The helicopter blades drowned out all the sounds of the world around them as it lifted off the pad and took them into the air. The head sets that hung from the roof allowed the pilot and police to still speak with one another while flying but even this chatter was becoming distant in Raylan's mind, letting his eyes wander over the beautiful country side. Even for someone who'd grown up here, seeing it all like this from the air was still breath taking, only slightly dampened by the moment. The only things spoiling this view were that it was night, only illuminated by the full moon, and the goal of the mission they were on. Arresting Joseph Seed. Raylan may have been back in Hope county barely two months and hectic ones at that but all that was going on in this usually sleepy county seemed to be this damned cult. The freshly appointed deputy took a deep breath, leaned his head back against the seat, closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. Walk out of one war and into another.
At the ripe age of 18 and fresh out of high school, Raylan White had decided this county was too damn quiet for him, running off to join the Marine Corps. That was the next 4 years of his life, including 3 tours of Afghanistan at 7 months apiece. His parents John and Marie had mixed feelings about it all to say the least, a cocktail of anger, worry, frustration and a bit of pride. He had never said it out loud but all those letters his mother had written, and the odd one from his father, had been a big help to him during those months of boot camp and overseas tours. Letters that still sat nicely stacked and folded within a box under his bed. But the one on top was the one he thought of now, the happiness they expressed that he would be finishing his last tour soon and could come home, spend time with them and the plans they were making. None of it to be.
During his last week in the sand box he had been called down to the Colonel's office and told of his parent's death's. Car accident, probably both dead on impact if it helped. It didn't. Raylan had been sent home to handle the affairs. Pastor Jeffries had performed the service and folks had been quite kind and welcoming to the young man gone so long. But even through all that word of Eden's Gate and the Seed family had been spoke of, including at the funeral.
Upon coming home Raylan had moved back into the same small country house he had grown up in. Reclaiming his old bedroom it was a bit small but he still couldn't bring himself to think of moving into the larger master bedroom. After getting settled in and taking care of the funeral, the young man had found himself a tad lost. His contract up, he could have gone back to the corps, but for the last few years all he had yearned for was this county, his home. He wasn't about to leave it again anytime soon.
Taking himself down to the Sheriffs office he had filled out an application and gone home thinking it was a long shot in the dark. The phone had been ringing as he came through the door, Whitehorse ready to hire him on. They'd found him a couple of uniform shirts that fit, sworn him in and given him a badge. The old sheriff had even found a used duty belt and holster that would fit Raylan's 45. Getting a new one wouldn't have been too hard but the basket weave leather belts tended to be stiff and creak when new and the holster prone to grabbing a gun during the draw so a broken in one was preferable, at least in his opinion.
Marshal Burke's and Sheriff Whitehorse's arguing drew him back into reality "You want me to ignore a Federal Warrant?" the marshal barked back at the old man.
As the sheriff tried to make the man understand just how bad this could all go, Raylan's thoughts went back to that holster of his. His hand moved to his side and slipped the weapon free, performing a quick brass check by pulling the slide back a bit and then dropping the magazine out to make sure it was full. The gun was a thing of beauty, a 1911 frame pistol made by a gunsmith down in Texas. After getting back from his first overseas tour Raylan had spent two months salary having the gun made to order, every single piece customized to his choosing. It had taken another two months to be built and for his next two tours he'd kept it in the front pocket of his plate carrier.
"Rook" Sheriff Whitehorse addressing him this time "I don't want you going in there looking for trouble." looking at the gun in his deputy's hand.
Raylan nodded as he slipped the gun back into it's holster "Just doing a check sir. I figure if I'm ready for it, there won't be any trouble." Giving his boss a small smirk.
"Just so we're clear, I want us going in there and back out as quiet and calm as we can. No need to escalate anything." Whitehorse said as they began to pass over top of the cults compound. As they began to land Earl Whitehorse made one last radio call back to the office "Nancy, if you don't hear from us in 15 minutes I want you to call in everyone you can, state police, the marshals, hell the damned national guard" The somber expression on the old lawman's face made it quite clear he didn't want to be here.
Raylan himself had more than a few apprehensions about this. When the Marshal had first come into the small building that made up their headquarters and spoken at length with Whitehorse in the former's office it already seemed clear that this was going to be serious. When the sheriff emerged and told them what they were going to do everyone had gotten pretty sober damn fast. Raylan had gone right down the hall to the weapons locker, strapping on a vest and taking a Ruger Mini 14 off the rack. He'd just been loading a couple magazines when Sheriff Whitehorse came up and asked him to leave all that behind, stating that extra long guns and vests would just put the Peggies (Project at Eden's Gate) on edge.
So as Raylan, Marshal Burke, Sheriff Whitehorse, Deputies Pratt and Hudson stepped from the chopper, only the Marshal had his vest on, because he refused to remove it at the sheriffs request, and only Hudson had been tasked with bringing a long gun, the Remington Police Magnum that rode in her cruiser. "Out of one war and into another" this time the new deputy said it out loud to himself as he trailed at the back of the group as they headed deeper into the compound around the church.
He had no idea how true those words would become.