Cecil woke to a blaring alarm. When had she fallen asleep? A shiver coursed up her spine as she opened her eyes. A groggy headache assaulted her and she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. But the alarm wasn't going to let her. The sound was making the pounding of her skull even worse. Groaning, she reached out and hit several buttons trying to make it stop. When it did, a voice filled the cockpit.
"Ensign Jiovia? Please respond. A team is being sent out to retrieve you and bring you safely aboard the Nightengale. Please respond."
It took Cecil a long while to figure out how to answer their hail. When she found the button, she had uncurled from where she'd pulled her legs up and winced as she felt the pull of several wounds. "This is Jiovia." It was all she could coherently think to respond with. A chaotic mess of noise filled the cockpit and she winced as she rubbed at her head with her good arm. The other was limp across her lap, stiff from the knife wound. Droplets of blood floated around the pilots seat lazily and she herself was even floating a little off of the seat.
As she waited for a response from the ship, warnings popped up all over the screen that showed her a black expanse ahead of her and to the left and right. The A.I of the mecha materialized again in the cockpit and hovered near the screen. A box opened up and showed an image of several machines gathered up in formation. Judging by their colors and insignia's, they were Kiritine's. Cecil cursed softly.
Pushing the button again, she interrupted the one who hailed her. "I suggest you hurry their deployment, Captain," she said weakly, speaking directly to the man she knew would be in charge. "Kiritine's army from the science station has mobilized."
Silence answered her for a moment until the com's cracked and the Captain's voice came over the link instead of the ensign who had addressed her first. "Can you hold out until they reach you?"
Cecil considered the question for a moment. She didn't know how exactly to operate the mecha she'd stolen, but she was certain she could learn rather quickly if she needed to. The problem was her wounds. She doubted very much she'd be able to stand against the army as they chased after her and stay awake long enough to fend them off until the team reached her. Cecil shook her head. She'd have to run and hope that she was faster. After all, she'd gotten a head start.
"No, Captain. I was attacked before I could leave. I doubt I could handle fighting for long. But I can see just how fast this mecha is."
"Understood, ensign Jiovia. You're almost home.
Almost she thought as she cut off the com and set to work on figuring out how to go faster. She hoped that she could stay awake longer this round to actually succeed in flying the mecha. Despite having the A.I technology, the mecha still required a human touch to keep it going. And drifting off wasn't helping her. As her consciousness came and went, the mecha sped up and slowed down in bursts.
Iriyn lounged against the wall of the Captain's quarters. He'd been summoned to meet with the new pilot that had transferred over. Apparently it was a last minute deal and she was just now arriving. Iriyn tried hard to keep the scoff off his face. After all, they had been deployed out into the middle of a neutral zone with no substantial reasons as to why, and had to deal with a newbie coming on in the middle of what was already chaotic. In short, it pissed Iriyn off to no end.
Which put him in a very sour mood when she finally showed up to the Captain's quarters. He leveled her with a cold, hard stare that was close enough to glaring, but wasn't so obvious as to be outright rude. As she introduced herself, Iriyn clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Good, ensign Shironoa. This is your team captain, Captain Iriyn Koatyn. He will be taking you under his wing while we get your mecha settled in. Koatyn, show her to her quarters, if you would."
Iriyn had half a mind to ignore the order. It wouldn't have been a first, and certainly not a last time either. Shoving off the wall, he brushed past her and into the hall where he waited for her to join him. Once she joined him, he set off at a brisk pace. "Once you're settled, Shironoa, come directly to the docking bay. I want to see this mech of yours, its grandeur has been blown out of perspective. I'll be the judge of how great it is." He told her coldly, though the pitch of his tone never changed.
He stopped at the beginning of one of the intersecting halls on the Viper and motioned to his right. "Your room is 15. I don't think I need to show you how to work the system. You have fifteen minutes." Iriyn turned on his heel and left her to her own devices. He had taken approximately five steps before red lights flashed and sirens rang. The coms crackled as they turned on and a voice hollered over the speakers.
"All teams to sortie! All teams to sortie! Launching counter attack!"
Iriyn ground his teeth. Figures Looking over his shoulder he frowned at her. "Now you have five to put your stuff down and get your ass moving." He didn't say anything else, nor did he wait for her response and simply quickened his pace to the mecha bay.
A grin slowly replaced his frown. Finally, something to ease his growing agitation.
"Nee!" As soon as the doors opened to the command bridge. She flung herself forward and pulled the girl into a hug with her arms loosely around Nee's shoulders, holding her against Riley's chest. Her smiling was bright and bubbly, at least until the Captain leveled her with a dark glare. Riley felt her heart squeeze and she quickly released her comrade to stand at attention. She hadn't noticed the Captain to be on deck. A dark flush rushed over her face as she saluted the man in the hopes that he would be sated with it as a kind of apology.
"You're all present. I have special orders for the three of you," he said coldly. He was a large man, in muscle and height. The uniform did little to hide his threatening presence on the deck of the vessel they were on. The Vigilanti had detached itself from the hangar bay on the opposite end of the science space station. Only a few knew of the bay or even that the Vigilanti had been stationed there the whole time.
"As we suspected, there was a traitor in our midst. A spy. She took the bait. And fled the station with our latest design. You are to capture her with the mecha and bring them both back. Her for detainment, and the mecha to reclaim as our own. If you fail in capture. Kill her and destroy that machine. They cannot have it."
Riley lifted her hand slowly, eyeing the Captain as he turned his glare on her. "Captain. Who was it?" she asked. She was trying to think of anyone who had shown signs of betrayal, but nothing was coming to mind.
The Captain tapped a few keys on the controls next to his chair, and a screen opened up in front of the four of them. "You would know her as Lieutenant Cecil Jiovia. She is a Drastonian pilot. We had our suspicions, but nothing ever came of it. Until now. Seven years..." he trailed off as he glared at her picture, the woman with long brown hair dressed up in the uniform of a Kiritine army official. "She's good. But not quite enough. You have your orders. I expect it to be done in a timely fashion."
The Captain waved his hand at them in a dismissive manner. Riley saluted him again, though he wasn't looking. She left the bridge with her team and once in the hall, was looking to Edward for more precise orders. "How do we go about destroying that bitch?" Riley asked, all semblance of her bubbly nature long gone after receiving the disgusting news from their Captain.