Stained

Searing

"All war is deception."

-Sun Tzu

            “Alright, I think we’re here.” Chance was called back to us through a yawn.

            “When we land you’re going to sleep. You’ve been up too long to fight.” Nic said as she gently shook Ash awake.

            “Alright.” He agreed as he banked, looking for a place to land outside of the city.

            My heart was beating faster than it should have been. Did they see us already? I had been suggesting more cameras to watch out for planes before I had left, did Erik finally listen? Did he listen to any of my other security advice?

            “You alright?” Avery asked.

            “Yeah, I was just wondering if we would be able to do this.” I said, half avoiding the truth.

            “Well, if we can’t then we won’t remember failing.”

            “Yeah, the dead don’t remember too much. If we fail, then we’ll die in the fighting. We’ve been trained to kill people quickly. So, don’t worry about dying, just worrying about killing them fast. I don’t want the people who we’re trying to save to suffer anymore than they have to.” Nic said without much emotion.

            “Thanks for the pep talk.” I muttered as we started our descent to a large clearing in the forest.

            “We used this clearing in some of our training practices. It was supposed to give us a feel for ‘real weather and location conditions’.” Nic said once she saw where we were going to land.

            “I thought it was far enough away from the lab, but still close enough to get there today.” Chance said as we got steadily closer.

            “So, I take it that we’re landing?” Avery asked and his hand found mine quickly.

            “Yeah, so hold on, if his landing is anything like his driving skills, we might not make it out of here.” Ash smiled wickedly.

            “You guys make me feel so amazing on the inside.” Chance’s sarcastic tone made us all smile, even though we were about to face what could be a horribly bloody and painful death.

            “And,” He drew the word out until the plane bounced on the ground. “Touchdown!” He slowed the plane to a stop and opened his door and jumped down. Nic opened the door in the back and she and Ash hopped off and waited until Avery and I had gotten down to shut it.

            “And that everyone is how you land a plane.” His smile radiated positive energy, which definitely made me less worried about the upcoming battle.

            “Careful, your ego is almost as big as you.” Avery joked.

            “Well, if it’s as beautiful as me then you guys are in trouble.”

            “From our eyes burning out of their sockets.” I said as I rolled my eyes theatrically.

            “I have the body of a god.” Chance started flexing his muscles at us.

            “Let me guess, Buddha?” I asked.

            “Oh, har har har, you’re so funny. I was thinking more along the lines of Apollo or Zeus.”