Heritage

Heritage (Chapter 46)

Chapter 46: Leon

"McKellen, position," I say through my radio in a hushed voice as I stare into the heavily armed compound in front of me.

McKellen was the new team member we received after my promotion had gone through. He was about as old as me but looked much younger. He was almost fidgety in a way, with a scrawny build and some of us on the team wondered how he even made it through the training process. He managed to prove himself though, in a few rather trivial missions we've performed thus far. He showed us that despite his skittish demeanor, he was exceptionally quiet and calculating, making him a perfect candidate for preliminary infiltration tasks.

There's a brief silence before the radio kicks on

"In position," a voice sounds with a brogue.

"Ten-four. Ry', where are we?"

"All good LT. Charges set for distraction measures,"

"Alright, let's mo—"

"Hold up. Something isn't right," Briggs says over the radio in a quiet, but stressed tone.

"What?" I reply.

"This is too easy guys. I don't like it, we need to pull out,"

I raise an eyebrow in confusion before considering what Briggs said.

I think of a way to test his theory.

"Mckellen. Was there anyone in that tower you snuck into?"

"Negative sir, it was all clear up here. Just a strange buzzin' sound. I figure that's just the spotlight though,"

My eyes grow wide in realization of the obvious and I stand up from my position, knowing that it doesn't matter at this point.

"McKellen! Get out of there, now!" I yell through the radio.

Before a response is made the tower explodes in a flash of red light. The shockwave knocking me off my feet. Small pieces of the tower fall in front of me, some of them bouncing off of me. I feel a moisture on my face and as I reach a hand up to wipe it away and look at it, I see that it's blood...McKellen's blood, washing over me.

Before I know it, Sekrid soldiers are standing over Maddock and I, rifles sternly pointed at all parts of our bodies. I can hardly notice however, as I realize what's about to happen, anxiety setting in. A Sekrid strikes me in the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking me unconscious.

A surge of cold startles me from the darkness and I jolt awake with my heart pounding and breathing heavy. My eyes dart around and I fixate on a Sekrid analyzing me for a moment before confirming my alertness and taking his leave. I take the time to read my surroundings in the moments of silence that I have.

The room has walls of pyramid-like structures jutting out from them, colored a charcoal-grey. I feel around, noticing that my hands are restrained behind the metal chair I'm placed in. A bare metal table is placed in front of me with a 4x3 grid of lights placed inside the ceiling high above me.

I'm broken of my studying by the door sliding open with a smooth metal-on-metal sound. I stare intently at the opening as a strange creature steps through.

A woman.

Her skin pale with the same almost sickly bluish-gray that Sekrid have. She stares at me with intensity and I notice her almost mesmerizing vermilion eyes. I can't help but notice the small tinges of violet that shoot out from the pupil into the rest of the iris. Her hair is so black it's nearly blue, pulled up tight into a bun. I notice the same brilliant shade of vermilion traveling in a few gradient streaks throughout the locks. Her uniform is pristine, various colored stripes – fruit salad as we call them on Earth – adorn the right side of her chest. The uniform is form fitting, and though her figure is thin, I can see the athletic build as the uniform tightens around the leg and arm areas. I realize that she is one of the most beautiful things I have ever laid eyes upon.