Dang, where do I start...
Anyways, so sorry for not updating in the past two weeks! School and college apps (why Stanford, why) has thrown my schedule through the crapper, and I just finished the quarter's assignments on Friday, so I finally got time to write this up in the two days I had before diving straight back into the pit of hell. Hopefully the next update won't be as belated as this, but life may just end up rudely shoving those words down my mouth... again.
Chapter 20: An Offer You Can't Refuse
Levina sat at a single, lonely table in the dining quarters. Looking out of the window at the snow drifts outside, she plopped a pair of sugar cubes into her coffee mug, stirring the drink to cool it. The Ampharos turned away from the sight of the barracks, finding more comfort in the dark brown liquid than the frostiness of the dawn-hued mountains outside. Peering into the cup, she evaluated her frowning yellow reflection, taking in the red streaks running across the whites of her eyes. Levina then sighed and took a sip of the hot brew, recollecting what had transpired in the debriefing after their extraction….
"We did post-mission analysis on the factory your squad attacked. After we looked your information over, the first question we had for you four is: what the fuck happened down there?" A quizzical Rhydon flanked by another officer looked up from his papers at the four Alpha Squad members. The RM 'mon, with the exception of Jul, had already been dismissed to their quarters; there was no need for them to partake in the discussion. "We sent you for a routine extraction of two downed air'mon, and what we got out of it was a factory wrecked to its foundations by an inexplicable force and a chunk of silver coated concrete."
All of the squadmates trained their eyes on Siria. The dragon, first glancing briefly around her, returned, "The details of what we saw are classified, ranking as Top Secret in confidentiality. The only information I may disclose is that both individuals we were tasked to extract are missing in action."
Levina unconsciously nodded with her assertion; it was no small secret that failing to furnish evidence that a soldier was dead made it impossible to determine if he or she was actually dead, despite the veracity of the testimonies of fellow 'mon. In past cases before the advent of DNA technologies, even a severed hand was considered insufficient proof. Some 'mon advised their squadmates to decapitate their corpses to show solid evidence, and for some reason (Levina suspected it to be out of tradition), current SF 'mon requested the same of their fellow soldiers if their entire body couldn't be extracted, despite the use of DNA analysis to determine the owner of a body part.
"Top Secret?" the rock-type asked, stony face creasing at the loaded phrase. "Under what authority is what you saw considered 'Top Secret?'"
"Under the command of Colonel Stanford Lynch, sir." The officer's slight inhalation was not lost on Levina. She knew the amazing influence even mentioning the Salamence's name had within the ranks, and personally understood why after witnessing him chew Siria out in the cafeteria back in FOB Archer.
The watching Empoleon now spoke, eyes flashing from behind the trident mask. "How can we be certain that Colonel Lynch authorized what you witnessed as classified?" The unspoken implication, "Because you may just be trying to cover your ass," hung heavily in the air.
"You can ask him yourself," Siria sternly suggested, matching the water-type eye to eye.
"The protocol is Top Secret, is it not? We cannot ask him. You may be trying to use his name to lie."
Siria flared up, amber eyes glowing slightly in indignation. "I can relent for a moment before we officially announce the protocol. I'll just relate to him that two officers aren't willing to believe the testimony of a Special Forces member and wait in the lovely half hour he'll spend screaming at you."
"Ah… well…." Even the thought of conversing with the supposedly fire-breathing dragon put the officers on edge, not to mention that it was the first time either of them had ever debriefed a soldier claiming that her observations were of the highest level of national security. "In this case we will allow you to make communications. Be aware that there will be a formal investigation into this matter, though."
"Good. Is there an encrypted channel I can access?"
The Rhydon answered, "Yes. We'll hook you up in communications."
Siria got up and began to walk to the exit of the room. As she passed the three squadmates, she added, "And may my three squadmembers be free to go? If they know what is good for them, they will mention nothing of what happened last night." The Latias gave each one of them a firm expression, holding a frosty glare on Sirius more than anyone else. Her brother squirmed slightly in the chair under the look, completely unwilling to defy her command.
The officers' gaze turned towards the three other individuals in the room. After some slight deliberation, they exchanged glances and nodded. "If you deem it so, then you may. However, we claim a lack of all responsibility for their actions. Anything punishable under violating this alleged 'Top Secret' protocol will fall on your shoulders."
"I understand." And the three left Levina, Shadrach, and Sirius sitting in their chairs quite rudely, the Ampharos thought.
The Latios was the first to speak. "Do you think she'll be able to patch stuff up? I don't want to be on the receiving end of an indictment."
"If she's using Lynch's name, then chances are that we might be able to," Shadrach theorized. "Of course, we don't even know which part of the mission she considered classified, so calculating probabilities isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Ah." The three of them sat at the table for a moment, forgetting where they were at. "So, then…," the dragon started. "Anyone else up for getting breakfast and hitting the bunks? I'm pretty tired myself."
Levina stood up, eyes slightly drooping as she realized just how much she had been put through in the mission. "I'm not too hungry right now. I'll see you later." From the corner of her eye, she saw them looking concernedly at her as she stood up and left the room.
And two days later, here I am now. Levina sighed and took another sip of coffee, wondering if it had really been that short of a time since they returned from the mission. Her musings were slightly disrupted by a Latias smartly dressed in full battle fatigues. The Ampharos was tempted to roll her eyes at the sight; initially, when they first lived together, she suspected that Siria either didn't know what casual dress was or that she was one of those strange 'mon who actually enjoyed the uniform. Three nights in, it was more than apparent to her that it was the latter.
However, as Levina watched her set a plate of toast and a mug of tea down, she found that she didn't quite want to express her sarcasm so openly. And what's with my not wanting to do anything lately, for that matter? I mean, I know that I saw Charlie get killed, and that I spent a few hours grieving in private, but-
"Levina?" the Latias asked concernedly. The 'mon in question looked at her white-and-red face, realizing that they hadn't even conversed once since the end of the mission. Whenever the Ampharos had seen her, Siria was either on her way to somewhere for official business or sleeping.
"Yes?" she responded. Perhaps a little more sharply than usual, the electric-type noted as she saw the dragon blink slightly.
Siria fought down her momentary surprise though, quickly regaining her composure in an instant. "Do you want some?" She nudged the plate of bread towards Levina.
"No, thanks."
"Drinking coffee on an empty stomach will come back to hurt you later, you know."
Levina smiled slightly at her partner's motherly advice. "I'll manage," she said, thinking about how deeply the Latias believed she was impacted.
The two 'mon exchanged nothing but silence as they watched the morning sun creep slowly over the mountains. Siria sat quietly, taking small bites of toast and drinking her tea. The electric-type could tell the dragon was nearly mesmerized by the sight as both of them solemnly took in the beauty of the sunlight playing off the brilliant snowy-white peaks; she swore that if the Latias had her sketchbook on her, she would take it out at that instant. The sounds of shuffling papers and opening zippers only served to confirm Levina's suspicions. Looking over at Siria, she saw that had flipped to a blank page in a pocket-sized sketchbook. The jet-black mechanical pencil in her hand was poised above the fine finish of the paper, ready to lay down the first of a multitude of strokes.
A random thought then popped into the Ampharos' head. "Hey, Siria, can I ask you a question?" she asked.
The Latias looked away from the mountains. "Yes?"
"When are you next scheduled for leave?"
"Hmm…." She set down her pencil, searching through her memory for an answer. "In a couple of weeks, I believe," the Latias replied after a moment of thought. "Going back to home for a while… why do you want to know?"
"Just wondering," Levina said.
She continued, "I wish Shadrach could come with me, but we're on different schedules, so that's a slight problem." The Latias sighed slightly, discontent with their circumstances.
"Oh."
Now Siria glanced up at the Ampharos' visage. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that," she said. "I know that you're still…."
Levina shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she responded, trying her best to suppress her natural emotional responses to Siria's implication. As an empathetic being, the Latias could pick up on the emotions she projected despite the stolid look she held.
The response evoked an accusatory reaction from the red dragon, who was slightly offended by the lie the Ampharos gave. "Levina, I probably know you better than anyone else here, and this isn't normal of you."
She looked up from her cup, surprised at the bluntness with which Siria approached the topic. The Ampharos then dropped her façade, letting her expression slip into a more somber one. "Yeah, I know," Levina admitted, stirring her coffee with her straw. "It's just that…." She cast a glance towards Siria, who had all but abandoned the task of drawing, instead devoting time to listening to her friend. The small sketchpad laid beneath the Latias' red folded hands as she expectantly watched the Ampharos.
"Well, I don't know what I'm experiencing right now. I know that we're both used to seeing 'mon dying and such, but why is it that I'm so… confused about Charlie's death? I've mostly kept it a secret that I liked him, and had to fight that feeling during the battle, but now… I don't know what quite to feel."
The Latias hummed, looking back out at the warm mountains. "Maybe… I don't quite know." She laughed softly. "Your problem is a lot different from mine; I can't help but feel a lot younger now, even though we're the same age. I'll tell you what I had thought a month ago. Oh, and if you do happen to leak this out to anyone else, I will think of a way to get back at you." Levina couldn't help but smile at Siria's somewhat playful nature as she gave the Ampharos a wink.
"I guess that my frustration resulted from a mixture of anger and sadness; I was angry at the fact that I could have saved my partner's life, and sad that he had thought so much of me as to give his own life for me, though that may have been to avenge his own wife…. Then, it became some sort of an inferiority complex. I thought that I sucked, especially when compared to everybody else. After that, well… there isn't much more because of Shadrach." She blushed slightly at the last sentence. "Though I don't believe what I went through applies to you. I didn't have a thing for Wyatt; actually, I only knew him for only a night."
Levina didn't comment on her statement, a little surprised that Siria so easily divulged the information she had been hunting after for the entire time since that night. Although she agreed with the Latias' sentiments, she had no intent of even indirectly condemning her thoughts.
"So that brings us back to you," she continued. "Hmm, I think there's an easier way to approach this… what exactly did you like about Charlie? Sorry if I'm poking at any bad spots; you don't really have to respond."
The Ampharos sighed, wondering how exactly to formulate her response. For all she knew, their discussion could have transpired in a high school hallway. "Well, see, I first saw him in my first deployment, and I thought that he was pretty cute. Hey, I was hardly eighteen, alright?" she protested when Siria put her hands to her mouth to stifle a guffaw.
"Anyways, he was our squad leader, a bit older than the rest of us. Think mid-thirties or somewhere around there. Charlie seemed to be pretty quiet, but he was the most skilled out of all of us. I felt slightly attracted because of the way he carried himself, and talked with him a little bit. Not too much, though; the time didn't allow for it. He was too busy giving orders and stuff, since he was instructing us, not to mention treating us really well…. He was almost like a father to us, always pushing us to go further but knowing that even we had limits."
"When I think about it, though, time was one of the main things with me. As much as I liked him, there wasn't really much time for relationships when we had training and missions almost every day. Sure, there was the off-time after training, but Charlie would always slip away somewhere. I was never quite sure where," Levina continued, now seeing that the Latias was paying rapt attention to her.
"Anyways, one day I decided to tail him one day to see where he would always go after training. So he makes this long walk, as if he doesn't want anybody to see him. He somehow doesn't notice me, though, and he finally ended behind one of the barracks way across the base. There was a Pidgeot girl there, and…." The Ampharos didn't feel it necessary to complete the sentence. "Yeah."
Siria nodded in sympathy. "Ah."
"So right there, I knew there was no chance, both because he had a girlfriend and he was an officer, and that it would've sucked if higher-ups found out that an enlisted 'mon and an officer were dating... but it still didn't hurt to admire him from a distance, did it?" Levina asked fallaciously. She definitely knew the answer to the second question; otherwise, she wouldn't be talking with Siria right now.
"So, uh, I'm sorry for what's probably a blunt question," the Latias began. The other nodded for her to continue. "But… what I get out of this is that you liked his looks, got to know him just a bit, and decided on it?"
"If you put it that way, then… I guess, yeah."
"Did you think about whether what you saw was all of him? I know he's nice around all of us, but what about in private?" Siria took a slightly reclining position, beginning to feel more like a counselor than a confidant.
"I didn't, now that you mention it…."
"Right. And couldn't you have been seeing only his good traits and ignoring those that you wouldn't like so much? Sounds like a way to make the perfect guy, if you ask me." Levina looked at her with interest, silently telling her to go on.
"I'd imagine that you didn't know too much about him, like I did with Wyatt. Right before he died, I knew everything about him, especially things that I wish I could erase from my mind. They nearly drove me insane; more like into an emotional wreck, if you ask me. On the other hand, how much do you know about Charlie's personal life? His interests? Style of living? Ideals?"
Levina blinked. "You're supposed to answer that," the Latias pressed.
"Well… now that I actually think about it, very little."
"Hmm…." Siria smiled gently. "That may be it. Sounds like you made him the perfect 'mon in your mind, if you ask me. You just looked around a bit and filled in the blanks for yourself. Who knows how many things he would have disagreed on you with?"
The Ampharos frowned at her logic. From an entirely logical standpoint, Siria seemed to be right on the issue, but that didn't mean it was….
"He was probably a role model to you, if anything else. He's definitely someone I looked up to, though in less of a romantic sense than a tactical one… Levina, you look pale. Are you sure you're fine? Tell me if I'm digging too deep."
She shook her head, feeling a slight burning sensation working its way up her cheeks at the Latias' observation. "No, I'm alright," the electric-type replied distantly, somberly looking back down into her cup.
"Right," Siria rejoined. "Anyways, to be honest, I don't really know what to say, but… it takes time. I know it did with my mother, but – and I don't mean to sound cold – you'll eventually get over it and move on. I think about it as: would you let the 'mon who died see you moping and crying over their death? If you put that way, it kind of gets a little clearer. To me, at least; I'm just saying what I think, after all."
Levina forced a smile at her optimism, causing the dragon to pursue, "Well, just tell me if you need anything. I'm done with all of my work, so I'll be there whenev-"
"Hey!" a voice rang out. Siria groaned and looked away at the sight of her brother, who emerged from the breakfast line with Shadrach. The Latios took a seat next to Levina, setting down a bowl with an inordinate number of berries.
As he speared one on a claw and began to chew on it, the Umbreon sat down much more politely next to Siria, handing her a rolled-up newspaper in the process. She took the thin, grayish paper and unfolded it, looking down the front page. Her attention was immediately attracted to a set of lines marked by a dullish yellow highlight.
xx
…In addition to the general clamor of the international forum, the government of Mirunas specifically called for Halcyia to confirm the presence of the alleged space weapon.
"Halcyia has, time and time again, been responsible for developing offensive weapons of which there are no defensive purposes," a Mirunas spokes'mon stated in a national address on Monday. "This orbital weapons platform is a product of one of these projects, and they sought to keep it a secret. Why? They do not want to tell the world that they have such a weapon because they must have all of their power when they decide to dominate all of their neighbors."
In addition to criticizing Halcyia's offensive weapons development programs, Mirunas' government has also put all of their military units at high alert, citing "excessive Halcyian belligerence" for the order. "We do not wish to wage war, but should Halcyia oversteps its boundaries, we will take up arms and defend the land that is ours," Mirunas Defense Minister Irwin Hackey stated.
The Halcyian Defense was not available for comment at this time.
xx
"Um." Siria looked oddly at the text, reading it over once more. "Sounds like Mirunas is awfully…."
"Nationalistic? Yes, definitely," Shadrach said, gingerly picking a berry out of Sirius' bowl and narrowly avoiding getting his paw pierced by a claw. "This isn't the best of situations for us, either way. One, we lose the strategic value of our satellites because Mirunas, if not all other nations, will undoubtedly put more funding into researching anti-satellite technology now that they know of EON, and two, we'll receive increasingly less and less support in our war against Tamsus. No one wants to support a warmonger, after all."
"But we're not warmongers."
"Explain EON."
"It's a rapid response weapon to be used when we can't get aircraft or ballistic missiles there fast enough, or when we need the power of a tactical nuclear weapon without the side effects."
"Does it defend us?"
"…no."
"Explain how we're not warmongers."
Siria scowled and turned away from him, instead lookout outside once again. Something in the background of the mountains caught her attention, though. A large helicopter slowly grew more and more visible as it neared the base, kicking up snow as it landed neatly on one of the helipads outside.
One of the doors opened, yielding two rifle-bearing soldiers. They shouldered their weapons and scanned the perimeter, actively looking to see if any threats were present even in the highly-secure base. After looking around for a while, one of them seemed to turn and yell into the chopper. Then, along with several other important-looking 'mon, an aged Persian and an equally elder Salamence stepped out. The Walrein the Special Forces 'mon had seen from earlier walked out to greet the officials.
Siria had to blink to convince herself that her vision was correct. "Hey, Shadrach, is that… Alem? And, wait, what? Lynch?"
The Umbreon squinted at the heavily dressed Persian, who was addressing the Walrein. "Yes, that's Alem, but why would he come out here?"
"Field inspection, maybe?" Sirius had distracted himself enough from his breakfast to look at what everybody else was gawking at. "That's what the general did to us back in the Air Wing all the time."
"But one of the Chief of Staffs of special operations in a high-risk area?" Siria countered. "He never came to see us when we were at Archer, and that's one of the safest bases there are! And why Lynch? It's not as if the two actually get along, unless-"
The Latias turned pale as she replayed the mission from a few nights ago, suddenly wondering where Sai had gone. Why were they here? Lynch had reassured her that he'd take care of things. But maybe that wasn't so, and Alem was here… to see her… about that….
Her fears were only confirmed when the Walrein motioned towards the female barracks, leaving Siria with the only assumption that they were looking for her. Looking away from the scene, she widened her eyes as a Swellow holding an envelope made his way down to their table. She furtively glanced around, first at the windows, then to the entrance, then to the restrooms.
After some analysis, the Latias concluded that the only way she could escape was to go through the windows, and she wasn't too keen on getting scratched and bloodied up. Absolutely nervous on the inside, she put up as brave of a face she could muster and watched the flying-type walk up to them, gritting her teeth as he opened his beak to speak.
"Hey, Sirius? Mail came; they brought your shit."
The Latios looked up from a now-empty bowl, not wiping the berry juice off his hands before taking the package. "Thanks, man. Been waiting for this for-ever."
Siria sighed a breath of relief as the Swellow left. Alright. So that was it. Just to bring mail to my brother. Nothing's wrong at all. They aren't searching for-
She nearly jumped out of her hide as something tapped on her shoulder. "Staff Sergeant Siria?" a voice asked. The dragon turned to look into the tinted eyes of a Flygon.
Acting upon her silence, he spoke, "I'm to escort you to briefing. I'm also to escort Sergeant Shadrach, Sergeant Levina, and Sergeant Sirius. Do you know of their whereabouts?"
As Sirius looked away and coughed loudly, Siria said, "These three are those you ask for, but why?"
"Several high-ranking officers have asked for their presence, as well as yours. Now, please follow me."
Siria glanced back at Shadrach, whose face was contorted between what's going to happen? and I told you so. Sighing, the Latias rose and gestured towards her squadmates to follow suit.
"Please, sit." The Persian before the four of them motioned towards a set of chairs before the table. All four of the 'mon took the seats, giving each other glances as they did so. Alem and Lynch sat on the other side, silently evaluating the four of them.
General Alem thumbed through a sheaf of papers, humming while he did so. "A few days ago, Alpha Team was assigned an extraction mission. We desired to bring back a Skarmory observation unit that had been shot down over Riyaq, on the account of Tamsus torturing them to extract vital intelligence. However, according to our results, and the counsel of Colonel Lynch, the operation seemed to go awry, and resulted in a few minor problems." He gestured at the newspaper Shadrach held in his paw.
"Now," he continued as Siria opened her maw to object. "I am not accusing you of anything, but now would be a wise time to tell all the truth. But don't tell it slant; that would not do us any good." The Persian chuckled at the play on the poem's title.
Siria looked down, thinking hard about the topic. She had discussed the Shadow Skarmory at length with Lynch, but how informed was Alem of the actual issue? And how badly would she get punished if she disclosed that she had "hacked" the military satellite to drop the rods on their position? She had hinted at it in her discussion, but did he know? Did Alem know?
Sighing, the Latias looked up into the general's maroon eyes and began to talk. She told them everything – how they found Mike's remains, how they fought against Charlie, not to mention how and why she had gained control of EON. However, unlike Lynch, Alem chose to simply fold his arms and nod every once in a while, giving off the air of not caring but actually processing the story step by step.
"So that's it. The enemy is one that we cannot combat with conventional arms, and knowing this, you chose to resort to a rather unconventional weapon not written in the rulebooks. The hallmark of a good soldier, I must say." the Persian lauded, looking at Siria. "I would have preferred it to be something that wouldn't garner such attention, but I realize that it must have been the only choice. That Skarmory seems to be a frightful fellow, and I apologize for being so offensive in regards to Charlie's death. He will be given the honors and the funeral that all 'mon are given despite his actions; they were obviously unforced, from what you tell me."
"Yes," Siria confirmed, glancing towards Levina. Her head was bowed downwards, and the Latias could feel a tinge of regret emanating from the electric-type.
The blue dragon in the room then spoke. "But there is a far more uncertain concern surrounding this issue: Shadow. As much as we strove to keep its existence a secret," Lynch growled, giving all four of them a cursory glare, "It appears that it cannot be so anymore, at least in the sense of only our elites knowing. Excluding Siria, you three are now undoubtedly aware of what Shadow does, which means that you are all under rather complex circumstances. If I had it my way, you four would be either imprisoned or withheld from participating in other units' activities." He said the threat with a slight smile, sending chills down everybody's but Siria's spines.
"Lynch, now is not the time for gallows humor," Alem cleanly stated. He turned back towards the four of them. "Now, this morning we are here to make you an offer, which is made considerably easier considering the fact that two of are ranked among the top Special Forces members in the entire Halcyian Army, and that we would have eventually searched you out." All looks were directed at Siria and Shadrach.
"We wish for you for to be inducted as members of the Halcyian Tactical Response," Lynch bluntly complemented. In response to the Persian's protests, he justified, "General, let's not get caught up in the politics of everything. It's either dance around and waste their time or give it to them straight. Now, normally we can do the former when we're all sitting in comfy chairs, but the clock is ticking."
Alem sighed heavily, acknowledging the Salamence's justification. "Right. We know that we've been shifting you around a lot lately, and I am sorry for that. However, forgive us for our motives in this shift. Colonel Lynch, if you would kindly explain."
"You four have experienced an encounter with a Shadow Pokémon, and lived. That's a testament that few, if any, can proudly claim within our entire military." Siria's eyes narrowed at this remark, wondering if one of the HTR's extremely classified goals had to do with Shadow. "And to have survived this attack, you must have adopted, as General Alem said, rather unconventional and intelligent tactics. You have the experience that we need in our endeavors against this new force."
"No." All eyes turned towards Shadrach, who crossed his arms and shook his head. "You really think that I'm going to let you use me as another tool in your political agenda? Forget it."
The Umbreon didn't notice the bulging vein on the Salamence's head, though, and was completely caught off guard by his rebuttal. "Put yourself in my boots for a second!" Lynch barked, demonstrating none of the kindliness Siria was familiar with and leaving her wondering if this was how he acted outside of one-on-one discussions or if he was a genuine asshole. "You're making our job containing this threat harder than it already is! You haven't an Arceus-damn clue as to what this shit is, even when you've been pressed up the wall by it, and you're going to stand by here pissing and moaning and telling me to let Shadow destroy the rest of our forces? Shut the fuck up."
"Colonel Lynch!" the Persian besides him intoned. "Remember your honor, and remember your manners!"
"Sorry," he spat in return. "I just don't like it when 'mon think they know how everything works up the chain of command. Believe it or not, Sergeant, what you heard is just one of the reasons. Another one you might want to consider is that we need replacements. Badly. If we hadn't asked you now, we would have definitely asked later."
"So by replacements, you mean more to get killed in action, right?"
"Then why are you in Special Forces? There's the door; get out if you can't take the heat."
"I was forced into this position!" the Umbreon retorted with no small measure of anger.
"Forced? Impossible! You better have a damn good rea-"
The Persian glared at both of them. "Gentle'mon, we are getting off topic! Sergeant Shadrach," he spoke more softly, "We are not asking you to simply lay your life on the line and become another machination of the state; I'd have thought that you would have already realized this, as a member of our esteemed Special Forces. What we are asking you to do is join a cause that combats something that has the potential to end civilization as we know it."
Shadrach couldn't help but snort at the claim. "End civilization? Shadow has the potential to end civilization? Do tell."
"This is no joking matter, Sergeant! Could you imagine what were to happen if something like that Skarmory were have to run amok on a battlefield or, worse yet, inside a populated area with civilians? Siria's report suggests that whoever's developing Shadow is increasing its magnitude, and it doesn't appear that we've seen the worst of it yet. May Arceus help us when we see the day when this… this bioweapon is brought to its true form."
"So what? I couldn't care about this war any less than I do now."
Lynch, nearly red in the face, rose abruptly. "Can't you put aside your petty doctrine for just a moment and consider the fact that this isn't just about Halcyia versus Tamsus? This is about us, the global civilization, versus Shadow. Yes, I've heard your pithy antiwar ranting and angst, but I'm really close to putting your ass in the slammer for however longer we're carrying out combat operations."
"Stand down!" Alem ordered.
"No, sir. I'm at wit's ends arguing here. Even though it may not seem like it, every second counts. We are endangering the HTR by sitting here arguing about something instead of processing intelligence or giving out orders! That's right," the enraged Salamence stated, staring down at Shadrach. "We are wasting critical time just to come and ask a reluctant, stubborn, and incredibly arrogant bastard to do something that he can't even believe, let alone comprehend!"
"Colonel Lynch!" Siria interjected before Shadrach could counter. "I may not be in my place to lecture a Colonel, but I cannot tolerate you insulting one of my subordinates so brazenly any longer. You may have reason to believe what you believe, but name-calling is uncalled for! I request for you to apologize to Sergeant Shadrach. I will reprimand him properly for his misconduct later, but that falls under my purview, not yours."
It took all of the red dragon's nerve to not quail under the heat of Lynch's glare as the Salamence swerved to inspect her features. Amber met crimson as the two stared at each other, neither face wavering for an instant. Finally, Lynch heaved a massive sigh and sat back down, rubbing his temple. "Really, now… being talked down by a Staff Sergeant, of all 'mon. I must be going senile."
As the dragon sat contemplating, Siria shot a look at Shadrach. We will be talking about this later, she messaged, causing his muzzle to tighten in response.
"Anyhow," the Persian spoke, breaking the silence in the air, "Our offer still stands. There is a special process, should you choose to join HTR."
"And this process would be?" Siria asked. "Or is the information classified?"
"Normally classified, but we shall make an exception in this case. There are two types of Tactical Response soldiers – those who train and operate independently from the rest of the forces, including more unconventional ones such as Special Operations – as well as those who are blended with the regular forces. I understand that your squad is currently in the middle of carrying out operations in this region; because of that, if you become HTR soldiers, you will be considered the latter until we decide when it is best to shift you over to the independent category."
"So that means that some of the guys we work with are actually HTR?" Sirius suddenly asked.
Alem looked slightly uncomfortable as he gave the answer. "…yes."
"Interesting."
"There's one more thing, though," Lynch said, "Even though we're relaxing the entry standards, there are still bare minimums that must be cleared. After we looked over your files, we concluded that three may enter… and one may not." All eyes turned towards Sirius.
"Sergeant Sirius, I'm afraid that your qualifications don't give us enough leeway to enter you into the HTR, even with your status as a legendary. Now before you make your accusations," the Salamence said, holding up a claw to halt any disruption, "Know that it's not me who's making these decisions, but someone higher up the chain, so I can't do anything about it even if I wanted to."
"You all have forty-eight hours to return a response," Alem stated. "Sergeant Siria, you will call Colonel Lynch via encrypted channels as you did earlier with all of your decisions. We give you this time because we realize that there are tough decisions that must be made. If I said there was no pressure, then I would be lying. We are currently in a state of war, and require all of the help we need, so I implore you to consider that fact as well."
"Sir, we are running quite late to that presentation." The Salamence rose, looking at his watch.
"Yes, yes we are. I'm afraid that we must leave now," the general said, looking at each one of the soldiers.
"What about the RMs? They saw the Skarmory too," Siria objected.
The Persian took a second to think, putting a paw to his muzzle. "Hmm… they should be unaware of what Shadow actually is. If they do ask, tell them that it was an anomaly, if anything. And good bye; I do hope to see you soon." With a polite nod, Alem opened the door and left the briefing room. Lynch seemed to quickly follow, until he halted at the doorframe.
"Siria, I apologize for my misconduct. You haven't seen me outside of the office, have you?" He flashed her a grin before exiting, leaving her mouth slightly ajar and her squadmates gawking at her.
"…what."
"I don't know," a surprised Latias told her brother.
"So, what are we going to do?" This time in the cafeteria for lunch, the four Special Forces 'mon ate a distance away from the others as to avoid divulging potential secrets.
"Are there even benefits for joining HTR?" Levina asked. It had taken a majority of the morning for Siria to finally get her to talk after their discussion in the morning. "It seems as if they're asking us to do a high-risk job without extra payment or anything else."
Shadrach poked at his food, trying to figure out what artificialities the cooks had used for the day. "Well, maybe the meals would be better."
"Well," Siria started, shifting in her seat a bit, "I was actually discussing this with Lynch a couple days ago. Don't look at me that way; I shouldn't have kept it a secret, but you can't blame me. Anyways, a lot of the benefits are pay-wise. They pay higher wages, higher hazard pay, more retirement benefits, etcetera. Though I honestly don't think that we should go in just for the pay…."
"For what, then?" her brother asked.
"Well, maybe because you want to? Isn't that what we did?" she responded. Sirius nodded in response, remembering their motives. They had ample opportunity staying in the regular forces, but Special Forces did far more than grunt work. The thrill of the job appealed to them far more than the daily menial tasks of the Army. "That, and the fact that we have an obligation to deal with whatever we come across. You saw Charlie; who do you know can possibly stop that power?"
Shadrach remarked, "Nuke or EON."
Siria gave him an exasperated sigh. "Something that doesn't cause a painful death for everybody kilometers around the impact site or foul up our political system so bad that even the troops get crap."
"Can't think of anything else."
"See? Now if we get this job," she said, making sure to use vague words at best, "We'll be able to get to the root of the problem and destroy it. That's why I want to join. Because we were involved before, we carry a burden, a responsibility. I don't want to see that power destroy millions of lives. I already saw it rip one apart before my eyes…."
"But it just doesn't make sense," the Umbreon protested. "How would Tamsus come into possession of such a weapon? And I still don't care about all of this; all I want is out. Out of the military, out of this mess."
"So you don't care if one of these Pokémon come and kills everybody here? Because that's what they'll do when they make the formula powerful enough. Isn't that a basic strategic ploy? Attack the source?"
"Well, I mean, of course, no one wants blood on their hands, but-"
"But blood will be shed if we let something like this continue to grow. I may sound like Lynch, but couldn't you put aside your selfishness for just a moment? There's a bigger picture here than just doing operation after operation without knowing where we're going. We have to think of things other than the bare minimum. Who else can the Halcyian Defense rely on to carry out these operations? Who else has dealt with this and lived?"
Sirius looked around at the rest of the room. "Gee, you're getting a bit loud, aren't you?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm set on joining," the Latias continued, picking up her plate. "I really hope you come with me, but if you don't, then… well, I guess we'll see what happens."
"Hey, wait," Shadrach started, but it was too late. The red wings were already retreating down the hall. He leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so. "'mon, this isn't fair… does she have to play the relationship card? Especially since she's the one who told me to 'never leave her.'"
"What?" the Latios at the table hollowly said, face somewhere in the recesses of a soup bowl. "Do tell."
The dark-type scowled in return. "I'm not telling you of all people. It's just that this Shadow thing doesn't add up. How does Tamsus have such a powerful weapon, and how did they procure it in such a short time? It all sounds fishy to me."
"Don't think that matters too much right now. If I were you, I'd be worried about encountering one of those things. You saw me. I fought that guy one on one and nearly lost. And no offense, but I'm sure I can beat you in hand-to-hand combat. Shadow 'mon are tough, and I can't help but agree with sis. They tell you that you have to cut the head of the beast, but they don't tell you how you get to it in the first place. I'm sure everything'll spill out in due time. Anyways, I'm done. Coming?"
"No, I want a bit of time to think," Shadrach returned.
The dragon cocked his head at him. "Well, suit yourself, but don't dwell too much on it. Even though she says she'll join no matter what, it'll take a lot for her to distance herself from you, so go easy on her, would you? Just saying."
The Umbreon frowned as Sirius left the table, trying to figure out everything in his mind. Theory warred against practice; book-knowledge warred against field reports. He then looked towards the Ampharos in front of him, surprised that she had been so quiet during the entire discussion. "So, Levina, what are you going to do?"
"Not going."
"Is there a reason?"
"Not really, no. I just don't think that I'm up for the rigor of it all, I guess," she said, though Shadrach could catch a faint tinge of red on her cheeks. He blinked at the color; when was the last time that the Ampharos showed any emotion besides irritation and general annoyance?
Or it could be the fact that she's still impacted by the last mission, he firmly reminded himself. But why a blush, if anything?
"Right," he said out loud, clearing his mind of random thoughts. "That's a reason, I guess. Are you done?"
"Yeah," she muttered, giving hardly a glance towards the untouched food in front of her. "Let's go."
Siria picked up the pistol and pulled the slide, checking to see if there were any bullets inside. Seeing none, she drove the magazine into the gun and hit the slide stop, wincing as the slide slammed a bullet forward with a loud clack. She had never liked the pistols: too weighty, too loud, and unnecessary, especially for a special attacker like her, but the powers that be demanded that all Special Forces members be proficient in both rifles and pistols.
She drew the gun before her and squinted at the target hardly twenty-five yards down range. The maximum suggested range was fifty, but she could easily throw a Dragon Pulse down to seventy-five without batting an eye.
The Latias readjusted her stance, making sure that her right foot was forward. Nothing was more ineffective than an imbalanced position, she told herself.
Her thumb caught the safety and her hands aligned the pistol. Three dots, two up close closing in on a third at the muzzle, told her that her sights were lined up with the chest of the steel target.
She pulled the trigger, eyes not following the brass piece that quickly ejected itself from the barrel of the gun. Then she pulled again and again, evoking a loud, piercing bang every time she did so.
"Hey!" Her brother's voice caught her at the sixth shot, causing her to irritably flick on the safety and turn around. The Latios walked down from the top of the hill.
"Shooting again? Here, let me show you how it's done." Before his sister could object, Sirius snatched the pistol from her grip and twirled it on one of his fingers. She covered her face as he raised the gun with a single hand and, with body sideways, loosed five shots at the target in the space of three seconds.
"So how'd I do?" he asked, giving the gun back to Siria.
She looked around at the other shooting positions, making sure that there was no one else present on the range. "Terribly, probably," the Latias said, rolling her eyes. Her brother joined her as they walked up to the target.
There were five neat little holes centered in the middle of the chest, and five other ones randomly dispersed on the metal; Siria could see one on the left shoulder, two right below the chest….
"So maybe my accuracy went down in the past couple years," Sirius said with a lopsided grin.
"Sirius, why are you here?" the Latias asked with a sigh.
"You make it sound as if that's a bad thing."
She pointed to the target.
"Point. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that my decision to join the HTR is a 'no.'"
"I already know that. Even you can't be as thick as to forget. Now, what's your real reason for coming?"
By that point, Sirius was already retreating, quickly flying upwards and away from his sister. He cringed as a thin blue beam shot past him. Get back here, a voice said in his head. Looking back at the red dot against the white landscape, he wisely chose to heed her warning, descending at a much slower rate than at which he ascended.
"Why do you even need a pistol? And I thought you didn't want me here," he said, injecting an injured tone into his voice.
"Because they want me to. Now spit it out. Why did you come?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Out with it."
"Ok." He took a deep breath. "JustwonderinghowHTRwouldbe-bye!" He didn't even make it as far as before when he felt an intense pressure on his windpipe. Siria didn't need to say anything for him to return that time.
"What do you mean by that?" she demanded, unclenching her hand as Sirius rubbed his neck.
The Latios took a couple steps back as his sister stared at him. "I was just thinking about how you'd be when you join the HTR. Like, I heard their training and exercises were tough, and that their missions were deadly. It makes sense because they're an elite unit, but I was wondering, well, if we'd go home without you being in a box."
Siria blinked at his concern, hardly expecting that from the otherwise emotionally-comatose Latios. She dropped her death glare, suddenly feeling guilty about being so venomous to her brother. "I'll manage. It'll probably be tough, yes, but the benefits outweigh the risks. I'll take the training and I'll take the missions, and I promise that I'll come back in one piece. Alive," she confirmed when Sirius opened his mouth.
"Jeez. A simple 'no problem' would have done just as well. Always leave it up to Siria to give you an essay answer to a simple question."
"Is that all you expected when you came down here to ask me?" the Latias asked.
"Not really, no."
"Well, at least you're not out of touch…." She trained her pistol on an imaginary target far off in the distance. "Unlike my stupid butt of a boyfriend…."
Sirius froze for a second. "Wait, wha-" His protests were cut off by the harsh blast of the gun. "What?" he repeated. "The last time I heard you say that word was in like, what, seventh grade?"
"So?" she said rather defensively. "It's how I'd describe him, considering what he said yesterday." Another blast of the gun.
"So he doesn't like doing more than what's required. So what?"
The tone with which Siria responded could have frozen a glass of water. "So what?" she hissed. "So what? You're going to tell me that not caring for the welfare of our soldiers – no, the civilians – no, the entire nation – is fine?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions here-"
"He's so stubborn!" she exploded. "When he has an ideology or an idea he'll never let go! It's just insane! No matter how much logic or debate anyone puts up, he never changes!"
"Don't you think you might be exaggerating just a little-"
"Exaggerating! That's a word I thought I'd never hear. If anything, he's downplaying this entire thing!"
Sirius chuckled. "At this rate, you might be just as stubborn as your boyfriend is. Ease up a bit; he's not Arceus or anything."
"What-"
"Oh, and I gotta go now," the Latios smoothly interrupted, "They'll be wondering why I was away for so long."
He ascended into the air a couple of feet before rummaging in one of his chest pockets for something. "Hey, Siria, extra mag." He fished the metal out of his pocket and threw it down at her before jetting away.
She caught the magazine smoothly, dropping the now-empty one in her pistol and sliding the new one in. Siria then walked the distance back to where she first started shooting, aimed the gun at the target, and squeezed the trigger.
Her expression of anger turned into one of surprise as a thin click reached her ears. She ejected the magazine and caught it in her hand, peering inside to see if her bastard of a brother had thought it rude enough to prank her with an empty one. No, not empty, she noted, seeing a small piece of white paper pressed up against the lips of the magazine. The Latias carefully eased it out, not wanting to rip it against the force the spring held it up with.
Having performed the difficult part of the operation, she unfolded the paper and immediately started reading the text written on it. As her eyes worked their way down the page, the Latias couldn't help but grin as she read the last few lines.
"So," Lynch's baritone voice came over the radio set. "What are we looking at here?"
"Staff Sergeant Siria Long and Sergeant Shadrach Chase are accepting the request of Special Operations to enlist in the Halcyian Tactical Response. Sergeant Levina Akyra is refusing the request, and Sergeant Sirius Long is ineligible," the red dragon officially noted.
She heard some slight scratching on the other side. "So that Umbreon boy actually agreed? I'd think that he'd be the most adamant of those against joining, if anything."
"Well," Siria replied, holding a small piece of paper between her fingers and faintly smiling. "It looks like things have changed."