Winds of Desperation

[VandalHeart]

As the wet heat wafted up to the shuttle from the Thracian Sea, Master Sergeant Chase Kreigan wondered how the engineers knew how to let in humidity through the force door, but not lazrounds. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that he was going through hot territory in an unarmed shuttle with a snide bitch of an Air Superiority Command officer only to be assigned a fucking desk job. He had told her that this area was bad to go through. High on her throne of mission commander, like most ASC Captains, she hadn't listened to a single word he'd said. With the scouts losing track of five units of these invaders, they could be anywhere, and this area was the most likely. They were walking into a kill zone, and he just knew it. He had de- and reassembled his pulse rifle a total of twenty-seven times before finally giving up and deciding to sit back and ignore rather than enjoy the ride.

 

[Hikari]

Captain Alexia Watsger

A look of satisfaction crossed her face as they neared the landing area. All was going according to plan in her eyes. They would get this transport over and done with, then return to base.. The man with her was Master Sergeant Kreigan. He loved to hear himself talk, because he did nothing but try to prove that she was over looking the minor details of this simple mission. There was no reason that the transport should not go as planned, yet he rambled about gathering forces or something of that nature. She had no room for his predictions of doom and death, she had a job to do and it would be done as commanded. He was causing her some annoyance as he disassembled and reassembled his stupid toy again and again. This act was noisy and was really getting on her nerves. She didn't know why they had sent such an obvious idiot to work beside her. He was probably one of those shoot first ask questions later types. Muscle bound idiots that pretty much sold themselves out to try to find adventure in their somewhat dismal lives. She hated how he talked to her as if he knew better than she did. There was no way in hell he was going to jepordize this mission by bailing out..


"Look, if you take that transport through those areas, I'm not getting on it, Captain."


If this idiot wanted to play like this she'd play..


"Then you'll face a demotion and a court martial for failing to report to your post in a time of war, Sergeant."


He was not going to ruin this or her perfect execution of her strict orders. She didn't know exactly what they were transporting in those boxes, but it was apparently vital to the drop off area where it would be delivered. He gave her that "I'm pissed off and your a bitch" look. She'd seen it on many of the people who worked beneath her and she honestly didn't give a damn what they thought. Any minute they'd be passing into that zone..

 

[VandalHeart]

Suddenly, there was a sound like holding one's ear too close to a small rotory fan, a low pitched buzz that just wouldn't quit and go away. Kreigan reacted on instinct immediately, shouldering the pulse rifle, ready to fire. Within moments, the shuttle bucked to one side, slamming him into the force field door on the side, and showed him something that scared the holy hell out of him. Below, there was no land. Whatever had detonated behind them had shifted their course and now they were over the open ocean. At the speed they were going, they would be far outside of swimmable distance back to the mainland in only a few seconds. The shuttle bucked again as the pilot tried to compensate for the violent turn, and the shuttle began to gain altitude. Chase knew the shuttle wasn't rated to go that high, and the drive back down was going to be rough...probably fatal. Resisting the building Gs, he climbed over to Captain Watsger and pulled her out of the seat. Even while they were under attack, this slitch was still fighting him. It seemed every time he tried to keep anyone out of danger - including her - she just wanted to piss him off. He got her over his shoulder right about the time the engines cut in the low pressure and they levelled up. He figured he had about thirty seconds before the shuttle acheived terminal velocity and it would be as if they were in zero gravity. He reached out for Captain Watsger's aide, but the stupid rookie was too scared and clung to the support handles behind his head, screaming for all he was worth. He started to mess with the buckle to get him loose, but that tingle started to rise in his gut and he knew he didn't have enough time. This kid just killed himself. Thinking quickly, Kreigan sat Watsger on her feet, and tied her to himself with the tandem straps. She wasn't fighting as much now. She felt what was happening and must have realized that he was saving her life. He popped the parachute out of it's pouch on his back and then hit the force field release button. The cabin instantly filled with ripping winds and the parachute filled, pulling them both out and into the open air. Kreigan looked up and saw that the parachute was a bright orange. Activating the cloaking device, he watched as the material disappeared. Watsger held on tightly to him, unable to see the horrible blessing that was unfolding before his eyes. On one hand they were going to splash down in water very near to an island, which meant that they weren't going to die. On the other hand, however, the shuttle was about to plow right into the back end of the same island. Chase pressed the Captains head into his shoulder, forgetting who she was and remembering only for a moment that she was still a woman, as the sound of rending steel and exploding fuel cell filled the air. She tried to turn and look, but he held her tight so that she could see their fellow soldiers die. He even tried to close his own eyes, but they wouldn't obey.

 

[Hikari]

Everything had happened so quickly. The plane was thrown off course, and everything was thrown into ultimate disaster before she could blink. She'd desperately tried to fix the problem, but Sergeant Kreigan pulled her from her seat. She kicked and fought convinced there was something she could do. She struggled, then realized what was happening as he put her down and tied her quickly to himself. She found herself clinging to him as he jumped from the plane. They began gliding downward towards the water as he held her to him making her unable to see the destruction. They soon touched down and he managed to release her from him before swimming to shore. She was wet and but a fraction of her former self. Her well pulled back hairdo was now non-existant and her uniform a mess. She was dripping wet and her hair loose and around her face. She trudged onto the shore cursing herself on the inside. She sat on the shore as Kreigan came up the shore soon after. No amount of apology could make up for what had happened. People had just died because of her judgement error and she was starting to crack as she held her knees to her body placing her head down. Sergeant Kreigan had every right to say something along the lines of,I told you so, but he didn't.

 

[VandalHeart]

As Kreigan crawled up on the shore, he popped out the rangefinder on his pulse rifle to make sure they weren't being followed. Nothing. He dropped the gun to his side and flopped down on the beach. The sun beat down on him mercilessly.

"At least I wore my BDUs instead of my dress uniform," he said. Then he remembered that the Captain was in dress uniform. "Oh...sorry."

What does one say in a situation like this? He didn't feel right telling her that she should have listened to him. That was blazingly obvious. There was no point in telling her that. Best thing to do really, was keep moving. So he got back up.

"Let's get going. This beach won't be safe for long. Get up, we need to take cover in the trees."

 

[Hikari]

"Let's get going. This beach won't be safe for long. Get up, we need to take cover in the trees."


She got to her feet and was glad she'd atleast worn something underneath her uniform top besides a bra, but she was still stuck with the problem of being in a skirt and having lost her shoes in the ocean. They may have been dress shoes, but who knew what was lurking on that forest floor. She walked into this forest with him and started to remove her outer layers of clothing down to an undershirt as the unsuspecting mid day heat started beating down on them. Her feet were already starting to get beat up as her thin stockings became easily torn up and provided little protection.



"So what are we going to do now? The plane is down in god knows what condition and we have to find a way to contact the base! Are you listening to me?"



She had to keep talking otherwise she would lose it completely and the complete impact of what had happened would hit her fully..

 

[VandalHeart]

When he heard the first sound of her discarded clothes hitting the forest floor, he immediately turned and picked it up, handing it to her. Almost shoving it in her chest, but he was in battle psychology at the moment. Niceties had no place here.

"Don't leave a trail for them to follow. As for your question, we're finding a suitable shelter if we can. We need to stay clear of the wreckage. The more we can distance ourselves from the crash, the better. We need to imply that we don't exist."

All he could really hope for was that she had seen some ground combat at some point in her career. Judging from her actions before boarding the aircraft, that wasn't likely.

 

[Hikari]

He shoved her discarded clothing into her arms and felt that frustration fill her again.


"Don't leave a trail for them to follow. As for your question, we're finding a suitable shelter if we can. We need to stay clear of the wreckage. The more we can distance ourselves from the crash, the better. We need to imply that we don't exist."


"You have to be kidding.. If you haven't noticed, I'm walking through here barefoot. We have no supplies and no way of communicating our location. While you are ready for anything, I am in less then proper attire for this. So unless you intend upon making unneeded stops from foot wounds I would suggest we go to that wreckage atleast once."


He was seemingly turning a deaf ear to her comments. She tried not to think about the fact that all she had was the clothes on her back, that they had no food, and that it would be dark in about 5 hours from now..


"Are you listening to me at all?"

 

[VandalHeart]

"13-2," he said. He could almost hear the look of confusion on her face. "It's ancient transportation code. It means just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

Right about then, he saw a cave. It was mostly covered by vines, and the rocks in front would be a problem getting around to enter, but it would be a suitable shelter. He turned to head that way.

"Look, they know they shot us down, and that smoke stack is going to give them a perfect location to check on it. If we go over there right now, we'll be walking into a kill zone." He didn't say "another" kill zone. He didn't have to.

 

[Hikari]

"Look, they know they shot us down, and that smoke stack is going to give them a perfect location to check on it. If we go over there right now, we'll be walking into a kill zone."


This had to be by far the worst day she'd ever had. She nearly at her breaking point. They were stranded with no supplies and no shelter. In addition to her problems she was stuck with someone she'd rather not be stranded with. Some of the women working under her liked those kinds of guys. He was reckless in her eyes, reckless and somehow suddenly right. Although she had somewhat of a dislike for this man, she could not deny that he'd been right so far. He'd also saved her life. They began walking towards what looked like a cave covered mostly in vines, with a few rocks in front of it. Her first thought was, "He can't be seriously considering this as a shelter.." Who knew what could be living in there..



"So what now?"

 

[VandalHeart]

"We set up a base camp inside this cave, but first, we clear it for habitability."

She seemed to not like this idea much, but this was the only thing there was to do. They had to find shelter and they had to find it fast. In a way, since they found it so quickly, the cave became their only viable option. Pulling up the pulse rifle once more from his side, he pointed it down the long, musty corridor. Not that Chase knew she was, but Alexia was right: they had no idea what might be living down there.

He pressed inside, flilcking on the flashlight tucked under the gun barrels. Searching around, Chase found that the cave only went in for about thirty feet. There was, in fact, nothing living in there. Siding the gun, he turned to the Captain.

"We'll go get what we can from the shuttle the day after tomorrow. Untiil then, we need to live off of the land as much as we can. You did prelims on the vegetation and animal lilfe on this rock, right?" She nodded. "OK, I have some field matches, and they will last until we can get the fusion torch out of the shuttle, so what do we have to look foreward to cooking and eating here? More importantly, does the water have anything in it that boiling won't take care of?"

 

[Hikari]

"We'll go get what we can from the shuttle the day after tomorrow. Untiil then, we need to live off of the land as much as we can. You did prelims on the vegetation and animal lilfe on this rock, right?" She nodded. "OK, I have some field matches, and they will last until we can get the fusion torch out of the shuttle, so what do we have to look foreward to cooking and eating here? More importantly, does the water have anything in it that boiling won't take care of?"


"Well most of the fish here are edible. Infact the ones that are most available here are a delicacy in other areas where they are not as plentiful. It used to be a major export before the war began brewing here. There's basic wildlife on the land, mostly birds. Not many major predatory threats except for talk of a pack of domesticated dogs that went wild overtime, but that was said to be on the mainland.. We do need to watch out for a plant with something that looks like purple flowers on it. While it's said not to be deadly, it's supposed to have a strange effect on the nervous system. The ancient people from the mainland would gather it for use in some kind of fertility ceremony. Anyway, we should be pretty good with food and water assuming you can hunt without your toy"



Kreigan rolled his eyes a bit and they began clearing the vines and stuff from the front of the cave. After about 15 minutes both were sweating from the heat, but were finished. Alexa ducked inside the cave and sat on a rock out of the sunlight. It was nice and cool inside compared to the area just outside. She tore a strip from the bottom of her skirt and used it to tie back her hair. Laying her head back against the cave wall she realized she would just have to wait this thing out and not piss him off too much. She couldn't hunt if her life depended on it and who knew how long they'd be stuck together before someone from their base came looking for the wreck.

 

[VandalHeart]

Once settled, Chase sat back and relaxed. There wasn't much to do except wait a few days for the time it would most likely take the invaders to check the wreckage. He soon fell asleep, the pulse rifle on his side, finger still in the trigger hold. His drill instructor would have screamed up a storm in his face, but he was paranoid. Besides, his paranoia had saved him and many others in the past.

Around midnight, he began talking in his sleep.

"...close flank... ready weapons... spotters... sir...reccommend withdrawal... no... sir there's... children..."

At the sound of an explosion in his dreams, Kreigan woke pointing the rifle straight ahead. Luckily he didn't fire, even though no one was in front of him. It was storming outside, the rain coming down in heavy sheets. He wiped his face of the layer of sweat that had built up, then noticed Watsger, staring at him.

 

[Hikari]

The rain touched the earth, beating down heavily outside their shelter. The idiot was sleeping like a baby and clutched his gun while doing so. Seeing his finger on the trigger made her a bit uneasy, but she just sat their watching the rain as it began to get dark. It was strange. There was a wonderful smell in the air. Fragrant and wonderful, it seemed to suddenly capture all of her attention. She then looked over at Kreigan and saw something different than she had before. She saw his chest rise and fall and fully took in this vision. How did she not notice he was this attractive before? Sure he was a trigger happy idiot, but he was a hot trigger happy idiot.. It had been years since she'd been with a man.. Not since high school. What was she thinking?


"Keep it together Alex.. It's just the heat and possibly the stress that you've had today."


He started tossing and turning in his sleep. It was as if he was reliving moments from a battle he'd fought. Whatever had happened then, must've been bad. He was even talking in his sleep. It seemed to be escalating..


"...close flank... ready weapons... spotters... sir...reccommend withdrawal... no... sir there's... children..."


He woke with a start, pointing his rifle forward, then looked at her.


"Are you alright?"


There was actual concern in her voice and for one moment her facade fell away and she looked like a regular woman.

 

[VandalHeart]

Chase sized her up for a moment. She looked like an actual person for once, not just some pissy flygirl. Nearly everything inside him wanted to tell her to go fuck herself, but he couldn't be angry at those eyes right now. Not after that memory.

"It's nothing. Bad dream. Did I miss anything?"

He couldn't supress the heavy breathing, but the cave was dark, so he hoped she wouldn't notice.

 

[Hikari]

"It's nothing. Bad dream. Did I miss anything?"

"No nothing, just the rain.."


She felt placid for once as the rain fell heavily. It was something she couldn't explain. He was breathing heavily and she felt sudden sympathy for him, but he probably hated things like that, so she looked away. That smell was so fragrant in the air. It was so wonderful and pleasing. It made her smile. She knew he smelled it too and she looked to him and found him turning suddenly. If she didn't know better, she could swear he'd been eyeing her body. She did have to admit people saw her wearing alot more clothing than this, back at the base. The undershirt she wore clung to her body, wet with sweat. Her skirt was torn and was now shorter than before, showing the bare flesh of her leg after her stockings were discarded. Bits of hair hung down, messily in the front and her eyes seemed to shine what little light was left.

 

[VandalHeart]

He had to work really hard not to stare at her. Despite her sudden shift in personality, she was beginning to look really ragged and sexy. There was a quiet quality of wildness about her all of a sudden. He tried to close his eyes, but his imagination was running wild wiith thoughts of what he wanted to do to her. There was still a part of him that was angry about this whole situation, and he wanted to make her pay for it somehow. Coupled with his sudden lust for her, he knew he was starting to go too far, even if it was only in his head. He had to distract himself somehow.

"So, I guess you've never seen action like this before."

All he could think was: 'Great. Small talk. And you said "action" too. Now you sound like a jarhead.'

 

[Hikari]

"So, I guess you've never seen action like this before."


"No, not really.." she said with an unexplained awkwardness in the air.."



She'd never had action in any sense of the word. Her life had been pretty boring. She was what most would call an indoor girl. There was always one thing she'd been good at and that was excelling at anything she tried. Before she knew it, her childhood, preteen, and teenage years were gone in a blur of awards and good grades. Sometimes she'd wake up and wonder where all the time went.


"I guess you could say I've lived a pretty sheltered life. I guess I became a pilot to try and change that, but I guess I'm still what you would call a stiff and a workaholic.."


He looked at her again and actually seemed to be listening for once. Why was she telling him these things. Her mind seemed to shift to the people she'd failed today and her smile fell. They'd all died because of her blind confidence in the orders and the information she'd been given. She knew it would not help to cry, but she took a deep breath and tried to repress that feeling. She could not display any weakness to him, when he probably thought so little of her already.


"How about you? Why did you join?"

 

[VandalHeart]

A pilot. Great. He knew she was ASC, but he didn't know she was a pilot. A flygirl. No wonder she acted so green. She could have a thousand kills from a cockpit of a twin ion fighter and she'd still never know what it was like to be in the mix. Responsible for who knows how many deaths, and never known what it was like to kill someone. There was a reason grunts like him didin't like pilots, and that was it. They had no idea what it was really like to go to war.

"I joined right out of secondaries. I grew up on Kelthon, and not on the rich side of the colony. My grades sucked, but I had high phys-apt and leadership scores, so they recruited me before I was even a freshman. I pretty much spent my entire high school life gearing up for being a soldier."

As they sat talking, the storm raged outside. Just as he finished talking, a cold sensation hit his butt. He looked down and saw the puddle forming beneath him.

"Aw, goddamnit. The cave is starting to flood. Find a high point, otherwise you'll have a wet ass, like me."

She got up and started looking for another place to sit, and he just looked around for something to dry hihis pants. He stopped once he realized, 'hey, stupid, the technician hasn't come by with the dryer hookups, let alone the washer or tv connectioins - you might just have to slum it for a while...just a thought.' Justly, he felt like an idiot.

"You know, as stupid as it sounds, you shouldn't blame yourself too much. I mean, they were soldiers. You sign up for this job knowing that there could be a fatal circumstance. Besides, if your aide hadn't panicked, he'd be here right now."

Later in his life, Chase Kreigan would write in his memoirs about how stupid it is to insult someone you hardly knew in front of someone who knew them very well.

 

[Hikari]

"You know, as stupid as it sounds, you shouldn't blame yourself too much. I mean, they were soldiers. You sign up for this job knowing that there could be a fatal circumstance. Besides, if your aide hadn't panicked, he'd be here right now."


He was right, but she couldn't help being a little disgusted at his words. She pulled her bent legs to her chest and stared at the storm. The kid had only been 19 and now it was all over. She knew she looked weak to him at the moment, but that feeling of hopelessness seemed almost overwhelming. She was stuck here with some guy she barely knew and had no idea how they were going to get back to base or even off this island. She knew it was a sensitive area and that even now they couldn't be sure they were completely safe.



"I guess we'll be stuck here awhile.."

 

[VandalHeart]

He could read the anger and pain on her face. Instantly he felt like a nice big steaming pile of shit.

"You don't have to make small talk with me. I know I'm an asshole." As an after thought, and to change the subject, he asked, "Have you gotten any sleep yet?"

He didn't know exactly what he was going to do to help facilitate her getting any sleep, but he felt he needed to. Like it was the honorable thing to do.

 

[Hikari]

"You don't have to make small talk with me. I know I'm an asshole."


She winced a bit at his words. It was a difficult position for anyone to be in and she really hadn't done anything to make it better, but what could either of them really do at the moment..


"Have you gotten any sleep yet?"

"Not really, I haven't tried. Perhaps I should thought.. It helps neither one of us if we suffer from sleep deprivation.."


She found that the rocks she was sitting on blocked water from wetting the ground as much in the area behind them.



"I'll try and rest a bit here, and don't worry about keeping watch as much. Nobody is going to come after us in this weather. It'll probably be like this through early morning."


She crumbled up her white dress shirt and put it beneath her head and tried in vain to cover her cold legs with her uniform jacket. She somehow a slightly restless sleep, her uniform jacket slipping from her body as she turned slightly towards him in her sleep. Her chest rising and falling with each breath.. What was left of her skirt had pushed up in an awkward fashion from movement, and displayed a generous amount of bare flesh. Although it just fell short of it, a bit more movement could put her underwear on display. Yet she slept soundly, unaware of her extreme wardrobe malfunction..