The hunter's bow

RTB

Aksel's pov
      The next morning, I sat on the Blackhawk looking out at the surviving forces still localizing our dead, it was a mournful sight. I looked over the soldiers we lost and saw most were half my age, just kids dying in a war they shouldn't have to be in. I heard Freyja next to me "you know what you did was stupid and risky" I looked over and replied calmly "I can handle it, that was nothing" she sighed and muttered "watch that ego" I rolled my eyes before Maverick spoke "what'd you think of your first mission with Rainbow?" I looked over the base and replied "if this is the standard I think it'll be fun" he laughed while nodding "this place is never boring" I mused "so many dead, we got fuckin massacred" Sebastien replied "we'll be prepared for the next time they try this" Sanaa asked "will we? There were inside men, we need to look into all the staff at the FOBs" the Blackhawk'a RPM started rising before the helicopter gently lifted into the air. I looked down and silently wondered to myself if I was lucky or living on borrowed time, I never have gotten an answer.
I looked over the destroyed buildings and walls, the base riddled with new craters and the army of men and women retrieving and accounting for loses. The tankers were still in a perimeter outside the base with their Abrams it was an impressive show of force but it was late, we had fought, we had won, we had survived. I looked at the team and commented into comms "you did good, all of you" Meghan replied "no, if we did good more people would be alive right now" I remember the comment flew around my brain 'there it is, they feel the guilt too' Erik spoke "you did what you could, the masks had the momentum. It took us a while to break it" Freyja commented "we did what we could, our forces were scattered and unprepared. That's where you get casualties and last night proved it" I voiced my thoughts "those kids shouldn't of died, we accepted the position to be the point of the spear. We're supposed to meet and destroy the masks before any other group but we didn't. Those kids on their first deployment with no experience other than training met the masks and they paid for our lack of contact"
       Freyja opened her mouth several times as she thought she found the words and then they escaped her, she didn't have a chance to find them as I vowed openly "I'll kill the man who planned this, I'll avenge those kids." Sanaa and Erik joined me in the promise but the other 3 found their own ways to release the grief. I checked my watch and saw 08:26 "Christ I need my bed" Meghan asked "what time is it?" I replied "8:26" she asked another question "that late? Really?" I nodded as Freyja said "well I'm taking a nap" as she leaned against me. I chuckled and remembered the family drives to the mansion during the summer. She would always fall asleep on me during the drive, mom would tease me saying I made a better pillow than an actual pillow. I stepped off memory lane and came back to reality as I spoke to Sanaa "thanks for keeping me awake" she smiled softly and nodded "of course, anything for a friend" I looked at Erik and the others before Sebastien joked "atleast were getting medals" I chuckled at his bad joke just glad the humor was keeping morale high.
      When we landed I saw Harry and his secretary waiting for us, I gently shook Freyja awake before sliding out of the helicopter gripping my flank as my wound ached with the new movement. Our group lined up infront of Harry and saluted before my hand involuntarily snapped to my ribs as Harry spoke "welcome back, I understand you went through a lot last night. You have the day free of duties, relax get a shower have some chow and catch up on sleep. I'm very proud of all of you, you did outstanding and the leadership from FOB 7 that survived are very thankful you willingly went into that" we dipped our heads in thanks before Harry's Secretary, Avery, spoke "you will receive a presidential unit citation from President Circila, welcome home rainbow" we smiled at her, she was a very sweet woman, always giving out compliments and genuinely caring about every interest you talked to her about. I've never met a single person who interacted with her who had anything bad to say, I very tiredly mumbled "thank you" as I stumbled past her hearing her laugh before saying "goodnight Aksel" I waved as I disappeared inside.
I walked into our dorm and slowly pulled off my gear as Craig looked at me and commented "christ Ak, lion like you've been through hell." I looked at him and replied "I was, I'm gonna shower. Ask Sanaa and Freyja about it" as I grabbed clean boxers, Sweats and a tshirt before walking into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my exposed chest, face and arms were covered in mud and grime, my chest was peppered with shrapnel and my bandage had bled through slightly. I sighed and turned on the water waiting for it to warm before climbing in and washing away the stress and terror of the night before. Suddenly the soreness of my muscles set in and everything ached, the warm water helped loosen the knots in my back and arms but did nothing to help the pain of moving them. I rested my head against my arm while was pressed against the shower wall as I silently questioned why I survived, why was I the one who lived when all those others didn't. My questioning was broken when Freyja banged on the door and called "Aksel, you alright? You've been in there for a while"
       I called back "uh ja, ja I'm okay. I'll be out in a minute" I turned off the water dried off and got dressed before walking out and struggling to climb the ladder to the top bunk of the bed. I heard Craig "so you're the one that made the shot calls?" I looked at the ceiling and replied "I guess" he replied "you saved a lot of lives" I countered "even more we lost" he pointed out "people were going to die regardless of what choice you made, it's war that's what happens" I laid on my back for a bit more before my exhaustion overtook me. I fell asleep and memories from the night played, it was like being there again. I watched mask after mask die, it was somewhat therapeutic I hated to admit it but the tenacity of their attack, the execution of it and the planning was respectable. They might have even been successful if we didn't get involved, I hated what they stood for but respected their fighting skill. I definitely was wary of the newly minted Sappers, they were a force to be reckon with as they were the ones who counted for the most man power in the battle.
When I woke up a couple hours later I climbed out of my bunk pulled on my shoes and grabbed my 416 before I walked out the door. I headed through the empty halls to the chow hall, I walked in the door and saw it was empty, not a single operator was inside eating. I walked over and grabbed my food before I sat at the table my friends had always been sitting at, I enjoyed the peace and quiet as I milled about just trying to pass the day. About 15 minutes later Sanaa walked in with Freyja, they both looked surprised to see me. I gave a small wave and went back to flipping through the magazine, when they sat down Freyja asked "hvornår vågnede du op?(when did you wake up?)" I replied lazily "omkring 15 minutter siden(about 15 minutes ago)" she nodded as Sanaa asked "how'd you get out of the room without us waking up? Freyja wakes us as she leaves and she's good at being quiet" I looked at Freyja deciding to let the sibling rivalry show "I'm better at being quiet than Freyja"
Freyja just chuckled as Sanaa look at her food, the mood fell to a tense silence like we wanted to ask the others questions but didn't know if we should. I kept reading the article before Sanaa broke the silence with a question, she talked normally but in the silence of the hall it sounded like she was shouting, "what do you think that attack was for?" I looked up as Freyja asked "pardon?" I remembered when we were kids, Freyja always loved that word. Sanaa explained "that attack feels like it's a trail run for something. Like they were doing a real practice run for something else, what do you think it is?" I dog eared my page and put down the magazine before I listened as Freyja answered "I feel like they were doing a practice run for a much greater target, something more important. Something that can give them new weapons" I sat quietly as they discussed the matter before Sanaa asked "what do you think Aksel?" I replied after a couple seconds of thought "maybe they're doing a practice run to take a city, they'd have the experience now and a city is much less heavily armed than an FOB"
Freyja replied "I hope you're wrong, I really do" I tilted my head and looked at her replying "I do too" Sanaa spoke "how'd you sleep?" I tenderly touched my flank and spoke "not that well, I'd roll over in my sleep and wake up because I rolled on my wound." Freyja asked "why not have doc look at it?" I replied slowly "frey, all operators got mobilized. No one but us is here at the base right now, everyone else is on their way back" she glared at me for subtly teasing her before Sanaa chuckled and spoke "welcome to the club" I gave a look of questioning as she motioned to Freyja "she glared at us a lot" I replied with a shake of my head "I invented that club, she's been glaring at me since we were kids" Freyja's glare softened as she spoke "I'm still mad at you" I just dumbly said "huh?" She replied "you're still a dumbass for going into the fight after you got wounded" I replied by saying "someone had to do it, I wasn't going to die in some FOB because I got shot by a friendly" we talked for a bit longer before the second squad returned and walked through the doors to the mess hall.