Federal Republic of Giad FOB 03
Lieutenant-Colonel Wenzel looked upon the massing UNSC force as they moved in for a landing. She smiled, then descended down to the Tarmac once more from her office, to meet the men and women that'd be joining the ranks of the defense against the Legion. Well over six hundred men and thirty AFVs were being deployed from the UNSC's orbital Army reserve units, meant to support the Marines and, now, the Federal Republic itself.
She saluted a CO with the rank of Colonel as he came to greet her, then the two regarded the Herons and other drop-ships as they swung in for a landing with prefab buildings, construction equipment and the rest of the thousand Army soldiers and two hundred tanks that would be assigned to the Federal Republic. On the deck, the woman also saw Maria, the ONI representative/spy that had been sent as an ambassador for the UNSC. The woman guided the troops to muster stations and kept them out of the way of the Construction Battalions of the Navy.
Maria turned to face her, then approached with a smile on her face. Grethe smiled back, then said, "Well, I got news for you, Colonel. President wants to talk to you in private... After everything you told us about the UNSC and the Covenant? I can safely say that we're glad to welcome you and your forces here in full, not just snippets or garrisons, but he wants to talk about... Other issues."
"San Magnolia, I imagine?" She raised a brow.
Grethe nodded, "Among other things. C'mon, he's waiting in the briefing room," She then motioned to the main building of the FOB. Some moments of travel later and the two women had reached the central building and entered it to the greetings of several Giad officers, NCOs and troops, each saluting them as they passed. Word had spread fast throughout the Military and even some civilian circles in the Federal Republic were starting to talk about the arrival of their extra-solar allies. Only the good things, as far as the Colonel saw.
"Speaking of 'other things', we have just received a massive reinforcement," Maria noted as she looked through her messages on her tablet. Upon Grethe giving her a curious look, the woman explained, "The UNSC Phoenix-class combat support vessel, the Spirit of Fire has been found in this star system, intact and with almost all crew, save one, present and accounted for. That ship was carrying experimental weaponry that was being tested during the five-year campaign on Harvest."
"You did mention Admiral Cole's orders to retake Harvest and the subsequent campaign. Never what happened to the man and his battle group after it," Grethe noted.
The Colonel smiled, "I'm leaving that to the Admiral to discuss when she wishes to reveal everything else about us to the entire planet, so once we deal with San Magnolia proper and link up properly with the other states. Cole's Last Stand should be a particularly entertaining thing to see you people react to..." She then noted, the last part having been whispered as not to spoil the fun. She spoke again, her voice at its normal decibel level, "It seems we've linked with two other nations already, too. The United Kingdom of Roa Gracia to the north and the Alliance of Wald to the south..."
Grethe smiled, "Can't wait to finally be able to coordinate and have allies to rely on, personally, doubly so with the UNSC around," and she stopped in front of the briefing room door. She opened it, then said, "See you later, Colonel. I'll have a talk with the UNSC troops in our borders while you're here. Ought to figure out what you folks can do with your weapons if we're to fight together..." and she saw Maria give a nod.
"I'll see you around, Lieutenant-Colonel," She nodded. The two saluted each-other, then Maria disappeared into the briefing room, gently closing the door behind her and leaving Grethe to go and deal with mustering the two Armies to meet and chat. Maria, meanwhile, was met by the presence of a pair of armed Guards carrying old FAL-style rifles and the man himself, president Ernst Zimmerman.
"Sir," She nodded gracefully, "I came as asked."
"Thank you, colonel," Ernst smiled, "Glad to see your people remain as willing to cooperate as we'd have thought."
"Of course, sir," Maria replied. She watched the two guards depart through the main door, shutting it behind them, then continued more calmly, "The UNSC intends to uphold the vow it made to your country and San Magnolia, as well as the other allied nations we may meet in this Expedition," as she looked around the room, more out of instinct than anything. She'd been here before, so she knew of the grate that led into the ducts and to the roof, as well as the various small panels that were loose in the room.
Ernst motioned to the table and Maria curtly bowed, then took the seat facing the man. Both sat at opposing ends of the table. Another soldier, an ensign, entered the room and set bottles of water in front of the two officials before excusing herself with a salute. Maria hummed, then looked toward the president and stated, "I understood from Lieutenant-Colonel Wenzel that our meeting here was in regards to San Magnolia."
"Yes, indeed," The man nodded, his friendly face a bit more grim now, "I've... Read the reports..."
"Don't worry, President. We assure you... The UNSC intends to fix that nation so she can serve alongside the others and repent," The woman stated firmly, her expression unchanged and gaze laser-focused on the president. She unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and took a sip, before adding, "Plans are already in motion for a hopefully bloodless coup that'll bring a government more favorable to the Eighty-Six and the wider world into power."
"While I don't personally agree with what the Republic has done to those they call the 'Colorata', Colonel," The President shifted uneasily, "I have to admit that... For someone who says they intend to help, you seem quite open to overthrowing elected governments. The Republic's government was brought into power by the will of the people and has become an active one as the war against the Legion kicked off."
The woman smiled, "Funny you should mention that. If you have the tablet we've gifted you, open file zero three, subsection fifteen, paragraph two. It's been updated with fresh intelligence in regards to the Republic's 'fair elections'," and she removed a chocolate from her pocket and set it on the table, then leaned back as Zimmerman browsed the suggested lecture.
He narrowed his eyes, then pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. He looked up, "... Are you sure?"
"We have assets in San Magnolia that confirmed the situation. The current 'elected' Government, with the necessary quotation marks, has been put into power by the aristocracy and the ultranationalist sections of the military as they gained more political power," The woman offered, "Hardly a 'government for the people, by the people'. it was aristocrats that put into action the Special Wartime Peace Preservation Act, Presidential Order number Sixty-Six Oh-Niner, through their puppet president... A man who later died, assassinated. He was replaced by a seemingly-gullible Old Guard officer who has been ruling since."
"I see..." Ernst hummed, then set down his tablet and looked to the woman again, "... And what about her? President Jeanne Monet, formerly Colonel Monet?"
"She's covertly stated her support for us, alongside sections of the Military, both new and old and her current cabinet," Maria replied calmly, "Which is why she will remain in power if she so chooses. The UNSC will not intervene in San Magnolia's elections beyond making sure that the aristocracy's votes only count as one per person, unlike the last election before the war."
"I understand. Thank you, colonel," Ernst nodded, the glum and paranoia that Maria had sensed being replaced by his usual smile, "It's good to know that there are people among the Republic's highborn populace that still support the five tenets we remember them by here. Still, to see that they changed so much in the years since the war's start was... Saddening."
"The Republic was never much of an egalitarian country, sir," Maria replied, "UNSC and her allies intend to change that... So that when this war is over, all people can live peacefully on this world."
"A noble goal after my own taste," Ernst nodded, "Very well, Colonel. Onto other matters, now. I wanted to ask how long until we can get a link to the other two nations you have set up operations in so far? The Alliance of Wald and the United Kingdom of Roa Gracia."
"Within a month, the infrastructure necessary for direct communication between the four nations should be available. Provided, within a month, the coup within San Magnolia will also occur, meaning the Admiral will be addressing both San Magnolia and everyone else," The Colonel replied. Indeed, Ernst had seen the massive communication dishes being built to amplify the signals of the items the UNSC called 'Para-RAID devices' through a neural-machine net, as well as to provide video and telecommunication between the nations, which would presumably bounce off the ships in orbit.
"So, should we prepare our population for the reveal?" The man inquired.
"It'd be preferable for the people to be prepared when they learn that they have allies in the sky, yeah," The girl nodded, then took a deep swig of water before capping the bottle. She breathed out, then smiled and said, "In the meanwhile, UNSC assets will be deploying experimental weaponry from aboard the newest ship to join the fleet while she undergoes examination."
"We have a new ship in orbit?" The man raised a brow. The woman nodded, the took her tablet from her pocket and sent the details on the UNSC Spirit of Fire to the man, as well as the timeline of their arrival. It was still a couple of hours before the ship would begin deployment of her forces properly, but when she did, the UNSC would have assets to counter the Legion.
"We've also been studying Legion machines," The woman added, then sent a second file to the man, "And we found that they are not shielded against EM Pulses."
"A surprising oversight on the Empire's part, yes," The man nodded calmly. He read up on the contents of the Phoenix-class refit's cargo hold and gasped. Indeed, as he looked, he spotted the UNSC's 'Gremlin' combat vehicle, a six-wheeled All-Terrain Vehicle with a massive electromagnetic pulse cannon mounted dorsally. And they had a hundred of these combat vehicles in their hold with the capability to produce more.
Maria nodded, "The Gremlins are easily mass-produced, as they do not require nuclear power to operate, however their power sources make them bulky. Then, we have other ground combat vehicles on similar chassis that are bound to be useful... Add to that the fact the crews aboard our carriers and other Phoenix craft have begun researching the technology behind the Legion's walker frames and we may just see a new generation of Feldreß entering the field alongside our tracked and up-armored vehicles... And yours, if we all play our cards right."
"The UNSC's... Willing to share this technology?" The man inquired.
"Of course. Provided we get the alliances we want out of everyone... Which we are getting already," She noted, "The only thing we ask is that the world also remains open to the political requests of the United Earth Government, whenever we rejoin with our allies beyond your Solar System. After that, your world may become part of the wider human space... Provided there's any people still left out there that are our own."
"I see..." Ernst hummed, "We'll see what the other nations say."
"Aye," She nodded, then stated, "We should see to preparing, now. I'll go rally the rest of the UNSC's forces and lead them to their bunks."
"I'll see to talking with the Government and Chiefs of Staff about the developments before us. I'm sure Lieutenant-Colonel Wenzel will be glad to hear about the UNSC's willingness to provide equipment for us," He replied, standing up. The two nodded, approached each-other and shook hands, then each departed to their specified mission objective. Maria gazed out of the window, to see more Herons and Albatrosses coming in with UNSC equipment, these ones marked with the symbol of the Spirit of Fire.
She breathed a sigh. Once San Magnolia was properly brought into the fold and the re-training of its armed forces and population began, the UNSC would prep the other nations to wage Total War against the Legion. Aircraft, orbital assets and the groundside military would be brought to bear when the need arose and the enemy force would stand no chance against them. She was sure of it.
Exiting out onto the tarmac once more, the woman gazed upon the UNSC troopers being herded by their own officers while Grethe just watched. She approached the Lieutenant-Colonel, then said, "Your president's a man with a lot on his shoulders," as calmly as she would have said hello. Wenzel nodded, then crossed her arms and watched as a few of the Army and Marines jabbed at one-another, calling each-other 'Swabbie' and 'Footslogger' with no malice behind their words.
The woman snorted, then said, "I see the boys and girls are still up to their antics..."
"Take it we're not the only ones who've had inter-service rivalries, then?" Grethe smirked.
"No, ma'am," The Romanian Spook chuckled, "C'mon. We oughta help the lads and ladies unload the next pieces of kit..." and she watched as the armored vehicles were being unloaded. Indeed, first among the items brought by the Herons in their massive loading bays was a squadron of ten of the new Gremlins, each of them armed with one of the fancy new EMP cannons. Three prongs protruded at twelve, four and seven o'clock on the energy weapon's rounded muzzle, each arcing electricity into the 'barrel'. Steam emanated from the top, where the coolant systems for the power generator resided. Otherwise, the machine was like a Rover, with a wide open cabin that had armored glass.
The ten vehicles rolled onto the tarmac and the crews aboard saluted the Colonel and Leiutenant-Colonel, as well as the arriving military units of the Federal Republic that'd come to see what kind of new toys they could soon expect in their arsenals, provided talks continued to go as smoothly as they did up until now. She then smiled as she saw another squadron of six-wheeled vehicles roll of the back of the other Heron. The Special Purpose Number 42 Main Battle Tank, also known colloquially as the Cobra. Armed with aM98 105mm Light Railgun, as well as twin M66 30mm Light Railguns.
It was the Spirit of Fire's bunker buster. If she remembered reading the data correctly, they had over five dozen of these things on board to complement the Gremlins, Grizzlies and the other combat vehicles their ground combat force could bring to bear. Not only that, but they could easily produce more should the situation require as such. Which, if she knew anything about countries and nations and how they worked, it would. Especially if it meant supplying their allies with a means of combating the Legion efficiently.
She looked up to the sky once more, to see the distant dots that were more drop-ships, heading for the Republic, for the Alliance and for the United Kingdom. Each of them was about to receive entire companies' worth of units and equipment for the defense of their lands. If Maria remembered correctly, the UK had opened up to them about the Sirin Project, as well.
If the UNSC could copy those... They'd have a way to outproduce the Legion in terms of Combat Units...
She knew for a fact that the R&D sections aboard the UNSC fleet were looking into the Legion's systems and into the walker-type machines that they used, as well as examining the damaged Juggernauts that they were receiving from the Eighty-Six that they sent upstairs to heal. Maybe, soon, they'd see their own Spider-Tanks deployed for combat, courtesy of ONI's Materials Group.
She snorted, then looked to the Lieutenant-Colonel as she guided her own troopers and their vehicles to assist with the unloading, before feeling a hand land on her back. She turned to see the black hair and eyes of her husband, the man bearing a grin made up of pearly-white teeth as he said, "Any luck on the girl?" before looking at the Federal Republic's own Vánagandr six-legged up-armored combat tank. He whistled, then said, "I almost forgot these fellas were a thing..."
"Heh," Maria smirked, "Nope. No luck, but I ain't trying... And yeah, the M4A3 is a mean-looking bitch, ain't she?"
They could definitely upgun the damn things, though, at least to Coilguns and rail cannons so they had shit to penetrate the thicker-armored mechs like the Dinosauria-type Super-Heavy Legion MBTs. She eyed the rest of the Cobras as they were brought into the line, followed by a dozen more Warthogs and Tanks. The UNSC had begun its deployment in earnest, now that everyone knew of them.
Spearhead FOB
Shin nursed a headache. Raiden had a mean chop when he wanted to get his point across. And he certainly did, much like the rest of his team. He eyed them as they helped the UNSC troops from the Spirit of Fire get acclimatized to the new base of operations they'd be fighting from. The UNSC had also included three of their most elite soldiers among the troops that arrived planetside. SPARTAN RED Team... Shin eyed Jerome-092, the commander of the squad as he, Alice-130 and Douglas-042 marched, clad in the most dangerous-looking set of armor Shin had ever laid eyes upon.
The MJOLNIR armor set as a half-ton set of armor made up of layer upon layer of protective and comfort-providing items, from the outer Titanium-A plating and shell over which a prototype energy energy shield had been overlapped on top of to provide protection to the Spartans, to the black undersuit that proved to be Ballistic-resistant materiel that was also covered by the shield and to the armor's strength-enhancing properties.
If his team had an armor like that...
Speaking of his team. Theo grinned as he saw Shin pass, then asked, "How's the noggin, boss?"
"Fine," He replied calmly, "Raiden made his point very clear..."
"Good," Theo replied, "Gotta go help Mary with something. Remember... We're all with ya, Shin."
Shin nodded...
"Like hell, you're leaving us behind!" Raiden replied, anger in his voice for the first time since Shin had met the young man and become his commander. The 'Reaper' of the Eighty-Six felt an open-hand chop land on top of his skull and fell onto his ass thanks to the minor concussion. He was still conscious enough to hear Raiden state, "We're not some group you can throw away, Shin. We're all part of Spearhead. We've all seen shit we weren't supposed to, we've lost people we cared about and we've all chosen to fight... And we will fight by your side."
"He's right," Theo had voiced his opinion next as he turned the corner, "We're stuck in this together, Shin. Don't try to ditch us."
"But... You each found something to do... You have new comrades in the UNSC, people who can help you. I can't do anything beyond-"
"Shut," Raiden warned, taking a knee in front of the surprised young man and looking him square in the eye, "Theo told Mary about the operation. She protested at first, but when he explained how important this is to you and to us as a whole, she relented... She didn't like it, but she relented. So did just about everyone else we've befriended here. The Chefs, Kurena's sniper pals, Daiya and Anju's grenadiers, Haruto and Lecca's infantry pals... All of them agreed to keep this a secret, somehow."
"Gonna be tough on'em to do so," Haruto noted, smiling as he appeared, "But you're stuck with us, Shin."
"Don't go trying to leave us behind," Lecca added.
"We all agreed to it," Kurena came next, arms crossed to her chest, "We all wanna help you."
Shin rubbed the top of his head, then sighed. He was supposed to be an anchor for his team. Something to look toward if the situation ever got desperate. He knew as much from every interaction he had had with them until this point. He had never been a person to speak his mind much, nor was he one to deny anyone their wishes. Even if he felt a pit in his stomach now, the more he thought about it, he decided that his team had chosen to be by his side.
His heart had welled a bit that night, too. A faint smile played across his lips, but that soon vanished as the thoughts of his team changed to the thought of that voice in the back of his head, always there in the evening, always open to chat, always friendly. Major Vladilena Milizé was going to be left behind by them. If the Coup had come sooner, perhaps... No, Shin would have still gone into battle during the Long Range Recon Mission. The only difference was he may have backup if he waited.
He couldn't wait.
His brother was calling to him, as were the ODSTs that had been turned into Black Sheep and Shepherds. They needed to put an end to them, to let them rest properly. He rubbed his eyes, then murmured to himself, "This'll be a long month..." as he approached the medical area again. He paused, however, just before entering as he saw an aircraft delivering something.
It was a bipedal mech, about the size of, as one of the UNSC Marines would put it, 'a brick shithouse', armored to the core and with an arm-mounted anti-tank self-loading cannon. It also had thrusters on the back, seemingly for rapid maneuvering, as well as a second hydraulic arm on the left that could presumably be used to punch armor. Coming in from beside the vehicle, a young woman stopped and smiled. She saluted Shin, then said, "Captain Nouzen. I understand one of your comrades needs a new machine?"
"Yes. Daiya," He nodded, "Who are you?"
"Doctor Ellen Anders, UNSC," The woman nodded, then approached and extended her hand to him. Shin grabbed it firmly and shook, before the Doctor pointed to the machine and said, "Like it?"
"I'm certain Daiya will..." Shin nodded, "But it's a bit too tall for me."
"I understand," She stated calmly, then said, "This'd be the HRUNTING Mark Two Bravo 'Cyclops' mech. We usually reserve these things for anti-armor or anti-building duty, but the Captain figured it's best to replace the losses of Spearhead the moment possible. Especially after he was briefed about the wounded Ensign Irma and his need for a new machine he can call 'Black Dog'."
"Hm," Shin nodded, "What caliber is that cannon?"
"Seventy-five millimeter with an autoloader," The woman answered, "Capable of firing high-cal AP ammo and kinetically-triggered non-nuclear EMP rounds. If you want to disable an enemy mech..."
"Interesting... Could definitely be useful, but Daiya will have to be the judge of if he uses it or not," The man stated calmly, "I'd suggest some modifications to allow it to act as a long-distance shooter, or at least a canister shot for it to be able to deal with close-in Legion light armor. Maybe a set of grenade launchers or Mortars, even... Anyways, it's been good meeting you, doctor, but I have something I need to deal with."
"Of course," Anders nodded, "I'll see to making the mods you asked for if ensign Irma approves of them. Take care, Captain."
"You too, doctor..." The man nodded, then left. There was still a lot to do on base and not enough time to do it all.
After a thorough checkup in Medical, Shin left the place with a clean bill of health and no questions to ask, save for why they thought a Shrink was a good idea to bring in to talk to him. Admittedly and respectably, the head doc stopped trying to talk him into revealing stuff the moment he realized that he wasn't getting through Shin's outer shell. It'd take a miracle to do that.
He stopped as he saw Jerome approaching. The Spartan saluted Shin, to which the man replied in kind and said, "At ease," In the most awkward way he ever spoke. He was yet to see someone twice as tall as him, much less so in that hefty a set of Powered Armor. He spoke to the Spartan, "Something I can help you with, commander?" to which Jerome nodded.
"Sir, I and my team have been helping unload supplies for the better part of the day. I wanted to ask with whom I can file the reports in regards to the ammunition and equipment being delivered," The man replied with a firm voice and an air of caution about him. Spartans felt familiar to Shin. He knew that the UNSC had about sixty of them aboard their fleet, a fifth of a company, but he didn't expect them to be so... Eerily like them.
"You can probably inquire about the Supply Officer. I know they assigned one to us the moment the first of the FOB's expansions started," Shin replied calmly. The Spartan nodded, to which the boy said, "Dismissed, Commander... And, please, don't salute... I think I need to start telling people I'm a captain only to Spearhead, not to the entire UNSC contingent in the place."
"Take it as you may, sir, the Admiral and Captain Cutter refer to you by rank," Jerome replied, "We respect rank."
"I understand..." Shin sighed. Bothersome, but acceptable, he thought. "Take care of yourself, Spartan."
A moment of hesitation and a slight twitch told the boy he'd touched something in the Spartan with that line. Jerome, however, quickly recovered and replied, "You too, sir," then departed. Short and calm, as any interaction should be, Shin thought as he left for his own area of expertise, too. Namely, to deal with finding Daiya and showing him the vehicle the UNSC wanted to donate to the cause.
A bipedal Walker. At least it looked like it could crouch and be used in ambushes...
Lena had taken the opportunity of another break between anti-Legion operations to ensure that she got both every ounce of data and as many people as possible for their little Coup. Chunks of the younger staff seemed to agree with her and the President, not to mention another pair of old officers, one belonging to the now-defunct Air Force and another, an Admiral, belonging to the former San Magnolia Navy, when they'd had one of those way back in the day. It was also mostly riverine patrol craft and gunboats to maintain border security. Nothing more, nothing less. The only big ship they'd had was an icebreaker and that thing was gone, probably sunk.
She sighed, then thumbed the tablet the UNSC had given them to activate it. It read her print and powered on, showing the logo of the UNSC in a three-dimensional form square in the middle of the screen. She leaned back into her seat at HQ and started opening various files that the UNSC had sent her in the meantime. Combat deployments, possible stratagems to combat the enemy forces, data on the new vehicles being deployed, so on, so forth.
The Gremlins and Cobras could definitely prove to be the most useful weapon systems. Gremlin EMP cannons could easily disable Legion units wholesale, while the Cobras' guns could penetrate even the thickest armor the enemy brought to bear against them, including the famed and distant Dinosauria-class Heavy Tank of the Legion. Those things had rarely been seen and when they were deployed, a battlefield could shift dramatically.
... Provided the literal tungsten stakes fired by the Cobra didn't fuck'em up beforehand.
Lena smiled, then closed the tablet and stood to her feet. She stretched with a whine, then walked up to the coffee-maker in the office she'd been given (by presidential decree, no less!) to pour herself a nice hot cup. The stuff the UNSC supplied sure beat tea when it came to giving the energy-starved worker their share of the 'energy' needed for the day's tribulations.
She added cream and a couple of cubes of sugar to the mix, then took a sip of the hot beverage, before looking around the relatively empty office. Bookshelves stood to the left, untouched and empty. To the right, there was a banner of the Republic and on her desk was a picture of her and her father when she was much younger, as well as a few pens, a mat and a stack of papers.
She sighed, then tugged at the collar of her uniform to settle it back into place. She left the office moments later, cup of coffee in hand. Annette had made pastries again, so she intended to retrieve some for herself before she headed home tonight. Inside the R&D room, Lena finally saw Annette and Matt developing something new. A modification for the Para-RAID to allow a longer range of communication.
"Yo," Annette waved, "Came to check up on us, Major?"
"Thought I'd swing by and grab some pastries," She smirked, "How goes it?"
"Very good, actually," Matt replied, despite being the testbed for the new device. He smirked, then said, "Kinda zaps at times, but it could be waaay worse in terms of pain."
"... Yikes," Lena winced, "He gonna be alright?"
"Oh, he should be fine. He's just a whiner," Annette shot back as she turned to code the next phases of the more powerful com system. Lena sighed. Her friends' antics never failed to make her laugh a bit. She wondered, however, how the President was doing with her speech-writing for when the Coup would happen. And how the UNSC was gonna prevent the unaware people of the Republic from rioting and destroying things.
Then she realized they had ships in orbit and an entire army surrounding them, with the added presence of orbiting warships that could easily and rapidly deploy troops to counter any sort of situation, if not outright come into the atmosphere themselves to send a sort of message. They could probably intervene if they wanted to. She was also sure Admiral Nakano already had a contingency plan in place in case things did go wrong.
She sighed, then leaned back into her chair and said, "'Tis a busy life, the Army Life."
"Hooah," Matt replied and Annette parroted after him. She smiled at them, then hummed. The UNSC had also sent firearms for the supporters of the coup downstairs. She could see Annette with an M6 pistol on her thigh and a wary look on her face. The young woman turned to Lena and tilted her head out the door, to which Lena nodded. It was a way Annette had of telling her they had to talk.
Annette tapped 'enter' on her keyboard, then said, "Code should be uploading within five minutes. I'll be back. Gotta talk with Lena about something."
"Cool... I'll just wait here," The man replied dourly, "Alone..."
"At'er boy," Annette chuckled as she stood up, causing the man to roll his eyes. She and Lena departed, exiting onto the hallways before Annette grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her out of sight of the entrance. She spoke, "This is moving way faster than I thought," worried. Lena raised a brow, slightly confused, before Annette pointed to the pistol hidden under her skirt and said "THIS. Why the hell do I suddenly have to carry a gun?! We expecting trouble from this coup!? Lena, I only agreed to help because you're my friend, but holy crap!"
"I get it," The girl nodded. She did. it was worrying, "But the Admiral and President assured me everything will be fine. That's just a precaution."
"For what, the mad bastards in here running in and shooting at us?" Annette demanded in a whisper, her face growing paler and paler as she spoke to her friend, "Lena, you're like a damn sister to me, but for the love of Christ almighty, you gotta be kidding me... I'm not trained to handle a pocket knife! The hell is anyone doing, giving me a fifty-caliber pistol!? What're they expecting if they're giving fifty-cal pistols to researchers?!"
"Annette, breathe," Lena placed two firm hands and tightly squeezed her friend's shoulders as she panicked. Her friend took big gulps of air as Lena continued, "Breathe. It's gonna be fine. President Monet and Admiral Nakano have this in the bag. I've been going over every single section of the plan they have and it's airtight... We'll be fine, we'll make it through this and we'll go get ice cream and meet the folks from the Eighty-Sixth sector for brunch, okay?"
"Lena," Annette grabbed onto her friend's shoulders, "I am terrified..."
"Why? C'mon, you've done nothing to these people, Annette... You're just the person keeping the com system online," Lena reassured, but Annette shook her head quickly. Lena said, "Yes, you'll be fine, c'mon. What's the issue?"
"Human experimentation!" Annette snapped while managing to keep her decibels low enough. She'd surprised Lena, "Do you want to know what happened, Lena? Why I'm terrified of both the coup and this? I can show it to you tomorrow, but those two words are all I want you to mull over...! My family was forced to do bad things to stay afloat, do you understand? Bad things that may just come back and bite me and my mom now, with this damn coup!"
"Annette," Lena paused, "... I'll swing by tomorrow, then... I want to know what this is about..."
"Alright..." She nodded, then breathed in and out and warned, "But I don't think you're gonna like it..."
"I'll be right there, Annette," The girl nodded, "No matter what it is... We're friends, right?" she then flashed a smile to the girl. The scientist sighed, then chuckled sadly, rubbing her eyes. She nodded to Lena and waved her off, then walked back into the R&D area while putting on a poker face. Lena's heart sank for a moment as she wondered just what Annette had meant. After the day passed and Lena had returned home, she still mulled over what was said.
Sighing, she leaned onto her desk and rubbed her eyes.
Annette was right. Things were getting much more complicated than she thought, but such would be the case in overthrowing a corrupt failure of a government to replace it with one based on the same tenets that the nation was founded upon. The same tenets her father upheld 'till his untimely death and the same ones she'd uphold 'till Death decided to take a swing with its scythe at her.
She hummed, then looked at the wall clock and activated her Para-RAID system. She had to speak to Shin and the unit. Speaking the phrase necessary to connect to Undertaker, the girl waited for a response from the man. Within seconds, it came. Shin spoke calmly, "Major. Good to hear from you," as the noise of dishes being cleaned echoed in the background.
Lena smiled, "Doing dishes, Captain?"
"Yes. It was my turn to clean the mess today, as per an agreed schedule with Raiden and the others..." He sighed, then inquired, "What about you, major? Life has gotten busier around the FOB. I can't imagine how much more so it is within the Eighty-Five Districts themselves, what with all the preparations you mentioned yesterday. Is the President managing?"
"We're all fine here, captain," She smiled, "Some hotheadedness from a certain friend of mine, but we should be fine."
"Understood," Shin replied, just as the meow of the ever-familiar cat came.
Lena smiled, "I see the kitten is still around."
"UNSC forces have befriended him and he seems to take pleasure in getting food from them. We've restricted him to basic meats and vegetables, though... No sweets... That isn't the same for you, however... You seem tired, uneasy. Perhaps you should rest tonight. If you can still get sweets behind the walls, I'd suggest doing so tomorrow and approaching the objectives you've set with a clear mind..."
The girl chuckled, then stood to her feet as she heard the young man's sigh. She opened one of her drawers and retrieved a chocolate wrapped in tin foil that looked so smooth it was almost like someone had pressed it with an iron. She spoke fondly, "Sorry, captain, but... For a moment... You sounded like your brother," which got a gasp out of Shin. Lena continued, "When things were rough, he used to give me chocolates and comfort me, tell me to rest... You really are brothers..."
He sighed. She smiled, then asked, "You like sweets too, don't you, captain?" as she opened up the chocolate.
"Yes... Did my brother say that?"
"Yeah..." Lena sighed.
"What was his expression when he said it?" Shin requested, a hint of melancholy in his voice.
"... He had very kind eyes and a warm smile. He was always upbeat and trying to make me feel better despite everything..." The girl replied, still smiling.
"Ah... I'm surprised you remember..." Shin spoke softly, melancholy filling his voice. Lena chuckled.
"It's a very fond memory for me, captain Nouzen," Lena smiled as she looked over to the corkboard where all the drawn faces of the surviving Spearhead members were. She then added calmly, her cheeks growing a tinge redder, "Of course, these moments we spend talking to one-another are also very important to me..." then she smiled. Her heart beat louder for but a second before her expression changed from one of calm bliss to one of surprise.
"Major...?" Shin inquired as the girl let out a few high-pitched squeaks and jumped from one foot to the other, looking at the piece of chocolate in her hand as her heart raced. How could she say something so blunt!? Had she just... No, this was a simple matter where she'd just admitted that she enjoyed the times they chatted with one-another. It was nothing more and nothing less.
Her heart rate skyrocketed. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, feel it in her throat. She quickly bowed and said, "O-okay, I gotta go, GOOD NIGHT!" With embarrassment strewn across her face and audible in her tone. What had gotten into her!? She wasn't some lovesick schoolgirl, she was a major that had an operation to undertake! Not to mention the enemy base...
Shin let out a sigh. He answered, clearly dejected by the quick goodbye, "Very well... Good night..." and the Para-RAID device went offline. Lena finally allowed the full sensation of what had just occurred overtake her. Her face grew red as a tomato as she covered her mouth with her left hand, her right, the one with the chocolate, being shaken violently as if trying to get rid of something. Several squeaks like those of a toy had escaped the mouth of the girl as she did this strange, uncoordinated dance of embarrassment.
Her eyes locked on the item in her right hand, her face burning red. The small chocolate square had a marking of a heart on the top left corner, looking almost scribbled with a knife. She slapped her left cheek with her hand, then continued to keep her gaze affixed on the item as the redness of her face dissipated. She breathed a sigh of relief, lowering her hand and looking around her room. First, she looked at the box containing the Fallen of Spearhead Squadron, her heart sinking.
She then looked over at the corkboard. The faces of all survivors sat in the middle, but one had been stuck on the top-left corner, surrounded by pins. The face of a young man who wore glasses and had chin-length hair. She clenched her fists, her heart now filling with determination... She spoke, "I won't forget any of you... I promise..." before she began preparations to turn in.
There'd be better times soon...