New Emotions and New Events

"Are we there yet?" Valerie shouted over the screaming wind. I ignore the question and keep on straight, checking my compass and the map to confirm our destination. Liz worked on her rifle in the seat next to me, disassembling it in seconds and reassembling just as fast. Val scooted forward, thumping the seat head.

"Hey! How far numb nuts?" She said, sending my face an inch to close to the steering wheel. I swerved away from a stray rock, receiving a pelt from a unloaded weapon part that Liz lost her grip on. I handed it back and rubbed my new bump.

"Fuck sake, we still have two kilometers before the interception point. Get comfy." I said, with an audible groan from the backseat.

"Yea sure, with all your worthless equipment back here." She kicked a canister over, making my blood run cold as I could hear liquid sloshing about inside it.

"Hey, hey hey! Don't do that. Some of that is combustible. One match and we could be seen in a cloud from headquarters."

"Then why the fuck am I the one sitting next to it!" She yelled, pushing more stuff away and putting her satchel between her and the dangerous materials. Liz chuckled as she loaded a round into her rifle and adjusted the scope. I don't know how she was able to align the scope in a moving vehicle, but straight she set it with bumps and rumbles.

We travel the last two kilometers with constant complaints and crude observations from Valerie. At some point in the ride, I wanted to hit the car door and eject her but I resisted the urge and kept going. Right as we reach the nominal point of insertion, I hit the brakes. Liz and I wear seatbelts, so hearing Valerie slam into the back of my seat was quite entertaining.

"Bastard! Come here you asshole!" She screamed as she scrambled underneath the pile of gear that fell on top of her. I climb out with a barrage of insults trailing behind me while I start unloading the back. The last transmission reported that the high value target was moving in an armored vehicle and was needed alive, so I decided to bring along a little toy I was working on.

I packed it into my satchel when the side door burst open to a flurry of red hair and flailing limbs. Once Val got to her feet, the only thing redder than her face was the setting sun in the distance. She flashed towards me, only to get blocked by Liz. She scowled at her, only to back off a bit underneath Liz's more intimidating glare.

"Much as I enjoy the chaos, we have an important mission and I need him to have both arms unharmed in this one. Afterwards, deal with him however you like." Val grumbled off and slung her rifle over her shoulder. She checked her grenade belt and loaded a 40mm grenade into her underbarrel. She looked directly at me as she locked the explosive in place.

"Don't blame me if this gets a little too close for comfort." She says, a nasty glimmer in her eye.

"After all, I'm still a little disoriented from the fall." She walks off, a smirk on her face as I check the rest of my gear before following them. I made sure to give Val a wide berth and was constantly looking for any concussion grenades being dropped.

We laid on the hill overlooking the dirt road, binoculars trained to the horizon looking for the vehicles. Liz's soft breath over the comms was all we could hear as the wind breezes around us. Val kept gripping her rifle repeatedly, obviously nervous. I felt the same, my heartbeat rising as a plume of dust rose in the distance. After a minute, it turned into a dark figure that shifted into the form of a high speed interceptor, lightly armored but unmatched by anything we had. We had one shot at this, and that was all we needed.

It sped towards us, my finger on a trigger as I heard Val shift about. Liz stopped breathing as she clearly focused on the vehicle. It came closer, just a few hundred meters away from us. My sweat creeped around my chin as I licked my dry lips, not daring to blink. One mistake and this chance will slip through our fingers.

Once it hit two hundred meters and covered the rest in a few seconds, I hit the trigger. For a long second, I began to panic when a loud bang emitted two feet from the Interceptor's left side. I must have placed the device a little too far, but the sonic pulse it sent was just enough punch to knock it over. It flipped and careened through the ground for fifty meters before sliding to a stop.

Me and Val took a deep breath to calm our nerves as I heard Liz load a round. The door popped open as a couple disoriented guards crawled out. I saw a glint in the distance before the two of them hit the ground at the same time, Liz loading another shot before they landed. The other door came open with three more coming out. We took aim, only to see a line of red as the next shot went through them cleanly. They dropped to the ground as we scope out the wreckage, checking for any more movement. Nothing stirred for a few minutes so we moved in slowly, Liz's scope following our steps.

I reach the open door to see the driver dead and the passenger unconscious, groaning softly as I peep inside to the back. A couple lines of seats, but nobody was there except for an electric cage in the back that was simply lit. The impulse short circuited the system, so I was lightly shocked when I opened it. In the back was a strapped in person wearing a black helmet and several restraints. It confused me for a second, wondering why they were treating this one like a prisoner.

I looked behind the mask to see a release, lifting it of it's.....er, her head.

"What, in the fuck." I heard Val say behind me as we stare in awe at a female Cagnor sitting there, unconscious but breathing. But it wasn't the gender that surprised us, but the dog tags hanging from her neck. I take a look, and they were part of a squad well known to us: Alpha 18. A squad that has been missing for eight months.