Jai Lights
Vas took a minute to take in everything that Nate was telling him, sitting up straight and imagining a steel rod in his spine. “What … Jai fell out of a chopper, not INTO one.”
“With the recovery team, dumbass,” Nate said, pulling one side of his mouth into a smirk. “Jai… it was bound to happen to one of us sometime. Busted neck, cut off his oxygen from what I heard.” Jai was a sore spot, it hurt, but Nate was squad leader. If he acted like it were normal, the rest would follow suit. "Outcome unknown."
It had never been a thought in his head. Maybe they had been lucky but. “I guess …” Vas murmured. “... we … uh … made it to the roof but the chopper was already outbound and it took a month of Sundays to make out was down the building to get out. When we did everyone was already gone.” Vas shrugged, wondering if would it have made a difference if one of them had stopped long enough to check on Jai. He wasn’t a medic or anything but he knew Hellhounds had limits … not that he ever hit them himself but they were there!
“Yeah, we had orders,” Nate said, matter-of-fact. “We got a grand total of four. Five with what you brought back. Rest of them were killed off or taken, it’s hard to get a total count. Fucking terrorists.”
“Yea, the other two I was with …” Vas shrugged. “ … doubt we'll get a full account for a while, not til they dig out the rubble and even then who knows. Do we know what the plan is with them? Are we going after them bastards? What about revoker for the ones they took?” He asked leaning forward full of burning questions. Maybe he took a wee personal they tried to blow him up.
Nate snorted, leaning back in his chair. “If there is a plan? We’ll be the last to know about it. For now we set up bunks in the gym for ‘em. That means all training is outdoor, rain, shine, that’s the only plan I currently give a damn about. Do yourself a favor and don’t get too attached.”
“Man, always the last to know.” Vas complained. “So we not sure how long were going to be homing the Ra- er … Erinyes?”
“No, sooner they get ‘em out of our hair, the better,” Nate complained. “Sooner that happens, sooner things get back to normal, sooner we get our gym back. Like I said, I wouldn’t get attached. We have no room for ‘em here, and they’re disruptive as hell.”
“Careful, you say that loud enough and then they’ll start building wing for ‘em and then a playground next to our training grounds!“ Vas laughed. “They’re so bad really. I was with one of ‘em for a whole day and I was able to keep my sanity.” Vas joked taking a long sip of water.
“They take up residence, you can be in charge of keeping them contained,” Nate laughed in return. “From Hellhound to Border Collie, that’s your calling. Like I said, cut ties. They’re not our problem anymore. Whoever has to deal with them - well above our pay grade. Let them see what pains in the ass they are. ‘Sides, that’s not saying a lot. You didn’t have much sanity to begin with.”
“All fair points.” Vas laughed. “And if I don't get out of this box soon and into a shower I'll have even less sanity.” He said finishing his protein bar. “Don't get me wrong, the food out there is crazy good but nothing fills ya proper like a protein bar.” Vas said with a happy sigh.
“You are extremely overripe,” Nate agreed. “You think the air was on, the windows down because I like the cross breeze? Let me see what I can do, maybe the parade of suits can continue tomorrow. Glad you’re home,” he added, with all the warmth of a snowball on a frozen day.
Vas cracked a smile and sat a little straighter. “Thanks Nate I'm am itchy as fuck right now … it's good to be home.”
Whatever Nate said worked, the brass released Vas right after Nate had left, telling him to get a shower and some rest, they’d let him know if anyone had any more questions.