It's been almost two months since my last rewrite chapter, so here's a quick update: I started to hang with an old friend from high school. Hopefully it goes somewhere, as we both seem interested, but at the same time I'm a little anxious that shit will go south quick. Started to stream on Twitch, which is something I've wanted to do for years, but didn't know how to get started or if I'd even be good at it. All in all, it's a good life, I can't complain…
The Ranger
A sharp buzzing broke me from my slumber. Shifting to my back, I stretched to the 'four posts' of the bed. I slapped the snooze button to the old alarm, which read 3:01 when I looked at the small device. I raised up from the bed, then shut the alarm off. I cracked my neck, then moved to the bathroom. Once there, I stripped down and got into the small shower. The shower was relatively small, and completely cramped, as I turned the water on. I was completely used to cold showers, and this wasn't much of an exception. The water remained cold for the three minutes that I cleaned myself from the sweat and grime of the workout that clung to my body.
After the three minutes was up, I dried myself off and walked to the mirror. My stubble was grown in beyond the five o'clock level. I decided, seeing as I was going on a plain cloths operation it would be best to not shave for the day. I moved back to the bedroom, hoping that there was clothing that would fit me. When I opened the dresser drawers, I groaned to see only more uniforms. Then a thought occurred, 'Why did I get a set of red from the QM when there were more right here?'
I shook the thought from my head, as I dressed in my new outfit. It didn't itch as much, but I could tell it'd been a short while before anyone had worn these. I walked out into the living room, which was dark at the moment. 'Guess he's asleep,' I thought to myself. I moved to the kitchen and flicked the light on, pulled out a couple slices of bread from a loaf, and found that the surfaces held no toaster. Thinking back to the original Blues Brothers, I'd lit the stove and cooked the bread slowly on both sides. I ate the toast over the sink, which held the dishes from the night before. I sighed, and realized what type of roommate that Zack was. I almost felt bad for the guy, if he wasn't cleaning his plates when he dirtied them, then he'd have a terrible time attempting the same with a spouse or girlfriend. I grabbed the scrub brush, and washed the plates that he'd made, then checked the clock on the stove. It read 3:40, which was a tad early to do much at this hour of the morning.
I moved to the living room and spotted the book case. I moved over and skimmed through the titles of the books he had on the shelf. Many were military instruction manuals for cleaning and maintaining swords, a ShinRa manual, a couple sightseeing books, and so much more military information. I sighed at the amount of boring materials, but selected the maintenance book. I skimmed through the chapters, but found that it was nothing more than hammering home that a clean weapon was worth more than a bloodied weapon. I set the book down in about ten minutes, knowing that I'd glean no useful information from it. I moved to put the book back, when I heard Zack's alarm go off.
I sat on the couch, wondering if he actually wakes up at the first call, and pondered whether or not to turn the T.V. on. When I heard some hefty footfalls, I figured he was awake, so I pressed a button on the remote near the couch. I flipped through some channels, but decided that the news was probably the only channel I'd find informative. That is, until I realized that I still knew nothing about what the man was going on about. There were some info on a couple gang like activities in the plate bellow, something about a Fanclub for some guy, and finally rumors of flowers growing under the plate.
Zack came out of the room around 4:30, just as I had gotten up to leave.
I looked back from the hall as he entered the kitchen, and said, "I did the dishes last night, also if I fubar this mission then I'm out of the program. Wish me luck."
He nodded, then yawned saying, "You'll do fine! Most people can't swing a blade as long as you did this early on in their career."
That actually did raise my spirits just a tad, as I walked out of the door into the hallway. The door shut behind me, leaving me to the darker hall. I took in a breath of air before walking to the end of the hall. Once I reached the elevator, I sighed as I pressed the button. A few moments later, the doors slid open to reveal another person wearing a black business suit. Thinking nothing of it, I entered the elevator before pressing my floor.
After the first couple floors, I realized that this man was staring at the back of my head. I turned slightly to look towards him, only for him to avert his gaze. Eventually, the elevator opened up to reveal floor 26. I walked through the doors and immediately saw Lazard waiting at the elevator checking his watch.
"I would like to thank you for being punctual, please follow me to the helipad," Lazard ordered.
I gave a salute, then followed him through the halls of floor 26 until we reached a glass door that led to the helipad. We stopped, and that was when I was told something very important.
"Keep this in mind, you are not enhanced in any way. So, and I stress this heavily, follow all the orders given by your handler. She will have your briefing on the specifics," Lazard ordered.
"Sir, yes sir," I said, giving a salute to the director.
"Get to it then," He said, opening the door for me.
I walked through it, and quickly made my way to the helicopter waiting for me. The door slid open to reveal a man in a pilot's uniform. I got into the copter, then put on the headset.
"Promise me you're not going to crash this hunk of junk!" I said over the speaker.
To my surprise, a woman's voice said over the comms, "What, don't trust a woman to fly?"
I eyed my pilot, only to see the man in the pilot's uniform wasn't my chauffer, but instead a woman in a Turks suit. "I don't trust these things on principle. It's only been a day since the last one I've been on crashed," I explained.
She laughed a little, then said, "I passed the Junon Flight Academy under one of the toughest old bastards on Gaia, so I think we'll be fine."
I didn't expect to hear a Turk laugh, but here I was hearing it through my headset. "So, what's the mission?" I asked, getting serious.
"We're going into Costa del Sol to disrupt an illegal weapons distribution to Junon. Unfortunately, we can't send you through Junon. Only Shin-Ra employees and military forces can get access to the port, so we're going to get creative. I procured a boat plane to get us out towards the city," She paused, then the chopper changed direction once we were past the perimeter of Midgar.
"So, we're going to ditch our clothing once we land, and dress up as vacationing students going to the beach. I've made contact with the group, and got us in. I'm going to be doing the talking, while you are going to be my protection. You are a hired mercenary from Midel," She went on.
"Roger, what's your name on the op then?" I asked curiously.
As the chopper began to descend near a beach head, she said, "Cis."
I nodded as the chopper landed firmly on the ground.
The doors opened, and the two of us departed from the chopper. "See you back at HQ," She said to the pilot, who nodded and flew away. We went to the plane, and found a duffle bag with two sets of clothing. Desperately hoping they were able to get my size correct, I opened the duffle to find a pair of swimming trunks and a button up shirt.
"Turn ar…" She started, but blushed when I stripped down quickly. I threw the clothing on with lightning speed, then turned to see her flabbergasted.
I tossed her the remaining bikini, and said, "Your turn."
She then gestured for me to turn around, so I did. After she finished, she walked in front of me and said, "How do I look?"
It was a complete 180 from what I'd seen of her earlier. She went from all business to all pleasure in a flash. I thought she was intimidating when the suit was on, but now she was down right gorgeous. "I think you are much more intimidating now," I admitted.
She giggled and inquired, "Care to elaborate?"
"Well, you clearly don't look like you're a Turk now; however, your beauty can be used as a façade to lure in anyone who's unsuspecting," I explained.
She furrowed her brows a bit, then said, "That's fair."
The two of us got on the plane, then after a few moment, we were in the sky. I closed my eyes to try and get some shuteye.
Bullets began to whiz past my head in the foxhole as all hell had broken loose. I raised my riffle and began to fire back. It was a complete fuster cluck for lack of a better word. I dipped my head down to reload my weapon, and saw the other guy in my hole drop to the ground. His head was oozing blood heavily. I reached over and closed his eyes. I jumped back up and began to fire again. I could hear the screams of my C.O. talking over the radio trying to call in an air strike on the woods to the north of our position. The only thing I truly felt was the absolute adrenaline coursing through my veins. We tried to control the situation as best we could, but for every few we got, they would knock us down by a few.
'Who the fuck are we shooting at right now?!' I wanted to scream out, only to have my thoughts replaced by the jets flying overhead. Bombs fell from them onto the enemy, igniting the woods aflame. The shooting had stopped, but the trauma would linger on…
My eyes shot open when we began our descent towards the water. I looked out to see a luxurious beach resort with many people looking on at the docks. We were arriving in style, but something about this seemed to scream 'Too loud' in my head. Once we were docked, I got out first to be greated by a tall, tanned man.
"This is quite a way to make an entrance, no?" He asked.
"What can I say, I like to make a statement," I said, faking confidence that only comes from money.
"What model is she?" He asked.
"The ride or die type," I said as Cis got out.
His eyebrows raised, and said, "Enjoy your trip Mr.?"
"Hawkins," Cis stated.
The man looked at her, and said, "Ah, we have been expecting you. I am to bring you to your room. This way please."
We followed him, Cis had her arm around mine as we walked through the streets until we reached a staircase leading to a basement. We followed the man to the bottom, then the man turned and said, "We search you here."
The two of us extended our arms out as two men came from the building. They patted us down thoroughly, then he said, "Follow."
We went through the entrance and found a group of maybe ten men armed with guns. Cis walked ahead to greet a tall man sitting at a table.
"It's good to finally make your acquaintance Madam Cis," The tall man stated, pulling out a cigar. He made a gesture as two men moved forward with two suitcases. Once they opened them, there sat two weapons that resembled AK 47's.
"Tell me, what was your organization again? Underbrush or some such nonsense?" He asked, lighting his cigar.
Cis smiled and opened her mouth, only for the man to make a tut sound and point to me.
"I'm just the help, sir," I answered, which made the man frown.
"Yes, but with no weapons? And what's more, in a room filled with men armed to the teeth?" The man retorted, as he reached into his shirt and pulled a large pistol out.
"Disarm him," Cis said calmly to me.
The man walked forward, and waved the gun in my face with a smile. I kept my hands at my side and thought hard on an old video I saw of a man disarming another from before.
"You aint nothing but shi…" He said, as I bolted my left arm to the barrel.
As I pushed the barrel to the left, I took a step forward and threw all my weight into a headbutt. The man raised his left arm up, expecting a haymaker, but was caught off guard. He stumbled back as I connected with his nose by a few inches, and when he came to, I was right in front of him. He went to aim his weapon once more, but my forearm slammed into his throat. He dropped to his knees, weapon lost on the ground, as the sounds of shots rang out from above. I expected pain, but was met with the men around the boss falling to the ground.
I walked to his guards, only to find holes the size of my fist on their backs. Very large caliber holes that you only get from a sniper riffle. "Ours on the roof?" I asked
Cis smiled, and said, "They were taking out the trash outside, but now we got the man we needed. Mission accomplished. Oh, and it's my understanding that this makes you a Soldier now?" As she finished, a smile appeared on her face, as well as mine.
End of Chapter
Another update down, just four more. This chapter I feel didn't really improve in quality too much, but at the same time it had the least bullshit wrong with it. A big shootout didn't really sit right with me like in the original, so I revised it to be a quick, tactical affair.
The original came in at about 2167 words while this one comes in at 2426 words.