Shadow War

The entire cafeteria looked up as a pair if women made their way in, heads together as they talked loudly, giggling to themselves. The two were the most opposite they could be, and yet they had formed a friendship that had lasted them through the horrors of the Pendulum Wars and into the employment of the COG. They were sisters in every since of the word. Azure, who was jumping up and down in her black flats, was so small she was often mistaken for a young teenage boy. Her long cinnabar hair did little to accentuate her subtle curves which all but disappeared in her COG uniform. Her pale face was flushed pink from having rushed all the way from the other side of the complex to meet her best friend, Bea for lunch and to share in the good news.

Bea was strutting into the cafeteria, wearing a smile that would have beat the Hammer of Dawn for brightness. Though the ring on her left hand would have trumped her smile. It sparkled as she held it out in in front of her like a sign of royalty. Three other women in the cafeteria spotted the stone on her finger and nearly deafened the group of lunching Generals and their wives who looked upon the scene with nostalgia, remembering when they had first gotten married. Though those times were long gone. Gone, also was the luxury of waiting a few years before having kids. It had gone from encouragement to an outright duty of all married couples to conceive within the first 24 months of their marriage. The dark skinned beauty who wore the biggest rock her friends had ever seen would not have to wait, she was already pregnant.

The young women clucked like a group of hens, settling into the comfort of female gossip. The final member of this motley crew came trotting into the cafeteria, her color high as she re-did the top button on her uniform. She made sure her hair was still presentable before she slid right in next to Azure, all eyes on her. "What?"

"You know what," Bea had lowered her voice, getting in close. "So?"

"So, what?" All the girls started laughing again, leaning in so that there was no where for the straggler to run.

"Where were you," Azure got in on her, leaning in as she narrowed her eyes. "Hmmm?"

The slight break in her attempt at playing dumb was all her friends needed to see. The cafeteria exploded again with the cheers and squeals of young women as they patted their youngest friend on the back. Apparently, fooling around with the guy you liked in the office of the officer he worked for without getting caught was somewhat of a sport. It was even the subject of high stakes wagers among the men-folk.

The salt and pepper shakers danced across the tables as the ground trembled slightly under them, making the people sitting have to grab for their forks and knives before they clattered to the ground. The girls looked more annoyed than troubled, though Azure had a sly smirk on her face as she put the shakers back where they belonged. "Sounds like someone 'christened' another office."

---

The small storage compartment was filled with the sound of heavy breathing, its sole occupant crowded among the loose bits of machinery and spare parts and curled up in Locust hide. She had to wait for her mind to clear enough for her to chance extricating herself from the compartment. She rubbed the side of her face, feeling the deep trench in her skin that deformed as she grimaced, making one side of her mouth look as though she were constantly smiling. Her skin was the color of the dirt outside, grime rubbed into her pores where she had clung to the side of the derrick during the early evening. She shook her head, trying to shove the memory of her dream back down. It was so long ago she was surprised she had remembered even two of her friends names.

Though, she knew that like all things in her previous life, they, too would fade into darkness. Fade just like the sound of Stephen's voice, or the feel of his lips on hers. Her parents names along with the cemetery they were buried in was lost in the mists of her memory. Gone, too was the battlefield they had fought and died on; the color of her father's eyes or her mothers hair. Even her own face had faded into that abyss between then and now. She pulled her hood over her head as she opened up the trap door to reveal dirt speeding past her so fast she could only register the color brown. Her hands checking that she had everything she needed, she climbed out of the compartment to hang on the underside of the derrick. She closed the trapdoor, leaving her dreams and memories down the same dark hole her own name had fallen into.

---

Baird gritted his teeth as the APC he was riding shot-gun in bounced in more of the divots created by the vehicles ahead of them. He had endured this torture for four days and he was eagerly waiting for the moment when his rear end would go numb. Unfortunately, every time he thought he had reached that point, Cole would intentionally hit another low spot in the ground and send Baird bouncing from seat to ceiling with a roar of rage. Cole seemed entertained by the 'thunk, smack, thunk' his head and rear end made when they slammed into their respective obstacles. His uncontrollable laughter at Baird's renewed fit of swearing filtered through to Marcus' ear piece. The lead of Delta squad shook his head. Baird would be likely to kill Cole when they finely got to Phillipe Mesa.

"Shit! Marcus! Are we there yet? I feel like I'm getting ass fucked by a Brumak!" Dom in the front seat nearly sprayed the water in his mouth all over the windshield, coughing and pounding his chest until it all went down the correct pipe. That mental image was almost too much as he swerved to keep his position as lead in the convoy.

"Almost makes me wonder how he knows what that would feel like," Dom quipped back, getting a rather clipped, two worded response from Baird over the comm, Cole's bawdy laughter in the background. "What's the matter, Baird? I thought everyone loved to ride the Cole-Train?"

"Yea, baby!" Cole glanced back at his winy passenger, winking. "That's what all the ladies say!"

"Can't see why they would," Baird winced again as his head bounced off the back of his seat. "after a few minutes it gets really old."

Cole smirked. "Probably 'cause you need to relax, baby! Lean back, close your eyes and let the Cole-Train take the lead."

Baird narrowed his eyes at Cole, fighting the urge to kick the back of his head. "Dammit, Cole...if you hump the steering column one more time, I am going to bail."

"What? I ain't gettin' any complaints from ole' girl." Cole patted the console to his left, stroking it almost as though it were his lover. "Every body needs some lovin'," Cole laughed at Baird's silence, looking back to see if the Sargent had actually bailed out of the APC.

"I don't think it's 'Ole Girl' that needs the lovin', Cole," Dom laughed over the comm, forgetting everything as he laughed over the conversation the other two Gears were having behind him. Marcus had decided to stay out of this one. Everyone needed to blow some steam, and he sympathized with Baird. His ass felt much the same, though he doubted it felt anywhere near what a Brumak would do if given half the chance. "What's the Sit-Rep on that pretty young lady you were about to clean your pipes with? Baird?"

"I'm not talking to you, Dom. Maybe you can strike up a conversation with my hemorrhoid instead!"

"No thanks," Dom smiled. "But I know a Brumak who wouldn't mind." Marcus barked a laugh into the comm, the others joining in as Baird fell silent again.