| Clinging to Life |
| Summary: | Cheerful banter turns deadly for an unlucky two. |
| Date: | 10 Sep 2041 |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
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| Tihar Penetiary |
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| Its the landing area. Raptors come and go. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #196 |
Second shift changed for the marines about a half hour ago. By pure coincidence, a small number of CMC boys are emerging from the base camp cafeteria, and going their various ways right about now. Only one among this number is not kitted out in battledress blacks and bodyarmor: Eleftherios Constin wears the black trousers and boots, yes, but above the belt the big man wears only service tank top, dog tags, and approximately three rolls of gauze and medical tape. The long lost pistol has finally been replaced at his side.
Tisiphone has arrived.
A Raptor is just touching down in the yard when the Marines are coming out. It settles in and the door cracks after a few moments. Coll is the first off the bird in her duty greens. The woman doesn't even give a glance around before she begins the post-flight walkaround. Lauren moves around the rear, stopping to futz with one of the vertical stabilizers before she flashes two thumbs up at the pilot. She turns back to look about as the engines unwind and whine down. Stopping Constin, those brows rise and she slowly makes her way, looking like she might be about to give him hell about his bandages. "Sergeant.." she says quickly, giving him A Look.
Constin raises a hand to shade his eyes and narrows his already squinting stare further against the air and dust kicked up by a Raptor. "Aw, hell," he mutters under his breath at the greeting he recieves from Coll, a tight smile tugging at his expression. "Crewman," he returns dryly, before lowering his shading hand slowly, and offering an 'innocent', "What?"
Lauren ambles up to him slowly and can't help a smile at his faux-innocent question. She stops close, just in front of him and pokes him gently in the stomach once. "So I got a little story.." she begins easily enough, lofting her brow up at him. She's primly holding her own expression. "I was working on that project last night..minding my own business. Happily tooling along. You know me. I hear some guys from Baker strolling by on patrol and one of them mentions that this Sergeant got shot to shit and bled all over the goddamn place. I catch a name. I quietly lose my shit. Check the roster for a Raptor coming down. First one was full. I subtly hinted at murder if I was going to have to skip the second one, too. They were kind enough to oblige. Wouldn't be any truth to this rumor would there?" She EYES those bandages.
Alessandra has arrived.
Sofia has arrived.
Constin grits his teeth as Lauren pokes lightly at his stomach- despite a failed effort to not react at all. "Y'don't say?" the shot-to-shit sergeant drawls back. "Might've got shot at, a bit," he admits grudgingly, despite the multiple clear proofs that the tank-topped sergeant is carrying of bullet wounds. "Can't recall any sergeant getting put out of commission, though.. So might need to chalk that up to idle gossip, yeah?" The last words are punctuated by an easy grin twisting the big man's stern regard.
Ensign Apostolos, meanwhile, has one shoulder leaned into the wall next to the prison's garage, and smokes as she eyes something going on within with slightly narrowed eyes. Tired, a little grubby, a lot sweaty; she's been up since dawn, attending first to foot patrols through the ruined city, then the daily Viper lookabout.
Alessandra's been scarce since the operation started, being one slated to stay aboard the Cerberus to help with CAPs and the daily routine stuff, this being the first time she's set foot on the planet since everyone's been gone. One uneventful trip later and there she is, dressed in fatigues and armed with her lovely pistol, the kind of weapon that strikes fear into the hearts of man and tincan alike. Currently standing around, she is trying to get her bearings and is failing, miserably.
Lauren watches the Sergeant with some ill-contained ire at his being shot up. Again. "You keep getting shot like this, how am I supposed to catch up? I'm only at eight. Punk-ass dickhead." She shakes her head. She looks like she wants to give him a hug but can't quite find an angle around those bandages and settles for a light pat to his hand. "Yeah, well. Maybe chalk it up. Had to come down here anyway. Supposed to do some scrounging for parts. Meet up with guy you all rescued. Rahim Al-Fahdi, I think is his name. Used to work up at some yard or something. Supposedly knows his shit. How's things?" She glances off to see Tisi and gives her a nod as she steps away from Constin a touch. "Ensign," she greets. "Nice prison you have here." Apparently she hasn't noticed the Lost Lieutenant. Yet.
"You *ain't*," Constin snorts back to Coll's question of how to catch up. The title 'punk-ass dickhead' provokes a short laugh, which in turn causes a brief wince. "One of Joseph's folk?" he queries a moment later to Coll's naming of her contact. "Things are," he non-answers to the state of life on the ground, as a look is turned aside to Tis as Coll's acknowledgment draws the marine's attention toward the dour pilot.
Boxes, boxes. Sofia has a large one in her arms, with a + on it and 'REALLY BIG NUTS. NO REALLY.' She has an interesting label system. And then there's 'PARTS. STUFF AND THINGS'. She's walking blind though, her vision obscured by it. All that's visible of her are her hands and a straw sunhat bobbing along. Tragically, she's about to run smack into Alessandra.
Tisiphone isn't /dour/. She's /dubious/. There's a distinction, there, perhaps as subtle as the one between 'Sagittaran' and 'terrorist'. Either way, she looks over at Coll through the wisps of her cigarette smoke, waiting a beat or two (or three…) longer than what might be typical before responding. "Yeah," she says. "Rated three out of three gallows by Sagittaran Travel Magazine." Her teeth flash for a second in a mirthless smile.
The impact, inevitable as it is, gets Allie to stumble and then wheel around quickly once her balance is regained, her eyes wide at first only to then narrow at Sofia. One of the unfortunate and unrealized affects of her having been on Leonis seems to be Agoraphobia which has her in anything but a good mood, the lack of metal bulkheads surrounding her discomforting, at the best. "Careful," she grumbles while rubbing where she was bumped into, the tone of voice almost matching the dirty look she's shooting the poor girl.
Coll eyes Constin at his words. "Uh huh. Well I got some decent work done on the Strike. Boots are planted and the base frame is coming along nicely. Just lookin for some spare circuit boards for the avionics and nav systems before we can start on the wiring. Dunno if this guy belongs to Joseph, though. Just know I heard through the grapevine he could help me out." She shrugs lightly, but eyes him once again at his non-comment. "Business as usual. Frakker. Once I get this thing done I'm planning to boost more time planet-side. Take any missions I can. And I swear to all that is holy, you jump without me again..Its your ass, buster." The Crewman lifts her hand to shake a finger once in his face before looking back to Tis. "Beautiful. Love the views. All the fencing and defensible positions? Bars on the windows? Classical design? Lots of rooms." She nods her head appreciatively as she looks around. "Its like the bastard child of a Caprican whorehouse and a Marine Barracks." Hearing the grumbling from Allie, Coll musters her best Angry Officer Voice and barks at her, smiling: "Lieutenant Sophronia!"
Constin eyes Coll back flatly at the finger shaked in his face. "Uh-huh," the marine drawls, before snorting another laugh at the talk of Caprican whorehouse and marine barracks. Tis is met with a deadpan word to match the pilot's own ..'dubious' manner: "Sir," the sergeant states simply. Turning aside at the collision of Sofia and Sophronia, the big marine grunts once. "Huh. They'll let anybody dirt-side these days." Only once the words are spoken does he muster up a near-smirk.
Whoops. Poor Ales. If such a display existed, there would be a little exclamation point over Sofia's head. "Ack, sorry!" She apologizes. But alas, the boxes tilt a moment. "I am!" She promises. The parts are heavy though and it looks like the leaning tower of nerd. Eeeh! She teeters towards Tis and the others before painfully, many agonizing moments later - like a bear on a unicycle (No, no Constin. We're sure he can ride a unicycle just fine) - she fiiiiiiinally stabilizes. Phew. "Hey, um …" Shoot. Where did these go? She looks flustered. Sigh. Wait, is that Coll? "Miss Coll!" Her voice is audible, even if she might not be visible. That, or parts boxes have learned to talk.
"Yeah, wait until you see the old prison block," mutters Tisiphone, in response to Coll's whorehouse-meets-barracks appraisal. As the deckie turns to bellow at Allie, she pushes off the wall, making her way toward the opposite side of the prison yard. Constin is watched for several steps, silently, before she nods once to him and says, "Sergeant," as she passes.
Something about Sofia and her reaction gets another shift in expression from Alessandra, that being a wince that draws her brow down deeply at the same time her nose wrinkles. Despite her current mood she reaches out to help the other woman get the boxes back under control but she stops there, Sofia left to carry them all on her own as she's got her attention darting elsewhere. Blinking, she finally starts to smile when she sees Lauren and Constin, the latter of whom gets a nod while she approaches. "Coll. Constin." Being where they are, Allie keeps herself in check despite the fact that she'd love for nothing more than to engulf her best friends in a big hug.
"Yeah, you just stand there are grunt like a caveman. I forgot that if I wanted conversation I should see about that brick wall." Coll can't help teasing Constin before nudging his ankle with her boot at his comment about Allie. "I'm sure she feels similarly. Sergeant Grizzly." A quick roll of her eyes as she crosses her arms, finally smiling while she stands beside Constin. Though as the boxes tilt she sorta moves her way between the boxes and the Marine. "Careful there, Wolfe," she says with a smile. Watching Tis move off it looks like there's a held-back comment before looking back at Allie. "What's happenin, sir? Decided to get planetside for a tan? You missed the hippo steaks. They were somewhere between orgasmic and epic."
"Prolly should," Constin snickers back to coll's joke about seeking out a brick wall for conversation. The lingering good humor lasts long enough to add an edge of color to the "Sir," with which he greets Alessandra's approach. "Mmmm. Yeah, that was a good stretch of days, with those steaks."
"Awww, I missed steaks, Miss coll AND-" Dang. Pout. Sofia looks at her boxes. "Um, thank you," She seems reasonably grateful to Allie. "Hey, um," She quietly pauses. "Anyone need like, medical supplies or stuff for their gear? I'm not sure where to put this, I just got back really." She smile spolitely up at Allie. She would wave at Tis, but - can't - let go of boxes. "I did visit Shiner though," She notes. She looks over to Constin. "You really DID punch hippos into steaks." My gods. She grunts and moves to see if anyone is calling for boxes.
"Hippo?" Alessandra looks incredulous. Did Lauren say hippo? "I didn't even know they were edible," she concludes lamely while giving into her urge; leaning in close, she hugs Coll tight, her face buried against her shoulder. "I've missed you and the Elf something fierce," she whispers into the deckie's ear just as she releases the embrace, her cheeks bright red while her eyes hold a faintly haunted look to them. Tisiphone is noticed and watched for a while before with a shrug, she sighs. "I think I'd like to go back now," that said to no one in particular.
"Never marry a Jharkhand man. You'll lose half your kids to the hippos," notes Tisiphone, to nobody in particular. She gently slaps the tall, chainlink wall dividing the exercise yard off from the prison yard proper, making the coils of razor-wire rattle along the top, as she moves through to perch upon one of the concrete chessboards. She digs out her rumpled pack of cigarettes, lighting up a fresh smoke on the last gasp of her current one.
Coll looks past Constin as she leans over and whispers something before straightening back up and shakes her head to Sofia. "Sorry, Sofia. I'm here for parts. Not much use for medical supplies. I think the mummy here next to me might be good for now unless one of his boo-boo's is hurting again?" She makes her own innocent halo as she glances to the Marine and back to Allie. "Yes, hippo. They were devine. Apparently a couple of asshats toddled off into the bush and shot a few. They were kind enough to share in their spoils." Ooomph! Hug! Its returned with a big smile. "Right back at you, Allie." Screw the regs sometimes, right? "Been missin you. But you can't leave yet." Lauren diengages from the hug, smiling. "We're here. And I have a large flask of booze. Taurian Rum, baby. Which means that once we're all off duty?" Big Frakkin Grin. Towards all four of them gathered around. "We can enjoy the night with a little imbibery." She slides a glance towards Tis, then, and does the unthinkable. "Might even have brought enough to let a certain Ensign partake if she doesn't have to fly."
"I didn't punch a damn thing- hit one fella over the head, but that don't count," Constin mutters at Sofia, before shaking his head. "Nah, triage station is that ways-" a turn of his eyes in the appropriate direction, before he adds, "But this is the unloading zone. They'll come here looking for it, before long. Set down and have a breath, Wolfe," he advises. Turning slowly back toward Tisiphone at that random advice regarding hippos. "Huh." Then Coll teases again and the sergeant smirks back, "Go frak your girlfriend already."
"Might be parts, I hadn't opened anything yet. I was looking for a spot. Someone chased me off," She sighs. Sofia pauses. "Um. Am I interrupting a reunion? I … guess I'll … go somewhere else," She backs up. Oh dear. At the mention of frakking, her eyebrows lift a little more. "Um." Right. Fair enough. she just turns a little red. She has a knack for blundering into situations like an ox into a gardening shop. "Yes it does! Hitting things on the head counts, it does in boxing right?" She peers over and - "Wow you got shot again?" Poor Constin. "And poor Dave too." Sadness. "Well- if it's okay. Like, no one likes a third wheel," She smiles a little. It's true! "And really? Hippoes eat babies? That's just freaky." Shiver. She sets the boxes down somewhere safe. Phew. She looks at a loss and just sort of … looks sheepish.
Alessandra nods slowly. "I'll stay. Got to, actually. It's my rotation," she explains with a shrug. The pain of having to be here is negated by the company she finds herself in as well as the mention of alcohol. "Where did you find the rum," she asks, the question posed partially out of the need for conversation and partially out of genuine conversation. Tis is given another look and then, with a shake of her head, she reaches over to poke Constin carefully. There was mention made of his being shot, after all. "You alright, Elf?" Sofia's watched now to make sure she's doing alright.
"Don't so much eat you as just…" Tisiphone shapes something indistinct in the air between Sofia and herself with both hands. "…chew you real good." She blows out a smoky snort, teeth flashing humourlessly again as her pale eyes flick from Alessandra to Constin, Constin to Coll. "Taurian rum, hey? Never tried it before." Curiousity: piqued.
Coll sighs, shaking her head. "Look, Sergeant: You don't have to go tellin everyone about the Lieutenant and I. Its bad enough with the frat regs we're violating. Last thing I need is you makin a scene of it and then havin to bust us." Lauren moves to slide an arm around Allie's waist as she asides to the Lieutenant, "Don't let him scare you off, my love. He's just jealous of our passion. Not even the Sergeant can come between us." She gives Sophronia a reassuring nod and smile. "Pulled the rum from supply, though. No biggie." She then flashes a quick grin at Sofia. "Nope, not interrupting. Just been a bit since we've been able to kick around in the same place. The Lieutenant has just been missing out on some of the finer things in life..like sleeping in an open field at night where your only worries are bugs and snakes." Her hand snakes inside her cargo pocket in her pants and removes a metal flask as she looks to Tis, holding it up. "If you don't have to kick out a hop, go ahead and pop the cork. I've gotta make a run with this guy I was told about but should be back in a few hours. I can trust you not to drink the whole thing, right? Only have a limited supply." Lauren: Peacemaker with a smile.
"Just fine," Constin returns to Alessandra's question, as if his state of 'alright'ness were the most forgone of conclusions. the stream-of-thought that is sofia draws a peering, puzzled look from the marine before Coll's sidling up to Allie draws the eye, and the banter between the two holds it. A short chuckle- cut off by a wince, precedes the words: "That true, sir? You two been cleavage diving? And no matter how hot and heavy you two get, your answer had better be 'No, of course not'," he warns Allie with a levelled finger. Those who are accustomed to the big man's expressions couldnt miss the transparent nature of his affected scowl.
"No night patrols," says Tisiphone to Coll, with the tone of someone quoting a rule uttered originally by someone else. "They don't like to let me go sightseeing after supper." A flick of a glance to Constin, as if she's considering further words, before she hops back up to her feet, instead. "Sure, I'll try a taste," she says, easily enough, crossing back toward the group to reach for the flask.
A smile is leveled at Elf-Boy as he says that, her mood brightening a bit. "Of course not," she says, that then swiftly concluded with a quickly fired off, "I like to do my diving a few feet lower." A quick glance is made at Coll, it placed just between waist and thigh on her, that done to make her joke more pointed. "Jealous, Sargeant? If you are we can always let you watch." This is Allie being more her normal self, the craptastic mood she had been wearing like armor dropped. The newest mention of rum has her sighing in longing. "I could really stand to use a drink, myself. Let me know when it's my turn."
"It would be hard to patrol at night with DRADIS on the fritz wouldn't it?" Sofia considers. She blinks at Tis. "Oh dear. They waste food too." Awful critters! She smiles at Tis then looks at the group over. She takes a deep breath and starts checking the boxes. "Hmm. Mostly parts that the radiation won't fry," She considers. Then a blink. "Well, if they're happy," She smiles a little then blushes at the joke. Ohmy. Her eyebrows lift. "Hey, anyone need lotion? Looks like some came in." She peers. "And… nuts! Who wants nu—" She cuts herself ooff. "Right. That can wait," She decides to mingle instead. She'll settle quietly near the Sergeant and Coll, still somewhat in awe/shy around officers.
"If we had, its totally none of your business, Mister MP. Our love transcends the bounds of this plane and rises above your petty accusations of guilt. Besides, like the Lieutenant said..its not about the cleavage. Not so sure about the watching part, though. We could..we could always charge, couldn't we?" Coll hairtosses with a roll of her eyes before grinning and disengaging from Alessandra once more. The flask is handed off easily with a nod. "Its got a bit of a bite at first, but finishes real smooth. Got some nice spices to it. Once you've had a few sips its kinda like drinking satin." Spoken like someone who has had her fair share of drunken nights with it. "No nuts, Sofia. Sorry. I think there's enough of those hangin around this camp at the moment. But the offer isn't unwelcome." She stands off a touch from Allie and Sofia, arms crossing once more in a smile while she basks in the waning warmth of the day and comraderie.
Cidra has arrived.
Constin cackles out a couple snorted chuckles- over the discomfort. Some things are just that funny, it seems. "Ho shit-" the sergeant mutters around forcibly slow breaths between the chuckles. "Think I just heard Captain Quinn faint." Despite the multiple bullets and blasts, despite the arguments and rain, this world has seen more laughter out of Constin than any other place in a very long time. He waves the flask toward Alessandra, passing up his own turn, with a grin. Even Tisiphone is getting a grin, so deep runs the marine's good humor.
"Nuts? Salty nuts?" Tisiphone can't leave well enough alone. The corner of her mouth tugs slightly with her quip. Accepting the flask, she listens to the alcohol's appraisal before nodding once. "Copy that," she says. "Thanks." It's lifted a little to Coll before she tips it for a drink. Spices? Satiny finish? This may well be, but all those gathered will see are the gritted teeth at its starting bite. "Breathe fire, you drink enough of this," she decides — not unfavourably, let it be noted — as she offers the flask next to Alessandra, wiggling it just a little. Take-take.
Look. Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's…well, yes, it's a plane. A Raptor, to be precise. Cidra's Raptor, if one is minding the schedule of runs back and forth to Cerberus. The CAG was called back to the battlestar by the Colonel today. Why, precisely, is unclear. But she's coming back now. Her bird's quick coming into atmo but it gradually decreases speed as it nears the prison, finally going into a hover and slow descent once it's over the yard.
"Lesbians don't exist for men, although I guess everyone liked extra cubits," Sofia points out. "OH! And I found those posters and art books I promised for you!" She remembers! "OH NO!" She remembers she left said pinups in a box. She bolts for one of the boxes. Then she giggles at Tis. "No, not quite." She smiles. She watches though, after she manages to lift a smaller box out. "Phew." Almost made some MP's day there. Then she pauses, looking over as a Raptor lands. She doesn't recognize them well enough just yet. She smiles at Constin. She seems pleased he's laughing though. She keeps the smaller box close to her though.
"Thanks," Allie says to Tis in gratitude, her head bows some when she does as her hand comes out to take that flask. "Here's to you guys," she toasts the small knot of people as a whole before taking her share all in one chug. Don't worry, she left plenty for the rest. She just didn't want to wait for her buzz. Taking a deep breath in and then holding it, her face goes a bit red and a few beads of sweat form due to the burn that goes all the way down and settles into her gut. "Frak…me…" she gets out before a cough explodes from her chest, the wind taken from her sails as it hits and hit hits hard. "I…bat for both teams," she explains to Sofia while trying to recover, the weezing and hacking up of a lung almost robbing her of the ability to speak.
Coll snerks at Constin's remark about Quinn, nodding. "More'n likely. Poor lady. Probably threw her for a horrid loop." She then chuckles to Tis. "Yeah. There's actually a drink you can make from it and ambrosia. You mix the two into a shotglass and it turns a dark color - looks a little like an engine nozzle. Anyway, you light the thing on fire and it burns perfectly. Looks just like a blowtorch flame, all blue and beautiful. Its called an 'Afterburner'. Mostly because if you get too tanked and lay the side of your head on the table and stare at it, its like gettin a side planar of a Viper's ass." Coll gives a sagenod to Tisiphone before watching the Raptor land. "Wonder if this might be my ride…" she muses, letting Allie toast with a returned smile.
Constin grunts through a couple more rattling chuckles, keeping his teeth clenched behind the grin, until the laughter which had continued through the responses of the women around him settles enough to allow a big, unbroken breath. Turning a look over to the landing Raptor. "Looks like the Major's bird," he observes, simply.
"Afterburner, eh?" Tisiphone wipes the corner of her mouth and then — being the classy Saggie she is — licks her hand off. Waste not, want not. "Still wish we'd had the space to empty Aquarian Pete's out," she says, licking the corners of her mouth before she tucks her cigarette back to her lips. "Left a whole frakking shelf of ambrosia there. Shit like they were serving at the Commissioning Ball." Which wasn't /shit/ at all. Precision, wot?
The Major's bird lands, and the door opens, two marines the first out. They're followed by a couple of uniformed tech-types carrying a crate full of bits and pieces of spare parts, and a civilian, a 30-something man of average height and build, with short dark hair. He's speaking with one of the techs as he steps off the wing of the raptor, looking with them at the bin. One of the marines moves in the other direction, looking towards the knot of personnel and calling, "Anybody got a Crewman Coll around? I've got a civvie says he was told to meet her down here."
Cidra remains in the bird for a bit after it's down, for her part. Post-flight checks don't perform themselves. She can be seen through the open doors going through it with a meticulousness born out of a decade and change of habit. She's dressed in her flight gear rather than combat blacks, as this jaunt required a spin in and out of atmo. Sidearm at her hip. Helmet removed before she launches intently into the checklist.
Alessandra laughs herself, the joke doing well to get her back to normal. "I love you," she says, it left to be an enigma as to who that was said to. There'd be more jovial activity partaking but the Raptor's finally noticed and she frowns, her head tilting. "Lauren, why do they want to talk with you," she murmurs out of the corner of her mouth, her voice dropped. Not quite a whisper but almost. The pang of concern passes and she shrugs, the feeling dismissed as paranoia in all of 2.6 seconds.
A pause at the mention of blowtorches. She shakes something off. Then a blink at Alessandra. Sofia considers it a moment. "Okie dokey, sir," She smiles. Whatever floats her boat. Shrug. She peers at Coll and looks thoughtful. "Are you going back up?" She asks. She glances at the new arrivals. A little wave at the those excitingn and a few polite smiles. She takes a deep breath and clings to her box, the other two nearby on the ground waiting for their recipients.
"Yeah, missed Pete's. I think somewhat thankfully. Missed that ball, too. Seems I was stationed elsewhere at the time. About six Decks below the ball, actually. I was just kinda runnin around during that whole day, though. Had a bunch of stuff to take care of. Was just goin on duty when the ball started, I think." Lauren shrugs, making a bit of an odd face. Helluva day, that was. Then her name is called and she flashes her eyes in feigned excitement. "I gotta do some salvage at some yard that this guy was workin at. Apparently he knows where to find some avionics boards I need for the nav computer in the Strike. Buuuut.. Time for me to get the frak out of here. Should be back in a few hours." She smirks to Sofia. "Make sure they don't hog all the booze from you, Crewman." A quick glance around to the group: "You children behave yourselves." She winks at Constin and heads off towards the Raptor and the Marines. "That's me! Heard you got a tech I need to talk to, also," she calls back, angling towards it.
"Jealous?" Constin baits back at Alessandra as the pilot comments on Lauren's popularity. As Coll winks and jauntily angles toward the newly arrived Raptor, the sergeant smirks sidelong back at the woman and feigns the complaint, "Work, work, work." A look back at Allie. "You heard the woman, sir- flask goes to the Crewman, next."
"Thanks for the taste," Tisiphone calls to Coll, before the Crewman moves off too far, sending a little up-nod of her chin along with the words. "Come out for Carrier Landings next time, we'll make the washouts drink Afterburners until they learn to land." Backwards logic, perhaps — but Carrier Landings aren't sane to begin with. Another nod, this to the group at large, before she starts strolling back toward the concrete chessboard she was previously perched upon.
Blink. A blush. "It's okay, I only really should have a sip," Sofia smiles at Lauren. "I'll keep my eyes out for parts. Let me know if you'd like me to watch for anything special," Nod. She waves to Coll then, and glances at Constin. Her eyes widen a little. "It's okay, I hate to be a pest…" She rubs the back of her head, box under one arm still. She watches the group quietly now.
Alessandra frowns slightly, unhappy that Lauren's being called away. "My Coll," she whispers while crossing her arms about her chest. Could be said in regards to the Marine's continuation of the joke or uttered towards the men who seem intent on whisking Coll away for work. Whatever reason, Allie's not exactly happy anymore.
Alessandra also passes the flask, after a moment's worth of pissiness.
"Oh, great," The young marine calls back to Coll with a smile, before twisting back towards the techs behind him. "Hey, al-Fadhi," he calls, "I've got Coll over here." The civilian begins backing towards the marine while finishing up his conversation with the techs, only turning at the last moment to avoid running into the PFC. "Wonderful," Rahim al-Fadhi says, "I'm eager to get to work on—" on something that is now of no importance to him, it seems, as the man stops speaking abruptly, his face losing all color. It isn't clear what, precisely, has caused this shock, but for a moment he is still. And then, he is just as suddenly moving with eye-blurring speed, the sidearm tugged from the unsecured holster of the unwitting marine and leveled at Crewman Coll. "YOU!" the man shouts, "CYLON!" Just after the word, not quite close enough to drown out that accusation, he begins to fire, round after round in rapid succession. His face is contorted with rage as he continues to shout, "CYLON! I SAW YOU! Abomination! Traitor!"
"Oh, you comin with, Elf?" Coll asks with a glance to the man, her face brightening a bit. Its obviously a welcome idea. "Or you still a little too bruised to run off and poke around?" The teasing will never end. She brandishes a bigger smile and looks to be about to glances back over her shoulder to Tisisphone with a reply when the commotion breaks out. Her head whips back towards the call from Rahim. She's staring down the barrel of a gun and her face drops in panic. Her mouth begins to open as her head moves back to look to Constin just as the first rounds hit. They stitch her up the front, blood misting out from the wounds as they begin low and draw an increasing line for her chest. Crewman Coll's knees buckle in half a second and she crumples to the ground, facefirst with a blood-curtling cry. Her arms barely have the strength to splay out in front of her.
Now *that* gets Cidra's attention away from her checklist. "What in the seven hells…?" Head snaps up at the sound of gunshots, hand going to her sidearm. But she's too late in pulling it, and still in the Raptor besides, before the civilian begins firing. She does hustle out of the pilot's seat and to the door. Just in time to get a good look at Coll being blown away.
"Take more than a few little bullets-" Constin is jovially returning to Coll's banter. The remainder of his rejoinder is hijacked swiftly at the first shouts from the newly landed Raptor. "The fr-" the epithet lacks even time to pass his mouth before shots ring out and the Sergeant tenses, healthy left hand flashing for the holstered pistol at his side. Training says he shouldn't be looking anywhere but at the shooter, yet the marine finds his eye catching on Coll's in that last instant before the bullets hit her. The big man lurches stiffly forward to try and catch Coll's forward fall, ending up going to one knee beside the Deckie. All too late, his pistol clears it's holster.
Eyes shoot wide open at the word 'cylon' and then even more when the sound of gunfire registers, it getting the flight-or-fight response to kick in quickly. "NO!" Alessandra pulls out her own pistol and takes aim, her hands shaking too hard as the rush of adrinaline hits like a frieght train. The single word echoes in her head as she sees Coll fall and the blood flow, it being what it takes to kick her into a place in her head she'll not like once it dawns on her where it went. "Mother frakkers," she screams over the sound of her own weapon being shot, her clip being quickly emptied as round after round is sent towards the civvies, the pilot well past the point of frakking caring.
No! Coll! Not another one! "She's not-" Sofia protests, putting her hands on the side of her head for a second before her brain exits crazy mode. She bolts to grab Coll and either try first aid or stop more bullets. Not Coll! Why Coll? It makes no sense, but she's got so little time. She's forgotten all the booze and even lets her box fall for now. Whether or not she's fast enough is anyone's guess. Nope! Constin beats her to it. She looks to the shooter. Then the civvies. Sofia looks ill. "Stop-" She mumbles. Her words fall like milk spilled on a temple floor, profane and helpless. She is frozen then. A stare.
<FS3> Alessandra rolls Firearms: Success.
<FS3> Constin rolls Firearms: Success.
<FS3> Cidra rolls Firearms: Success.
Cidra has her wits about her enough to take aim and get a shot off at al-Fadhi. It's aimed at his leg, for what it's worth. Which isn't much. A crack shot, the CAG is not.
Stroll, stroll, stro- Tisiphone's departure pauses as her head snaps around. "The frak-?" she adds to the chorus, her words lost like the others' beneath the sudden chaos of clips being emptied. Her own sidearm is out, made ready, and held with muzzle lowered as she watches al-Fadhi empty his gun at Coll, then Alessandra empty her gun back at him. Too stunned by it all to think to duck behind cover, apparently.
The poor PFC is too stunned to react until all of a sudden there is a hail of bullets aimed right back at the man beside him, and his reaction then is to throw himself out of their path and onto the ground. Luckily(?) the assorted pilots and marine are as good marksmen as al-Fahdi, as the man is abruptly as riddled with shots as his victim — to the leg, to the gut, to the chest — and he, too, crumples to his knees and then forward, gun still clutched in his hand as he falls. No more shots, no more shouts, just twitching and mumbling, now.
Coll barely blinks through the traded shots face frozen in terror and shock with her face pressed into the dirt. Her arm twitches out from under her as she tries to lift herself off the ground but ends up collapsing back down. Tears and a coughed breath surge from her, blood spittling into the terrain underneath. "No," she whispers. "God, no." Her breathing quickly becomes labored as she moves to roll onto her back and stare up at the sky. Her eyes search around for a moment. Lauren's face is covered in dirt along one side but the complete and utter horror cannot be missed by anyone nearby. Four rounds low center with another two higher - one into her sternum. The front of her uniform is already soaked through with blood. "El.." is all she gets out before coughing herself into a spasm.
The other marines off Cidra's Raptor are quick to close the distance, one kicking the pistol away to be picked up by a second, al-Fahdi turned over at gunpoint. The fourth is a corpsman, who hurries over to see to Coll.
"Medic!" Cidra shouts. The woman rarely raises her voice overmuch, but she barks that. Not that the corpsman isn't one step ahead of her and headed toward Coll. She's out of the Raptor then, jogging toward where al-Fadhi has fallen. Her gun is just held in one hand and aimed at the ground now. Not him. But it's him she stands near, though her eyes go to poor Coll.
Well, if she's gonna be useless, at least Sofia can kind of kneel by Coll. She looks horrified. She's at a loss. There's frustration at it, like a caged animal. How one hates to be helpless, snapping at a muzzle. She wants to cry a bit too. "Coll, it'll be okay, just don't talk for now. There's a medic coming," She promises. It's hard not to reel a bit at the civilian and Coll are both more full of holes than Swiss cheese in a Sagittaron temple.
Tisiphone advances two or three very wary steps toward the bloodbath, her Five-seveN still lowered. There's something she barks at al-Fadhi — angry, maybe, or disbelieving, or demanding — in Sagittaran, then repeats it, voice cracking.
Gunshots always bring people running, and marines appear out of the woodwork first, guns ready to secure the area against any continuing threat. Cora exits the barracks, sidearm drawn, and after a moment of observation, she heads quickly towards Cidra. "Major!" she calls as she nears, "What was that?"
Constin slaps his pistol to the pavement underfoot to free up both hands in helping Coll onto her back once the shooter hits the ground. "Lauren, right here- stay with me now," the sergeant states, clipped. The severe mask is shaken, but remaining fixed on his face, as desperation and adrenaline keep him tensed. "Frak's sake, woman- I told you not to try and out-do me," he forces the joke as pressure is applied to the badly bleeding sternum. "MEDIC!" he looks up sharply to bellow on the heels of Cidra, eye firing immediately back to Coll's.
On the ground, al-Fahdi is past rolling over, even if the marines would let him, a puddle of blood spreading rapidly across the dusty ground to coat the pavement and encircle the civilian. His voice is soft, burbling and wheezing as he coughs up yet more blood with each attempt at a breath. He cannot manage volume to answer Tisiphone, but he mutters, still, and it sounds like Sagittaran.
Alessandra staggers and then collapses, her legs giving out, unable to support her weight. Quickly moving towards her fallen friend and Constin, her pistol remains in her hand even as she crawls in a rushed skitter, undoubtedly getting dirty in the process. "Lauren," she chokes out while watching her, looking at her face, not daring to look at anything else. "I do love you," she offers, forgetting their not alone. "My sister" Hearing the moan from the asshole, Allie staggers up to her feet and manages to get to him, her pistol raised to his head. "Frakking die, you piece of shit," she snarls, the trigger on her firearm being pulled back in near slow motion as she watches.
The Corpsman slides into the dirt beside Coll and just rips her duty shirt open. He glances to Constin, breathless. It doesn't look good. He begins ripping out bandages before yelling over his shoulder. "We're gonna need a medevac!! Like, YESTERDAY!" The white gauze is pressed firmly to as many wounds as he can cover at once, letting the others rest for someone else to take. The Deckie seems completely oblivious to it all, though. She finally finishes coughing and looks up to Allie first. Then Constin. The woman's face is already pale, lips losing more color. So much blood. "Cons," she whispers, frightened beyond all sanity. "Do- don't let m-me d-die. Don't w-want t-t-to wak- mmmbbpp. C-cyllo-" She sputters into another coughing, gurgling spasm. The medic reaches into his pack for some QuickKlot and tears it open with his teeth, just dousing the woman's whole torso with it.
Cidra drops her gun and kneels over al-Fahdi. Hands shaking, but she does hastily try to put pressure on his wounds. To keep him from bleeding out. The one on his chest, first and foremost, as even her non-medical knowledge can see that one is pressing. "Oh no you do not…" she mutters. Intent on that, it's not until she hears the round of Alessandra's voice that she notices the approach of the Viper pilot. The armed Viper pilot. "Sophronia! Stop!" It is bitten off sharply, and she hunches slightly over the Sagittaran. Protectively, for lack of a better word.
While she's not running, she does stay near Coll. She watches things, glancing between Coll and al-Fahdi. Coll? A Cylon? Sofia's thoughts reel at it. She shakes it off and looks to Cora. Then the Corpsman. She's standing out of the way. Wait, what? Darnit. She just huffs, frustrated, confused and worried.
Constin's already bloody hands ake up one of the gauze patches the Corpsman leaves out and presses it onto another of the bullet wounds riddling Coll's torso, after the QuickKlot is applied. "Hey," he mutters back to Lauren, repeating louder as he sees her tapering off into a mumble, "HEY! Nobody's dying, just stay with me. This is gonna hurt real bad for a bit, but stay with me-" he repeats forcefully. "You ain't waking up, cause you ain't going to sleep- you're gonna sit there and listen to every Lords-be-damned WORD of me chewing your ass out."
Alessandra darts a wild glance towards the Major when she's told to stop, the finger halted as she whispers to the CAG. "Frakker…lying mother frakker. I…he needs to pay…"Stepping to the side, she begins to pace, looking like a feral animal, her teeth bared in a sneer, her eyes rimmed red from the tears which threaten to fall. "He…killed her…" Looking at Lauren and the others, she blinks and shakes her head, an internal monologue responded to. "Con. Please. Save her." The call for medevac drives the point home and, with a whimper, she falls back to her knees, legs sprawed to either side of her.
Another corpsman appears eventually, crouching beside al-Fahdi with Cidra, shooting a glare at Alessandra and her gun-waving before he begins a similar process as that Coll is undergoing just a few yards away. "Not good," he mutters to the major as he passes her gauze and pours on QuickKlot. There is blood everywhere, and al-Fahdi gurgles as he repeats, again and again, voice a grossly-wet but fading whisper, "Cylon. Cylon."
"Yeah, that's brilliant." Tisiphone's droll, dry-eyed words. "Spot the abomination, soak a clip of bullets for it." She steps forward toward Cidra and one of the two puddles of life'sblood, announcing as she moves, "I'm clearing his gun." Which she does, toeing it away from his hand then punting it away, under the belly of the Raptor.
"I wish that I could do something. But please hang in there," Sofia asks Coll quietly. She can't just die. Sofia doesn't want to be /the gawker/ who just sat there. But she is. She looks worried, frowning. "She's not a Cylon," She shakes her head. Can't be. Coll /hated/ Cylons and unless she has a rather bad complex… well, y'know. Right? Hopefully?
One of the other Marines is already on the radio with Cerberus to prepare for incoming. Someone is already starting a Raptor. The Corpsman is reaching behind him with one hand and ripping out a needle and IV tubing but it doesn't even look like she's going to make it that far. Lauren is trapped in someplace horrible. A realization? An accusation? Her hand reaches for Constin's arm but doesn't quite have the strength and falls short, flopping into the dirt. Her face trembles uncontrollably. "Ss-s-orry," she shivers out, barely audible. "Hel-" Its cut off, her words becoming softer. "L-love..youu.." She blinks rapidly, uncontrollably before her head lolls back in the dirt, her eyes fixing on an unseen place in the sky. That look of terror fades into something expressionless as she takes a final breath. Crewman Lauren Coll is gone.
Cora has figured out, it seems, what happened. The captain stands nearby, watching the corpsman, and speaking quietly with the staring marines, staying out of the way. Her sidearm has been reholstered, but her expression is no less wary for its new solemnity.
Cidra gets back from al-Fahdi as the corpsman gets to work on him. "Keep him alive so he can be given to the MPs. I will know what in the seven hells just happened here." She fumbles on the ground to retrieve her sidearm, bloodied hands shaking now. "I…he said Cylon again…" she says to Tisiphone. "I…could not understand anything. Medevac. Yes." Deep breath, and she jogs over toward the Raptor that's being readied. The one she so recently landed, actually, since it's systems were already green. Holding herself together enough to get ready to fly with all deliberate speed. She hasn't noticed yet that Coll is gone from the worlds.
"Yeah, and Salt wasn't a Cylon either," mutters Tisiphone, flicking a rather dispassionate look toward Sofia. She glances down to the gore inching toward her boot and takes a step back, scuffing some dust toward the bright, puddling red. "Sir." A glance to Cidra, when the CAG looks up. "He didn't say where he saw her." Her sun-bleached brows furrow as her attention returns to Coll. She mutters something under her breath, short and sharp with too many consonants, then backs away further, clearing the scene for the medics and marines.
"Shut. Up!" Alessandra wants to scream that at al-Fahdi but can't, too heartsick and angry to get more than a hiss of words out. Coll is watched then and all she can do is stare, pray and try to feed what life energy she has into her friend, wishing that she could bring her back. "Con…?"
Oh no. Oh no. The words echo in her head again and again. "Lauren…" Sofia whispers. While normally a confession of love you would make her smile, it doesn't now. Sofia's eyes go wide. Why couldn't she stop it? Why did another good person die instead of her? "No way. No way," She echoes. Repetition, signs of a broken mind. She just curls her fingers, nearly to the point of nails digging into her palms. A soft whimper. "I'm sorry," She whispers. Coll was dear to the doofy engineer's heart, even if Sofia didn't always find time, and that lost time- Oh dear. She whispers a goodbye. She just blinks at Tis' words. "But… She didn't deserve to die…" This, from the one who holds Eleven's art and gave her a sketchbook because she seemed sad. Sofia just sort of curls up. "I'm sorry Coll."
Constin gives a look of either extreme anger, or intense desperation at the Corpsman who brings out the IV, but his eye can't be dragged away from Coll for more than an instant as she reaches for his arm and fails. His own blood-drenched hand moves to take hers instead. As she haltingly starts to express her love, the severe mask on the sergeant's face visibly slips, dangling for an instant on the hard line of his mouth before falling off altogether. "I love you, girl," the sergeant grinds out with a short, gravelly sob, as tears stain the hard man's narrow eyes. Slouching over the limp coll, he reaches an arm behind her scarred neck to haul her shoulders off the ground as he sits back, his own clothes and bandages growing increasingly stained with Coll's blood. "See you on the other side.." he manages, shoulders shaking silently afterward.
Shortly after his victim, al-Fahdi breathes his last as well. Blood bubbles from his lips to add to the stains spattering skin and cloth and though his cheek shifts as if he might speak again, but he is finally silent. "Frak," mumbles the corpsman as his patient goes slack and he leans in to check pulse, head already shaking. "He's gone. I lost him. Frak! They should go back to Cerberus anyway," he says, calling over to the corpsman on Coll, "Canning, what's her status? Raptor's ready to go."
Cidra nods to the corpsman. "Get them loaded," she says, her voice raw as she settles into the pilot's seat. Deep breath, and she steadies her hands and sets her jaw, getting ready for take-off. She's gone into 'Push on and get the job done' mode. Something most of the Air Wing pilots have witnessed of the CAG before, in the midst of some horrible incident or another.
"Good. Glad he's frakking gone," Allie says around sobs and barely reined in screams, her voice as tight and trembly as her body is. "Frakker can burn in Hades for what he did." The proclamation of love for Coll from Constin, caught barely, echoes in her ears as does Coll's for him, it putting a chill in her spine and limbs, furthering the inability to move. She knew. Always have. Hearing them say it however makes the pain all the more difficult to deal with, it putting another layer of hurt to have to deal with.
The Corpsman just sits back on his ankles, watching Constin lift Coll from the ground, her body limp like a ragdoll. Its at least obvious to him, between the exchanged words, that something else was there beyond professional standards. He dips his head forward, setting the needle and tubing down on the discarded package of Klot. The Marine shakes his head once and looks to the other Corpsman and to Constin. He watches them a second longer then back to the other. "She's gone, man. Never had a chance," he sighs, then looking back towards Cora - which he just noticed.
"Pfffff," says Tisiphone, frowning harder as first one half of the bloody tableaux, then the other, expires. Savage frustration. Reholstering her sidearm, she backs further from the scene before turning. "I'll be in the garage when they're taking statements," she says, glancing to Cora as she does, then heads off, digging out her pack of smokes as she goes.
Tisiphone has left.
Constin sits back on his booted feet, still holding the dead body close enough to rest his forehead on Lauren's far shoulder. The marine answers the Corpsman's sighed statement with words growled through a thick throat, "Just get the frak away."
"Even if she was a Cylon… I liked her, she was a good person," Sofia murmurs. She just sort of lays down on the ground quietly. The tears won't stop. "I'm sorry," She manages again. Wasn't there someway to help her? Something? She takes a deep breath and watches poor Constin, pained. She was happy for them. Two kind souls, even if one punched bears before breakfast. Such humor rings hollow. She takes a deep breath. There's a blank, vacant stare at Cora. She recognizes the face, but there's nothing. "Why do I keep seeing them die?" It doesn't seem fair that her number doesn't come up. Over and over. She just lets the tears fall. "Please be okay on the other side." And please be there for Constin. She just sighs.
Lucky's pistol is finally safetied and reholstered and she slowly gets up, having to grab onto something or someone to be able to do so. "…damn…" Chewing her lower lip, she gathers what courage she has left and goes to stand by Constin, wanting to be there for him like he has been for her in the past. She touches his shoulder once, briefly, so he'll know she's there and then she simply takes watch over him and the fallen Lauren, a silent sentinel.
Cidra has gotten the impression Coll's body won't be getting loaded up anytime soon. She just sits in the Raptor. She's certainly not going to prod Constin over it.
"Lieutenant Sophronia, holster and secure your sidearm," Cora directs, her voice lifting across to the distraught woman, tone not harsh, but definitely firm. She watches until Alessandra has done just that, giving a flick of a glance and a nod to Tisiphone as the pilot leaves. She looks from Constin and Coll to Sofia then and then to the corpsman. Another marine is called over, and sent to find another MP to begin the investigation.
The marine medic over al-Fahdi shakes his head at his counterpart, replying, "Same here." He shuts the civilian's eyes and then stands, pulling off bloody gloves and cleaning up his kit. "They'll both need to go back up to the ship, like I said, but they can load him first," he directs the marines arrived with the medevac boards. They set about getting the Sagittaran moved first, and the corpsman approaches Sofia next, bending to speak quietly to the crying engineer.
The Corpsman close to Constin fixes his gaze on Constin as the man dips his head to Coll's shoulder. The remark seems to startle him. "Sergeant, we have to get her back. The Raptor is about to leave," he says quietly. He lifts a hand between them. "Elf. We gotta get her back to the Cerb, man. She can't stay here. Especially if.." He's trying to be as gentle as possible.
Constin's words are spoken without looking directly at the marine who speaks the frank, honest, truth. The sergeant's reply is low, and even. High emotions are still clear in his body language- he still hasn't released the limp corpse, but agitation utterly lacks from his tone: "I will punch your teeth out the back of your skull if you touch her." The same as he'd say 'It's almost sunset'.
"Constin," Allie says quietly to her friend, "It's time. Come on." There's nothing but compassion to be heard from the pilot, her hand yet again coming to bear upon his shoulder, fingers squeezing softly. "I'm sure they'll let you go with her…all things considering." Just what those 'things' are is a private matter, something kept a secret now even as she had over the past month and so many days.
"I'm sorry," She mumbles. Sofia just sort of is. "It's kind of pathetic of me, I know. I didn't know her that well, but…" Ever since that fateful meetup in the bathroom, Sofia felt an odd fondness for the Officer-turned-deckie. "Not another one." Not another one. She can't bear to watch Constin, even. "He's the one really suffering," She offers quietly. But here /she/ is, selfishly curled up. How awful. "It's okay," She whispers. "I'm sorry. It's selfish," She admits to the Corpsman. "They all seem to die around me." She smiles sadly. "It's okay," She manages to sit up. "It doesn't seem fair." Survivor's guilt. She wipes away at her eyes. "They won't stop." The tears. Oh well. "Thank you though."
Okay. That will get him to back off. The Corpsman pulls his hand back and looks towards Cora, then back to them. He blinks away and looks to the bloodstained dirt and bandages while replacing the needle and IV tubing. "Yeah, okay, man. Just relax. I ain't the enemy, Sarge." The man rises from the dirt and glances to Cora once more before going over to help with the civilian shooter.
Constin forces in a deep breath- one that makes his cracked ribs ache and torso muscles scream. A few quiet words spoken to the dead, and Constinshuts his eyes tight. A short space of time passes in which he doesn't acknowledge anyone, before he raises one hand up to snap off the second of the two dogtags around Coll's neck. Shot up as he is, the sergeant is determined to be the one to carry Lauren's body to the waiting Raptor, and Eleftherios Constin is nothing is not stubborn.
Yeah, yeah, Cora sees you, corpsman. She grimaces faintly, watching Constin and dead Coll for a long moment before giving the marine who keeps looking at her a nod. She steps closer and tells him in a low tone, "He can either go along in the raptor and allow medical on Cerberus to look at both of them, or you will sedate him. Those are your orders."
Alessandra turns and looks at the wet ground, the dirt that Lauren's blood spilled upon being the area she glances at intently. Taking to a crouch as she pulls out a small piece of paper, she makes an impromptu envelope which some of the sodden ground is swept up into. She doesn't care if anyone watches her. Doesn't give a flying frak if people find her sick or her actions morbid, this something done for herself and nobody else. Once enough dirt is gathered it is carefully closed and tucked into the same pocket the paper had been extracted from, it saved for whatever purpose Allie has in mind for it.
"Aye, sir," the Corpsman replies to Cora. He wets his lips and ambles back over towards the man. But as he starts to lift her, the Corpsman slows and watches. He looks like he's about to offer to help but stops short. Canning meet's Coll's lifeless eyes for a split second and just halts in his tracks before looking away towards the Raptor. "Cap'n says you can ride back with her, Sarge," is all he manages to mutter.
Constin nods once to the Corpsman, finally meeting the other marine's eyes for a moment before the gesture. Bearing Coll across the pavement with his grip going behind her shoulders and knees, he says nothing. It's not far to the Raptor- just a few steps, before Constin sets Coll down on the bird's floor. Remaining in a crouch beside the corpse briefly, Constin composes Lauren's hands over her bullet-ridden chest and rises. Gruffly, he raps a fist on the bird's siding and steps off the vessel. "Clear, sir," he voices toward Cidra in the pilot's chair.
Sofia waves at Constin, deciding to let the poor man be in peace. She bites her lower lip hard. "Perhaps I will find those parts for her," She promises. Maybe put them at the memorial or who knows. She takes a deep, shivering breath. She just wipes hard at her eyes. She's been crying, and trying to stop it. "I'm so sorry, Coll." Her deck buddy. Deckies are practically second family, pin ups and all. More tears flow. They just won't stop will they? "Ugh."
"Let us take her home, Sergeant," Cidra says simply to Constin. As soon as all, living at not, are settled in, she'll touch off her Raptor off into atmosphere and beyond. Then back to Cerberus. To deliver both crewman and gunman to Medical and their final rest. Whatever tale it may tell.