I’ve got an officer in need of retrieval.” “Officer Shani,” barked one of the soldiers, “we order you to stand down and return to HQ with us.” It had been knocked out of her arms when she landed. The portal must have spat it out before it closed. She hadn't had time to put it on before using it. The Portal Strike lay half buried in the sand behind them, too far for her to reach. ![]() ![]() officers surrounded her with their weapons drawn. Shaking the sand from her face she looked up what she saw made her stomach drop. Her eyes popped open and she rolled away kicking up sand as she stumbled to her feet. She slapped it away and turned around, mumbling pleas for five more minutes of sleep. ![]() “Like I don't have enough shit going on with me.” “Oh, as if.” He pushed her away playfully. “If I find out you're hiding drugs in there…” “Only a little bit.” She scrutinized at her reflection in the visor. It made him more confident, and cleaning it gave him something to distract himself with when things got to be too much. “Is it weird how much I mess with this thing?” She found his microfiber cloth and dabbed at the mark for him. Shani started giggling and soon they were both laughing. The tears on his sleeve left a wet smear across the lens. I'll tell you about it later.” He tried to wipe at his eyes but hit the visor instead. He sniffed, a static filled crackling through his respirator. “What's wrong?” She put her hands on his shoulders. Instead he jammed his helmet on his head as she slipped in front of him. “Hunter!” She tried to get him to turn around, but her refused. “Ugh, I'm sorry, Shan.” There was a waver in his voice as he scrubbed at his eyes. He was quiet for a while, fiddling with his oxygen tubes and the safety latches on his helmet. The wasteland is gonna be a wonderful vacation from your nagging.” He shook his head and double checked the gauges on his oxygen tank. “Out in the wasteland without any lice shampoo.” “Oh poor you,” she crooned, putting her hands against her cheeks. “That better not be Dave’s! He has lice!” He cried. She grabbed a pillow off a nearby bed and threw it at him. He turned and stuck out his tongue at her. “Ha ha ha, the men’s showers are communal, bitch.” “What? Are you saying you've never gone to the bathroom by yourself?” “It's weird that I'll be doing something by myself for once.” Somehow, despite her throbbing head, she fell asleep. Closing her eyes, she listened to the soothing quiet. After the deafening noise of the portal, the current lack of noise was a relief to her ringing ears. She laid down on her side in an attempt to make the world stop spinning. “Shit.” A throbbing pain blossomed behind her eyes. This was her first time outside her home dimension, her first time in a new world, even! She should mark this occasion with some sort of profound or courageous statement. Faintly her brain realized that had she lost her respirator she would most likely be dying of radiation poisoning right now. A faint breeze tickled what parts of her face that weren't covered by her respirator. Her bumpy ride through the portal had left her shaky, dizzy, and exhausted. Endless stretches of sand as far as she could see. Blearily she could see she was surrounded by it. She sat up and rubbed sand out of her eyes. Behind her the portal shut with a woosh, leaving her stranded in whatever dimension she had made it to. There was a sudden flash of brilliant light and her eyes shot open as she hit the ground. At least that meant that her hearing aid hadn't been taken like her helmet. The whistling of the wind and the crackle of energy were the only things she could hear. Her mouth was opened to scream, but whether she was actually screaming or not she couldn't tell. She'd had a helmet when she first entered, but now her hair was flying into her eyes. It tossed her to and fro and flipped her end over end. ![]() This portal wasn't anything like the ones she’d gone through in training. She clutched her blaster like a life preserver.
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