Jay and Sunshine looked upon the shocked soldier who had made their first kill on the battlefield.
"The first one is always the loudest in your mind. They get quieter, but never let them go completely silent. Once that happens, you become like us." -- Anon Guest
[AN: War and armies aren't always necessary and do not mesh well with Pax Humanis. This has to happen in association with Greater Deregulation]
They called it a Double Blade Attack. One, the rapier, an obvious attack against the advancing Dereggers. The other, the dagger, was the precision strike against the leaders. Who had to get through the defences of the Deregger army. Past gun batteries, fortifications, traps, and well-armed space marines who shot first and asked questions later.
No pressure.
Lieutenant Bambrose's job was to take what appeared to be a librarian and an emo kid in his early twenties through the estimated front of the Deregger Geurillas and towards the command centre where the leaders were hiding.
Because stealth was vital, Bambrose was not wearing much more than a basic livesuit. There was stealth technology to hide its power source, and some sound elimination to hide the sound the suit made.
Which was why she surprised the spit out of the Deregger marine, and why he surprised the spit out of her.
There was no time to think. No chance of negotiation. It was kill or be kill and it was vitally important that she was the one to kill. Bambrose moved according to her training. Take the surprise of the enemy to her advantage. Strike at every weak point, and strike quickly. His gun would run out of ammo before her knife ran out of sharp. Dodge out of his strikes as she did her best to strike him.
One lucky blow to his battery pack, and the whole thing burst into flame.
His screams would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her days.
The emo kid was at one elbow and the librarian was at the other. The librarian had a blade of his own.
"Quickly, now," whispered the librarian. "There's a covert spot to hide near here."
"Can't get caught at the scene," said the emo kid.
They helped her get to the hiding place before the Deregger marine had finished flailing to get out of his burning suit. Before the screaming dwindled to a halt.
Bambrose had thought the screaming was bad. The silence was worse.
"Just breathe," whispered the librarian. "It's important that they don't find us. Just. Breathe."
The emo kid moved into her eyeline. Awkwardly held her hand. "You're doing great," he whispered. "Just breathe with me, okay? In?" He breathed in. "Out," he breathed out.
Bambrose shuddered along. Barely. She couldn't see the librarian, and looking around to find him resulted in the emo kid maintaining her attention with a gentle touch or calling her name.
"Where's the other guy?" she whispered.
"He's fine," said the emo kid. "He's just making sure the alert doesn't get out. He's good at this."
She was shaking by the time the librarian reappeared. "They're dismissing it as an equipment malfunction," he said. "They'll be back to their routine in maybe half an hour. We need to be very careful."
"I killed someone," whispered Bambrose. "I just wanted to incapacitate him... I killed him."
"Yes. You did," said the librarian. Eerily calm. "You saved our lives."
"The first one sticks with you," said the emo kid. "You get used to it. Just... don't get to used to it. Or you'll wind up with us."
Now she understood. They were Pax Humanis agents. They each wore the warning colours: black, red, and yellow. Just like a coral snake. Inherently dangerous, by nature.
An apt warning for sure.
[Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash]
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