Vaukt kept the Shadow Strikers apprised of various events on Vylat and increasing numbers. His supporters spanned a great spectrum. Even a recruited set of cryptographers established a fresh new code for them to communicate with. The underground movement was clearly growing stronger, including with Mirage starting to fall into the mix, as dangerous as that was with Tuu around. Only time would tell if Amka could keep their antics hidden.
In the interim, Vaukt kept them busy with various recon operations. Simple enough: go scout some stuff, send the information to an Invader, they take it from there. Keeps them out of intense combat and allows for further recovery of their casualties. The time was much appreciated, it was highly apparent how well Vaukt took care of his own. Tallests' personal unit or not, they were very much falling into that category in their new resistance movement.
Rha was already back on his feet…new feet. Legs and feet of Vortian artificial muscle joined his thighs made of flesh. Running being hard on the feet was no longer a concern and they were certainly stronger like his new friends said it would be. He was just happy to be mobile again outside of a wheelchair.
Even Rem was making great strides. Picking up her bionic eyes from Turb after scans by Sula showed her optical nerves were still intact and could be attached to her new eyes. These new eyes, along with her own pair of artificial muscle limbs, would see her taking the helm once again. No more going to the field if it could be helped. She felt the need for speed and, unlike the newest addition to the team, she had her fill after going from fast to zero in a matter of seconds.
Green Team was a whole other matter…
Cohesion left something to be desired. Their performance was a whole other issue in itself. Constant failures in the simulator. The most recent one sounded with the buzz over the intercom. Once again, Orkos attempted to charge a fortified position. Aren told him not to, Skrem told him not too. Orkos ordered the charge anyhow. Aren begrudgingly followed, Skrem remained behind and was left as the last man standing…again.
"As the Vortians would say, holy shitfuck. I've helped some guys and gals who were garbage in the Invader course into passable assets that are actually performing half decent at their jobs but you guys are a whole other level. Orkos, this is the third time you tried charging a hill! Are you insane?!"
"...I have a brain, Skrem."
"Really? You've done the same thing three times and got the rest of them killed in the process. You're doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
"It worked when I was in the Elite, it should work here!"
"...Okay, Grimm." Skrem rolled his eyes. "So why didn't you take the advice of your second and myself when we told you it was stupid?"
"...No excuse."
"Yeah, exactly." Skrem, his helmet removed since their failure, a finger in his mouth and used his thumb as a mock hammer indicating a fired gun. "You people are so bad at this it makes me wanna paint the ceiling with my brain."
Aren, the respectful, supportive second that she was supposed to be, had her limits. Biting her tongue any harder would have seen it sheared off by gnashing teeth. A building pressure to pop proverbial rivets the higher it went…but she held back. Clearly, she had much to say but remained reserved.
That wasn't even getting into the other mess of a certain pilot and non-combatant.
Skrem ran a weary hand down his face. "Okay, next exercise…" he started, pointing right at Orkos. "I'm demoting you."
"Bu-"
"Shut," Skrem interrupted him. "This is going to be a teaching moment." His finger shifted to Aren, "You're acting Commander next simulation, Orkos will act as your second. I'm going to drive it into his brain that you have good advice and it should be heeded." What else was there…there was so much.
"You," his attention turned to Deris, "you absolutely crack under pressure. Become absolutely useless. Just…stay the fuck out of the way." He watched Deris nod meekly as his attention turned to Chavsa. "And what is your major fucking malfunction?"
"What?!"
"You fucking heard me. Orkos gives you an order, you seem to follow it just fine. Aren tells you to do something, like something just switches and you turn into an obstinate, stubborn brick wall who refuses to move an inch. What fucking gives?"
Chavsa just glared at Aren for a few moments before looking to Skrem. "She doesn't respect me."
"Give me a reason to respect you and I will, Private." Aren countered soundly. "So far, you try my patience at every opportunity and gotten me ragdolled into a concussion and a broken arm. Far as I'm concerned, you're a liability the way you sit."
"Go fuck yourself." Chavsa threw her plasma rifle down in a rage.
Both Orkos and Lorlo preemptively anticipated Aren's lunge for the insubordinate whelp, struggling to keep her separated from throttling the mouthy pilot.
"That is IT! I've had it with your insubordination!"
"Sergeant, please!" Lorlo pleaded, struggling to keep her at bay from their squadmate.
"Aren!" Orkos attempted to get through to her. "Stop!"
"Fuck you and fuck this ground pounding shit." The pilot then stormed out of the simulation.
Much to her chagrin, Chavsa tucked antenna and departed. Fury-fueled frustration from Aren pushed and shoved her way out of restraint by her own teammates with a huff.
"Get…OFF of me!"
"You good?" Green Team's recently-relieved leader queried, earning a burning glare of roiling hatred.
"Freakin' peachy, Lieutenant…be better off if we were a man short than dealing with her."
Outside the simulator's exterior boundaries, Vult stood by with Corr. Mug of caffeinated bean water in hand, he was reviewing recent performance assessments with the Captain. Scrolling through Green Team's scores maintained a sour expression over the rim of his cup as he sampled it.
"...are these right? This isn't a scoring error, is it?"
"...No, those are right." Corr shook his head and sighed as he sipped on a can of Vortian soda. "Skrem is highly capable but he can't carry a team on his own. I'm glad Rha's coming back up to speed and Rem will soon rejoin us."
Skrem, down below, was shaking up the structure of things. Looking to see what he could work with. Already planning to run another simulation without Chavsa.
"Think we may have to shake up the command structure? Take Orkos out of command and put Aren or Skrem in charge?" Corr asked, looking at the Invader seeming more naturally in his element as a prior member of Special Operations before his increased training.
Vult's expression did not relent as he contemplated Corr's recommendations with his own multitude of musings on the matter. Clearly team cohesion and synergy was lacking for a variety of reasons. Whatever strides of improvement were being made found themselves overshadowed by a certain Private's inability to respect the chain of command. He did not tolerate Kazak's behavior. He most certainly would not tolerate this.
"Shelve it for the time being. Let's give something else a try first before playing musical chairs with the chain of command." He acknowledged, taking another drink before quickly setting his mug down, attention focused on Chavsa. "Private. Front and center."
Chavsa stopped in her tracks, hanging her head. Her demeanor changed significantly being addressed by someone who earned her respect. She didn't seem enraged more…defeated. She couldn't even look him in the eyes.
The Commander noted her posture and body language, all but dragging herself against her will to stand before him. Her head low, avoiding his azure gaze. He left her linger a moment before speaking.
"Look at me, Chavsa." He clearly dictated.
Her head turned up, her face betraying her same thoughts going through her head came on her face. That she wasn't any good at this, not outside the cockpit. Like she made a mistake…not that the route to deactivation would've led to anything better. Yet she seemed so…lost.
"Go ahead and hit me, I know I deserve it. Not good enough."
"After what you said to your commanding officer just now? Yes, you do deserve it. Not from me though. Captain Corr ever spoke to me like that, I'd slap the taste out of his mouth and he knows it. He may not always agree with my assessment, but he respects me. You will respect your superiors, Private. That includes Sergeant Aren."
Vult paused, folding his arms with a studious glare upon his subordinate.
"I get it. This is outside of your element. You were a pilot above all else. So was Rem. The difference being Rem was willing to embrace the unfamiliar and learn. You are digging your heels in, kicking and screaming every step of the way. Why?"
"This whole thing is-" Chavsa started before going quiet and shaking her head. "This is more intense than any sort of firefight they put us through for survival training if we ejected. Out there if it's a missile gets you or some MAC rounds slam through the canopy at least it's quick or you have some time to get out, There's…there's no avoiding this. Can't turn away from it, can't run from it. It's awful."
Fear, something she wasn't wanting the others to see that she felt in her.
This was unexpected. A completely different shade of the devil-may-care attitude Chavsa nearly trademarked. Trying everyone's patience but having the skills behind the flight stick to back up her words…shaken to her very core and struggling to cope with the reality before her.
"What are you afraid of?" Vult earnestly queried, seeking clarification in a less stern tone. "What specifically? You didn't hesitate to pancake me against the walls and canopy of the fighter, throwing it around to the point of near-failure. Why not employ the same mentality here?"
She paused, thinking, trying to form what it was that was eating at her. "There's always an evasive option in the fighter…you were there. Missile? I can turn hard and avoid it. Gunfire, same thing. I can't dodge a plasma bolt or a MAC round flying towards my face on my feet, not well anyhow. Then there's grenades, mines…I don't know how you guys even stand it."
Vult paused, carefully choosing his words in response.
"...same coin, different side. We never had the luxury of avoiding danger. We can preemptively maneuver around it and mitigate it to the smallest threat level possible…but we could never truly avoid it. Same reason why Armada jockeys like yourself make fun of us - we march through danger ahead. It's what we do and what we know. When it's all you know…it's all you do. There's no going back and the trouble ahead cannot be avoided…all that's left is to push through it to sanctuary on the other side, right?"
"...Getting to experience it myself I have to say I really regret saying the things I did about you ground pounders. Really makes me wonder who has more guts between a fighter pilot and guys like you. But I guess you're right." She sighed, her head falling again. "Was this a mistake? Did I let down someone I worked hard to impress behind the stick?"
Vult sighed, his expression pursed for a moment.
"...telling your immediate superior to "go fuck themselves" does not fill me with confidence at the moment. You demanding respect while giving none makes you hypocritical, does it not?"
"...I suppose it does."
"So by your own logic, you are disrespecting one of my soldiers, why should I respect you? You know the lengths I am willing to go for all of you. Ask Kazak how I feel about others speaking ill of my team if you have any doubts."
"I really should be showing the Armada's best side but I'm not the Armada's best in that area. Why I guess they were right to want to hit my off switch." She stopped to shake her head. "...Where is he anyhow? I haven't seen any sign of him since that mad dash to that Vortian station. Is he really that elusive?"
"Gone. We left him for his suit and…who knows with him now?" Corr sighed and shook his head. "The man is a maverick, antisocial, real cagey loner. Aside from the Commander he wanted to push all of us away. Don't follow him down that path. He may be able to deliver impressive results when he works, but you leave a great deal to be desired."
As they spoke, the others were prepping for another run in the simulators, nobody coming to call her back over. Looks like Skrem was taking Aren's suggestion in running the squad without her to see how they performed. Not that it helped the pilot's current feeling in the least. Corr noticed the shift in her.
"He chose to go off on his own. They're choosing to leave you behind. You should give them a reason to change their mind before it's too late."
Vult nodded to Corr's words, looking back to the Private.
"He's right. Nothing anyone else in this universe says or does matters if you don't let your actions speak for you. You act in a way that leaves no room for question or doubt. That requires humility, patience, and integrity. I know you have it within you to rise to the occasion. I wouldn't have brought you on board if you didn't. Don't squander second chances, Chavsa."
She nodded, looking to her squad proceeding without her before looking back to Vult.
"Can…I just go take a breather? I think maybe it's even best for Aren if we just let our nerves settle right now."
"Sure. Clear your head and spend it coming up with the most sincere apology you can muster for your Sergeant and hope she doesn't cave your face in. None of us will stop her, it's well-deserved. Dismissed."
The dejected pilot left the simulator room to do some maintenance to clear her head and give her time to think. Having to act as her own ground crew was more time consuming but at the very least it gave her some time being near some things she relatively loved over being on the ground.
Meanwhile, for the squad, it was a different scenario, more stealth and subterfuge. Infiltrate a facility, recover intelligence, sweep and clear if detected, not too dissimilar Sub Zero Station. In fact the layout was eerily familiar even if the climate was changed to that of a dense forest and the opposition set for Orenkian warriors. The team started downhill from the facility.
Skrem nodded to Aren. "All right, this is your show. You want advice, I'm here for it."
"...if I ask for advice, are you going to give me something other than charge directly at them?" She pointedly asked of him, glancing to Lorlo. "You able to get any readings on their security systems? Passive or active detection methods? What are we dealing with?"
"I'm the former SpecOps guy here, remember?" Skrem stood by, letting Lorlo work.
The Technical Specialist, with somewhat better speed thanks to practice with Vard, ran scans. "Looks like CCTV cameras on wireless, wireless alarms linked to a military base nearby. Pretty standard fare stuff for a communications outpost."
Aren briefly pondered the information provided to her on how to proceed next.
"Can you trace the signals to their hardlines? Sever them, put them in the dark, and jam their wireless capabilities. Whatever alarms we trip will be localized at that point."
Lorlo cracked his knuckles and set to work, making sure to first disable the communications, something he learned the first time they had a mishap. Next it was onto the cameras. Only a couple minutes, a vast improvement on something that would've taken him ten or fifteen before.
"We're clear to proceed. Any alarms tripped will only be in local sectors now."
"Good work." She nodded, looking to the rest of the team before signaling. "Move it out and keep it quiet. Not here to start a fight, just a snatch and grab."
Skrem brought up the rear, as Orkos took point for the squad as they moved towards the facility, cloaking as they got closer. Even Skrem's custom armor received the upgrade courtesy of Vard. Orenkian warriors patrolled at regular intervals. Predictable all the same.
"I think we should ice them." Orkos spoke up.
"See what Aren thinks, I'd suggest differently myself." Skrem reminded the Lieutenant that it was her show.
Deris, meanwhile, just stayed by the door, staying out of the way as Skrem said to. Didn't need anyone tripping over him.
"And I think I'm in charge on this run, Lieutenant." She pointedly reminded him before addressing the rest of the team. "We're here for intelligence, not to pick a fight. More evidence, such as bodies, we leave behind, the more likely we'll be discovered. We stay cloaked, slip in, grab the intel, and slip out. No heroics."
Orkos, being relegated to another's command for a change, didn't see his suggestion come to fruition. Approaching affairs as they had in the past had seen repeated failure. Conventional tactics in unconventional settings resulted in disaster every single time. They were not a frontline combat unit, nor intended to be no matter how many times Orkos threw them against the wall.
Aren employed the various trainings between the simulators and listening to the more experienced members of the unit in recent weeks. They had clear, defined goals and nothing else extracurricular. Precise. Focused. Achieve the objective and extract. Nothing more, nothing less. Greed and arrogance met at the precipice of hubris. This particular run required an extraction of sensitive information undetected. Giving away their presence and getting bogged down in close-quarters fighting with an unknown number of hostiles would seal their fates.
The slow and steady patience of the Sergeant eventually paid off. Close calls were nearly being detected, but Green Team managed to breach the inner layers of security and obtained possession of the information sought without a single alarm or suspicion raised. A surgical success as they can come.
Skrem was understandably pleased as they exited the VR simulator once more. The Invader clapped, slowly but emphatically, a grin upon his face. "That is what I'm talking about! Maybe I was wrong about some of you. Aren, damn fine work. Orkos, you learn an important lesson here?"
The Sergeant struggled to maintain humility after such praise. An Invader complimented her competency and capability in-field. Training exercise and controlled environment or not, the simulator did not pull any punches in punishing failure. Pain was an excellent teacher and motivator and having been ran through the wringer a dozen times by Orkos was enough to keep her focused on avoiding the same missteps.
"I did," the Lieutenant replied.
"Elaborate. I don't want you sayin' what I wanna hear just for you to go back to the ol song and dance from before."
"Aren has advice I need to listen to, and yours as well. You did this before you were an Invader."
"Go on."
"...And I need to start thinking outside the box."
"Fucking there it is. Have regular one on ones with your second, she'll help you break that Elite mentality."
Aren cleared her throat, helmet resting on her hip with a wipe of her brow with the back of her arm.
"You're still squad lead, Lieutenant. You lead, I follow…just…take my input under advisement? Everything I did in there is things I picked up from Skrem and the others throughout training aboard the ship. No one doubts we can't charge, take, and hold. Need to put our hammers away and break out the scalpels, Sir."
"Right…we slice…we don't come in with a sledgehammer and cave faces in with these guys." Orkos rubbed his face. "Yeah, yeah I'll do better."
"Great." Skrem nodded as he turned his attention to the tech specialist. "Lorlo, you're improving. Keep practicing at it and you'll be closer to Vard's level in no time. Deris…good work not getting in the way. You're good for something when you don't cave in on yourself."
"Part of being in the motorpool, we do what we can to avoid drawing the attention of those who'd want to give us surprise inspections…"
Aren reached out to give the man a shake by his armored pauldron with a smirk.
"Well, this isn't a garage and I don't need a grease monkey full-time. I know you got a spine in there somewhere. The Commander sought all of us out to meet his expectations. I can only drag you so far before you have to start carrying your weight."
Her tone wasn't derogatory, more a camradire nature of supporting one another…like a team, as intended.
"Courage isn't being free from fear. It's learning how to overcome it and persevere under the circumstances." Skrem added.
The Sergeant nodded in agreement, gesturing to their resident Invader.
"He's right. I'm terrified anytime we go out there. Even in these simulations at how realistic they are. It's being able to overcome and control that fear. To use it to your advantage. It's…motivating to get through the worst of it and find safety on the other side."
"It's that or we die trying." Lorlo observed with a shrug. "Morbid as it is, that's the truth. We do our best and hope it's enough. Us or them."
"Yeah…I'll try to work on that." Deris scratched the back of his neck.
"I'll run you through some stuff I picked up when I was in SpecOps early on, should come in handy for you. Which leaves one more matter." The Invader heaved a sigh. "I'm sure Orkos can learn, but this team actually performed better without that Armada fighter jockey here too. She can't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside with that damn assault rifle, not to mention the conflict with Aren. Suggestions, let's hear 'em."
Aren's mood immediately soured being reminded of Chavsa's insolence and the fact they performed better without her.
"I'm about to punch her ticket myself and make it look like an accident. I'm that done with her dookie." She huffed, smoothing her antenna back in exasperation. "As it is right now? It's a matter of time before she gets one or all of us killed."
"Yeah…she's right," Orkos began, "Chavsa as of right now is a damned liability. All I can do is trust her to land us and then I'm personally content to just leave her watching the damn shuttle. Aren's right. How many times did her impudence towards Aren get her or someone else killed?"
"Like me! Painfully I might add!" Deris chimed in.
"Yes, like getting Deris an airburst grenade right to the face."
"So, from what I'm hearing as it is right now, both our lead and our second want to dump this loser." Skrem rubbed his chin, "I hearing you two right?"
"I have to concur with Aren if that's her prerogative, yes. Chavsa may listen to me but anything out of Aren's mouth it may as well not be heeded."
"If she can't drop the ego or follow my orders, she has no business on Green Team. You weren't rescued to die with us because of her." Aren pointedly spoke, sighing before looking between Orkos and Skrem, "...unless there's something else we need to run, you two okay with dismissing them to clean up for evening mess? I don't want to get spoiled having a functioning unit without Chavsa."
Skrem cracked a smirk at Aren's comment before checking a watch on his armored forearm. "Yeah, looking like it's close to time for chow as it is. We'll pick back up with Orkos back in command next time. I'll keep Deris here with me for a bit. We'll meet you guys for chow." He watched as Deris sighed and headed back to the simulator as the others started making their way out.
"By the way, Aren," Skrem had a sudden realization as he called out to the Sergeant, "ego like that? Takes some very special kinds of persuasion."
"I can be very persuasive." She nodded, looking to Orkos. "You got a few minutes to spare, Lieutenant?"
Orkos nodded. "Lorlo, go stow your gear and get cleaned up. Dismissed." As their tech specialist went off, Orkos gestured for Aren to lead the way if they needed some secluded spot to talk.
The pair traversed the corridors of the vessel, eventually arriving to the crew deck. Past a few berths belonging to other members of the unit, they eventually arrived at her and Chavsa's shared quarters. Pausing at the door, she took a deep breath in and out before twisting her head to audibly pop the vertebrae of her neck before placing her palm to the door's lock, opening it.
The door opened, revealing their empty racks, Chavsa's uniform lay on her bed, a sign she was here before, but not where she is now.
"Aren," Orkos started, "I'm not going to tell you how you need to handle this with Chavsa, that's your business. But if she's not here, she might be in the hangar? After what happened before I almost think she'd retreat to what she knows."
"Unsurprising." The Sergeant summarized with a huff, wasting no time in unceremoniously stowing her own gear away where it belonged proper.
First her helmet, gauntlets, and greaves. Free of armor, she wordlessly began disrobing with the intention of changing into her duty fatigues…all the while Orkos stood by, watching.
"Regardless, this needs to be settled. I share quarters with her and one of us is going to end up killing the other in their sleep at the rate this is going." She morbidly spoke, semi-serious as she peeled her undershirt off, back to her superior.
Orkos paused before shaking his head. "By my count there are two empty quarters on this deck now. The empty one when we came in being the first of them. The other…I'm pretty sure we can requisition Lieutenant Kazak's quarters. I have no idea where the guy is anymore ever since we dropped him off."
"I'm aware. The Commander also said they weren't being given to anyone. They have to be earned…and Green Team hasn't earned much of anything yet." She dejectedly spoke, boots kicked off, belt unfastened, and pants dropping to the floor around her ankles.
"...I wouldn't say that. At least as far as I can see." Orkos hanged his head. "I pull a bunch of guys out of an encirclement, get hailed a hero. The Empire wanted to kill me for it…and yet I'm shown up constantly by my second. You've adapted faster, you have this natural talent for leadership, and all I ever manage to do is keep acting like an Elite with fancy gear." He flung his helmet at the wall in frustration, bouncing off and landing on Chavsa's bed before he leaned against the wall and slid to sit on the ground.
Listening as she retrieved a fresh undershirt from her locker, Orkos' self-imposed demoralization hit her amidst pulling the garment over her head. The commotion of his helmet striking the bulkhead and coming to rest on Chavsa's bunk startled her, forcing her to turn in surprise to face him properly.
"...Orkos, we're a team. Doesn't matter what I or you do." She attempted sincerely, bare feet stepping over to him before squatting down eye-level with her immediate superior. "Green Team is a dysfunctional family and we're the awful parents of it." Aren added in a lighter tone with a smirk, a consoling hand resting to the man's pauldron before sliding up to cup the side of his neck. Actual skin-to-skin contact for emphasis.
"And it's the mother doing more than the father in this case…if I'm nailing how the Vorts do it right."
"I'm not doing more. Just doing my job…" Aren began, eventually deciding to roll to Orkos' side, sitting beside him against the wall. "...I didn't know Skrem planned on doing what he did and I just went off of the stuff they've been showing us. That's all. It's a hard habit to break when we're used to fighting openly with conventional tactics…easier that way and kinda fun, to be honest…but this discreet, clandestine stuff is just another challenge. Another hill to take and hold. Only difference is we can't shoot our way to success with it."
Her hand rest upon one of his knees with a gentle squeeze.
"Above all else, our job's to get everyone back safe and sound, right? Universe could burn for all I care. My job's to keep everyone alive, including you."
"...Does that sound familiar. Exactly what I thought when I was in command back on Vort."
"So you already know how to do it. You're out of your element and it's psyching you out." She reasoned with a shrug. "Like to think you'd know me well enough by now I'd tell Corr or Vult straight-up what I thought of your leadership. I'm behind you every step of the way."
Orkos wrapped an arm around Aren's shoulder. "After what I went through? Aside from Radec I don't think there's anyone else I'd be happier to have by my side doing this."
The Sergeant's blazing yellow gaze averted with a bemused smirk at Orkos' physical contact, guiltily leaning further into it. The tiniest flutter of her spooch she floundered to squash. A brief moment's contemplation with a thoughtful bite of her lower lip followed.
"Yeah?" She queried, feigning innocence as she turned to face him.
Leaning in, her hand rose from his knee to his jaw about the same time her lips pressed to his in a very intentional kiss lasting several moments. As smoothly as it began, she pulled back with a smirk.
"...think I'm better looking than Radec, don't you?"
The suddenness shocked Orkos but he didn't stop it, not in the least. He indulged, enjoying the brief few moments they had. He shot a smirk right back at her. "Oh by far. The guy's a beast but you? My, my…even with coming up to their fitness levels you preserve a feminine figure that I absolutely admire."
"Figured as much when you didn't opt to stand outside while I was changing." She grinned at him with a shrug in teasing fashion. "...but…if this is going to make things weird…"
She left hang, the decision entirely up to him.
Orkos didn't hesitate, an arm wrapped around Aren, picking her up off the ground as he rose to his feet. He made his way to Chavsa's bed, using his boot to sweep his helmet to the floor as he set his second down on it. A shit eating grin evident before he left her briefly to lock the door.
"First course in your meal of revenge against the stick jock, we're going to absolutely destroy her bunk."
It was her turn to be taken by surprise. One moment they were seated on the floor against the wall. The next, swept off her feet and cradled to…Chavsa's bunk? It didn't click in her mind until she saw his expression and words that followed. Both palms immediately rose, firm to Orkos' shoulders to hold him in place as she looked up at him. Had the heat been turned up? Training hadn't been that exerting, why was she out of breath?
"W-wait. Wait. Full stop." Aren began, much to his disappointment. "...as much as I want to, I-we are better than that…buuut my rack's pretty comfortable, too." She concluded, hands relaxing to slip around the back of his neck, digits interlaced.
Orkos rolled his eyes, picking Aren up once more and bringing her over to her own rack. "Could you imagine the look on her face? Her bed absolutely a mess, not to mention stains she was certain weren't there before?"
"I can. That's why we're not doing that." She reasoned firmly. "Much as she aggravates me…she's still part of the team…but that's neither here nor there, now is it?"
"It isn't…right now it's just you and me…let's make the most of this before we miss chow and people wonder where we are."
"Yes, sir," The Sergeant snickered up at her superior before finding his mouth in another intimate embrace.