Base Alexandria

Chapter 2 Mission Assigned

Walking towards the generals office only made me more pissed off with every step. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I was so pissed. Why couldn't he just say yes? Not only was i pissed off, but i think Kyle really thought he had dad's approval, he seemed a little more crushed and disappointed than i did. As if that couldn't be anymore bothersome here comes Hunter Riles and his band of goons, turning the corner from the general's office. Hunter Riles, a rat, a thief, a i***t, just another douchebag that thinks he has what it takes to take my place in the ranking. He saw me and immediately started smirking.

“Oh, look at who we have here boys, little Briggs heading to daddy Briggs office. Off to be daddies puppet Briggs.”

They all laughed like the idiots they are.

“No no Riles, that's your job, I don’t have to be a puppet to my dad unlike a certain someone has to be to theirs.”

 He folded his arms in annoyance and took a step towards me, but before he could do anything the general step from around the corner from behind them. 

“Lieutenant Briggs!”

Riles whispered “lucky again briggs'  before bumping my shoulder and walking off. I watched them leave with the stupid smirks on their faces, and looked  back towards the general who was waiting with hims arms folded. I walked past him and headed towards his office.

When he walked in behind me he calmly closed the door, and headed towards his desk but didn’t sit down immediately. First he grabbed what looked like an extremely old radio and then sat down behind his desk.

“Have a seat lieutenant.”

“I’d rather stand sir. Thank you”

He did a deep sigh, one with a bit more concern or worry than annoyance. He did seem a little concerned about something though, and when dad is concerned about something most of the time it’s really big and important.

“I assume you’re still pissed about last night?”

“Well assuming that me and Kyle are some of your top best ranking members in this whole base, and considering that we’ve both done our part here, and oh the fact that literally losing an arm and a leg wasn’t enough for you yea, i would say i am still very pissed. Not that it really matters considering that we don’t really need your blessing to get married.”

He only stared at me quietly and locked his fingers together.

“Samantha…..the only reason I said no, was because……I have a mission for you, and i know that you’re not going to like where you're going but you are the only person i can trust aside from your mom, and i know you would hate me even more if i sent Kyle.

I thought the only place I would never want to go again, the only place that i am terrified of. When i realized what place it was, i went blank. All the bad memories started pouring into me as if it was happening again.

“Samantha? Did you hear me? The mission is in Rebel Jungle.”

“I heard you General, and if i'm not mistaken you want to send me back into the place where i lost my friends and almost my life too?”

He only nodded

“With all due respect general, screw you and that mission!”

“I knew that would be your reaction.”

He put the radio he grabbed earlier in front of me, and clicked the button on the side.

“Hank? are you there? It’s me big bro. Look, if you still have this thing I have your proof…..proof that the bases were pre-made and the council members aren't who they make themselves out to be…..and I don't even think they’re human. Give me a sign little brother let me know you’ll at least hear me out, you know where to find me and I'm not mad at you little brother.....i never was."

He clicked the button again and the message went away.

"Dad, who the hell was that? And why did he call you 'little brother'?" 

He stood up and walked to his window where a jacket was hanging to the side. It seemed like an old jacket, I always assumed it was his.

"You know those stupid stories you hear about me and your mother, or about me killing a certain man?"

"Yea, but those are just stories.....aren't they? I mean I know you're not exactly a saint and you've only done what was best for the safety of the civilians here."

He turned to look at me, but it was something different about the look in his eyes, a look i haven't seen since after my final stages of training. In that moment i knew he realized he'd done something he wished he hadn't.

"The man i supposedly killed, was my brother. That message you heard was from him, but I got this message only a couple days ago."

"Dad this is crazy, you want me to go on a wild goose chase for a man i've never even seen before, better yet for a voice you don't even know if it belongs to your brother? Then to top it all off he's claiming that the place of sanctuary is all a sham? This is a suicide mission for sure."

"I thought the same thing, and he couldn't show me proof and that's why i shot him. The council found out about his snooping and only recommended that i dealt with the situation as i saw fit but it was as if they wanted him dead. So to keep him from spreading rumors upon rumors I shot him, out in the desert on a patrol mission, and i left him to die. Now I question myself on whether it was the right decision or not." 

He looked at the jacket.

"This belonged to him, i know it seems a bit tattered now but he called it his lucky jacket. I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Samantha i know that what i'm asking of you is suicide, but if he has proof the people should know. We can't allow everyone to be brainwashed about why the world is the way it is. And i can’t allow to be brainwashed with a false reality any longer"

I thought about everything he was saying and there just simply wasn't enough evidence to risk my life again over a voice on an old radio. Besides the base was practically peaceful, asides from the occasional raids from rebels here and there, but the defenses of this base are just too good and the equipment the rebels use just aren't good enough. 

"Why exactly can't we have your blessings?" 

"If something were to happen to you, would you want Kyle waiting for you?"

I rolled my eyes and started for the door. 

"We're having a ceremony  tonight, come if you want or don't. I really don't care."

I left his office more pissed than i was when i walked in. A mission into enemy territory based on a radio call from someone claiming to be his older brother. I didn’t even know he had a brother. I guess my life really means nothing to him nowadays. I may be a good fighter and I may have some metal to give me an edge up, but no one wants to go into Rebel Jungle. When people did go they never came back, and that's because they either die or they join the Rebels themselves, traitors. 

As I walked back  towards the advanced training building I noticed someone following me. I didn’t know who but i kept my cool while walking into the gym area. There were early morning boxing classes going on, so i knew there’d be plenty of people to shroud my presence. I hustled across the gym into the women's locker room and stood beside the door.

I waited for a little bit and as i suspected the door opened and it wasn’t a female. He walked in not noticing i was behind him, so i kicked his leg in so he could kneel on the ground. I walked around him to get a good look at his face.

“Only a perv wants to go into the women's locker room. Who are you? And why are you following me?”

He looked up at me and smiled, and that showed all of his handsomeness.

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

“That's not what i asked you.”

He smirked this time while getting up with his hands in the air.

“You probably won’t believe me but I'm your cousin, Mark.

I laughed pretty hard at that one

“Look you have the wrong girl, i don’t have any family except my mom and dad on this base so please stop following me.”

As I was leaving he grabbed my arm.

“Your dad, showed you something didn’t he? A radio call?”

The laughing suddenly stopped when I looked at him. 

“How the hell do you know that?” 

I suddenly found myself pinning him against the wall.

“Are you a f*****g, rebel spy or something?” 

The more he struggled, the harder I pressed against him with my metal arm.

“We can talk, but not here.”

I threw him off of the wall.

“Let’s go talk with the general. Move!”

I couldn’t believe how this morning was going. We walked a bit faster back to the general's office and I had a closer eye on him. When we made it there the generals door was wide open. Someone was snooping around in there and when we got inside, I could see who it was.

“Riles?”

He turned around panicked.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He was snooping around in the generals office, which is pretty ballsy for anybody. Even as a kid i would never snoop around in here. I remembered the radio though and seemed like it was still in the same place dad left it. I don’t exactly believe in his crazy assumptions, but he is still my dad and i wouldn’t want him to get in trouble for something like this. 

“What the hell is going on in here?”

Dad walked in from behind us.

“General sir, i was looking for the notes for the mission in a couple of days.”

He walked past us to the opposite side of the room from where Riles was standing. He handed them to him and walked out without another word closing the door behind him.

“Dad he was looking for something else.”

“I know.” He looked back and forth between me and mark.

“I told you not to approach her.”

“I know i know, but i wanted to meet her, see what all the fuss is about.”

“Wait a minute, you know this guy?”

“Well he claims to be my brother's son, and he looks alot like him, and during his couple of months here he’s managed to learn about you, me and your mom.”

I pinched my nose in frustration. 

“Ok, why was Hunter looking around in here, and how exactly did he know when to come in?”

“I can only assume that the council members question my loyalty, and you know Hunter Riles is Steven Riles son, so that could possibly mean he sent him to spy on me or find information.”

We all looked at the radio. 

I was trying to process all this information in my head and when i thought about it, Riles isn’t exactly a good guy with morals. He only aimed to please the council members and that means if they sent him to find out something on the general then that means there is a bigger picture, but i couldn’t see if it was worth risking the happiness of civilians, or my own

“When is this mission?”

“The day after Riles leaves for his escort mission.”

“Feel me in every single detail, if i'm going i want to be fully prepared for what could happen.”