No matter how many times Aura did this, it never got easier. After dismissing her pilots, Aura retreated to her quarters for an hour, and spent much of that hour staring at the locker on her wall. Contained within was her gear, now on perpetual issue from supply, remaining from the days she spent entirely on the battlefield. Aura knew if she opened that locker, she'd have to confront all that the gear within entailed. Nobody had seen her strap this gear on for years, not since she last put foot to ground as a grunt, and that was really for a good reason. This uniform, that armor, symbolized a lot of dead men and women, but Aura had little choice but to suit up, after all she owed it to her pilots and herself to maximize her odds of survival. Opening the locker, Aura gingerly ran her fingers over the fabric of the uniform and the armor that formed part of her ensemble. Soft, well-maintained camouflaged fabric, as well as kevlar and ceramic trauma plates, all passed beneath her fingers as she inspected the gear. Tucked into a pocket of her uniform, Aura found an aging photograph of a much younger version of herself, taken by a frightened UNF correspondent as she and her men swept over a UNF compound. Running her fingers over it, Aura was reminded of her men again, the ones who had somehow acquired this photo and gifted it to her, and she couldn't help but think back on them. Doing so made her undeniably nostalgic, and in her minds eye she flashed back to a different place, a different time.

[hider=An Old Photo]
[img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f2/c4/1d/f2c41d5e66bd0d56f4f947a0a39236ad.jpg[/img]
[/hider]

[hider=Aura's War Diaries]

Sergeant Kalstov stood proud, her QR rifle casually held at a low ready by one hand while a pilfered UNF Glock was held in her right hand, which hung at her side casually. As her men swept over the rubble of the compound, Aura's attention was taken by a flash from off to her left. Flinging herself to the ground, both weapon barrels were brought on target as Aura tried to locate any contacts she had missed. However, no gunshot accompanied the flash, and after a moment Aura realized it was just that damn reporter. He'd, apparently, been embedded with this UNF squad when Aura's own team had launcher their assault. Since he was a civilian who was smart enough not to pick up a weapon, Aura left him be as her men gathered usable kit from around the squad's camp. UNF backup would be mere minutes away, so the squad had little and less time to spend dealing with this guy.

"[color=1a7b30]Sarge, there's some AT here, what's the call on it?[/color]" Aura heard from one of her men, Private Issac Matthews, and Aura coughed ,thoroughly embarrassed by her reaction, and got to her feet, calling in reply "[color=0072bc]You and Fredericks will hump it back to base.[/color]" Not long after, she heard over the radio from her security element leader, Sergeant Matthias, "[color=f7941d]Paladin to Knight, Paladin 1-3 has got eyes on a UNF QRF inbound, recommend we make tracks."[/color] Aura quickly got on the radio, saying "[color=0072bc]Copy that Paladin, RTB, we're clearing out.[/color]" She then called out to her men "[color=0072bc]Knight, grab anything in arms reach and lets move, we're clearing out.[/color]" Aura lead her men from the compound within a minute, never stopping to check what they had managed to pilfer, moving at a low run through the woods. The UNF attempted to follow, but their big units and heavy vehicles were easy to hear coming and evade. This mission was a success, no friendly deaths, only minor wounds and rucksacks full of valuable UNF gear.

[/hider]

Aura shook her head, clearing it of the memories with a wistful smile. Matthias had been a good XO, and had been surprisingly accepting of being ordered about by a woman younger than him, though likely only because she had more combat experience than he had. She was pretty sure Matthias had become a Major by now, he always had a talent for tactics and strategy, and Matthews was now a grizzled Sergeant with his own squad. This line of thought inevitably soured her otherwise happy face, however, as she was forced to remember the ones from that very squad who were no longer living. Paladin 1-3, a young Cadet called Amanda Skarv, had died under Aura's own command a short four months after that operation, and Fredericks had died as a Sergeant defending a position per then-Lieuteant Aura's orders. That was the part of command Aura didn't much care for, the knowledge that her own men were dead, and that she'd sent them places knowing they could die.

At last clearing these memories from her mind. Aura pulled on her old gear, vest finding its place with her headset being carefully lowered into position. Following this, she went to supply and drew her ammo for this op, along with a suppressor for her rifle. The PHP was a personal sidearm, and so no suppressor was available for it from the quartermaster. With her gear ready, and Longshot still under the tender ministrations of the maintenance crew, Aura had little left but to hurry up and wait. Thankfully, the time passed in a hurry, and Aura found herself entering the hangar thirty minutes before launch time to prepare. Noticing Yaz over by Ordine, Aura ambled over and noted the tech she was talking to. The tech was semi-familiar to her, she was pretty sure he had a buddy who was a grunt and that was why she felt she oughta know him. After all, she and the grunt population of the base were well acquainted, and so she knew most of their friends. Again clearing these thoughts, she came to a halt a few paces behind Yazmin. Predictably, techs popped into salute, and Aura just as quickly ordered "[color=0072bc]At ease![/color]"

Turning her attention to her battle buddy for this operation, Aura gave a relaxed grin and said "[color=0072bc]Alright Yaz, we'll be watching each others' asses in there, so we need to stay high speed. I don't doubt you'll be able to keep the pace an old-timer like me sets. On that note, we're weapons tight in the facility, no trigger pulling unless I give the word. If we get made, well...I'd rather not be trapped in the middle of a UNF outpost with low ammo. Any last minute questions, comments or concerns?[/color]"

[@Kyrisse][@Musaki Hajime][@POOHEAD189][@The Survivor]