The month that followed was a mess of hectic commotion, CAP flights, and skirmishes. She didn't think she had ever seen a military base so busy in her life; it was a veritable hornet's nest of jets, fighter, transport, and AWACS alike. The CIF was pushing into Magadan, and that was never a sentence she had expected to hear. We're… invading the Federation. She had to shake her head and laugh at the concept; even a year ago she would have laughed anyone who had even suggested that the Federation could be invaded out of whatever room they happened to be in. Now it was a reality, and reality seemed to be spiraling ever-further into absurdity as the CIF's squadrons sortied into Federation territory and the flag of defiance flew over just about half of the entire Western seaboard.
Of course, the absurdity of the moment was not simply limited to the landscape of the war— it couldn't be that simple, now, could it? She sighed. This is my luck we're talking about, after all.
"I'm telling you, it's true. Look, I told you all to look it up. Did none of you look it up?" Bluejay banged a fist into the ping-pong table with a sigh.
"No, Bluejay," Jackal sighed, with Jessica glaring daggers at the Major. "We kind of had a lot on our minds that day."
"Ugh, fine. That's fair. But you've had plenty of chances since the Strait. What are you chumps gonna do for me if it turns out true, huh?" The squadron glanced at each other, shifting uneasily on their heels. "Well? You all think I'm fulla shit, so whaddya got to lose?"
I don't know how much more of this I can take. "Fine, Bluejay," Nicole said. "I'm calling you on this bullshit. It's about time somebody did." She held up a mug of instant coffee, a benefit of the newly-flowing supply lines. "You're telling the truth and I don't drink any more of this until the war's over."
Bluejay gasped. He seemed to be the only one. "Well, damn. That's a big bet, there. You really wanna be living on Wired?"
Dagger grit her teeth as the others rolled their eyes. "Not really. People would remember a story like that if it was true. C'mon, a kid shooting the VP? No way."
Major Hajj shrugged, and put his phone on the table. "Hope ya like the taste of battery acid, Spook."
It was an article— Presidia Post, September 8, 401. Child, 10, Implicated in Accident Briefly Hospitalizing VP.
"No way."
He swiped through the browser's tabs with a smirk. "Read 'em and weep."
So, she thought, staring down the supply room counter. It's come to this. She timed it precisely— the early hours of Jacobs' shift. Let's hope he doesn't realize there's no Major Harvey… but he can't be that dumb, can he?
She walked over to the window, smiling widely. "Hello?"
The Sergeant shook from his slumber, leaping upwards in his seat. "Y-you're the— Major Harvey's, right?"
Nevermind. "Yep." She whispered. "The spook."
"Head on in."
She nodded with an uncomfortable smile, and unslung her duffel bag, getting to work on a palette of boxes in the corner that had been neglected even in the most dire of circumstances. Wired!® Citrus Shock™ Energy Beverage Product- 24 count. RECALLED- DO NOT CONSUME.
It really has come to this, she thought, shoveling her bag full of the vile drink— if it could even be called that. She remembered reading a news article since Solana had gone down, because apparently it couldn't even be called a drink. Something about dangerous quantities of stimulants exceeding legal limits and a few people having heart attacks. Heart attack doesn't sound that bad, honestly.
She heard the muffled sounds of yelling coming from the office and did her best to once again hide herself from detection. "I can't believe this!" Who was that? She had heard the woman's voice before, but it wasn't somebody she knew particularly well. "Look at how much went missing in just one month! Just because we have supplies now doesn't mean you can let people steal them, Jacobs!"
"B-but Major Harvey said—"
"And who's this Major Harvey you keep rambling about? You said he was intel, and sending people to you? News flash, idiot, he doesn't fucking exist! You're just getting played by a bunch of pilots with the munchies."
Oh no. She caught a glimpse of the office's back window; it was the… What did Dagger call her? Oh, right, 'meticulous bastard.' "You're relieved," she told Jacobs. Oh, great. Now I have to deal with somebody who actually does their job. She seemed too preoccupied with chewing out her subordinate to notice if she slipped out the door now. She glanced at the half-full bag of 'Energy Beverage Product' and shrugged. Eh, come back for the rest later. Time to cut my losses. Beats a black eye...
She zipped the bag shut and made a break for it. She hadn't run like this since the fitness checks last month— but her sprint was cut short by the steely-eyed glare that could only be the product of that creeping dread, that crushing weight, of knowing that you are the crucial link in the chain, that without you it all falls apart, and knowing that no one else cared. The kind of glare that Nicole likely would have had, had her pride still been with her. A furrowed brow twitched in irritation, and the pilot felt like she was on borrowed time. Think fast, quick, quick, Nic, what do I do, what do I do?
"Hey," she said, a sly grin on her lips. "Doing anything after this?"
Flirt? Really, Nic? Is that the best you could think of?
"Well," The supply manager tapped her chin. "I've had a pilot sneaking into my storeroom and stealing food. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Those grey eyes stared right through her. "About five-eleven, brown hair, hazel eyes, thinks she's smooth, isn't?"
Ouch. That one stung. "So I take it you're busy?"
She nodded. "Listen, don't take this personally. But I'm really busy tonight… you did just dump an absolutely massive incident report in my lap."
"Oh, do you really need to fill that out? C'mon,—"
The storeroom logistician smirked. "Quit while you're ahead, hot stuff."
"I was ahead?" Nicole widened her grin. "What can I say—"
"No," she cut the pilot off. "Oh, hell no. It's just funny. Haven't had anyone try to flirt their way out before. If it makes you feel any better, I could hold your hand while I take you to security."
Nicole's face fell, and she stared at her feet for a second. "Sure," she mumbled out, her face flushed.
"Sorry? I couldn't hear you."
It didn't feel good to be on the other side of that line.