This chapter contains some graphical scenes of violence, although I did my best to refrain myself and remain as sober as possible, without deteriorating the atmosphere I wanted to create. But the thought that everything I could write, couldn't be worse that what one can imagine, made it easier to keep my descriptions to a minimum (yeah, okay, it's also 'cause I'm a lazy butt)... Well, you've been warned... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * ...wax me mould me, heat the pins and stab them in you have turned me into this, just wish that it was bulletproof... * The command bridge was usually a quiet place. Some would say frigid. But this time, it was in a frenzy, mostly due to its captain. It was seriously worrying the others officers. That was the second time that they saw her grey eyes have this cold, unsettling, almost soulless gaze. On the other hand, she had never been that frantic, not even when Gaul had taken over the ship. She was pacing back and forth. The mix of this two things was most disquieting. "When is the satellite supposed to cover the area?" She barked. "In fifteen minutes, ma'am." Answered dutifully the transmission officer. He suppressed a shudder. It was already the tenth time she asked this. That was plain creepy! The next question would be... "And when should they have sent teir security call?" "Three hours ago, ma'am." - Bingo! - "Still no answer?" "None, ma'am." "Thank you, keep trying." He cringed at her tone of voice. She finally sat back, reluctantly, and chewed her lower lip. She wanted to scream in frustration. First, this mission had lasted longer than expected. And now, they had lost all communications with them. What was going on? It was supposed to be a routine mission. Sosuke and Weber had been called back in emergency, although they wouldn't be on board before several hours. She rubbed her temples. This was taking too long, but she couldn't send troops blindly either. The major Karirin chose this moment to enter the command bridge, as calm and professional as usual. "Ah, major! How were the negociations with the columbian government?" "Not very good, I'm afraid, captain. You, of course, know that, even if most of the governments find us very usefull at times, provided that we keep a low profile, they will never officially recognize Mithrill as a legal military organisation. This, because they don't have any control over us, and don't know who has... It means we are relatively free to act as we see fit, but it also means that, in case of problem, we are on our own. Helping us would be a blow to their own military craft." "And we know how the people would see this..." Added the young woman darkly. She hadn't expected much of this negociations anyway. The major nodded. "... Weakness. And I won't even mention the countries that consider Mithrill as a mere terrorist organisation. "Which, in a way, we are, aren't we?" With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, as the old warrior remained silent. Her last conversation with Melissa echoed in her head. The De Danan, the A.Ss were weapons. Everything depended on who wielded them. The last confrontation with Gaul had been a painful reminder. Melissa... "Ma'am, we just received the pictures from the satellite" "Thank you, Mr. Oliveira. Project them, please." She felt her heart stop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Melissa stiffled a cry of pain. She ached all over. To follow the drug dealers had been a HUGE mistake. It had costed O'Brien his life. She was unaware of Olafson's whererabouts, however... Maybe, he had been able to flee. If she hadn't been hurting so much, she would have laughed at her own stupidity, so typical of her to play the heroine like that... But there she was, cuffed to a young tree, beaten down by some jerk. - POW - His large fist connected one more time with her sternum. She coughed, unable to catch her breath, spitting blood at the same time. '...'probably broke the same ribs. Shit! They'd just healed a month ago!' She had the time to think before another blow landed in her face, finally sending her in the blissful realm of unconsciousness. Some time later, her eyes flutterred open. She had lost any sense of where she was and what she was doing there. She moved a bit and a flash of sharp pain ran through her like a lightning bolt, remembering her of the reason of her state. "Oh! Fuck! That hurts!!!" she gasped. At the same time she wondered if she was still alive. Wheter that or she was in hell! She groaned and shut her eyes thightly, praying whatever god who'd heard her to end her torment. She didn't care how. After some agonizing minutes, she relaxed back as the pain finally dulled. She could now feel the rain pourring on her. She was lying in the mud, at the feet of the tree she had been previously cuffed to. '...'heard that's excellent for the skin...' She thought ironically. She didn't want to move at all, but... She was cold! Oh so cold... A glance at herself and she knew one of the reason. Her clothes were torn. That wasn't a good thing, she decided, but prefered not to dwell on the subject any longer. Right now, if she didn't do anything, she knew that she would die. She looked around her. The mercenaries had apparently left precipitaly. She gritted her teeth and proceeded to stand up. She slowly brought her legs under her and pushed with her arms. The motion cut her breath and made her heart skip a beat or two. Her stomach reacted violently too and she couldn't stop herself to throw up, causing new burning chains of pain in her whole being. This time, she was sure she was going to die. Eventually, her abused organs calmed down and she avidly gulped some much needed air. When the dizziness that clouded her mind cleared a little, she was pleased to see that she had managed to stay on her hands and knees. She grabbed the trunk of the tree and with a determined look, hauled herself upright. She then held on the tree for dear life, waiting for the expected pain and vertigo to subside again. Between gasps, a grim smile appeared on her face. 'They haven't killed me! I'll show'em what a mistake it was!!!' Admittedly, she was as good as dead, in her state, in the middle of the jungle and without any weapon. But in her current state of mind, she didn't care. She was still alive, and that was all that counted. That and her revenge. "I'll never give up, 'gonna fight 'till the end... 'll make 'em regret to be born at all" She growled. "... I've promised her I'll respect my contract, 'nd heavens be damned, I will!" With that, she released her hold and ,slowly, like a drunken woman, headed back to the remains of her camp.'It's not that far... Only three kilometers..." She stubbornly ignored the vehement protests of her body. ---------------------------------------------------------- '... She's always come back... She's always come back... She's always come back...' Thessa was repeating this sentence like a mantra for the past three hours. Since she had seen the pictures that the satellite had taken. Everyone on the bridge had been shocked, of course. But Thessa couldn't even begin to describe her feelings, they were beyond words. Actually, she had almost fainted. The pictures were obcenely precise, showing all too clearly the blown A.S. and the wrecked bodies of her men. Melissa was nowhere to be seen. While it gave her hope, she knew that it didn't mean much either. She could be hiding under the green roof of the forest, or she could have been captured... Or... Thessa shook her head. She refused to imagine what else could have happened. 'She has always come back...' As if it could exorcise the little movie that kept on playing behind her eyes. Where bullets tore the flesh of her beloved, leaving an empty shell in their wake. Livid eyes staring blindly at the sky, forever. A sob escaped her lips before she could choke it down. "Excuse me a moment..." She managed to say before she all but fled the command bridge. Her subordinates watched her retreat with even more worried and inquisitive looks. Once in the hallway, she simply collapsed on her knees. She let her tears flow freely as terror and anger engulfed her. She had never felt like that. It was as if a cold hand was squizzing her heart until it exploded. Never had she thought that loving someone could bring so much pain. Waiting was an agony. She usually felt so useless in this moments. But in this particular case, it was simply unbearable! She hated to wait! But that was all she could do, while the rescue team headed for Columbia. "Too slow! How much more time will it take?" But she knew that the team, as fast as it was flying, wouldn't reach the campsite before another hour or so. She had such a bad feeling... 'Too late...' Again this voice! It had appeared shortly after the departure of the rescue team. This silly, unwelcomed voice... Up until now, she had made her best to ignore it. She knew she had done everything she could, as fast as it was possible... But... When the De Danan hadn't received any news from the Meilssa, the head-officer of the mission, her first impulse had been to send troops at once. Melissa was never late. But as a captain, she couldn't afford to react impulsively. She couldn't endanger her men by sending them in a possible trap. Even if Melissa was in trouble. It was her duty, her responsability. It required of her to remain calm and poised at all times. Everybody counted on her to make the cold, rational decisions. The hard decisions... She wanted to screw all this bloody shit!!! 'Too late...' It whispered again. She shook her head furiously and battered the little voice down. She wouldn't believe it. She couldn't... She stood back and wiped her tears. "Melissa isn't dead, she always comes back! She has to..." Her voice broke. "... I didn't have the time to tell her..." 'Too late...' -------------------------------------------------- Melissa stumbled once more on a treacherous root. And once again, hissing in pain, she managed to recover her balance. At least, it had stopped to rain, but the ground was still very slippery. Her movements also were becoming more and more uncontrolled. Her mind was fuzzy and she had difficulties to keep her eyes open. She knew she had gone by her limits long ago, but kept on walking anyway. 'I must not fall! That'd be the end!' However, Fate or Lady Luck weren't on her side at all today. She saw too late tha she was on the edge of a hill. Her left footslid on the mantel of dead leaves taht covered her path and she fell head first. She rolled helplessly all the way down. When she finally came to a stop, she was lying flat on her back. She began to cough and laugh at the same time. That was a sad, defeated sound. She stared up at the canopey, so far above her. "So... This is how it ends?" It was more a statement than a question. She knew she wouldn't go further. She briefly wondered if her body would be retrieved at all. Then, at the corner of her right eye, she noticed something unusual in a jungle. A boot. Curoius, she let her gaze wander along the leg it protected, up until it landed on the face of one of her comrades. Her eyes widened when she recognised him. Takeda... She was about to call him when she saw the tiny holes in his chest. Dead. His body had obviously fallen here too. 'Poor lad...' She thought. 'He always made the squad laugh with his habit of carrying his digital camera all the time... - to show his future grandchildren what kind of life he led when he was young - he said. He didn't even had a wife yet!' Suddenly, something clicked in her tired mind. 'Camera?' With unbidden determination, she forced her body to crawl to reach Takeda's. She emptied his pockets until she found what she was looking for. She sighed in relief. It hadn't been damaged! She smiled genuinely and thanked her fallen companion. She had one important thing left to do. With some more curses, she eased herself in a sitting position, her back pressed against Takeda's curled body. The she set the camera on a stone nearby and hit the record button. "Sergent major Melissa Mao, last report on mission KTP-0358... It should be given as fast as possible to the captain of the Thuata De Danan..." A new serie of coughs interupted her. "This report is to be classified secret level A..." She took a long breath to help clarify her mind before continuing. "On the sixth of february, around 1400, local time, our campsite was attacked by an unknown force, later identified as the mercenaries hired by the drugdealers. All the A.Ss were destoyed by portable missils and all the men were mercilessly shot down." She took in a ragged intake of air. To focus was becoming really difficult. "As far as I know, only three of us managed to survive. Corporals O'Brien and Olafson and myself. We tried to contact the De Danan, without success. We decided then to follow our enemies in order to discover why our A.Ss sensors had been unable to detect them, and if it had something to do with the dysfunction of our radios. We soon made it to their temporary camp, which was situated only three of four kilometers away from ours!" Melissa paused, reliving the events. "By that time, it was already dark and the mercenaries clearly didn't intend to travel by night... We waited for them to stop celebrating their victory. Then, when everything was quiet, we slipped in their camp.We had noticed a different tent among the others.Everybody was so plastered that nobody noticed us, or so we thought... Anyway, in the tent, we found a unknown engine. It seemed to be powered up by the same kind of generators our A.Ss have..." Followed a precise description and a list of technical informations she had been able to gather. "We decided to destroy it. O'Brien and me were waiting outside, keeping an eye on the mercenaries, while Olafson, expert in explosives, was preparing the fireworks. That's when a man irrupted next to me, seemingly out of nowhere. He was about two meters long and almost as large. Caucasiam type, blond hair, green eyes and tribal tattoos all over his back and arms. I learned later that he was called 'Silent' by the bunch of criminals he commanded. And indeed, he was as silent as death itself, and as deadly. He sent me flying with a single kick. Sprawled on the ground, I watched this monster grab O'Brien's neck and, as simply as if he was opening a bottle, break his neck." She shuddered at the memory. "Then he turned to Olafson who had just exited the tent. Olafson's a good fighter, but there, he was clearly outclassed. I came to my feet, charged and tackled him. Then I ordered to Olafson to run away, because the whole camp was waking up. That's the last time I saw him. I, of course, intended to do the same. As I ran, I heard an explosion behind me, so, I assume that Olafson was able to destroy the engine, but I can't insure that. If you see him, though, congratulate him for me. Unluckily for me, I chose the wrong way and got caught...They... tortured me and finally left me as dead." She finally briefly related how she had ended at the bottom of this hill. She let the camera run a little while, clearly hesitating about something. Then she appeared to reach a decision. Her face softened and she spoke again. "Thessa, I've still something to tell you... It... It's kindda private... This is something I'm not good at... But... But I wanted you to know that I... I love you. I'm in love with you... I realize that it's most unfair to you, but please... Allow a dying woman to ease her soul..." Her body felt numb. That wasn't such a bad thing, since she didn't ache so much anymore. Curiously, the world around her seemed to become brighter, it was beautiful. A peaceful smile bloomed on her face as she went on. "Please, don't hate me for this... That's why I really had to leave. It was driving me nuts... But, somehow, it also filled me with joy... I know you're not like that, but I couldn't control my feelings..." Her eyes closed and her last words came in a whisper. "Please forgive me... I love you..." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry, but I was also listening to Korn and System of a down, and that's the result. I'm tempted to let it at that, although I have enough material for a suite. What do you think?
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