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_-N_-!^&!*) Port, OseA

April 2-th, 2OI9.

19-2 hRS.

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Shooting her eyes open, Mere sat up with a gasp. Her breath was quick and short as her heart raced, her mind fuzzy from earlier yet the smell of seawater was calming. Her heart still raced as she glanced around trying to get her bearings while the squawk of the gulls, the cool salty air, the familiar coastal buildings calmed her down. Her pulse slowed as she got her wits about her as she turned around to look up at the iconic carrier island, a large 40 painted on its side. She was home on the flight deck of the Kestrel 2. Sucking in a breath, she hugged a leg to her chest before letting it out slowly as she began to ponder what that dream she had even meant. Was she fighting in some sort of war? With who even? Rubbing her head her thoughts were going a mile a minute when she felt something cold press against her temple. Leaning away and looking up to the source, it was a tall man with short brown hair and some brilliant green eyes. In his hand was a can of beer and a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Derick? What brings you here?" she asked as she took the beer he offered her. Mere cracked it open as he sat next to her, kicking his feet over the edge of the flight deck.

"I was gonna ask you the same, Mere. The launch party is in full swing yet you are no where to be seen. Checked the second place I'd thought you'd be."

"Second? What's the first?" Mere smirked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well first was the edge of the peer and that's when I noticed a pair of legs hanging off the edge of the deck," he explained.

"Just getting some fresh air. Was getting a bit stuffy down in the bar. That's all," Mere let out a chuckle. "And since you came to find me, I'm guessing Mel turned you down again?"

"She'll crack. I know she will with my dashing charm." He ran his hand over his hair slicking it back before flourishing it in a dramatic fashion earning a light chuckle from Mere.

"As charming as a sack of shit," she jested while Derick seemed to deflate a bit.

"Oh please. At least stroke your pilot's ego a little bit," Derick murmured as he rested his head against his knee.

"I'll grow that ego and then beat it down again in the ring if you want," Mere smirked as she elbowed him playfully.

"I still haven't forgiven Gavin for pushing me in the ring. 'Her punches are light. You've got the height advantage, you'll be fine.' Lying ass," he scoffed while Mere let off a hearty laugh.

"Aaah, that look on your face when my first hook connected. Oh, I could see the birds in your eyes flying away," Mere smirked while Derick let off a scoff.

"Then in the middle of it you go to fuckin' southpaw on my ass," Derick pouted earning another chuckle from Mere. Silence followed as Mere's laughter was replaced by the gentle laps of the waves against the ship's hull and the pier. Her smile faded slowly as some uneasiness continued to eat its way back into her head. Squirming a bit she paused and opened her mouth to speak when Derick cut her off.

"You'll be fine. You know you'll be fine as well. Trust in yourself, trust those around you, and you'll live."

"But-"

"But nothing. You've survived worse. You're a tough girl and it's not your time yet," Derick let out a light grunt as he got up. Mere didn't look at him and instead looked at her beer as she tried to put her words together.

"What are you-" She turned to look at her pilot to question what he meant but he was already gone. "Derick?" Getting up, she turned around finding only his helmet on the flight deck.

"..-Wire...!" Turning around the naval port had disappeared into a white haze. She sucked in a breath as the confusion took hold of her. "Hotwi- .. g- ... Up!" Turning again the island of the carrier disappeared before the flight deck started to erode away. Back peddling she stumbled as her foot seemed to step into the void. Falling backward the world around here turned stark white. A strange weight seemed to grip her body as her consciousness started to fade.

"Hotwire!" Jolting awake her senses were overwhelmed. The pings of rocks and sand hitting her helmet filled her ears, her eyes stung as sand found its way under her visor. Moving an arm she noticed that she was partially buried. "Get your harness off!" She heard Lamp suddenly yell at her. His voice was faint as it was being swept away by the sand storm. Looking for the source, she saw the outline of his body splayed out on top of her parachute trying his best to keep it from inflating in the storm. Letting instincts take over, she began to struggle against the quick release of her harness before it clicked free. Moving her arms, she let the harness slide free of her body.

"Free!" she waved her arms at Lamp and she guessed he saw the signal as he rolled off the white fabric. The parachute quickly inflated and disappeared into the storm as Mere started to pat down her legs. She let out a sigh of relief as nothing felt broken or sprained. Her whole body ached but this was the least of their worries. Getting to her knees she struggled to her feet as the storm fought against her and started to trudge her way over to Lamp who was gathering himself up. Putting a hand on his shoulder he looked back at her and gave a thumbs up before pointing somewhere in the storm. Squinting, Mere couldn't make out what he was pointing but she followed him regardless as he got up and started to walk. Keeping a hand on his shoulder, the two powered through the sand storm when the square outlines of a building could be made out. Finding a door, Lamp was nearly knocked over as the door slammed open from the force of the wind ripping it open and it took both Lamp and Mere's strength to wrestle it closed. Their chests heaved from the exertion and Mere turned around to take in their surroundings. It was a one-room building with desks dotting the floor with a multitude of papers and computers strewn about on top. Seemed like they were in some sort of off-site office. Forcing her legs to move, Mere went over to one of the office chairs while her fingers messed with the chin strap of her helmet. Yanking it off and dusting the sand from her hair and face, she plopped down with a sigh. Looking up, Lamp had taken his helmet off and his face was contorted with concern, worry, and doubt. The two remained silent while Inessa 2 howled outside rattling their shelter.

"Well," Mere finally broke the silence as her breathing steadied, "This is one way to escape jail."

"Escape huh?" Lamp scoffed a bit as he sat on a nearby desk. "Probably the shittiest escape plan ever."

"Well, we're doing a great job so far. The enemy doesn't know we're here and our allies don't know either," Mere reasoned as she started to pull the desk's drawers open inspecting their contents. Opening one she found a bottle of water stashed away which she quickly fished out and opened. Taking a swig she swished it around her dry mouth before swallowing satisfying her parched throat. Capping it, she tossed it over to Lamp who caught it and did the same. Waiting till he swallowed, she asked, "So, what will you do now?"

"What am I going to do? Not gonna ask how I am? What happened out there?"

"Well I figured we're somewhere close to the refinery based on when we ejected, I know you are pretty much fine since you were able to chase down my unconscious body being dragged away by the storm and managed to even deflate my parachute," Mere said as she continued to sift through the drawer. "I just wanna know what your next plan is; will you try and defect to Erussia and flee, or will you try to get back to 'friendly' lines."

"Wha- You really think we can even get back to friendly lines?" Lamp asked raising an eyebrow. "With what vehicle?"

"Probably lots of civilian vehicles still in the parking lot here. I watched a bunch of vehicles fleeing the area, mostly large passenger vehicles, so I'm guessing some personal vehicles here were behind. Maybe with a key in them."

"How do we know where to go?"

"We're on the coast. Just head East and we'll find the front line sooner or later... Then we would improvise to get through and hopefully not get shot by our own forces..."

"Food and water?"

"Uh..." Mere pursed her lips together as she thought about it when she tilted the computer monitor finding some euros below. Grabbing the money she looked at it and then at Lamp. "Well... I figured we might be able to find some money and wallets in the changing room in the refinery."

"Sounds like a batshit insane plan..." Lamp huffed as he got up and started to pace a bit.

"You don't have to follow me. This is just what I want to do."

"And what for? Just to end up back in the Penal unit? Why not take the chance to gather all this up and just disappear into the surrounding territory?"

"That..." Mere hadn't really considered that an option. Everything she explained so far could easily be used to escape from the penal unit yet that thought had never crossed her mind. Counting the bills she had in her hand she paused and smirked a bit. "Don't know... I mean, the base commander is an asshole and the living conditions feel like hell on Earth but... Maybe it's my pride getting in the way but doesn't it feel like we're accomplishing something? Like we're working towards something big?"

"And how is this different from sending a rabbit to the wolves? These are basically one-way suicide missions."

"That we've been surviving," Mere leaned forward in her chair, her eyes meeting Lamp's. "With all the odds stacked against us in all of our missions compare how few casualties we've taken in comparison to the scale of the operations themselves. We are just a group of convicts all thrown in the sky and told to fight with little care of organization. A bunch of nobodies that are suddenly coming out of left field and start tearing up the whole frontline. First, it was in Roca Roja, and now, out here in Artiglio. Call it a gut feeling, but I feel like we might get rewarded at the end of this whole shit storm..."

"A gut feeling huh?" Lamp murmured nodding his head. "And you think they will reward us if we continue doing well?"

"Dunno. If these locations are as key as they say they are and the 444th comes in dick swinging taking them over or knocking them out, I'm sure someone in high command will take notice. Hell, they've been sending us better supplies recently as well. Even two more convicts came with complete planes, you know how much work I just avoided?" Mere smirked as she got up to search the other desks. "So I'm going back. How about you?"

Lamp sat down in one of the roller chairs his eyes searching the ceiling as he contemplated what Mere just said. Chewing on his lip he nodded and let out a breathy sigh.

"Hate to admit it but you are quite convincing. We are all just faceless soldiers to the higher-ups... but I'll be damned if I throw this opportunity away." Opening a drawer, Lamp began to search through to see what he could find. "Plus, where else would I go? Turn myself into the Erusean forces and become a POW? No thanks." Pulling out some snacks and protein bars Mere was glad that he was gonna go back with her. She truly thought that he was just gonna try and dip which would have made things more complicated. Sure she could survive on her own and she was positive she could get back to allied lines, but a second head and a pair of eyes was also a big help. "So, we got no service pistols, and not even a knife to defend ourselves with. What's your plan?"

"Plan huh..." looking across the desk in front of her, she reached into the basket of pens to pull out a letter opener which she promptly tossed onto Lamp's desk before she continued to search. "See what limited stuff we can find here and wait for the storm to die down. It was moving West ward and it seemed to have halted near the edge of the refinery. Let the wind die down and we can make our way over there. If we get lucky, we can sneak up to a destroyed AA position and see if any of the military personnel had any weapons on them." Moving to the last unsearched desk, she pulled open the drawer and smirked. "Not exactly the most ideal things to work with but it is better than nothing," she remarked as she grabbed a small pocket knife and quickly stuffed it into her flight suit pocket. Lamp on the other hand had found a backpack and was riffling through its contents pulling out another water bottle, a rolled-up shirt, a laptop, and another pocket knife.

"Truly bringing a knife to a gun fight..." Lamp mused as he looked at the pocket knife.

"Toss me that shirt," Mere slid to a closer desk near where Lamp was and he tossed the rolled-up shirt to Mere. Unrolling it, she studied the grey shirt a bit before pulling her pocket knife and started cutting it up while Lamp was loading the backpack with the snacks and water they'd found so far. Finishing her crafting project real quickly, she tossed some of the cut-up shirt at Lamp. "Not the best scarf, but it'll be better than nothing." She started to wrap the shirt over the mouth and nose offering some protection against the sand all the while the howling outside seemed to be dying down.

"Hmph, what timing," Lamp grunted as he pulled his arms through the backpack straps. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Mere sighed as she buckled her helmet to the flight suit and walked towards the door. Gripping the handle, she sucked in one last breath as this will be the last bit of peace and quiet they'll have for a while. Turning the handle, she was greeted with the lingering winds of Inessa 2. The intensity had decreased ten fold, but dust was still suspended in the air and the wind was still ripping about. Visibility improved only slightly from being only able to see five feet in front of them to about 10 and everything was cast in a gentle orange color instead of a nearly blacked-out brown. The roar of jets above also gave them some assurance and comfort. It showed that Spare hasn't left the area yet which means they might still be able to get in contact with Bandog if they do find a radio. Looking around, Mere spotted the outlines of smoke stacks through the sand and dust giving them a direction to start walking. Trudging forward they continued walking slowly so as to not loose each other in the dust the smell of burning oil kept getting stronger and stronger. Finding a road, Mere recognized it briefly when she saw the chared remains of an oil tanker on the road. Looking to her right, she could only just make out another. Tugging on Lamp's arm, she pointed down the road to the left.

"Down there should lead us to the front gate!"

"You sure it's wise to just walk through the front door?"

"There should be some AA positions we blew up along this way! Come on!" Mere started to march on before Lamp could even protest a bit. Shaking his head he quickly caught up to her finding an intersection. Following it they came across what used to be the front gate which was left wide open. Briefly checking the abandoned guard post, the duo made their way closer to the factory. The light brown haze that the mega storm left behind was lightening but the smell of soot and ash only got stronger. It only took a few more feet to find a source. Out of the haze, Mere spotted the boxy shape of an M113 left abandoned. A large crater just a few feet away pointed towards a bomb being dropped on this AA gun. Getting closer, Mere felt her stomach churn a bit seeing that some of the crew's bodies were left behind. There were a few large holes and gashes marring the side of the VADS. Putting a hand to her mouth, she stopped breakfast from coming up but this was a part of war she wished she wouldn't have to experience. It's easy to desensitize everything while in the sky since you're far away from all the death and destruction but on the ground this is much different.

"Jesus..." Lamp mumbled as he stepped up putting a hand on Mere's shoulder. He glanced at her and squeezed it lightly which she just nodded in response.

"I'm good... This is the ugly side of war and we're all a cog in the machine..." she said mainly talking to herself as she walked on to start searching the bodies. Of all things she was expecting out of the war, scavenging a destroyed battlefield was not on her bingo card. Rolling the body over, she checked his right side first and let out a mental sigh of relief as he did have his side arm on him. Whispering a small apology she quickly stripped him of his duty belt she quickly adjusted it a bit to fit her waist before she went around scrounging up any other ammo she could. Moving to the back of the VADS, she let out a light grunt as she undid the rear door which she soon was to regret. A strong smell of blood and death escaped from inside the vehicle and she could see the gunner was still inside. He was crumpled in the gunner seat, blood running down his nose and mouth staining his shirt a deep red. Back peddling away, Mere ripped her makeshift mask down and vomited on the spot. Lamp came rushing over to check on her gently patting her back.

"Ah Jesus, what the actual fuck is that smell..." he groaned a bit as he patted her back.

"Fuck... I was not mentally ready for that." Mere shook her head as she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve before spitting some more bile out. "Let's go... I don't want to be here any longer than we have to..." she said getting up and putting her mask on. Lamp glanced back at the VADS before nodding his head.

"We really did turn this place into hell on Earth," Lamp mumbled as he followed after Mere. Picking up some speed, the two hopped from one downed vehicle after another searching for any useful supplies, and to their own luck they found a radio from a Captain. In its current state, it was quite useless as it isn't loaded with the current encryption their radios were operating on. However, the CSEL that the two pilots had on them did and it would just need time to copy over the encryption needed to talk to their pilots. A quick search also turned up a few spare batteries while Lamp found a rifle one of the SHORAD soldiers had. Noticing a shift in the brightness, the two looked up and spotted patches of blue starting to pierce through the haze. "Shit, we're running out of time..."

"Now for the hard part..." Mere mumbled as the two approached the refinery. "The hell would the changing room be in a place like this..."

"Uhm... Mmm... I might have an idea... Follow me," Lamp said as he started to walk ahead. Mere followed close behind being on alert for any personnel that might have stayed behind. For the most part, she thought that the civilians would have cleared out but that would leave the military to stay and tend to the wounded. If they could go through without seeing anyone that would be perfect but Mere's only been taught that Murphy and his brother starting with a Q and rhymed with diet is a bitch. As the two snuck around the refinery, Lamp seemed to ignore most of the buildings around them and was heading directly to an unassuming smaller building off to the side. Glancing around, the two looked at the door handle before glancing at each other. Mere nodded her head at him to open it as she readied her pistol. Slumping his shoulders as if sighing, Lamp gently grasped the handle and pulled the door ajar slightly taking a peak in before just opening fully.

"No one's in, get in," he quickly said in a hushed voice as he walked on in. Following after him, Mere quietly shut the door behind them before she let out a sigh of relief. It was surprisingly cool inside and it was a welcome change to the hot sandy mess outside. Pulling her face mask down, she wiped her mouth seeing the rows of lockers in front of them all with a small combination lock of sorts with the majority being a cheap combination dial. Taking a seat on one of the benches Mere smirked as she looked at Lamp in surprise.

"How'd you know it would be here and none of the other buildings around here?"

"Ah, well my Dad used to work at a refinery similar to this in Osea. He'd bring me to work some times and I figured it would be somewhere around here. The trick is the heat exchangers on the roof of a 1 story small building. Keeps moral up to change in a nice cool environment," Lamp explained as he started to fish around the trash can in the back.

"Well, that strange piece of info did come in handy," Mere chuckled before sucking in a breath as she went to check on her wound. For the most part, it seemed like the bleeding had stopped but it wasn't a pretty sight seeing blood soaking through the bandages. "What are you doing even?"

"Well, looking for the key," Lamp explained when he pulled out a soda can. Raising an eyebrow, she motioned with her hand to continue. "Key to all these dial locks. If Pick was shot down with us, this would be up his alley, and have them all open before I could finish this sentence. But he is still up there kicking and screaming so I need to improvise."

"With a soda can though? Can't you just... Smack them with the butt of the gun?"

"Too much noise," he countered before she started to slice up the can with the pocket knife. "But, he did teach me a few tricks in exchange for some information." Looking up from her inspection, she saw Lamp cut out a small sliver of the can. Getting up he walked over to one of the locks giving it a tug first before he played with the dial a bit rotating it clock wise and then counter clock wise. Clicking his tongue he slotted the metal shim he just made between the shackle and the lock body. A few seconds of struggle later the locks dropped down surprising Mere. "And this is why you don't cheap out on locks."

"With a soda can?"

"With a soda can," Lamp smirked as he opened up the locks and quickly the wallet that was stored in. "Unfortunately for you Mr..." opening it he peered at the driver's license, "Pierre Galland... But this money is needed else where." Reaching in, he pulled out some cash before throwing the wallet back inside and grabbing the duffle bag that was stuffed in there as well.

"Well... Good work with that," Mere clapped a bit before she pulled out the radio and the CSEL to work on her project. "Mind opening the rest? Seems like you've got the magical touch." She didn't look up as she first swapped the batteries on the radio and started to move through the settings. Giving her a nod Lamp started to move from locker to locker popping the locks off one by one and rifling through their contents. Bottles of water, socks, and other simple articles of clothing like a white undershirt and pants. Taking the clean clothes he'd look them over and compare it to his body when he glanced over at Mere. Chewing his lip a bit, he studied her figure a bit and tried his best to pick out some clothes that would fit her. It would be best for them to get out of their olive flight suits and blend in more with civilian clothing and Lamp was thankful that Mere's build was quite large for a woman so she'd fit in most of these clothes with ease. Mere all the while was wracking her brain trying to remember what frequency and code they tuned their radios to earlier in the day. Trying one, she only got static in return while another gave a whole lot of nothing. Letting out a frustrated sigh she looked inquisically at a set of clothes that Lamp had suddenly dropped on her leg.

"These might be able to fit you," he said before he walked back to the opposite corner of her and sat down turning his back to her. "Get changed first. And don't worry, I won't look."

"What are we, middle schoolers?" Mere scoffed a bit. "But thanks. If you did look I'd knock you out and leave you on your own."

"Wait, really?" Lamp turned his head slightly before he quickly straightened it.

"No, but your cheek will be red for a few days." Unzipping, Mere quickly got out of her bloodied flight suit and was honestly a bit excited to get back into something that felt normal. The penal unit only provided them with these stuffy old flight suits as articles of clothing so it's refreshing to be able to get into a pair of jeans and a button-up shirt. Tossing her flight suit over, she sat back down to continue plugging away at the radio. "I'm good, you can change now."

"Almost feels like we're back in civilian life," Lamp mused as he got out of his flight suit. "Like we've just got some leave time."

"Wish the situation was different but can't really complain too much. Could be worse."

"Ah, now there. That. Don't say that. You'll jinx us," Lamp looked up to Mere who just shook her head as she knocked on the wooden bench she was sitting on as more static came through the radio.

"Blasted... Was the last number 113 or 131?"

"Wasn't it 331?"

"331..." Plugging away, she entered the new frequency and to her joy, a voice actually came through this time.

"I'm still alive! Haahaa!" Weasle's jovial laughter came through. "I guess Tabloid didn't have such a bad idea after all!"

"Mmm... Stick with Trigger, and you'll make it," Mere responded through the radio hearing more cheers when it went silent. Looking down concerned that it broke, Mere saw that the frequency was still there and the radio had power when it suddenly exploded with questions.

"Howtire?!"

"Holy shit she's alive!"

"Hey is Lamp with you?!"

"Easy easy, one at a time jeeze," Mere sighed. "Lamp's with us, we're both fine. Both banged up but doing all right. We're currently in the refinery."

"The refinery?" Count asked. "What are you doing in there?"

"Money and clothes. We scrounged like... 118 euros so far so we can buy things at towns on our way back."

"Way back...?" Bandog suddenly asked. "Where are you going?"

"Back to Zappland... Or to friendly lines, so we can get back to Zappland," Mere explained. "We got a good thing going. Don't want to sour it by going AWOL." Looking up, she heard Lamp shuffle about stuffing their flight gear and other supplies in two separate duffles. Grabbing both, he bought one over to her and plopped it down in front of her before he went back to grab his duffle and rifle. Stuffing the CSEL into a pocket, she kept the radio in hand as she shouldered her bag. Passing by an open locker she noticed a small hand hirror which she quickly grabbed and stuffed into her duffle. "We're currently on the move to go secure some form of transportation."

Pushing open the door, the two glanced around seeing if anyone was around. "If you guys got the fuel, it would be nice to have you around in case things go South."

"I've got plenty of fuel. It's just flying circles around the refinery," Tabloid chirped first.

"No air-to-ground munitions, but I've got plenty of cannon rounds left," Trigger spoke up next.

"Ground pipper still works and the dust is settling around the refinery... I will do what I can," Count followed up when the rest of the squad agreed. Glancing at Lamp he seemed a bit shocked but had a smile on his face.

"Rag tag group of convicts huh," he chuckled as the two continued to walk.

"Might use you guys as a show of force. I'll keep that in-" Mere paused as she suddenly heard foot steps behind them come to a stop. Turning, her eyes widened a bit as there was now a man standing behind them. On his shoulder, she could make out the orange crest of Erusea.

"Hé, vous deux, ne bougez plus!" he shouted as he went to draw his sidearm. Grabbing Lamp's arm, she suddenly dove into a separate corridor as the soldier behind them took a few shots at them.

"Huh? Was that gunfire?" Roofer asked.

"We can't exactly support you if we don't know where you are," Tabloid nervously said as he circled the refinery.

"Just give us a second!" Mere hissed into the radio as the crack of rounds suddenly flew over their heads. Lamp turned around briefly seeing the soldier had taken up a spot where the two just were and took a few more shots at them. Raising his rifle, he responded with a few shots of his own to push him back into cover before running after Mere.

"Hotwire, take a left up ahead!" Lamp shouted when two more figures appeared in front of them down the walkway. Mere raised her pistol taking a few shots at the two new targets managing to hit one of them in the shoulder and the leg while the other one pulled back into cover before pulling his injured buddy into cover as well. Ducking left at an intersection, the two kept running while Lamp fiddled with his own CSEL switching it onto GPS mode. "My CSEL is on GPS, can Bandog see us?"

"Bandog, are you receiving our coordinates?" Mere yelled as the two continued to run through the hallways there were more shouts of Erusean were heard coming from behind them.

"Ah, data received, updating your HUD now," Bandog announced to the group. Overhead Mere could hear the roar of jet engines fly overhead.

"What the... They're bouncing all over the place. The hell are you two, the Flash or something?" Dookie commented as on his end, their marker was bouncing about the facility.

"Can't reliably provide CAS with this data," Tabloid nervously said. "Too afraid I'll hit Wire and Lamp down there."

"Trying to clean up the data, give me a second. Just, fly low and make a lot of noise!" Bandog growled. "And you, relay to high command of our current situation about the downed pilots."

"Righto, just like the good ol' days," Count laughed a bit. "We've had a lot of practice doing that. Come on now, follow me in!" Mere heard the rumble of a jet rolling in before the roar of multiple fighters rattled in their chests and the structures around them. All in all, it seemed to be somewhat effective as the Erusean chatter behind them were getting louder and more panicked.

"Hé, hé, tu penses que c'est Trois Coups au-dessus!?"

"What the..." Lamp glanced back as the two continued to run. "The hell are they saying..."

"I wish I knew some Erussean about now," Mere groaned as they rounded another corner.

"Uh, well I got a C in that class but they're saying... something about three strikes?" Lamp said as they finally made their way out of the refinery and into the civilian lot. "Either way, what now?"

"Why are you asking me!?"

"Well, you've come up with the plan so far!" Lamp shouted as a round cracked above their heads and smacked a light post near them. Cursing, Lamp pushed Mere to the left getting out of the line of fire. Spotting another destroyed VADS, the two rushed over and got behind the destroyed vehicle. Peaking out, Mere ducked back as bullets slammed into the aluminum armor.

"Ah, how does it go... FAC... Air... Ah fuck it, we need air support now!" Mere shouted over the radio before she leaned out taking a few potshots at the approaching enemy force.

"Yeah, uh... How? We don't know where you are." Tabloid circled above the refinery blind as a bat. His hands tightened on his controls as he heard the gun fire through the radio and it sickened him that he couldn't do anything but watch.

"Uh... Magnet! I remember Magnet also had some Mav's and a pod on his Hornet! I think Dookie had one as well," Lamp suddenly shouted to Mere. Nodding, she suddenly shoved the radio into his hands while she went to dig into her duffle

"Contact them! I'll try something else!" she said as her hands rifled through trying to find that mirror she got earlier. Finding it, she began to scan the sky trying to pick out any fighter that was circling above when she spotted Trigger's F-15. Lining up her offhand with his plane, she used the mirror to reflect the sunlight onto her hand before flicking it hopefully over Trigger's plane. She flinched as bullets pounded the Gavin's armor and skipped off the ground.

"Ah, I found them! They're by a smoking AA vehicle!" Magnet called over the radio when Trigger's plane rolled and pulled around. "I also see multiple other heat signatures approaching them!"

"Confirmed, I see a flashing light from the smoking vehicle," Trigger confirmed.

"Spare-3, I got a visual as well."

"Just spray anything near the refinery!" Lamp tried to take a peak to see how close the Erusean soldiers were getting. He saw that they were slowly moving their way up but all seemed to have noticed the jets that were coming in. Panic seemed to grip the soldiers as Trigger was the first to dive in.

"Targeting the edge of the refinery, keep your heads down," he said cooly as he lined the pipper before squeezing the trigger. The air shook around Mere as the 20mm high explosive rounds started to pepper the ground. Covering her ears it sounded like a string of fireworks was being set off when a quick high-pitched VRRRRRRT followed as Trigger flew overhead, the rumble of his engines rattling their chest.. Keeping her head down, she saw both High Roller, Count, and Tabloid come in for a strafe of their own. As soon as the two flew past, everything was earily quiet. Taking a peak, Mere could no longer see any Erussean soldiers bearing down on them and for the most part, the front of the refinery was covered in a cloud of sand and dust.

"Hey, hey you two still alive?!" Tabloid asked over the radio. "Count didn't accidentally hit you two did he?"

"Wha- Please, I'm a much better ain than that!" Count countered. "I didn't hit you two… right?"

"Holy shit, so this is what infantry feels like to have air support. Good effect on the target it seems!" Lamp announced on the radio which was followed by a few cheers. Mere closed her eyes thanking her lucky stars that they could get out of this situation as unscathed as they did. Looking down at her pistol, she saw the slide was locked back and her hands were trembling. Hitting the mag release, she grabbed a fresh mag and fumbled the reload as she initially missed before inserting it into the gun dropping the slide. Rubbing her eyes with her free hand she let out a sigh trying to calm herself.

"Come on, let's find a ride before they decide they want to be brave again." She tapped Lamp's back as she started to jog into the lot of cars. They had a few key fobs they pulled from the lockers which Mere pulled out and started trolling for any vehicles they belonged to. In a few minutes, she already went through two keys seeing either they were damaged from shrapnel or were smacked with a few stray bullets from the earlier firefight when she came across a jeep. "Well, talk about cliche..." she mumbled to herself as she did a quick once around before she whistled over to Lamp who was looking over some Mercedes. Jogging on over, he had a sour look as he looked at the car Mere had found.

"Come on, the Jeep? Why not run something a bit more comfy and luxurious like that Merc?"

"And stand out like a sore thumb? No thanks," Mere opened the rear door tossing her duffle into the back seat. "Uninteresting and boring. That's what I want."

"But the Merc's right there! Fully gassed and untouched! C63 AMG! AMG Hotwire!" Lamp gestured to the black car. His eyes tracked Mere as she went over to the driver-side door and stopped looking at Lamp. He threw his hands at the Merc again trying to find another reason but sighed as he opened the rear passenger door and threw his duffle in. "You're no fun."

"Atta boy," Mere smirked as she got in. "Bandog, this is Spare... Mmm... Surplus-1, we've found ground transport."

"Surplus? Couldn't think of a better name," Count scoffed.

"Hmph, either way, as you know we can't dispatch SAR assets this deep into Erussea to pick you up here. However, high command has informed me that if you head East to the town of Arpione. You will meet assets that will be able to extract you to friendly lines. They say that... At noon, hang out at the Windmill Dinner and you should make contact with them."

"We've got ground units this deep?" Lamp looked over at Mere as she started the car up.

"Arpione huh? Can't be that hard to find," Mere mused a bit. "Copy Bandog. Thanks for staying on top of the situation."

"Just make sure you two get your asses back to base. Because of you two, I've got a lot of paperwork to fill out," Bandog growled while the other pilots laughed. "Spare squadron, mission complete. Return to base."

"Hey, stay safe out there you hear?" Tabloid said. "You're in enemy territory now."

"Well, could be worse," Mere mused a bit as she started to drive out of the lot. "Could be stuck in a snowstorm with two injured pilots."

"That's... strangely specific," Trigger commented. "Just get back safe, 'kay?"

"Don't worry, we will make it. We've survived the worst of it so far. Hotwire out." Mere smirked as she turned the radio off.

"So, it's just the two of us now huh...?" Lamp said as he rested his arm on the door frame of the jeep. His eyes tracked one of the destroyed AA guns they were passing by. He didn't know what to make of everything that's happened to them so far and this was just the beginning. Probably the strangest thing he thought was how calm he was considering their situation. They're behind the frontlines with only the name of a town and a direction to travel. Mere still is injured and now they have to road trip through hostile territory to reach some probable special forces units to make it back to their side of the continent. Sitting in silence he glanced back watching the burning refinery slowly grow smaller and smaller as they drove on.

"Meredith," Mere suddenly said breaking the silence. Lamp looked over at her a bit confused.

"What?"

"Name's Meredith," she said again glancing at Lamp, "You can go with Meredith or Mere, doesn't really matter too much." Taking his silence as a sign of confusion she continued, "We can't just be going around using our tac names if we're to go about mingling with the locals on our little trip."

"Meredith huh... Would have taken you as more of a Cindy type of person," Lamp let off a dry laugh.

"Oh please," Mere let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well... Names Terrence. Or Reymond, my middle name. Either or is fine with me. Honestly been a while since I've had someone call me by that name," Lamp ran a hand through his hair before he let off a light chuckle. "This will be the most freedom we've had in a long time..."

"Terance or Reymond... Well, nice to meet you T-Ray. Just be prepared. Who knows what we'll find ahead," Mere smirked as they continued down the desert highway.