Triple Point

Chapter 53: Fight for Freedom

15 OCT 33AE, 0430

Portland Base Camp, Oregon

A late night and an early morning wouldn't do Camilla any favors, but every time she closed her eyes, the chill of the dead would inevitably creep into her senses and send shivers raking through her. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping, and more than one of her neighbors tossed and turned restlessly. After checking the time, Camilla deemed 0430 to be late enough to have breakfast, and she rolled from her rack and snuck out of the tent as quietly as she could.

The mess tent was much more crowded than she expected, and it took only a few minutes of eavesdropping to find out why. Apparently, a large number of squads had already gotten their next orders, and most of them wanted to fit in one good meal before heading off into whatever warzone the Org sent them next. As somber of an idea as it was, the energy in the mess hall was lively, as if everyone was trying to mask the hellscape they were living in.

While Camilla had no reason to partake in the theatrics, she wasn't going to be a buzzkill either, so after grabbing some food she found a seat off to the side where she wouldn't get in the way.

Her plan ended up backfiring when a sudden silence fell upon the mess hall, and a guardian dressed in royal blue had to make their way through the crowd to get to Camilla. Camilla had been focused on working though her pancake at the time, and she only noticed all the eyes on her and the brightly-dressed messenger when she finally bothered to see what caused such a hush.

Then again, she should have known this was bound to happen eventually. Ever since she began her independent deployments, she had been receiving several of her orders directly from the Sacramento Senior Chief, the highest ranking guardian in the west side of the country, instead of the chief of the branch she was based out of like everyone else. And while all the other chiefs sent their orders out digitally, the Senior Chief was known to send her personal messengers to relay her bidding for whatever reason, and Camilla had become accustomed to their inevitable arrivals.

"First Officer Wyatt," the messenger said. "From Senior Chief Ali, report to Sacramento Base immediately."

"I'm eating," Camilla replied as if it was obvious. She had given up on formalities with these messengers by their third visit.

But the messenger merely returned Camilla's stare with one of their own, and eventually Camilla rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Understood," Camilla said, slightly exasperated. "I'll leave in twenty."

"Fifteen," the messenger corrected.

"Yeah, sure."

Once the messenger left, and the chatter in the mess slowly picked up again, Camilla begrudgingly looked at the remains of her meal. She wasn't one to waste perfectly good food, and the food that they served was actually delicious no matter what most people said.

With limited time and not many options, she piled the rest of her scrambled eggs and bacon on top of her pancake and folded it like a taco. As she picked up her creation, it reminded her of some of Elsie's unique food combinations, and she took a large bite of it to distract her from yet another pang of homesickness that left a void in her chest. It ended up tasting delicious, so she took it with her as she left the mess, dropping off her dishes on the way out.

About an hour later, she touched down in the landing zone at the Sacramento Base with nothing but the uniform she was wearing and the few necessities that could fit in her Org-issued backpack. After showing her ID to the bolstered security presence, she made her way up to the senior chief's office, a route she had traveled many times over the past month.