File 6.1 - Wrong Mission

A chill leaked through the cracks on the truck. Metal groaned in the strong winds. The silent hymn of the city whispered through all the corners. Even through darkness, the outside could still be strongly felt. It had a presence that couldn’t be forgotten. A foreign feel that always left them on edge and raw.

The tension ran high tonight. Everyone gathered up for the most important mission that they had for them. The one that could not be failed. The one that they were never ordered on. The one that they would complete.

The mission: Rescue Commander Callein.

A simple mission overall. They had very little to be worried about. It was in a civilian clinic with no connections to anything with security. They were trained military soldiers. There was no chance of failure. But that didn’t make the tension drop any. Other risks still presented themselves. They were breaking their orders. Their work was meant to be only observation. No forceful means were meant to be taken. Those were their current mission orders. They were going to be breaking them tonight. What that meant for their real mission had unknown and potentially long lasting impacts. But none of them cared.

This was too important to all of them. They agreed on their mission. It was why they were all together.

Wells and Rinn had the front and smoother ride in the truck. The others had to stay in the back. Each bump in the road felt three times worse. And every stop they made for a light felt like someone parked a vernier behind them and was doing test firings. If the part of the city they were in was considered run down, the truck they used would be considered broken. But no one wanted it and it still worked, somehow. It was only when left in the back that anyone realized how bad it actually was.

Schir, the newbie, held onto her standard issue rifle as if it was her lifeline. While the weapon was fairly familiar to her, she had Basic of course, real combat was still unknown to her. And it wasn’t even the real reason for her shaking. Not the foreign and strange city that demons supposedly lived in. Rather, she worried over her usefulness in the mission. For everyone else, the Commander was someone they spent months or years with. She didn’t want to be the reason they failed, even if it seemed impossible for them to fail.

Next to her, Elle put a hand on her shoulder. “If you’re too tense you won’t be able to think straight,” she tried to comfort. They could all see without any real psychological training how wound up Schir was. They had confidence in their mission, but they all wanted her to feel at ease with the group. ‘It’s a rough first mission she had to be put on. But she was the top of her class, a case of book smarts failing to meet with real world expectations.’ It wasn’t the first time she had seen someone lock up right before the mission. In fact, she saw it all too often during the war. They all knew the look.

It was the look that got people killed, mostly just them. The paralyzing fear that all the training never prepared you for the real thing. The other side out there was ready and willing to kill without hesitation. It was a crippling fear. Fortunately, their mission had very little real threat to it. But it still was very important to them all. And the weight of their decision hung heavy on them. It risked everything for one man.

Easing her nerves was all they could. She had to get used to the reality soon, especially since it was only going to get worse in the future. What they were about to do was baby steps, insignificant compared to the future that they all had. The hellfires of Earth would eventually test them and she needed to be ready for that moment. Now, she just needed to be ready to use her rifle, if necessary. “You’ll be fine. Remember your training and don’t forget that you’re part of a team.”

“A team,” she repeated. It felt a little like magic words that eased her heart. Maybe it was the calming way Elle spoke or the welcome looks for everyone on the team. They knew she was new, but they didn’t see her as useless. They brought her on the mission because they trusted her. “Right!”

Noinel grinned a little back, pleased to see Schir looking a little better. “That’s right, he’s your Commander just as much as ours. Don’t think this is just our mission.”

“I understand, sir!”

“Good. You’ll do well!”

“I’ll try!”

A knock came through the metal in the front. Silence returned to the cabin in the truck. It was the signal.

Mission start.