Dan

The dropship began its descent, and Dan felt ecstatic. This was his first mission with his team. He gripped the handle of his pistol attached to the side of his coat. He had to be at his best to prove to his squad he could keep up despite his low rank.

Dan didn’t know what to expect once they landed, but if they were dropping into an area with enemies waiting for them, he knew he had to be ready to shoot first.

Jane Sunheiser, who sat across from him, seemed to read his mind. “Relax, rookie. We’re not dropping in hot. We’ll land quietly then scout the area to determine the amount of potential resistance we’ll be facing.”

“Oh,” Dan said. “Alright then. So no shooting just yet?”

“No,” Jane replied with her familiar monotone voice.

“Well, once things get loud, I’ll be ready,” Allen said. “Maybe one day you’ll unlock the minigun, kid.”

“Yeah, one day,” Dan replied.

The dropship continued descending before it roasted and then landed with a thud. The rear door cracked open and slowly dropped to the ground.

Dan lifted up his safety harness and immediately rushed outside, eager to see what sights awaited him. His feet touched the concrete ground and he realized he was on the roof of a building.

An abrupt slap to the shoulder jolted him. Jane walked past him then looked back. “If you wanted to take point, ask permission next time. Otherwise, I’m always first.”

“Oh right. Sorry ma’am,” Dan said.

“Relax, kid, she’s not that mad,” Allen said. “She’s just annoyed that you’re stealing her thunder on this mission.”

“Cut the idle chatter, Allen,” Jane ordered. “Everyone, let’s move.”

Dan walked farther onto the roof with the rest of the team. He briefly looked around and saw that it was dusk and heading into the night. He saw a few taller buildings both nearby and off in the distance, but no major skyscrapers like he had in the last city. His HUD began updating with new info.

Follow squad leader Jane Sunheiser to waypoint.

Jane’s entire body was briefly highlighted in yellow and a waypoint in the form of a blue circle popped up at ground level.

The team entered the inside of the building and accessed the building’s elevator.

Dan awkwardly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Jane inside the cramped space. His squad leader was a full head taller than he was, so his shoulder was actually against her mid-bicep.

Jane turned her head to look over at him. “I believe I forgot to give you access to our private communication channel,” she said. “You should receive access through your HUD any second now. You’ll be able to communicate with any of us non-verbally.”

“Thanks, Jane. Feels good to be part of this exclusive cult of yours,” Dan said.

This drew chuckles from the back of the elevator.

“Did you joke this much before you became an agent?” Jane asked.

“Not as much, but it didn’t hurt. When you live in the type of shitty area I did, you learn to laugh to stop yourself from becoming insane.”

Jane stared at him and for a brief moment, her facial expression shifted. In that split-second moment, she appeared almost sad. But then her face returned to the steeled expression she wore quite well. Dan wondered what Jane’s record was for holding such a serious expression.

“I see,” she said.

The elevator reached ground level and the doors opened. The team moved out through the lobby of the building. Dan looked around and saw nobody.

“Good thing this business is closed for the day,” Dan said.

“It’s not closed, it’s abandoned,” Jane said. “There’s a layer of dust on that receptionist's desk over there. An active workplace would never let an area get that dirty.”

Dan noticed an incoming notification from his HUD.

You now have access to your squad’s private channels.

After being granted access, Dan was surprised how easy it was to communicate with the rest of the squad. Whether it be to the whole team or just individual members, it was as easy as simply willing it in his mind.

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“Holy shit,” he said to Allen. “How does this even work?”

“Non-verbal communications, kid,” Allen answered. “You and I can speak to each other without having to use a conventional radio. Completely silent to the outside, and it's encrypted. It wasn’t too long ago where they still had to install neural chips into your head for this shit to work, Now, it’s all baked into the nanotech within the enhancement serums. Agents like Jane and I still have those old ass chips.”

Dan refocused his attention on his surroundings. He didn’t want to be accused of distracting his own team through his gushing about this technology.

The team stepped out of the building and Dan was met with a series of contrasting elements compared to the rich and pristine area he had left.

Even with the sky darkening, Dan could see that this place barely looked any better than his old hometown back in the States. Everything here appeared as if it had been built over two centuries ago. The buildings lacked the polish and shine of the Alpha Corp’s capital. Old decaying bricks along with the smashed and boarded up windows made Dan feel like it was the apocalypse. He spotted the occasional bright neon sign or banner ad along, the puddles on the ground reflecting their light.

At the corner of his eye, Dan saw a few scattered crowds of people scurrying away into alleyways or into buildings with boarded up windows. This wasn’t right. If this was Alpha-controlled territory, why did it look like such a dump?

“Just a bit further before we split up,” Jane said. “Hailey, you split off and cover us from the rooftops along the right.”

“Yes ma’am,” she said.

The team began walking. Jane led from the front while Allen trailed behind her. Dan was positioned behind Allen while Kate and Ben followed behind Dan. All members kept distance from each other with half a dozen paces.

Dan opened another channel to Allen.

“What the hell is this shit? Why is this place a dump?”

“It should be obvious,” Allen said. “Not enough funding for social services. Not that different from where you came from, unfortunately.”

Dan stepped on a broken bottle of alcohol. The entire sidewalk was littered with either trash or other broken household items.

“Isn’t this Alpha-controlled territory? Shouldn’t every piece of land owned by this shard be prosperous like the capital city we just came from?”

“Even the Alpha Corp isn’t perfect, Dan. It’s just reality. Alpha hasn’t been doing the best job of taking care of its citizens in some regions. You would think that a shard with multi-billions wouldn’t have these sorts of problems. But here we are.”

A brief scrambling noise took Dan by surprise.

“Discussion of politics in terms of the Alpha Corp’s actions is irrelevant to the mission,” Jane said.

“Just speaking the truth, Jane. I know you’re not blind to this shit either,” Allen retorted.

“I’m not, but we’re here on a mission. Don’t distract the rookie with irrelevant details.”

Dan heard a sigh come from in front of him.

“Yes ma’am,” Allen said.

The group continued walking for another block before Jane raised her closed fist. The rest of the team stopped, which was Dan’s cue to stop as well.

“Hailey’s drone is picking up suspicious activity six hundred meters ahead, specifically west. Allen and Dan, you two scout ahead,” Jane said.

“Alright then. Kid, let’s get going,” Allen ordered.

“Right behind you,” Dan said.

The two of them walked at a steady pace with their weapons ready. Allen hefted his minigun while Dan followed closely behind with a pistol in both hands, scanning his surroundings. The farther they walked, the worse Amethyst’s condition became.

Small potholes littered the sidewalk, and large craters on the roads emitted green gases. Dan slowly walked off to the side to get a closer look at one of the craters. Looking inside, it was two meters deep with some green sludge at the bottom. Just from the stench alone, Dan knew it would be a bad idea to jump in for a swim.

An armored hand grabbed him by the shoulder. “Toxic substances of some kind. This city is fucked,” Allen said.

Allen pulled him away from the crater and the two resumed their walk through the dilapidated streets. Dan continued looking around cautiously with his dual pistols ready. They passed more buildings with boarded up windows and other forms of vandalism such as vulgar artwork and even blown apart walls.

“Well isn’t this a nice area,” Dan said. “Reminds me of home.”

“It’s terrible. I don’t know how anyone can expect to raise a healthy family in a place like this,” Allen said.

His teammate’s comment got Dan thinking. If the resistance group was hijacking and stealing supply shipments from Alpha, they were most likely passing along the stolen goods to impoverished communities such as this one. The idea the Alpha Corp had painted of this group only supplying illegal weapons and drugs to criminals didn’t seem like the full picture.

“Hey Allen? If the Alpha Corp isn’t lifting a finger to help this area and other places like it, are we the bad guys for trying to smash these rebels into the ground?” Dan asked.

For a moment, Allen didn’t respond and just kept walking as if he hadn’t heard him. But as they stopped at a bend in the street, Allen looked back at Dan.

“You’re not the first or only person on this team who has thought the same thing,” he finally said. “Areas like this don’t make us or the Alpha Corp look good. And if the big governing body of a land isn’t doing their job to serve the people, then someone else will rise up and attempt to take up the mantle. I don’t like this either, Dan, but we have our orders. Our personal feelings play no factor in getting the job done.”

While Dan was glad he wasn’t the odd one out for feeling this way, simply following orders he felt were wrong just didn’t sit right with him. “Was there really no other way?”

“Not that there isn’t, but shards aren’t exactly subtle in the way they enforce their rule.” Allen looked back and made eye contact with Dan. “I personally thought that simply offering a better service than what these rebels or other underground marketplaces could would be enough to discourage this criminal activity in the first place and keep the populace happy. But there’s no way a shard would take such a diplomatic and idealistic approach. We have to prove we’re the top dog no matter how much the people who live on our land suffer.”

Dan was about to say something before a tracer round slashed the air beside him. Both men stopped in their tracks. More cracks in the air were followed by gunfire raining down on their position.

“Shit, get to cover, kid!”