PRESENT
ABOARD THE WUNDER, CAPTAINS QUARTERS
"So?"
"So what?" The younger woman across from her scowled at that, an eye twitching. Ritsuko had left the room a minute before, leaving the purple haired woman to face Asuka's wrath alone.
"You gonna tell me how long you've known about him?" Misato slouched back in her chair, pulling off her visor. Dull amber greeted the world again, heavy purple bags visible under her eyes.
"A few months at this point." If the redhead's visible eye had been a loaded gun, Misato's head would have likely been blown off by now. The girl's scowl grew, now threatening to split her face in half.
"Would you mind telling me why I wasn't made aware of this?" Her tone was tense and strained, the redhead poorly concealing her contempt for the other.
"We've all already been under a good amount of stress, especially these past few months. You didn't need any more. Telling you wouldn't have helped any of us." The worn down steel of Asuka's chair creaked as she shifted her body weight forward, her knuckles turning white from her near death grip on the sides of the chair.
"Oh, I see. No, no no, I get it. You didn't think I would handle it well. Cut the shit. You were worried it would affect my piloting skill. Because apparently that's all I'm good for, right? Can't have a good tool breaking on you." She closed her eyes, blowing a shaky breath out in an attempt to try and calm herself. It didn't work. Misato fixed her with a steely gaze.
"You know that's not the reason." She received a mirthless chuckle in response.
"You're a terrible liar Misato. Frankly, with all due respect, Captain," The last word was spat out, almost as if it disgusted her to even speak it. Her mouth set in a thin line as she further leaned forward, chair creaking again as her gaze bored into the older woman.
"Fuck. You."
Misato, to her credit, didn't rise to the obvious bait the other woman had set for her. She instead remained silent, waiting for the other to calm down from her temper tantrum. After a minute of the other girl trying to kill her with her eyes, Asuka crossed her arms, deciding to look at nothing in particular on the floor, mildly embarrassed at her outburst.
Mari, who had been quietly leaning against the wall the past few minutes, decided to break the tense silence.
"Pretty sure you just proved her point Princess. Not exactly helping your case by getting angry, yaknow? Kind of why I kept my mouth shut too. We do care about ya, despite what you think." The redhead opened her mouth to protest, before snapping it shut.
Damn. She kind of had just shown them the exact reason they didn't say anything, hadn't she?
"Look, I know you're angry, and you have every reason to be, but I didn't want to tell you when we had no idea about his status, or where he was. I didn't want to get your hopes up only to find-" Misato cut herself off, swallowing lightly. "Only to have us end up finding his corpse."
As much as she hated to admit it, the purple haired woman had a point. Despite how hard her pseudo mother had tried, she could still tell Misato was hurting. She had just been too caught in her own emotions to notice before. The younger woman leaned her head back, breathing in through her nose to attempt to get her anger back under control. After a minute of keeping her eyes squeezed shut, she opened them back up, before lowering her head back towards the woman.
"Asuka, please, tell me, how is he?" Misato's eyes were soft, warmth in her amber gaze as she looked towards the other, having dropped the captain persona for the time being.
"He's alive, I guess." Misato's eyes furrowed at the vague statement.
"What exactly do you mean? Is he injured?" The other girl turned her gaze downwards towards her feet. She tightened her crossed arms, almost hugging herself.
"No. He's fine, at least physically."
"And mentally?" The redhead only lowered her head further, swallowing before looking back up her eyes meeting the others.
"You want me to be as blunt as possible?" Misato felt her hands tremble, her mind immediately racing to the worst seeing the redhead act so differently than normal. Despite every fiber of her being wanting to live in blissful ignorance, she nodded, waiting for the redhead to speak.
"Honestly, Misato?" The girl turned her gaze back towards the floor.
"I'm surprised he hasn't blown his brains out at this point." The purple haired woman trembled, struggling to keep her composure. A soft gasp was heard in the back, Sakura holding a hand over her mouth at the statement.
"Explain. Please." The other paused for a moment, seemingly at war with herself, before sighing, and beginning to speak once again.
"One of the nights during my recovery, I grabbed him. He didn't do anything, but he tensed up like someone had a gun to his head. He was shaking the whole time." Mari spoke up once again, deciding to attempt to inject her own personal brand of humor into the conversation.
"Ooooh. Why'd ya grab him sis? Did you do what I think you did? Was he packing?" The redhead did not react to Mari's jab, instead remaining silent, seemingly ignoring the girl. Mari waited for a reaction, Misato watching the other girl quietly. They traded glances, before returning their gazes back to the girl, who seemingly was trying to shrink in on herself.
"I was having a nightmare." Asuka's voice was subdued, soft, lacking her normal bite. Mari frowned at the almost pitiful tone of her sibling, opening her mouth to speak before spotting her superior holding her hand up. She closed her mouth shut once again at the hand sign, frown still evident as she impatiently waited for the other girl to continue.
"I had a nightmare, yeah. Was about when they had captured me. Dreamed about the beatings. Woke up in the middle of the night to him shaking me awake." The young woman kept her voice quiet, embarrassment evident in her tone. She felt the arms of her sister gently wrap around her shoulders in an awkward hug, feeling the other's chin rest atop her head. While she didn't like it, she knew this was just Mari's way of trying to comfort her, and for the time being, tolerated it.
"I was awake, and he was in front of me, so I just sort of grabbed him and held on. He just sort of sat there while I bawled like a baby. He was trembling the whole time. When he uh," She rubbed her arm sheepishly.
Hugged me back, he was practically vibrating, he was shaking so bad." Misato, despite wanting to demand more information, sensed the girl wasn't done, and quietly waited, letting the girl recompose herself.
"The night before he brought me back, he was having some sort of night terror. At the time I guess I thought I owed him, so I went to wake him up." She stopped there, seemingly not wanting to go on.
"And?" The girl looked up at Misato's voice, meeting her gaze before turning her head back away.
"He freaked out. Whatever he was dreaming about must have been bad, because he immediately almost bashed my face in as soon as he was up." Misato's eyebrows furrowed at the girls sentence, Mari's grip on her sister tightening slightly.
"He snapped out of it before anything happened, but when he came to he just looked terrified. Like he'd seen a ghost. He wouldn't even let me come near him, he would just back up whenever I came close. So yeah. He isn't doing great. That's not even mentioning how he didn't even flinch when I shoved a gun in his face." She looked back at her superior, watching how the other failed to hide her trembling lips behind folded hands.
"I see." After another minute of silence passed, she spoke again.
"Everybody other than Shikinami, leave this room. Do not make me repeat myself." The room quickly cleared, Mari only staying a moment longer, hold on her sister lingering for a second more before exiting. Asuka and Misato were left alone, and after a minute of silence, Misato slumped back in her chair, having given up trying to keep up appearances. She sighed, burying her head in her hands.
"I suppose we only have ourselves to blame for this, don't we?"
OUTSIDE THE CAPTAINS QUARTERS
The reinforced steel of the door was cold on her ear, the muffled voices hard to hear. She had been trying to listen in on their conversation, and of course, her normally loud sister decided to take the one time in her life to speak quietly at this time. She had been straining her hearing, trying to make out what the two were speaking, her ear now hurting from how hard she was pressing it against the metal. She had still managed to at least get a general gist of what the other was saying.
She really wished she hadn't.
"Makinami?"
She jumped, her heart rate immediately skyrocketing as she turned around to see the figure of Rei Ayanami standing a few feet away from her, her familiar bored stare observing the other. Mari stared at the girl for a moment, holding a hand to her chest to try and calm her racing heart.
"Jesus Rei, don't sneak up on a girl like that!" The blue haired woman, for her part, let her lips curl down a small amount, turning her gaze slightly downwards, a slight blush adorning her cheeks. Mari couldn't help but smile just a little bit at the sight, despite the way her heart felt like it was going to explode.
"Apologies. I didn't mean to scare you." Mari waved it off, quickly managing to slide back on her carefree personality.
"Nah don't worry about it blue. Just try making your footsteps a little louder next time, m'kay?" The bluenette nodded, returning back to her default of silence. The hallway was once again quiet, save for the hum of the ship. It was obvious both of them had overheard the conversation, Rei likely unintentionally. Mari quietly observed the other, noticing how there almost seemed to be an expectant expression on the other girl. The girl was waiting for her to break the ice on the topic, so Mari did.
"So, I'm sure you heard what was happening, huh?"
"No-" The bluenette hesitated, pausing at the sheer intensity of the other girls gaze. She closed her mouth with a soft click, before averting her eyes and muttering a response.
"Yes. I did." At first, Mari prepared herself to tease the other, a sentence involving the normally obedient girl breaking rules already having formed within her mind. She forced herself to remain silent once observing the other girl's face. There were the familiar hints of embarrassment, Mari knew them, having her sister to thank for the years of experience in verbal combat. She also noticed another emotion, one that while far less familiar to her, still was clearly visible. Mari spoke again, attempting to try and bring levity to the now somber "conversation," if it could be called one.
"Seems puppy boy ain't in the best of shape, huh?" She looked back towards the girl to gauge her expression. Rei's head was turned, ruby eyes staring at nothing in particular down the hallway.
"It would seem that way." Rei checked her watch, noticing the time. She turned back to Mari.
"Doctor Akagi will be needing me shortly. I must return to her. Goodbye Makinami." Rei nodded at the other girl, an unseen emotion in her expression. Mari remained silent as she watched the girl walk away, her retreating form eventually completely disappearing out of sight at a turn.
Rei was a hard read at the best of times. The almost completely unflappable girl was the absolute king of normal face. The few times she had attempted to scare the poor girl had elicited nothing but a blank face and a confused blink. Even Asuka, who most of the time seemed to hold genuine contempt for the girl, had never elicited more than a head tilt or raised eyebrow. While Rei still clearly had emotions, she kept them well hidden, a textbook stoic.
Mari stood wordlessly, before returning back to leaning against the wall next to the captain's door, waiting for her sister to exit. She let her eyes glaze over, her mind wandering, no longer caring about eavesdropping on her younger siblings' conversation.
She couldn't stop replaying the image of Rei's eyes over and over in her head, and the way they had glistened with unshed tears.
CAPTAINS QUARTERS
They had both been silent for the past few minutes, both unwilling to break the silence that had washed over both of them. The silence was uncomfortable, both not wanting to address the elephant in the room.
After a moment of hesitation, Misato decided to remove her face from her hands, letting her tired eyes settle on the girl in front of her.
"Tell me something," The redhead raised an eyebrow, watching as the woman heaved a sigh before continuing her sentence.
"After seeing him in person, do you think that there's even anything left of who we knew?"
Was there?
Asuka thought back to the man she had seen. She thought back to the killing, the violence, and the cold, lifeless eyes. Scarred hands that had for years, only known violence. Unflinching, almost remorseless. A far cry from the soft spoken boy she had known years ago.
She then thought back to the man who had saved her. The same person who had taken care of her, nursed her back to health. The caring eyes that had brought her back from one of the most lucid nightmares she had ever experienced. Gentle hands that had held her as she cried. A man who had nearly experienced a panic attack over the fear of having hurt her.
A man who, even when having had no good reason to, after everything she had done, everything she had said, still cared about her. Despite how much he had changed, he was still the same old Shinji.
Not all hope was lost.
She broke out of her thoughts to see the older woman staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah. He's still in there. I'm sure of it." The older woman observed her, hesitant in the girl's certainty, steely eyes looking for any sign of doubt. After a minute, she found nothing, and let a small smirk slip onto her face.
Asuka couldn't help but smile a little bit too.
SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE, LOCATION UNKNOWN
He stood waiting in the far corner of the room, his weapon at high ready. The familiar taste of fear and anticipation bit at his senses, one that he welcomed with open arms. He stood silently, hidden behind a small desk as he waited.
The doorknob creaked silently, the lock being turned slowly, before the door was gently pushed open. A rifle barrel became visible, peeking it's way through the doorway, the suppressor and IR laser system mounted on the top rail clearly showing the modernity of the gun. The body belonging to the hands gripping the rifle quickly entered the room, moving to the side of the door. They swept the rifle silently across the room. Their body was shrouded in darkness, save for the faint green glow visible on their eyes, the night vision goggles on their helmet having been flicked down. A second man followed him, equipment identical, moving to the other side of the room.
A suppressed gunshot rang out, 122 grains of copper jacketed steel entering through the first man's left arm and lodging itself neatly within his chest cavity. His body crumpled, life leaving the man's eyes before he even hit the ground. The second turned, quickly swinging to aim their rifle at where the shot had come from. A round hit them through their pair of goggles, the bullet entering through the eyeball, tumbling out the back of their helmet, pulling brain matter and skull fragments with it. A thump echoed as his limp body slammed into the floor, crimson now pooling around his head.
Shinji stood up wordlessly, before going over to both bodies, putting an extra round in both for good measure. He peeked his head outside the door to check for others, before turning his attention back to the two cooling corpses once he confirmed the coast was clear.
The helmet of the first was cut high near the ears, headphones meant to act as hearing protection on the sides, a small microphone sticking out of the left one to allow it to double as a communications device. A small compartment in the back contained spare batteries for the night vision equipment in the front, a pouch beside it containing what looked to be a counterweight. He flicked up the night vision attached to the front of the helmet and unbuckled the chin strap, before pulling it off the dead man. He slid it atop his own head, clipping the chin strap in place and ensuring the helmet was seated right. Once satisfied, he flicked the nods back down, letting his eyes adjust. The image was surprisingly crisp, the quality far better than the ones he had seen typical squads use in the past. He flicked them back up and blinked as light once again flooded his vision, temporarily blinding him. He looked back down at the two corpses, before reaching and plucking an extra item from a pouch on the side of the seconds plate carrier. Satisfied with his findings, he silently made his way out of the door, rifle raised, once again moving towards his original objective.
Chasing SEELE 06 had been surprisingly difficult, the man had understood OPSEC and kept his trace to a minimum. Even more, the man had dropped his ego, and understood the importance of physical security, keeping a personal security detail with him wherever he went. He had only just barely managed to lure the two men away into a nearby room, Shinji being quickly overwhelmed by the two after a brief exchange of gunfire. The mercenaries were well equipped, their gear modern and high end. Ceramics, AR platform rifles, high cut ballistic helmets with top of the line night vision, and even supressors. These men had equipment that cost more money than what most would make in a decade, along with the skill to use that gear to it's full potential. Shinji was rather surprised that he had managed to get the drop on them all things considered, although he wasn't complaining at the outcome. Seems lady luck had been feeling generous today.
With them now out of the way, he could return to what he wanted to do. He reached a double wooden door, opening it and entering. A figure sat behind a large desk, silently staring out the window, their head perked up at the sound of the doors opening, slowly turning back to face the newcomer.
"Glad to see you boys handled our problem, although you should have radioed in your kill bef-" Having fully turned to face the presence within the room, the man paled at the sight, clearly not having expected them to be there. He quickly fumbled towards his belt, aiming to draw his handgun. A round in his shoulder stopped his attempt. He groaned in pain as the other stepped forward towards the desk, rifle now lowered. The footsteps stopped, and he glared up at the newcomer as he held his now bleeding shoulder.
"I see you're not here to play games. You want information I suppose?" A head nod.
"Then what exactly are you here for?" A paper was slid across the table, a grainy image visible on it. He raised an eyebrow?
"You want to know where that thing is? That's it?" Another nod.
"It's in the Italy WILLE base, for testing I believe. Those imbeciles think they can get it to work. It shut down a few years ago, and they've been trying to get it working since." He looked silently at the image, before staring back up at the newcomer standing silently. He furrowed his brows in thought, before smiling at the other.
"Do you really think you'll be able to get in there and make it out alive, Ikari?" The other stiffened, confirming his suspicion. He laughed at the others' now murderous gaze.
"Oh, you foolish boy. WILLE is going to skin you alive once they catch up to you." The other didn't respond, only grabbing the image and turning around. Shinji began to walk away from the injured man, having decided killing him wasn't worth the hassle. The elderly man's voice cut through the silence, stopping him in his tracks.
"About your father," He began, waiting for Shinji to give him his attention. Once the other turned their gaze towards him, he continued.
"You're far more like that idiotic man than I realized." He let his grin turn into a sneer, watching as the other trembled in anger, hand clenching and unclenching.
A slight pop echoed out, a ping sounding out as a small piece of metal impacted the floor. Shinji threw a small cylindrical object forwards, the item impacting the older mans chest, before falling to his lap. The boy turned back around, walking towards the door again. The man turned his gaze down towards the now slightly smoking object.
"Huh?"
He didn't even have time to yell before the object exploded. His world erupted into a blinding light, smoke and heat overwhelming his senses. White hot material immediately fell upon him, burning through his clothing, cooking away skin and muscle, the subcutaneous fat layer cooked within an instant. The scent of charred meat mixed with burnt hair filled the air, the man unable to scream due to the burnt hole where his vocal chords were, only able to release desperate gurgles amidst the sounds of crackling skin. The man could only twitch in pain. A few seconds later, a burst of pops echoed out, the SEELE member only able to twitch as the flaming substance reached the visceral fat layer, searing the organs.
Shinji watched silently as the white phosphorus grenade he had thrown cooked the other man alive. Maybe he should have felt guilty at the cruelty of it. Maybe he should have been sickened by it, but he wasn't.
You reap what you sow.
The years had desensitized him to the worst the world had to offer. He had seen far too much violence for a person his age. Far too much. Sure, he was technically almost 30, but considering 14 of those years had been spent unconscious and formless within a giant hellish robot, he was still only really 16. Years ago, he would have without a doubt been a crying, sniveling, gagging mess at the gruesome sight in front of him. But now? He didn't even flinch at the sight.
A slight feeling of guilt crept up at the realization that he felt absolutely no sympathy for the other. That was quashed when the image of a familiar redheaded face appeared i his mind, a beautiful face broken and beaten, eyes absent to the world.
Maybe with a different person he would have felt bad, but considering what men like him had done, this was far better than what they deserved. Desperate, power hungry psychopaths who didn't care who, or what, they hurt to get what they wanted. These disgusting excuses for human beings likely had millions of indirect deaths to their names. These were monsters wearing human skin. The thought of what these men had done to the world, what they had done to him, and especially what they had done to her, flooded his mind with pure rage. He turned his gaze back to the now burning corpse, white phosphorus still burning well above 2760 Celsius.
The only emotion he could truly discern at the sight, was one of immense satisfaction.
And if he still had a functioning mouth, he would have smiled.
THREE DAYS LATER
WILLE ITALY, OUTSKIRTS
He watched as a WILLE member talked with another, occasionally taking drags from a cigarette clutched between his left index and middle finger. A few minutes passed by before the second waved goodbye and headed back inside, the first taking a final drag before tossing the cigarette to the ground, stomping the ash out and heading back inside a moment later. He blew a deep breath through his nose before putting down the binoculars, crawling away from the edge of the hill before heading back to the small campsite he had set up.
He sat down, leaning against his ruck which acted as an improvised chair. He snaked a hand underneath his body armor, absentmindedly scratching at his chest. He had managed to find the base, the mountainous areas acting as natural cover to hide the majority of the structure. He had managed to follow a small supply convoy that had led him towards the area. He leaned his head back and stared at the sky, watching the clouds.
It had been a pretty average day, all things considered, he was in the middle of going to finish up the laundry he had started, Asuka having decided to get up from the couch to look for something in the fridge. He had accidentally tripped over Pen-Pen, causing Asuka to bump into him and trip, nearly falling over.
"You goddamn idiot!" She smacked him across the back of the head.
"Sorry! Sorry!" She grumbled in German at that, and while he didn't speak the language, he could still tell it wasn't likely anything nice. Misato cut in, her familiar teasing tone in her voice.
"Aw, you two having another lovers spat?" The tease had gotten the reaction the older woman had desired, Shinji sputtering in denial while the other girl yelled in protest.
"M-Misato stop tha-" Asuka cut him off before he could say anything more.
"Hmph! With that scrawny dweeb? As if!" Misato only responded with a cheshire grin.
"Oh really?" Her smile was threatening to split her face in half now.
"Shin-chan here accidentally gave me a little bit of a 'show' the other day, and I can tell you he isn't short everywhere, if you know what I mean."
Asuka sputtered at that, proceeding to insult the purple haired woman in German as Misato chuckled at Shinji's bright red face.
Shinji eventually recovered from the embarrassing encounter, quietly watching as the girl berated Misato, the girl's insults only increasing with every sly response the older woman gave. He eventually left in the middle of their argument to continue the laundry he had been doing. As he folded clothes, he smiled at the interaction. Sure, it wasn't exactly picturesque, but it was better than before.
When days had been so bland and boring that weeks and months were indistinguishable, when days were so similar he would lose track of the date. Misato and Asuka were a stark contrast, the chaotic pseudo family far from functional, but at the end of the day, they were still a family, however dysfunctional they were.
And he wouldn't trade that for anything.
He opened his eyes to a now dark sky. He checked his watch to see that four hours had passed. Seems he had dozed off. He lifted his head up, rubbing his now aching neck, cursing himself for having fallen asleep in such an awkward position. He wasn't too upset, this was the first night in ages that he had been able to sleep without a nightmare. He checked his watch, seeing he had at least 4 more hours until sunrise.
He reached in his pack, grabbing a bottle of water, chugging half of it's contents greedily. He didn't exactly feel thirsty enough to want to drink the entire bottle, but considering how loud half filled canteens were, he finished the rest of it a few seconds later. Tossing it into the small garbage hole he had dug nearby, he pulled out his trusty pack of cigarettes, digging around in his pockets for a lighter. A lighter was produced, a shaky flame igniting the end of the cancer stick. It took longer than normal, the slight tremors in his hand making it harder than normal to do the familiar task. He sighed at the worn cigarette lighter in his hand, watching as the object shook lightly from the trembling in his fingers.
They had started not long after his first few kills, the tremors coming and going with no set pattern or cause. In recent months they had only increased in frequency, coming and going nearly every day now. Just another issue to add to an ever growing list. Trying to ignore his current thoughts, he pocketed the lighter, grabbing the cigarette in his "mouth" with two shaky fingers, and taking a drag to try and let the nicotine distract him. He let this mind think back to the past, the familiar memories coming back. Older times, where his biggest worry was homework and what to make for dinner. The faces of people he had cared for, worn and tired, years of suffering due to his selfishness.
A purple haired woman who had tried her best to help him, despite her own problems.
A blue haired girl who had shown him care and kindness.
A red haired girl who was wild, bold, and brazen, seemingly on top of the world, yet had far more in common with him than they thought.
He wanted to scream. Cry. Yell. Break down and curse the world for everything that had happened. He wanted to tell them he was sorry, he wanted to fix the world. He wanted to let them know he didn't hate them, he wanted to see those worn down expressions smile again, for them to feel joy again. Instead, he simply took another drag of the cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke through his nostrils. He opted to focus his current attention on the cigarette in his hand, watching as the smoke lazily drifted upwards towards the night sky. The phantom in the corner of his vision was now leering down at him, which he opted to ignore, instead taking another drag of the cigarette, stubbing it out on the dirt, and tossing it towards where the rest of his trash was.
He turned his gaze towards the base, a few sparse lights from the gates making it still visible in the distance. Only a few hours until he would attempt to break in. The plan to steal Unit-01 was stupid, but he didn't have any other choices that he could think of. He shook off that thought for a moment, reaching towards the side of his pack, gently taking hold of the firearm leaning against it. The rifle was rather light, the AR style rifle short and easy to handle. It was without a doubt a modern weapon, sleek and versatile, the only marking he could find being a small black bar near the top of the receiver that read "Virtus" The 5.56 rounds were light, the load in his current vest feeling far lighter despite the same amount of magazines within it. He peered down the holographic sight, the high tech gadget an unfamiliar sight to him.
He was used to using old stolen military surplus, it was everywhere in the wastelands. The many now empty military bases had been free reign for the survivors of third impact, millions of firearms flooding the markets that the remainders of humanity had set up. AK and FAL pattern rifles pitted with rust and neglect were a familiar sight to him, families and town guards frequently seen carrying the rifles. It had only been natural that he had learned to use what was available. Ammunition was common, and when a loaded magazine could be traded for a few days worth of food, he quickly ensured his pack was filled with them. His calloused hands were used to the outdated rifle designs. Iron sights, wooden handguards, and harsh recoil a familiar and comforting feeling in the harsh lands.
This specific rifle was for sure custom, the rifle far too decked out to be a simple military issue firearm. The small arms room he had found after disposing of the SEELE member had been sparse, lacking in ammunition and firearms, but the healthy amount of what looked to be stolen military explosives he had found near the back had more than made up for his previous disappointment.
Hitting the magazine release button, he ensured the magazne had a full load, before reinserting it into the magwell, giving the bottom of the magazine receiving a firm tap to ensure it was fully seated. Placing the rifle back down on the ground, he reached into a side pocket on his pack, pulling out a strand of detcord, slinging it over his right shoulder. A blasting cap, wire, and a detonator were shoved into a spare utility pouch on his webbing. The heavy ruck was closed back up, before being hoisted up on his shoulders again, the straps chinched down to ensure the it didn't move around on his back. The rifle was picked back up, an arm going through the sling as it was placed on his left shoulder, the thick nylon resting on top of the straps of his load bearing equipment and ruck. A helmet to his right was picked up off the ground, the chin strap easily being clicked into place, having already been adjusted by him beforehand. He reached up, grabbing the night vision attached to the helmet and swinging it down, letting it click into place. His world once again was tinted a slightly grainy blue, the hills and trees previously hidden in darkness now clearly visible. He glanced back towards the building again, and began his trudge down the hill. There was no turning back now. The base was well guarded, it was going to be difficult. Success meant WILLE would only start working even harder to hunt him down. SEELE likely wouldn't be too thrilled either.
Either way, he had likely just signed his own death warrant.
This was going to be a nightmare.