Dishonourable Discharge: Grace Augustine

50

Ivory, Grace and Jake raced down the corridor, gasping for breath.

"Shit, shit, shit." Grace hissed.

"What?" Jake asked, leaning forward in his wheelchair.

"There aren't any exopacks." She gestured to the empty hook on the wall.

"Fuck." Ivory raked a hand through her hair, her face white. If they went out without them then they'd be dead in less than a minute from cyanosis. "Wait here, I know where I can find some."

"Where are they?"

"Quaritch's office, he's got all sorts of shit stashed in there."

"You're crazy." Grace said bluntly.

"I know."

"It's all we have Grace. If we stay here they'll kill us." Jake's voice was hoarse.

"Then I'll go with you." Grace decided.

"Stay with Jake. There's no point in both of us getting caught." The dark haired woman swallowed hard, knotting her bandana tightly around her head.

"But-"

"I'll be faster by myself. Wait here, if I'm not back in five minutes then get yourselves out." Ivory didn't wait to listen to Grace's protests. She pulled her gun from its holster and set off down the corridor, cringing as each footfall echoed off of the high titanium ceilings.

Ivory's heart was in her mouth as she skirted past the Operations Centre, doing her best to tread lightly in her heavy black combat boots.
She made her way towards the door of Quaritch's office, peering through the glass. The room was empty. She shoved the door open and snatched three exopacks from the row of hooks, sliding them onto her arm and darting back out.

The woman heard footsteps coming down the other end of the corridor and broke into a sprint, giving up on all attempts to stay silent. She barrelled down the narrow hallway, stumbling to a halt in front of Grace and Jake. "Here." She slid two of the exopacks off her arm and shoved them into Grace and Jake's hands. "We need to get out of here, someone's coming."

"Why is nothing ever easy." Jake groaned, pulling his mask on.

"I've been asking myself that for thirty six years." Ivory muttered, putting her own exopack on.

Together Ivory, Jake and Grace ran out of Hell's Gate, piling out through the airlock and into the Armor Bay.

Norm and Trudy were racing through the preflight checks on the Samson as the turbines spooled up. A harsh light hit the Samson and an armoured trooper approached, aiming his gun at the cockpit.

"Freeze! Turn off that engine, shut it down." The trooper ordered.

Trudy didn't move. Norm jumped, turning sharply.

"Shut it down!" The trooper shrieked.

"I can't hear you!" Trudy lied, flicking on an overhead switch.

"Shut it down!" The man repeated.

Trudy reached up and turned the engine off.

"Get out of the aircraft."

Trudy reached for the gun that she had left on the seat beside her.

"Show me your hands!"

"What the fuck do we do now?" Ivory whispered as she, Jake and Grace inched their way towards the aircraft.

"Just follow my lead." Jake said under his breath. He rolled himself behind the aircraft, his wheelchair whisper quiet against the metal floor.

Grace, Jake and Ivory crept along until they were stood behind the trooper.

Jake snatched the gun from the back of his wheelchair. "Take it nice and easy, troop."

The trooper turned, catching sight of the gun.

"On the ground, face down. Hands behind
your head."

The trooper hesitated, his jaw clenching.

"Do what he goddamn says! Are you deaf?" Grace exploded.

The trooper dropped onto the floor, putting his hands behind his head.

Norm jumped down from Maya's wing and grabbed the trooper's rifle and side arm.

"Come on, we need to go!" Trudy yelled, starting up the Samson again.