"What the hell did you dumbasses do to these things?!" Avril grunted from underneath Layla's F-16. "They were barely being held together already. Now the compressor on this thing is probably shot."
"Trust me, we noticed," Layla retorted as she stood above the mechanic hard at work. "Flying these museum pieces isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world."
Avril pulled herself out from underneath the plane, glaring up at the pilot with a menacing point. "That's thin ice you're treading. If these stiffs would give me something more to work with, then maybe I wouldn't need to chew your asses out for being stupid, but you should consider yourselves lucky that I'm here- otherwise you wouldn't have any planes to fly at all."
Layla scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Yeah, lucky us. Can you fix it or not?" she asked impatiently.
"Course I can fix it," Avril replied, already rolling back underneath the plane. "But I wouldn't have to if you treated it right from the get-go. Now both of you, clear off. You're blocking my light."
Layla shared a look with Freebird, who was there to receive the same lecture, before getting out of the hangar and putting as much distance between herself and the mechanic as possible. Two more bombing raids had come and gone since their first time up in the air and it had gone about the same. Somehow, they hadn't lost anyone else- for better or worse- meaning everyone still alive seemed to be stuck with each other for the time being.
She let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through her hair as she looked around the yard. It didn't take her very long to notice the sizable gathering of convicts standing together near the exercise yard. They were all just standing there, staring in the same direction out into the distance. She couldn't help but smirk as the thought of heatstroke finally getting to them crossed her mind. But since she was mildly curious about what they were doing and she had nothing better to do, she walked over to join them.
"Sun finally bake your brains or what?" she asked the group.
Tabloid finally averted his gaze from the sky to look at Layla. All he said was, "Check it out," as he pointed in the direction everyone was looking.
She followed his finger into the sky, and sure enough, there was something there- multiple somethings, actually. Planes heading right for the base. "They Erusean or what?" she asked, putting a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes as she tried to get a better look at them.
"We don't think so. If they were the alarm would be going off, right?" Fireball asked. "So, either ATC is slacking off, or they're supposed to be here."
"Alright then, everyone. Let's hear your bets," High Roller spoke up. "Who's coming and what are they doing here?"
Count shrugged. "Eh, it's probably just some self-righteous prick of an officer coming to inspect the base- probably tell us off for doing our jobs."
"Oooooh, do you think if he doesn't like what he sees, McKinsey could get the boot?" Beaver suggested, causing the entire group to let out a collective longing sigh at the thought of watching the base commander get fired after all the time he spent talking down to them.
"What if they are Eruseans, but they're here to defect- completely unaware that they picked the absolute worst base under Osean control to do it?" Full Band theorized.
Layla rolled her eyes. "You guys are thinking too hard- man, that feels weird to say. They're probably just using this base as a stepping stone for something actually important. Either that, or they're not even gonna land and just fly right over us."
"Nah, they're definitely comin' in for a landing," Champ observed, still watching the planes as they approached.
Layla and the other convicts returned their attention to the air. By now, the incoming aircraft had gotten close enough that they could finally have a good look at them. At the center of the formation was a single C-17 transport, flanked on all sides by a flight of F-22s, and bringing up the rear was a single F-16C. Sure enough, the planes all landed one by one, starting with the transport and ending with the viper- the latter of which was quickly disembarked by its pilot. Cautiously, the convicts all gathered against the fence line facing the runway and watched the transport closely. As soon as the rear door opened, two MPs stepped out, rifles in hand and at rigid attention. Another pair followed them out, only these two were escorting a young handcuffed man in front of them. He looked to be about average height, but even from a distance, the convicts could see that he looked scrawny and malnourished. His short black hair was knotted and messy, but the thing that stood out most about him was the red band tied around the arm of his flight suit.
"This guy's one of us?" Count asked in disbelief. "You'd think if they were bringing in more people, it'd be more than just one guy."
A final pair of MPs emerged from the cargo plane, rifles drawn and pointed at the new convict as he got shoved along. "I think the more important question is what did this guy do to get thrown in here?" Fireball pointed out. "With the way they're treating him, you'd think he bombed a school bus or something."
"I'm gonna go do some digging and see if I can find anything out about this guy," Full Band decided, peeling away from the group and moving towards the main building of the base.
"Hey, look over there!" Drag said, pointing to the F-16C that landed with the others. Everyone followed his gaze toward the plane as several of the ground crew emerged and hooked it up to pull it into one of the hangars. "Is- is that supposed to be the new guy's plane?"
"Are you shitting me?!" Layla asked, outraged at the mere thought. "The rest of us are stuck flying scrap heaps that barely work, and this guy gets a nice new plane with no issues? Who the hell does he think he is?"
"Looks like we're gonna have the chance to find out soon enough," Tabloid pointed out, nodding his head in the direction of the new convict getting shoved along by the guards toward the main building. "Probably off to get greeted by McKinsey- the poor bastard."
"Uhhh, I wouldn't feel too sorry for him just yet," Jaywalk called out, still watching the ground crew with the F-16. Everyone turned their attention back to the new plane, only to see that its tail had been covered with not one or two, but three sin lines.
"Yeesh, I'm starting to think that my 'bombed a school bus' theory might not actually be too crazy," Fireball muttered. "I mean, even Champ only has two sin lines. What the hell do you have to do to get three?"
"I dunno if I wanna find out, truth be told," Beaver chimed in. "Think I'm gonna let my self-preservation take the lead on this one and give the guy a wide berth."
"Think I'm gonna have to agree with ya there, Beav'," Freebird agreed. "Not about to get shanked on the ground."
"Well, it doesn't matter how many sin lines he's got. There's no way he's gonna take the top score from me- it's in my blood," Count said with his usual cocky grin.
"Only because kills are self-rewarded," Layla retorted, rolling her eyes before starting to walk away from the group. "Hopefully the new guy'll do us all a favor and put a shiv through your ribs, Count," she called back as she walked away, holding out a middle finger as she went.
She huffed angrily as she sat on the bed in her cell, where she lectured herself for being stupid. For a brief moment, when she saw that F-16 approaching from a distance, she thought that maybe- just maybe- it was Monk or one of her other squadmates coming to see her. Now, she got her hopes up for nothing and felt like in idiot for doing so. She kept telling herself that she wasn't going to see any of them again- that she was probably going to die here without ever knowing what became of them. Up until today, she still held on to that small sliver of hope deep down that she was wrong. She hoped that somehow she would get through this alive, serve her sentence, and go back to Durant, her squadron, even her father if he was still alive. He must've been so disappointed in her- lying there on his deathbed and learning that his only daughter got arrested trying to help him. If today held no other purpose, then it at least served as a wake-up call to Layla: her old life was dead. It died the moment she decided to break into that pharmacy, and now there was no going back- no matter how much she wished things would go back to normal.