Bab 34: Chaotic return

The soldier aimed his machine gun up and shut the door as the ship continued to rise from the ground, the ship had no windows with no light from the sky shining through inside the ship apart from the cockpit, which had an open walkway from the passenger area to the cockpit, with light from the sky gleaming through the glass.

"Hope this place gets better." Thalia said.

"Yeah.....Hopefully." Mary replied.

The ship was quiet not even the soldier nor the pilot spoke, Lennox sat opposite of me with his rifle on his lap and his head facing down with his hands clasped together. Looking at the window from the cockpit, we were rising slowly to the clouds, still gray but the clouds were getting less and less enclosed, with more sunlight piercing through. Sebastian sat nearest to the cockpit looking straight, probably zoning out or clearing his head after what we just did. Relief hit me as we were finally done with this mission. Wonder how much money i got from this? Wonder if the country can finally finish this problem. My armor was tainted from the forest with blood or mud soaked into my armor, dried or still partially wet.

"So what happens once we land back home?" Lennox asked with a tired tone.

"No new missions for now," Sebastian replied. "So we'll just rest for a while till something else comes up." Sebastian continued.

"Wonder how this place turned to what it is now." Mary commented.

"They didn't do shit with the corrupt and now the nation is against him, he even gave out some brutal orders to quell the rioters, now we also have the terrorist problem, most likely funding the more violent rioters." Lennox replied.

"Are you sure he was the one who decided all these decisions?" Thalia asked.

"What makes you think that?" Lennox asked, confused.

"Isn't this country ruled by meritocracy like the rest? If so then he shouldn't have gotten to power." Thalia replied.

"Anything could have happened that led to this be it something now or from the past, but were here to finish a mission, not to discuss politics." Sebastian interjected.

The ship turned silent again with everyone going back to what they were doing. My rifle laid on my lap, encrusted with dirt and mud. My armor though was in a mix of blood and dirt.

"God my armor and gun is drenched in mud." Lennox said with an annoyed tone.

"Well cloth ain't gonna do much now, probably get a hose from the rooftop and spray each other down." Marcel replied.

"Jackson what's the situation at the main city."

"Oh no." The pilot quivered.

"What is it." The soldier asked this time louder.

"They got one of the main command buildings." The pilot replied still stricken with fear.

Looking from the cockpit window, the ship descended until some tall buildings became visible. The soldier moves to the door, with a swift motion he opened it. The sound of the airship's jet engines shot through, loudly piercing our ears. Looking outside, a tall building in the distance was engulfed in flames, pieces of it falling to the ground. Down below, a massive crowd of protesters surrounded the building, blocked by a line of soldiers clad in black armor. The sky around the area was now darkened, different from the cloudy sunny weather we once saw. Dark from the burning building engulfed in flame spewing out thick black smoke. From a distance, without warning, a floor at the top part of the building blew up releasing a blue smoke as it did. The ship rocked with great force knocking the soldier over. The soldier got up from his fall and returned to surveying the area.

"The explosion looks like it came from the R&D floor, tell command that this ain't getting better." The soldier slammed the side door shut and sat back. Even with the closed door, the shouts got louder and more gunfire followed the shouts.

"Shit, the defense is a bust. Tell command this city is done for, fuck." The soldier added.

"Understood." The pilot leans a little to his controls and presses a button on and the ship lifted back up. This place looks far from getting better.

"Well this place ain't getting any better anytime soon, so as the leader is still in office." Lennox said, in an unenthusiastic tone. Clashing and the shouts of the people grew ever so quiet as the ship flew away. Despite moving farther from the city in great speed, the smoke was still there. How did it get this far? But it slowly dwindled as i thought of it, becoming less concentrated and dissipating as we travelled further.

My mind wandered for who knows how long, looking at all the corners of this ship i didn't realize that all of my teammates were already fast asleep, sleeping in their seats looking down or leaning to the walls of the ship.

"Looks like your nation is sending soldiers to help us," The soldier spoke. Looking from the cockpit window, a large wave of ships flew through the sky, at the opposite direction of us. Men and women fighting for another country from my homeland. "Hopefully, it's enough to save our worthless leader."

"Can't you or the army rebel and join the revolution?" I asked the soldier, sitting on the ground next to his mg.

"Ever heard of duty? Us soldiers have a duty to uphold. For you its different, but for us we must serve our leader and country. But now times changed, we unfortunately fight for him instead. If you try to join the rioters, expect a gruesome end." The soldier explained.

"So you would rather save yourself than help the country?" I asked, the soldier looks at me with a dissatisfied look and sighs.

"You mercs don't understand at all, we can't save ourselves without people near us dying. The second we rebel, our families and even relatives are all headed for the firing line." The soldier looks up at me. "Our generals have gone in drastic measures of keeping us in line, our own mercenaries are too occupied with the chaos. Hell maybe some of them joined the rioters, but that's unlikely and probably just some panic mongering rumor." The soldier continued.

The soldier sighs and looks back down, he is right. Soldiers have duty, and they can't break it unless they have nothing to lose. We have different duties than soldiers. I feel bad for that guy, no choice nor any say in the matter. Perhaps staying at that city was a better idea. But at least we sent our own soldiers to the fray, maybe it was a good idea that i became a merc. Or i would end up like them, best of luck that they can contain the rioters. And they can come back alive, wonder what will happen to the president. looking from the cockpit window, i can see land again. A dock.

"Were now in Aregalia, its as nice as i remember. I wish i left my country and lived my life here." The soldier said. Looking at the cockpit window as well. Looking at the city we were in and the city were flying through now. It seems like a far cry. Beautiful high rise buildings, even near the coast. The sky above was now shining with the bright gleam of the sun piercing us. Guess the rain season stopped. A noticeable yawn quickly followed, Mary had her arms stretched and let out a satisfying groan.

"Are we there yet?" Mary asked, half awake. Mary turned to me, awaiting a response. I nodded at her.

"Great" Mary slumped back to her seat with a smile of satisfaction.

"Feels good to be back again." Stated Mary.

The sound of jingling caught my attention, it came from Mary's side. She was holding a square object which appeared to have different types of locks on each side.

"What is that?" I ask Mary. Mary looks at me still toying with what she was holding.

"A souvenir of sorts my grandpa gave me. Basically each side has a lock you have to pick, and each side has their own difficulty. One of which i still couldn't crack, but i think I'm close to opening it." Mary explained, still tinkering with her cube.

Minutes passed and the ship came to a gradual stop in moving forward, and began descending.

"Were here." The soldier stated.

The rest of the group awoken from their naps, as if they sensed that we arrived. We began disembarking the ship, leaving the soldier and the pilot.

"Stay safe." Thalia waved at the soldiers. Before the door promptly shut.

"You guys head to your armories and stick your armor on the stands. Damon, there's a button on the armor stand, at the left side of it where it says "clean" all you have to do is just put your armor there and press the button." Sebastian explained to me. We walked to the elevator, stripping our armor and resting it in our hands. Mine was covered in dry mud and hints of blood, just like the others. Oddly it doesn't seem to have any damage.

"Damon, come on. Zoning out?" Sebastian asked. I came back to me senses and began walking with them. Hopefully i can rest.