The steady sound of her footsteps always put the receptionist off. Her face was always blank or angry, and though she didn’t have the pleasant duty of dealing with her everyday it was unnerving whenever the Government heads summoned her.
“I’m here to report to the heads?” She said calmly. Her foot desperately fought the urge to tap, as the receptionist simply nodded her head and pointed down the hall. Her footsteps grew further away and the blonde woman let out a sigh of relief. It’s not easy dealing with someone who could snap your neck.
The other woman opened the door without a knock, closing it behind her. “You have another mission for me?” She asked simply.
“You’re a bit late.” The one in a yellow suit grumbled.
“Hush…” The blue one hissed, turning back to the Hunter. “We have become aware of a… certain mistakes on a new recrutement flight. 2 of the finer cadets were ejected onto planet A1.”
“Cadets?” She murmured. “I’m not a babysitter.”
“But you ARE on my payroll.” Yellow hissed, standing up and walking around. “And one of these two cadets is very important to the fleet. We aren’t asking you to do anything more than land there, find them, and bring them back here.” She snapped her finger, forcing the hunter to clench her fists and pay attention. “Is that clear, Coral?”
“Crystal.” She said flatly. “I’ll need pictures and information on the cadets, a PX7 ship, and rations...”
“I have already sorted all of it out.” Blue said calmly. “I already assumed you would want your usual demands.”
Coral managed a small chuckle. “Well good. You said planet A1? The dead planet?”
“Classified as dead, yes. But that is the special case of this mission.” Yellow sat back down again, and blue stood, finishing her thought. “There is a class of people on this planet. I’m sure you are familiar with Benders.”
“I thought the Government wiped them out?” Coral sneered, but not completely surprised.
“They held onto this planet rather stubbornly.” Yellow sighed, rubbing her temple. “It’s resources aren’t required enough for us to send troops in anymore. So we let them be.” She opened her eyes. “You don’t need to have any interaction with them. Just retrieve the cadets.”
“If it gets too dangerous… one of them IS priority.” Blue stressed. “Cadet Lazuli has… particularly high scores. If they are both retrievable, that is excellent, but if it comes down to one or the other I stress the preference.”
“Got it.” Coral said flatly. “Shouldn’t take more than… Mmm… a week, at most. I will keep you updated on that timetable as I go.” She turned, walking toward the door. “And don't send any of those bullshit tracker bots. Not again."
"Safe travels, Coral."
"Yeah yeah."
___________________________________
"Approaching Planet A1, landing gear prepping; be mindful of turbulence."
"Wow, thanks." Coral murmured, flipping a few switches on the control panel and double checking her safety harness. "Nice and easy…"
It was only about ten minutes later she dropped out of the ship, geared and looking around the smoking pod. She walked around it, and climbed in. To be honest, she had hoped to find them cowering in the pod, but nothing but two secured bags;their allowed belongings, and a small smatter of blood on the edge of the window.
