Chapter 17

"So, if it's making that noise, I pull this lever?" Techno asked as the lathe she was running started to rumble.

I nodded as she adjusted the feed rate.

She was picking it up quickly and I was almost certain she would be a fine machinist if she kept this up.

"Techno! Grease Monkey! Fall in!" I heard a voice call from the direction of the door way.

I glanced over to find Maniac standing by the door, looking like he was on a mission.

Yet again, he always looked like he was on a mission. I'm pretty sure the word 'relax' wasn't in his vocabulary.

"What's up Sarge?" Techno asked him, sounding cheery but I could tell there was something tense about her.

"Fall in." He told us. "We move out first light and I want the squad packed up and briefed before the hour is out."

"Move out?" Techno asked. "We have a mission? Already?"

"That a problem?" Maniac asked.

"No, Boss." She replied, using the same term Bomber had used earlier. "Just seams odd to call on the newest squad so soon."

"I volunteered us." Maniac replied. "We're RMM now. We're all here to fight so I don't see a reason not to just because we're new." He paused before asking. "Do you?"

"No, Boss." Techno answered. "Ready to move on your command, Boss."

Her reply was very professional but I could see the doubt behind her eyes.

Maniac let out a "Hmm" that sounded like it had a slight growl in it to me but he didn't say anything. He only turned and left the room.

Techno let out a sigh.

"I don't like this, but we should go pack." She told me and I nodded in agreement.

And so, it was later that night when Maniac gathered the squad.

"Alright, listen up." He said, standing in front of us and speaking in an all business tone. "We move out in the morning for a raid on a lab in Maine. This will be a weapons hot operation so I want full gear and weapons. Under stood?"

We all nodded as Stealth spoke up.

"One question." She said. "Engagement rules for the op?"

Maniac nodded to her as he said "Like I said, its weapons hot. But as far as our objectives go, we will infiltrate via air drop and sweep the building. Bomber's team will move to secure the main office and extract as much intel as possible from their computers as Stealth's team will move to the kennels and free as many experiments as possible. Once both goals are accomplished, we will demolish the building." He paused. "I can't overstate the importance of this operation, not only to the RMM but to the mutants in the lab. We've all been in their shoes so I know I don't have to explain to you what their going through. We do this right and they will have a chance to be free." He looked around, making eye contact with all of us. "During the mission, they are the VIPs. We all signed up to fight and accepted the risks involved, they didn't." He paused again. "Stealth, when we hit, we hit hard. Keep your team moving and secure the VIPs before the Bark-breaths can."

Stealth nodded, a determined look on her face.

"Got it, Boss." She told him, turning to Gunny. "Think you can take Slash and draw the Bark-breaths away from the kennels?"

Gunny smirked at her.

"Sounds like fun." He commented as I got a mental image of him laughing manically while firing a machine gun as the building burned around him.

I shot Techno a nervous glance as she shot one at me as well.

"Just lead them away, Gunny." Stealth said firmly. "Try not to go too overboard with it." She then turned to Slash. "Keep him in check will ya?"

He nodded and asked "What about you?"

"I'll lead Doc and Speedy to retrieve the VIPs."

"Scout, Grease Monkey, and I will plant the explosives and secure ground exfil vehicles for the non-flying VIPs while Techno and Talen search the office." Bomber said, addressing his fire team. "Sound good to you boss?" He added, addressing our Sargent.

Maniac pondered the plan for a moment before nodding.

"The Kennels will be the most defended so I'll assist Stealth's team." Maniac said. "So, get some rest, we leave early tomorrow." With that he turned and left the room.

There was a tense silence once he left. No one wanted to point out the elephant in the room but it hung over us like a rain cloud. The cold and dark truth that we were willingly going back to a lab tomorrow. It was true that we were armed and going to be fighting back but most of us had never done anything but run in fear at the thought of a lab. The only one who would try and fight them before now was Maniac, but his name says it all.

I turned to Techno, who was fiddling with a small devise that looked like a large smart phone or a small tablet.

She paused and tensed, as if feeling my gaze on her. Looking up from the gadget, she visibly relaxed.

"What's up?" She asked, placing the devise on a table to her right.

I looked at the blueprints of the lab on the table and then back to her.

She sighed.

"Yah." She said, turning to the table and leaning over it, supporting her weight with her arms as she stared intently at the prints. "This whole thing has my head spinning." She shook her head and chuckled darkly. "We're actually going to attack a lab tomorrow." She looked up at me. "A lab full of whacko scientists and Bark breaths."

I nodded in agreement, the memory of how easily they killed Jess and Jag. The looks in their eyes as they died. I never wanted to see that again. But here I was. I was RMM now. True, I was only really here to find the bastard who killed Jag but I was still with people who were pretty nice to me and I didn't want them to die.

Scenarios played out in my head of calls for help over the radio as they died. Running as fast as I could only to arrive too late to help. The one that scared me most was Techno on the floor, her throat in the teeth of a savage bark breath.

I tried to shake the thought but I couldn't. I think the sleep I had that night was the worst I had in years.