At this point everyone in the carrier was chattering back and forth about the mission.  About “how this ghost was different.” And “how they were just happy to be getting off the battlefield for this one.”  Sara continued to talk with Corporal Haroldson, “So what will happen now?  With Commander Voss being gone?" Sara asked as she busied her nervous hands with unnecessary maintenance on her battlesuit.   Haroldson thought about the question a few moments before replying, “I would imagine they will send us a replacement commander.  It is hard to say though.  They sure seemed to be in a hurry to get us back to base. Plus with Norman talking about us being reassigned. Who knows what they are thinking.”  “What do you mean?” Sara asked, checking the hoses and cords to her helmet.  “Well, to send a carrier versus a regular ground transport is a bit out of the norm.  That makes me think there is something big gonna go down.  Not sure what, but if I had to guess, we're about to get a serious questioning about the whole situation.” Haroldson stated, a serious look on his face.  Sara set down her helmet and replied, “I don’t think there is much we can tell them unless someone saw something I didn’t.  It was just a ball of fire and poof.  The transport was gone.”  Haroldson rubbed his well groomed beard and said, “I doubt anyone would have seen anything.  You were the first there and nothing showed up on the sensors except fire.  So, if you didn’t see anything, there isn’t much anyone can tell them.  Still, they could have just used a comm line if they just wanted information.  If I had to make a guess, I would say that they plan on giving us a new commander and then redeploying us as soon as possible. Either that, or they are just gonna divide us up into units about to head out to the field.”  Sara pulled her rifle off her Y-rack, and thought on Haroldson's comment for a moment and then replied, “Yeah, you are probably right.  They can’t exactly send a new commander and transport out to the field with no introductions or orders.”  

As Sara and Heraldson continued their conversation, an alert came over the transport intercom.  “Incoming enemy fireball!“ the pilot shouted.  Sara turned to look out the window just in time to see the fireball's impact.  Sara instinctively grabbed her helmet and tried to get it on, but it was no use.  The fire began consuming the transport both inside and out.  The heat of the flames was so intense that Sara couldn’t even feel the pain.  “I don’t feel anything….  It's so bright.... Is this what death is like?”  Sara thought, dropping her helmet and falling backwards in the seat.  Unable to move, Sara then heard a familiar voice say, “I see you!”  “Who are you?” Sara asked, her vision going from a bright blur slowly fading to pitch black.  “You know who I am.” the voice whispered.  Sara could feel her skin burning away.  It felt as if her hands and legs along with her suit were turning to ash.  Shortly afterwards, all the sensations just stopped, and Sara woke up.  Gasping to catch her breath Sara shouted, “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”  All the troopers turned and looked at her.  What started as silence broke into laughter.  Sara looked around confused.  “I’m alright.  I’M ALIVE!!!” she thought, feeling first her arms, then her shoulders, and finally her face. Her helmet clattered and rolled across the floor where she had inadvertantly kicked it when she awoke.  Haroldson chuckling said, “You have a nightmare there kiddo?  You nodded off mid sentence about 10 minutes ago. Was the weirdest thing, but we all assumed you were just that tired.”  Sara blushed, looked away from everyone, and said quietly, “Sorry about that.  I don’t even remember falling asleep.”  Haroldson, crossed his arms, leaned back in his seat and said, “We are all tired. Honestly, after you fell asleep, I envied you a bit, being able to fall asleep so easily after everything we went through. I tried to take a snooze, but just not happening.”

While the rest of the troopers were talking back and forth about the events of the day, Sergeant Norman received a private comm line from Commander Faraday.  Norman, rather surprised by the communication, thought to himself, “Comm line from Commander Faraday.  This can’t be good.  I am sure it has something to do with the loss of Commander Voss.”  Norman took in a deep breath and let out a long exhale, before opening the line and acknowledging Commander Faraday, “Norman speaking.  How may I help you Commander?”  Commander Faraday interlaced his fingers, leaned forward, and replied, “I am sure you know why I am contacting you directly.  It is an emergency time after all.”  Norman nodded his head in agreement.  While Sergeant Norman continued to discuss matters with Commander Faraday; Corporal Ibara was the only one to notice that Sergeant Norman was distressed by whatever the conversation was.  Ibara pretended not to notice and thought to himself, “This is bad if they have the Serg worried.  Doesn’t seem like anyone else has noticed.  It is probably best to not mention anything until the Serg is ready.” Conversations between troopers continued for the entirety of the one hour carrier ride back to West Pan-Am base.  

As the carrier made its final approach to the landing pad, all of the conversations halted.  Despite not looking out of the windows, and not having been prompted, everyone knew they were about to land.  Maybe it was the subtle differences in the engine and thruster sounds, or maybe the change in positions of the carrier; none-the-less everyone just knew they were about to land.  Norman ran through his conversation with Commander Faraday in his head. “I know that this will be a big deal for everyone, but I am not the one who is supposed to break the news to them.  I want to because they are my comrades, but the commander has sworn me to silence about this.  I am guessing the same is true for the pilot and the commander of the carrier as they have not said a word to us the entire flight home. That is assuming they even know.”  Norman thought as he glanced around at each and every trooper, trying to make it look as casual as possible. Sara was also lost in her thoughts as the silence creeped over the carrier. “I guess this means we really are about to get another go round with the flame dancer.  Not exactly what I had hoped for.  I think everyone feels pretty much the same.”  Sara thought as she looked around at the other troopers' faces. The carrier gently set down on the landing platform with a “Thud.”  The thrusters powered off and the engine shut down.  The back hatch opened and daylight poured into the back of the carrier.  Everyone squinted as their eyes began to adjust to the sunlight.  Norman stood up first and addressed the troopers, “Everyone go unload your gear and report to room 204 at 1130 hours for your debriefing.  Dismissed!”  “Yessir!” Everyone replied.  This gave everyone exactly one hour to get out of their battlesuits and return them to their quarters before the meeting.  

I remember that meeting.  I wanted to tell my comrades exactly what was about to happen, but I had been ordered to do no such thing.  It was my first order as newly promoted commander.  I couldn’t tell them anything.  Knowing that morale was low, I at least wanted to comfort them.  Let them know they were bound for something better than round two with the flame dancer.  Despite my personal desires, I followed orders for what would be the last time I saw my old unit, my comrades, my friends.  

~Excerpt from Commander Norman’s Journal Entry 1

During the walk to her room, Sara tried to figure out what would happen with her unit.  She would glance in the various rooms lining the hallways.  The first room she went through was the garage area.  It was a common area where repairs were made to both suits and vehicles.  It was a very large room, easily 200 meters across.  It wasn’t uncommon to see technicians and mechanics performing various duties in this area.  “Just as I figured.  There is nothing out here that even gives a hint as to what is going to happen with us.”  Sara thought as she walked through the main aisleway of the garage.  Just then she heard a voice shout, “HEY PRIVATE SNOW!  YOU MADE IT BACK ALIVE!”  It was Private Third Class Mason Fenue.  “Hey! Yeah, we made it out in one piece, for the most part.”  Sara said as she continued walking without as much as a pause; trying to get through the garage as quickly as possible. Mason Fenue was a suit technician who was assigned to unit 38.  He was also in Sara’s basic training class, but went on to be a suit technician rather than a trooper.  He stood 165cm and weighed 52kg.  He had blonde hair and blue eyes.  “I heard that unit 38 had engaged the flame dancer and I immediately feared the worst.  I am just glad you guys made it back in one piece.” Mason said, following her down the main aisleway, tools still in hand.  “Yeah, I wouldn’t say all made it back.” Sara said, looking down at the the floor, her voice trailing off a bit as she walked.  “How so?” Mason asked, as he caught up to her and paralleled her direction and speed.  “I see everyone here from the looks of it.  Haroldson, Ibara, Kono, Norman.” he said continuing to follow her towards the door.  Sara kept looking down at her feet and continued on, “the commander and Huskins.  All of unit 37…  The unit 37 commander and pilot… All of the population of Pasadena.  We lost them all in the blink of an eye.”  Sara forced the tears back, “We didn’t stand a chance against that thing.”  Mason said, “But, you lived to fight another day.  Right?!”  “Mason, you don’t understand.  We didn’t even get a look at it and it still killed a quarter million people.”  Sara said in a much more agitated tone.  She began to walk away.  Mason started to follow her, wanting to question her more, but he decided against it.  He knew her well enough to know better.

Sara continued to the end of the garage where there was a set of metal double doors.  These doors led into the south entrance of the base.  Sara stopped at the door and paused for a moment.  “Maybe I was a little harsh with Mason.  I know he was just worried about me.”  She thought as she pulled out her badge.  She tapped the badge on the scanner and the computer opened the door.  “CREEEAAKK”  the heavy door sounded as it opened.  Sara still had a ways to go because her room was in the Northeast Wing.   Lost in her thoughts, “I know Mason means well, but why is he so annoying?   He is almost as bad as Kono, only in a more innocent way.” She thought.  She grumbled as she went down the hallway, “Why can’t he just leave me alone right now.  I don’t need some techie giving a round of thirty questions.  It is bad enough that I am going to have to give a report of everything that I saw…. AWW SHIT!  I totally forgot, I have to get my report ready before the debriefing … DAMMIT!”  She had started screaming at this point.  “And here I had hoped to gather some intel before the post action meet up.”  Sara picked up her pace down the hallway towards the turbo lift as she noticed people staring at her through the various open doors.  “Must be one of the new troopers being so loud.”  One person said.  Another glared at her without saying a word, but the look clearly conveyed the phrase “I don’t care about your problem.  I am busy.  Now, Shut up!”  “The heck are all these people’s problems?” Sara thought to herself as she began to storm down the hallway.  “These people just sit in these offices all day while some of us are out there risking our lives.  I guess this is what my dad always meant by civi-s.”  “Hey, keep it down!” another voice yelled. 

At this point Sara could really feel the weight of her battle suit.  She just kept walking toward the turbo lift.   The door opened, “fsssssssp.”  “Well, well, if it isn’t Little Miss Sunshine.” the voice said.  Sara looked up and it was Private Kono.  “Hey, Kono.” Sara said in a much calmer tone.  “I hate this guy with a passion, but he is higher ranked than me; so I must act accordingly.” Sara thought to herself.  “Glad to see you didn’t wet your battle suit on your first mission.” he laughed.  “As if.” Sara retorted.  Kono went from his usual joking demeanor to a more serious one, “You saw it didn’t you?” he asked.  “No, unfortunately I didn’t.  All I managed to see was a ball of fire just like the rest of you.” Sara replied.  “Don’t be getting all serious on me, private.  We aren’t on duty at the moment.” he said.  “I just wanted to know if you got a look at it or not.  Shesh, can’t take a joke can you.” he gibed.  “I completely forgot that this guy’s quarters are only a few doors down from mine. Which means I am gonna have to listen to him the whole way to my room.” Sara thought.  And she was right.  Kono continued, “well, since you got plenty of time still yet, and nothing to write on your report; you should come over to my place for some “Relaxation.””  “Dream on, Kono.”  Sara said with a cold tone in her voice.  “Ouch, so cold.  Guess I should call you the ice queen rather than sunshine.” He laughed.  

Dai, Kono Private First Class.  Currently preparing for the corporal’s exam.  The guy is a total sleaze and a jerk.  He annoys me to no end, but he is a good trooper.  He never shows fear of anything, even if he complains about it.  He is brazen and a remarkable shot.  I really wish I lived farther away from him.  I mean like on the other side of the base.  What’s even worse is I think he wants me, YUCK!

~Excerpt from Private Sara Snow’s Journal Entry 28

The turbolift stopped at their floor and both Kono and Sara got off.  They began walking down the hall and Kono pulled out a cigarette and lit it.  “You know those things will kill you Kono.” Sara said.  Kono immediately replied as if it was automatic, “we all gotta go sometime, but between you and me; I think it will be to a ghost or a woman long before these things get me.”  Blowing the smoke in her general direction, “I think it would be okay if it was to you, you know.”  He also leaned in close to her, only as a ruse.  “I don’t care if it is on my battlesuit, remove that hand if you want to keep it!” Sara growled.  He removed his hand from the rear of her suit and laughed, “I like you.  You are so full of spunk.”  Sara could see her door.  “Thank god!  Now I can get away from him for a while.”  She thought to herself.  “Well this is my stop.” she said as she pressed her hand against the door.  “He replied, “I know.  Believe me I know.” he said while winking at her as he continued down the hallway.  “Thank you Jesus! He didn’t stop to talk more!” Sara thought as he walked further down the hallway.  Sara opened the door and walked into her room.