The drive back to the beach house wasn't a long one, as much as Ayvee wanted it to be. She knew the med would be nice, but nothing could beat these sun-kissed beaches as far as she was concerned. Stepping into the rented house, she began to pack her things. How many times had she moved around? Much like her flight hours, it just gets to a point where it's not worth counting anymore. 

After quickly changing, it took little time at all to pack her humble belongings into her two suitcases, a duffel bag, and a flight bag, before returning to the company car. She now wore her more professional flight attire. Flight suit, chest rig, and so on, but kept the sun hat and aviators on. She liked the straw hat she had picked up while staying here and felt oddly compelled to keep it on as she returned to the base. 

[hr]

After getting her personal effects in order, she walked towards the hangar where her aircraft was already being prepped. As they readied the aircraft, the ground crew had already begun removing the intake covers, safety pins, and so on. The sight of the Seahawk was always a pleasure for her. Its sharp angles, broad wings, and light grey-blue coloring always put a smile on her face. The grinning shark teeth were reflected in her aviators as that very same smile crossed her features. 

"Well, glad to see she's been taken care of while I was gone. Nothing wrong?" Ayvee said as she approached. The crew took her bags and began loading them into her luggage pod. A large container structure that could mount to one of her internal hardpoints. One of the crew came up to her with a nod and a friendly smile.

"Seems to be Reagan, the company finally found an excuse to kick your lazy ass off the beach eh?" he said with a chuckle. Ayvee held up her hands in a shrug. 

"From one beach to another, truly they're real slave drivers around here. Speaking of, how's Miranda doing for you, Johnny? Still calling you every waking hour?" said Ayvee, now putting her hands on her hips. Johnny rolled his eyes and gave a dismissive wave. They had met a few months ago when she'd arrived at a bar. Made for a good drinking friend and they hit it off pretty well. A happy coincidence he'd be on the company's maintenance team, but then again, pretty much everyone on this island was employed by Shattered Steel. 

"Hey, I can't help my wife misses me so much. But that's nothin new, what is new is that team of yours. What do ya think?"

"Well... I mean Valentine seems fine, if a little... how do I put this, "try hardish?" maybe? I don't know, it almost felt like he was forcing it a bit, but he seemed to get into the swing of things by the end of the brief. As for the rest, Christ where do I start? We already had two drops, another replaced, and we haven't even gotten off the ground. And the boy wonder! Kid looked like he wasn't even old enough to drink! How he ended up here is beyond me. Wild." Ayvee finished with an exasperated sigh. She then pulled out her tablet and scrolled through the roster. "And finally, we got one who should have been arriving around..." 

Ayvee paused and the two both looked over as a Gripen with an eye-catching tail art taxied onto the flight pad. Ayvee squinted her eyes, looked down at the pad, then back up at the jet as it rolled to a stop at one of the tie-down points. As the crew chalked the wheels, Ayvee couldn't help but laugh a bit, earning a curious glance from Johnny. "Well, that's her. Our last-minute addition. Guess I will go break the bad news she's not staying too long. Take care, Johnny, I'll miss ya. Tell Miranda I said hi... oh and send me your home address, and I'll send you a souvenir or something!" Ayvee said, shaking his hand and jogging over to intercept the woman as she made her over to the FOB. 

"Hey! Valkyrie right?!" Ayvee called as she caught up to her. Catching her breath quickly, she held out a hand. "Ayvee Reagan, call me Stingray. You're the late edition yeah? Got the update through the company group chat." Ayvee glanced over at the Gripen, seeing the crewmen beginning to unload the luggage. "You uh, you might wanna tell them to not bother. Hope your flight wasn't too long but we're actually about to roll out here." Ayvee said with a sheepish laugh. "So it goes in our line of work, huh?" 

[@Damo021]