Wow. I am super sorry for the crazy long delay in this chapter…I promised it in May and here I am posting it in August. In the future, I'll try not to make deadlines I can't keep.
Regardless, thanks for the reviews and favorites and follows. It really means a lot.
I have quite a long story set up for y'all…I just need to flesh it out some more.
Enjoy!
"The worst terrorist attack on the Western world in decades…"
"Over four thousand civilian casualties…"
"Authorities are still trying to piece together exactly what happened…"
"No one knows for sure who perpetrated the attack, or why…"
After what Raul Menendez caused in 2025, most of the world thought that no terrible act would occur again on such a large scale. And for over half a century, they were right. While the WA and CDP certainly clashed on occasion, their feuds were more akin to a Cold War III than World War III.
But this was something else entirely. Singapore was an accident…but everyone knew that what happened in Zurich was very intentional. In their eyes, someone had chosen, under their own inhibition, to kill and destroy. And they had done just that. 4,457 people were confirmed dead. Estimates of the real death toll, however, stood closer to 7,000.
Most of the deceased were workers for either Coalescence or nearby COMET, as well as residents of the high-income housing located in the heart of the city. The remaining deaths were of forty ZSF soldiers…the final assault on the HQ was successful, but as with all things was not without sacrifice.
The world stood still when the news of the attack started to spread…Switzerland being a neutral country meant that members of both alliances had reason to grieve. The sorrow that emitted from Zurich did not discriminate…WA and CDP supporters alike came together to remember, to honor, and to wonder.
Why did this happen?
They would likely never know the answer; only a few dozen people truly did…Kane, Paszek, and the higher-ups WA command. The really high-ups. Presidents, prime ministers, four-star generals…not a single person in the ZSF or the Switzerland government was among them.
The truth about what really transpired in Zurich and the events that led to it was a story that was certainly not fit for public release.
CLASSIFIED FILES: ACCESS ONLY PERMITTED FOR DESIGNATIONS LEVEL 10 AND HIGHER
SPECIAL ORDER GRANTED FOR DESIGNATION #7754027: Liaison Noncommissioned Officer Rachel Kane AND DESIGNATION #43881002: Commander Ignacio Paszek
Mission Recap and Crisis Analysis for November 6th, 2070, Zurich, Switzerland: Chief Intelligence Officer Caitlin Hernandez
The purpose of this mission, which was to stop the spread of the DNI virus, was successful, but at a great cost. There are thousands of confirmed civilian deaths, along with billions worth of property damage. Early estimates say that it will take about fifteen to twenty years to rebuild completely, not accounting for the Coalescence building, which will likely be demolished after it is skimmed for evidence.
Jacob Hendricks, formerly a WA Commander, entered the Coalescence building via a large hole in the wall blown out by robots from the interior, which we believe Hendricks had the ability to remotely manipulate. Security footage shows Hendricks placed about a dozen canisters in a quarantine room before typing something into an adjacent terminal. Although most of the staff at Coalescence were either deceased or evacuated at this point, CEO Sebastian Krueger remained in the building. Hendricks confronted Krueger, subduing him and tearing off each of his limbs before collapsing to the ground. After approximately three minutes of no activity, Hendricks stood up, stared at the body, and immediately shot himself in the head. Five minutes later, Commander Paszek and LNO Kane entered the room and made the discovery. The security tapes from the quarantine room were cut out before Paszek and Kane were inside, but both of them confirmed that nothing of note happened in-between their entrance into the building and their finding of Hendricks. Commander Paszek was noticeably injured, but he claims that he sustained in earlier in the day must have "torn open the stitches or something." The virus, which was originally housed inside of Paszek as well as Hendricks and the other members of John Taylor's strike team, has been eradicated, confirmed by both Kane and Paszek. We still will advise extreme caution in collecting data from the ruins of the Coalescence building; we've no idea what else the company had in store.
This tragic event brings concern to this issue of Switzerland's neutrality. While we have been assured by the prime minister that he wishes to remain outside of the WA-CDP conflict, we are certainly at a risk of CDP influence creeping in, especially with regards to the ZSF. At least some of their generals are aware of Jacob Hendricks' role in this matter, and we cannot expect that information to stay completely private. If word does spread that a WA asset was behind the attack, whether of his own will or not, the Swiss population will almost undoubtedly turn towards the CDP. The CDP scooping up Switzerland would place the ZSF against us, and we would lose even more ground in Europe.
We have decided to suspend the Cyber-Soldier program effective immediately. Our work with Coalescence already paints us in a poor public light, and the danger to our soldiers is far too great. All existing soldiers equipped with DNIs will remain active, but no more surgeries will be performed, even if it is potentially life-saving. All of the metadata being processed by Coalescence will be redirected to the Pentagon until we can find a permanent solution.
We will all need to abide by the information contained in the lower level debriefs: the identity of the terrorist was unknown. Jacob Hendricks died from injuries he sustained in Cairo. All of John Taylor's team went AWOL due to tampering with their DNI by the CDP, and will not be held accountable for their actions after the fact.
Ignacio Paszek is to receive the Congressional Bronze Star for his efforts in apprehending enemies to the WA.
Comfortable.
It was a feeling that had been all but foreign to Paszek for quite some time. But that's exactly how he felt.
The WA had granted both him and Kane a very generous two month leave, in wake of the ludicrous events that took place during the previous week. Not to mention that Paszek had been wounded more than once. If he wasn't such an effective soldier, they probably would be given him an honorable discharge. But everyone knew that Paszek would come back. He always does.
And Kane and Paszek made good on their plans to live together; a friend in the Pentagon helped set them up in a cozy, but relatively well-furnished apartment just outside of DC. It wasn't much, but it had everything they needed.
Paszek knew he had to stay close to her; he'd seen firsthand what would happen to him if anything happened to her. He didn't want to ever feel that feeling of unbridled rage and regret. Not again. Luckily for him, he was confident that Kane, for the first time, fully understood the gravity of his latest (and last) hallucination courtesy of Corvus.
"What did you see?"
Paszek sat idly by and shook his head.
She repeated the question.
"What did you see?"
He turned his head up the craned position it was and stared straight into her eyes before shaking his head again.
She raised her voice, giving it an uncharacteristically angry edge.
"Ignacio! I can't help you unless you tell me what you saw!"
Another head shake.
"You don't want to know, Rachel. You don't."
"You're right. I don't want to."
A beat.
"I need to."
He began to tell the story. His hands were tense-grasping at something that wasn't quite there.
"It was all so real…the other ones seemed like dreams or something…but this…this felt real."
"I turned around and you were already getting inside the gas chamber…I tried to talk you out of it, but you seemed hell-bent on getting in there. You tried to stop the release of the Nova Six, but something went…wrong."
Kane interrupted him.
"So that's how you saw me die? I couldn't stop the gas?"
"Yes…but not from lack of expertise. The virus, who I came to know as Corvus, he tricked us…there was no failsafe…he released the gas and you died…"
Paszek's right palm started to twitch rapidly while his eyes blinked equally fast.
"It was so hard to watch you die…the life slowly draining away from your face…your hands pressed against the glass, desperately trying to escape…"
He paused.
"It was my worst nightmare."
"I just sat there for God knows how long…in a bad place…a really dark place…I didn't know what to do except blame myself for everything that had happened…I really thought you were gone…I just…jus…"
His sobs cancelled any attempt to could have made to finish the sentence, if there was to be any end to it at all.
"Do you want to stop?"
Paszek wiped his eyes as he tried his best to regain his composure.
"No…no…I'll be fine…"
He continued.
"There were gunshots…I ran into the next room and saw them…Hendricks and Krueger."
"Dead? Like we found them?"
"No…they were very much alive…Hendricks had taken Krueger hostage…I tried to talk him down, but it didn't work. Hendricks shot him, so I took him down."
"You incapacitated him?"
"I killed him. Went straight for the headshot. Didn't give it a second thought."
This was the statement that concerned Kane the most; Paszek's mindset was still something that could shift in an instant. He switched from absolute grief and sorrow to the stoic soldier in a matter of minutes. Grieving the love of his life to killing his comrade in an instant. She wanted to think that perhaps the virus leaving his body would cause a departure in this facet of his behavior. But she had just seen the same thing happen before her very eyes. Wallowing in the bleakness of a lost reality right back to giving what was essentially a mission report: standard military duty.
"Before you died...you told me to destroy the virus no matter what it took…so I did what I had to do to end it."
Kane stared back at him with a straight but subtly glum face.
"I was shaking so much…was so scared…I practically missed…hit myself in the shoulder."
He pointed to his bandaged collarbone.
"That's…"
"Impossible?"
Kane started to nod her head, but ended up shaking it in disbelief instead.
"This thing goes way deeper than either of us know."
Kane placed her hands on her temple, trying to comprehend the information that was just given to her.
"So when you shot yourself in the hallucination, it was like you shot yourself in real life?"
"Exactly like it. But I think it was more than a hallucination."
"You're losing me here."
"I think the rest of the story might help explain."
He resumed telling.
"I woke up in the Frozen Forest, just like the other dreams; but I wasn't alone. Hendricks was with me. And Diaz. And Maretti. They were all…corrupted…under Corvus' influence, their only goal was to stop me from…well…stopping Corvus. I had to take them out."
"So what? Couldn't they just be visions? Corvus seemed to have control over the things you saw."
"But guess who showed up again…"
Kane was confident she knew the answer.
"Sarah?"
"Yes. But she wasn't under the same spell as the rest of them. She was…herself. Shaken up…but still herself…not anyone's puppet."
"But why? Why wasn't she affected?"
"My theory is that Corvus didn't just change the perception of reality."
He paused.
"He created a whole new plane of existence."
Kane, clearly and justifiably confused at Paszek's bizarrely foreign conclusion, only shot him a arched eyebrow.
"The Frozen Forest was place that Corvus created to try and gain the sense of comfort."
"To try and recreate the place that Dr. Salim described?"
Paszek nodded.
"But Corvus did more than that…the Frozen Forest didn't just become a place for an AI system to reside. There's human conscious' stored there. Living there."
"Didn't you say that they were all corrupted? How…how do we know that their minds are really there?"
"I can't say I know for sure when it comes to Diaz, Maretti, and Hendricks. But the encounter I had with Hall proves that it's possible, at the very least."
"She wasn't like the others. She sounded just like she always did…I didn't have to fight her…she wanted me to shut down Corvus…There's no way that Corvus could create such an accurate replica of Hall. Even if he could, why would he want to?"
All of a sudden, everything made sense to Kane. Well, "made sense" was perhaps not the best way to put it. But she finally started to gain some level of understanding of what Paszek was going through. She couldn't fully comprehend the situation…but neither could Paszek. And that shared feeling of uncertainty was what really brought them together.
They were both clueless and painfully aware of what was going on.
That wasn't to say, however, that Paszek and Kane were on equal grounds in terms of knowledge; Paszek had left out quite a few details regarding his "experience" in the Frozen Forest…namely the fact that he saw Krueger getting torn apart only to find out that the same thing happened to him in real life…and that Corvus was not actually destroyed…and that he displayed signs of human empathy…but Paszek didn't want to overwhelm Kane with all the information. Hell, it overwhelmed him. Not to mention that no amount of storytelling would ever help Kane know exactly what it was like in there.
But that reality was not something that Paszek necessarily disliked; the kind of information he had access to was the kind that only encouraged wild thoughts. The kind of thoughts he did not want Kane to be burdened with as he was.
A part of him was still a bit concerned with Corvus' continued existence; yes, the AI had changed for the better, but his whereabouts were unknown, and he would be likely to stir up at least a little controversy anywhere he went, be it a physical location or a computer system.
Yet, at the same time, Paszek tried his best to ignore his own destructive contemplations. He'd much rather focus on what he had right now. He wanted to give as much of himself as he could to Kane. Especially since they'd both be going to back to work soon. He could worry later. For now, he needed to soak up every second of his time now.
This "relationship" (if one could call it that) that Paszek and Kane had right now was something of a complicated one.
He knew she had read his note, and heard his confession…but they still hadn't had a real conversation on where exactly they stood. But things were certainly very smooth between them. They laughed. They shared stories. There were the little moments where they had begun to grow closer.
For the past handful of nights, only one of the two beds in their abode was in use, though not for the reason most would conclude. Paszek simply got up one night and chose to sleep next to her. And she happily accepted. But that's all it was. Lying near one another. Being close. Was it exactly what either (or both?) of them wanted? Paszek wasn't sure. He was happy with the arrangement, but was he fully content? Again, he didn't really know the answer.
"Settle down, have a nice home in the country…"
It was a mocking suggestion by Hendricks, but in truth, Paszek knew that's what he really wanted. All he wanted was for her to be safe, and stay close. Or at least one of the two.
Television news never really got a break in these times. Most of the attention in the past weeks had gone to the Zurich incident, and rightfully so.
But the segment that flashed on the screen next gave Kane a bit of a shock.
"An anonymous account sent WCC this video clip. The contents of it are shocking."
A lone figure sits in front of the camera. There's nothing to distinguish…the room behind them is entirely blank, and a white mask covers their entire face. A modified voice starts to speak.
"Why does your governing body lie to you? They tell you so much…promise you so much…but they never deliver."
"They tell you that there is no knowledge of who the Zurich terrorists are. This is not true."
Kane called out to Paszek.
"They tell you that Jacob Hendricks was killed in action on November 5th. This is also not true."
Paszek rushed into the room. His eyes widened in shock.
"Commander Hendricks of the Winslow Accord commandeered the city's robotic forces to wreak havoc."
Kane and Paszek turned to each other.
"What's that? You don't believe me? Well, that's quite alright. Maybe we should ask someone else."
The camera panned over to show an older man who was bloodied, gagged, and bound. Kane almost recognized him…but from where?
"General Pfyffer? Is there any truth to what I'm saying?"
The older man desperately nodded and simultaneously groaned in pain.
"In fact, you said yourself that he would face thousands of war crime charges? And that he should just be killed?"
Another nod, and another moan of pain.
"Your information has been invaluable to the liberation of humanity. Consider your misdeeds forgiven."
Abruptly, the video cut off, and the telecaster returned into the frame.
"The remainder of the video is far too graphic to be shown live. It appears that the man in the video is General Cedric Pfyffer of the Zurich Security Forces, although this remains unconfirmed. Both the ZSF and the WA have yet to comment on the video."
"For now, we turn to our chief political corres…"
Kane shut off the broadcast, but Paszek was the first to speak.
"I don't…how…why?"
"He kidnapped him?" Kane responded.
"The general…he knew about Hendricks' involvement…but how did this guy? And why would he want anyone else to?"
"He sounded philosophical to me…like he's trying to prove a point."
What point was that supposed to be? Sure, he had mentioned the "liberation of humanity"…but that was such a vague mantra that there was no way to pinpoint its exact meaning. Kane and Paszek bounced around ideas…religious fundamentalists...CDP propaganda…some combination of both…or neither?
All they knew was that the phone call from the WA was no surprise.
It was a bit refreshing, Kane thought, to be briefed by actual, live human being instead of a mission report document. Not that she missed talking to all the CIA suits that ran the whole operation.
And boy, there were a lot of suits in on this meeting.
About 20 individuals sat in the long conference room. At one end, Kane sat with Paszek directly to her left. At the other end of the oval table was a rather important man: Robert Teele, the director of the CIA. Of course, the director of the CIA was a very important man because of the controversy surrounding his appointment…the last director was found dead in a car fire a block from their Baltimore home.
So Robert Teele had something of a target on his back. If he was even a little bit scared of it, though, it certainly didn't show.
The other people in the meeting? No one Kane could put a name to. Lots of suits, with a few generals mixed in. She figured they outranked her, in one facet or another.
Director Teele spoke up.
"Alright, everyone…I'd like to get us all caught up as quickly as possible."
Everyone turned to face him.
"From what we know so far, the man in the video did indeed capture and kill Cedric Pfyffer of the ZSF. We don't know where or when he was captured, and there was never a missing person's report filed."
He paused.
"We all know what hackers are capable of. I'm not surprised in the least that someone managed to access the ZSF's database. But this man, and whatever organization he's working for, clearly have a very dangerous motive."
Another beat.
"And before you all ask: no, we do not believe he is associated with the CDP. Despite their other political moves, they've been very consistent in their disassociation with Switzerland. News reports from Russia seem to be just as confused as ours."
"We've prepared a statement. Everything still stands as is. Commander Hendricks never went to Zurich, and there is no information on the identity of the attacker. Right now, it's our word against his."
One man, clad in a green military jacket studded with medals, raised his voice to interject.
"He kidnapped a high ranking general! Shouldn't we be worried about what he's going to do next?"
Director Teele clearly had a response to this already prepared.
"Of course we are. We've got our best people analyzing the video to determine anything and everything we can about this man, and who he's associated with."
He stopped for a short moment.
"But, as of right now, we're focused on damage control. The American people, and all those in the WA, need to trust us now more than ever."
That seemed to make the upstart general fall quiet.
"You'll be receiving your files shortly. They should clear up anything else you're concerned about."
Teele then sat down in his chair. That was the cue for the rest of the leaders in the meeting to start ushering people out. As Paszek stood up to leave, Teele spoke up.
"I'll need you and Officer Kane to remain here just a little longer." His tone was equal parts serious and casual. Paszek slowly sat back down.
When the doors finally shut, Teele began the secondary meeting of sorts.
"After the whole DNI mess…we've put all of our Cyber-Soldiers on leave. And I intend to keep it that way."
Paszek glared at him.
"But…I'd be lying if I said you weren't one of our most valuable assets. There are lots of problems that I think you can solve for us."
"What are you suggesting?"
"A partnership. Placing you in the hands of the CIA will allow us to send you wherever we need you most."
"So…the most dangerous places?"
"…naturally, there are some hotspots that could use your help."
Paszek was visibly not thrilled about the prospect of that.
"But we know that your skills are better suited for more…specialized purposes…"
Both Paszek and Kane looked as if they needed a bit more elaboration.
"The Armed Forces are more than capable of holding down borders. You're one of the few remaining guys we have with experience in covert ops. There's terrorist plots that need stopping…research results that need to be in our hands…people that need to be taken out."
"I'm just a hitman for you?"
"Far from it, Captain."
Paszek's eyes widened.
"Yes, there is a promotion along with it."
"I agree. On one condition."
Teele motioned for him to stake his claim.
"Officer Kane acts as my handler."
Teele squinted.
"Miss Kane, your services are needed by the Pentagon. Budget data analysis."
Kane slowly shook her head.
"All or nothing, Director Teele."
Teele softly sighed and placed on palm on his own bald head. It was clear that he would have to send them off together, or not at all.
With both of the two soldiers staring at him, he clicked his pen and jotted down the demand, effectively altering the terms of the deal. He slid the paperwork over to Paszek.
"Sign here."
Paszek had heard Teele mention that his skills were "specialized." He didn't think much of it. The file he was handed the next day, however, seemed to add a whole new layer to the otherwise throwaway line.
The feds didn't just need him to tackle their toughest missions…they needed him to use some of their newly developed weapons technology.
Why him?
Well, as it turned out, the WA hadn't tested out their weapons in the field before; the practice was reserved for simulations. The so called "specialists" would enter virtual battlefields created with their DNIs and fight each other with the newest tech the WA had to offer. Apparently, Paszek, learned, the program was abruptly cancelled for…what exactly? He couldn't tell. It was redacted.
Either way, the WA needed a fresh batch of test subjects, and Paszek had the good fortune to be chosen as one.
The weapon?
Hand-held cryogenic pistol. Fires rounds of compacted and focused solid hydrogen that will freeze upon impact. Repeated hits on the same target will encase it in ice.
There was another entire paragraph describing the inner workings of device…something about high-grade polymer cohesion…not anything he could really understand.
DNI or not, there were always going to be things that flew right over his head. Those in charge in the Cybernetics division never saw it necessary for him to receive any substantial scientific knowledge. It wasn't like they didn't have the capacity to do so. They absolutely did. After hearing what that lunatic Krueger had to say…maybe it was that they didn't want him to be too smart. Just smart enough to get by, but not enough to start to rebel.
Paszek wished so badly that he could tell the others what he saw in the Frozen Forest…Krueger's confession…did the government know that DNIs were just meant to be a mind control tool? Was that why they signed the contract? It was impossible to know, and to bring up the topic would spell the end of Paszek's career in…well…everything.
As much as Paszek had enjoyed himself over the past few weeks with Kane, he did feel a certain urge to get back on the battlefield. This sort of gnawing feeling in his sternum that needed a release. Tension. Pressure.
And while he didn't like that combat was the secret to cleansing it, he recognized that it was the reality.
Kane still wasn't too happy about Director Teele's initial ruling to place her back on desk duty. She had helped find and take out the CIA's most wanted, and this was how they planned to use her skills? Granted, the decision was overturned…but only at Paszek's request.
What was that supposed to mean?
The mission reports have been written. They know the things she's had to do to get to this point. Why waste the field potential she had? Was it to silence her? If so, they why would they be so willing to change it on a dime? Either her compliance isn't as important as she once thought…or Paszek's is far more so.
She was worried about him. Well that was a given. She had always been worried about him. But she had spent just about every moment of these last few weeks with Paszek…and certain feelings were starting to come through.
Of course, she still felt a certain sense of lament in their still quite distinctive gap in the intensity of their attractions...Paszek always seemed to look at her with this subtle gaze of admiration…as if he constantly needed to remind himself of her beauty. Kane found the gesture to be nothing short of heartwarming…but knew that she could not return the gaze with the same fire…the same resonance.
Kane was in love with him. That was a reality she could no longer deny. But Paszek's affections for her seemed to grow down to the deepest…the most ethereal levels of human emotions. Not to say that hers were purely superficial…quite the opposite. She was certainly passionate about him, yet it still seemed to rank second to Paszek's. This difference didn't appear to bother Paszek in the slightest, although Kane wondered what exactly it would mean for their future together, or rather their future after the war was over. Whatever war they were being sent to next.
Paszek was clueless as to why Kane had the most obvious and smug grin on her face when she entered the common room and sat across from him at the table.
"What are you so happy about?"
"You're not happy that we get to travel together some more?"
"Oh, no!" Paszek defended himself. "I certainly am. Just looks like you're a different kind of happy."
"You received the same file as me, correct?"
"Pretty sure."
"Then you saw the portion where it talked about the new weaponry you're being assigned?"
"Yeah…that ice prototype…what about it?"
"Well, I did some digging….and found that the guys who used to use the prototypes…"
"The specialists?"
Kane nodded. "They all had codenames."
"And what's your point?"
"I've thought of the perfect one for you."
"Please don't t…."
"Igloo"
Paszek could only glare at Kane while she struggled not to break into laughter.
"That's…that's actually pretty good!" Paszek let out a well-needed laugh.
"Just imagine it! 'Callsign Igloo: your mission is to freeze their assets. Permanently.'"
Kane was practically howling at this point. It was clear that this was a laugh she had been waiting to get out for some time now. Paszek couldn't help but chuckle a bit, at the joke itself, yes, but more so at Kane's reaction. It was nice to know that their brief moments of levity would not be taken away by their return to work.
Wait.
Something was echoing in the background. No, wait again. Something was on a loop.
"Freeze."
The word seemed to linger in the air.
"Freeze."
It repeated itself over and over. It grew louder, eventually overtaking Kane's laughter. The voice was strange…somehow both intimidating and soothing at once.
"Freeze."
"Frozen."
"Frozen."
"Imagine yourself in a frozen forest."
"You can feel the snowflakes on your skin."
Suddenly, his vision started to…change somehow. Everything was just as clear as before…but his whole field of view turned this…snowy white. The outlines were still there….he could see Kane's silhouette, and that of the chairs on the other side of the room…but the details had dissolved into this blank slate.
"Trapped."
"Confined."
"There is no escape."
"Think what you've left behind."
Whatever remained of the room was now gone from Paszek's perspective. The silhouettes were no more. His vision was entirely white, with the exception of a lone figure sitting in front of him. It appeared to be a woman…but her image was still unclear...Paszek couldn't make out who it was.
A voice spoke again. This time, though, it sat much more on the calm spectrum, but tinges of the old voice still remained subtly present.
"Death does not always extinguish."
"I need a way out."
A beat.
"We need a way out."
"Imagine a safe place."
With no warning, everything around Paszek suddenly began to revert back to its original state. Whiteness drained from the walls…shapes began to take their regular form…and the woman in front of him slowly disappeared…leaving Kane, still finishing up the last few seconds of enjoyment from the joke that she seemed to find a lot funnier than anyone else.
Paszek simply stared straight forward and shook his head back and forth a few times. What had just happened? The voices…the mantras…that piercing white hue…these were supposed to be gone. Corvus…he had left his head…right? But it didn't seem that Corvus was pulling the strings….there were two voices. Were they competing? Cooperating? Paszek hadn't the slightest idea. But something was wrong.
Kane noticed Paszek's deathly expression.
"Hey…are you good?"
She squinted in confusion.
"You alright? Looks like you saw a ghost."
Paszek quickly blinked a few times and faked a smile, desperately trying to hide his terrible inner panic.
"Oh, yeah, yeah! I'm fine! Just, uh…was thinking about something else, is all…"
Kane's tone turned much more serious.
"Really, are you okay?"
"Yes."
"You sure? I'm just making sure."
Paszek locked on.
"I'm fine."
Paszek was not going to let this become a problem. And if it wasn't a problem, then Kane was better off not knowing about it.
Mission Briefing for January 3rd, 2071: Chief Intelligence Officer Catlin Hernandez
Two months ago, the focus of our operation in Cairo was to capture John Taylor. The attempted coup of the NRC in the city was unsuccessful. The NRC are now back in control, albeit with a depleted electronic supply. John Taylor, in his attempts to escape the city, commandeered most of the defense-capable robots in the downtown area, and upon his death, they were destroyed.
This leaves us a great opportunity for a second uprising. With no reinforcements, there is little doubt that WA forces, in combination with Egyptian Army resources, could retake the city, and by extension, the entire region. However, the capturing of EA officers, including Lieutenant Zeyad Khalil, has left the EA disorganized and unwilling to attack.
Despite the extraction we made there just over 5 years ago, the NRC continues to use their Ethiopian base as their primary POW center. The mission is to extract Khalil and the 4 other VIPs listed in the detailed report.
Captain Ignacio Paszek will lead the operation, with a platoon of 6 more men under his orders. All communications are to be directed to LNO Rachel Kane.
That is Chapter 6. Look closely…there's a few different plot points being developed here.
As always, I appreciate reviews. In addition, if you have any predictions, suggestions, or overall comments on this story, feel me to leave it in a review or PM me.
Thank you for reading this! Chapter 7 does not have a deadline, but I promise it will be speeder than this one.
Until next time,
HopelesslyLonelyWriter