The Commissar and I sat in silence as we observed these two, "Ibuki." The Commissar growled.
"Yes?"
"What is your response to an order?"
Drilled in instinct surfaced and I rose in a moment notice snapping me to my feet, raising my arms shoes clapping against each other. My arm came up in an odd angle with too phew time to spare. I half haphazardly brought it home to make the semblance of a salute. "COMISAR SIR!"
'Kitten' woke up her devoid feline eyes tracking to one of us then to the other.
"Ive been way too sentimental about my son, son. It is time for you to get into gear and kick your musketeer back into shape. You'll be going on a hunt. And the dog of war will come with you."
The Commissar looked at 'Kitten' and then confidently strode out of the room, like nothing what happened before even mattered.
'Kitten' still stared blankly at me. "You do not intend to come with us?"
"he calls for my brethren," 'Kitten' mumbled, "i will accompany them."
Without Kyle? I wanted to ask. There is no pointing in asking her if there is no stopping her. "Good hunting then." I slipped out of the room before I could her response. Its questionable if she even enjoys taking life or anything at all…
I looked around the sterile hospitals walls which I vacated not a day ago either.
"Good to see that you're in good health, mister Inu." An familiar voice said an familiar voice. "I take it you want to take some actions yourself? After all, your colleagues are still waiting in the waiting area with quite an attractive woman waiting to be kept waiting. You better head down there to face some action aswell."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked the engineer from the day before.
He raised his right eye brow.
"You want to say anything engineer or whatever."
He raised his left eye brow. "You can't phantom how many engineering degrees I have, boy."
What is that supposed to mean!" I echoed.
"Youre not ready for the world which might raise before you." The sound of small scale machinery came out of nowhere.
"Wait what the? Is that you doing it?" I looked with a cold sweat running down my spine. His forehead, between his eye brows, the skin is getting pushed apart. And!
I fled in terror, not waiting for what might be unleashed. from the space between his head. I kept running through the same looking corridors. Until I arrived at the waiting area near the lobby. It has gotten dark outside and there, they were waiting. Entertaining themselves to the best of their abilities without making a ruckus.
Chloe was the first one to stop her doing and look at me, Clyde was the next to follow. Matt, Ed and Brad were the last to fix their eyes on me. Or rather I preferred them to be it. Instead of with her fair pale skin and red hair looked a beauty at me which I preferred not to see.
"Jacky." I nodded looking at her.
She clicked her tongue as a greeting.
"OK be this as it may, for this one all of you please bear with me." I said looking at the slightly depleted First and second squad. "Kyle is out for the time being and we still have our duties to attend. To help us with that the Commissars said something along the lines of Meldiers will accompany us." Or whatever he tried to say. "He did not mention any handlers or anything so in all likely hood some of the sane ones as hunting squads. I don't know what he intends us to do but understrength and unconsolidated it is probably something which he has on the record but rather off the record, better say goodbye to your families already."
The boys of first squad offered me silent nods as acknowledgement, Clyde looked uncomfortable and Chloe humored me with her usual unreadable expression… "Wait Jacky! What are you doing here! Where is Lynn?" I looked around and saw a series of shrugs and shaking heads.
"Fine…" I sighed.
"Question?" Clyde asked, raising his hand.
"You may."
"Why don't we get another militia squad to join up with us, when the Commissar is already dumping Meldiers on us, that means he's expecting action, and so are you?"
"Good question, and I don't know the answer either myself.." I answered. I sighed and felt once more why Kyle seemed so chronically exhausted every time he talked with his father. "For the time being we have to assume that we won't get consolidated and we have to act with our current strength. We are specialists and there is a limit to who can perform basic maintenance for the Technocrats. And handled confidential matters."
"And what does that mean in detail? You can't tell me that we've been the only one using one fourth of our strength." Asked Matt.
"Good question, and another time I don't have an answer. We probably have to assume that somehow we manage to wrangle up both of Kyle's meldiers and send them in head first and mop up whatever is left. If that is even what he wants."
"What do you mean you don't know what he wants?" Asked Jacky.
I simply shrugged. "I don't know."
"You mean to say that I've got verified all the way over here with the threat of a court martial during an emergency which I could not have reached in time to make a difference to begin with and now I'm stuck here with an assignment which you did not bother asking?"
"Seems about right, I'm sorry that your leave of absence was interrupted because people were dying." Before I noticed it Chloe came up close.
"Chloe?-" I wanted to ask before I found my vision spinning and rapidly crashing towards the ground.