Wee hours pt. 2

As Katelyn drove across the surface roads Natalie could feel a knot in her stomach. First time nerves she told herself, this was her first actual mission on the surface after all. And it was already flying off the handle. She had never heard of the Council sending representatives on a mission before, the thought of it made her uneasy.

"Natalie?! Are you paying attention?" Troop Leader Fenris had turned around in his seat and was addressing the recruits.

"Yes Sir?" Natalie responded, blushing slightly while she straightened her back to make eye contact with him.

"I was just introducing everyone to Ms. Strennis here but…" He let the statement hang in the air, awaiting a response from her.

"Sorry, Sir. I was distracted, Sir. This mission seems… Unorthodox." She then motioned to Katelyn, then in a circle to their small squad before turning her palms upwards with a skeptical expression on her face.

She then turned towards Katelyn, "Meaning no offense Ma'am, I'm just a recruit but we didn't cover this in basic."

Katelyn turned in her seat with a smile on her face before responding. "What's your name, recruit?"

"Natalie ma'am."

"I understand your concern Natalie and you're not wrong. This would be very unorthodox, "if" your VIP wasn't an ex Seeker Agent. Anytime a Seeker is pinned down the Council sends another Seeker, with a small team."

"I see."

That was all Natalie managed to say in response before turning her head away. She was shocked by the revelation, Seeker Agents were greatly respected among the community. They were said to be incredibly ferocious fighters and tacticians, but most would never see old age. Not unless they were very good.

The mood grew heavy within their passenger van, for her and the other recruits this was supposed to basically be a training mission. If the council was involved, her common sense told her that it was so much more.

Suddenly she was much less excited and a lot more nervous. She remained silent for the time being, trying to steel herself for what was to come. She really regretted opening her mouth at all.

"Alright listen up!" Fenris called out while he turned around in the front seat to face the recruits.

"Nothing has changed, this is still the same mission." He looked around at his recruits, making eye contact with each of them before continuing.

"Tobias will have field command with Natalie as his second, Agent Strennis and I will be along for the ride.

Try not to get anyone killed during your first command recruit." He said sarcastically before winking at Tobias.

Tobias still looked slightly worried as well as more than one recruit, Natalie just tried not to think about it.

Fenris laughed at his own joke, causing a contagious laugh among the recruits. Then he clapped Tobias on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, we won't let you screw up too badly." Another short laugh rang out among the recruits.

"We do this as a team, I trust each one of you with my life. We are brave! We are strong! We are, The Gallant!" He shouted this last bit, inspiring his young charges.

"The Gallant!"

So did all the recruits, Natalie found herself shouting with them. Proud to be Gallant. Proud to be among them, to have been considered skilled enough to participate in this mission.

Between the laughter and the pep talk she was starting to feel like herself again. Her paranoia was relaxing on its own, allowing her to focus.

Fenris turned back around in his seat, Natalie watched him absent-mindedly while thinking of the mission to come.

"Handsomely done, Troop Leader. I will be sure to include that in my report." Katelyn said to Fenris as he settled into his seat and looked out the window.

"Whatever." Fenris responded, waving his in the air without bothering to turn away from his observation of the window.

They rode along in silence, Natalie too preoccupied by her thoughts to be bothered by it or notice the passing of time.

After some time had passed Agent Strennis began to slow down before jerking to a halt. The sudden stop brought Natalie out of her stupor, she looked out the windshield past her Troop Leader and the Seeker Agent. In the distance she could see a lone building, a fire raged in the front half of the structure nearest the road.

Katelyn motioned towards the burning building, "That's it just up ahead. Our mission is to secure the VIP and possibly a female civilian. Then we make a clean escape. In and out."

She then turned around in her seat and addressed Tobias directly, "What are your orders, Field Leader?"

Tobias fidgeted in his seat, straightening his back before responding.

"Move in a little closer and turn the van around, we'll dismount and continue on foot. The south wall is crumbling, we'll enter there and assess the situation. Someone get me eyes on that entryway, there seems to be some kind of obstruction blocking it."

Natalie had already pulled a compact pair of binoculars from a pocket on her hip.

"It's a vehicle of some sort sir, van or SUV, completely burned up. We should be able to move around it."

She then handed the binoculars to Tobias who looked towards the vehicle before scanning the perimeter of the building.

"Bring us in a little closer Agent Strennis, I want to keep the van nearby in case we need to make a quick escape."

As they got closer to the burning building a nightmare became evident to their eyes. Smoke hung heavy in the air, invading their eyes and lungs, blurring their vision and dulling their senses. It swirled into the air unnaturally, blotting out light from the moon and stars and creating a deep shadow overhead.

It contrasted starkly with the raging crimson flames that consumed the building while licking at the darkness. From a distance it had been a single massive pillar of smoke but as they drew near they were enveloped by the pillar, their world transformed to fire and darkness.