."
"Well, if that's true, then what's stopping you from jumping into a pit with us any way?" Jon said with only a little teasing in his voice. Ray smiled at him.
"I would love to be. You have no idea how much I would love to be. But I can't. Not right now, anyway. There are other Nephilim on our side that need to be shown who they are. Not many, only three or four, but they're out there. It's my responsibility, if nothing else, to make sure that they learn that truth, find their feet. That's my next few days. We're going to need all the help we can get if the plan is going to work, if we're even going to have a hope of stopping the end of human life as we know it. If Zuhn and Shadow and their team even have a chance of getting Surc down in time, this is what I need to be doing. I need to be Nephilim right now."
"And after that?" Parry asked. She didn't mean that question as simply as it sounded, and had no doubt that Ray could see the truth of what she was really asking in her eyes. Ray's firm squeeze of her hand only confirmed that she could, but her voice was soft when she gave the only answer she could.
"We'll talk about after that…after that."
