First mission jitters
The hum of the engine vibrated the entire aircraft- it was almost unnoticeable thanks to the padding on the seats, but Kitora paced the length of the open fuselage, and felt it reverberate through her boots. Her thoughts refused to quell, so the redhead attempted to focus on moving her body instead. She checked clasps, ammo, tightened the straps on her uniform. The occasional spark escaped her thinly maintained control, the slight 'pop!' like a gunshot in an open field. On what may have been her fourth pass or fortieth, Anikah flicked her tactical goggles onto her forehead and glared at KItora.
"Y'know, it's not like you to be this nervous." Anikah grabbed the other's arm, in a futile attempt to stop her fidgeting. A longer spark rippled under the non-conductive fabric. Kitora sent the blonde girl an exasperated look.
"The first three missions-" Kitora started, only to be cut off.
"Have the highest mortality rate." The rest of the students intoned, and Kitora suppressed a flinch. To compensate, her leg bounced twice. Anikah gave the rest of the cabin an apologetic smile, before she forcibly sat the redhead down next to her.
"At this rate, you're gonna wear the straps from tightening them so much." Anikah hissed into Kitora's ear. Despite her harsh words, though, the blonde tugged the other's head to rest on her shoulder. Anikah felt rather than heard Kitora's sigh as Anikah played with her bangs. As always, Kitora cut her short hair as messily as possible. While the armoured vests made the position mildly uncomfortable, both girls endured it for the emotional support.
"It's kinda nice knowing even REHA's prodigy gets nervous too." Came an amused voice from in front of the pair.
"Setree!" Momoru elbowed her partner, and Kitora opened an eye at his yelp. She wasn't even aware she had closed them.
"Sorry about him." Momoru likely was addressing them both, but her head faced Kitora. The brunette deftly ignored Setree's soft "I'm not..." from next to her. "But it'll be alright, Kitora. This is just a scout mission. The worst that we'll encounter is some rogue Type Bs, and at best we'll just see a few Type As."
Even though it was information they all already knew, hearing it voiced aloud eased some of the tension that had grown since Kitora's pacing. Kitora nodded, and Setree paused his petulant act to chime in.
"I didn't mean that in an insulting way or anything. It's just, you've got this whole "untouchable" thing going on, and it's easy to forget you're, y'know..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
"Human too?" Kitora finished, drier than the tundra.
"Yeah..." The black-haired boy swallowed, and the cabin began to fill with idle chatter. Someone bemoaned the increased price of their favourite chocolate bar, another kid announced he had definitely failed the math test last week. Anikah agreed, voice grim.
Kitora awaited their arrival in silence.
