Leon places the final deck down, and looks around at the rest of the assembled and organized decks. There are fourteen in total, all neatly placed in a row in front of him. He groans, and puts a hand up to his head, almost as if experiencing a headache. The groan slowly turns into a yell instead, as he throws his hand out in a fit, hitting all the decks and mixing them on the floor. He gets up from his cross-legged position, and walks around in a circle, concentrating heavily.
"I need to get out of here" he whispers slowly to himself, and as the words leave his mouth, he looks up at the one-way mirror. A man is stationed on the other side, but he doesn't seem to realise the gravity of his situation. He is sitting on a chair, looking at a magazine from the dome. "The Latest Trend" is written in bold on the back. Leon shakes his head, was this really the best they could muster up for him? Leon walks up to the cell door, which is invisible to the eye from the inside, when closed, and brings forth the keycard. It is grey with a black stripe through it. Although Leon wasn't completely familiar with the rankings, he knew that the black keycard Harper went around with was the creme de la creme, so he assumed grey was the next best thing.
Sure enough, after a few seconds of moving the card along the outer rim of the door, a soft click can be heard, and the door silently opens. Leon arches backwards, looking through the one-way mirror to check if the guard has taken notice. He still seems completely oblivious though. Leon scoffs at the man. He exits the cell and debates whether or not to leave the man or incapacitate him. He comes to the conclusion that even though the man is clearly useless, he would take note of Leon's absence sooner or later, so he makes a turn to the right towards the observation room.
The man inside looks up as Leon opens the door, and his eyes open wide as he sees Leon standing in the doorway. He looks back through the one-way mirror and then back at Leon in shock, and as he quickly tries to get up from his chair, Leon moves his arm up faster than the man can react, and the next second the man tumbles to the ground, lifeless. Leon shakes his head at the man, laying sprawled out on the floor, Leon's arm still pointing at him. As Leon lowers his hand, a black mass is already spreading from the dead man's chest through his veins up his neck.
"Useless indeed" Leon says as he turns around and closes the door after him.
"Now to find the exit"
-
Tricia stares at all the faces all around her in the chopper. They are all busy doing something, whether it be checking their weapons or discussing something with the neighbouring soldier. Tricia is in awe of their concentration. Her attention keeps wandering to different things. The hills passing by outside, the inside of the chopper, the fight ahead or the blue of the sky. Every thought seems to replace the last with rapid succession.
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"You get used to it", someone says out of the blue, to the right of Tricia. Tricia looks over with a shock as she is pulled from her whirling thoughts. It's a girl with bright orange hair and a friendly and beautiful face.
"Names Kaylie", she says with a soft snicker at Tricia's reaction. Tricia regains her composure and smiles back, a little more strained.
"I'm fine", Tricia says and pauses for a bit.
"Thanks", she adds shortly after with sincerity. Her thoughts seem to clear slightly and she takes a deep breath, not even realising before now that she had constrained her breathing. Kaylie's smile grows even bigger.
"No problem, we are all here to help each other." She looks up to someone sitting opposite of them. She is equally as beautiful as Kaylie, with long blond hair covering her shoulders. Her suit seems slightly different from the others. A different material and much slimmer.
"That's Anna" Kaylie says, and Anna looks up from a big sword laying on her lap, and nods with a smile to Tricia, though it seems just as forced as Tricia's own smile.
"She's the leader of our squad, so follow her instructions and everything will be smooth sailing", Kaylie says, the confidence in her voice as she says it reassures Tricia, and seems to have the same effect on Anna herself. Suddenly a speaker turns on in the chopper and a message from Harper goes through.
"20 minutes away from landing site," there is a small pause before she continues, as everyone's attention is diverted to the speaker.
"This will be a bigger mission than any before it, but you will have backup from the normal force, so remember to communicate with them, listen to what they say, and work together. This is nothing you can't handle", everyone in the chopper mumble and nod slowly to themselves, steeling themselves.
"Your main objective will be to get Kaylie, who is a miraculous, to the irregulars, and support her. When you have succeeded, escort Kaylie back and work together with the normal force to take down the rest of the kreosoans". Everyone's attention seems to move to Tricia, as everyone looks over at her with curiosity. Tricia smiles embarrassed, but makes a point of looking everyone in their eyes. It seems to satisfy most, as they get back to checking their guns, ammunition and other weapons. Tricia locks eyes with Anna, and without exchanging any words, Anna nods at her again, this time more seriously, as if to acknowledge Tricia.
"Good luck everyone, come back alive". Harper's last word seem to bring a sort of glum realisation over everyone. This is the real deal, and soon they would have to be ready to fight with their lives at stake. Even so, Tricia notices a calm nature to everyone around her. She realises, that these people are not amateurs, not like herself. They have been through it before, and they know what to expect and what to do.
As Tricia looks from face to face, ending at Anna's, she concludes, with a smile, that she is in good hands.
"fifteen minutes away from landning site".