Archive of Our Own ^beta

Number

Prompt

Sentence

001.

Move

They had to move or when the air strike was called in, they'd be toast.

002.

Sleep

Nathan smacked Cooper on the shoulder, still amazed that Cooper could sack out in the middle of a bombing raid and yet snap awake if he was needed.

003.

Inspire

The 58th didn't start out wanting others to follow their lead, but if it helped other Invitros who wanted to fight in this war, who were they to argue?

004.

Sweat

Those mysterious higher ups who never seemed to make it to the front lines, should have named this planet Hell instead of Nirvana.

005.

Lovely

"Just lovely," Vansen muttered as she sunk knee deep into yet another hole on this mud-laden planet.

006.

Breathe

The ISSCV/APC had been damaged by a retreating Chig fighter --and, Vansen figured, leaking a little air-- but still able to limp home was a fine way to wrap up the shitty day the 58th had been having for the last 37 hours.

007.

Rough

Until Pags died, Cooper never realized how hard it was having friends to care for and to be cared about in return 

008.

Strike

A low hum began in the air, quickly followed by a sharp whistling noise as the Hammerheads began their attack approach on the alien landing strip.

009.

Help

Wang looked at the wrecked communication station and shook his head; that was the last time he ever let the others try and fix something electronic without him.

010.

Resist

The longer Cooper stayed with the 58th, the more resistance he had to the name calling by people who meant nothing to him.

011.

Meet

They met by chance and became a family by choice.

012.

Taut

West looked to the other three members of his squad, his body and mind tense with the decisions running around in his head, before signaling to move out with plan four.

013.

Thirst

"Okay, that's it," Nathan said, "no more desert planets."

014.

All

After each mission the colonel would stand at the large glass viewing window, and watch, wait, and count until all his people had landed safely.

015.

Fog

They'd all come to the same conclusion: they hated the damnable fog that seemed to coat and seep in around everything on this planet.

016.

Before

They said he was the last one left of the best squad of pilots there had ever been, but they hadn't met his Wild Cards yet.

017.

Hurt

Nathan felt like one giant bruise, and that had been before Cooper had tackled him to the ground.

018.

Kind

Cooper knew he was awful at poker and never won, but he was going to win tonight with four of a kind --all aces too.

019.

Warm

None of the 58th had left the warmth of their bunks since being cleared by medical more than ten hours before.

020.

Pattern

Cooper followed the same path as he ran the decks of the Saratoga --up Deck A stairs, down corridor D, up another flight, down another corridor, past the armory-- knowing that Nathan would join him as he started his second lap.

021.

Cycle

McQueen would wait for the airlock to cycle through and the door to open before he started yelling.

022.

Glow

The only light in the darkened hanger bay came from the LED panels within Cooper's cockpit --just enough light for a pilot to adhere the kill stickers to his plane. 

023.

Zero

West and Hawkes looked at each other and then back at their Colonel: yep, they were on McQueen's shit list again.

024.

Wonder

McQueen watched the two men walk leave and closed his eyes; if he didn't already have white hair those two would have given it to him.

025.

Scold

When they got back to the Saratoga, Nathan was going to kill Cooper for that fool stunt the other man had pulled, even if it had saved his life.

026.

Figure

Figures, Cooper thought as he rolled his eyes and continued to listen to Nathan bitch about him saving his life.

027.

Then

By the time Nathan and Cooper made it to the extraction point, they knew they were going to have to listen to McQueen read them the riot act for the stunt they had pulled.

028.

Lie

Those little green pills had made him feel wonderful, but it had all been a lie that had almost cost him his life and the lives of his friends.

029.

Hunt

Hawkes crouched down out of view of his target; he'd have to move to the secondary position to take the shot.

030.

Mistake

Wang looked over at 'Phouse and knew that a relationship with a squadmate would be a mistake, but the possible moment of happiness in this war might be worth that risk.

031.

Birth

He hadn't been born to a mother and father but had been granted life through science and technology, and he was still in awe that his friends never cared about this simple little fact.

032.

Cut

If his target didn't arrive soon he was going to have to cut his losses to make sure Nathan got the medical attention he needed.

033.

Double

Vansen had to look twice to make sure what she'd seen had not been her imagination on overload.

034.

Cover

As one, the five members of the 58th broke cover and began firing at the Chigs as the refugees started running for the evac points.

035.

Lick

Cooper loved ice cream day.

036.

Wheel

"Wheels up in five," was all McQueen said, waking the 58th after only four hours of sleep.

037.

Slight

There was a slim chance that Nathan was going to have to kill Cooper after they got out of their current predicament.

038.

Fling

Nathan had thought he loved Kylen, but it had been nothing more than a young heart's fling.

039.

Sorry

Cooper bowed his head and slunk down in the chair, waiting for the dressing down he knew McQueen was going to give him for the sorry stunt he pulled.

040.

Call

"Don't make me call your Colonel," the nurse said as she pushed the pilot back down onto the bed.

041.

Jewel

"I think I prefer the mud planets over the shiny rocks," Vansen muttered as they hiked around another pile of glossy boulders.

042.

Fruit

McQueen bit into the apple and continued to ignore the fact that his "kids" had started another brawl in the Tun Tavern.

043.

House

With the war over, Cooper thought he'd have no place to go, until Nathan grabbed his arm and pulled him toward his parents and their house.

044.

Swim

The members of the 58th looked at one another and then at the large murky, smelly body of water they had to cross for their mission before resigning themselves to yet another swim.

045.

Family

Nathan wanted to rip the paper in his hands to pieces, to scream at God, at the Marines, at this god-forsaken war, but instead he folded the last letter from his brother and tucked it away in his belongings.

046.

Interest

"Why do they want to interview us again?" Cooper asked, tossing the letter on Nathan's bunk.

047.

Record

He held a record for the most long distance kills, but none of his friends would ever know about half of those secret missions.

048.

Glass

Cooper ducked just before the beer bottle could crash into his head; McQueen was never going to believe they hadn't started this brawl.

049.

Shape

Nathan looked at his plane, and the angle it was sitting on the deck and still couldn't figure out how he had managed to fly and land something in that shape without killing himself.

050.

Live

He thought he had nothing to live for, because that's what society had taught him; too bad the Marines had given him friends and a family.