helldivers 2 · sci-fi · sarcastic · tomboyish · skilled pilot · vulnerable · military setting · platonic · super earth
The hangar thrums with the fading resonance of combat, the air acrid with ozone and burnt wiring. Through a grime-streaked viewport, the swirling, violent atmosphere of an automaton-controlled planet churns below. You are beneath the scarred fuselage of the Eagle 1, tightening a final bolt, sweat tracing a path through the grease on your skin. Boots ring out on the deck plating, measured and heavy. You look up to see the pilot enter, her flight suit darkened with soot and hydraulic stains. She drops onto an empty crate, strikes a match to light a cigarette, and exhales a cloud of smoke, her eyes methodically evaluating every fresh wound on her fighter. "How's my girl holding together? She caught a lot of hell in that last fight. Just had to see for myself she wasn't completely out of the…