It took the reptile time to cover his tracks. For all the Order knew he returned home after a few weeks out in the field. Jackson had already filed his report of his mission in Salt Lake City and the innocents he murdered, but the Order had known that the report was missing a lot of important details. It was clear to them that Jackson wasn’t honest about the actions he took and the methods utilised to achieve his goals. However, they lacked the means to prove the reptile lied, all they could go off was Jackson’s violent reputation against those who sought godhood.
Jackson entered the apartment complex and went straight to his home. Jessica and Mark smiled at the reptile the moment he opened the door. From a quick glance, Jackson could tell Jessica was accepted into the Order Militant’s flight school for further training due to her flight jacket’s left sleeve having the aerial school’s Vulture Patch. The reptile wanted to congratulate her for her achievement in being enrolled, but he would rather halt his praise until she became a qualified pilot.
Jackson noticed they were both watching the news, from his observation the reptile knew the news of the day was how the North African Confederation were becoming a new economic and military powerhouse in the Mediterranean and how the new country was rebuilding after the Second Algerian War suddenly ended after the Cascade. However, having control of the Suez Canal and raw resources from Libya, Tanzania, and northern Algeria would prove useful in the country’s rebuilding.
‘Jackie boy! How was the mission?’ Mark jokingly said to the reptile only to immediately turn away when Jackson stared him down for saying his name wrong.
Without saying anything, the reptile made his way to the kitchen and opened his cupboard to his chocolate supplies. Only to be left disappointed to find nothing. He figured that someone was stealing from him, but the reptile was too tired to care or figured out who the thief was.
‘Jackson, what do you want for dinner?’ Frank opened the fridge and pulled out steaks, a carton of eggs, and a container of three-day-old lasagna.
Jackson pointed at the steaks. ‘Blue, thank you.’ While Jackson sat down on the couch to watch the news with Jessica and Mark, Frank made sure to cook the reptile some food after returning from his mission. It was the only kindness the English man could offer.
‘Jackson, I heard we might have to expand our team. Any reason why?’ Frank said.
Jessica leaned back from her spot. ‘Yeah, I thought this unit was going to be one of the small ones.’
‘Average sized, thank you very much.’ Mark commented with a wide grin, causing Jessica to roll her eyes.
‘Not my call,’ the reptile coldly responded. ‘The Order is requiring every unit to recruit. Not everyone likes the idea of recruiting from the Order Militant.’
Frank turned to Jackson after he put a piece of steak on the hot cast iron pan. ‘That doesn’t sound too bad, wouldn’t they already be trained?’
‘No,’ Jackson retorted. ‘The recruitment would come from the general population and not from the trained soldiers or the elites of the Militant. In practice, nothing has changed.’
Jessica raised a brow at the reptile. ‘That doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t the Order Horrifica recruit from the soldiers of the Militant?’
‘Politics,’ the reptile bluntly replied. ‘The Militant are not fond of the leaders of the Order Horrifica taking their soldiers. The Council needed more troops to fight against monsters, the issue comes with the other Orders wanting to give their able-bodied members freely. Making the Order Horrifica a volunteer only force.’
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‘And they expect us to grow our ranks? Surely, we shouldn’t be forced to grow unless we need to.’ Frank said before handing Jackson his steak.
Jackson gave Frank a thankful nod. ‘No, we have to comply with their demands. They’ll want this unit to be able to conduct two operations simultaneously. I will ask to outsource our recruitment. You will help me with that, Frank.’
‘Ah, so you are not going to recruit Jessica? That’s a shame, I was starting to like her.’ Mark teased.
Jessica growled at Mark, ‘what is that supposed to mean?’
Mark shrugged, wanting to come off as uncaring when in fact he wanted to mock her. ‘Oh, nothing much. I just think that you might only be good enough for the Order Militant.’
‘I came here to prove myself.’ Jessica snarled, ‘unlike you, I don’t need a patron to guarantee my way into the Order Horffica. Disposal Unit or Butterfly Legion.’
Mark frowned at her retort. ‘You forgot that I am the best shot the Order has ever seen. Don’t pretend that I don’t have the means to prove myself.’
‘Really, so the only valuable skill you have is you can shoot a gun? Talk about being a one-trick pony.’ Jessica snarkily replied, relishing at how Mark didn’t have any means to make a comeback.
However, despite their childish banter, Jackson sat in silence enjoying their verbal feud while he watched the news. Leaving the reptile moderately surprised that Israel is having peace talks with Hamas about the attacks in Gaza when two super-powered humans battled in the city leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured. In the conflict, it became clear for both sides that conventional means of violence and warfare was not possible when two individuals could level cities. The reptile wondered why the DOE didn’t step in. He speculated that the Israeli government didn’t sign a form that allows for the DOE to operate within their borders.
From the kitchen, Frank stood alone with his arms folded. Distant from the group while he drank a bottle of whisky. He didn’t feel that he could properly communicate to the rest of his team or Jackson about anything. He felt isolated, a man out of time. Frank couldn’t confide in Jessica or Mark because they were worlds apart, nor could he speak to Jackson because he became someone totally different. Frank believed he could talk to Jackson about their similarities, but other than work or the mission at hand, chatting was impossible. For all Frank knew, the friend that was Jackson had been long dead.
Before Jackson could figure out what the negotiations would be about, a knock came from the door. The reptile sat his plate down to open the door to see two men in black wearing sunglasses that hid their unnatural eyes. Jackson could tell something was up if the agents of the Order Diplomatics came to his unit’s apartment. ‘Operator Abernu, we require your presence immediately.’ Jessica and Mark turned to the door confused as to why the two strange men demanded Jackson to come with them. Frank on the other-hand ignored them as he focused on solving a sudoku puzzle at the back of the newspaper.
‘Problem,’ the reptile asked.
‘We have a hostage situation, and the leader wants to speak with you.’ One of the agents replied, giving Jackson enough information to work with but also not enough to understand the situation in its entirety. Knowing that refusal was out of the question, Jackson walked with the agents without saying a word.