The Start of Sojourn
He repeats himself. "The plan is great, but you won't be assigned to it." His face remains composed, but underneath, you could tell he was ready for us to contest his words. Which we do, of course.
Struggling to stay composed herself, Chase asks, in a soft voice. "If I may ask, by whose recommendation was it that lead to this decision?"
"I'm not at liberty to..." He starts but of course, the culprit immediately reveals themselves. Major Campbell stands up, cutting him off.
"It was by me. In fact, you are to be put on immediate leave. As for the why, do I need to make mention of Toronto, Ottawa, and the last mission? To ensure the success of this mission, you can't be there for it. Deep down, you know this is true." He says. Chase stands there for a second before taking a look at her new augments on her legs. Taking a deep breath she salutes,
"If that will be all, I'll be taking my leave then." Receiving a nod from Fournier, she leaves the room, and the rest of us in shocked silence. Mina is the first one to break the silence in defense of her.
"Commanding Officer Fournier, you can't expect this to be the most logical choice on the matter. Given the circumstances, the missions were difficult, therefore failures were bound to be warranted. Can we reevaluate the decision?" Fournier looks at Campbell, who didn't budge.
"Of course, the mother of omnics would side with Captain Chase. If Chase isn't on this mission, I can guarantee that the omnics wouldn't know anything about it and, we would succeed." I scoff at his words. To my knowledge, the mission would definitely be a failure if Chase didn't go. In gaming terms, she carried that mission.
"Are you implying that she's an omnic?" S3bastian asks.
Campbell looks at S3bastian with a scowl on his face. "I see no difference between her and you."
Unfazed, S3bastian responds, "Well that's good cause, I was just thinking about how hot she was. Like have you seen those legs. I can give her fuel to power those rockets if you know what I mean."
Ignoring him, Jack asks, "If Captain Chase isn't going to be lead on this mission, who is?"
"We have your capable hands, Morrison. Along with the successful Shawn Rose here." Fournier points out.
Before anyone can reply to him, I say out loud, "I'm not going on that mission without Chase."
"Well, you have to cause I'm ordering it." Fournier says.
"I don't take orders from you. My orders come from Morrison and above. I don't listen to a man who thinks it's ok to sack one of their best officials over someone else's personal vendetta. You two can say whatever you want, but I know for a fact that if it was either of you two on those missions instead, they would have gone way worse." I raise towards them.
Campbell doesn't want to take that from me, "Well, you're dismissed as well. We don't need your disrespect on the mission." Fournier raises an eyebrow at Campbell. Everyone had seen and heard of my abilities. They knew I was detrimental to the mission, especially if we were taking the fight to an omnium that now had Titans at it. Fournier wasn't going to dismiss my help as easily as Campbell did. I could read from his bioenergy that he was beginning to question Campbell's judgement.
Jack who was listening up until now steps forward, "I can understand how hard it is to make decisions like these. I was there at Toronto; I share the blame in the failure there as well. Then again for this mission. How come you're not dismissing me?" He asks, which makes everyone begin to question that as well.
I smile as Campbell begins to squirm a bit on the inside but maintains his poker face. He was counting on Jack throwing Chase under the bus to take lead of this mission, not defend her. Having both Jack and me off the mission was not a good idea. I could feel his rage for a brief moment, making me wonder why he felt the way he did against omnics in the first place. While both he and Fournier remain silent, refusing to back down, I take the floor again.
"Listen Campbell, I know why you're making that decision. But you have to realize, that this war goes above any personal hatred. I don't know what the omnics did to anyone in your family or who you know, but Chase is more human than any of us." I say to him, which makes him scoff but, the others who went on missions with her begin to think.
Noah who was quietly listening up until now, decided to voice his own opinion. "Captain Chase is the best of us, sir. A good mentor to me, a kind friend. Around the bunk, they call her Sojourn. Because she'll go wherever she has to, risk whatever she needs to, to save lives... And to bring back as many of her soldiers as possible."
One by one, Chase's team come into the briefing room as they were listening outside, begin to take their stand, refusing to go on the mission if Chase isn't there. Fournier takes a look at the state that everyone is in and relents. There was too much disorder from this decision, which they didn't need, especially now with the turning point of the war.
"Alright. I redact my decision. Your Sojourn is back on the mission. Everyone is dismissed." Fournier announces which makes Campbell scowl but sends the men into cheers. Exiting the room, I head to where Sojourn was. Even frustrated that Campbell felt that way and didn't have the heart to contest the decision, instead of moping about it, she was training the other leaders on how to take down a Titan in the VR training room. That's the kind of leader she was, one that I couldn't be in Overwatch. My talents were going to be better suited for Blackwatch, which I totally was down for.
Walking up to her as she was concluding her lesson, one of them said, "This is excellent information Captain Chase, I mean, taking down a Titan of all things. I'm glad that you'll be with us on the next mission."
Chase gets a sad look, "Well..." She begins but, I cut her off.
"Yeah, it'll be Captain Sojourn who Commanding Officer Fournier just put back on the mission." I say causing questions among everyone there. Same with Sojourn for a moment, until recognition flashes on her face as she once heard some soldiers refer to her as that one time. She lightly laughs,
"Sojourn eh, haven't heard that one in a while."
"I'm sure that you won't hear it again." I say.