Chapter 10(Kenneth): Search and Rescue (Part 1/2)

Although my main thing wasn't fighting, I would fight if it meant getting those three back. Why would I mention fighting? Madoka mentioned that due to the terrible state we left those three in, they might attack us on sight, I honestly wouldn't blame them, Lee was considered a traitor in New Min for some odd reason, then Sam passed out by that magic they used on her, so they might think she was brainwashed to abandon them, hopefully, he realizes how stupid that theory is though, after all, why would we leave him them? Back on track, Madoka taught us some magic, yet it seems like they hurt us when we use it, so I guess it's a last resort type of magic...Madoka still gives me weird and offsetting feelings, she just acts off-putting.

"What're you, becoming Lee?" Nicholai had noticed that I was writing in my journal, yeah, that comment made sense, Lee was the one who mainly wrote stuff down, so I could understand what she meant

"Well, we don't have Lee to write stuff down, and Sam doesn't seem like she's in the mood" Sam was looking out of the window, being unusually quiet, maybe that magic did affect her, we shouldn't have even let them attempt it. I sighed, it was pointless to think about it now, but keeping an eye on her was a good idea nonetheless.

"We're reaching the LZ, get ready for dropoff" The pilot of the chopper warned, instead of a dropship, we came in a normal helicopter, we weren't bringing as much stuff as before, so the weight wouldn't be as taxing.

"Sam" I tapped her shoulder to get her attention, but she moved before I could.

"I heard" Sam picked up her bag and stood up, grabbing one of the handles above us. Talking about the group, since Neal is working on a way to find the other three of us, Kayla took it upon herself to be our handler.

TTS Active

Kayla: "Bravo team, remember, the chance that they're in New Min is excruciatingly low, so there's almost no point in even checking it, of course, if you can't find anything, then New Min is a last resort, Raymond said he would work on finding a reason as to why they attacked us" Kayla said Bravo team as though she wasn't a part of it, it was weird, that was for sure

Sam: "Last resort, I got it, we'll check out AT1 first" That zone was right outside of New Min, if not a decent distance, it was also where we had the last movement of them before they went off the map, that was another worrying thing, why would they take off their tracking? How did they do that as well? From what I saw on my hud, it was nearly impossible, with many passcodes and the handler's permission first.

Kenneth: "We'll do our best to avoid New Min, make sure to keep us up to date on what Raymond and Neal know"

Kayla: "Alright, will do, hey Kenneth"

Kenneth: "What?"

Kayla: "You or Nicholai should give this handler thing a go, of course, there's a whole process you need to go through before you're allowed to do it, but you only have to do it once...unless you enter the fray again and then try to become a handler again, but still, you and Nicholai aren't exactly the world's best fighters, so maybe try it sometime, it may suit you, especially you Kenneth"

Kenneth: "Maybe...for now, I think it's best I do this"

Kayla: "Alright, do your best now!"

TTS Deactive

The chopper got low to the ground and we jumped out. We weren't given a vehicle as New Min patrols were out looking for Lee's crew. It would be a very long hike to AT1 that's for sure. We began to talk while walking, we were far from New Min's estimated patrols currently, so we wouldn't get another chance to talk and prepare.

"So, what do we do when we need to set up camp?" While Nicholai phrased it like she was asking, she was more making sure we knew what to do. Sam responded before I could

"We're next to dense forests, we can get into the tree lines and use branches and our weapons to cut logs, then make a fire and temporary housing" While our weapons were sharp, I didn't know if it would be sharp enough for that

"And if we get spotted?" Once again, Sam answered Nicholai's "Question" before I even opened my mouth

"Depends, if it's between 1 to 6 we can take them out, if it's anymore, then we can use the weather or trees to our advantage" Sam walked ahead of us, with a determined and stern look on her face like she wanted answers.

PTS Active-Kenneth and Kayla

Madoka taught us one handy thing, a way to speak to one person specifically PTS(Personal Telepathic speech) and a certain amount of people instead of our entire team GTP(Group Telepathic Speech) It was really handy

Kenneth: "Kayla, do me a favor, by any chance can you check the weather?"

Kayla: "I swear, you and Kyle always interrupt me when I'm playing something, give me a minute, I'll check" I guess Kayla also played video games, huh, that..how'd I not know that? "Alright, supposedly a storm will be rolling in soon, about an hour or two from now, snowstorm, so I recommend putting on something white soon since this is a stealth operation, that all?"

Kenneth: "Yeah, thanks, and don't play games when you're meant to be monitoring us"

Kayla: "But I don't wanna just do nothing all day, you guys can handle anything really"

Kenneth: "If you didn't want to sit and watch, then why'd you recommend yourself!?"

Kayla: "....yeah, good point, alright, I'll play games, but check in on you every now and again"

Kenneth: "Yeah, maybe we can do a little tournament with the others"

Kayla: "Hell yeah! I'll set it up now"

PTS Deactive

We don't even know if we'll get them back today though...Our job was to get them before 6AM, but of course, we're allowed to go over, it's just recommended because of New Min's patrols.

12 AM-15 miles from AT1

6 hours, that's all we had before this mission became risky, if we made it to AT1 then we'd at least be safe from New Min's patrols.

"Sam, a snowstorm is coming in about an hour or two, we should set up white clothing to blend in" One handy magic that Madoka taught us, is the magic that allows us to instantly change our clothing from premade presets, we all made one for each type of weather and condition.

"Understood" Sam, for someone who talks a lot, wasn't talking as often as she normally would, it...was really offputting, it's like she became a soldier...well, if we aren't already.

"How much is it gonna cover?" Nicholai stood next to me "Or did you not ask?"

"I researched this place, the most this area had is about 8 inches of snow and it's fairly common, so decently hindering" Nicholai's face showed surprise, I mean, 8 inches of snow can really hinder our movement, and considering how common it is, we may just need to set up camp, and go beyond our recommended time.

"So, we find those three, then what? What if they try and fight us before we can explain anything?" Nicholai asked, putting her hand in her coat pocket

"You remember what Madoka said, we have to attack first and exhaust their strength, then we can get to explaining, we just have to ma-

"Well Madoka can go to hell!" Sam randomly interrupted me "Fighting each other? GIve me a break! We fought together for years! We're not fighting each other, so I'm not listening to a word that Madoka says!" Sam still faced away from us, continuing the walk towards AT1. Me and Nicholai didn't respond, a part of me wanted to believe it, but with all the stress that they may be going through, we may have to fight them, but I agreed with Sam, if possible, I won't fight them.

"We'll try, that's all I can say" I mumbled to myself, but by the way Sam's posture changed, she could hear me. I pulled up the hud, Lee, Matt, and Kyle, all their arrows on the map, even their names on the team menu were gone, were they going AWOL? Why else would they just erase themselves off of everything? No...they wouldn't do that, even Kyle. Yeah, while it may not seem like it, I trust them.

12:30 AM-14.6 Miles from AT1

Even though it was said it'd be in an hour or two from now, there were still signs of snow coming in

"Already?" Nicholai raised her hand, touching the snow that was falling down

"An hour or two...yeah right" I used the magic that Madoka taught us, and just like before, my outfit changed into the one I wanted, it was useful, that was for sure. I pulled my coat's hood up, if you looked at a distance you'd just see a white blob as a sillouhoute, but soon, when the snow is done, I'd blend in perfectly...if I crawled that is...

"I can already feel the cold setting in" Nicholai changed into her white winter uniform, she was shaking her hand, most likely from the cold. Sam, however, still wasn't talking, she changed her uniform, implying she heard us, or is paying attention, so, she's not braindead at least...The silence from her eventually got to me, someone as talkative as her, not talking? I needed to know what the problem was.

"Sam" I caught up to her, tapping her shoulder. She looked up at me, obviously in a bad mood

"What?" Sam was rubbing her shoulders, I could tell, she was trying to hide how cold she was.

"What's with you? You're quieter and pissed off than usual, even more when you lost that qualifier" It looked like the more I talked to her the more mad she became

"I can be silent if I want, I'm not always talking you know" Sam completely dodged the question about her being mad

"Ok, and what about being mad?" She looked to the floor when I said that, damn it Sam, why won't you just tell me!

"I'm just, tired okay? The trial, our first assignment, The files, New Min" Files? Right, Lee mentioned something about him peeking into some files right? And yet, he never told us what was inside, or what it said did he...

"DId you read the files by any chance?" I asked, most likely the answer would be-

"No, Lee saw it and didn't say anything, he looked surprised that was for sure, and he was silent the entire time" Sam's info was the last thing I needed, Lee seeing the files and not saying anything, him blanking out every now and again, New Min wanting to kill him! Something is wrong with him, and I was going to figure it out, Sam said it, most likely as a joke, about wanting to interrogate Lee, but now, now I knew we had to do it.

"Sam, you've known him for longer, so I want your opinion" I looked ahead, making sure that talking hadn't drawn attention

"What?"

"Are you fine with interrogating Lee? And I mean, the type where it's a dark room with two people in the room" I didn't even have to look at her to know she was surprised, even though she suggested it first, even if it was a joke

"Yeah, Yeah I think we need to do it...af..." She trailed off before she finished her sentence, I don't know why, but I still felt like she was hiding something, Sam was never good at keeping secrets anyways, so it'll spill sooner or later.

1 AM-13.9 Miles to AT1

I was brought into the snow by Nicholai, and before I could say anything she covered my mouth and pointed. I looked up from the snow, wiping it off my face and saw flashlights, even though it snowed, it was incredibly dark, I could barely even see Sam, if it wasn't for the..flower? Huh, just like Lee's ring, I never noticed Sam's flower that she wore on her head, hmm, maybe she did it to remind herself of the old days.

"New Min patrol?" Nicholai had taken her hand off my mouth and so I whispered, to make sure I was correct.

"Dunno, but we never had flashlights in our bags or the car, so it can't be the other three" Nicholai summoned her pistol, even though she didn't like fighting, she was always ready to fight no matter what. I followed suit, summoning my bow and arrow, if it was needed I would change it into my spear. Three, that's how many there were, we could each take one of them each. I looked over at Sam and saw her silhouette raise a thumbs up, we all knew what to do. I raised my bow and arrow at the back one, from Sam's angle, I assumed she had the middle, and Nicholai had the front due to her short-ranged pistol. The patrol was walking in a line and from what it looked like, they would soon be in the middle of us. I got ready to fire as did Nicholai. The minute they got in the middle of us, we all fired, yet, when our bullets or arrow hit them, they...sparked? An alarm went off with the spark and the people we shot at burst into flames, they weren't people, they were decoys! The fire spread in a straight line, blocking off our route to Sam, damn it, I understood why they were in a line now! It's cause that's where the flammable stuff is!

"Sam! Run to AT1, we'll meet you there!" Nicholai called out to Sam as she ran, grabbing my arm to pull me along.

"Hold on! Where are we even going!" I got out of her grasp and began running on my own

"Our hideout is near AT1, we can wait it out there, or even continue the mission after we get there." I hadn't realized it, our hideout was near it...hold on...why didn't we just teleport there? Neal, or Raymond...I couldn't remember who said it, but I recall someone saying that as long as it's safe we could teleport there, so why didn't we?

"Alright, let's get going!" We began to sprint to our hideout, yet a felt a tinge of danger, after all, if we didn't go there by teleportation, then it must be in danger "Nicholai, be careful, I get a feeling that our hideout isn't safe"

"Alright, I assume you have your reason for suspecting that" Nicholai continued to run straight while I looked back from where we ran, I knew that Sam would be in danger on her own in the state that she was in, but I couldn't do a thing about it, we'd have to hope that we would reunite at our destination.

1:30 AM 13.4 Miles to AT1

4 hours and 30 minutes was all we had left, it's already been more than an hour? Did this dimension's time move faster than our watches?

Raymond had given us watches for this mission, considering our lives would be in danger when it hits 6 AM, he set it up in front of us as well, so this dimension's time moving faster was the only conclusion I came to.

"I think we should set up camp" Nicholai suggested, we were eventually able to make it onto Sam's side of the split, but she wasn't anywhere to be found

"Yeah, maybe it could help Sam find us as well" Nicholai and I went into the tree line and began to chop down branches...well, I did, Nicholai set up the fire. When I finished getting the branches, I began to turn them into two small shelters, the type of shelter I made it into was called a lean-to, a type of shelter that used sticks and leaves while angled at a 45-degree angle, well, just about that. This was surely a contrast to the tents that Kyle and Kayla had for us back during the trials, and soon we'd have to hunt as well.

"We'll stay here for awhile, warm up and all that" Nicholai finished the fire and sat beside it, keeping it burning in case it was a false alarm.

"Yeah, but we should keep an eye on the time" I motioned to our watches "We only have four hours left"

"And thirty minutes" Nicholai said in a cocky tone, making sure that I knew I left out the rest of the time.

"Yeah I get it" I sat beside the fire as well, the opposite side of Nicholai "So, any topics to talk about?"

"Yeah, actually" Nicholai sat up, in a more serious posture, I didn't expect a yes from her, if anything, I expected silence. "Lee" Yeah, I should've expected that "Of course, I wanna trust him, but I'm the realist here, so instead, we're gonna have a civil argument, I'm gonna start with the easiest one to go against, why does Lee keep blanking out? Take your time" Why does Lee keep blanking out? That was the main question, and she was right, the answer was easy, although, I doubt it's the real reason

"Of course you know more than me, since this is your field, but, Lee has iron deficiency so maybe magic is affecting that? Or it's just normal for him" Nicholai seemed to accept my answer

"Okay, so, let's say Lee read the file, why wouldn't he tell us? And be silent the rest of the mission as well?" This was harder to explain.

"Maybe it was something traumatizing? Think about it, Raymond said that the people we're fighting are ex-DTs, so maybe, it involves a bunch of death and gruesome imagery, Lee wouldn't want us to see that, even if we're killing people already" Once again, Nicholai accepted my response

"Lastly, why would New Min want him dead? They knew him by name and looks so why?" This one, it was nearly impossible to answer

"I...I...don't know" I had to accept it, Lee was hiding something, even if he didn't know it himself.

"I thought so" Nicholai looked at the fire "I heard that you asked Sam if it was okay to interrogate Lee, how about we do this, I'll be the main interrogator, Sam is back-up and you be the spectator"

"Yeah, let's do that" I began to stare into the fire as well, what was Lee hiding

"I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when we're set to go" Nicholai walked past me, patting my shoulder "Don't get too close to the fire little bro" Nicholai had a smile on her face, it was weird but, peaceful

"Yeah, I'll wake you up soon" I continued to sit down staring at the fire, waiting for the time to leave, or Sam to arrive, either way, I'd have to wait. I set up my watch for a quiet but decently loud alarm to wake me up, and I laid down near the fire. "Goodnight Sis"