<span class="bbc_u"><strong>Aleph Base, Pacific Northwest, NA</strong></span><div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/45/d1/6845d1e07173e1758a63df9e4d0e5c65.jpg)</div><br/>It was just another day on base, if a lonely one.  Most pilots were out on missions--engaging Cascadian forces attempting to throttle the overland routes through the mountains, raiding the bases of sky pirates continuing to make airborne shipment of Cibus more trouble than it was worth, and of course dealing with creatures coming out of the water to hit the ports.<br/><br/>The O-Club was largely empty, and there were no other pilots there.  The sound of trucks moving outside could be faintly heard.  A few personnel bustled about, manning the defenses or doing their rounds.  Aleph Base had never been penetrated, but the feeling was still tense.<br/><br/>Bunny and Abrams were the only pilots left.  Abrams was an old campaigner, body scarred by a life of war and hair shock-white with age.  He was on permanent base defense, in part due to the expense of keeping up his old rig and the medical demands age had brought.  His reputation as the Butcher of Los Angeles kept away as many bandits as he'd killed over his long career.<br/><br/>"I'll be in my bunk," he'd mentioned to Bunny a few minutes ago, not bothering to see if she noticed.  He has a practiced military gait, right hand in lockstep with his holster.  Old wounds made his step a bit stilted but he held up as best he could.<br/><br/>Then there was a call on the vidscreen.  It was Lieutenant Fox (https://www.anime-planet.com/images/characters/sandle-alarcon-42487.jpg).  He was normally in-charge of some escourt detail or other, so he rarely hung around the base.<br/><br/>"Hey," he called, "is anybody up there?  That shipment that was due in yesterday just arrived."  The vidscreen was a simple 2D affair, basically just the TV hooked up to a camera.  Individual communicators were allowed but not used for official business, it was local radio or closedband comms only.  E-war had gone far by the 3000s, and quantum guessing tools commonly available to nefarious forces could break any encryption within a day.  Physical storage disconnected from the satnet was the only way to be secure.<br/><br/>Some officers playing craps looked up at Bunny in that you-gonna-get-that way that suggested they really did not want to.