Ch.5 Hard Landing

"Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."

US Airspace, Arizona Coastline, 15000ft, 14Feb15, 1920Zulu

Two and a half months, that's how long Octavia Luna's spent in an Orbital Castle recovering from the Terrains Nuclear Weapon strike. She had turned Seventeen during her time up there, that was the only positive thing that had happened in her life recently. Her Brother was dead, her master, Count Selkinas had been disgusted at 'cowardly' behavior and was planning to disown her if she didn't 'show her worth' in combat. Why was she even going back at this point she started to wonder? She clenched her fist as the shuttle she was returning in banked hard, oh how she hated these things. Then the banking became more and more common, then a noise of objects leaving the shuttle sounded throughout the cabin, the other passengers started to yelp.

"What the hells happening?!" A nameless Commander had yelled out, Octavia was thinking the same thing when suddenly the shuttles intercom activated, "Missile impact imminent, ready yourselves for a crash land-" it wouldn't finish. The shuttle lurched as one, then two missiles struck it's rear, a portion of the shuttle ripped open to the sky and air filled the cabin, two men flew out screaming. Octavia closed her eyes and cursed as the shuttle went into an uncontrollable dive, spinning harder and harder until the G forces caused her to pass out. The pilot did his best to regain control of his craft, years of training to fight of G forces being put to use as he slowly pulled out of the dive. A clearing of desert was going to be his landing area, for whatever reason the shuttle wasn't able to send it's distress signal. None of that mattered though, the shuttle plowed into the ground hard, killing him and his two co-pilots instantly.

US, Arizona Coastline, Ruins of Camp "Breakers," 14Feb15, 1923Zulu

"Good Kill, guy just splashed hard as fuck to the east over there in that valley, fifty smokes says no one's alive," Major Homer said as he watched the destruction unfold from his binoculars, "Who the fuck would want to take up that bet anyways? No way anyone lived. Respectfully sir." Sergeant First Class Lousie responded, himself using a rangefinder to watch the crash. "Well," Homer said, "Stone will find out soon enough won't he?"

Captain James Stone sat in the passenger seat of a MRZR, an ATV of sorts, this one modified to house a ,338 MMG as a mounted gunner device which James controlled. A group of four of these pressed down hard on the downed shuttle, each one armed the same as James's, they were spaced out in a line, twenty-five meters between them each. The MRZR on the far left, had speakers strapped to its sides, one of the men argued the "psychological warfare" aspects of its deployment, but in reality, it made the travel times go by faster. On today's menu, was Willie Nelsons "On the Road Again," the song was about halfway in, ear piercingly loud of course to anyone without some sort of earpro, when the makeshift convoy got within a good distance of the now burning shuttle.

"Dismount!" James yelled into his headset, eight men in total, including himself dismounted and started approaching the downed shuttle. A new addition to their team, Staff Sergeant Lopez, hopped out of the back of James's MRZR and took up the gunners seat. "On line!" James yelled his next command, the team formed up in a line, weapons ready, ten-meter spread. "Move!" Yet again James yelled, the line started approaching the downed Shuttle at a fairly quick and well-disciplined pace. As the team came closer their spacing grew further apart, "Halt!" James said, throwing a fist in the air with his none firing arm. The song playing over the speakers change, now it was Wheatus's "Teenage Dirtbag." Very odd song to check a crashed shuttle James had thought to himself as he and the rest of the line did a final check on their gasmask. "On me, two, everyone else fan out." James said as he made his final approach on the shuttle, he and two other men made their way to the section of hull that had been blown out and away. The other team members started a search on the outside and set up defensive positions.

"Tally Actual moving in," James said over his comms, toggling his rifles flashlight. While it was day outside, and a fire was burning on the rear of the shuttle, the inside was dark and filling with smoke. Thankfully the team had requisitioned oxygen tanks to supply their mask with clean O2, allowing them to do a comprehensive search of the shuttle. "Two dead here Cap," a Soldier to James left said, he didn't need to look around and confirm the KIA, he trusted his men. "Keep pushing, if anyone's up, use the spare mask and drag them out." James said as he pushed a body over with his foot, aiming his rifle center mass as he did so, it was a female in her thirties, she was dead, James pressed on. As the three-man team continued to the second floor, most of what they found were seats, debris, and bodies. "Got a live one!" the same Soldier from before spoke up, the man on James right pushed forward and took up a position pointing towards the cockpit while James moved to the supposed living Ver's member.

It was a young female, no older than sixteen, her head was bleeding bad and it looked like she had bad wounds from a prior engagement or it's like. James leaned down and checked her pulse and breathing, she was indeed alive, he unhooked his spare mask and pressed it up against her face, turning a nob so the young girl wouldn't have to breath in whatever smoke and gasses had filled the cabin. "I'm pushing back out, keep the search up," James said over his directional comms, he toggled to the Squad outside, "Found one, need a body to continue with the team, Hyper get that kit ready." a single "roger" was all he got in response as he slung his rifle and picked the girl up in his arms. "Contact." A Calm voice said as a shot rang out. James turned to see a Male falling to the ground, a sidearm in his hand. The Soldier who took up the firing position and zipped the contact right in the t-box. He put a thumbs up right next to his head. "One hostile killed, I'm stepping out," James said over the Squad comms, he started to move down the stairs onto the first floor, only now did he realize how hot the inside was getting. "Friendly moving up!" a voice below called out, "Friendly coming down!" James shouted back, a flashlight followed by a rifle came into view as another team member tapped James on the arm as they moved passed each other. "Stepping out!" James yelled as he came out from the shuttle, his eyes pained for a moment as they readjusted to the sun.

Specialist Hyper, the Medic for the team, ran over to James to assist with carrying the young girl. "Kid gonna die boss?" He asked, James looked at him, his facial features hidden behind his mask, "Fuck? Your the doctor, why would you ask me that?" Hyper laughed, "Good joke right? Just keeping the mood up Captain," James sighed as they made it over to the MRZR with the medical supplies and stretcher attached to the hood. The two men placed the girl on it and Hyper went to work, and for a six for seven black man who dwarfed everyone on the team, he was extremely gentle, atleast that's what James thought. "Cut the music," James told the team, "For now atleast," he added. Within several seconds the Music stopped, a minute after that the team inside the shuttle had stepped out and deemed it clear, all worthwhile material had been taken and would be used in their war effort against the Vers.

US, Arizona Coastline, Ruins of Camp "Breakers," 14Feb15, 2011Zulu

Octavia woke up to the sun beaming down on her face, and dust smashing into her face. "Where am I?" She said weakly, or atleast attempted. She tried to move, but her legs and arms barely moved, she was restrained on some sort of device, she turned her head and saw the desert landscape of Arizona. Of course she didn't KNOW it was Arizona, but she had studied the landscapes of Earth enough to know where she had probably landed. Then it hit her, she was moving, very fast, on some sort of transport. She looked to her right and saw a man with a facewrap and some sort of helmet. "Who..who are you?" this time she was able to speak, but he wouldn't hear here, her voice was still too quiet. She remembered her Shuttle crashing earlier, why didn't she feel any pain? She felt light headed and...happy? She tried looking around more, dust was getting in her face, but something was stopping it from smacking into her eyes. She looked at her arm and saw a tube coming from a bag above her, it must have been some sort of IV, it must be the reason she felt the way she did. The drive lasted for several more minutes before the vehicle came to a stop, her body was tightened down so well so she didn't move at all on the stop. "She's awake," a voice said, "Good, time for the fun I guess." another said. That's when she realized it. She had been captured by the Terrans.

Specialist Hyper took off his helmet and pulled down facewrap, "Don't panic ma'am." He spoke calmly, checking the girls IV, then wiping her face off from the dust and other materials that had accumulated. The girl struggled against man as he cleaned her face off, "Im cleaning you off kid, you crashed out there I'm here to help." Hyper said as he tossed a now dirty rag. "Help?" The girl said, "You are here to kill me."

James had already dismounted from his MRZR by the time Hyper started working on the girl. Pulling down his facewrap, he reached over into the vehicle and grabbed his water. He unscrewed the lid and took several swings of water as he started over to the Majors location.

Camp Breakers had been a joint Mexican and America FOB shortly after the Martians landfall, and it hadn't been long before it was almost complete wiped off the map. What remained was enough for the Major's team to set up and live relatively happy. Though the desert sun was normally beating down and a dust storm was growing, a large set of storms was set to move in and could be seen in the distance moving north to south.

James recapped his water as he walked up to a smiling Major Homer. Giving his superior a curt nod, James wiped the access water off his mouth before speaking. "We brought one female back, put one male down because he had a weapon, rest were gone, Giles and Smok got the left over equipment we can use." He finished and stuck out his hand, the Major took it and shook. "Damn fine work, can get a good debriefing at dinner, how's the girl doing? She important? Don't see the Reds moving kids planetside." James looked over his shoulder and pointed to Hyper, who with the help of another member was carrying the litter into a makeshift building. "She's alive so far, Hyper will take care of her being a literal medical doctor. Never told me why he become an enlisted medic." Homer shot out a dry laugh, "Kids gonna get better treatment than most of our guys." James shrugged, "probably."

US, Arizona Coastline, Ruins of Camp "Breakers," 14Feb15, 2130Zulu

An hour had passed, and though she refused assistance, or rather tried to refuse, Octavia was getting better, as much as she could atleast. She was able to speak clearly now and had been consistently insulting the Terran soldiers that adjusted her medical equipment. Though anytime she said anything, the several men had just smiled and chuckled back to her, namely the bigger dark male who had consistently said, "Not very nice young lady."

Though that dynamic was about to change. Three men had came in, the one who had been treating her, Hyper, he called himself, and two men she hadn't seen so far. "Hello ma'am, I'm Captain Stone, to my right is," Octavia cut him off, "Death to you Terran scum."

As if he didn't even acknowledge her, James continued, "is Mister Saxon, and on my left is Specialist Hyper." Hyper moved over to Octavias IV and changed out the bags. Mister Saxon and James took two chairs and sat them down next to Octavias bed. Saxon, the only name he was known by, was and old CIA goon who worked for the UFE Intelligence Corp now, but pretty much only cared for US interest like a good patriot would. He took out a pen and small booklet and began to scribble something down.

Today would-be James turn for asking questions, though Saxon could turn this into a full classic 1980s interrogation if he wanted to. "As I said earlier Ma'am I'm Captain Stone, feel free to call me James though," James said with a small smile, "Can you tell me your name young lady?"

"I'll tell you nothing weakling." Octavia responded. James nodded and smiled, pulling out a piece of paper that had interesting information written in it from Hyper. "That's fine ma'am just gonna ask you some quick questions, feel free to answer them as I go on."

"I just said I'll tell you nothing can you fools not hear me?" Octavia asked generally confused. "Initial observation shows you have Radiation burns commonly associated with nuclear weapons deployment, where you by chance around any source of Martian radiological weapons or reactors?" James was looking at Octavia the whole time he asked, gaging her reactions and mannerisms, Saxon did the same, brought wrote down everything he saw and heard. "N-no, we don't deal with such weapons." Octavia said, her body flinching as pass memories flooded her. "That's good to hear, when you say we, does that mean the Ver's Empire or you specifically? Are you a member of the Vers military or self-proclaimed Royalty?" James asked. "Self-proclaimed!" Octavia almost shouted, my family has earned our position through hard work and I'm proud to pilot my-" she stopped herself, she had played right into his game. "I... I mean..."

"It's fine it's fine I didn't mean to offend." James said matter of factly, "We hit New Orleans hard, but you are living proof we didn't hit it hard enough though huh?" Saxon flopped a page in his notebook and continued to write. "So you're a Knight then? One of the Kataphrakt pilots for Ver's? Interesting to see, you look so young and all Ms..." James paused to rub his chin, "I'm sorry can I get your name again?"

"I didn't tell you it in the first place! Stop this game!" Octavia yelled. "Oh that's right, I'm sorry," James said as he flipped his paper over, "Does the name Octavia Luna ring a bell?" Octavia recoiled visibly as the Terran officer said her name, how did they know? We're there spies inside the Empire? Did she say it earlier? "How do...who told you?" She asked, now second guessing herself.

"Oh, you don't remember? You told me it a moment ago?" James said in a concerned voice, "Hyper can you check and see if she's ok? May be having a memory lapse?" Hyper nodded and checked the girls blood pressure. Obvious to the men, the information had been pulled for the shuttles roster which conveniently had a list of all occupants. This whole setup was a bit. "I...no! I didn't tell you my name! I know I didn't!" Octavia shook her head and tried to wipe her face, only now noticing her hands and legs had been shackled to the medical bed, leaving her only a short distance to move for each limb.

"It's ok it's ok," James said as he stood up, "Octavia Luna, Knight of the Blood Moon under Count Selkinas, seventeen or so now. Happy belated birthday, and by the way, you are currently a Prisoner of the UEF and will be treated in accordance with the Terran Geneva Convention, which is a system of laws and rules we have that set us for the appropriate treatment of Prisoners of War."

Octavias body shrunk at the words, she already knew the situation she was in, but it was just now actually setting in. She tried to say something but choked on her own words, her face was growing hot and she felt tears start to well up in her eyes. She turned away from the two men and sniffed hard, trying to fight back the overwhelming sense of dread, "I am not afraid of death." She said, still looking away, her voice filled with terror.

James moved his seat back, Saxon did the same as he got up and put away his materials. "We aren't here to kill you ma'am, thank you for your time." Saxon said as he tapped James on the shoulder, signaling for the two men to leave. "Ms. Luna if you need anything just call, one of my guys will come in here to help or will get me." Hyper said as he collected several objects and headed out.

Octavia was left alone, for the first time in months she felt truly alone. The crushing depression and feeling of total failure weighed so heavily on her it finally broke her mental state. She started crying, at first silently, then she started to sob loudly. She

cried for her dead brother and friends, for her failures, for her entrapment, for her future. It would continue for hours until she finally passed out.

US, Arizona Coastline, Ruins of Camp "Breakers," 15Feb15, 0000Zulu

"So the kids Knight, or squire, whatever, of the cunt we hit in New Orleans?" Major Homer asked as he finished his last set of pull-ups. It was 0800 local and storms had finally made their landfall on the camp. It was a light rain currently, and lightning could be seen in the distance, but it didn't stop the Major from working out, shirtless and in silkies at that. "Assuming so sir, we can drop her off at Camp Dynasty, that's where Saxon said to take her atleast." James said as he watched Homer drop from the bar onto the muddy ground, immediately starting a round of pushups. Rain was dripping off the hood of his Goretex poncho.

"Could care less what we do with her," Homer said as he pushed to his personal max, "You can go plug her right now if you want." There was a good period of silence between the two men, Homer continued his workout despite James scornful stare. "She's just a kid." He started to say before the Major cut him off. "No," he said dropping from the pullup bar and turning towards James, "Don't start with that shit Stone, she's an enemy combatant and a prisoner of war in a time where we can't afford to care for prisoners." Homer walked till he was within an inch of James face. The rain had started to pour harder and was covering both the men. "We've both been in this business far to long now kid, don't start going soft on me from some red's."

A flash of lightning brightened James face for just a split second, as the thunder rolled around, he grabbed the Majors forearm and squeezed tightly, "Not wanting to kill a kid doesn't mean I'm going soft boss," he said with a slight grin, "Lets take her up to Dynasty and give her to the intel people, we got the time and fuel anyways." Homer returned the favor and gripped James same arm, the two men shook and released their grips, "Top sent down word before I came out here, 'pparently some Jap's have been taking down the Red's left and right after Novosibirsk got fucked up. They can't tell me all of it for whatever reason, but I have to split some of my fucking forces to support some ship called the Deucalion."

James eyes widened as the Major continued, but not for the fact the team was going to be split up, but by the fact he was getting quitter. Homer bent down and picked up a piece of metal that had been laying on the ground, now covered in mud, James took a step back just in time as Homer flung the metal into the distance. "What the fuck is a Deucalion, a French fucking boat!?" He yelled into the rain, "Who the fuck puts our operators on a god damn boat during a fucking time like this?!" He screamed wildly as he grabbed the pullup bar and started to shake it violently, "FUCK FUCK FUCK!" He continued for another several seconds before stopping. Homer turned around and breathed deeply, he reached out and grabbed James by both his shoulders. "I fucking hate this, I hate this war and I hate the people in charge of me, and I hate that I'm forced to give you up."

"I… I've been retasked?" James said, confused on how the UEGF could even work on troop disposition during a time of war where we had no control of anything. "Yea, that whole sphill about the Japs and that French sounding boat? You and acouple of others from our team are being sent to assist them as some sort of special task assistance unit, fuck shit horse ass name." Homer said as he released James and kicked some mud off to the side in anger, "Common, lets get warm and we can go over who you want with you, and you're not getting Hyper." He patted James on the back and started to walk towards his tent, waving at the Captain to follow along.

Notes

Oh wowy didn't expect an entire plague to hold me up on whatever this thing is I've been writing. Spent the year working out and getting ready for a new job, and like once every three weeks writing a new entry for this chapter, which will probably show on why none of it adds up.

Whatever I write next will be some space shit because im tired of trying to piece together this shit stories lore haha. Pretty much means a….. year? Two year jump? Whatever I do ill cover the blank period as best as possible.

Id love to write about something else if anyone has any ideas. I have some for My Hero, some anti-hero type shit, non-quirk govt org wants to kill quirk boys that do bad etc etc, dark but realistic given its setting. Thinking about Irregular Magic High or whatever its called for some Intel Specialist that's not going to get cucked like you know who.

Anyways thanks for reading gents…