The Ashes of Reach

4.

— 5 YEARS AGO —

"Wake up, Alison!" Was the first thing she heard when she woke up, being groggy as hell, her vision blurred. She would rub her eyes to see her best friend and partner, Jason, next to her. "General's gonna be on your ass if you oversleep again!" She would sit up and stretch her arms out, letting out a yawn. "Yeah yeah! Let him come! What is he even gonna do anyways, yell at me?" She says with a smile across her face, letting out a small chuckle. She would always try to act like the tough guy around Jason, even though the both knew that's not really her, they would always get such a kick out of it.

"Well how about you get dressed and we don't find out for ourselves huh? I'll meet you at the mess hall!" He says before walking out of the sleeping quarters. Alison would get out of her bunk and go into her drawer, taking out a clean uniform and putting it on. After a few minutes she was ready to start the day and makes her way out of the quarters. While on her way to the mess hall, she would see the common commotion of the Pillar of Autumn. Soldiers training, from both USNC and ONI, vehicles being repaired and tested, all the fun stuff.

Alison is an ONI headhunter, giving that position from both her skill and the help of her skilled friend Jason, who's another headhunter. Jason has always been there for her, though they didn't start off with the best relationship, time passing made their relationship grow stronger, the missions they were on helped with that as well. Alison feels she has a lot to learn but Jason believes she's the perfect soldier, though he'll do anything to try to keep her safe.

As she reaches the mess hall, Alison would walk inside to see Jason waiting for her "Hey! There you are!" He says before grabbing her arm "Come on, lets get breakfast already!" He says as the two went to get their breakfast. Alison would always get the same thing every time. French toast. She could devour a bit amount of French toast in minutes.

As they got their food, they would sit down at an empty table and starts to eat "So I have a story to tell." Jason would say, making Alison laugh already "You know we're not supposed to talk about our missions right?" Jason would give a cocky expression before saying "Yeah well, too bad for them these missions make for interesting stories so screw that rule!" The comment made the two laugh before Alison says "Okay okay, go ahead!"

"So, there my last solo mission was taking out a couple of the rebels' enforcers! Two of them! I cornered them all the way to a back room! And they pull knives on me! And tried to get me to have an "honorable" knife fight with them! And what did I do?!" He says while inching closer "I shot them both with my magnum!" He yells, making the both of them laugh. The two would love to exchange stories of solo missions, though Alison was hesitant to sometimes. Though she acted tough, she really was set on trying to follow all the rules. Jason, on the other hand, was more on the rebellious side.

After there breakfast of good food and simple story sharing, they would make their way to where they usually meet up with their general, known as General Locke. As the two would see him, they would put their hands behind their backs and stand at attention. The general would walk up to them and salute them "Good morning you two. We have an assignment for you. You two will be deployed around evening in New Alexandria. We believe we've found another outpost of the rebels and need you two to investigate and clear the outpost. We suggest doing it in a stealthy matter to avoid more danger which is why you'll be deployed in the evening. I'll explain more of the details later on. For now, go and train."

"Sir, yes sir!" The two would reply in unison and salute to the general before walking off and making their way to the weapons range. From their, Alison would decide to get in some practice with a DMR. She would set up her station and start to take fire. After loading a whole clip into a target, her and Jason would notice that some of her shots hit the target well, but the others would go off the target a little bit. The sight made Alison frustrated already, she hates to mess up, especially with a mission that's close ahead. But Jason, grabbed her shoulder and says "Hey you're doing fine. Just keep practicing and you'll get it. You know you will." The words made Alison calm down almost instantly, she always loved how Jason was always there for her, especially when it mattered. It made her feel happy, happy to always be in his presence.