Chapter 2 Old Friends, New Missions

David – Age 49 (POV)

Cayce – Age 31

Kristine – Age 27

July 19th, 2017

12:02 PM

Pacific Ocean

USCC Oregon

It had been seven days since the incident in San Francisco and I had been spending time with Logos and Newblood throwing punches in the gym's boxing ring on the crew deck. I wore my gym shirt and boxing gloves to blow some steam with two of my teammates in Valor. A commander versus his two sergeants. A two on one exercise.

Logos throws a punch at Newblood and knocks him down against the rubber ropes. I go next against Logos before we me a single hit.

"What took you so long?" Logos taunts.

I throw him a quick jab to the face and almost break his lips and nose off. He caught himself off guard with his own words as I made sure of it to let him know it doesn't take me that long to react. Logos chuckles with his minor pain. Then prepares to fight again with me.

"So the boss is back in town," said Logos. Positioning himself to fight. "Now go get that fuck Alkaline."

My opponent throws a punch at me across the chin as an uppercut. As I'm being hit, I begin to see flashes in my mind about what I had to go through in this war until now.

"He just blew Seattle the fuck up," continues Logos.

He throws another punch to my face as I have flash in my head seeing less than a second of the choppers destroyed by RPGs. The ones carry the child that died in the explosion with his parents.

"He also blew up San Fran."

Loges continuously swings his gloved fists at me as I have flashes about the Ares figure and his pet dragon if I wasn't just seeing things.

"And now he's gonna blow you up too!"

Something about Logos is as if he just wanted to keep the pressure going. If that's what he wanted, that's what he'll get. I now through punches back at him hitting him across the cheeks and against the ribs. With every strike I make, flashes the airship that dusted a city street in Seattle, stabbing James's torturer in the throat, and so much more rapidly spawned in my thoughts of oppressiveness and cruelty. If Logos was just pressuring me for hatred, he may have gone too far.

With just one more blow across the chin, Logos is knocked down on the floor of the ring. Logos helps himself off the floor as Newblood helps himself up too and I take a moment to breathe from the adrenaline. I fought harder than my fights with Jefferson and Crosby four or three years back. And I think I've been had.

"Dude, I think Alkaline is going down," commented Logos.

"It's been a week since San Fran," I said breathing hard. "I'm not one with beliefs of mythological shit, but I saw him with my own eyes. He strangled me to death with his bare hand and strange ass glove. Ares, the fucking god of war, people. And not once since have we ever figured out what the fuck he wants or what the fuck this space shard is people! And I'm down here screwing around in a fucking boxing ring for fuck's sake! Jesus."

I take a sigh of breath from the swearing and irritation. I fold my hand over my hands trying to let go of my frustration.

"I think we should all save our breaths for the war, eh?" Newblood asked. "It's been the bloodiest war we've fought yet."

"I'm not sure if any of you are taking me seriously," I said. "But something not correct here. What if Alkaline isn't the main threat? What if it's Ares setting things in motion for this war?"

"Ah, fuck it," said Logos. "I just didn't hit you hard enough. Honestly, David, I wouldn't know shit. Cause I wasn't there when this story of Ares and his fire-breathing dragon came true."

"I'm gonna go down to the mess hall. I haven't eaten anything since six in the morning."

As soon as I'm in the mess hall with my food already served, I had seen James and Cayce sitting down at a table having lunch together. They had already been talking to one another as they were eating. I decide to drop into their conversation and appetite with them.

"I did not raise my daughter to be a soldier for one," said James. "For two, the last time she had anything to do with Chrysalis, she almost died during the Triple 4 attack in Portland when it was already hard enough for me and my wife to lose her the first time."

"It was not my choice to look after her, Mr. Amber," said Cayce. "It was-"

"Please, just call me James."

"James, it wasn't my choice to protect her. It was Crosby's. The man who brought her back from the first time she died and the man behind Triple 4. The last person I trusted in Chrysalis."

"And when did you come to terms that Crosby really couldn't be trusted?"

"The day of the attack when he orchestrated it all is when."

"Here's something I'd like you to know, Cayce. I honor the fact that you were only looking after Rachel and supporting her all those months. Your choice or not. But the last person I want her to be with is a Chrysalis soldier dragging her into a suicidal warzone. Such as the Bolivian civil war and the Portland attack alike."

Cayce sighed for a moment. Honoring James's wishes. Then thinking about his secret Cayce knew about thanks to Rachel. Which he didn't want to bring up, but almost did.

"She told me, you know," said Cayce. "About what happened between you her. About you know what."

James's face was pale. Fearing for his privacy exposed to Cayce alone.

"About what you did-"

"Stop right there," warned James. "As far as I'm concerned, Rachel, her boyfriend Frank, her friends Max and Chloe, my wife Rose, and now you are the only ones who know about that. And you don't ever bring that up again at all."

"I have no quarrel with you about it, James. But as a friend of Rachel's, I deserved to know about her troubled past. Never tried to attack or threaten you about it. But if I offended, I apologize."

The two gentlemen noticed me approaching the table they sat on and ended their discussion as soon as I got there. They politely welcome me without a word about James's secret exposed to me.

"Commander Madsen, there you are," said James.

"Commander," said Cayce.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting, Senator," I said with my tray in hands. "May I?"

"I'll be leaving now, David," said Cayce. "I'll be at the sanctuary if you need."

Cayce leaves the table finishing is food and exiting the mess hall. I sit down in front of James ready to eat and talk with him next. It would appear the senator himself was able to walk without a crutch within a weak of recovery. There was still gauze stitched on his forehead to heal his cuts. With a bruise below his eye still healing from before.

"Is my Corporal giving you any trouble?" I asked.

"Don't mind him," said James. "We haven't really spoken too much to each other since we arrived here."

"How're your injuries doing? Looks like you no longer need to walk with a crutch in your arm."

"I don't. The doctor said I can walk better without it since my ribs are nearing recovery. Still have cuts and bruises to heal from the bastards who gave me them. Still can't believe I let them torture me in front of Rose and my friends for three days."

"Where's Rose right now?"

"She's in the sanctuary on the refugee deck. Talking to Joyce and that Caulfield couple which I believe to be the parents of Max Caulfield from that case in Arcadia Bay three years ago."

"James, there may be something I need to ask of you that could be critical to our cause in this war."

"Most of it is classified, David. But you can ask me anything as commander of Valor Team."

"Did you happen to know what Project Elysium was from Chrysalis?"

"I believe so. The project decades worth of work if that's what your referring to."

"Then you should know that it was the project secretly conducted as a superweapon for Neo-Chrysalis to orchestrate Triple 4. From what I was told, there was the main source to the project to give it the power unleashed the Portland attack. Something called the Space Shard. Do you know what that is?"

"Should I have? I don't trust I do. Why?"

"Since I've been told, it's been eating at my mind to understand what it really is and why and how it was used for Project Elysium."

"And who told you about this?"

"You'll probably say I'm crazy for saying this, but Ares told me about this. Back at the base when ConDef and the Fallen were taking over."

"Who told you this?"

"Ares, the god of war. Remember that strange figure that appeared on the monitors after Alkaline's message? The one who called us vermin and talked about the coming fire? That's who. He seized me with his hand like a wooden doll. Interrogating me where the Space Shard was. Telling me something about balancing the universe. I figured you of all people might know what he was talking about."

"They never taught me a ton of mythological stuff in Sunday School. Not the ones unrelated to Christian testament, but I'm familiar with the name Ares from Greek mythos. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of intel related to the war. I gave as much as I could to Admiral Penske in CIC."

I stopped pushing James for information and finished my lunch up. I was ready to leave and return to the refugee deck to see Joyce, Cayce, and the others.

"Nice talking with you, James," I said. "Thanks anyway."

"It's my pleasure, David," said James.

As soon as I return to the sanctuary on the refugee deck, to see Joyce, Ness, and Ryan socializing in their triage with Rose. When I got inside, the four of them already seemed to be getting along. Although Joyce had met Rachel's parents before, the two Caulfields had still yet to met the Ambers which they already have. Ryan's leg was still in recovery with his cast still on. His injuries seemed to be worse than James's.

"And James says, 'Frank, Francis Bowers'," said Rose. "Then Frank says, 'Sorry, but it's Frank to me. I'd like to keep my General Beans.'"

The four of them have a laugh about Rose's story she told Joyce and the Caulfields. They notice me entering their shelter and welcome me in.

"David, missed you this morning," said Rose. "How you've been?"

"Is that a bruise on your face?" Joyce asked. Noticing the bruise I got from Logos. "What happened?"

"Logos happened," I said. "Took a couple of hits from him in the gym. Heard anything about Chloe?"

"She's headed to my brother and sister-in-law's. She'll be safe there away from Portland."

"Ness, Ryan, heard anything about Max?" I asked.

"Max called us and said she's still working things out with her boss for her new job," said Vanessa. "Said it'll be ten something days 'till it can be settled. Maybe less."

"Getting better, Ryan?" I asked him. "I figured that leg would be able to walk again."

"Ah, the doc said it may be another week or two," said Ryan. "Maybe even the rest of the month. But it is getting better. That crash really busted this leg good. It should be as new shortly though. What's your story?"

"All the usual, Ryan," I said. "All the usual. How 'bout you, Rose? Are your people doing alright on this deck?"

"We've made everyone as comfortable as we could," said Rose. "Those Berkeley kids have made themselves at home and this deck appeared to have more room than what we thought we could make for everybody. I met that young man of yours named Cayce. I knew Rachel was once with him and it sounded like he took good care of her. I'm pretty sure James and I saw him earlier last week with you back at the base."

"How is Rachel by the way?" I asked. "I never asked about her."

"Rachel's doing fine for the moment. She's still in Vancouver with Frank waiting on the finals for the show she's on. Her live dancing took my husband and I's breaths away."

"You looked stressed out, David," said Joyce. "Something on your mind?"

"From the world hanging by a thread in this war against ConDef and what I've gone through in Seattle and San Fran," I said. "There's something about this war I believe none of us know about yet. And I'd like to get to the bottom of it if we're to win this war any day now."

"You shouldn't be so hardheaded fighting this war, David," said Rose. "You're the hope of our people and you're team. The heart and soul of Chrysalis. Even though that's what they call Penske. But as long as you're here, there's still hope for us to win this war fighting ConDef. Just remember that."

"I'm gonna leave the four of you to it now," I said. "Take care."

I try finding Cayce and Kristine on the refugee deck. When I do, I find them both in Victoria's triage. Making herself comfortable with her friends. Kristine was helping the boy named Hayden removing his arm cast and Cayce just stood by idly with her. The college kids themselves noticed me coming inside and welcomed me for their own familiarity. But not my popularity.

"Look who just walked into our triage," said the girl named Dana.

"Yo, it's David, right?" The boy named Freddy asked. "Thanks for saving our skins back there and bringing Uncle Andy along. We thought we were toast in that battlefield."

"Lovely to see you too, David," said Victoria. "I couldn't thank you more."

"So what have you all been up to the past three years out of Blackwell?" I asked. "No school protest? No teenage marches?"

"I've been staging a sorority at Berkeley with Taylor, Courtney, Dana, and Juliet. While Zach and Logan attended the OSU, Hayden just so happened to attend with us instead. Also met Freddy who I've been together since freshman year. And I'm on the road to my photography degree if this war so much as doesn't close it. What made you decide to join Chrysalis?"

"I was just a middle-aged man who thought Chrysalis would a more ambitious career than Blackwell security and the ABPD," said David. "It was great while it lasted. Right up until we were on the brink of war with ConDef. Just like old times in Afghanistan, but much worse."

"Madsen, Foley, and Prescott. Please report to CIC for debriefing immediately. Madsen, Foley, and Prescott."

"Are our names always called to CIC?" Cayce wondered.

"You sorority girls stay safe now," I said. "Duty calls."

"Same old David," said Victoria.

Kristine, Cayce, and I leave the triage to report back to CIC for our next debriefing. Kris finished helping Hayden with his arm and we left immediately. On the way to debriefing, I was yet still demanding answers about Ares's wants with the Space Shard and what it had to do with this war.

"I can't figure out Ares without getting inside his fucking head," I said. "We can't just let this go you know. Penske has to know about this."

"I already told Penske about it, David," said Kristine. "He can't confirm or deny anything for the time being until there's more proof of Ares's existence."

"That's bullshit, Kristine. We witnessed him with own fucking eyes with his own mother fucking dragon."

"And we're the only ones who witnessed that shit along with Captain Cage and nobody else," said Cayce. "Obsessing about it can't get us more proof."

"The next time we catch eyes on him," I said. "I want that son of a bitch caught on camera. We make sure to tell HQ that if we ever see him again on our next assignment."

After saying hi to old friends, it was time to deal with the new mission as I enter the debriefing room with Admiral Penske in front of the war table projecting the globe map in front of everyone in their seats attending the briefing. Highlighting the state of Massachusetts on the US portion of the map.

"Reliable sources suggest a ConDef raid in Cambridge, Massachusetts," I begin. "Kidnapping of students, technicians, professors, and a heist of an unknown device. Planned to be set up at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. No one knows what the device ConDef is stealing or what they want with it. Much less why kidnappings are occurring. But it does link to ConDef propaganda. Undercover ops obtained this intel via the old fashioned way in Cambridge."

"That's right boys," said Penske. "Cambridge. Now I got enough problems. I don't need MIT being ConDef's bitch."

I project an image of the MIT for everyone in the room to see for objectives.

"Our objectives will be to rescue any in all possible hostage holdings and prevent the kidnapping of any person in the institute," I continued. "As well acknowledging reasons behind the heist of the unidentified device being held at the institute linked to ConDef. Once everyone in the compound is extracted, we relocate to the Oregon's sanctuary."

The next location I highlight on the map is the state of Idaho. And the objective city for the following assignment after MIT.

"We also have trouble in the state of Idaho," I resumed. "The state's secretary informed Chrysalis intelligence of possible ConDef activity taking over a Christian community in Caldwell for reasons unknown. The community itself is located in a small homestead village located fifty miles from Caldwell inside Canyon County. Intel also suggest another unidentified objective ConDef is retrieving for their collective cause. Which would be located somewhere inside the county itself. To evacuate the Christians and relocate them to the Oregon as always, we'll provide a convoy to drive the evacuees to an LZ where choppers can pick them up. At the first sign of trouble, use of aerial force via AC-130 is authorized."

"Authorized and fucking mandated," said Penske.

"HQ will track your every move and is ready with the ordinance from above if needed," I said. "As soon as everyone is boarded on the convoy and the convoy leaves, RPGs and snipers will flank you on the dirt. We'll be playing it safe, so no boots on the ground this time during the evacuation. Just choppers and the eye in the sky."

"We won't be able to launch both assignments all at once. Madsen, the choice of which mission comes first is yours."

X/SQUARE/LM – SAVE INSTITUTE

B/CIRCLE/RM – SAVE CHRISTIANS

"First things first," I said. "We launch our mission on the MIT in Cambridge at 19:00 eastern. You all know what to do. Rescue any civilians taken hostage in the building and find out what device is in there that ConDef needs. Dismissed."

Note: So if you guessed where this part of David's side story is going next who he'll meet during, you guessed right. Unlike Finn's story in The Last Jedi, this side story will go absolutely somewhere…eventually. Every chapter will go back and forth between Max's and David's story once in a while like all subplots do. I'll also be seeing Solo: A Star Wars Story tomorrow to see how that film compares to the rest. It should be alright.

Until next time, stay tuned and golden!