Three Strikes [✓]

Special Delivery

Chapter Thirty-Five: Special Delivery

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New Arrows Air Base, Eastern Usea.
September 15th, 2019.
2300hrs.

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Naomi groggily slumped down into her seat in the briefing room, a cup of coffee in her hands and probably looking like she was ready to kill anyone who spoke to her. She was fine with early mornings, but this wasn't morning. She wanted to be back in bed, where she had been about thirty minutes ago. The lights were bright and yet her body knew she should be sleeping. Besides, at least then it gave her mind something other than her friends' departure to think about. The IUN and Specter Squadron were long gone, probably already back at Fort Grays Island by now, and she had to get back to work. So there she was, tired and bored.

Wiseman wasn't there yet. Hawkins hadn't arrived either, and neither was her father. Her father she could excuse, given that he was likely more than happy to keep sleeping. The only person that was there, on time, was Long Caster. He was busy right now dumping sugar into his coffee. Naomi usually put a good amount of sugar in her coffee as well, or at least just enough to get it to her liking, but Long Caster had gone through at least ten sugar packets and it didn't look like he planned on stopping any time soon. That morning, Naomi had wanted her coffee as strong as possible, so she was drinking it black. Count had poured some cream into his, and Lanza was almost rivaling Long Caster with how much sugar he was using. Jaeger had opted for black coffee as well. She slowly realized how much attention she was paying to what they were doing and quickly turned to her own drink. If she was that tired and bored then she really needed to hurry up with her own coffee.

She guessed that they were flying in the same formation as they had when they were taking out the IRBMs in Sierraplata, otherwise Count wouldn't be there. She didn't mind having him still flying as her number two. In fact, she welcomed it. Might as well enjoy it while it lasted. While she had grown accustomed to working with the others, and having Count in the same squadron had helped ease her into the change. But the initial reason for him flying with her no longer really applied. Unless Wiseman thought differently. It didn't matter either way, so long as everything went smoothly and everyone got back okay. Honestly, she doubted anything could possibly be as crazy as their last mission was, so she was fine with whatever lineup Wiseman had for them.

After a while, everyone had taken their seats. Count sat on Naomi's left and Lanza on her right. Jaeger sat beside Lanza. Once Long Caster was finally satisfied with the way his coffee tasted, he stepped up to start up the computer. Everyone sat mostly in silence and drank their coffees while looking expectantly at Long Caster. Once he had the screen and everything ready for the briefing, he was quickly aware of them watching him. "Relax, you guys. Wiseman will be along shortly. He had to stop by Hawkins' office."

"Lemme guess, the base commander is still stuck with paperwork?" Naomi asked after taking a swig of coffee, grimacing slightly at how bitter it was compared to what she was used to. "I mean, we've barely seen him."

"I honestly don't care whether or not he does the briefing. Seriously, if you ask me our base commanders are way too involved. I don't like it," Count said, propping his elbow up on the armrest and leaning his head against his fist. "I say that so long as he isn't hiding anything, like McKinsey and Clemens were, then he can stay in his office. It's not like he's the one laying his life on the line."

Something about the tone that Count used made Naomi think he was a little bitter that Hawkins hadn't been of more use during their hunt for the Alicorn. In fact, Hawkins had been pretty absent, even after they found out about Clemens' actions. He wasn't hiding something, but he probably could have actually been on their side a little more. She could understand why Count wouldn't want him around now that things had settled down. Long Caster didn't argue with him, but he didn't agree either. "I'm sure he has his reasons, Count. He's got lots of responsibilities, just like everyone else. You make a good point, though."