AN: No song for this chapter, but next chapter there will be. I do not own the rights to Call of Duty, just the character, Devon.
Dev hung back as Reyes and Salt lined up their own jacks for landed. She looked around at the mess that littered the area. SetDef warships mingling with UNSA warships, their equipment and whatever was left of the bodies of personnel. She hadn't known anyone aboard the ships, hell she barely knew even a quarter of the crew on Retribution. But, she still felt a sense of guilt and regret. She should've been more forceful in telling STRATCOM to pull some of the fleet out, she should've been more alert. Dev could feeling herself growing darker by the minute as she continuously ripped herself a new one. She sighed.
'This is going to be a long day.' she thought.
"SCAR One-Three you are clear for locks." the ATC Tower Mini-Boss announced. Dev glanced at her controls.
"Copy, coming in now." she replied, steering her jackal for the locking system rings that appeared as guidance for the run way. Devon steadily lowered the jack through the holographic rings until the runway hook latched onto the undercarriage and the lock drone locked onto to the nose, its front facing thruster powering on and slowing her down.
"1-1 to Retribution. What the hell happened Gator?" Reyes asked, as his own jack was turned and locked into place. Gator's video feed showed on the right upper corner of her HUD. Gator coughed off screen before coming into view. In the background, Dev could see sparks arching off from overhead and smoke floated about. Dev's analysis was cut short by the sudden and less smooth jerk of her jack as the lock's thrusters kicked up momentarily and pushing back on her jack.
"Apologies One-Three." Mini-Boss apologized.
"All is good." Dev replied. "As long as I don't get thruster back out into space or crash into the walls, I'll be good." Dev's jack turned to face Reyes and Ethan and she gave the thumbs up.
"Multiple casualties from the crash maneuver sir." Gator replied to Reyes, his sight slight preoccupied by whatever data he was going through on his nav system. He then looked off screen and yelled for a stretcher before going back to Reyes. "Lieutenant Reyes, we need you up here right away. Bridge out."
"I fucking told Alder…" Dev began, as the four of them were lowered into the first section of the hanger.
"You copying this, Salt, Dev?" Reyes asked, slightly out of breath.
"Yeah." Salt responded.
"Unfortunately." Dev chimed. Reyes looked over to her jackal and saw the unamused but yet pissed off look that had painted itself across her face.
"Nothing seems to faze you, does it Devon?" he asked. She huffed.
"Do I need to remind you how I got to Earth?" Devon gripped. A sudden rocking of Ret as an explosion tore through one of the coparents shook the jackals.
"Jesus fucking christ." Dev mumbled.
"Got some major SNAFUs here, Reyes." Salt warned. A sudden explosion to Devon's left set a piece of the hanger's walls flying like a missile, hitting Salt's rear cockpit window and ricocheting to Reyes'.
"Salt, you good?" Reyes checked in, as their jacks began to move again and turn to one of the mini-control towers.
"Affirmative. You?" she replied.
"Still here. Ethan?"
"Outstanding, sir." the bot chirped.
"Devon?" Reyes called out.
"Someone's pissing on me, what do you think?" she replied, sarcastically and earning a short chuckle from Salt and Reyes. A live video feed showed Gibson working her magic on the controls.
"Gibson, get us out of here!" Salt asked.
"I'm trying, 1-2. Lines are snagged." Gibson reported, still working on the controls as their jacks were lowered to the walkway. "Alright, you should have air now, Lieutenants." Dev looked to her controls for conformations and saw the green light. She gave her helmet a hard twist and removed it from around her head. She was happy to be free of the stale hot air the suits provided and welcomes the blast of cold, taking large inhales of it. The hanger was a mess as the hanger crews ran around like ants whose colony had just been stepped on, dousing fires and triaging the wounded. Her jack rocked as it was seated in place for its passenger's offload. Devon had to push on the cockpit's window to jar it loose enough for the pistons to kick in the lift it up. The blaring of the alarms were loud in her ears and the bright in her eyes.
"There any way you could turn those bloody things off?" Dev asked out loud.
"Sorry, Lieutenant." Gibson shouted, as she used a crowbar to pry Reyes' cockpit open. "You'd have to talk to the bridge about that." Devon growled as she moved to the lift.
"Petty Officer First Class Ethan, this is Gibson, Ret's Air Boss." Salt said, introducing the two. Gibson leaned in to the bot and gave a half-hearted salute, a stark contrast to Ethan's more official and by the book salute.
"Welcome to the Retribution." Gibson replied.
"What's left of it!" Dev shouted, echoing Gibson as the rest of the group made their way to the lift.
"What was Alder thinking?" Salt asked, more malice than question.
"Strategic maneuvers are above my pay grade, Lieutenant." Gibson informed.
"Alert the bridge, tell 'em we're coming up to see Captain Alder." Salt informed as they all piled into the lift. An unsure looked crossed Gibson's face.
"Bridge has been locked down since the attack." she told them.
"Just try the best you can, Boss." Dev urged as Reyes assigned Ethan to help out around the hanger. Devon took a position leaning against the railing next to Salt, arms folded and head slightly tucked down. She tried to depressurize herself, allow everything to drain out of her without leaving her tired.
"What's the count, Boss?" Salt asked, as the lift's walkway folded up. "How many made it back?"
"SCAR-2s are in the net. After that.." she informed and pointed to them. "You're it." Salt cursed as the lifted began moving. The sounds of yells and screams echoed all throughout the shaft and bounced around in Dev's mind, making it har to concentrate.
"Look at this?" Salt said, gesturing to all the crew members running around haphazardly, as if they had been properly trained to deal with this sort of situation. She knew they were, having been a part of the fleet wide training drills they conducted annually in case something like this would happen. But, Devon guessed practice and the real thing were two different realities, one of which the crew was having trouble dealing with. "We need face time with the Captain." Reyes nodded.
"Yeah." he agreed. "We don't sacrifice our crew when we're overrun."
"Its not like he's going to listen." Dev chimed in, staring off into the opposite side of the lift. "The man is stubborn as a mule and set in his ways. Just like Mars." She mumbled the last portion, still knowing they would be able to hear above all the noise. The lift came to a stop at the bridge level where even more carnage awaited the. On the far side across from the lift entrance, a makeshift clinic had been created to accommodate all the injured. The few that hadn't completely lost their minds, were rushing about, ordering for medical supplies and coordinating the relief effort. She spotted Marines Staff Sergeant Usef Omar and one of his marines in a corner. The Marines was kneeling and no-doubt praying. She was okay with this particular Marine knew almost nothing about him, other than he shared his distaste with his Staff Sergeant on Devon.
Devon had never fully got along with Omar. It was a one-sided feeling of distrust from the man who believed she was a spy for SetDef even through she had given the UNSA on SetDef operations and had been fully vetted by SATO command. It had gotten worse when he realized who was related to and things only got worse from there. They tended to avoid each other whenever they could. If Omar entered the room, Devon left as she never had the stomach to pick a fight with him. He did, after all, have a family and she didn't want to be the cause of the reason his children grew up without their father. Sometimes, when running through simulators, they would be pared up, these instances only seeming to annoy the hell out of them. Dev was indifferent, preferring to keep to the thinking of "you watch my back, I'll watch your's". Though, sometimes that din't always work out. Dev usually kept her mouth shut about her dislike, even through she knew he was talking shit about her behind her back and going as far as to call her any and all variations of a "SetDef Bitch". It had resulted in a few heated arguments that lead to both Salter and Reyes dragging her away for fear of an actual fist fight breaking out between the two. Afterwards, Reyes usually had to write up a warning, through he didn't want to.
Devon kept her eyes forward, not even sparing a glance in the Staff Sergeant's direction as they passed, deciding for herself she was going to be the bigger person as Reyes had mentioned in pervious conversations. She glanced around the hallway at those not on the stretchers, many off them in dire need of medical assistances and supplies. Those that were well enough, were doing their best with almost nothing. She felt the anger well up deep inside her, like engines ready to burn for take-off. Her brother's smirk filtered through her sight and his last words to her drifted through her head.
'I will find you.' Devon shook her head of the threat and hoped it wouldn't happen. It wasn't Salen she was necessarily she was afraid of, it was who he would hand her off to and she had a good idea of who it would be. The three of them continued to move down the hall to the bridge's entrance, finding a piece of equipment blocking the door.
"Captain protects his men, Salt." Reyes said. "He should've pulled back." Devon positioned herself in between Reyes and Salt, squatting down low to use her legs to pull up. "Let's do it." The three grunted and groaned as their muscles strained hard against the hefty tower. Dev looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps approaching and saw Omar.
"I'll help you, Lieutenants." he said.
"Staff Sergeant Omar." Salt greeted as he took up the corner on Reyes' right.
"No easy call your Captain made." Omar said, having heard their conversation.
"Cost us some good men." Reyes replied. "Didn't have to happen-not like that." Again, they pushed and with Omar's added help, they were able to push the tower, back into place. But, when Reyes tried to move for the door, Omar stoped him.
"All due respect, Lieutenant." Omar began. "The Captain did his duty. He drove the enemy into retreat." Devon sighed.
"I hate to agree with him, Reyes." Dev said. "But, he's right. The amount of damage Ret did to the Olympus was just enough." Reyes turned back to the Staff Sergeant.
"Captain's duty is to get him men home alive, Staff Sergeant." Reyes said. Omar shook his head as Reyes pushed down on the door handle.
"Not always, Lieutenant." he said. "Not always." Inside, the bridge was just as much disarray as the rest of Ret. Exposed wiring overhead created sparks of electricity, bodies were laid out, some of which were covered wit whatever was lying around. Various alarms sounded off, alerting of multiple fires and structure damage to the ship's right sight. The bridge gave a clear view of the battlefield or wherever it was stationed, allowing its pilots and captains an easy and almost three-sixty view of the area. The windows themselves could take a near strike through not head on and were equipped with UV filter to protect the occupants inside from any blinding light. In the center and directly across from the stairs, was the navigation table. The table provided holographic maps of the area of operation, the plotted course, or could produce a map of a particular structure. It was where most of the planning took place. It was Ret's Nav officer's domain.
Lieutenant Victor Diallo, or Gator as most called him, was a short and relatively young man who had worked on Retribution for a considerable about of time. Gator was usually the voice of reason whenever they all went out in a group, usually deterring them from doing anything brash or stupid. Devon could never be counted on to do so because she always wanted to know how far one of them could go and used the drunkiness of the crew as entertainment. Gator was also a family man, with a wife and even a daughter on the way. Devon didn't quite fully understand his wife getting upset at him for signing on for another round of duty. He wanted to make sure his family was safe. He was also one of the first people, besides Salter and Reyes to accept with little judgement. She enjoyed the intellectual side of their arguments and it gave her good insight how Earthen culture. Sometimes, she would even help him if needed when it came to out-maneuvering SetDef ships or even tracking them. Overall, the two had a good relationship, both in and out of the service.
"Make way for the Captain!" Boats yelled out. Down and off to the side of the stairs, was Boats who was even smaller than Gator, holding her arm out in a holding fashion as two sailors passed her, carry a body on the stretcher. Boats was the bridge officer, serving Captain Alder in his day to duties and keeping overall track of activities on the bridge.
"Where is he, Boats?" Salt asked.
"Where's Captain Alder?" Reyes echoed.
"Right here, sir." she replied. Devon followed to two closely behind, taking up position on the second step and watching as the two sailors carrier Alder's body up and out of the bridge. The three of them were in shock. Reyes looked over at Gator, the shock still present on his face, as the younger man shifted his stance.
"Gator." Reyes called out. Gator gulped.
"Captain's dead."
"Went down with his ship!" Omar almost yelled out. Devon waited for the two sailors to move out to close the door and make her way down the steps. She stepped around Salt and saw Yetide on the floor beside the XO. She quickly made her way over and kneeled beside the woman.
"XO?" Salt asked. Gator turned to where the two women were. Devon looked over to Salt and shook her head.
"No longer with us, ma'am." he reported. Reyes glances around at the carnage on the bridge.
"All this happened in the crash?" he asked, as he waled over to the XO's body.
"Yes, sir." Gator replied. Devon stood up and walked over to Gator as Reyes looked over to Salt in disbelief.
"So, who has the conn, Gator?" Gator was silent for a moment and glanced around at who was present.
"As the highest ranking officer on board…" he began. "I believe you do, sir." Another alarm going off diverted everyone's attention over to Boats who finger's flew over the keyboard.
"Destroyer Tigris is docking shuttle to come aboard." she informed, looking from the console to Reyes.
"Roger that." Reyes replied before looking over to Gator. "You spinning radar?"
"Still turning, sir." he replied. Reyes nodded.
"Get Raven transport set for evac. I want our casualties outbound right away." Reyes order before turning to Yetide, who had retaken her position at the nav table. "Drop officer, coordinate with engineering and get us mobile."
"Roger. Engineer MaCallum's on her way." she reported. Reyes looked over at Omar who had remained at the base of the stairs.
"Staff Sergeant." Reyes called to. "Can we count on your help?"
"You'll have all you, Lieutenant." the man replied.
"Salt, you with me?" Reyes asked, looking to his wingman.
"Always." she replied with a nod of her head. Reyes then looked behind him to Devon who had taken up a position at Yetide's work are, going over the grim damage and casualty reports.
"Devon?" Reyes called out, somewhat softly. Devon's head didn't snap to looked at him like usual. This time is was more sluggish and restrained, like she was holding it in.
"My brother is the cause of this." she sneered. "So, you bet your arse I am." Reyes nodded before turning back to Gator.
"Gator, get the Admiral on the line." he order. Gator merely nodded before turning to the Comms Officer and reissued the order just as the Tigris Captain arrived at the bridge. Nearly everyone straightened up at the Captain's sight. Devon's was a little less crisper than usual and took up a more loose stance. Ferran looked over Gator and asked for the commanding officer and was diverted to Reyes.
"Captain." Reyes greeted solemnly. "Your ship and crew?"
"Intact." she replied. Their conversation was interrupted by CommO.
"Sir, Admiral Raines is on the line." she reported. Before Reyes could give the order to patch him through, everyone had begun the movement to the full length screen on the other side of the bridge. Devon hung back with Gator, unsure if she was allowed in on the briefing.
"Captain Ferran. Ladies, Gentlemen." Raines greeted. "Its good to see you."
"Sir." Ferran replied back.
"Let me make our situation absolutely clear." he said. "We are now at war with Settlement Defense Front." Devon inhale sharply, having known this was the inevitable. She had prepared for the inevitability of war her entire life. But, it had always been the viewpoint of attacking, ever defending. This…was a completely different senecio and rules of operations altogether for her. "Due to Captain Alder's use of force, the enemy was driven into retreat. At this time, Tigris and Retribution are the only operable ships we have. Our course of action moving forward is to buy Earth time while we rebuild our fleet."
"That'll only get us so far." Devon mumbled. She caught Gator's quick glance out of the corner of her eye.
"Understood, Admiral," Ferrand replied. "Tigris is prepared for tasking." The screen changed from the live feed of the Admiral to a map of Geneva then to their Lunar Gateway. The Gateway was a checkpoint for incoming and outgoing UNSA transports going to and from Earth and its colonies. It was one of the first line of defense aside from the warships that were on steady patrol in Earth's orbit. It was also a major commercial hub where resources were exchanged.
"Today's attack was not limited to Geneva." Raines reported. "SetDef launched a concurrent strike on the Moon Gateway Port. And those cargo terminals receive freight critical to rebuilding our fleet. So, your mission is to retake that port." Raines paused and focused his attention on Reyes. "Lieutenant Reyes, I'm promoting you to the rank of Commander. You are now the acting Captain of the Retribution." From behind, Devon could see Reyes leaned away from, taken somewhat aback by the sudden jump in rank. But, he quickly recovered and took the promotion in stride.
"Roger that, Admiral." he replied. Raines then focused his attention on Devon.
"Lieutenant Kotch." he called out. Devon looked uneasily at the group before coming to stand beside Reyes. She gulped.
"Yes, Admiral." she responded.
"I want you working with our profiles on coming up with a psychological dossier on your brother and STRATCOM about any operational moves by him and SetDef when you're not in the air or on missions." he ordered. Devon nodded.
"If it helps taking him down, I'll gladly do it, Admiral." she replied. Raines spared one more look at the men and women gathered in front of him before signing off.
"We got not air wing." Salt sighed
"We'll go without it." Omar said. "That's how we do things in the infantry, Lieutenant." Reyes patted Salt's shoulder as he and Ferran walked to the lift. Salt motioned for Devon to follow her to the nav table.
"We'll insert the Marines from Retribution." Reyes said.
"I'll provide over-watch from Tigris." Ferran inserted. Reyes stopped momentarily to turn to Devon.
"Dev." he called out. "You'll head the other SCARs in the aerial assault. Soften up our approach. I'll call you if you're needed on the ground."
"Copy." she responded with a nod. "We'll launch once Ret is in range."
"Let's go to work, Captain Reyes." Ferran announced. "Stay sharp out there. All of you."
"You too, Captain." Reyes called back.
"Fair winds!" Devon shouted as the Tigris Captain stepped into the lift.
"And following skies to you as well, Lieutenant!" Ferran shouted back as the doors closed. Omar sighed.
"You got some shoes to fill now, Captain." he said, looking Reyes up and down as if sizing him up. Devon squinted in suspicion at the Staff Sergeant's back.
"We got limited boots and guns." Reyes began. "Lieutenant Salter and I will deploy with you." Omar was taken a back by the comment and looked around the bridge to see if anyone else had heard the comment besides him.
"This is a ground assault." Omar threw his head behind him. "Captain's place is on the bridge." Reyes took a commanding step forward, as if to silently say he wasn't backing down from the plan.
"Not this captain." he replied. "Not today." It became a staring contest between the two men and if Devon didn't know Reyes as well as did, she'd thought they were comparing their sizes. The interaction had Devon, Salt, and Gator exchange glances, all three of them wondering who would back down. Eventually, Omar yielded and began to walk off.
"Marines take point." he announced, the sour in his voice. "You ride with us, see how the view changes."
"Muster on the Well Deck in five, Staff Sergeant."
"Copy."
"Get us going, Gator." Reyes order. "Lunar Gateway."
"Aye, sir." he replied, messing around with the overhead controls. "Plotting course."
"We'll notify when ready, Captain." Yetide told him.
"Captain Reyes." Boats called, uneasily. She stood in at the position of rest off to their left, sparing glances off to the side. "Captain Alder's Operations Office is now yours. Be advised, his personal effects are still in place." Reyes nodded.
"Thanks, Boats." he said, giving another short nod to dismiss her back to her post. He looked behind him and motioned for Salt and Reyes to follow him. Devon was the last inside and closed the door behind them. The office was not as bad as the bridge or the rest of ship. Papers were thrown into disarray and a few frames clung to the walls for dear life. Reyes stopped to bend down and pick up one of Alder's awards. A small golden statue with a cup centered in front of a ring.
"For the indomitable, Captain John Alder." Salter read outlaid from the plague at the bottom as the three of them walked into a private sitting area behind the desk.
"Captain is dead." Reyes replied gruffly and with scorn in his voice. Salt paused momentarily in setting the trophy on the coffee table before righting herself again. Devon observed Reyes' stance. It was rigid and full of tension. His face shown in the reflection was hard set and even through it was not a clear picture from where she stood, Devon could see the storm churning within him.
"Long live the captain." Salt replied softly. "Hey, Nick.."
"Yeah?" Reyes asked, turning back to look at his now second-in-command.
"You can do this." she replied. "You're the best we've got." Reyes smirked.
"That's high praise coming from you, Nora." he replied.
"You earned it, Raider." Salt said before turning and leaving. Dev began to follow her out. "We'll give you a moment."
"Dev, stay." he called out, stopping her dead in her tracks. "I need to speak with you on your brother." Devon looked to Salt who had stalled by the door and gave her nod.
"Yes, sir." she replied, turning to look at him. He waited until the door had been closed to speak to her again.
"What's your brother's next move?" he asked. Devon looked down at her feet before shifting her weight and moving towards him at the window.
"With damages, he'll need to go to the shipyard. Command and council will want an update." she reported. "From there, they'll issue the target. For now.." Reyes cocked his head slightly.
"Now what?" he asked. She was silent as she though. What would Salen being doing right now? Gloating? Planning his next attack on them?
"For now, he's relishing in the victory." she replied, giving a slight shrug. "But, he won't let it feed his ego. For him, it would be a distraction that would retract from their overall success." Reyes nodded, taking in the preliminary report.
"Thank, Dev." he replied. Devon gave a short chuckle and flashed him her trademark smirk.
"Aye, sir." she told him before leaving his office.