Purgatory

Chapter 11

Squad 223:  11 members

Status:  Approved

Our first assignment was to take place that afternoon at a construction site in the city.  Our mission was to discover the cause for what was reported as “unknown power shortages” that had caused three injuries, one critical, and nearly triggered a malfunction in vital machinery that could have killed more than just workers.  It was common for eidolons to be tasked with such an undertaking, and we deduced the shortages were likely caused by Demons.

I prepared my mind for what was to come as I suited up in my quarters.  It would be our first time on the surface in over a week, and I missed the sun.  Juels called me over video display, her eyes just as focused as she clasped her shoulder plates on.

“Hells, are you nervous?” she asked me, glancing up with a smirk.

“A little,” I replied with a shrug.  I hooked the cables to my neck piece and resituated the ribbed cloth underneath the armor.  “What about you?”

“I’m more worried I’ll hit the ground running,” she said with a laugh.

I knew she was joking, so I kept the air light despite my curiosity.  “You’d go rogue, then?” I asked her with a playful smirk, and she waved a gloved hand through the air to dismiss the notion.

“You know I could never leave you guys,” she responded with a serious undertone.  “Friends don’t leave friends behind, yeah?”  I smiled at the notion.  As much as I had distanced myself in the past from others and vowed I’d never befriend again, I found myself incapable of ignoring my squad mates.  Juels was quickly becoming a great friend as we shared a lot of our free time exchanging stories or sitting in silence.

I clasped and secured my gauntlets, rotating my wrist to ensure my movement was not impaired.  Juels laughter broke through my thoughts, and I turned to look at the video display.  She was looking at me with a huge smile, and I looked down at myself in thought.  Did I put something on incorrectly?

“We look way too serious in these getups,” she said with a chuckle.  “But at least it’s not white.  I’ve always been partial to black.”  She slowly moved into a dramatic pose, her helmet resting under her arm casually.  Despite her ridiculous smirk, the armor made her look imposing.  I laughed at her and struck my own pose, holding the helmet in my hands as I mimicked a dramatic Hamlet-like pose.  Juels found my rendition hilarious, and applauded enthusiastically.

“Departure in ten minutes,” the voice of Purgatory reminded us, and Juels rolled her eyes.

“Guess we’d better head out,” she said to me.  “Meet you out in the hallway.”  She adorned her helmet and gave me two thumbs up before ending the call, and I did the same.  As I secured the helmet and attached the cables to my neck piece, the display flickered to life and I could hear the light banter of my other squad mates.  In a rushed decision, I grabbed my necklace, wrapping it around my wrist to where the two keys dangled at palm’s length.

“Hey everybody,” I said as I made my way out of the door.  Everyone greeted me enthusiastically, and I walked with Juels, Lawrence, and Uvine to go meet with the others.  A green line lit the floor panels to offer us directions to the lift.

“I’m ready for some action,” Kevin said with energy.

“You’ll get plenty of that once we get up there,” Cole assured him.

Our pace was nearly rushed as we walked down the hallways and past marching squads headed for training.  Uvine lightly bounced with each step, her petite frame oddly placed within the dark armor.  Despite the darkened visors of our helmets, I could sense we all smiled at each other as our squad convened before the lift.