Guess what you get?
Title: Truth Be Told
Prompt: 177 - Courage
Author: nancy_hartigan
Fandom: Original Fiction
Summary: Sarah Wade considers cutting her losses and going home.
Rating: PG-13 - swearing, sex
Word Count: 1628
"HELL'S BELLS!"
The quad was not quite sure how much more they could really take of this fight. Wade was starting to notice Aleistar was getting fuzzy and the screen was jumping, and of course, Ragin's cussing was coming in loud and clear over her intercom, which was not surprising.
"Language, cadet!" Sergeant Damen had scolded, beam cannon charging. "Watson, cover me, firing in five..."
"Sarah..." Aleistar muttered. "Come on, retreat."
"Not yet, Aleistar, prepare missles for firing." Wade was not going down without a fight, and Aleistar had sighed in response to that, having known better than to think that.
"Four."
"Fuck, I'm overheating," Patidar replied. "I'm pulling back!"
"Be careful," Wade warned. "I'll cover you."
"Three."
Wade grabbed the levers that she needed, moving in between Patidar's retreating mech and the enemy that was about to pursue her.
"Locked on, Sarah."
The redhead slammed her fist into the proper button, watching as she took out the leg in a fiery explosion at the knee and the mech falling useless in its pursuit.
"Two."
"Christ..." Patidar muttered. "It's getting too hot in here..."
"It's fine, Mara," Wade assured. "Just get half a kilometer and you can power down."
"One..."
A rumbling nearly threw Sarah out of her seat, slamming her head against the side.
"Sarah, we're hit!"
"How bad?" Wade asked, aiming with her left arm's laser and firing as much as she could take.
"We lost communication."
"Damn..."
A well placed laser in retaliation shook her armor, Aleistar cussing audibly before she lost him too.
"Aleistar!" Damn, she was on her own again.
The world seemed to move under her feet and she was nearly blinded to her right from Damen's cannon, watching as one mech survived...but not for long, as Ragin offered a laser to the head.
Anything that happened after, Wade did not remember, losing consciousness from the heat and damage, barely able to power down in time.
---
Damen relaxed when he heard the last mech fall. "Good...that's over."
"You did well, Sergeant," Sora praised. "Starting autorepair and I'll give you a report on what we need to replace."
"Power down, after."
"Yes, Sergeant."
He climbed out once in a decent area to check over the mess that was his students' mechs. Lukas seemed perfectly alright, as usual (Ragin definitely thrived for war), Michael was in autorepair, Ferguson jumping out to join him.
"Sarge!"
"I'm alright, it was just getting hot in there, that's all," he explained. "Where are Aleistar and Merlin?"
"Mara and Merlin had to fall back," Ferguson explained. "Aleistar is over there."
Damen really wished that he did not look at the mess that was Aleistar, watching the smoke rise. "Damn!" He immediately ran over and looked for the emergency ejection, which was more or less easy to find, and opened it up.
Wade was, much to his relief, breathing in short gasps, but still alive to be pulled out.
"Wake up, Princess!" Damen tried, slapping her gently. "Hey, Princess! Brat! Cadet!"
Ragin ran over. "Is Sarah alright?!"
Ferguson reached in for her journal disk, reading over the battle summary on her laptop. "Aleistar was overheating, too?"
"Not surprising, princesses always think the laws of convection will bend to their will," Damen quipped, reaching for his flask and pouring some water into her mouth and down her throat. "She and Patidar always push themselves to the limit anyway."
Ragin frowned, leaning against an abandoned mech leg. "So, what do we do now?"
Damen gave her a look. "We get Wade and Patidar to the hospital!"
"One would think that would be obvious," Ferguson agreed. "Permission to salvage?"
"Granted, but don't take too long. Grab Aleistar, Merlin, and Sora while you're out here."
"Roger."
---
Wade and Patidar recovered rather quickly, but that didn't change Wade's self blame.
This was her fault, really. She should have fallen back with Patidar. Thinking back on it, she barely remembered why her cheek had a first degree burn that she had to keep covered.
Damen had been in her hospital room when Wade finally woke up, though, which seemed to be a little strange.
"'The lady stirs'," Damen quipped, looking her over. "You got lucky, it seems."
Wade narrowed her eyes, focusing on the new scar down the side of the sergeant's face. "You got hurt."
"Nah," he told her. "You worry about yourself, brat."
The redhead blinked, then laughed, throwing her call light at him. "You go write your report! You have better things to do than watch young girls sleep, you pervert!"
"I do, but I wasn't watching a young girl."
"Go to hell!"
---
"The major's coming in to do his report," Watson teased.
Ragin went a brilliant shade of crimson that contrasted nicely with her fallow-colored skin and oddly with her blonde hair. "I know. Major Wythe only shows up once a month. It's routine. _Routine_."
Ferguson typed away at her laptop. "You know, I think I got enough credits to upgrade Michael."
Ragin blinked. "What're you gonna upgrade?"
"I'm thinking, if I have the points, a small plasma instead of my medium laser."
"I'd like that," Michael quipped from the computer screen. "The medium laser isn't going to cut it forever, Stephanie."
"How many credits?"
"You'll need to take two more missions or attend nine more classes," he replied.
Ragin rolled her eyes. "So, what, end of the week?"
Watson nudged her. "That's not nice."
"Change your specialization, Steph," Ragin told her. "Go for technician."
"And then we'll be one man down," Wade reminded her.
"I assure you, it wouldn't be logical," Ferguson pointed out. "Maybe once I raise my rank to something more profitable than a cadet."
Wade sighed, mind wandering off. Ferguson was getting along nicely with her studies, too. The rest of the girls seemed to be progressing well, finding their niche, knowing what they want to go for.
Was it her fault that she was truly the only girl in her squad that had no idea if she was cut out as a pilot? The last mission was a very good example as to why she felt that she needed to get an idea of what to do.
She was a bit too brave for her own good, Aleistar would not let her forget. This made her, unlike Ragin, too dumb to know her limit. Unlike Ferguson, she had fallen behind in classes lately, not sure when she would be able to catch up. Unlike Watson, she was not a naturally talented soldier without the desire to advance, more than happy to stay as a mere cadet. And definitely, unlike Patidar, she did not crave the battles to sooth her uncontrollable rage.
Maybe her place was back at home, taking care of her mother.
---
"...Permission to enter, Sergeant?" Wade asked, noticing her squad leader in his office.
Dark brown eyes looked toward the voice, inspecting every curve openly. Wade was about to comment before she noticed the bottle of white rum in his hand.
Sergeant was drunk.
"Come in, brat."
She smiled nervously, watching the Surillan with careful eyes. "Are you drunk?" She asked out of politeness, not expecting an answer.
"Nah," he trailed off. "What do you need, Sarah?"
Okay, that caught her off guard. Wade had, under no circumstances, ever expected to hear any of her superiors acknowledge her as a person beyond her family name. This was definitely a sign that he was not in a good state to talk to.
"...Do you want me to come back later?"
A strong hand immediately grasped her wrist. "Sit down."
She did as she was told, rather startled. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, what did you need, Your Highness?"
Wade had immediately decided that, well, if he was asking..."I'm thinking of turning in my credits."
"You don't have enough to graduate," he told her. "Hell, you shouldn't graduate. I told them women in the military was a bad idea."
"Thanks," she sarcastically replied. "You're going to get your wish, Sarge, I fucking quit."
Dark brown eyes lazily blinked. "Why are you quitting? You can't quit now!"
"You wanted me to quit the minute we met and you know it, Sarge!" Wade retaliated. "I don't care what you have to say, I am not so stupid as to see what you are doing! I'm uninstalling Aleister and scrapping my mech!"
"What the hell is your problem?" He asked. "This is coming out of nowhere!"
"Maybe if you had paid attention for the past couple days you'd have noticed that this has been bothering me!"
Damen slammed his bottle down, grabbing her. "Why the fuck do you want to quit, brat?!"
"I would say that it's because I have this asshole CO who thinks he knows absolutely everything and doesn't give a fuck about us, but the answer is that I don't think this is right for me!"
"Bullshit!" he told her. "You're a damn good pilot, Wade! You just got to learn to control your courage and abilities and not spend your credits repairing Aleister!"
Wade finally couldn't take it. Something in her, for the past year, finally snapped, and her hand went across his face without a thought.
"...You're such an insufferable jackass, you know that? You're getting what you're wanting, and now that you are, you are going to bitch about it?"
She barely dodged the thrown bottle, the smell of alcohol burning at her nose.
Which resulted in a thrown punch.
---
Wade had no idea when they moved, or how she ended up staring at the white ceiling of an apartment that she did not even know existed. All she knew was that the blankets were warm, the flesh that was draped over her body felt soft, the smell in the air was wonderful, and that she needed to go home before the dorm officers noticed she was AWOL.
It took a while to get Sergeant Damen off of her, and she grabbed her nylons and underwear first.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked, causing her to jump.
"When did you...?"
"Don't quit, Sarah," was all he told her.
"..."
He got up and kissed her again, helping her with her clothes. "I mean it, Sarah Wade. If you leave, you are an even bigger coward than you think you are."
"You're insane."
"No, I just know what I'm talking about. Find the courage to stay."
Prompt: 177 - Courage
Author: nancy_hartigan
Fandom: Original Fiction
Summary: Sarah Wade considers cutting her losses and going home.
Rating: PG-13 - swearing, sex
Word Count: 1628
"HELL'S BELLS!"
The quad was not quite sure how much more they could really take of this fight. Wade was starting to notice Aleistar was getting fuzzy and the screen was jumping, and of course, Ragin's cussing was coming in loud and clear over her intercom, which was not surprising.
"Language, cadet!" Sergeant Damen had scolded, beam cannon charging. "Watson, cover me, firing in five..."
"Sarah..." Aleistar muttered. "Come on, retreat."
"Not yet, Aleistar, prepare missles for firing." Wade was not going down without a fight, and Aleistar had sighed in response to that, having known better than to think that.
"Four."
"Fuck, I'm overheating," Patidar replied. "I'm pulling back!"
"Be careful," Wade warned. "I'll cover you."
"Three."
Wade grabbed the levers that she needed, moving in between Patidar's retreating mech and the enemy that was about to pursue her.
"Locked on, Sarah."
The redhead slammed her fist into the proper button, watching as she took out the leg in a fiery explosion at the knee and the mech falling useless in its pursuit.
"Two."
"Christ..." Patidar muttered. "It's getting too hot in here..."
"It's fine, Mara," Wade assured. "Just get half a kilometer and you can power down."
"One..."
A rumbling nearly threw Sarah out of her seat, slamming her head against the side.
"Sarah, we're hit!"
"How bad?" Wade asked, aiming with her left arm's laser and firing as much as she could take.
"We lost communication."
"Damn..."
A well placed laser in retaliation shook her armor, Aleistar cussing audibly before she lost him too.
"Aleistar!" Damn, she was on her own again.
The world seemed to move under her feet and she was nearly blinded to her right from Damen's cannon, watching as one mech survived...but not for long, as Ragin offered a laser to the head.
Anything that happened after, Wade did not remember, losing consciousness from the heat and damage, barely able to power down in time.
---
Damen relaxed when he heard the last mech fall. "Good...that's over."
"You did well, Sergeant," Sora praised. "Starting autorepair and I'll give you a report on what we need to replace."
"Power down, after."
"Yes, Sergeant."
He climbed out once in a decent area to check over the mess that was his students' mechs. Lukas seemed perfectly alright, as usual (Ragin definitely thrived for war), Michael was in autorepair, Ferguson jumping out to join him.
"Sarge!"
"I'm alright, it was just getting hot in there, that's all," he explained. "Where are Aleistar and Merlin?"
"Mara and Merlin had to fall back," Ferguson explained. "Aleistar is over there."
Damen really wished that he did not look at the mess that was Aleistar, watching the smoke rise. "Damn!" He immediately ran over and looked for the emergency ejection, which was more or less easy to find, and opened it up.
Wade was, much to his relief, breathing in short gasps, but still alive to be pulled out.
"Wake up, Princess!" Damen tried, slapping her gently. "Hey, Princess! Brat! Cadet!"
Ragin ran over. "Is Sarah alright?!"
Ferguson reached in for her journal disk, reading over the battle summary on her laptop. "Aleistar was overheating, too?"
"Not surprising, princesses always think the laws of convection will bend to their will," Damen quipped, reaching for his flask and pouring some water into her mouth and down her throat. "She and Patidar always push themselves to the limit anyway."
Ragin frowned, leaning against an abandoned mech leg. "So, what do we do now?"
Damen gave her a look. "We get Wade and Patidar to the hospital!"
"One would think that would be obvious," Ferguson agreed. "Permission to salvage?"
"Granted, but don't take too long. Grab Aleistar, Merlin, and Sora while you're out here."
"Roger."
---
Wade and Patidar recovered rather quickly, but that didn't change Wade's self blame.
This was her fault, really. She should have fallen back with Patidar. Thinking back on it, she barely remembered why her cheek had a first degree burn that she had to keep covered.
Damen had been in her hospital room when Wade finally woke up, though, which seemed to be a little strange.
"'The lady stirs'," Damen quipped, looking her over. "You got lucky, it seems."
Wade narrowed her eyes, focusing on the new scar down the side of the sergeant's face. "You got hurt."
"Nah," he told her. "You worry about yourself, brat."
The redhead blinked, then laughed, throwing her call light at him. "You go write your report! You have better things to do than watch young girls sleep, you pervert!"
"I do, but I wasn't watching a young girl."
"Go to hell!"
---
"The major's coming in to do his report," Watson teased.
Ragin went a brilliant shade of crimson that contrasted nicely with her fallow-colored skin and oddly with her blonde hair. "I know. Major Wythe only shows up once a month. It's routine. _Routine_."
Ferguson typed away at her laptop. "You know, I think I got enough credits to upgrade Michael."
Ragin blinked. "What're you gonna upgrade?"
"I'm thinking, if I have the points, a small plasma instead of my medium laser."
"I'd like that," Michael quipped from the computer screen. "The medium laser isn't going to cut it forever, Stephanie."
"How many credits?"
"You'll need to take two more missions or attend nine more classes," he replied.
Ragin rolled her eyes. "So, what, end of the week?"
Watson nudged her. "That's not nice."
"Change your specialization, Steph," Ragin told her. "Go for technician."
"And then we'll be one man down," Wade reminded her.
"I assure you, it wouldn't be logical," Ferguson pointed out. "Maybe once I raise my rank to something more profitable than a cadet."
Wade sighed, mind wandering off. Ferguson was getting along nicely with her studies, too. The rest of the girls seemed to be progressing well, finding their niche, knowing what they want to go for.
Was it her fault that she was truly the only girl in her squad that had no idea if she was cut out as a pilot? The last mission was a very good example as to why she felt that she needed to get an idea of what to do.
She was a bit too brave for her own good, Aleistar would not let her forget. This made her, unlike Ragin, too dumb to know her limit. Unlike Ferguson, she had fallen behind in classes lately, not sure when she would be able to catch up. Unlike Watson, she was not a naturally talented soldier without the desire to advance, more than happy to stay as a mere cadet. And definitely, unlike Patidar, she did not crave the battles to sooth her uncontrollable rage.
Maybe her place was back at home, taking care of her mother.
---
"...Permission to enter, Sergeant?" Wade asked, noticing her squad leader in his office.
Dark brown eyes looked toward the voice, inspecting every curve openly. Wade was about to comment before she noticed the bottle of white rum in his hand.
Sergeant was drunk.
"Come in, brat."
She smiled nervously, watching the Surillan with careful eyes. "Are you drunk?" She asked out of politeness, not expecting an answer.
"Nah," he trailed off. "What do you need, Sarah?"
Okay, that caught her off guard. Wade had, under no circumstances, ever expected to hear any of her superiors acknowledge her as a person beyond her family name. This was definitely a sign that he was not in a good state to talk to.
"...Do you want me to come back later?"
A strong hand immediately grasped her wrist. "Sit down."
She did as she was told, rather startled. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, what did you need, Your Highness?"
Wade had immediately decided that, well, if he was asking..."I'm thinking of turning in my credits."
"You don't have enough to graduate," he told her. "Hell, you shouldn't graduate. I told them women in the military was a bad idea."
"Thanks," she sarcastically replied. "You're going to get your wish, Sarge, I fucking quit."
Dark brown eyes lazily blinked. "Why are you quitting? You can't quit now!"
"You wanted me to quit the minute we met and you know it, Sarge!" Wade retaliated. "I don't care what you have to say, I am not so stupid as to see what you are doing! I'm uninstalling Aleister and scrapping my mech!"
"What the hell is your problem?" He asked. "This is coming out of nowhere!"
"Maybe if you had paid attention for the past couple days you'd have noticed that this has been bothering me!"
Damen slammed his bottle down, grabbing her. "Why the fuck do you want to quit, brat?!"
"I would say that it's because I have this asshole CO who thinks he knows absolutely everything and doesn't give a fuck about us, but the answer is that I don't think this is right for me!"
"Bullshit!" he told her. "You're a damn good pilot, Wade! You just got to learn to control your courage and abilities and not spend your credits repairing Aleister!"
Wade finally couldn't take it. Something in her, for the past year, finally snapped, and her hand went across his face without a thought.
"...You're such an insufferable jackass, you know that? You're getting what you're wanting, and now that you are, you are going to bitch about it?"
She barely dodged the thrown bottle, the smell of alcohol burning at her nose.
Which resulted in a thrown punch.
---
Wade had no idea when they moved, or how she ended up staring at the white ceiling of an apartment that she did not even know existed. All she knew was that the blankets were warm, the flesh that was draped over her body felt soft, the smell in the air was wonderful, and that she needed to go home before the dorm officers noticed she was AWOL.
It took a while to get Sergeant Damen off of her, and she grabbed her nylons and underwear first.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked, causing her to jump.
"When did you...?"
"Don't quit, Sarah," was all he told her.
"..."
He got up and kissed her again, helping her with her clothes. "I mean it, Sarah Wade. If you leave, you are an even bigger coward than you think you are."
"You're insane."
"No, I just know what I'm talking about. Find the courage to stay."