"This is so much bullshit!" Prangley exploded, echoing Jack's own opinion. It was a lot of bullshit. When she didn't say anything, Prangley continued, "Everyone knows something major is up, and they're sending us where?!" he demanded indignantly.
"To somewhere not ground zero," Rodriguez pointed out bluntly.
"That is so much bullshit and you know it!" Prangley bawled.
Eezo began to growl, not liking the disturbance in the team house. "Dial back, drama queen—you're upsetting my dog," Jack commanded, scratching Eezo's back until he began to settle again.
"Come on, Jack, this is—"
"Yeah, you've called bullshit three times already. We get the message."
"And you're okay with this?!" Prangley demanded…though he tried to reduce the upset in his tone for the sake of the varren once more drooling all over the floor.
"No, the hell I'm not okay with it," Jack answered. She felt she, at least, should be there. License to tear up as much shit as she possibly could, as fast as she could, with a never-ending flow of idiots to mash? She could keep score and set records. But the kids weren't her, and while they'd all come along well—particularly Rodriguez—she wasn't sure they were ready for that kind of fight. "But I've got you guys to think about, don't I?" It felt weird admitting it.
"You don't think we can handle it?" Rodriguez asked quietly.
Jack cocked her head, studying the girl. Rodriguez might have had weak barriers when all this started, but she had a solid titanium backbone now. Coupled with a quiet manner, Jack could see her going far—especially given the way that quiet manner chewed through anything that got in her way once she got boots on the ground. So much so that the team had started referring to her as 'our linebacker.' "Handle it? Yeah, sure." It was just more of what they'd been doing, really.
A whole helluva lot more. It was the magnitude of 'more' that concerned Jack. Then again, if this was the big push and it failed…it would be a slow downhill slide from there. She'd rather go out with the big push, if she had to die, than ride that slow train to its inevitable end. Better to get it over with. But she couldn't make that decision for them.
"Then we should be there. We're a major asset—even the Brass has said so," Rodriguez pointed out.
"Yeah, well, you're beloved Brass said no-go, didn't they?" Jack retorted.
"They did. But you don't always listen to the Brass," Rodriguez persisted. With Rodriguez now making his arguments, Prangley confined himself to nods of approval—nods shared by some of the students, while others shared a dubious look, as if they knew where this conversation was going.
Jack knew: Rodriguez and Prangley were about to make her proud and say 'screw it all' to the Brass and take initiative.
"I didn't sign paperwork like a knucklehead."
"I signed up to fight," Rodriguez pointed out.
"Also means you gotta do what you're told." Jack made a face. "I cannot believe I just said that."
Grins broke out here and there. Even Rodriguez's features relaxed, making her look ten years younger. "The point is, if this is it, we should be there. And if they want to throw the book at us, at least there'll be someone to throw the book, and a point to throwing the book."
"No one ever threw the book a the big damn hero—"
"I don't ever wanna hear that word out of your mouth, Prangley," Jack snapped. "Heroes are usually dead when they get made heroes."
"…sorry, Jack," he said hastily. "You know what I mean, though."
"Yeah, I guess I do." Jack rolled her eyes. "Look. I might have been planning a little field trip for myself—don't look so excited!" This seemed a very necessary precaution, because half to two-thirds of the unit broke into excited babble. "I'm either going alone, or I'm taking the whole class. It's all or nothing." That put a damper on all that youthful enthusiasm.
"Why?" Prangley demanded.
"Easy, dummy," Rodriguez interrupted, "so no one who stays behind can be made to rat on the others."
Jack half turned out of the discussion that followed, the debate, the argument, the occasional biotic flare as someone's emotions spiked. Yeah. She'd rather take the kids with her. Better if they all died in the big push—assuming this was it, and her survival instincts told her it was.
Finally, "Jack?"
"Yeah?" Jack looked up from her meditative scratching of Eezo's back to find Rodriguez looking serious again, her green gaze steady.
"We talked it over…and we all wanna go. If this is it…we need to be there. We can help, somehow. And if the Reapers don't know we're going to be there, maybe the element of surprise will help a little more."
"Everyone's in?" Jack stood up, watched everyone nod. Even the ones who didn't look so sure this was a good idea. "Well…we'll talk about this some more in the morning, then."
"No one's going to change their minds," Cynthia, standing in the back, the one who looked most uncertain said. Her voice shook a little, but she sounded resolute. "If this is it, and we lose…" her face lost more of its color. "It's better if we're there to make sure we don't lose," she said lamely.
It was an adult's decision, and Jack was proud of it. "Dying fast is better than dying slow," she said.
"So…can we come with you?" Prangley asked hopefully. The energy in the room perked up.
Jack rolled her shoulders. "Yeah. But we don't talk about this. I'll tell you when. You just wait for my say-so."
"Yeah!" Prangley punched the air. His excitement was far from shared—although the concern seemed more about upsetting the Alliance than risking death trying to re-take Earth. Most of these kids were used to following the rules.