บท 40: War Stories

The man had an iv tube going to his shoulder, I realized that the man's arm was gone. And only wrapped in sets of bandages. He wore a bloody white shirt, with a cup of water sitting on a small table next to him and the apparatus.

"Why so shocked? Never lost limbs before?" The man laughed.

"You lost limbs before this?"

"Many times, you will get used to it. Most were caused by explosives. Fortunately the academy cares for us and gives us this great care." The man responded.

On the walls were machines filled with screens of many sizes showing things such as: Heart rate, brain waves, health status, a live diagram of his entire body, and among other things. The bed, surrounded with medical apparatus as well with surgical tools as well, and even spare iv bags possibly filled with Vita as well. I found a desk with a chair and promptly sat down, well I'll just have to watch this guy for some time, maybe clinic monitor is gonna be my new job when not doing any missions.

"You look new, like you just went through 1 or 2 missions that involved killing." The man said.

"What makes you say that?"

"You don't look like you've been injured before, well on the outer area. I don't see any signs of injuries."

"I heal quickly, quicker than normal."

"Like how fast? Faster healing is a normal trait of a virus."

"Like heal wounds in a matter of seconds."

"Is that so? Lucky bastard." The man starts to cough then clears his throat after.

The room was cold, looking up I can see a hanging air conditioner, this is quite comfortable.

Constant beeping and the noise of the ac occupied the quiet atmosphere. Silence like this is quite dull.

"So did you get recalled from your mission?" I asked the man.

"Yup, was on a mission to raid a hideout. Got recalled after the mission fortunately, we got the money." The man replied.

"What did you do in the mission, what was your place in your team?" I asked, the man slowly sat up on his bed.

"I'm more of the sniper of my team, nothing better than picking em off from afar right?" The man chuckled, "I either go from cover to cover or stay in one spot depending on the mission. In this mission i stayed in one spot."

"What about you Damon, what's your place in your team?"

"A jack of all trades I guess."

"Broad and can use a variety of weapons, that's good." The man goes back to lying down on his bed, "What was your last mission? If you don't mind me asking Damon."

"Before the restrictions, just a joint attack with military forces on a terrorist warehouse deep in a forest." I replied to the man.

"Must have been daring and risky, forests are always good places to put booby traps or ambushes in any place of the forest, shame we can no longer have joint missions with the military, their tasks were high risk high reward."

I wonder how it feels to be in so many missions, to endure so many injuries to the point that losing your limb is no longer a fear but just small problem that can be rectified quickly. Or it's because of Vita and the machines, I suppose I can ask him of his past missions.

"Sir-" Before I can finish he raised his pointing finger

"Just call me Knox." The man said.

"Alright, Knox. How many nations did you go to, for missions?" I asked Knox.

"Hmmm," Knox thought for a second, "Not sure, but I did go to the Lacisto Desert." The Lacisto desert is considered the biggest desert in the world, nobody claimed the large desert as a nation. Spanning the entire topmost area of the continent "Valek" Far west of Aregalia. Known for being a tropical place to live in. "I went there as part of a joint military mission with the military just like yours, a mission of raiding, except this mission was against Burnwick, they are getting weaker and weaker, but ironically it seems like they are also getting stronger. We thought it would be a small team of em, fuck we were wrong. We found the base in the desert, it was large and looked like a bunker. My team prepped to go inside with me perched on top of a nearby rock. My teammates slowly approached and my task was to kill any roaming guards near them. I did my part, they got to the bunker and after a few minutes of me picking off a couple of outside guards, I hear gunfire from the bunker, the shots were loud and managed to reach to my location. I saw my team emerge out of there, with streaks of light following them. Guess we underestimated those Burnies. Some of em were hit by stray bullets, I provided fire support. But while shooting i failed to notice in time, one of them had a rocket aimed at me. I tried to get out before it reached me, but to no avail. I was on the ground after being launched from the rock just staring at the sky." The man coughed again and grabbed the water cup next to him, after a few gulps he looks back at me. "Fortunately, aerial support came in from the local army and helped us out, in the end 3 of us got injured with me being the most critical, that mission was the first time I lost a limb, my leg. So best lesson, be quick in taking out your enemies, because one of em can get lucky and put a bullet in your skull." Knox concluded.

"What about you Damon, what mission do you remember?"

I guess I'll tell him more about the forest mission.

"Like what i said earlier, a mission in the deep forest, they ambushed us before we reached them, lost people in the ambush. So we separated from the main army and headed to the warehouse, we got in undetected but had to go loud after they started firing artillery somewhere, presumably the main force. Fighting was long, and we killed some Burnwick there as well." Knox looked on with shock on his face

"Burnwick as well?" The man asked.

"Yes but it was only a small group of them in the warehouse. After the warehouse we tracked retreating insurgents. In the end we didn't get any injuries, except for me." Knox continued looking at me even after talking.

"Those Burnies are really resilient, but our efforts may all be in vain, i'm not sure if all militaries can handle Burnwick. They are probably growing rapidly after knowing of our new policy." Knox looked disgruntled as he spoke.

"But, we managed to thin their numbers. Though the more we thin their numbers the more rebellions and insurgents receive more support from them." Knox sighed.

"Then we'll quell those rebellions. Maybe earn more money that way."

"Damon, you are a smart man. Hopefully our customers are just rich guys that have local rebellion problems, maybe this restriction isn't so bad." Knox gave a quick smirk.

After a brief silence, the door of the room opened. Coming inside, it's Alina.

"Damon, how's the patient?"

"He's doing alright, we talked for a while."

"That's good to hear."

"Knox can you feel the rest of your arm?"

Knox sits up and stares at the bandaged stump on where his arm was supposed to be.

"No, not yet."

Alina looks at her tablet and presses on it.

"Damon, we managed to treat and discharge most of the patients here already. A nurse can go here and take your place."

"And, Sebastian heard that you don't have anything to aside from helping me. He's waiting for you outside, he needs your help with something." Alina continued.

"Knox a medic will go here to further examine your wounds and see how long it would take before you can be discharged as well.

"Damon you can go now, thanks for your help. And also hand me your garb." I stand up and start to leave, taking out my garb and handing it to Alina.

"Good conversation we had Damon, best of luck on your future missions." Knox smiled. I smiled back and headed out, to exit the room and meet with Sebastian, on a new task.

Outside the clinic, Sebastian leaned on the wall.

"Oh hi Damon, i need your help with something. Follow me to the elevator, Sebastian walks to the elevator, we both enter the elevator, with a simple press of a button from Sebastian. We head up, where am i going to? I wonder. As i ponder, the doors open to our destination.

"Were here." Sebastian steps out of the elevator, the floor was a hallway filled with rooms on both sides.

"This is the floor with the planning room Damon, remember it? This is where we went when we were called to perform that attack on a Burnwick base out at sea." Sebastian continued walking, he stops at a black metal door.