Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 4

Under the dim light inside of the library, the team gathered around a table on the first floor. The atmosphere was tense but focused. Paxton took a glance at the team, smiling warmly upon seeing Rei and Tetsu among the group. Nomad and Megumi both agreed, even managing to get Kismet to join in on the operation.

“Alright Nojuro, Hoshikaze,” Paxton barked proudly, causing Rei to snap to focus immediately. He took notice of her brief, yet perplexed stare and continued, “Rei, you’re going to be with me for this operation as part of the guardian angel team.”

She gave him a confident nod in agreement, causing Tetsu to finally raise his hand and ask, “What exactly is this mission?”

“I second,” Nomad added, leaning towards the table and observing the dozens of photographs scattered across. “We were asked to do this and didn’t get any details.”

“I understand that,” Paxton drawled as he started to fumble around for his case of cigarettes. “I could start off with the ‘thank you for coming’ spiel, yadda-yadda, but times a pressin’,” he paused to light up a cigarette. “We got three teams for this operation. I want everybody to pay attention, because if you botch this one, we’re all dead. I don’t wanna die, I wanna go home. We all good on that?”

There was some muttering in agreement, only causing Paxton to repeat, “We good?”

The room lit up in a resounding, “Yes, sir!”

“Glad we got that,” he began to drawl again, taking another pause to get a drag from his cigarette. “As you all have heard, we are withdrawing and completing a rendezvous with the fleet in roughly thirty-three hours, which will make this upcoming operation the evermore pressing.”

He began to point towards several of the photographs laid across the table, first pointing out a very blurry image of a G.E.I. dropship. After giving the picture a tap, he continued, “This here is the primary objective for team one, which is Megumi, Nomad, and pretty boy.”

Judai stared up towards him, trying to keep from letting out so much as a chuckle. Nomad stared across the table and started to take mental notes of the vehicle.

“What’s the plan for the security?” Nomad asked him.

“That should not be an issue,” Paxton replied. He reached over to his right, retrieving a small plastic badge from the many items next to him and sliding it to Megumi. “That’s the same access badge you used to get into the lab, it should get you into the airport, right?”

Megumi lifted the small object, examining her old picture across the front as she replied, “I think so. I have a lot of clearance. They’re going to ask why I’m trying to get into the airport.”

“Well, figure out a story. You and Nomad will be wearing your G.E.I. uniforms while pretty boy rides as your prisoner. You’re going to be taking the same busted and shot up ride you came into town in, so more convincing story. Shouldn’t be hard, right?”

“I mean, I guess.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Paxton bellowed, giving the table a quick jab with his fist. “Once you get into that airport, get that dropship and you hightail your ass to the rendezvous.”

Tetsu’s brows furrowed, illustrating his confusion as he lifted his good arm and asked, “Why am I not on that team?”

“That’s good you asked,” Paxton replied after taking another healthy drag. “You are team two, and by team two, I mean team you. You are part two of this operation.”

He smacked the ashes off the end of his cigarette and began to slide a group of photos over to Tetsu. Upon grabbing the grainy photos, Tetsu took notice of the bizarre structures.

“What is this?” he asked, still fumbling through the photos.

Paxton replied, “That’s the Alferov Research Facility. They’re building some type of reactor to harvest energy for what we can guess is nothin’ good. You got that weird shadow power, so you’re gonna use it and plant explosives at the key points in those photos.”

“And then what?”

Paxton stared back to him, quickly pulling his hands apart and letting out a quick, “boom.”

“Where is this,” he muttered to himself, emoting some familiarity with the surroundings. “This is Aiga, correct?”

“Correct.”

The response caused him to go pale, which raised some alarm with the others. Rei looked over towards him, recognizing that Tetsu was in distress with the information. For a fleeting moment, his hands trembled while a cold sweat began to emanate on his forehead.

Paxton spoke again, “You alright kid?”

“I’m fine,” Tetsu hesitantly muttered, quickly repeating himself before finally saying, “I plant these ex… and then leave?”

“This should be easy. If you stay focus and move quick, you’ll be in and out of that place in no time.”

Tetsu continued to nod his head, shaking off his nervousness as the planning continued. As Paxton began to assign the next members to the final team, Nomad spoke once more, “This is a four-person job?”

“If it all goes to plan.” Paxton returned.

“It still seems like we’re massively understaffed, if I want to be honest.”

Judai gave the table a loud tap before interrupting, “They’re not ready for this either.”

Nomad’s face reflected his intrigue as he responded, “What do you mean?”

“He means that a significant portion of the enemy forces have withdrawn,” Paxton addressed them again. “For whatever reason, the Litvyak received a withdraw order.”

Megumi was receptive to the information, not taking long to figure out the reason. She then raised her hand and said, “Reformation Day.”

The room fell silent while they turned their attention to her. A large part of Megumi’s life in Kashmir was being reminded of the G.E.I.’s accomplishments, it’s reformation of the old system before it.

She continued, “When the Global Eurasian Initiative took power, they marked a holiday to celebrate that… March fifteenth, it’s the fortieth anniversary.”

“That’s a little over a month by now,” Paxton remarked. “Is it that important they would abandon their secret project?”

“It’s more complex than that,” she replied. “In Kashmir, the Global Eurasian Initiative is the government, and the Weapons Administration oversees military operation. They act as their own government in many ways. In fact, this entire facility and operation went off without the Premiere’s knowledge.”

“Looks like the Premiere is stepping on their toes.”

“That would seem like the case. I imagine the Premiere would have my father fly back for something as mundane as a parade.”

The utterance of the relationship with Vic, as vague as it was, caused Nomad some uneasiness. Megumi went silent, feeling the weight of her words hanging in the air. She turned over to Rei, hoping for no reaction, hoping that the revelation would not affect the dynamics of their team. She was met with Rei’s calm, but oblivious gaze.

“So you got a Deep State on top of your government. Really swell place you got back home, glad you switched sides,” Paxton barked enthusiastically before turning his focus back to her. “Since were on the topic of secret weapons, what other surprises do they have for us?”

Tetsu’s eyes lit up, causing him to turn away from them. Rei continued to watch him, trying to decipher his distress while Paxton and Megumi continued their exchange.

“I don’t know what you mean by that.” Megumi said.

“I mean are there any secret weapons like that one that crushed half of my men,” Paxton groaned, finally showing some frustration in his usual calm, and composed demeanor. “If we show up and they have something that turns us inside out, now would be a good time to know.”

“There’s not weapon that turns people inside out.”

“What about one that turns us into goo?”

“There’s no secret weapons,” she hissed, growing more impatient with Paxton. “They have the facility, and that small airport they slapped down. I don’t know what else you want.”

Paxton calmly took the final puff off his cigarette and gently stabbed the embers into a small coin laying on the table, saying, “That’s good enough for me. I want everybody to be at the Mobile Carrier in two hours. Take a shit, shower, shave; just be there. Dismissed.”

The room came back to life; thuds filled the air as chairs grinded against the floor. Megumi took a deep breath, thinking of the task ahead. She could not help but feel the weight of uncertainty on her shoulders. She then turned her focus across table, sighing as Rei began to make her exit.

“She asked about your father.” Nomad said softly to her, causing her stomach to turn.

“She doesn’t know, does she?” She could barely keep her voice steady as she replied.

“No, but she wants him dead.”

“Without a doubt.”

She was on the end dealing the punishment to Rei village and could not visualize what she went through. There was much guilt she would have to live with, and she tried to remain composed as the crew began to exit the library.

“Are you thinking about telling her?” Nomad asked.

“I should.”

“It might be dicey to do it before this.”

“I need a minute,” Megumi cut him off, finally standing from her seat and trailing Rei with her eyes. “I’ll see you at the Mobile Carrier.”

Before Nomad could acknowledge her, Megumi began to step through the library, slithering through the other troops as she approached the exit. Her heart continued to race while she thought about the events that had occurred prior.

I could not stop it, but I tried, she thought of her wording.

Deep down, she knew there was no reason to do this now. She felt two forces inside of her clashing as she continued to walk forward. She drew closer, finally calling out to Rei and getting her attention. Rei came to a stop, turning back to face her.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Megumi said. She finally got in arms distance of Rei, taking notice of some uneasiness about her appearance. “I really hope that everything goes off without a hitch.”

“I agree.” Rei said, quickly turning her attention to Tetsu for a moment.

“We come from two different worlds,” she began to speak, but then fell short as she stared at Rei’s somewhat troubled gaze. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I want to let you know that I am not like those people who hurt you.”

Rei looked back to her, remaining at a loss of words as Megumi found herself in a nervous ramble.

“I hope you find peace,” Megumi stopped short again, letting out a quick sigh. “I’m sorry I haven’t been at training. Hopefully, when this is all over, we can get back to that.”

“We will do that.” Rei said finally before turning away from Megumi and beginning to walk over to Tetsu.

The abrupt exit gave Megumi some relief, but she could not help but feel some guilt over the whole situation. As Rei started to get further, Megumi called out to her again, causing her to stop once more.

“Before the mission,” Megumi said aloud, “meet me at the Mobile Carrier. Actually, be there in an hour. No offense, you smell like you haven’t had a shower in a while.”

Rei stood dumbfounded, embarrassingly asking, “What’s a shower?”

The response caused Megumi some alarm, but a predictable laugh as she finally said, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Mobile Carrier in one hour, no excuses. You’ll thank me.”