January 14, 2043 10:00 PM
The young man took a deep breath as he approached the big wooden double doors. He shook himself slightly, exhaling slowly before quickly opening both of the doors.
"Hm? Stephenson! What are you doing late? Take your seat and get filled in!" The gruff voice came from an older looking man, his uniform pressed neatly, the commander bellowed into a roar at the young man. Jolting him where he stood before he quickly scattered towards the seats of the dark theater. As he paced to his seat, he saw the figure of a beautiful woman. Hair of platinum and lips of rose. She looked like a modern Marilyn Monroe. He sat down next to the only familiar face he knew, Josiah Shawn. The only friend he's made since he first got here. He didn't know working for a PMC would be so tough.
"Commander's really gonna eat your ass out for this, Dick." Josiah whispered, his humor clear in his speech.
"Don't you mean chew? Besides, I don't think he will, he must get tired of it by now." Dick chuckled as he finished his sentence, relaxing as he watched the presentation the Commander had shown them.
"For those of you just coming in.." The Commander narrowed his eyes at Dick, before continuing, "We have recently gotten new intel. The terrorist group known as The Blue Uniform is planning an attack on our Rehabilitation Camp in Harris County. Just outside of Cypress. We are going to be there to stop them. Right now, they're holed up in the center of Houston. We will not strike until they do, it's gonna be an ambush."
The lady which stood next to him suddenly spoke up. She put them all in a trance as she spoke. "Listen here, soldiers~" She spoke sultry but with enough projection for them all to hear. She paused, sending a wink towards a random soldier nearby. Dick chuckled under his breath as he saw the soldier's cheeks redden. "We have a high priority target to be captured during this mission." She turned to the side, presenting a giant projection of a young man's face.
"Elias Guerrero. Please, bring him alive, maybe the soldier who does will get a prize~" Dick studied every inch of the floating head, suddenly motivated by the chance of a 'prize.' Olive skin, wild hair packing into a wilder bun. An x-shaped scar lined his left cheek and a short hairs scattered all over his chin cheeks.
The Commander cleared his throat before speaking, "Any questions?" A silence shortly filled the room until a hand raised.
"Go ahead." The Commander allowed for them to speak. Almost immediately the timid voice of a woman spoke up.
"This Elias Guerrero..what powers does he have? Seeing as the Blue Uniform is a mostly deviant group.."
"Excellent question. We have information suggesting that Elias is one of the most powerful kinetics alive right now. He can absorb any and all types of energy, and use that energy in anyway he sees fit. Due to this, we have reengineered our power inhibitors into a small compact gun." The Commander cleared his throat once more before turningto the giant projected head, watching as it morphed into a small gun. "One shot of these into him, and he'll be temporarily relieved of his abilities. But remember, you got one shot. Make it count."
The lights suddenly turned on as he stood up straight. "Alright! That's it. Report to your squad leader and get ready. We leave in 0300 hours."
The bustle of people standing and making their way out of the auditorium filled the air. Dick and Josiah looked at each other with a smile as they too made their way down to the armory to get dressed.
"New mission, new gun, new everything. Didn't we get that new model for the exosuits last week? Seems like Reinheit's really trying to tear down this Blue Uniform group. Personally, I think they're just tryna be free." Josiah shook his head a bit as he spoke, slipping on his protective sleeves.
"Just tryna be free? Do you remember what they did last month? Nearly took down half the city!" Dick roared as he chastised Josiah. "They're terrorists, Josey, just because the cause is just doesn't mean nothing. Deviants shouldn't exist anyway." Dick exclaimed, his words filled with an anger that Josiah rarely saw.
"Yeah..I get it. Sorry.." Josiah responded meekly, the room silent, only the shuffling of cloth and the clicking of straps to listen to.
Dick sighed before leaning towards Josiah, patting his shoulder gently. "Hey, don't look like that. I shouldn't blow up on ya like that. Let's get ready before Captain Garrett busts a casket."
With a nod, Josiah and Dick finish suiting up. Black armor covers their chest and legs, white and orange lines running down the front chest plate. The Reinheit logo stamped on the shoulder plate, a moon orchid flower. Upon their back was a metal exosuit, wires and fluid leading up to the helmet.
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January 15, 2043 1:00 AM
"Men. We have dangerous mission.." Captain Garrett stood tall, his blonde hair spiked up as he talked to the soldiers. His armor was the same palette as everyone else's, except he was adorned by a simply magnetic sticker on his chest reading "Captain."
"We have two goals, capture Elias Guerrero, codename: Prometheus. Then, kill any and all deviants at the location. Is that clear?" He glanced at them, awaiting an answer.
"YES, SIR"
"Good! Now, the display of your helmets will always be scanning for a match when you find Prometheus. Do not kill him. Bring him alive. Understood?"
"YES, SIR"
"That's what I like to hear, let's lock in and fly out. Should be a short ride." The captain fit his head into the helmet. Clicking the studs that kept it in place. Turning around and leading the soldiers marching towards war.
They all stopped at a huge hangar door, a deafening screech rang out as the rusty door began opening. Revealing behind the two iron doors, four giant helicopters, each being able to carry at least 10 men. Only 40 were going to fight these terrorists.
Dick glanced towards his partner, "See you on the ground, don't die without me."
"And don't live without me." Josiah smiled under his helmet, his display suddenly lighting up.
"Couldn't if I tried." Dick nodded, bumping his fist with Josiah's. He didn't want to pull away, even though it was the small amount of contact, he cherished every moment. 40 men marching to their respective transports. Dick went in the first, Josiah in the second.
The ride was indeed short, stopping only less than a mile away from the 'Rehabilitation Camp'. All four helicopters landing safely in a patch of forest with just enough for all of them. They stepped out on droves, lining up in formation like a school of fish.
"Alright! We have scouts up ahead! As soon as we get the signal, we charge, sound good?" Captain Garrett shouted, clear pride in his voice.
"YES, SIR" They all responded. Some were nervous, some prayed, some wish they had quit a long time ago. For Dick, he wanted to fight.
"I got a bad feelin' about this." Josiah muttered under his breath. As soon as the words escaped his lips, a red light whistled across the sky.
"GO, GO, GO!" The Captain ordered, all of the men shouted as they charged forward. Approaching the dark facility, figures of people
seen at the entrance.
Chaos and confusion rained down upon them. Dick fired his gun, he had perhaps the worse aim in the unit. Deciding shooting was pointless, he dug into his pouch, pulling out a small purple ball, twisting it until a red button was exposed.
"STB going out!" He tossed the ball towards the enemy, a display popping up in his helmet, showing a map of where possible enemies are. He aimed his gun and fired. The shot went wild, whizzing by his targets head. The enemy responded by shooting fire out of her mouth at Dick.
Elsewhere, Josiah was quickly pushing back the terrorist group. All was confused. Bodies lined the floor, some were adults, some were children, some were brothers. He heard a voice scream out.
"Run! Don't fight! Just head out!" Josiah turned his head towards the voice. A young man, no younger than himself looked back. Blonde short hair and blazing brown eyes. Does he fire? Or let him go? Josiah had no time to decide before a gun shot went off beside his ear, Captain Garrett.
"Are you dense, boy? Shoot or die!" The boy zoomed off, a speedster, wouldn't have mattered if he had shot or not.
January 15, 2043
"Holy shit.." The voice of a young man exclaimed. His shout echoing throughout the dark forest, disturbed the animals in their rest. A rough voice quickly responded, "Hush now boy. We may be out of the battlefield but we ain't got a clue if o I'll of those freaks followed us. Come on, we're close."
"Yeah..yeah..lemme just..catch my breath.." Dick let go of the body bag. His hands seemed to be magnetically attracted to his knees. His breath heavy as sweat dripped down his cheek. He needed air. After all that, he needed to breathe.
The young soldier threw off his blood-spattered helmet, letting it roll on the ground carelessly. His red hair and rosy cheeks were dripping with sweat, dropping down onto the dry forest ground. The cold air showing as his breathed.
Captain Garrett stood watching him. A look of pity forming on his face as Dick grabbed something from his pouch. A dog tag.
SHAWN, JOSIAH
247742795
AB+
NORELIGPREF
Josiah was dead. He couldn't even process it. He couldn't cry, couldn't shout. All he could do was stare and wish that it was all a nightmare.
He was suddenly forced to sit straight up. His hands forced away from his knees. A loud smack meeting his face a moment later. His ears rang and his cheeks grew red. The mark of a palm glowing on his face.
"Pull yourself together, son. We can't stop and mourn now. C'mon." Captain Garrett's blue eyes were filled with sympathy as he gripped Dick's shoulders. Giving him a nod before turning away and continuing his walk.
He felt his cheek with his hand before shaking himself. He picked up the bag before walking forward.
The two men, dressed in black military gear, white and orange lining following down their chest and legs, dragged a body bag across the earthy floor. The sound of it clashing against the roots of trees and large rocks with a fleshy thud rung out to the two. Until they came across a broken down shack, so debilitated it was a surprise it was still standing.
Garrett took the body and stepped inside. "Come on, kid, we got bosses waiting for us." The young soldier looked hesitant, stepping in carefully, fearful that roof might collapse on top of them.
He simply spoke, light fatigue in his voice, "Prometheus."
The floor shined with bright fluorescent light, nearly blinding the two before quickly lowering into the ground. "Gah damn, they ought to turn that down.."
As they fully lowered into the ground, the false floor once again shut. Waiting for the next person to mutter the words and be enlightened.