Gun?

Or knife?

Guns would be the easier choice. I can flash forge a pistol using my deployment ring anytime I want. I'm also more familiar with using guns in combat than a knife. So the pros for choosing gun are pretty obvious. The cons, guns are noisy. Shooting Jasvinder is going to draw plenty of attention, attention that I would rather do without, now that I am on Olivia's radar. The Militia would also draw a link between my bulwark and the bullets found in Jasvinder's corpse. Odds are, tracing the bullets found in the corpses outside of Jasvinder's clinic was how Olivia began sniffing around me in the first place.

I bend over and pull out a rectangular, dusty box right at the bottom of the shelf. Standard operating procedure for all operatives is that we need to secure a safe house within the Citadel in case anything goes wrong. This is in addition to the caches that we had set up in the concrete desert during the course of the war. No one could be bothered to really invest too much effort in the Citadel safe house, so each active Operative just deposited some excess equipment that they no longer used as a show of form more than anything else.

Each Operative stashed their contributions inside a box marked with their names. Of course no one actually wants to leave behind anything actually valuable in an abandoned apartment on the outskirts of the Citadel when they could be actually using the stuff, so despite the size of each individual box, most of them were actually pretty light. The only time an Operative actually makes a worthwhile contribution is when they're leaving this place for a long time. I still remember driving Wu here before he went on holiday. The then senior operative had brought a suitcase full of crap to deposit. Wu then told me to wait outside while he was stashing all that shit away inside his allocated box. Said that it was all his private stuff. I couldn't be bothered to pry and left things as they were, despite the fact that everything deposited in the safe house was supposed to be common property of all Operatives.

Then again, the rules don't apply to old monsters.

After I had agreed to the Management's offer of employment, I was transferred to another facility where they would prep me for the transmigration. Between briefings and historical overviews of this dimension, I found out that there were already three other Operatives active. Wu, the senior Operative, who generally handled matters on the pointy end of the stick. Then there was Sarkar, Wu's assistant. And finally, we had Sheryl, who did the stuff Wu and Sarkar felt was too small time for them. I was curious at the time why Sheryl had been turned into Wu and Sarkar's gofer, since from the deployment records, she would not have been that much junior to the other two Operatives.

Of course, as we now know, Sheryl's situation was all thanks to Jasvinder suppressing her. Wu could not trust Sheryl with anything too important, not until she managed to get her own host under control. Then Wu went on vacation and the Management told us that Sarkar's current situation prevented him from taking on the role of senior operative. So by default, the post went to Sheryl, or rather, Jas. Come to think of it, I had never actually met Sarkar before, even in this dimension. If it wasn't for the dead drops which we use to communicate with each other, I would not have known that Sarkar was even still alive. The Management is fine with this arrangement though, so there you have it.

Though my life would be so much easier if I could just call Sarkar up and ask him to help me hunt down Jas. But that's not happening anytime soon, so I'll just have to deal.

I carry the box marked "MAXIMILIAN" and place it on a nearby table and proceed to pry it open. Inside is a few odds and ends I had acquired during my time as a conscript. Most of it is garbage of course, but there is one item inside that I came here to collect. My hands rifle through the assorted junk before closing in on an old survival knife that was issued to me during those days.

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.....

"Why are you giving me a knife when we'll be fighting in bulwarks?" I ask Wu who stands arms akimbo in his hard ass instructor mode.

"You want to use your bulwark to chop up kindling?" Wu rolls his eyes, "Or prepare meat for dinner? Stop being a smart ass and take the bloody knife before anyone sees us."

"Meat? What meat?" I ask while examining my reflection on the blade.

"The only meat you'll be getting as an Auxilia." Wu smirks nastily, "All the good rations have gone to the Valkyries and their toys, the Battle Lords. You'll be living off the processed sludge command refers to as food unless you know how to supplement your diet with a bit of hunting."

"We were just raiding a village the other day for food." I roll my eyes, "Don't tell me you intend to stop."

"Of course I don't." Wu snorts, "But remember, we're officially here to protect these people. And that means we can't go robbing and harvesting any old time we want. You need to put on a show of being a good soldier or our cover will be blown."

"Fine. Fine. I get it." I grumble, "Pass the knife here. I'll be cutting up kindling like a champ before you know it."

"Here, take it." Wu hands me the knife, "You're going to graduate out of my class of conscripts tomorrow. I've arranged for you to be sent to the unit Sheryl is in charge of. Her host's name is Captain Jasvinder Krishnan. She'll be expecting you."

"Got it." I nod, "Have to admit, I never thought this assignment would be such a long term one. I pretty much have had a second childhood and adolescence in this dimension."

"That's why commitment is so important." Wu frowns, "Its the first thing the Management tests for when selecting us. Its very easy to just go native and forget all about our true home."

"My family in this dimension was all kinds of fucked up." I grimace, "So don't worry about me being seduced by the local flavor. If anything, you did me a favor by grabbing me when the Fallen struck."

"Good." Wu mutters while playing with his chin, "Listen, you might need to stabilize Sheryl emotionally. She never got full control of her host and I think she may be considering merging with Jasvinder. Make sure our comrade stays safe, you hear?"

"No problem." I clasp Wu's hand, "We got to look out for each other after all."

Wu pulls me into a deep hug and he pats my back hard, causing me to cough in surprise.

"We only have each other in this world." Wu mutters, his voice choked in emotion, "Men and women I have never met face to face are the only family I have now. How pathetic is that?"

Its pathetic. Its truly pathetic. But I can't laugh at Wu. Not because he would kick my ass, but due to the fact that I've been caught in this cosmic irony as well. I spent my life fighting for my people and my culture, and now the only people I have are complete strangers. Strangers in a strange land.

I hug Wu back as tears begin to blur my sight. I can't let go. I won't let go.

Because this is all I have left.

...

The knife is blunt. I move it in deliberate, methodical strokes against the whetstone I found in my box of crap. The scraping noise fills the room.

" - are you even listening to me Don? What's that noise?" the voice from my phone whines.

"I'm in the kitchen Thomas." I reply blandly to Jas's boy toy, "Just sharpening a knife used to cut meat with."

"Uh, well, whatever." Thomas fires back, "Aren't you worried about Jas? He hasn't come home ever since that night."

"Jas is fine." I say, "He survived the War of the Fallen. You're worrying too much."

"I can't help it!" Thomas exclaims, "How would you feel if your husband suddenly want missing?"

"Not gay, so I wouldn't know." I smile to myself at the joke, "But more seriously, you're worrying way too much. Just let the Militia do their jobs."

"Do you even care for your best friend?" Thomas suddenly snaps at me.

"Thomas, you don't know me all that well," I sigh, "but I've killed to keep my friends safe during the war. That's not going to change. If there was any real danger, I would be at Jas's side in an eye blink."

"Yeah. Sorry." Thomas mumbles, "That was out of line from me."

"No problem Thomas," I respond while examining my reflection in the blade, "but its getting late."

"And I need to prepare to cut some meat."