V S M Unexpected News

[Elizabeth La Varet]

Another monsoon was dumping its load all over Markov. Elizabeth sat patiently in her car sipping an iced coffee. She was parked outside the strip club where her girlfriend worked. The blond leaned back in her seat and stared out of her windshield at the various people going about their day. It was 8AM and Juliet would be getting off her night shift soon. Elizabeth looked at her passenger seat where her new deployment papers were sitting from the Pilot’s Union. She had a foray coming up in two days and she needed to tell Juliet that she would be gone for at least a week. The blond dreaded what she might think. Being a pilot was the one rock in their otherwise perfect relationship. Elizabeth had shared all her old files and logs with Juliet, so her girlfriend knew the hell she had gone through during the war that brought about The End. She knew what was going to happen. Her girlfriend was going to be silent all the way back to her apartment and when they finally got in the door, she’d come out swinging with new arguments against piloting Tallgeese.

Elizabeth put her drink into the cupholder when she saw Juliet exit the building. She honked twice and the stripper smiled and headed over. The blond unlocked the car and Juliet got in, grabbing the envelope as she did.

“What is this?”

She closed the door and shook the rain from her hair. As Elizabeth started her behemoth of a car and started driving, her girlfriend flipped the envelope over and frowned.

“Pilot’s Union official seal? What do they want now?”

“Just read it, babe.”

“Sergeant, you are to report to hangar bay 53 two days from now. 2nd Armored is being mobilized for a mission into the wilds…” She trailed off.

“Two days?” She kept reading. “You’ll be gone for a week!?”

She sighed and put the letter away in the envelope and placed it in the glove box. Elizabeth shifted gears and looked at her girlfriend. She knew she wasn’t happy.

“Babe…”

“Don’t babe me. You told me you were on leave! That your next assignment was months away! We were supposed to have dinner the day you’re supposed to report! Why do you insist on being a pilot, Lizzy. You know what it’s done to you. Your body has…machines in it.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Those machines were put in place to heal me.”

“That’s exactly my point! You suffered such grievous injuries during the Siege and in your past that they’ve had to build you back together using machines. Why do you risk your life like that? What about me? What would I do if I lost you?”

That line always came up. She always had that one loaded.

“You’re not going to lose me. I’m an expert pilot. We might not even see any action.” Elizabeth tried to explain.

“Really? They wouldn’t send you out if they didn’t think there was something out there that required an entire armored division!”

“Jules, please. This is my life. This is what I do. I love piloting Tallgeese.” The blond said.

“You obviously love that mech more than me.”

“That’s not fair, Jules. It’s my job. It’s what I do to keep the lights on. It’s how I spoil you.”

“Yes, and you shouldn’t. They don’t pay you enough. Why don’t you just live with me and let me take care of you? I make enough money for both of us to live in a nice apartment. You could get a job at a Cytokine store. Or work at that coffee place we go to. Something, anything, to keep you from risking your life for the Union.”

“You want us to live together? That’s news to me!” Now Elizabeth was getting frustrated.

“Why can’t you accept that what I do fulfills me. That I love my job. I love protecting Markov from wild zoids and the Unmaking. I’m protecting you, Jules. When I pilot Tallgeese, I do it to protect you from everything trying to kill us.” The blond was tired of this same fight.

“Do I not fulfill you enough? You literally ambushed me in a parking lot asking for a date. You were…you are gorgeous, and I gave you a chance.”

“You make it sound like I stalked you, and for your information. You fulfill me plenty, but I have other interests! You know this! You do too! You have an entire network of friends at work that I’m never privy to.” The blond fired back.

“I told you. I don’t bring my work home with me. I separate the two.”

Elizabeth sighed and downshifted as she pulled into the parking space outside of Juliet’s apartment.

“Am I coming up or are we still fighting?” The Tallgeese pilot asked.

“Just go home, Lizzy. I’m tired and I need to sleep.” Juliet said as she exited the car and shut the door, jogging towards the complex to get out of the rain.

Elizabeth sighed in frustration and floored the pedal to her Quadra. The engine roared to life filling the air with loud exhaust notes. She shifted into first and spun the tires before jetting off down the street.

***​

Elizabeth closed the door to her tiny one-bedroom apartment behind her and locked the door. It was cold and it smelled like the steak dinner she had cooked last night. Hanging her keys up on the hook by the door she took off her jacket and tossed it on the couch. Pressing a button on the TV she turned on an episode of some show about friends living in some city. Entering the kitchen, she set her finished iced coffee on the table and opened the refrigerator. She was mostly out of food, but there were pickles. Grabbing the jar, Elizabeth sat down at the table and scrolled through her phone. She couldn’t get Jules out of her mind. She was so terrified something would happen to her on a mission or that she’d die. What upset Elizabeth the most is that she gave no credence to the fact that she was an amazing pilot. The blond crunched on a pickle and mused to herself. Juliet had no confidence in her ability to pilot. No confidence in Lizzy herself. That hurt to think about. Taking one last pickle the blond put it in her mouth and sealed the jar and put it back in the fridge. Moving to the bathroom she turned on the water to let it heat up, stripping herself naked. Swallowing the last of her pickle, Elizabeth stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash all over her.

I’m not going to quit. Being a pilot is my life. Juliet will just have to live with that.

 

[Elizabeth La Varet]

Tallgeese dropped under a swing from an Iron Kong and swiped upwards with its beam saber slicing into the zoid. Taking hold of the mechanical monkey, Tallgeese unleashed its Vulcan cannons into its chest and shredded it apart. Pushing aside the corpse, Lizzy turned the giant mech to her fellow soldiers, four Veritech fighters in humanoid mode. Each of them had beaten their quarry and the area was secure for the first time since they arrived.

“Zero targets on scanners, Liz. We’re good for now. Let’s break for dinner before we head further out. We’re still two hundred miles from our intended target.” Masters said on the radio.

He was second in command along with her. Their commander and his officer radioed that they agreed with that assessment. A spot was picked for camping and the four mechs made their way to it. Elizabeth brought Tallgeese to a halt and lowered reactor output to 50%. Setting her systems to standby mode, locked by DNA encryption she opened the hatch on Tallgeese’s chest and climbed out of the giant war machine. Stepping onto a single step elevator that lowered her all the way down to the ground, Lizzy tucked her field bag under her arm and made her way towards the center of the encircled mechs. She pushed past various shrubs and trees until she came to a clearing where the team was already setting up makeshift cover. A light rain had started to fall. Thunder could be heard in the distance.

“Okay team. Each of us gets thirty minutes to do whatever while we get the fire going for dinner. We eat and then we pushed onward. Don’t stray too far. I plan to be back on the road within two hours.”

The team agreed and everyone went about their business. Elizabeth grabbed Masters by the hand and led him into the wilds away from the camp towards the left foot of Tallgeese. They went around to the back out of earshot and out of sight of the camp. Collins, back at camp, chuckled to himself while he attempted to start a fire in the rain.

“I don’t who those two think they’re fooling. We all know they’re fucking.” He said with a laugh.

“They’ve never been late before, so I don’t really care. As long they eat and are ready by the time we move out.” Jenkins, the party lead, said.

“She’s the only pilot I know who packs condoms in her field bag.” Garcia said as she sat under the cover of an open canvas tent she had erected.

“Doesn’t she have a girlfriend in Markov?” Collins asked, as he finally got the fire going with the aid of some accelerant.

“Her personal choices don’t matter out here. She’s an exceptional pilot and I’m glad to have Tallgeese out here with us Veritech pilots.” Jenkins said as he took a drink of water.

“Have you seen the speed that thing is capable of? It can almost hold pace with us in fighter mode.” Garcia said, lighting a cigarette.

“The way she moves it around on the battlefield. Its thruster suite is something to be envious of, that’s for sure.” Collins said.

***​

They were barely around the back of Tallgeese’s left foot before Lizzy was unzipping her flight suit. They were out of the rain under the hulking size of the mech above them.

“Geez. Someone is raring to go.” Masters said with a laugh as he unzipped his own flight suit.

“Did you bring the towel in your field bag just in case?” He asked.

“I squirt one time and now you need a damn towel to dry yourself. You can’t just be grateful that I’m actually cumming.”

“It’s hot to think about, but when you say it out loud it just sounds weird.” He said, throwing his flight suit to the side.

“Are you sure we should be doing this, Lizz?”

“Don’t talk. Just fuck me.” She demanded breathily.

She had ripped open one of the condoms from her field bag and slid it onto him.

“Are our suits out of the way this time? I swear if you get cum on my pants again…”

He rolled his eyes and thrust against her, grabbing her ponytail and pulling her head back so that he could bounce her back and forth.

“Oh please…you’re one to talk…I had a wet spot on MY pants last time. I got mocked for pissing myself in the cockpit.” Masters jabbed back.

“Oh…boo…boo hoo.” She was having trouble talking. “You’re having…sex…with a beautiful woman. Your world…is so hard. Hah! Get it?”

He thrust his hips forward harder than before as she made the joke which made her slur her words and moan forcing her to clasp a hand over her mouth. They both fucked for a solid ten minutes before achieving orgasm. He took longer than she did. When they were done, they shared a kiss before wiping each other down and disposing of the condom in the bushes. They were both back in their flight suits and headed back to camp just as dinner was being unpacked.

“Just in time for dinner you two. Lizz, you get sausage pizza this time. Masters, you get beef ravioli.” Garcia said as she handed out the MRE’s.

Elizabeth sat Indian style on the ground in front of the fire and used the combat knife sheathed on her boot to open the bag. She piled everything in her lap and grabbed a canteen, taking a large drink, wiping the sweat from her brow. She peeled open the pizza and without hesitation took a giant bite and munched happily, a smile on her face.

“I can’t believe you don’t heat that up, Lizz.” Collins said as he spooned his main dish into his mouth.

“Eh it’s a time saver. It’s good either way for me. I got used to eating cold food back during the war.”

“What war?” Everyone said besides Jenkins.

Jenkins looked at her while eating his own rations. “I forgot that command told me you were a popsicle.”

“She’s what?” Masters said.

“I am a cryogenically frozen pilot from before The End and no, I won’t tell you anything about it so don’t ask.”

“No fun.” Collins said.

Lizzy giggled before taking another massive bite of her pizza. She had pasted it with the nacho cheese from one of the pouches in her MRE. Pouring the electrolyte drink powder into her canteen she shook it up before washing down the pizza with a large gulp of grape flavored water. She burped audibly and tapped on the display of her wrist bracelet. A holo map of a six-mile radius popped up for her to see.

“Tallgeese reports zero contacts still, Commander.”

“Good. No doubt that will change if we linger for too long. Did you tune it for Akata as well?”

Elizabeth nodded and inserted a cheese cracker into her mouth.

“I did, we’re good.” She said through a mouth full.

“So, what did you and Masters do while you were gone?” Collins asked, a devious grin on his face.

“Collins…” Garcia cautioned.

Masters looked at Lizzy with concern, but he went pale in the face when she answered.

“We fucked. No big deal.” She said happily and with a smile as she plopped another cracker into her mouth.

She looked at him and winked. “Oh please. They all know it. Better the Commander know so he can account for us if we take too long, right Jenkins?”

“Correct.” Jenkins said flatly.