Steel Ethereal

Ch. 20 The Mission Starts!

            

Rob

It was nine in the morning when we met. Charlie and I were already dressed and had a belly full of food. We headed to Defense Central with the packs on our backs full of the recommended items we'd need.

As far as the list went, we were told to only bring and extra pair of clothes. I wasn't too prissy and felt a desperate need to keep clean clothes on my body. We'd be travelling, we were bound to get dirty. The look we'd have after a week of walking would match our aimed look should we be wanting to look like refugees.

There were familiar faces in the underground hangar as well as new ones.

Jenna, Sam, and Luciana stood to one side. Luciana looked chipper as usual. Sam looked dead inside, and Jenna looked as if she'd be impatiently checking her watch if she could. Her foot tapped nervously.

Riley, Janeiro, and two other men I'd never met before stood to the other side. I silently wonder if Jenna arranged for us to wait in separation by gender. Jenna looks my way and I look down, wondering if she heard my thoughts.

Riley steps forward and addressed Charlie and I, "Good morning, before we set off, some introductions are in order. Rob, you've already met Sam, Luciana, Jenna, and Janeiro. The other two you see are Liam, Luciana's older brother and Promenade's master doctor, and Tyson, our Reconnaissance expert."

Liam merely grunted. He was unshaven with a constant look of annoyance on his face. He resembled Luciana by their curly hair and narrow faces. Luciana's eyes were bigger, however and showed off her emerald green iris better. Liam always seemed to have his eyes narrowed.

Tyson was a man with a clean-cut face, glasses and styled hair that was curtly bowed. His eyes seemed a bit blank as his attention seemed to be elsewhere. Scars decorated his face and hands.

"Charlie, Tyson will likely take your training in terms of reconnaissance. But the others will be your brothers and sisters in arms."

There is a collective warmth as the group of Apex looks to us and smiles. Liam manages a grunt and a small, halfway wave before pulling a flask from his jacket pocket and taking a swig.

Tyson makes for Charlie and in a posh voice, greets her, "A pleasure to meet someone who can manage stealth." He shakes her hand.

"I hope I can live up to that expectation."

"It's not something attained overnight, but I'll make sure you can make the cut." He says with a small smile.

"Right, well, thank you Riley for turning this into an elementary school meet and greet, but don't we have somewhere to be?" Liam snaps with narrowed eyes.

"Got somewhere to be, Liam?" Jenna taunts.

"Yeah, a medical lab where I could be testing blood and samples. Be more interesting that visiting Murder Vance and her merry band of cutthroats who can't cut it in Promenade or anywhere else."

"Liam, cut it," Riley growled, "We plan to keep this as brief as possible, but unfortunately we can only move so fast with a group our size. Once we split up, the travelling should speed up."

Riley turns away from us and walks to a spot about twenty feet away. He taps his foot on a spot outlined by black tape. Slowly, a large concrete rectangle resembling a lidless crate rose from the ground. In the concrete crate were what looked like pieces of black armor. There were five pieces in all and all looked much too small to actually cover any parts of the body.

"I dig the empty void," Charlie mutters at my side. I nod, noticing that there seemed to be no light that reflected off the armor.

Riley turns toward Charlie, "You'll get one yourself after a while. All of Apex are entitled to a set of noir armor."

Riley's finger wrapped around a plate and he stuck it to his right arm. There was a mechanical whirring and the small armor plate began extending itself. It seemed to be wrapping itself around his arms, covering more and more over the course of several seconds. Soon, Riley's arm was darker than the blackest of nights. Riley repeated this process several times before all but his head was covered with plates of the noir armor.

Riley turns toward Luciana, "Luciana, you're the team leader for the Bastion reconnaissance. Tyson will be overlooking you're progress. Janeiro, Sam, and Rob will follow your lead."

He turns to Jenna, "Jenna, dear, you, Liam, and Charlie will come with me to Glaive's den."

Jenna nodded and walked over to another spot in the training hall. She stamped her foot and another crate of noir armor rose from the ground. This one just as black and non-reflective of light. Jenna dressed in the armor. When she was dressed, I could see that a magenta line decorated her armor, one matching her eyes. The line adorned both sides of her legs, all the way up her side, and crossed at her chest to outline her neck.

Jenna turns to Charlie, who still remained at my side. She shook her head, motioning for Charlie to walk over with their group. Charlie hesitated, but did what she was told. I could tell she was easy in the way she had my sleeve clenched in her hand.

"We're going into neutral territory. Sensitive, but neutral." Jenna says to Charlie. She is a bit more gentle than her usual abrasive demeanor, but firm still, "Charlie, whatever you do, follow us and do as we do. Don't divert. The last thing we need is having a hit put on you."

"Got it," Charlie says after gulping.

"What about me?" I ask Riley.

"Just follow the orders. You have no experience in espionage, as I've stated before. You'll provide cover," Riley said, "but should anything happen, I have faith you'll keep everyone safe."

"I barely graduated from officer training, I think it'll be the other way around."

"Give yourself more credit," Jenna says, "You did save the ruler of Promenade. Don't squander your potential with uncertainty.""

We departed the training hall from an exit I did not know existed. It took us about five minutes at a brisk pace to reach the other end of the massive training hall. Charlie was the only one in her group not wearing a set of noir armor. My group stayed in casual clothes.

The only sounds made between us all were the clacking of our feet on concrete. The single sound by itself almost drove me insane. It fueled my fear with the openness of the training hall.

Charlie leaned over to me and gave me a side hug. She clung to me and hummed a song, like some how she could pick up on my unease.

We reached a large elevator and all piled in. Riley tapped a button and the elevator ascended for a minute before halting. I felt myself pull sideways. I almost stumbled into Liam. Charlie grabbed onto my shoulder to steady herself.

Several minutes pass and the elevator halts. It begins to ascend once more.

The elevator door opens and we appear to be in an old tool shed. It is stuffy in the building so I know we are near the outdoors. The wood of the floor is aged and moldy. As we step onto the floor, it creaks.

There is a bench with tools that had been long rusted. There is a dirty window by the exit that barely allows any light into the shed. I can't even make out any details of the outside world. The sunlight that poked through the window illuminated the dust particles floating through the air.

Riley pushes the door open and we find ourselvesin the midst of a grand forest.