End Of Nightmares (Book 3)

Chapter 51: Between Friends and Foes

Knocking of the door echoed throughout the room, waking the inhabitants from their slumber.

"What?!" Lily swung the door open wide, exposing her fully naked body to the one on the other side of the door. Her face is a little distorted with sleepiness and irritation due to her disturbed sleep.

"Err..." The man scanned her up and down, initially full of lust. As his eyes went down, the lust turned into horror. The horribly scarred and tattooed body of Lily erased all the erotic fantasy he had towards the redhead.

"Hey, fuckface! What the fuck you got?" Lily snapped at him. He shook his head, standing at attention.

"We... Err... We lost contact with the Sixth Patrol. We tried to reestablish the communication, but we were unsuccessful."

"So? What the fuck are you doing here?! Get a squad to check their last known location!" Lily barked at him.

"Lily~~ What is it...." Yiren rubbed her eyes, covering her naked body with the blanket. The raised voice woke her up too, making her wonder what was going on at the entrance of her room.

"Well? The lost patrol ain't gonna find itself!" Lily sarcastically yelled at the man. The man turned around and immediately carried out the order, but not before throwing shades at Lily under his breath.

"Fucking bitch. Just because she's fucking Boss, she thought she got the authority. Fucking whore..."

"Hey, fuckface! If you wanna throw shades at me, do it when I'm not within the FUCKING EARSHOT!" Lily shouted at him before slamming the door shut.

"Lily, what the hell was that?" Yiren asked her as Lily got into bed again.

"Sixth Patrol went dark. Dumbfucks thought it was something to be reported to us. Fucking idiots..." Lily took Yiren into her arm, fixing her head into the pillow to get comfortable.

"Sixth Patrol is the one patrolling the northeast region, right?"

"Yeah. Either they got attacked by the rebels or did whatever war crimes there are in their books. It's barely important right now." Lily scoffed, hugging Yiren tighter.

"Don't worry. This is war. We lose some, we win some. I'll get on it in the morning." Lily assured her, and somehow, Yiren bought it, burying herself deeper into Lily's chest.

"Get the Third Armored Platoon to go with you, okay?" Yiren told Lily as she closed her eyes again.

"Nah, I'll go on my own. Easier to move around. Bringing them would only paint a big ass bullseye on my back."

"Lil..." Yiren cooed, the tone despite soft contains objection.

"Trust me. You've seen what I can do. I work better alone. Now, come on. Let's sleep." Lily patted on Yiren's head, lulling them both back to the Slumberland.

-

"Is that fear that I see in your eyes, Onda?" Alice grinned, her eyes stopped glowing yet her aura was still deadly and murderous. No one is that fast. Nay, no one should be that fast. Even when their eyes are still open, they could not intercept nor see Dreamcatcher's movement at all.

Onda gulped the huge lump in her throat down, trying to bring herself to diffuse the situation at hand. All the arrogance drained away, not only from her, but the rest of Kingsglaive. But professionalism dictates that they should appear to have the situation under control, thus the stoic face, although their eyes betray their facial expression.

"Well, mind getting that knife outta my neck, fuckface?" Aisha raised her eyebrow at Monica, folding her arms. Monica laughed, sheathing back the knife.

"Nice play, kid. For someone who almost pissed herself." Monica chuckled. With that cue, Dreamcatcher took a step back, their postures relaxed. Mia wiped away the sliver of blood on her neck, glaring at Rachel. Rachel winked, gauging on Mia's temper.

"Order's order. You got a problem with that, talk to Seungyeon. Speed dial 1." Onda threw her phone at Alice. Alice rolled her eyes, pushing on the button.

"Hey, dipshit! I don't need a fucking babysitter. I gave you my word. What the fuck?!" Alice shouted.

"If only words could be trusted, the world would be a better place. Two choices, Alice. Work together, or someone here will be paying for the consequences." Seungyeon chuckled. Alice's eyes widened up as she heard it. Who did Seungyeon has as a hostage?

"You sure you wanna do it that way, kid? Are you fucking sure you wanna rattle the cage?" Alice's voice was full of venom.

"This is what desperation looks like, Alice. Either you work with Kingsglaive, or Solbin gets it." Seungyeon cut off the call. Alice's lips twitched, eyeing on the phone before throwing it back to Onda.

"What's up?" Della asked her.

"That fucker got Solbin on the crosshair." Alice sighed, rubbing her forehead as she tried to figure out the next course of action.

"Heh, really? She wanna play it that way? Guess we're sure got fucking underestimated here." Lucy chuckled, in disbelief on what she just heard.

"Fine. You slow us down, we'll leave you right there and then." Alice nodded at Onda, reaching the conclusion.

"You just fucking worry about yourself. So, what do you have?" Onda asked for the intel about the joint mission. Rachel flipped her AR open, projecting the holographic map out for all of them to see. Kingsglaive was captivated by the technology shown to them, gathering closer as they observed the hologram.

"Ooh~~ How come we don't have this?" E:U fiddles with the hologram. Sihyeon circled the projection, looking closely at it in awe.

"Not a standard issue. Sorry." Rachel replied, smug on her face.

"So. This is what we have so far. There is a compound which appears to be a stronghold about 120 klicks from here. This route here is the only way we can get to that stronghold without much of the resistance. But it was quite unlucky that the insertion was a full bust, encountering an armored patrol which you guys just took out.

Upon aerial reconnaissance, this valley here should provide us an almost complete cover for the travel to the compound here. But now it is a pure gamble whether the patrol you took out is affiliated to the target or from the rebel forces. Either way, expect heightened wariness and larger personnel count on the future patrols." Alice briefed the Kingsglaive while highlighting every point of interest on the hologram.

"120 klicks? How the hell are you gonna get there? On foot?" Aisha frowned.

"That was the initial plan. Until you girls came. Now we have to find a mode of transportation and another secure route." Emma scratched her chin, updating the hologram with the real time reconnaissance from the SATNAV. As Alice has predicted, the attack on the patrol seemed to trigger movement from the unknown party.

"There's an abandoned ROK base here 76 klicks east of the compound. Local intels showed that it is currently occupied with the local resistance force. We can get there using this overpass and it can be reached on foot. They're friendlies, so we can get some vehicles from them." Sihyeon pinned the location for them.

"Friendlies?" Monica asked her.

"Yeah. Some of the rebels work side by side with ROK forces. After the attack on the research facility, ROK pulled back their forces to a new base in the northern region until they get this situation into better light."

"Wouldn't the militants be storming the base by now?"

"The fact is unknown to anyone but us. There is a good chance that the rebels put there were on ROK's command." Sihyeon explained.

"Well, this is a start. Get in contact with them. Check your weapons and gears, we'll be moving in five." Alice gave out her order. In exactly five minutes, they start their journey to the aforementioned base with Kingsglaive on the lead.

The rest of the journey was in silence, and trust is yet to be formed. But when thinking that they would be putting their lives in Dreamcatcher's hand, Onda starts by breaking the ice. She ordered Mia to take point, while she lags behind to walk by Alice's side.

"So, how long have you and your team been doing this?" Onda started the conversation. It sure took Alice by surprise.

"Huh?"

"Well, how long have you and your team served as a unit?"

"Long enough. You?"

"Three years. Funny that you can enlist at 16 yet the drinking ban is until 19."

"Hehe. It is never too young to die. That's a soldier's life for you." Alice chuckled, shaking her head.

"I never heard of your unit before. Contractor?" Onda asked her again.

"Nah. Greece. You know how it was based on history."

"So, the remnant of the war, I see." There is no need for Alice to explain further for Onda to understand their circumstances since the rumour about the war is a pretty well known fact in the military circle.

"How long have you been in South Korea?"

"Almost a year."

"How do you like it there?"

"Well, better. Until now. Can't believe me and my sisters gonna play soldier again. Once a soldier, always a soldier, eh?" Alice grinned at Onda. Onda chuckled, nodded at the fact. Then something popped out inside Alice's mind.

"What did Seungyeon tell you about the mission?" She asked Onda.

"Not much. There will be a team of six inserting into Alassolva, we are to aid them to complete the mission."

"And the target?"

"She gave us the full profile on her despite there being not much to go on. Though what's interesting is that the insertion team is the target's sisters."

"Any Kill On Sight order?" Onda suddenly went quiet on Alice's question, but it is an answer.

"Good luck with that. If she can be easily killed, she would've ceased to exist years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"You got three years of experience on your belt. But Lily? She had seen and tasted battles and wars since she was still wetting the bed." Onda's eyes bulged by what she heard.

"You're kidding right?"

"There's a saying, I don't know if you ever heard of it. Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young."

"She's that good huh?"

"Depends. Ally? She is a godsend. Enemy? Pray for a quick death. A word of advice? When the time comes, follow my order. Because if you don't? May Lily have mercy on you." Alice patted on Onda's shoulder before helping her up against the rock wall by giving her a boost.

"Since you know her best, I'll keep your advice close. Thanks for the advice, err...." Onda reached out her hand for Alice, only to see her scaling the wall up with her feet like it was nothing.

"My callsign is Medusa. But you can call me Alice." Alice chuckled, helping Onda up.

"Jo Serim. But still, call me Onda. By the way, what's Lily's position here? And how did she go rogue?" Onda fished for more.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, the file said you're sisters, so maybe you know the exact reason why." Alice sighed, thinking whether she should reveal the reason behind it to someone she just knew. But then, since they are working together, Onda and her team needed a solid reason for backing their ops.

"Well, sibling quarrels turned bad, difference in ideology. The usual shit. But one thing I know for sure, if it's anything from Lily, there should be a bigger plan ahead. Just that I don't know how it will affect the future."

"I don't care how, but she did commit a bunch of war crimes, enough for ROK to use its strings to deploy us Kingsglaive."

"But still, I want answers from her before justice is delivered. Hope you can grant me that favour." Alice looked earnestly at Onda.

"No promises. We'll see about that when we cross that bridge." She replied, flashing her perfectly white teeth to Alice. Alice nodded, looking back and forward for landmarks.

"Good enough for me. Hey, how much further?"

"I think.... Yep. We're close. A couple hundred meters to go." Onda checked her map.

"Then, let's pick up the pace, shall we?" Alice held out her hand for Onda.

Less than 10 minutes later, they arrived at the abandoned base. But something does not sit right with Alice about this. It is too quiet, considering Kingsglaive told them that the rebels were supposed to occupy this place after the ROK's forces retreated.

"Spread out in pairs. Eyes out in case we got company waiting." Alice gave out the order. Onda stacked on her order, making mixed pairs between Kingsglaive and Dreamcatcher. Slowly and carefully they sweep out the place.

"Hey, Aisha. Aren't the rebels supposed to be here waiting for us?" Lucy asked her, watching her footsteps.

"Yeah. Mia called ahead in advance about our coming. But where the hell are they?" Mia frowned, slowly opening up the door of the communication building. All of them searched door by door for the presence of the rebels but none could be found.

"Sitrep. Any sighting of the rebels?" Alice enquired.

"Negative. But from what I see, it seems to me that they left in a hurry." E:U reported back. She saw the coffee pot on the table, touching it with her finger.

"Pot's still hot. Guess they took off not too long ago." E:U looked at Monica, who was now flipping over the documents left behind.

"Not to mention they left most of their documents here. Look, this is actually the patrol rosters, along with the route to be taken. For them to leave this crucial thing behind, something or someone powerful must've been chasing after them." Monica showed the said documents to E:U.

"What the hell haa....." Suddenly E:U's speech slurred and distorted, steadily slowing down to a stop along with her movement. Monica was perplexed, shaking her up but somehow E:U is as heavy as a huge block of statue. She looked around her, only to see everything was at a standstill, as if the flow of time had been stopped.

"Medusa! Come in! What happened?! Why did Yan Wang release her time barrier?!" Her comm is still giving out static, until she hears a voice she is too familiar with.

"The main compound. We're waiting for you." The voice gave order. Immediately Monica sprinted to the said area, to see all her sisters are gathering there facing a specific direction. She knew the voice but hoped it was not true. But then, it did belong to her.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Monica roared, lunging forward toward her, only to be stopped mid air, suspending lazily as if she was bound by wire.

"Goddamn, what the hell are all of you doing here?!" The redhead glared at them.