Leadership
Legacy Name: Leadership

Kuzane was never supposed to be much of an issue. She was supposed to take a small team to escort a bunch of scientists to test the soil and see if the colony could extend south with the Terraforming kit. It was to be simple, if a bit cold and she wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary, maybe some wild animals skulking about but nothing worse than that. The Navy had wanted her down there to meet the security team and show face - Kuzane was a popular planet for investors of all the Galactic species so having a Commander on the ground was reassuring to them.
Well...maybe not anymore.

She ducks down lower behind the rubble she's using as cover, checks the gun in her hands. Its dirty and coated with a thin layer of ice already despite having rattled off a good several rounds earlier. Beside her sits the officer in charge of the security detail on the planet, a loud-mouth Lieutenant who had pulled her ass out of fire twice now. She had yet to catch her name, only her rank as show on the side of her armour. The Lt glances around the corner briefly and pulls back just in time to avoid her face being blasted off by a laser. It scorches the earth for several metres, leaving it almost glowing and clear of ice.
"There's five I can see, possible seven with the size of the cover they have on the right. How's your rifle holding up?"
Siobhan glances down again and feels her stomach drop. She'll be lucky to even take out two guys with this hunk of junk, let alone a whole bloody slaver ship. She rubs her gloved hand over the barrel, pushing the ice away and flicks it on again. It hums then creaks like the metal of the ship when they dock. It was barely a step up from holding a hunk of scrap metal in her hands. The Lt tilts her head to one side, visor aimed down at the weapon, although it was hard to determine what she was actually looking at. "If it doesn't blow up in my face, I can maybe take down two or three. The sight is shot and the barrel is slightly warped so the power capacity is off - I'll need at least three shots to kill at this range. I might as well just run at them and beat them to death with it."
She hears a snort through speaker in her helmet and the Lt is looking at her. She swears the stranger is looking her dead in the eyes but with the tinted visors, who the fuck knows. A shiver runs down her spine none-the-less and she grips the useless gun a little tighter.
"If you'll permit me to make a suggestion, Commander, I think I have a plan." The tone in her voice has changed, something slightly darker, quieter which she can tell is strange even from knowing this other officer for such a short time. Curious, she nods her consent and the other woman settles back on her heels. "Take my rifle, provide cover from here. I'll move down the right flank with my pistol, its their least protected side. If I can take out the big guy, he's got a very nice looking shotgun on his hip that'll be perfect for the close quarters that are sure to come next. With me causing chaos down there, that should throw them off enough for you to head to better cover and start working on the left side. If we can at least take this lot out, we can start planning our next move to get back to the control tower and radio for help." The silence settles and some of the debris around them starts crumble as their enemy tries to flush them out with a few shots. Siobhan hates the plan - it puts the Lt at unnecessary risk and leaves her as a support role, something she hasn't been for a long time. She's used to leading the charge in battle, directing the flow. This was a strange change of pace but she had to admit, the plan had merit - the Lt was in a better suit of armour, could take more close-contact damage. She also knew the terrain better, having been stationed here for the past several months, giving her an advantage. As much as she hated this, Siobhan had to take the back seat on this one.
"Sounds like the only course of action that gives us a fighting chance." She dumps the useless gun to the side and accepts the scoped rifle from the Lt, surprised at the weight of it - or lack thereof. "Carbon?"
The Lt nods excitably, reaching over to press into the switch to extend the scope and barrel. "Modded. I've spent a lot of creds keeping the old girl up to date. Same rifle I was given straight out of basic. You wouldn't notice it now." There's pride in her voice and they spend the next few seconds quickly going over the extra mods the Lt had given the weapon. They're all relatively useful, including a thermal option on the scope and a small latch that swapped the ammo over to armour piercing rounds, though those were in short supply. The grenade launcher would have been handy if they actually had any grenades.
"Right. I guess I'll see you on the other side, no matter the outcome, eh?" The Lt pulls out her pistol and flicks it on, letting it warm up some super-heated rounds. The frozen atmosphere was the perfect place to use such rounds without worrying about overheating. She pauses for a moment, tense and ready to spring out from behind cover but doesn't actually do anything. Siobhan belated realises she's waiting for an order.
"Make us proud, Lieutenant. See you on the other side."

The next several minutes feel like hours and Siobhan had to watch the other officer's movements through her scope. Eventually the gunshots die down and everything falls into a very unsettling silence. No one moves, all sides too scared to be the first to pop off another shot, so Siobhan decides this is her cue to take another position. She rolls out of cover and is already in a strong run when the volley of bullets come her way. The Kinetic Shield produced by her armour takes the brunt of it, forcing the bullets to fall harmlessly to the ground before they could reach her although a couple embed themselves in the armour around her shins. She dives at the last moment, avoid another round and takes a few minutes to make herself comfortable when the silence settles again. The tension builds again, her whole body thrumming with adrenaline and she takes a moment to peak out of cover low to the ground. She could see a could still taking cover on the left but there was no sign of life from the right. She feels a pang of worry but drowns it out with a determination to finish this.
She swings out to the left and starts pushing down, darting from cover to cover, firing off a few shots when she can. When she's close enough she takes position and finally switches to the armour piercing rounds. They do the job and she's moving forward again, not even sparing a glance for the bodies.

She finally ducks inside the building they had been heading towards, just in time to see the Lieutenant from earlier quite literally fly through the air and tackle one of the slavers to the ground. Her pistol is missing, the shotgun attached to her back with the magnetic loops and instead of wasting ammo she's pummelling this poor sod to death with her fists.
"Stand down Lieutenant, thats quite enough!" She barks and the startled Lt scrambles off the dying man almost instantly, standing upright and to attention. The man coughs, blood soaked spittle splattering his lips and his eyes have the haze of a dead man. He'll be gone in a few seconds.
She scoops up his shotgun and ejects the ammo clips, handing them over to the only ally she has left and wordlessly begins to move through the building. She's aware of the Lt falling into step behind her, just to her right but still doesn't let her guard down. They sweep through the build easily, taking out the occasional resistance. At one point they find a room full of scared colonists and she feels her heart break when she tells them they have to stay where they are to stay safe. The Lt talks to them like old friends and settles their nerves and even takes out her first aid dispensary from her armour to give to them when she notices one of the kids is quite badly burned. It's a foolish move and completely against regulations, but she stays quiet by the door. This whole situation was a complete goddamn clusterfuck so the more civilians that got out alive, the better.

They finally make it to the top floor and just as she's about to kick the doors down and go in guns blazing, the Lt grabs her and pulls her back.
"We've got 12 in that room, maybe more. I picked up a grenade from that girl who jumped us in the stairwell so this is our ideal time to use it."
Siobhan instantly hates that plan. "There'll be civilians in there. Hostages for bartering their way out in case of a situation just like this. Could even be children."
The Lt sudden flips her visor up and Siobhan stares directly at a pair of very angry green eyes. "If they're in there, they're already dead. No matter how fucking democratic we are, they're going to die. We can surprise the enemy and blow up everything in that room or we can storm in there and let them use the terrified people as human shields. I know nearly everyone on this god forsaken ice rock but I will not hesitate to take their lives if it means we can call in support and maybe save the rest in the bunkers."
Its cold, its callous and goddamn it, its exactly what she would do if she had her own team in here.
She thinks it over for a few minutes before finding an issue. "We have a high chance of damaging the equipment."
And the Lt is quick to counter it. "I was in the Engineers before I was an officer."

She finally nods and they both take up positions on either side of the double doors. The whole operation is quick and efficient and when they blast through after the explosion all that greets them is blood and carnage. The Lt gets to work on salvaging the equipment which is thankfully not too badly knocked from the blast while she starts moving bodies into separate areas - its the least she can do for the innocent people who they sacrificed. She finds one somehow still alive, gasping in pain. There's not much left of him, and he's about to die anyway but she still raises the rifle and shoots him out of mercy. Soon after the comms are up and the Lt summons her over to put out a call.
She gets through pretty quickly - Command had seen the enemy ships in the atmosphere and had wondered what was happening, but wouldn't move in unless they knew what they were up against. There's people high than her trying to make excuses and apologise but she shoots them down pretty quickly and manages to sort out extraction and support. Just as she's about to sign off there's three loud bangs and she swings around to see the Lt crumple to the floor, three holes in her armour quickly filling up with blood.
Siobhan wastes no time, unleashes an entire clip into the enemy who had got the jump on them (he was covered in blood and soot but uninjured from what she could see, obviously had managed to hide from the blast somehow) and when she's sure he's dead she rushes over to the Lt, removing both of their helmets. She's horrified to see the fear in the Lt's eyes and quickly ejects her own medikit to get to use the stims on the wounds and hold off the bleeding until back-up arrives.
"Shit, okay. You're going to be okay. We got this fucking far, you can't die, kid I won't let you." She's panicking, scared and worried and full of disappointment. They had cut through countless fucking enemies to get here and now one of them dies because they relaxed? Its bullshit, its all so much bullshit.
The Lt mumbles but she can barely make out what she's saying. It doesn't sound like English and it doesn't sound like Galactic standard so she's not a clue what the kid is trying to say but she keeps holding her hand a quietly assuring her that its all going to be fine. The Lt starts to close her eyes, breathing crackling and oh god, oh no she's going to die she's going to fucking die.
So uh, my name is Remi. Remigius Vogt. I know, what a stupid name, blame my dad.
She stops her panic almost instantly, feels a warmth sweep through her body and a foreign presence press against the back of her mind. She's surprised - human telepaths are rare these days - but most of all she's relieved.
"Commander Siobhan Lynch. Its great to meet you properly Lieutenant. I'm...I'm so sorry."
She hears a quiet chuckle, unsure if it was in her head or physical. Eh, don't be. At least I'm going out the way I wanted, in blaze of glory. Just make sure on my stone they put "Couldn't use a shotgun to save her life." Siobhan laughs, feels prickles of tears in her eyes but holds them back. My brother is Army, in one of the ports out near the Davvy homeward. Can you make sure he knows? Inter-military comms are shit, I don't want my dad to have to tell him. They hate each other.
She nods almost furiously, feels the small trickle of tears then realises it isn't her who is crying but Remi.
You're pretty cool. Wish I could've been a Commander one day. Keep my gun, okay? She's a bit of an animal but you look like someone who can tame wild beasts with just a single look. She winks, then her eyes fall shut again. Distantly, Siobhan can hear footsteps rushing up the stairs. Her free hand tightens around the gun, ready to leap into action when she hears the callsign of one of the Galactic Marines she's worked with before.
"Randall, in here!"She calls out and soon a group of six well armoured aliens rush in, followed by one very tired looking human. He glances over the situation then turns around and waves in a medic team. Thank whatever deity that felt like sending them Randall's team and their legendary medics.
She steps back and lets them get to work, turning her attention to an old friend and getting this godforsaken frozen planet back on its feet. It takes a few days, but after helping get what few survivors remain loaded onto ships, she's told to board the Defiant II, a ship well known amongst all fleets as being the personal transport for the admiralty. She knows she's getting something for the effort on Kuzane, but never expected three medals, a promotion, a ship and a new loud-mouthed Lieutenant-Commander to help her get used to everything. Sometimes tragedies bring the best rewards, though she'd never admit that to Remi's face.

"How the fuck did you get this onto the ship?" Remi is standing there, leaning against the door with a raised brow and a look on her face that speaks of the level of confusion this has caused.
The subject of confusion is standing on her bed, tail high and eyes bright. It looks rather content, small paws kneading the starchy comforter and a happy rumble filling the air. Siobhan smiles fondly down at the little cat, scratching behind its ears. It was one of the things she had missed the most every since signing up. Her family home had been filled with pets when she was young and with no siblings she grew attached to all the different small fluffy critters she had. Gerbils, a rabbit, cats and a couple of degu made her her menagerie. Now she had her own ship, she could make the rules and a pet would be easy to hide as no one was authorised to enter her room without her present.
Well, no one apart from the woman standing there now, confusion readily morphing into amusement as she walks over to perch on the bed and pet the cat herself. "Heh, he's kinda cute. Happy little thing, a bit confused as to where he is but glad you're here it seems. You're the foody-lady apparently."
"Stay out of my cat's mind." Siobhan mutters, though she doesn't really mean it. Its strange to think that Remi got all that just from a few seconds. Still, she'd never want to be an telepath herself - she can't imagine what its like and has seen the aftermath of extensive use first hand. That thought reminds the other reason why she brought the cat onboard. "You know, they say petting a purring cat helps lower blood pressure. I wondered if it would help when you're having bad head day."
Remi hums in response and begins to take off her boots so she can lay on the bed proper. When she's finally comfortable, the cat seems to take this as an invitation and clambers onto Remi's stomach then does nothing more than sit and stare at her. She stares back for a few minutes, propped up on her elbows before chuckling and settling down with her hands behind her head. "It is sorta relaxing I guess. Reminds me of travelling on the train back home, the vibrations and all that." The cat seems to accept that his new living bed isn't going anywhere soon and curls up, tucking his paws in. "Still prefer dogs though."
Oh no she wasn't getting into this argument again. A week of shore leave and three days solid of constant arguing about why one pet was better than the other. The other species had no idea what was going on and kept out of it while the humans readily joined in supporting on side or the other. The entire ship had split and it had been so frustrating she had banned talk of pets for a good several months afterwards. Instead she gets up and begins changing out of her uniform. She knows Remi is watching, probably only with one eye open so she can fake her innocence as soon as the Captain turns around but she doesn't say anything about it. When comfy in a sleep shirt she uses her wrist console to set the ship into it's night cycle and then mutes all non-emergency transmission before climbing under the covers and stealing her cat away. Remi grumbles but uses the opportunity to kick her armoured trousers off and mimic the action then tries to pull the cat back towards her.
"I thought you liked dogs better?" Siobhan teases as she swats her LC's hands away, keeping the sleeping cat close to her body. It's curled up now, in a perfect little sphere of fluff by her stomach and Remi pouts like a child who has just been refused ice cream.
"So wait, I can't have the cat and I can't have you? This is bullshit, why am I even here? I should just go back to my own room, ugh." Instead of doing that, she rolls over so her back is facing Siobhan and pulls the covers over her. Siobhan just laughs and with a wave of her wrist turns off the lights.
She they're both starting to drift off, she murmurs sleepily "Cat people are cooler, y'know."
Neither of them get much sleep.

Basic was easy. It was all routine and following the rules, "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir." Stay clean and neat, physically and mentally and nothing can throw you off balance.
Once you were out in the field, everything learnt went to shit. The chaos of a real battle was significantly more horrific and disorientating than the simulations. Siobhan wants to scream as she watches Kipling collapse. He's missing a limb and the amount of blood is sickening. How he wasn't dead yet astounded her but she tried not to think about that much when a boulder comes flying down the cave tunnel and smashed into his skull. He drops finally then.
She fights down her lunch, dry retching for a minute until the Sergeant grabs the magnetic hook on the back of her armour and drags her down, just in time to avoid another lobbed boulder. He's the sort of guy you'd expect in the military, scarred and with the stubbly beginnings of a beard. He looks more angry than panicked, glancing up in time to see another two of the team throw themselves into a little crevice out of the way. "Zulu Hotel where are you?" His voice is strong, commanding across the channel their helmets are linked to. There's static for a while, the only noise the steady thuds as the local wildlife continues its attempt to kill them. Finally a ear-piercing screech comes out of the speakers before falling silent.
"Welp, we're on our own. Caber, get on your feet and take point. Zig-zag movements, just like you were doing earlier, throw it off. If you get close enough to see the fur, just shoot. Don't stop moving, just lift your gun up and unleash hell. Rocky, Bubbles, Scarecrow and Lock will be your support. Get moving!"
She scrambles to her feet, blood thrumming through her body, rushing through her ears like a tidal wave and she feels like she's six again, playing in the little burn outside her house then falling in face first when she slips. The sudden panic, the overwhelming feeling and the sudden calmness that came afterwards rush through her mind, a brief flashback to remind her that this was no worse than that. She had climbed out of the water that time and she'd climb out of this godforsaken cave just the same.

It was never that simple though. Rocky tripped and rolled out to provide support from behind cover while Lock took a large rock to the head and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. The other two stayed close to her, keeping pace as they moved down the increasingly narrow and dark cavern. The growling becomes louder until its pretty much shaking around inside their ribcages but they push on, through the fear, through the panic, until they see it.
The creature is colossal, easily 12ft tall and ripping chunks of the cave wall as if it were cotton candy. It's got four thick arms and only two legs and resembles a bear thats had an unfortunately run-in with a heavy dose of radiation. The face is strange, reminds her of a spider-monkey, though the extra set of eyes and two massive jaws stop it from being as cute as one. Just as the Sergeant said, as soon as their eyes adjusted and realised what they could see, her finger crashed down on the trigger and she kept running towards it. Maybe 60% of the bullets hit, striking its chest and abdomen and the creature is understandably furious. The roar it lets out makes her stomach drop and she's pretty sure she's pissed herself at some point in this whole fiasco. It suddenly turns towards their little group of three and she skids to a halt before yelling frantically. "Back the fuck up! Its going to charge!"
And charge it did, all six limbs on the ground, raring towards them with a snarl. The other two bolt, running as fast as they can, guns abandoned but she doesn't stop and instead drops to one knee, bringing the gun into her shoulder properly and firing off in burst to avoid overheating. She's got perhaps 20 seconds at most left of her life and can briefly hear various shouts telling her to get the fuck out of dodge but she doesn't waver. She's not a terribly fast runner so it would catch up with her anyway and maybe if it got her it wouldn't bother attacking the rest of the crew. She's crying, because hell, she's going to fucking die and she's only 19 and she hasn't slept with anyone or gotten blackout drunk or even got a piercing or tattoo and really, she's wasted her life up until this moment so why not go out with a goddamn bang so they can bring her body home with a flag.
In the last few seconds, the creature crashes to the ground, front legs buckled underneath its large chest and both jaws drooling blood. The momentum keeps it going though and the last thing she remembers seeing is the detail of blood-matted fur.

------

She wakes up to a searing white hot pain down the centre of her skull and she opens her mouth to scream as loud as physically possible. The instinctive action is cut short however by a second pain and slow realisation that the headache is the least of her worries. There's a tube down her throat and she begins to gag on it, panic flooding her senses and she tries to scream again, tries to fight it all because she's confused and scared and holy shit she was supposed to be dead. Her manic flailing slows to a stop, limbs heavy and sore and she tries to get her breathing under control. Nausea swells inside her stomach and she feels the fear beginning anew because how the hell was she supposed to vomit with a tube down her throat. The emotion is overwhelming and with trembling hands, she begins to pull the tubing from her throat. As it starts to shift she begins to choke and the bile churns, everything spasming from her jaw to her stomach. She retches around the intrusion, tries to pull it out quicker but suddenly there's a sharp nip on her wrists and a warmth flooding her right arm. She feebly struggles as the vomit gurgles up the tube but there's a hand gently brushing her hair from her face and that warmth has spread across her chest to the extent that she doesn't care that she's choking on her own sick. She doesn't even notice that she didn't see a single thing during this ordeal.

------

The second time she wakes up is much calmer. She groans as she awakens, throat tight and scratchy but no longer filled with an intrusive plastic tube. Her limbs feel heavy, the skin in her elbows and the backs of her hands tight and pinching. There's a deep ache through her chest, right down to the bones and it reminds her of how she felt after finishing the timed assault course back in basic.
Slowly, her eyes crack open, the lids heavy and cumbersome, as if weighed down. Her vision is blurry and she delicately lifts a hand to rub at them only to have it stop half-way by a sharp tug on the skin at the back. She huffs, twists her head to look and has to really concentrate on forcing her eyes to focus. They still can't quite get the detail but she can make out the shape of tubing and a small butterfly needle as well as some dressings. Hospital again...yay.
She closes her eyes again, tries to concentrate on the sounds and it slowly dawns on her that its actually pretty quiet for a military hospital. Either she was in the ass-crack of nowhere or they had her in a private room in a civvy hospital and she wasn't sure what one was more surprising. The monitors next to her are beeping at a steady rate and she feels herself drifting back off thanks to the quiet rhythm.
"Ah you're awake. And much calmer this time, thats good." She cracks one eye open to look at the intruder upon her peace then remembers that her vision is all kinds of wrong at the moment so leaves them shut. Her heart rate jumps though and her arms tense, soldier's instinct ingrained in her mind. The person moves about her, checking monitors and tubing but makes sure not to touch her and she's grateful for that.
"You're healing at a good rate. I'm going to need to check your eyes though, is that okay? I can get the doctor to do this instead if you would rather - you didn't try biting her last time!" He chuckles to himself and she finally opens her eyes, only to glare at him. He takes the hint and raises his hands in a placating gesture, shrugging his shoulders. She can't make out much but his scrubs are the light blue of a civilian nurse in one of the colonies (the Eta sector? god knows, she really needs to pay more attention to the Galaxy Maps) and he seems rather short. "You suffered a lot of damage to your skull in the collision. From what I heard, the beast knocked you flying into a rock pillar which caused a cave in. You've suffered a lot of damage to your front ocular plate. It kind of totalled your eyes."
She stays silent in the face of this news, though her heart rate jumps momentarily. She lets the icy feeling of dread grip her limbs before trying to think the whole thing through rationally. "But I can still see? Not well mind you, you're very blurry right now, but there's still vision."
He chuckles again and she hears his intake of breath to speak just before the door swings open. A taller figure walks in, feminine in its shape but not human. Kyrikan, possibly, though she can't make out any crest feathers. God, not having good vision sucks.
"At the request of your father and the Navy, we've given you ocular implants. They look just like your old eyes - you had a common colour, it was easy to replicate - but will need some adjustment to get the focusing system right."
She remains quiet in the wake of this news, staring down at the starchy bed sheet across her body. In the silence she can hear a soft whirring noise at the front of her skull and feels a wave of nausea rush through her. Her eyes focus for a brief second, everything so clear in resounding clarity until its god back to blurring shapes.
"What about my squad?" She finally asks, fingers clenching into a painful fist. If they hadn't survived...
"The sergeant can explain that to you once you're cleared for visitors. Now, sit back, this won't take long."

She wouldn't say she loves Remi. It was unfair to Remi and unfair to herself to even contemplate such emotions in their situation. Fraternisation was an instant Court Marital and considering they were both career officers, it was a lot for them to lose.
But sometimes she couldn't help the feeling. Sometimes they were sitting in the Viewing Deck, watching the stars go by with a drink in hand and Remi would get this look in her eyes, distant and lost and so very vulnerable and all Siobhan wanted to do was wrap her up, warm and safe. Instead she just tops up their drinks and reverts her gaze out the window, watching the inky emptiness of space pass them by.
Sometimes its when they're post-mission, both riding high on a job well done and the air feels light and sweet and Remi clasps a hand on her shoulder and squeezes. Those moments leave her chest tight, her heart thundering louder than anticipated.
Sometimes its the moments when Remi's mind brushes against her own gently. The telepathy is used to gossip in meetings, cheat on cards games and occasionally, comfort her when no one else can know she's struggling and its a feel that leaves her empty and more lonely than ever before. Touching Remi's mind was an experience.
And sometimes, it was when Remi was on the ground in some muddy shit-hole of a world staring down an army of ten foot mechs with no back-up that the love struck the hardest.

She's scared, truly and honestly terrified but she doesn't show fear, can't let those left on the ship know. Instead it comes through as carefully constructed rage and everyone scuttles out of her way as she storms up to the helm. "Get us on the fucking planet now Tony!"
She sees his body go rigid, knows she frightens him when theres fire in her eyes and ice on her tongue but she doesn't feel like being gentle with her actions. Remi and the small recon team were stuck in a trench up to their necks in mud water when an army of terrorists in mechs coming towards them. They were dead unless they got evac and if Tony wasn't going to do that she was going to pull rank and drive the damn ship herself.
"I...I can't. Those mechs are equipped with pulse canons - they would ground us! We've still got a bloody civilian shanty town in our cargo hold Captain, we can't risk their lives like this."
She knows he's right but she hates it, the unease of holding civilian lives in her hands. Could she risk potentially 100 civilians for 6 soldiers? She wants to say yes, everything in her fighting and yelling - "Yes yes of course I can, its for Remi, they wouldn't even be here if it weren't for her" - but she knows she can't, aware of the insignia of her rank stitched into her uniform. She's quiet, burning as she tries desperately to think of a way around this.
"Pull around to the East of their position, away from them, away from the base. We'll do a drop, use the tank. Its a hunk of junk but it'll be distraction enough to get the team out of there."
To his credit, Tony says nothing and obeys her commands, swinging the ship out of orbit and down towards the planet. She nods, turns to leave when he murmurs quietly, "If the LC wasn't in that team we would already be halfway back to Union Space by now."
The fury in her bones can't be stopped and before she knows what she's doing, her left hand is clamped around the back of his head, slamming it into the console while her right hand as freed the pistol at her side, the barrel pressing against his temple. "Do I detect dissent on my ship, Anthony?" There's tears in his eyes as he tries to mumble a response and the co-pilots are caught between trying to keep the ship flying right and coming to their Helmsman's aid. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything there. Should I repeat the question? Do I detect dissent on my fucking ship?" She doesn't yell, knows better than that, her voice a vicious whisper. He's trembling, large frame shaking all the way down to his boots as he tries to shake his head against her steel grasp.
"N-no ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am. I spoke out of turn."
She releases him and turns to storm out, switching on the comms connected to her wrist console. "Beta and Theta teams, get ready by the tank. Clear the drop doors, we're going on a rescue mission." As the door shuts behind her, she chances a glance and is pleased to see Tony is back to controlling the ship and shaking away concern of his co-workers.

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The ground is thick, like wading through syrup. The mud here is mixed with some horrific tree pollen and it makes everything so much more..sticky. Said pollen is also horrendously dangerous to carbon-based species like humans and Kyrikians so they're in full envo-armour and its slow moving. The tank rumbles along next to them, slicing through the substance with ease and Theta team follow in its wake. She knows some of the soldiers are surprised she's walking alongside the tank, not nestled safely inside it but she hates that thing with a passion.
Finally they start to hear the sounds of battle near-by and she signals for the tank to move on ahead instead of keeping pace with them. The deep vibration of moving machinery throws her mind back momentarily to five years ago, to a god-awful mining town where the caves had collapsed and they had to help dig the dead out. She feels her stomach turn at the memory and starts moving with more purpose, a sudden burst of speed that the rest of the team struggle to keep up with.
The shockwave of the first shot from the tank sends the plantlife around then bowing backwards before springing into position again. Shots ricochet off it's barriers, specially generate by a shield pack at the back of the machine, added in by the engineers after they picked it up cheap from a trader ship. She signals for the rest of Beta team to spread out behind the barriers while Theta team still hold back behind the tank - they weren't needed just yet.
The battlefield is riddled with craters and long trenches. There's broken mechs spread about, some still smoking and a new crater glowing red from the shell the tank just released. She can see a trench near the tree line, interspersed with small kinetic barriers and makeshift defences of spiked branches, looking like something out of an old movie The enemy has turned, most of them now concentrating on the tank. She uses this time to signal to Beta and move back to lead Theta. "Lets move. Remember, low and fast."
They move out in batches of two, less noticeable to the mechs who were hopefully unaware of their presence in the first place. She pairs up with Stilar, an Agaar with long limbs and a short tail but it moves at a good pace. The ground thins out, becomes almost slippery instead as they move across it, darting behind upturned piles of earth and rock and down through craters, trying to avoid the occasional volley of projectiles aimed their way. When they finally reach the run-off trench the recon team are in, the rest of Theta are already there, helping to direct the team and administer stims and gel to those in need. The Recon group are in bad shape but they'll be in worse shape if they remain in the trench any longer. "Anyone able bodied, take up perimeter positions. We'll move the injured in small groups, get them on the tank." She pauses for a moment to send a small volley of bullets towards a mech thats getting a little too close for comfort. "Where's the LC?"
They seem to glance around a bit before the distinctive green of Remi's armour comes into view. She hobbles forward, left arm cradled to her chest. "Here, Captain. Took a hit from a plasma canon, not been much help since." Her eyes crinkle in the small visor and Siobhan can tell she's grinning like the fool she is. She wants to yell at the other woman, tell her not to be so reckless, demand what the hell she thought she was doing breaking recon rules and endangering the entire team but instead she just feels relief floor her body and blinks away tears.
The ground shakes and she turns to see the mech she shot at previously as gotten close enough to ready a shot from its plasma canon. Stilar lobs a grenade with frightening accuracy and the mech pilot seems to panic when they see it land near the legs. It powers down the plasma canon, tries to move away but Stilar's grenades had a famously short fuse and before the main body had even turned, the blast rips the right leg off, sending shrapnel raining down over them. She feels a few pieces scrape across her armour but pays them no mind - its worth about three year's worth of salary so it can withstand a few pieces of metal crashing into it.
She gives Stilar a twisting hand-motion - the Agaar equivalent to a thumbs up - then goes back to organising the teams together. They just have enough to ensure a protection of two able-bodied people to one injured person which eased her mind a bit. As she help keep the perimeter clear while getting he groups ready for the run back towards the tank, she could feel Remi's presence fluttering around behind her, shifting from foot to foot in the chest-high water. She was probably feeling a bit lost without anything to do but thats her own fault and Siobhan was too busy sorting out everyone else to comfort her.
C'mon Shiv, don't blank me out. I'll explain everything later, submit a full report, all that jazz. Just...look at me?
She scowls ignores Remi's intrusive presence in her mind and sends off the first team after signalling for the tank to fire off a shell as distraction.
Get out of my mind and into your own, Vogt. We'll discuss once we're back on ship and safe. She sends the second group out as soon as the first are three quarters of the way there. After a few minutes she feels Remi's presence recede, both physically and mentally, just in time to hear the tell-tale whistle of a shell heading their way. "Everyone down, in the water now!" She ducks down, hears the life-support system whirring in her helmet before exhaling a mass of bubbles. The shell strike the back banks, sending debris all over them but thankfully the water slows their momentum meaning it wasn't much of a threat unless it actually struck one of them directly. She emerges quickly, pushing herself back up onto a bank to get out of the water and get a bit of height to see what had sent the shell their way.
"Son of a bitch. Next three teams, head out and spread out! These bastards have a tank of their own." She hops back down into the water with a splash and grabs Remi's right shoulder. "Lead the rest of them back to the tank in ten minutes then start retreating behind the tree line. Tony's got the ship resting on the other side of that forest to the East on some plains that are decidedly less muddy than here."
She signals to Stilar and the two of them hop over the other bank and straight onto the battlefield. As they move away with speed, she can hear Remi shouting but tunes it out. They had to get that tank off the rest of the group or else the whole operation is going to go from Evac to Body Reclamation. She skids down into a crater and nestles herself under the shelter of a mech. The engine is still running in it but the driver is dead and she feels like if there is some sort of deity out there, its certainly watching over her right now. She cracks the pod open and pulls the dead body out before glancing over to see Stilar staring at it, basically vibrating with excitement. She laughs and steps back, gesturing to the unit. "Go ahead. Just leave your grenades." It nods furiously and unlatches the grenade belt, handing it over to her before clambering into the pod and bringing the unit to life. It groans as it stands up, arms flailing for a moment before the Agaar seems to get everything under control and then it's off, setting the thrusters to their full power and quite literally flying across the battlefield. She hopes for a small moment that it'll be able to control the machine but doesn't dwell on her worries - she's got a tank to fuck up.
She scrambles over the edge of the crater, slinging the grenade belt over her shoulder as it's far too small to fit around her own armoured waist. The mech is several meters ahead, using it's high calibre gun to batter the enemy tank. It seems have its own barrier system but nothing as robust as their repurposed unit and the gold shimmer is flickering out under the barrage Stilar is bestowing upon it. It tries to respond with a few blasts from its own gun but the Agaar isn't sitting still, throwing the Mech from side to side and generally being a pain. She smiles as she runs, taking a wide arc to avoid the fire and swing around past the barriers to the rear of the tank. Hundreds of years of war and yet no one has bothered to make a tank with rear sensors. What bullshit.
She clambers up the unit to the hatch, making sure to activate the magnetic grips on her gloves as each shell round it fires threatens to throw her off. Her heart is hammering and she feels her mind threatening to go back to the past missions where she was on the field. Tiyan, Darwin, Kuzane...missions gone wrong and at the forefront of her mind as she arms the grenades and rips the hatch open. She leans over, ready to drop the grenades inside but just as she releases her grip on them, a blast from a shotgun throws her backwards, straight up and off the tank, crashing onto her back on the ground below. She barely has enough time to roll away as the blast goes off inside the tank as it swings backwards, obvious as a result of someone collapsing over the console. Her eyes drift shut momentarily as she struggles to breath, then the auto-med unit kicks in and a sim floods her system.
"Holy Shit." She finally sits up, hissing as her spine realigns itself. It takes a few more seconds but she's finally up on her feet and following the path Stilar has left leading directly to their own tank which has receded into the treeline again. She's running as fast as she can but she can never keep up with a mech that's practically gliding across the ground at full thrusters. She wonders briefly if they'd take off without her then tries to shake the thought away. Remi wouldn't allow it, but Tony might try.
Her chest aches and each crash of her foot upon the uneven ground makes her bones rattle. She concentrates on her breathing, on her little cat in her cabin, on Remi's stupid fucking grin. She concentrates on the things that keep her going and draws the strength from the last dregs of adrenaline pushing through system to make it as far as where Stilar is engaged with a couple enemy mechs. She drops to one knee, knowing she won't be holding a gun straight standing up and gives them a hand from a safe distance before moving up again as soon as it smashes into one and blasts apart the other. Agaar are terrifying creatures when they get the bloodlust in them and she's sure as hell glad they're not the enemies here.
There's only five between them and the tank now, the exotic trees starting to close in around them. The ground is getting thick again and she's struggling and swearing hoping that they'll be able to hold out just that little bit longer when suddenly she's lifted into the air. Instinct kicks in and she grabs whatever it was that's picked her up, magnetic grip in her hands sticking to the material. She panics slightly, looks down to see Stilar grinning up at her and feels everything relax again. They move her slowly to the shoulder of the mech, where there's a set of rungs to help the operators climb up into the pod. She loops an arm around one and a foot around the other and them holds on for dear life as Stilar takes off again towards the last group.
They reach them in