=ZEUS: WILTED ROSES=
What did happen to the fabled Summer Rose? Her disappearance has no real answer, a body wasn't found, and the family just assumed she was dead. But one fateful stormy night while out on mission Ruby falls out of their transport into what the team believes the ocean below. What really happened is she fell into the one place where she might find some answers about her mother. Altis.
A/N I want to say this now, this is a test story, nothing here will correlate to any stories I will write in the future except maybe setting and techniques used. This is an Arma 3 Zeus hybrid in case you're wondering. For those of you that don't know, Zeus is a game mode that allows the player to spawn either limited or countless soldiers and equipment and control/command them. This story will contain a modified form of Zeus on the Republic of Altis and Stratis. Arma 3 and Zeus Game Mode are the property of Bohemia Interactive and RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth Animation.
Please Enjoy.
(EDIT 10/16) Story was heavily edited with Grammarly for better experience
Over the South Ocean
March 7th, 22:36 Hours
Rain pelted the front windscreen of the Bullhead as pilot and co-pilot trudged on through the storm which seemed to crop up out of nowhere. Lighting flashed in the thick dark clouds at random, their thunder rocking the vessel as it flew. In the back compartment sitting in the uncomfortable fold-out chairs was team RWBY, freshest graduates of Beacon Academy, looking exhausted after having just finished their latest mission on the southernmost tip of the Mistral continent.
While the Bullhead offered little to no comfort what-so-ever, the team was grateful it wasn't the cold hard ground again. Weiss had all but collapsed in her seat when they boarded and was out like a light, Yang was less graceful, sprawled out over two of the spaces as opposed to one.
Ruby and Blake were the only two up; Blake somewhat acclimated to the conditions they faced from her time in the White Fang and thus adjusted well to their sleeping arrangements on a mission. Ruby was just… Ruby. Her semblance and natural bounciness made it hard for her to keep still in one place and provided her with a little extra kick to stay awake. Both of them busied themselves with what they had.
Blake sat and read one of her books, eyes skimming the page at an incredible rate while Ruby took the time to clean and maintain her prized weapon. The storm they flew through adding a sort of ambiance to the scene with the rolling thunder and sound of rain over the engines, the aircraft occasionally jolting in the turbulence and rumbling din of the storm.
Everything was normal; nothing extreme or essential was going on, just the team getting a bit rest on their flight home before they would take a well-deserved break from mission going. And then suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the Bullhead and made it jolt so hard that Yang and Weiss woke up, the yellow themed girl falling from her 'bed' onto the floor with a yelp. An onboard alarm in the control console was blaring, and the pilots were doing their best to try and get a grip on the situation.
"What was that? What's going on?!" Weiss yelled at the pilots, dazed and confused after her rude awakening.
"We've been hit by lighting Miss Schnee; we're trying to bring the craft lower to avoid another strike."
Ruby, ever the so opportunistic one, tried to make light of the situation "Don't worry Weiss; I'm sure they have everything on control."
It was at this point that Murphy and his law decided to change that as another bolt struck the Bullhead, right on Ruby and Weiss' side with enough force to knock everyone out of their seats and concuss the co-pilot.
The magnetic release to the side door on that side of the craft malfunctioned in the surge of electricity, and so the door flew open in the winds, depressurizing the whole aircraft. The team screamed as they scrambled to hold onto whatever they could grab, Ruby not being as lucky as she slid across the floor towards her doom before her sister jumped to the other side and grabbed her arm just as she would've flown out the craft.
"HANG ON RUBY!" Yang yelled over the howling winds.
"SHUT THE DOOR! SHUT THE DOOR!" yelled Blake as her book flew out the opening into the inky blackness.
"I AM TRYING!" the only remaining pilot yelled back while he wrestled with his Bullhead, trying to regain control over the surge which more than fried many onboard systems.
Yang grunted and struggled to pull her sister in, her other arm wrapped around the seat Ruby sat in to lock her in place and keep her from flying out as well. Ruby was screaming and yelling trying to pull herself in on Yang's arm, Weiss doing her best to reach for her partner and pull her and Yang back inside.
But Murphy wasn't done, that was just the prologue, next came the crescendo. Crescent Rose, which had been lodged in its closed function between the seats, flew out in the wind and hit Ruby knocking her off Yang's arm.
"NO! RUBY! RUBY!" Yang's voice echoed.
Ruby screamed over the torrential winds and pouring rain to what she presumed to be a watery death in the ocean below. Naturally, her Aura activated as she fell, a reaction that was burned into her subconscious after years of training it, which would soften the blow enough for her to survive the fall but not swim the whole way to land.
Although Ruby did expect to hit the relatively softer surface of water she didn't. Her scream was cut short abruptly as her body smacked against something hard right on edge, so she continued to fall until she hit the dirt. Groaning from the impact which all but shattered her Aura, she tried to get back up only to fall back down, unconscious.
Military Patrol, near Neochori Altis
March 8th, 0921 Hours
On the very outskirts of northern Neochori, slowly rumbling down the highway was a desert colored military Hummer with a mounted gun. It was a standard military patrol for the area, intended to keep the peace and help local authorities, pretty average for the region they were in.
This patrol, in particular, was due to get off of rotation soon and the soldiers operating the massive machine were glad for it. Two hours of jumping from town to town in full battle rattle while in the sweltering heat of summer, even though it did rain, was not something any of the three soldiers wanted.
It was only nine in the morning and any of the puddles from last night's dense storm were already dried up, their remnants gone. It did make the driver's job easier, no pools to slip and slide on and so the ride was a lot smoother for them.
"So did you hear about Stratis?" The driver asked his shotgun companion.
The Grenadier private, Cole Hughes, turned from his view of the rolling land to look at his fellow private "You mean the disconnection? Yeah, I heard, the whole SatCom went down between us and our little sister island. Didn't we lose Malden too?" To which the driver shook his head "Nah, Malden is still up. Brass is calling it a total communication failure and is flying out a specialist to get a read on the problem. Least that's what I heard."
The Grenadier scoffed and chuckled "You hear everything Boon," he addressed the driver, a one Private Tyler 'Boon' Dogg "I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow knew where Zeus takes a shit each time." Cole said sarcastically. "In his house, right?" Boon innocently answered.
"Smartass."
"You know it." Boon shot back with a chuckle.
"You two sound like a damn married couple." Their patrol leader Corporal Tom Salt called from the mounted fifty calibers.
"Thanks, Corporal. But that makes your third wheel." Cole yelled out the window over the draft
"Ouch Private, that one stung," Tom said putting a hand over his heart in mock hurt.
"More than that last date when she slapped you?" Boon asked.
"Hey now, let's not bring your mom into this," Tom replied.
That got a loud round of laughing between all the soldiers in the Hummer. When the laughter died down, Cole returned to looking out the window as they passed by the decently sized town of Neochori and headed for the next. But just as they were going to clear the city, something caught the Grenadier's eye, enough for him to do a double take. "Stop the Humvee!" he called urgently, Boon got startled and slammed on the break as they swerved off the road almost.
"What is it?!" Tom asked from above "Backup to that construction site!" Cole almost yelled. Boon didn't want to argue and just threw the vehicle into reverse and slammed on the accelerator, driving the vehicle back "STOP there!" Cole yelled, and suddenly the Hummer ground to a halt again.
Cole was pointing to a figure on the ground, one he only just managed to catch a glimpse of. "Holy shit…" Tom said while Cole didn't waste time and jumped out of the truck, running over to the red-clad form.
Tom was first to follow, not bothering to crawl out the Hummer and just leaping out of the gun mount and hopping off the roof to the ground. He was quick to be by Cole's side, while Boon remained in the Hummer, grabbing the onboard radio.
"Break, break. Crossroads, Crossroads this is Foxtrot 7-7 outside Neochori do you copy? Over." he said in a calm yet urgent tone.
"This is Crossroads, over."
"We got a Whiskey Charlie North side of the city, Grid ref 124145. By the looks of her, she's a Tourist. Requesting immediate Medevac, how copy, over?"
"Read you five by five, Helo is being prepped, ETA eight minutes. Request you photo emblems if present and facial for the suits in the Tourist Dept. Copy over?"
"Solid copy Foxtrot out." Boon finished, clicking the radio back into place before rushing to meet his fellow soldiers as they examined the girl.
While Boon got on the horn to contact command, Cole was first to rush over to the prone girl and carefully flip her with the help of the Corporal. "Jesus Christ above, she looks like she fell out of a plane," Cole said looking at her state.
"I think she did," Tom said and pointed to a desolate piece of unfinished wall above them on the unfinished building stained by a splatter of blood.
"Oh my God… Tom, get the kit from the truck, I'll try and stabilize her with my FAK."
Tom nodded and rushed back to the rear of the truck and popped the hatch, looking for the combat medical kit that came standard with patrol vehicles. But just as Tom left him, the girl chose then to wake up and begin breathing quickly as her mind began to process the pain. He doubted she could see through the bloody dirt that was caked on her face, but Cole knew he needed to calm her or she could start thrashing around and potentially hurt herself more than she already was.
"Hey, hey, hey," he said in a calming tone even though he was trying not to panic as he had no experience in either advanced combat medical care or handling wounded civilians, aka Whiskey Charlies. He was, for lack of a better term winging it.
"I need you to calm down for me, please; I don't want you to hurt yourself any further. Do you understand?"
The girl whimpered a bit and tried to squirm, probably not even hearing him, to begin with, "Hey, come on now, calm down shhh. Everything will be ok." He tried stroking her dirty, matted hair to try and soothe her, and it worked to a degree.
She stopped squirming at least making it less stressful on Cole as he got out his small yellow First Aid Kit and began treating her to a degree, trying to stabilize her. Tom soon returned with the much larger and better equipped Medical Kit.
"Is she awake?!" He asked surprised, and Cole only nodded, taking her hand and squeezing it comfortingly "Lord above, the pain she must be feeling… it's amazing the shock didn't set in."
"Don't Jinx it, I'd rather her be awake, so we know we aren't just treating a corpse," Cole said.
Tom shook his head absentmindedly and began his treatment, being more experienced in combat medical care than his subordinate. As he did this, Cole did his best to calm the girl down to try and make treating her easier. While she was unconscious for however long she was, that was gone now, and she was beginning to panic as her natural instinct kicked into high gear. Cole offered her kind words and a hand to hold while Tom worked.
"Hey, listen, everything is going to be alright. Can you tell me your name?" Cole asked and received in turn. "R-Rr…Ru… R-Ruby…" the red themed girl managed to croak out in a harsh and beaten voice.
"Ruby. That's a nice name. Mine is Cole. Where are you from Ruby?" At this point, Cole was trying to take her mind off of the fact she could potentially be bleeding out right now. "P-P-P….P-Patch… V-V-V-Vale…." Ruby said. "Sounds like a nice place."
The back and forth went on for a while until they were interrupted by Boon who slid by Tom to relay the radio message "Bird's in the air, ETA Eight mikes. Cross wants emblems if she's got 'em, facial too so the TDs can see if they dig up something."
Cole looked to his comrade and back to the girl "Her name is Ruby," he gave her hand a light squeeze "I'll wash her face off for the picture, give me one of those bandages." Cole asked of the Corporal who handed him a clean-ish one, the blood on his hands staining the white cloth a bit. Cole took out some bottled water he was saving and popped the cap, pouring it over her face to clear the thin blood, using the bandage to clean the thick clotted blood.
With the veil of crimson lifted from her eyes, Ruby was able to see again and was able to see the face of the person she was talking to. The last thing she was expecting was a young man in a uniform she had never seen before, but her mind was more focused on the fact that she could see again, eyes twitching around looking at everything from the other slightly older man treating her to the building
beside them.
Cole looked into her silver colored eyes, natural and beautiful, but did not dally; he set the dirtied bandage and bottle aside and pulled out a Tac-pad. Snapping a quick picture of her face and, after a quick look at her outfit, the rose emblem on her belt and sent them to the Tourist Dept. for analyses. Once that task was complete he began to comfort Ruby again, getting her full attention while Tom did his work.
Unbeknownst to the Grenadier Private, the message he just sent to the TD would start a chain of events that would lead to the most world-changing event that Remnant has seen since the Great War.
Kavala Altis
March 8th, 0730 Hours (Two hours before Ruby is found)
The day was upon us, the sun already in the sky and the early risers of the city already bustling about like always, going to work or out in the harbor to bring back fish, an average morning to a typical day. But one man was still in bed, snoring rather loudly with much agape as he slumbered, undisturbed even as the sun shone its light directly on his face.
That is, he would have been undisturbed if the blaring noise of his bedside clock alarm decided to wake him, just as it did every morning.
The man's hand came down on the offending digital device and silenced it with a loud click, groaning as he was forced to finally get up despite having a slightly tiring day he had the day before when he was up late at night trying to figure out why contact was lost with his second island. Yes, his island.
The man that is currently sitting on the edge of his bed in boxers and a tee shirt rubbing the remaining drowsiness from his eyes was the commander and chief of the Atlas-Stratis Coalition, a man by the name of Marcus Harrison. Mark, as most of his close friends know him by, stood up from his bed and shuffled over the somewhat blandish looking bedroom to the large bathroom on one end of the room to complete his morning routine.
He looked at his tanned, young look in the mirror and the light seven o'clock shadow that covered his chin. Every morning he was amazed at himself in the mirror; despite being several centuries old, he was still young looking and fit as the average twenty-year-old. Perks of eternal life as he always said.
Diligently he shaved, showered, did his business (not in that particular order) and went to get dressed in a blue polo and khakis alongside his usual combat boots. Once he was dressed, he went downstairs to get ready for a meeting he was having in less than an hour, a formality between his heads of state and the Citizen Council leaders from around Altis.
When he reached the kitchen his housemate and personal guard, who merely went as Seth to everyone, was already making a quick breakfast of some simple omelets for the two of them. Mark sat at the dining table in the room uttering a simple good morning to the stout, older looking man that served him an easy omelet.
Mark quickly began to eat the meal while Seth and prepared his own meal which, for reasons Mark can still not fully explain, was an MRE like every morning. Mark knew few soldiers who would willingly eat the freeze-dried meals as regular meals, but he put his mind past it, there were more important things to think about. Like what was going to do to explain to the Civilian Council why contact with Stratis was lost yesterday. Mark couldn't really understand why SatCom was cut between the two islands and the Council was going to want answers why it happened, answers he didn't have.
He sighed as he finished half his meal "Jesus, I don't know what I'm going to do…" he said. Seth looked to his close friend, and commander "You're talking about the SatCom crash, aren't you." He stated more than asked, Mark only nodded with another sigh.
"Council is going to want answers about it, and we still don't know why. The system was built with fail-safes to prevent this sort of thing and not a single one activated." Mark said, "I just don't understand…"
"Maybe it was a power failure, not a system failure?" Seth offered, and Mark nodded
"I hope it's that simple. I'm more stressed that the Tech I sent didn't contact back yet about the problem, I need his opinion about the problem, so I have something concrete to take to the Council, especially the prick Cather, he'll ride my ass if I don't give him anything."
Seth nodded at the mention of the infamous Head of Community Infrastructure; the man had clinical OCD to a tee, and if anything went wrong in the system he got pissy about it. He would definitely be a pain in Mark's side.
"I guess I can deal with it for now… The tech'll call me when he's finished probably. Let's just bite the bullet and get it over with. Gear up, we're leaving in ten."
Mark quickly finished his meal along with Seth who promptly cleared up and went to get into uniform while Mark went to grab the necessities - ID Badge, Sidearm, a pocket knife, things he usually took with him every day. He left the house soon after, Seth already waiting in his guard uniform which consisted of a white polo with black slacks, black tactical vest, cap with a headset, and an AR15 rifle as a primary.
He and two other Guards in similar apparel walked to a motorcade and got aboard, the five-vehicle convoy starting its journey to the other side of Kavala to meet with all the Heads, the ride mostly silent save for small talk Mark made with Seth and his men. Some time passed, and they arrived outside the building where the meeting would be taking place.
Mark and his guards entered the building mentally preparing themselves for the trials they'd face today.
(Two hours and ten minutes later)
"Listen, Mr. Cather, for the last time, I have elected to take care of the issue with the SatCom relay myself and have already sent a specialist to take care of it," Mark said, repeating himself what must have been the umpteenth time that morning.
"That is not what I'm asking Chief Harrison, I'm asking what the problem with the relay was not how you intend to fix it. Will this happen again? Can we prevent it? I need details Chief Harrison so we can better avoid this in the future." Jonas Cather said in response. Mark wasn't the only one to sigh in exasperation, his Head of Defense and Head of Logistics both join him, with one actually facepalming at the Counselor's ridiculous obsession about it.
But by the grace of God, there was some sort of solace in this cluster fuck of a meeting, of course, nobody really expected it. One of Mark's guards burst into the room panting like he had run a marathon and gave a curt salute "At ease," Mark said in a worried tone "What is it, soldier? You look like Hell."
The soldier, unable to really speak as he was still trying to catch his breath just handed his superior a slip of paper with the Tourist Department's emblem printed in the lower corner of the page.
Mark just elected to read the paper as opposed to asking why the soldier had rushed to give him a report in the middle of a meeting, especially one from a place that usually handled affairs on their own. They had all the authority and means to their disposal to deal with any problem that may arise, so something like this was a far cry.
But as Mark read more and more of the document in his hand, the more and more his expression from surprise to outright shock. "When did you get this?" He asked urgently "It was sent over a few minutes ago." Mark turned to the rest of the people in the room "I'm sorry everyone but we are going to have to cut this meeting short, something more urgent has come up that requires my attention."
Before any of the men in the room could raise their voice in question, or in Cather's case complain, Mark was out the door, the man who delivered the note rushing to catch up with him. They both leave the building, two other Zeus Guards joining him. "Meeting done already Sir?" Seth, who was waiting by the motorcade outside, asked Mark.
"No Seth, something significant has come to my attention through the Tourist Department, and we need to leave immediately. Take us to the nearest Heliport and have a transport ready to take us wherever we need."
Seth didn't need to know anymore and just nodded, he wasn't about the question his superior, even if the two of them were close friends, to begin with. Seth opened the door to the SUV for Mark and got in the driver seat when Mark was seated; the other guards got in the other two vehicles of the motorcade.
Seth began to drive deeper into the heart of Kavala looking for a place which fits Mark's needs. Immediately the Hospital came to mind, the helipad there was vacant most of the time, all he needed was a bird.
Seth grabbed the SUVs on board Radio "This is Rolling Thunder to any loose air transport near Kavala Hospital, Zeus is in desperate need of a-" Seth continued speaking over the radio as they drove trying to requisition a craft. Mark tapped the shoulder of the soldier in shotgun "Get the SAT phone out of the glove box and get me the ATC at the International Airport, tell them it's urgent." The soldier didn't need more prompt and did as he was asked.
"This is Eagle Seven moving two teams for a training exercise on the 'Freedom' we are able to divert and re-task at Zeus's discretion, how copy over?"
"Read you clear Eagle Seven, re-task and meet us at the LZ on top of Kavala Hospital, out." Seth finished, clicking the handheld back into the set and refocusing on the road. Meanwhile, the soldier held the SAT phone out to Mark "It's the flight manager sir."
Mark nodded and took the phone, pointing the speaker down to his shoulder to block the listener from hearing "Seth, get back on the Radio and get the facility on the line. Tell them they have an incoming patient and to be ready for our arrival as well as theirs."
"Yes, sir." Seth picked up the radio and Mark got back to his SAT phone and got the Flight manager to switch the flight which would be transporting the patient to head to the other coordinates. The rest of the drive was like this, Seth on the radio organizing things and Mark on the phone getting people ready for their latest guest.
It was a slur of talking and giving orders, chatter on the radio filling the car with a certain buzz and the muffled voices on the phone adding to that, the only silent person in the message being the guard in shotgun who sat stoically.
Finally, after driving through the town center, they arrived at the Hospital parking lot and parked away from the ambulances and staff cars to not block them, people that were bustling along in the lot, some paramedics pushing a stretcher with a patient even slowing a bit to gawk at Mark's arrival. Mark and Seth disembarking with the other guard and heading to the exterior staircase to head up, the rest of the motorcade remaining where they parked to either wait for their commanders return or the order to stand down.
It only took a moment for everyone to begin hearing that telltale 'thump-thump' of the distant helicopter blades, the sound soon turning into a roar as the Blackhawk designated Eagle Seven quickly approached the landing pad and set down.
At the same time, the chopper landed, and a team of US Marines disembarked to make room, Zeus and his entourage went it to the roof and briskly made their way to the awaiting Blackhawk, the Marines saluting him as he passed.
Before Mark and the others boarded, he addressed the Team Leader "Take my SUV back to the motor pool and tell my mean to resume their normal duties, after you are relieved of duty for the day! Dismissed!" Mark had to yell over the sound of the helicopter. The Marine saluted, which Mark returned "Yes sir!" and with that, the team of four rushed off the roof.
Mark, Seth, and the other guard boarded the bird which quickly took off and began to move to its new objective. "Where are we heading sir?" the pilot asked over the PA "The Research Compound to the Northeast, a landing zone should be marked for you." Seth had answered.
The pilot only nodded and slightly altered the course of the flight, flying fast to account for the urgency in which the matter was portrayed. The speed at which they were traveling, they'd reach their destination in an only minutes time.
This gave Mark the chance to think briefly how he was going to handle the situation. I mean, it's not every day the child of your Priority Project drops from the sky.
(Fifteen minutes ago, airspace above Altis)
Cole was still holding the hand of Ruby as the chopper flew quickly to a nearby emergency care center where she'd be handed off. Cole was along to give a statement and relay her status upon his team's arrival.
The rest of his team stayed behind to wait for a cleanup and relief team that would sweep the site and clean up after the accident. But in all seriousness, Cole should have been with them, the whole relay of information thing could have been done later with the paperwork. Tom had granted him permission to tag along using the task as an excuse in case anyone asked questions.
Cole was happy his friend let him do this.
He didn't know why he felt like riding with the strange, semi-conscious girl, but he did it anyway. It was a gut feeling, and there is no sense in arguing with a gut feeling. Suddenly the entire craft jerked a bit to the right and leaned "Hey, what's going on?" Cole asked.
"Change of plans, Flight Manager told us to change course. Said it was a direct order from the top."
Cole was confused "Did they say who gave the ordered?"
"Yeah. Zeus, our Commander and Chief." Was the Pilot's reply. Cole was shocked at the news, why would Zeus want to get involved in such a matter, it was small in comparison to things he usually had to deal with. What about this situation made it so critical to such a person like their leader. Cole continued to ponder this as the bird flew Northeast towards its new destination.
Cole didn't know what to do, he was now caught in something he wasn't sure he could handle, and it could very well backfire in his face. I mean, Zeus, an actual god among men has gotten himself involved in this. What was Cole gonna do? Guess the simple Grenadier would just have to bite his tongue when the need comes and hope it turns out for him in the end.
After a short period, Cole could actually see the impromptu landing zone created by the soldiers of the sizeable looking base which Cole had only read about during training. It was some Research center that was the center of almost all technological advancement for Zeus's territories. From medical to advanced weapons, nearly all of it came out of there, the rest coming from a more extensive facility near the International Airport.
Cole still gripped the hand of the girl as the MEV Blackhawk set down and the side door was opened by one of the combat medics that arrived with the bird. They pulled the stretcher out with the help of the men on the ground, rushing it towards the gates of the facility, Cole still there doing his best to keep the girl from freaking out by keeping a familiar face nearby.
Soon, however, Cole had to step away and let the professionals do their work, the Private watching as the half-dozen combat medics and facility doctors pushed carried her into a large building, presumably for surgery or examination.
Just as she disappeared inside, Cole heard a very authoritative voice yell "You there!" Cole turned and the blood drained from his face upon seeing who called out. Zeus was there with his personal guards, and he was staring directly at him. Cole, instincts kicking in suddenly, snapped into a salute as opposed to openly sobbing at his bad luck. "Yes, sir!" The Private yelled out.
Zeus approached him until he was a few feet away "At ease Private. We're you the one to discover the Whiskey Charlie that was just taken inside?" he asked pointing to the building.
"Sir, yes sir!" Cole answered in his 'soldier voice' while sweating profusely and somewhat dying on the inside.
"Congratulations Soldier, You have just been promoted to Sergeant and are being reassigned."
"…What… sir?" Cole mumbled, severely confused.
"When that girl wakes up, I want her to be in familiar company. From what I saw when you got off the chopper holding her hand, you fit the bill. As such I'm assigning you to her as protective detail. You'll be given access to any resources and gear you want and have pick for your squad. I expect you and your new squad here before the Tourist is out of examination and treatment, ask the base Commander here-" Zeus gestured to an officer that was nearby "-for anything you need to get that done. Am I clear?"
"Crystal sir…" Cole said, still processing the fact he just got what essentially a field promotion by Zeus himself.
"Good," Zeus began to walk away "Oh, and well done handling the situation, you did very well from what I've seen so far. Keep up the good work, Sergeant."
Cole said nothing as Zeus turned again and walked off leaving Cole to stew in the new information he was just given…
His friends are not going to believe a single thing that just happened…