Cassian flung me across the field for the tenth time. I spit out dirt from my mouth as I slowly stood up. The sun had come out from underneath the clouds so it was scorching hot outside. I had taken Nora's advice to explore my infusion but, that was another total bust. From all the tips I got on how to connect with it and activate it, none had worked. It had been dormant and silent refusing any of my attempts. Nora had concluded on it being psychological. That my mental state was reflected on my body hence I couldn't activate it until I was "stable".
So for two weeks since then I had been building on my combat techniques and knowledge of this world.
"You're having a bit too much fun throwing me around officer" I said to Cassian who was dressed in a black shirt and cargo pants. The shirt clung to his ripped torso.
"You make a great punching bag" he wiped the sweat of his forehead with the back of his left hand "Still no luck with your infusion?" I shook my head.
"At this rate, they might as well give up on you" he said after a beat.
"They're what? Betting on my abilities to be powerful?"
"It's the only reason you're here. Most of the times they sent guys like you to the battlefront without blinking an eye. But your strange circumstances lined up perfectly. Maybe they will dissect you?"
I choked on air "Dissect?"
"Yeah open you up and just do it the old fashioned way. Study how fast you heal and all that." his cruel sneer came back. "Well that's it for today. I have more important things to attend to"
He jogged off to the weapons training area and like all the other days I finished of with the drills Lach had taught me. At this point in time I had given up on my memories. Both as Sebastian Winters and Osric. Not to mention the odd ringing in my head. It was a low and steady thing, not painful but irritating. A migraine from all the sun perhaps.
******
After showering I jumped into bed above Lach. He slept facing the all so I could never tell if he was awake or not. I was discovering that sleep did not come easy to me and the fact that my doom mates snored like pigs didn't help.
"Hey Lach"
He responded with a grunt. "What got you stuck in this place?"
He inhaled loudly, then went silent for so long I thought he went back to sleep. "I desired to not be weak and defenseless. So I got myself a black market infusion. A small fiend that would be overlooked and irrelevant but, it allowed to defend myself."
I shifted in my bed "They found you" I said.
"They did. But they offered me a job instead. To be their eyes and ears in black market operations. That or death."
That didn't explain why he was here in the military. He would be a spy for them, hence an asset. Unless, it wasn't the military that recruited him.
"Who were they?" I asked.
"The Cains. A family that rose in military fame during the battle for New York. They pride themselves on strength and ruthlessness towards humans and fiends. If a Cain is on the battlefield, you can count on success. You can also count on suicidal strategies too. To them, you're either strong enough to survive or you die. I chose my life, they branded me a coward and handed me to the military on my charges of a black market infusion." He let out a shaky breathe and I chose to end the conversation there.
Minutes later I drifted off to a restless sleep. My migraine intruded even my dreams, causing this loud buzzing in my head like hummingbird wings were flapping in my head. I shifted and turned in my head to no avail until, it just went silent. The a short sharp pain jolted me awake. I rubbed my temples and slowly looked around me. Everyone was in a frenzy, the alarm was blaring. Our room was painted in red. Slowly sounds came to me shouting and running of men outside. Something was wrong.
Lach sat on his bed alert. "Fiend attack" he said to himself.
The door opened and Cassian strode in wearing full combat gear. It was a sleek black mechanical suit with a red demonic skull on his left chest. He had an anti-fiend handgun strapped to his left hip and a short sword on his right. The suit only left his head visible to us. He held a helmet underneath his left arm.
"Rise and shine. Fiends broke through Union city's defenses an hour ago, they need reinforcements to help with the evacuation. You guys are the reinforcements" his eyes gleamed "Report to hanger 4 in five minutes"
He walked out in the direction of hanger 4. I got my boots on and rubbed my eyes. The migraine was gone, leaving me feeling light headed. I shook my head to ease it. Lach grabbed my shoulder and shook me "You okay?"
"Just sleepy" I said.
"Lucky for you this is a wake up call. A big one at that. They don't deploy devils unless it's serious" he said as we walked out of the room. The atmosphere was suffocating. Everyone was stone faced. We reached hanger 4 were a helicopter was being loaded with weapons. Kris was there commanding other junior officers. She was in full combat uniform like Cassian. Unlike him though she was armed with guns alone. She had an assault rifle strapped on her back, two handguns on both hips. Her suit was a dark grey and had a giant red cannon her left pauldron. Cassian stood by the helicopter waiting for us.
He pointed to a rack that had downgraded versions of what they were wearing. They looked like normal bullet proof vests to me. I eyed them wearily and some one in the crowd voiced my concerns.
"These look like ordinary vests to me! Fiends will tear us apart like bacon" he yelled. Cassian scoffed "You don't deserve to wear this. So shut up and suit up"
The guy scowled but did as he was told. I wore my gear as well and if further cemented my chances of dying. It was stiff and hard to move in. I tapped the vest and felt the material beneath. There was some material like chain mail with a tougher material I couldn't place. The others were already selecting their weapons on the racks and walls. A long sword that was hung on the wall beckoned me to it. The blade was white, like it was polished bone. The hilt and guard were simple. I swung it, it felt too light and thin in my hands but it would have do to. Clearly I was more accustomed to the Mephisto. I spotted Kris walking towards me. She pulled out a gun from her back and handed it to me. It was the Ignis.
"You might need this" she said. I took it from her and tested the feel of it in my hand. It was heavy but, familiar. I knew then that I had held this gun for a long time. "Just giving it to me" I asked Kris.
She shrugged "It's yours anyway. Know how to use it?"
No I said in my head as my hands moved. I quickly snapped the barrel open, reloaded it, snapped it closed and switched of the safety. Kris hummed in approval "Guess not"
Cassian clapped his hands snapping our attention to him.
"Your job is simple. Help people evacuate to the bunkers. Only engage category 1 fiends only. Anything above you run from. Leave the rest to us" with that he put on his helmet. The red visor glowed menacingly. He gestured with his hand for us to enter the helicopter. Kris gave me a pat on the shoulder "See you down the road?"
"Yeah"
****
The trip to Union city was in pure silence. The faces of the others were stiff like granite. Cassian stood in the middle, hands folded. Lach was beside me with his hands around what looked like a bow staff. His breathing was slow and rhythmic.
"Scared?" he asked.
"Hell yeah. This is my first time in actual combat and I still don't haven't activated my infusion." he turned his head towards me.
"We will be helping people evacuate. If we met a category one fiend we kill it in our numbers. Or we hide"
"My God, it's far worse than they said" exclaimed the pilot over the comms. The helicopter lowered slowly until we felt it touch the ground. The door fell open slowly revealing a city in flames and ruins. Noises of all kinds meshed together to create one sound. Chaos. Cassian walked out first. The rest of us followed reluctantly. We were in what looked like a park. The trees were ripped from the ground leaving craters. There was smoke in the air and the sky had turned a red hue. Fiend screeches broke through the night. Glass shattered somewhere in the distance.
Somebody whispered over the comms "Shit"