halo 'n horns [klance au]

18. The Mission

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Lance

I wouldn't say that I was jealous of Keith, per se. I was just slightly irritated that he could see so well in the dark. I almost wanted to make a jab at him about it, but in the situation, it was probably inappropriate.

As Keith, Pidge, Rover, and I snuck along the outside edge of the building we were about to infiltrate, I felt my nerves acting up. I'd only ever been on a real mission like this on the Midworld once before, and even then, I'd been the driver. I'd never attempted something like this before.

When Coran had told us about the mission, it had been so convenient that I thought he was lying. But, as it turned out, they were planning on carrying out the mission anyway, regardless of Keith's and my presence. Why they were letting us go along, with no training, I had no idea.

But I trusted my uncle and I knew he wouldn't put us into danger if he didn't think we were ready for it.

The mission had seemed simple when he'd explained it, but now, with the tranquilizer dart gun in my hands, safety off, the weight of the situation and the probability of something going wrong was almost enough to give me a panic attack.

The plan was to bring down an underground weapons dealer, going by the company name Zarkon. The leader of the operation, Lotor, was a renowned marksman in the underground network, not to mention his four generals, who were especially brutal.

Rover had gathered as much as he could about the mission before we executed it, but even he, a hacking genius like Pidge, was unable to get much of the information on the building or the personnel inside. It seemed like they had hackers as well.

Our job was to get into the building and take Lotor (and the generals, if we could) back to HQ. At first, I had been skeptical of Rover, as he looked like he was more of a 'brains, not brawn' kind of guy, but Pidge seemed confident in his abilities, so I didn't argue. Keith was, no doubt, in battle mode, his eyes hard and determined. He seemed focused, like a lion on a hunt, as he led us forward.

Pidge, as well, was in her own mode, aiming her tranquilizer at anything that made a sound. I was openly glad that we were only using tranquilizers- I never wanted to have to actually hurt anyone. The whole mission seemed so dark and uncertain, but I knew that I had to do it for Keith.

Rover had already disabled all of the CCTVs along the property of the building, but that only gave us a short window of time before Zarkon's tech team could get past the block and see us. Rover had said that it was 15 minutes, tops.

As we edged around the building to the main entrance, Keith held up his hand, signaling for us to stop. I felt my nerves set in. This was it. No backing out now.

Keith swooped forward and I heard him fire off two darts. Seconds later, we heard the thump of two bodies falling over. We proceeded. I made sure to check the pulses of the two men who had been guarding the doors to the large brick building, sending a silent apology up to Mother. I knew that she wouldn't be angry- this was, after all, for the good of the world and I was with other angels, but it still felt wrong.

With the zip of another dart, the receptionist was down too. I averted my eyes. We shuffled down through the dark hallways, opting for the elevator instead of the stairwell. Pidge bounced on the balls of her feet as we waited for the elevator to arrive at the bottom floor.

We didn't know which floor the Generals and Lotor would be on, but we didn't have enough time to check every floor of the facility. Our only confidence was that we knew that they were in the building, as their cars were still in the parking garage.

Finally, the elevator arrived with a quiet ding and we crammed inside, pushing buttons for the first four floors of the facility. This was where we would split up. I bit the inside of my cheek anxiously as the elevator ascended. The plan was that each of us would check a floor by ourselves. If we found the Generals and/or Lotor, we would alert everyone else with the walkie-talkies we all carried and try to stay out of sight until everyone could arrive. Then, we'd reaccess and take on the situation as a group.

We arrived on the first floor. Rover squeezed Pidge's hand once, shot Keith and I a rueful smile, then stepped out of the elevator. The doors closed behind him.

Again, we ascended. Pidge clapped me on the back, nodded at Keith, and then headed out as well. I felt my heartbeat begin to accelerate. The doors shut again. Keith turned towards me.

"You scared?" he asked.

"No," I managed to choke out. Keith wasn't fooled. He offered me a crooked smile, small but sweet. I couldn't bring myself to smile back, but I appreciated it anyway. The elevator dinged. Keith's stop.

He didn't move as the doors opened, and, for a second, I thought that I had gotten the plans mixed up and it was actually my stop, but then Keith stepped forward, tranquilizer to his chest, a determined, excited expression on his face.

The doors closed before I could say good luck.

And then I was alone. The safe confines of the elevator suddenly seemed like something out of a horror story. I felt my hands shaking and beginning to sweat up, but I tried to put on a brave face. For Keith. This whole thing was for Keith. I wouldn't let him down by failing to complete the mission.

The elevator slowed, then stopped on level four. I gritted my teeth, then stepped out as soon as the doors opened. The hallway I stepped out into was illuminated by mini chandeliers every few feet on the high ceiling. The floor was padded in a rich, red carpet, and the doors on the sides of the hall were a deep brown.

If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that I was in an expensive hotel. I tuned into my surroundings, listening for heartbeats or signs of life. Below me, I could feel the slight darkness to Keith's aura and it calmed me a little.

But then, dread washed over my system as a clear, healthy heartbeat, then another, then another, began to pulse in my head. 3 heartbeats on my floor. Where were the other two? It didn't matter. I fumbled for my walkie-talkie that had been clipped to my belt, and put it to my lips, managing to say, "I'm-" before someone yanked me backward.

...

tRiPle uPdAtE <333333 bc i love you 

2nd qotd: favorite movie?

lllloooove you (hopefully another update on the way if I stop procrastinating with markiplier and buzzfeed unsolved)