Chapter 3: The Changing Of The Guard
Even a few days later, he was still thinking about it.
…he can't be that bad. Can it?
There's no way.
I mean nothing's happened yet, but why would Ingrid warn me if he wasn't gonna do something eventu-
"Hey Commander, come on! What'cha standing around for?!" His tumultuous train of thought was derailed by Anis' yell.
Shaking his head, Jonathan blinked and focused on his squad, all standing ready and staring at him quizzically.
"Mmmm? S-Sorry girls, I was just thinking about something." He mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose and jogging to catch up to them.
"You've been doing that lot lately, Master." Neon commented, peering at him a little more closely. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, is something bothering you? You've not talked about that priority mission at all, not even when we begged. Is it that?" Anis asked.
Jonathan just sighed and groaned softly to himself.
"Woah, guess it is. What happened in that conversation, Commander?"
"It was…it just took an unexpected turn, that's all."
"Oh really? Like what?!" Anis was curious, even a bit excited now. "Must be juicy if you won't even talk about it. Were you sworn to secrecy or something?!"
"That's enough, Anis." Rapi's calm voice cut in before Jonathan could speak up.
Looking across, he could see the sympathy in her gaze. She could tell quite clearly how uncomfortable he was talking about it. He smiled gently back at her, wordlessly thanking his loyal second for stepping in.
"Aw, come on! You can't tell me you're not curious too!" Anis persisted. "Besides, I think we've got a right to know it involves any danger!"
"That's up to the Commander to tell us. The mission details were given privately for a reason." Rapi replied. "Don't pressure the Commander to tell us anything he doesn't want to."
"Tch. Fine…" Anis grumbled, striding ahead. "C'mon Neon."
As the two trotted on, Rapi fell into step beside Jonathan.
"Thanks for that, Rapi."
"It's no trouble, Commander. I know that if there is something you think we'd need to know about a mission, you'd have told us by now." She said, smiling softly up at him.
He smiled and, on impulse, reached over to pat Rapi's head with a smile of his own.
"Erm…Commander?"
"Just…thanks for having my back, Rapi. I can always count on you."
"You're welcome, Commander."
He didn't miss the red dusting her cheeks.
"Don't worry Rapi. I promise I'll tell you about it eventually, I just…need some time to figure things out, okay?"
"If you're sure...then perhaps I'll hold you to that, Commander." Rapi smiled back.
"Hey guys, when you're done with your whispering in each other's ears, come on!" Anis called, waving at them from over by the exit to the Outpost.
"Yeah, we'll be right there."
As he and Rapi joined up with Anis and Neon and Counters moved to line up before him, Jonathan cleared his throat and clapped his hands.
"Alright, final check! Everyone ready to deploy?"
"C'mon Commander, do we really need this? We've done extermination missions like this loads of times!" Anis assured him.
"Just being thorough, Anis. You never know what might happen."
"Ugh, you're acting like my dad or something, being such a worrywart." Despite her rolling eyes, Anis was smiling gently as she reached for her grenade launcher.
Jonathan folded his arms and waited patiently for them to finish checking their gear and spare ammo.
"Alright, done! Locked and loaded, Commander!"
"I've got all the firepower I need, Master!"
"All systems are nominal and ammunition reserves are acceptable. Ready to move out, Commander."
"Alright then, let's mov-"
"Hey, Pal!"
Jumping at the sudden call, Jonathan whirled around. His eyebrows knit together in confusion as he saw both Cafe Sweety and Absolute strolling towards them.
"Hey Partner." Sugar waved at him from her motorcycle.
"Mhm." Frima offered a slight nod, looking close to nodding off already.
"Hi Commander." Vesti was a little more enthusiastic with her greeting.
"It feels like it's been ages, it's so good to see you! How've you been?" Emma strode forward to pull him into a hug.
"What are you all doing here? Didn't you get the memo?" Eunhwa barked, looking irritated.
"What do you mean?" Rapi asked.
"You're being relieved, this extermination operation is our mission now."
"Wait, huh? Since when?!" Anis immediately pulled out her phone and began scrolling through it.
"An hour ago. Priority assignment from the Central Government."
"Yeah, so we'll be taking it from here!" Milk knocked her fists together and grinned.
"Are you sure we're being relieved? You don't want us to come along?" Jonathan asked."
"Don't you worry 'bout a thing, Pal! We've done exterminations like this dozens of times, it's easy money!"
"I…I wouldn't mind if Commander wants to come along…" Vesti blushed, circling the ground with her foot.
"Fufu, I'm sure we can make room for you all, if you'd like."
"Well, we're all prepared anyway. It'd be a shame for all this firepower to go to waste!"
"Denied. Central clearly wants you for something else if we've been assigned to cover your mission." Eunhwa said.
"Just wait for them to contact you. As for us, let's move out, on the double. Open the gate!"
Gesturing forward with her free hand, Eunhwa marched forward, the rest of Absolute and Cafe Sweety quickly following along, while the MP Nikke on gatehouse duty thumbed the release button.
The heavy security gate slowly slid open about halfway, though just in time for the joint teams to slip through before it began to close again. Jonathan could dimly hear Eunhwa begin to bark orders.
"Sugar, you're on scouting duty! Vesti, keep your eyes on the sky! Emma, yo-"
Then the doors slammed shut once again, leaving a bemused Counters behind.
"So…that happened."
"It's certainly odd, even a bit worrying. We've never been replaced on a mission before."
"Who'd want to do this, Master?" Neon turned to Jonathan, looking crestfallen.
A sinking feeling opened in his stomach as he sighed.
"I might have an idea…"
"Oh really? Who is it?"
Before Jonathan could answer, a familiar voice rang out.
"Ah, there you are. I'm glad to see they were dispatched in time."
Turning in place, the Commander saw none other Andersen striding towards them.
"Eh?" Anis and Neon glanced at each other.
"Sir, what's going on here?" Jonathan asked, the sinking feeling growing as he continued. "Di…why replace us like this?"
"Well, you have a very important decision ahead of you, Commander, so I thought it would be best if you had all the time you needed to make a choice with a clear head. Besides-"
Jonathan could have sworn that Andersen's smile was almost…fatherly-like.
"Given the nature of the decision, there's no sense exposing you to unnecessary risk until you've decided what to do. You're a talented young man indeed, it'd be a great loss for, well…all of humanity."
Jonathan swallowed and nodded, thoroughly unused to Andersen not sending him on missions.
"Woah…no pressure there, huh?" Anis whistled, glancing sideways.
"Er, understood sir."
"Wonderful. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting in 10 minutes."
With one last tug at his cuffs, Andersen swivelled on his feet and began marching away again, leaving a dumbfounded squad in his wake.
"Well now I'm super curious." Anis said, staring at Jonathan.
"Anis…" Rapi's tone was firm.
"Yeah yeah, I got it." The other Nikke assured her comrade. "So, we got some free time for today. If there's nothing else, I'm going back to my room!"
"Master?" Neon looked to Jonthan, questioningly.
"Yeah, go on. This was actually supposed to be our last scheduled mission for a few days, so you two go back and relax. I'll let you know if anything comes up."
Whooping, Anis and Neon began practically skipping back to the main base, leaving Rapi and Jonathan alone.
"Well…guess we've got some free time for now. Anything you plan on doing?"
"I think I'll check our base supplies, sir. I noticed we were running a little low on some foodstuffs last time I looked, so it might be time for a shopping trip." Rapi said.
"Right. How about we go tomorrow?"
"That sounds good."