"It lives! It fucking lives!"
"Halle-fucking-lujah!"
The duo clapped their dirty hands together in a triumphant victory as the Matt finally drove the M-ATV out from the crash. The massive engine rumbled and roared and through Remmy's efforts ran rather smoothly as the tires met the ground. The sergeant sat slumped back in the seat next to Matt, fatigued but clearly happy in their feat. Matt gave the vehicle some gas and the engine roared loudly, the tires spinning in place only a moment before they caught and began pulling the MRAP forward.
"Alright, let's put her in a good spot and start loading her up with as much of the supplies as we can." Matt said as he brought the vehicle around the campsite to pile of supplies.
Remmy had figured out most of their supply issues the night before and had even begun compiling the pile together before Matt had to force her to get some rest. They spent a few hours of the predawn lit day piling the rest of the gear together that they both deemed necessarily enough to bring along. Though they didn't really have a set destination in mind, they at least scout out the area around them a bit more. They'd return back to the C-17 where they'd store away the rest of their supplies if they needed anything they'd left behind or to restock on whatever they could. Matt had picked out several spots in the surrounding area where he wanted to hide some of the more valuable supplies that they couldn't take with them. Things like ammo and weapons they'd hide in small caves and alcoves Matt had found in his earlier searches of the area. Other things would be packed up back into the C-17 and they'd risk what remaining power the generator on board the C-17 had to close the cargo bay door and hopefully secure away their goods.
Matt parked the truck beside the pile of supplies and hopped out, opening up the truck's doors as well as the truck's rear compartment door before they started loading her up. Amongst the supplies Remmy had deemed necessary was a black cased laptop that sat on top of one of the several stacks in the pile. The computer device came with a small solar rechargeable battery pack that allowed them to use the device without having to plug it in anywhere on the MRAP for power. The computer had a myriad of documents and programs on it that could be helpful to them. It had originally belonged to the crew's loadmaster and it even had a list of the plane's cargo that came in very handy when deciding on what to take with them. There was also a GPS function on the laptop but it, like all the other GPS devices they had, weren't functioning. Remmy had originally used this as one of her selling points to Matt that they weren't on Earth anymore. Even with the dual moons, Matt had been slow almost to the point of utter denial with the thought that they could be on another world that wasn't their own. Of course, growing up Matt had heard and seen all sorts of tales of people traveling to other worlds from their own world by some sort of magical means or what not. As amazing and entertaining as the thought may have been, there was no way it could actually ever happen right? Remmy had used facts and logic using examples of the events leading up to the plane crash as well as their experiences afterwards to convince Matt that they truly were on some other world.
Matt remembered the events that lead up to the crash as he put the laptop in the front seat of the MRAP before starting to load some of the larger crates and boxes into the back. They had been on a return flight back to the rest of the Bravo team from the states somewhere over the sea of Japan. The pilots didn't even see the storm as it nearly came out of nowhere and engulfed the cargo plane as it flew. Violent winds along with heavy rain and thunder had shaken the bird and her occupants as a bolt of lightning struck one of her engines. They started to lose altitude fast, the pilots doing everything they could to try and keep the plane from lawn darting directly into the ground. Matt and remmy had been in the cargo bay with the rest of their gear and belongs at the time but they could hear the crews frantic efforts from the bridge as they tried to save the aircraft. The pilots had just managed to level the bird out when it impacted with the ground. When Remmy and Matt awoke were able to assess the damage, they found that the left wing was all but gone from the aircraft. It must have torn off during the crash and took out a part of the plane's tail section with it. It was a miracle that so much survived the crash, though Matt would gladly trade even the MRAP for the lives of the crew of the flight back if he could.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. How did you know how to fix up an MRAP? Is that something they teach you guys while you're learning how to patch someone up?"
"My dad was a gearhead. We used to work on old cars all the time together while I was growing up. Bessy is a beast, lots of armor of crucial parts. It took me a while to figure out where everything was in relation to what I could get access to at the time. Once I figured it all out it actually wasn't that bad of a repair to be honest." Remmy replied while she took some of the cases from Matt and loaded them as she stood in the bed.
"So you went from fixing cars to fixing people huh?"
"Mom was a nurse in a trauma care center. She was almost never home and she was tired as hell and slept most of the time when she was, but you could always tell whenever she'd helped save someone's life. She'd have this big old smile on her face while she slept. I don't know, it just felt like the right thing to do. What about you? How does a ginger giant like you manage to sneak his way into the SEALs?"
"I guess you could call me SEAL royalty or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. Father was a SEAL and so was father, I guess I was just carrying on the family business." Matt replied as he hefted up a green case and patted its top before handing it off. "Think this one's the drone, keep it towards the top of the stack"
"SEAL royalty huh? Was your father a giant like you?" Remmy asked as she took the case and placed it securely on top of one of the stacks.
"No. I'm just a freak of nature"
The two continued their idol conversation back and forth as they finished loading up the truck with as much supplies as they could. Matt thought it looked a lot like the pictures he'd seen of old World War 2 vehicles with all sorts of stuff stacked and tied to the sides of the M-ATV. They had spent some time hiding away some of the other gear and put the rest of it back inside the C-17 in organized piles and stacks. With their camp almost entirely wrapped up, all that they had left was a few tables and crates that they'd left out overnight before they would leave early the next morning.
The sun had already begun to set and it was Matt's turn to make dinner that night. Remmy had gone off to a small creek that ran by the camp nearby to wash up a little. The creek was close enough that Matt could just make out the sergeant through the trees. He occasionally would glance in her direction, seeing her tattooed back and arms as she used the cold water from the creek to wash her hair above her head. Matt caught himself staring blankly for a moment, looking at the tattoos on her body. Though Remmy could be best described as almost every warrior's best and worst dream all wrapped up in one killer body, Matt didn't look at her like some sort of sex deprived grunt who had been in the sandbox too long. Instead, he saw Bravo Three. One of his team members that even now he watched out for as he made sure nothing was sneaking up on her that she couldn't see. She was his 3IC, or third in command, and Matt had gotten to know her as much as he was sure she'd come to know him.
Before Remmy had joined Bravo, she had lost her left leg on a mission gone sideways. She had also lost the love of her life around the same time in a drunken hit and run car accident that claimed four lives. She had been down to the bottom of her luck, but that didn't seem to stop her. According to what Matt had heard she buried her grief and guilt into her recovery, getting herself a prosthetic leg that even now Matt could see had been set aside next to her on the ground. She'd overcome her obstacle with sheer force of will and when the US Air Force denied her operational status, she instead went to the teams within the Global Armada. Matt had heard part of her story and when her name came up in the draft amongst the other Teams, he had made sure to scoop her up for Bravo. She had become a crucial part of Bravo, earning the nickname of "Mama" from some of the other team members for various reasons. Matt often joked that if he'd known how much of a pain in the ass she'd be to him, that he would have never drafted her in the first place. It was his small way of getting back at her from time to time.
Matt watched as Remmy continued to bathe for a few more moments as he got lost in his thoughts, before realizing he was probably staring for a little too long and quickly diverted his attention away. In another time and maybe in another life, Matt may have even hit on her at a bar at one point. He would have then been on the receiving end of one of Bravo's favorite sideshows. Remmy was not interested in men, though she knew how to play the part very well to get what she wanted. Matt had seen countless fools who thought they were about to score the ultimate hit on her approach her at the bar, just to be led down one of the cruelest paths of destruction Matt had ever seen unfold. Remmy would play the part of either the drunken and presumably easy pick up goth doll, or she'd hit them with the more easily approachable fem-bro type that got a little to handsy at times. She'd lead them on through the night, flirting and teasing with them while secretly eyeing up the sexiest babe at the bar that night. She'd allow it to get to the point where the poor guy thought he was about to get lucky for the night when she'd hit them with the "Let me just go to the bathroom real quick big boy" line and disappear for a bit. She'd always miraculously pull this little stunt just as the babe she had been eyeing up went into the bathroom alone and about a half hour later both women would be exiting the bathroom together with Matt could only describe as satisfied looks in their eyes. If the guy didn't get the hint then, she'd hit them with the "Sorry dude, she's just a way better kisser" before walking away with a slight sway to her hips that would drive any man or woman to their knees. Of course, not every guy took so nicely to this rather harsh let down, and that's often when Matt would have to intervene. Not for Remmy's, but more for the poor bastard's. He had no doubt in his mind Remmy would do unspeakable things that more than likely end up with her in prison for the rest of her life and the guy either dead, or worse. Matt had voiced his strong dislike in having to step in as the number of more angry fools grew, but Remmy just used it as more fuel to the eternal flames of annoying her team leader. However, those days were long gone and Matt even wondered if the old bar was still standing. A lot had changed since back then.
Matt looked down into the boiling fat in the pan that he'd use to fry the Dodo bird meat in. What had happened was now in the past. He wasn't sure how things were back home and part of him honestly could have cared less nowadays. For a moment, Matt felt old despite only being in his early forties. Years of operating amongst the SEAL Teams before joining the Teams in the Global Armada had taken its toll on him both physically, and mentally. The aches and pains of injuries both new and old slowly returned to his body as he sat. He rolled his shoulder a little and it popped like popcorn, feeling stiff and heavy. Above all else though, he felt tired. Again both mentally, physically, and even emotionally to a degree. Thoughts of just curling up onto the ground and falling asleep for a dirt nap that he may never wake up from enter his mind. Just as quickly as the thoughts arose however, he buried them deep down inside. The little black pit where he kept all his aches, pains, and troubles deep within himself swallowed up his thoughts once more. He pushed them deep under the surface of the tar like substance that made up the mental image of the pit and he held them there. Letting them drown like a metaphorical being until they were claimed by the deep and disappeared, sinking away into the abyss forever. Matt couldn't afford to think like that. He'd snuff out the little devil on his shoulder feeding him such thoughts and instead forced himself to think objectively.
The situation had turned from near dire, to not as shitty. They had their main mode of transportation operational again and soon they'd be able to venture away from the crash site in hopes of finding…what? What was it that they hoped to find out there anyways? Some sort of civilization was the common sense answer but if this was truly some other world then what kind of civilization would they come across? Would they be friendly or hostile? The questions buzzed around in his brain for a bit as he continued his thought process by thinking out loud.
"Unfortunately that might have to be some bridges we cross as we get to them. Someone clearly planted those corn fields at some point so it's probably best that we try and move along the outskirts of the fields as best we can. Avoid hurting the crops and possibly any feelings with whoever or whatever planted them there in the first place. Ideally if we do that we should run into some sort of road or even a path along the way. We could follow it until we come across some sort of civilization. And if they end up being hostile…"
"Then we just spray 'em down with the fifty. Oh Jesus christ! You're burning the food dumbass!"
Matt must have gotten lost in these thoughts because he hadn't heard Remmy approach him and he definitely didn't notice the clear burning smell coming from the pan he still held in his hand. A string of explicit and name calling later, and the two of them resided to just eating some MRE's for their dinner as they sat around the fire.
"So what was your big brain thinking of before? Or were you just watching my ass instead of the food?" Remmy asked
"First off, fuck you. Second off I was just thinking about Bravo One stuff, nothing a Bravo Three needs to concern herself with" Matt replied as he stirred up a packet of chili-mac MRE.
"Mmm I'm calling bullshit. You were definitely staring at my ass."
Matt shot a glance over at her before Remmy raised her hands up in surrender. The two sat for a moment longer in silence, the only sound being that of crickets and the crackling of the fire. Matt was about to slip into more deep thought when Remmy spoke up again.
"Hey Boss. Being serious now, what were you thinking of? You had that look of Bravo One trying to solve the world's problems again."
Matt frowned for a moment as he looked down at the dancing flames inside the fire. He'd made one of the SF Team Leaders ultimate sins straight out of the bible of special operations. He'd compartmentalized his thought process and plans and kept them to himself. A good team leader knew that any thought worth having when it pertained to any sort of tactical decision making was worth having out loud and shared with the team. Because the team would be the first to either improve upon your plan, or shut down your plan for being to fucking stupid. Matt let out a sigh as he shook his head a little. He then began telling her of his loose frameworks of a plan.
"And we can always use the drone to scout out the road ahead. I don't have many hours of operation for the thing but hey, I'm willing to give it a shot." Remmy had added afterwards "But ultimately I think that we are just gonna have to make contact and roll the dice at some point. No telling if they'll be hostile until they are right?"
"Yeah. Alright, so let's stick to the SOP when dealing with any local indig. I'll make first contact while you cover."
"Rog boss. I assume then we going with the old ROE?"
"Affirm. Let's not stir the pot unless absolutely necessary. But if shit goes sideways, we turn and burn"
"Copy that boss man."
The two spent the rest of the night double checking their gear. Making sure everything was properly secured in place not only on the M-ATV, but also on their own personal shit as well. They applied tape to anything on their own gear that might rattle or make any sort of noise. Stealth was still their best friend and they didn't want to run into a situation where they were on foot and making unnecessary noise as they moved about. Once they had double and even triple checked their gear, they began to settle in for the night. Matt knew neither of them would catch much sleep that night though as he felt a slight thrill of exploring the unknown grasping them both.