this is my first story so reviews would be greatly appreciated thanks a bunch
Operation Dark Angel Chapter 2
Two giant metal doors opened as they came into close proximity to the building. They walked in past the doors to see a luxurious hallway. With white pillars along the sides and countless tapestries depicting the COG's many victories from the Pendulum Wars. Marcus gazed with amazement and comfirmed his previous philosophy of thinks are never what they seem as the team climbed a large staircase and looked for where they were going.
"Which way?" Cole asked to no one in particular as the hall ended and split in two directions.
"Well let's see, Cole, Baird, you go right. Dom and I will go left and the team that goes the right way can radio to the others," Marcus commanded.
"Why don't we just ask Anya?" Dom questioned.
"That's a better idea." Marcus pressed a finger to his ear feeling slightly stupid for not thinking of such a simple solution. "Anya this is Delta, do we go left or right here?"
"Right Marcus. Then go straight down the hall until you reach the briefing room which will be labelled."
"Thanks." Marcus and the team turned right and marched down the hall until they found the aforementioned briefing room. They entered half-expecting to see Hoffman and Anya in front of a bank of computer screens. Instead they were met by two Gears. They seemed to be B.A.G.'s, "Bad ass guys".
"Weapons in the bin," the slightly taller Gear said holding out appeared to be a large plastic box.
"Are you fucking serious?" Marcus demanded making the angriest face possible. Marcus hated being unarmed, ever.
"Yes Sergeant. Weapons in the bin." The slightly shorter Gear stated not phased by the disgust on Marcus' face. Each member of Delta, one at a time, reluctantly put their weapons in the outstretched bin. "So we have four Lancers, three Gnashers, one Longshot, two Snub pistols, two Boltok pistols, and sixteen frags. Ok you will recieve them back when you exit the room." They forward and Marcus got his first good look at the room. It was bright and painted white with a large table in the middle likely for meetings. There was another room attatched at the back with a window through which Marcus could see Hoffman talking loudly with Chairman Prescott as well as another Gear in full armour with a helmet. Hoffman turned slightly to see Delta and immediately stopped and began to leave the room signalling the Gear and another unseen person to go with him. Marcus prayed that it was Anya.
The door opened quickly with Hoffman leading the way followed by the Gear and finally, much to Marcus' relief, Anya Stroud. Hoffman motioned to the chairs at the left side of the table as he took a seat at the head of the table. They each sat down with Marcus closest to Hoffman followed by Dom, Cole and finally Baird. Anya and the Gear sat across from Marcus and Dom respectively. Marcus gave Anya a little wave and she matched the gesture.
"Delta, as you may already know, sinking Jacinto may not have been the finishing blow to the Locust's troops. We need some confirmation as to the damage that has been done and the Chairman and I have decided to send you to see. You will go back into Mount Kadar and check to make sure that Nexus is actually flooded. if troops remain, do not engage until backup arrives unless the resistance is minimal. You will be leaving tomorrow at 0700 sharp."
"Sir, with all due respect, WHAT THE HELL?" Marcus demanded. "We just got back. Can't we at least wait a few days before going?"Hoffman took the overreaction very well and Marcus realized that this may of been the heated discussion the Colonel and Chairman may of been having earlier.
"Son, I'll be honest with you. I don't want Delta to go on this mission at all. You and your men have deserved some time away from the frontlines, especially after the loses of Private Carmine and Corpral Kaliso. I know you were close with both and proper funerals would have been quite appreciated I'm sure." Hoffman said losing his normal gruff and "too bad orders are orders" tone of voice. Marcus noticed the Gear breath extremely heavily at the mention of Carmine's name and Anya put a sympathetic hand on their shoulder. "Unfortunately, the Chairman disagrees and I could do nothing to change his mind." Marcus nodded his head in appoval after hearing the honesty in the Colonel's voice. "You will also be recieving a new recruit in your squad for this mission. Meet Private Taylor Carmine. She is a trained sniper and very skilled in hand to hand combat. You will find her very useful. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go check on the evacution of the survivors in the surrounding Jacinto area." Hoffman finished up as he rose from his seat and walked out of the room through the doors that Delta entered.
"You are Carmine's sister?" Baird half asked half shouted at Taylor. This act recieved a glare from Marcus and Dom and also another smack in the head from Cole.
"Please excuse Baird's assholishness. I'm Marcus Fenix."
"I'm Taylor Carmine," she said softly while giving a weak wave.
"This is Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole, and the asshole at the end is Damon Baird," Marcus introduced each while giving a glare to Baird.
"It's nice to meet you," she said starting to increase her strength. "I look forward to serving with each of you."
"I'm so sorry for your most recent loss," Dom told her with extreme sympathy. "But why did Ben not tell us that he had a sister?"
"I was sent to live with my aunt in Illima before he was born and I guess my mother never told him about me," she said sadly.
"Ben and Anthony were both great soldiers," Cole said with apparent sadness on his face.
"Guys, if I may interrupt. You will need your rest for tomorrow so I should show you where you will be staying." Anya stated seeing that Taylor was becoming upset from the memory of her brothers. She stood and motioned for them to follow her. They walked to the door and picked up their weapons. Anya led them out the door and back the way they came this time going down the left side of the hall. All the halls were the same generic white with the occasional excape plan of fire hose covering the wall. Soon after a seventh turn, Marcus saw a large hangar type area littered with cots and foot-lockers. The entire area was empty of life, leading Marcus to believe that they were here by themselves. There were what appeared to be shower stalls at the back and Marcus felt the ground shake as Cole jumped for joy. "You can sleep anywhere and do whatever you want to pass the time as long as it happens in this room and doesn't involve the discharging of weapons."
"Thanks Anya," Marcus said as he gave her a genuine look of gratitude. She smiled and turned back the way they came. Marcus stared just a little too long as she left which didn't go unnoticed by Dom.
"You were checking her out."
"Shut up," Marcus said giving Dom a shove.
They walked to the cots closest to the showers and each grabbed one. Dom noticed that Taylor was with them and decided to ask a question. "You are staying here with us?"
"Ummmm yes," she said slightly confused by the question. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, no. It's just that I haven't had to spend the night in the same room as a woman since my wife died and I..... nevermind." Dom turned away from her holding away the tears as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned expecting to see Marcus but, saw that Taylor had made her way over to comfort him. They sat down on a cot and Dom felt better than before.
"I'm going to have a shower. So if that weirds somebody out then too bad." Taylor stated very jokingly. She walked towards the stalls with all four of the boys heads turning to watch her do so. She closed the curtain behind her and the clanging of her armour on the ground echoed through the large vacant space. Cole got up and walked to an empty stall and closed the curtain behind him. Baird then did the same.
Marcus walked over to Dom and sat down next to him. "Are you not having a shower?" Dom asked his long time friend.
"I had to come and talk to you first."
"What for?"
"Dom, there is no easy way to tell you this but, she is gone forever. She wouldn't want you to dwell on the fact that she wasn't here with you now."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, maybe it's time to move on," Marcus' tone was very suggestive and the head nod towards Taylor's shower was another strong signal.
"I'm not ready yet. Give it some time to really sink in and then I'll give it a shot. But right now, you need to have a shower because you smell like burnt asshole." Dom joked bringing a smile to both his and Marcus' faces. Marcus raised an arm and smelt his armpit.
"Whoo. Smells worse than Brumak shit. Maybe your right." Marcus got up and walked to the fourth and final shower stall. He closed the curtain behind him and the now familiar sound of armour clanging on the ground again rang through the vast hangar.
Dom took out his picture of him and Maria and looked at it for what felt like an eternity. The sound of water soothing his nerves. Until the sudden sound of a shower curtain opening sent him back to reality. She stepped out with just a towel on. Her beautiful face complimented by her long flowing red hair. She had a few freckels around her nose which added to her beauty oddly enough. She was very slender, a trait that can be lost when covered in heavy armour. He stared for several seconds before catching himself. This wasn't before Taylor caught him though. "Get a good look Dom?" she asked with a big smile on her face as she pulled back her hair into a ponytail.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself. I'd never seen a Carmine without a helmet so i didn't know what you looked like." Dom thanked himself for the quick thinking he had just done to avoid an awkward conversation. "Did your brothers have red hair too?"
"Yup. All three." She said turning around to face Dom.
"Well you are beautiful," he managed to barely spit out. Dom was feeling like a shy thirteen year old boy again. Much to his relief she gave him a once over and smiled.
"Thanks." She dropped the towel to the floor revealing that she was already dressed in short shorts and a strapless top. Dom let out a large breath which was fortunately unheard by his squadmate. She started looking around in foot-lockers for something. Seeming satisfied with a discovery, she walked back with what appeared to Dom to be a primitive hand drill.
"What is that for?" Dom questioned, extremely confused.
"Oh you'll see." Taylor took out her helmet and found the center of the back side. She began drilling a large hole in the back. Although the drilling was useless as the helmet was far too strong for the cheap drill to go through.
"Well, I guess you either lose that helmet or tie up your hair." She glared at Dom and stuck out her tongue at him. "What is she like ten?" he thought to himself. Taylor tossed the helmet at him playfully
"I guess you will get to admire my face more now."
After Delta had their showers and wasted a few hours playing cards, they decided that it may be time to do something active. Cole opened his bag and pulled out a rubber ball, smiling like a school kid. "Red Ass is the name of the game people. I'm sure we all know how to play but just in case I will explain. the ball get's thrown against the wall and whoever catches it throws it again. If you touch the ball but don't catch it, you have to run to the wall and touch it before someone else hits the wall with the ball. If you don't make it then you get a letter. If you get the letters R E D A S and S then you lose and the person with the least letters gets to whip the ball at you from ten feet away. Game on!" The game lasted for ten minutes with Baird losing due to poor hand-eye coordination and Cole whipped him bad. They played for two more hours with everyone losing except Taylor.
"You have amazing hand-eye," Dom commented to her as they walked back to the cots.
"Well I don't like to be beaten so I adapt to the situation."
"I hope you bring that attitude to the battlefield tomorrow," he said as they sat on cots beside each other.
"Oh you'll find out," she said giving Dom a wink as she layed down and pulled up the covers.