The darkness of the hanger, the unnatural silence and the murmured prayers weren't helping lighten the mood. Half of the people wore mobile suits. Which still made me feel kind of left out. Considering I still didn't have one yet.
Those of us who did not wear in mobile suits wore white army uniforms. Expressions varied between anxiety and terror. The MS pilots were lucky; they hid their emotions behind steel masks, mostly. One was shaking in his boots. Isa told me that most of the soldiers on this mission were seasoned soldiers; but, it was clear that even some of the senior soldiers seemed wary. And as much as I hated to admit it, Soul Steel's name was like a bad luck charm. Every time someone mentions his name, the name is hushed out like a candle, so the fire of fear won't spread any further. Spirits low we were shocked out of our stupor by an impact that shook the floor. Isa, suited up in her MS, had joined us.
"We will be landing here at point A, then we will go on foot from point A to point G." Isa explained jabbing at a few points on a wall-mounted map. She then traced the route we would be taking with her finger. Seeing that she had everyone's attention, she continued:
"There will be no stops in between, as you all may know, the mists of Rochan's Pass is able to block all electric signals. In others words: a natural RF barrier Are there any questions?"
Isa was about to move on when Baddie asked a question.
"Why can't we just fly above the mist?"
I could feel Isa popping a vein in her forehead that time.
"The mist goes up to 3km; even if we parachute down, the rebels could be waiting for us. Ground based obstacles and fortifications have not yet been confirmed. All the maps of the Rochan's pass so far are all discovered on foot, so there is very limited knowledge we have of the landscape. Anyone else have less dumb questions?"
There were a bunch of smirks and giggles, and the mood seemed to lift a bit. Baldie shrunk back to his seat, his face red from embarrassment.
"Very well." She turned and scanned at us one more time, as I began to feel the whole helicopter began to descend.
"Once we are on the ground, you have 2 orders. One: reach the other point." Isa began to walk forward, "Two: stay alive. Do you all understand?"
"YES SIR!" we answered in one union.
The plane hangar shook a little, as we touched ground, a moment later the hatch door opened.
"Squads to order! Stand! Turn!" Isa barked.
We stood up, then turned to face the opening doors.
"Squad 1, move out!"
Those wearing mobile suits were the first to move out. They had been positioned close to the doors. After they moved out it was our turn, the foot soldier's turn. Row by row, we exited, and by the time it was my turn, I began to pace, eyes straight forward with nothing but gleaming rage.
Just you wait Soul Steel, you will pay...
About 100 meters ahead of us, was an expanse of white mist, stretching wide and tall beyond the eye could see. The mist shone and twisted, revealing hints at marble pillars and mounds of dirt and stone. These shadows dances laughing at our confusion. It was difficult to discern the real from the mist visions here. For this was Rochan's Pass.
I hung tightly to my assault rifle, as we ran towards the edge of the mist.
Just you wait Soulsteel...
A sparks lit up from within mist, shots were fired.
I was frantically checking myself for wounds when I noticed the blood pooling on the ground, I looked down and my mind went numb.
Baldie, or what was left of him, lay at my feet.
***
The guy who I talked to yesterday that day, whom I also found quite annoying, was now dead at my feet. It was all too quick.
"BRAT! MOVE!" a voice yelled at me from behind. The voice dragged me away from the corpse, I turned and looked, expecting Isa, instead it was Rumble who in his red MS.
"Commander is going to kill you if you stop here!" Rumble's spit landed everyone on my face, but my thoughts and body were frozen none less.
"Curse you! I am going to drop you! You coward!"
My legs felt like lead, as my whole body felt senseless and unable to move. I wanted to curse him for doing so, but even those most effortless seemed to drain my thought.
That's when we entered the edge of the mist. The temperature immediately dropped, and a natural chill sent shudders across my entire body. Before I knew it, my face hit the cold hard ground, and it was turned over. But I couldn't care less at the time, as my whole body was still shocked by Baldie's sudden death.
A life...
Gone...
Cur-
Before I could even finish my last thought, a hard slap went across my face.
The pain stung, forcing my eyes to blur for a moment; I bore my eyes towards the perpetrator.
"KARD YOU PUSSY!" From the small portion of his face I could see through the visor, rage was sewn into Rumble's eyes.
"Do you still want revenge? What about your legs? What about your arm!? Are you just going to lie here, and let him come and take your head?"
Shut up...
"Yeah, I know you want that, you might as well get a silver platter for that too."
Curse you...
"Or do you just want to die? Because I can make it quick for you!" With one quick stroke, he lowered his bazooka mounted arm, and pointed it right down at my face.
I stared at the opening the bazooka, at first I saw nothing. It was just an empty dark hole, then it began tremble; he was trembling. I looked up, and finally saw what I had mistaken for rage. It was desperation. There was desperate pleading in his eyes. Then he lowered himself and grabbed me by the collar as my head smashed against his helmet, then he screamed:
"BRAT! DO YOU WANT TO DIE OR NOT!?"
I clenched my teeth from the momentary impact, as I already have my answer ready:
"No..."
"I can't hear you!"
"NO!" I roared in a primal way. "AND DON'T CALL ME BRAT! You bastard!" I said as I shoved him off me.
Silent, I lay still for a moment -- panting. A second later, Rumble loomed above me, offering a hand.
"Honestly..." I said taking his hand, "Curse you. Out of all the people, why did it have to be you?" I hauled myself to my feet.
"Curse you too brat."
We burst out chuckling at the same time.
"Thanks." I muttered.
"What's that you said? I didn't hear you?"
I knew perfectly well, he heard me. Just as I was about to say something else teasing, a red dot appeared at the side of his helmet. Even though my mind hasn't come to turn around it, my instinct has already sensed it, without further a due, I called out:
"Rumble, run!"
"Don't sell me that coward crap brat, real men don't run..."
Trusting my instincts, I pushed Rumble away with all my strength. A shot rang out and so did a spray of blood.
Q: Would you go for revenge for someone who hurt you?
YOU ARE READING
Iron angel (Book 1 of IA)
FantasyMecha. Magic. Mediocre, so much so you won't stop reading it ; p Special thanks to @llaugh who helped me create this awesome cover and @ArbreEcore who's been my best friend and helped me edit ( *^^)o∀*∀o(^^* ) Note: This is my work back from 2016 so...
