“Oh, that smells good. Whose idea was it for the cookout?” Gunny asked, making everyone turn around. Freya looked to her left and spotted Gunny walking up to their camp. Behind her was Sergeant Torres, who looked pissed. Freya took a step back away from the base camp, but Toast put his hand on her back and pushed her forward again. She would have given him a dirty look, but she was too scared to look away.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am…” Leni started to say, but Gunny stopped her.

“No, a cookout is just the thing to make an active combat zone... fun.” Gunny said, emphasizing the word fun.

“Would you like a slice of this pig thing that got dead, Ma’am?” Mon asked, as if he was not in trouble.

“Is it poisonous?” Gunny asked, as she walked up to the makeshift grill.

“Not according to my scans, Ma’am.” Mon said, as he flipped the meat on the grill over.

“You got enough to feed everyone?” Gunny asked, looking down at the meat.

“For our company? Sure, as long as everyone only gets one.” Mon said with a smile. “Plus, I’m sure we have enough for all the company leaders, if you want to share, Ma’am.”

“You got big ones, Mon. I’ll give you that. If I didn’t know who your family was I’d be more impressed.” Gunny said leaning closer to smell the meat. “Smells good. Okay, let's get the rest of the company fed, then if there is enough, I’ll make a few calls.”

“Sounds like a plan, Ma’am.” Mon said with a smile. “It’ll be done in about a half hour or so.”

“I can’t believe that worked.” Freya said out loud as Sergeant Torres left with Gunny.

“Oh, it didn’t.” Toast said, shaking his head. “She’ll get us back. Just wait.”

Contrary to what Toast said, half an hour later Gunny returned with a bunch of other Gunnery Sergeants. The other platoons in the company slowly trickled in as Mon dished out the meat. Freya had to admit that Mon was a good cook as she ate her slice. The meat tasted sort of like a mix between moose and caribou. It had the odd flower taste from the moose, but had the grainy flavor and texture of a caribou. Unlike both, there was no need to take anti-toxins for pollution, like you had to back home..

She did see Torres get Mon alone and chew him a new one once Gunny left with her fellow company commanders. Someone from Second Platoon had smuggled in a bunch of flavored powder mixes. They had to filter the water from a nearby stream, but the effort was worth it when they got to drink something that did not have that nutrition drink flavor.

“Platoon meeting in fifteen. I would like to see my command staff now.” Sergeant Torres said as the last visitor from the other platoons wandered away. “While the command staff meets, I want everyone else to secure this area. I don’t want to see anything that doesn’t belong here when we’re done. We won’t have time tomorrow because we have a mission early in the AM. Get it done.”

Freya sat down on a box with the rest of the command staff. She looked around, but didn’t spot either One nor Done. She did see Dusty though. She gave him a confused look and he gave her a small, sad smile in return. She looked over at Toast, hoping to get an answer, but he was talking to Sergeant Leni. Whatever was being discussed must have upset him pretty badly because he looked pissed. He was also being very animated with his hands as he talked and he almost never did that. She really didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever was being discussed so she scooted over to sit closer to Dusty. Before she could ask what he was doing there, Sergeant Torres started to talk.

“Okay this is what we are up against.” Sergeant Torres said, as he opened a metal box and pulled out a miniature holo table. It automatically turned on once it was open to show the mission planet they were on. Sergeant Torres pressed a button and the map changed from the mission planet to a small-looking island.

“This is St. Ahun island. It is four miles from Landing City, which is the oldest city on the planet. It is eight miles long and a mile wide at its widest. There are some residential areas in the middle of the island that’s mostly occupied by the rich and influential. We will be staying away from that area unless we get permission.” He told them.

“There is only one way on and off the island and that’s this bridge here. On the south side is the energy station for Landing City. On the north side is Landing City Space Force military base.” He said point to the base in question. “This base has a small spaceport for military ships. The Monarch hit the base with an orbital bombardment and took out the spaceport and most of the base. Intelligence thinks the base is now abandoned, but it still needs to be checked. On the southside, here, is the energy station for Landing City. We have orders to control, but not destroy it.” Sergeant Torres said, looking up at them from the map.

“Second Platoon is taking the bridge here, and will hold it. They have orders to destroy it if it might fall into enemy hands. Third and Fourth Platoons will check out the military base while we take the energy station.” Sergeant Torres told them.

“The entire company will come in from the south in four assault shuttles, with Magic coming in with the dropship for us. They will drop us off in the area, but they will not stay on station to keep us covered. They are needed elsewhere.” Sergeant Torres said, pointing to the map tracing the flight paths the assault shuttles would take.

“Magic, this is going to be a pain in the buttocks for you. You can’t come in or deploy in the ocean because they monitor it in case of underwater earthquakes or tidal waves. You are also not allowed to land in the residential area either. The only area you can land is either between the residential zone and the military base in this tiny area here or here in this flat area between the residential zone and the energy station. Either way your ship is going to be exposed. I need you to figure out a landing zone that will not compromise your ship.” He told her, looking into her eyes.

Freya’s eyes landed on the beaches. “What about the beaches?” She asked him looking at the map.

“As long as it’s not in a residential zone or near any target areas you can land on it.” He told her after a few seconds of examining the map.

Freya bit her lip as she looked it over. The place was a nightmare for a dropship to land in. The north side of the island, in the flat area that Sergeant Torres had shown her near the military base, was less than a quarter-mile wide and covered in small brush. Deploying there would be hell on her landing gear. On top of that, she noted it was very close to the military base. She guessed that there was a better than fifty percent chance that she would be spotted from the residential area before she could activate her active camouflage . If there really was anyone still alive in the base then the odds went up very quickly for her to be spotted.

On the south side of the island, the other choice Sergeant Torres gave her was a flat grass area that went on for about two miles. The problem, she spotted, was it was only a half-mile wide. It would be child’s play to search and find her ship in that area. Looking at the beaches, she noted with a sad sigh that it would be a better landing and deploying zone. The beaches were small but very long. They were flat with few sand dunes near the edge of the flat grass area. It wasn’t great, but she thought it was the better choice.

“That is as long as there is no one’s sunbathing when I come down.” She thought to herself, as she looked up the weather on her tablet. She silently swore to herself as she read that it was summer time for the area, and the weather was expected to be warm and sunny.

“Now, the bad news for the rest of us. One and Done will not be joining us on this mission. They have been tasked to another company for the duration of this mission. They will be with Second Company and will be hitting the north side of Landing City. There is a small reserve base there that needs to be taken out as fast as possible. That means that First and Second Squads will be combined into one squad which we will call First Squad. Dusty will be stepping up to command of it. Please help the Corporal if he needs it.” Sergeant Torres said pointing at Dusty.

Freya blinked as she realized that Dusty was a corporal. She shook her head. She knew he was a corporal, it was right there on his uniform, but he had never used or even talked about his rank. He was just Dusty, her friend. He had been a corporal when she met him and his rank hadn’t changed since. She even knew he got corporal on his first deployment. He told her so when they talked about it a long time ago. When she saw him looking at her with a sad expression, she gave him a smile and a thumbs up. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the others.

“What have you got for a landing area?” Toast asked her, surprising her and making her jump. She hadn’t heard him walk up behind her.

“The north is out. Too exposed. If there is anyone there they will see me come down. I really don’t like the area in the south. It’s only a half-mile wide. Less if you consider that there are beaches on either side of it. With that in mind, I was thinking about landing on the beaches, but it’s summer time on that side of the planet, and the weather is expected to be perfect beach weather.” She said, summing up her thoughts as she refocused on the map.

“Yeah, I saw that, but we need a respawn point on the island. I really wish that they would let you land in the residential area. I even argued for landing here, in this park. There’s a grove on the south side of the park on this hill. If you came in behind the park, you could land and not be exposed because of the trees... Well, except for the noise of your ship. Someone is bound to hear the noise, but we could pass it off if we had the assault ships pass over it as you land.” Toast told her, looking down at the map.

“That sounds awesome. Why can’t we?” Freya asked.

“Command says the whole residential area is a no-go area. Our orders are to avoid it at all costs. If we have to go into it for any reason we have to get Gunny to approve of it.” Toast said, sounding disgusted. “Leni told me that Gunny already shot down any landings inside the zone.”

Freya sighed and bit her lip again. She paused, then smiled. “What about landing on the bridge?” She asked, looking up at him. She pointed at the foot of the bridge that started on the island side.

Toast gave her a look then looked down at where she was pointing. “Magic, what are you thinking?” He asked her quietly as he took over control of the map from Torres, who was talking to the others and not using it. Toast zoomed in on the bridge.

She sighed as he didn’t take the bait. She leaned down, clicked a small button on the map and touched the bridge - making it blink blue. Then she raised the bridge up off the map and spun it upside down. She smiled as she looked back at Toast. “Just like when we did that wave mission. I land on the underside of the bridge. Someone is going to have to guard this side of the bridge. Now they will be guarding the ship as well.”

“Can a drop ship land like that?” Dusty asked, surprising her. She looked away from Toast and realized that she had everyone's attention.

“Did I even tell you guys about this time when me and Toast landed the ship on the side of a cliff…” Freya said with a smile.

“Later.” Torres said, then paused with his head tilted to the side. “And I mean later. That sounds like a good story. But Dusty’s question is still valid. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, I think so. Let me do the numbers.” Freya told him, letting the bridge drop back onto the map. She pulled out her tablet again and started running the numbers. She smiled when she looked up at them again a few minutes later. They were all still looking at her.

“The landing struts will hold, and unless there is something wrong with the road it should hold as well. If not, I can land on a support column.” She told them, pointing at one of the support columns that held the bridge up.

“Crazy, but better than putting the ship in an unsecured area. Let’s do that. Ok people, I want to hear how we are going to clear the energy plant. Suggestions?” Torres said, rubbing his chin.

Freya checked her flight plan while the other talked about what they wanted to do, with Sergeant Torres telling them yes or no to their plans. To her surprise, Dusty came up with a surprisingly good plan to hold the energy station once it was in their hands. Sergeant Torres tweaked it a bit, but he did that with every plan. Freya bumped his shoulder when everyone's attention turned to Ed as he described his plan to enter the energy station. Dusty bumped her back, but didn’t look away from Ed as he talked.

Once they had a working plan, Torres called the rest of the platoon for a debriefing. Freya listened in with one ear as everyone went over their part of the plan. Then Sergeant Torres called her out to tell the rest of the platoon what her plan was. Feeling nervous, she went over where she was going to deploy her ship and why. She went to sit down, but Sergeant Torres stopped her.

“So, how’re you getting back to the platoon?” He asked her. “It’s six miles from the bridge.”

“I, ah.” Freya stumbled over her words. She hadn’t thought about getting back to the platoon. Everything that she had planned was for landing her ship.

“Patterson will be on her ship with her. They will stay together on the way back.” Toast said, rescuing her.

“Sounds good. Dusty, set up a watch rotation for tonight. Put Mon on a double. He looks like he ate well.” Sergeant Torres said, with an evil smile. “We leave at three in the morning. That means that I want everyone up and ready to go by two thirty. Get some sleep, people. We have a very busy morning ahead of us.”

Freya looked over at Mon, but he had a smile on his face. It looked off to her, but then again he did just lose nearly four hours of sleep that night. She waited after the rest of the platoon walked away to talk to him, but Sergeant Torres called him away before she could. Shaking her shoulders she went off to get some sleep. Dusty didn’t put her on any watches that night, but she had to be up early to get her ship ready to fly in the morning.

She laid down on her back and looked up at the odd, living canopy. There was a lack of stars from what she could see through the tree-covered sky, as always. One of the moons was out, but it was only half full. She couldn’t find any signs of the other moon through the trees. Aside from the lack of stars it reminded her of home.

*******************************************************************************************

She was woken up about an hour before the rest of the platoon got up by the alarm on her HUD. She lay where she was on the ground for a few minutes as she tried to figure out why she set her alarm so early, before she remembered that she had to get to her ship and get it ready for the mission. She took her time getting up and drank a nutrition drink before standing up. She put her face shield up to enjoy the morning.

The one good thing about living in her armor was that if she had to go to the bathroom she didn’t need to find a quiet place to go. She just went in her suit. As gross as she found it during boot camp it was just normal to do so now. She put on her music as she made her way towards the perimeter where the people on watch were stationed. She spotted Mon manning a sand bunker. He saw her coming up and waved.

“What are you doing up so early? We still have about forty-five minutes before reveille.” Mon said over his suit's speakers, once she was close enough.

“Got to check out my ship before the mission.” She said as she sat down beside him. “So, how was your watch?”

“Meh, it was fine.” Mon said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Meh?” Freya asked, smiling.

“Meh.” Mon said, with a smile on his face.

“You do like your retro sayings.” Freya said, shaking her head mockingly. “Was it worth it?”

“You mean the cookout. You tasted the meat. It was good right?” Mon asked, sitting down beside her.

“Very good.” Freya said, nodding emphatically.

“Then it was worth it.” Mon said leaning back against the sandbags. “Did I ever tell you that my family started off with a simple restaurant?”

“Nope. You really haven’t talked about them at all.” She said, copying him as she leaned back against the sandbags. She scooted over to lean against his shoulder. She smiled up at him.

“Oh, wow. I just assumed you knew who they were.” Mon said, shaking his head. “My world is in the process of applying to be a paradise world. We, I mean my family, own a bunch of stuff and my uncle is a big deal in politics. My family name is pretty well known.”

“Backwoods girl from a backwoods planet.” Freya reminded him.

“Yeah, sorry, I forget sometimes.” Mon said, looking off into the distance.

“Anyway, my family has always been into cooking. That cookout last night was just something that… I don’t know. It felt like home.” He said in a soft tone.

“You homesick?” Freya asked, lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him, concerned.

“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know?” Mon said, sounding sad.

“It’s been seventy-five years or so for them since they saw me. Not that it matters all that much. My planet has pretty good health systems in place. We’re not immortal yet, but life expectancy on average is pretty good. To me it’s only been about a little more than five years since I last saw them in person.” Mon admitted.

“I just… I don’t know. I guess I miss them. I miss going to Dad’s restaurant on Sundays and eating dinner. I miss Chrissy, my kid sister. We weren’t that close. I’m like ten years older than her. Or I was. She’s a doctor now working in the colonies in the outer rim. She works for the Federation colonial health and public safety division. She is older than me now by about fifteen years or so and has a ten year old daughter that I’ve never met.” Mon said, looking down at his hands.

Freya wrapped her arms about him and gave him a hug. She felt how tense he was, but felt him relax as she hugged him. That made her think of her mother and how much older she looked the last time she saw her in a message. That made her wonder if her mother was even alive anymore. She felt Mon turn towards her and wrap his arms around her. She relaxed into his embrace. It staved off the depression for a little while.