CRACK! The hyper velocity shell leaving her rifle tore apart the air and, a few seconds later and five miles out, the heavily armored scout drone that had been cruising just below the sound barrier a mere 20 feet above the desert floor. For good measure it dug a 30-foot trench into the sand behind the drone, though you’d never be able to tell a week from now. Scrappers would clear out the wreckage of the drone before next sunrise. She pulled the rifle back into the tower, the access port to the outside closing automatically. She hefted the rifle up to lean on her shoulder, carrying it over to the table it normally lived on. With a heavy sound, she dropped it, kicking up dust from the table.
“Hey, be more careful with her!” shouted her partner from across the large room. “Just because she’s built like a rock doesn’t mean you should treat her like one!”
Nakhti smirked as she raised her hands in a conciliatory manner to appease her friend. “Okay, okay, I’ll try and be more careful with her next time.” A tiny woman she may be, especially compared to her own bulk, Kiara was nothing if not feisty. Especially when it came to her treasured machinery, the heavy anti-vehicle rifle included.
Nakhti honestly would be more careful with such a beautiful gun if she weren’t so damn frustrated all the time. There were many things she hated, but her top three had to be deserts, authority figures, and sticking to one place for too long. So, of course the universe was dead set to deliver all three to her at the same time. The second item on the list had been a thorn in her side for the last year. She was, begrudgingly, doing her “service to the Empire” like a good little citizen. For most of her life, her tall and stout form, coupled with a disdain for most people, had allowed her to live in peace and get her way. Nobody messed with the girl who grew up to be 6’6 with muscles and strength that would allow her to break most people who caused her issues. None of this mattered to the 6-foot drill sergeant, nor her current commanding officer who was a mere 5’8. Honestly, it probably caused her more problems than benefits, which was why she was now posted to one of the Towers.
This brings us to both hated items number one and three. The Towers lined up across a vast desert, with nothing but sand, more sand, mirages, and the occasional oasis to break things up. What’s worse than a desert? A desert that is basically lifeless. Of course, everyone had to serve the Empire for at least four years. Unless a war broke out, she was quite sure she would be stuck here guarding the frontier for the next three years. Her only solace was the fact that her CO was over 5,000 miles away and that her partner was nice. More than nice, she was kinda cute, though Nakhti would never say it out loud. Mushy feelings were another thing she didn’t like. For spending a lifetime pushing most people away, she didn’t have much practice being vulnerable like that.
She dropped into the couch against the wall, once again thinking of ways to get back at the universe for this injustice it delivered upon her. As she lay there, her friend finally got up from whatever she was tinkering with to check up on the gun. At 4’8, the table holding the gun went up to the middle of Kiara’s chest.
Drifting out of her own self-pitying thoughts, Nakhti watched her friend closely. Due to the weight of the gun, something usually mounted on a vehicle, the only one in their section who could lift it unassisted was herself. Most people kept it mounted in place on a rail, but it didn’t give as much freedom of movement.
So, for Kiara’s sake, the table was also part of a lift system. With the press of a few buttons, she was able to latch in the gun and lift it several feet off the table. She then pulled herself up onto it, before sliding under it to make sure nothing had been damaged when Nahkti dropped it.
Nakhti really did enjoy watching her friend work. She could repair the weapon if need be, but it would be shoddy in comparison to what her friend could do. Then again, anyone’s work would be shoddy in comparison. Her friend was a mechanical genius, or perhaps a goddess. Kiara couldn’t shoot a gun worth a damn, but she was amazing with machinery and technology. Watching her take apart the gun, her delicate hands deftly weaving in and out of the device, was mesmerizing to Nakhti. For someone with so much energy, it was surprising that Kiara could also focus so hard and manipulate things so delicately.
As Nakhti watched her work on the gun, tightening something here, adding more lubricant to something there, one of her tools was bumped off the table and onto the floor. The tiny mechanic didn’t seem to notice, so she slowly lifted herself off the sofa and headed over to the table. As she grabbed the tool and stood up, she noticed her friend patting around the table with an empty hand. She leaned down, tool offered up, and asked with a smirk, “Did you drop something?”
Kiara looked up at her big friend’s face and blushed slightly before accepting the proffered tool. Their hands briefly brushed each other’s. “You know, if you were more careful with her, I wouldn’t need to be under here so often.” She popped in a loose circuit board connector before she started putting the outside panels back onto the gun.
“Well, I don’t really mind watching you work,” she replied absentmindedly. For a second the only thing that could be heard was the slight sound of air moving out of the ventilation systems. Both women blushed heavily, with the bigger one hurrying back to the sofa to hide her embarrassment by checking the autonomous sensor systems while the smaller one finished putting the gun back together.
Nakhti couldn’t believe she had said that out loud! She felt so stupid and hoped she hadn’t messed up her friendship. She still wasn’t sure how to handle all the mushy feelings inside her, but for some reason her friend made it harder and harder to ignore them.
Meanwhile, Kiara was reeling. She had had a crush on Nakhti ever since she had stepped in to intimidate some bullies harassing her during boot camp. She had made it her goal to become friends with her no matter what and somehow, she had pulled it off. Everyone in their section was grateful for it. No one wanted to be grouped with the Amazon from Hell. No one… but her. She gathered her tools up and slid off the table, and then brought the gun back down to rest, detaching it from the lift. Originally, she had planned to get back to work improving one of the sensor suites they used to spot trespassers, but now she couldn’t focus. As she lay back in her chair, feet kicked up on the table, she closed her eyes with a big smile on her face.
Unbeknownst to her, Nakhti was watching her out of the corner of her eye. When she noticed the smile on her friend, she looked over proper just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. The beautiful smile on her friend’s face made her heart flutter, but all she noticed was that her friend was happy. She looked back at the console and her body relaxed. Her friend was happy. She hadn’t screwed things up. She sat there mindlessly looking at the screen for what may have been seconds or an eternity, her mind blank. When she looked back over at her friend, she was back to tinkering. Perhaps the universe wasn’t complete shit, she thought as she lay back down on the sofa, a small smile forming on her face.