Eternity's War

Book 1: Chapter 28

Roman sat nervously at the table and watched Skye eat an apple.

"You don't have much of an appetite," the young man observed, suddenly realising that none of them had eaten in front of him all day.

"Correct," Ren said, not lifting her gaze from the large tablet she was holding. "You might say that we're more efficient at expending our energy than a regular person. We don't need to eat as much, or as often."

Roman looked back and forth between her and Skye before a shy grin spread across his face. "That explains why I haven't been very hungry lately," he said, the relief in his voice evident. "I thought I was sick, or stressed."

Skye smiled back at him. "Far from it."

"Take this," Ren said, handing Roman a small computer chip. "Place it in one of your comm's ports. We all use them—it overrides the hardware and prevents you from being tracked."

He took the chip and placed it in his wrist communicator obediently. "I thought you said that Tahlia can locate us at any time. Isn't this a little useless?"

"It's just to be safe," Skye explained. "If we succeed at stopping Archie tonight, and you're seen by the country's surveillance system, it will help prevent the government from being able to locate you."

Roman nodded, satisfied with the response. White Shadow was a very organised group and seemed to have already thought of everything. "Wait," he said, a curious thought suddenly forming in his mind, "aren't you able to track Nikolai? They must use comms." It was rare to meet anyone in the modern era who didn't wear one.

"They do," Skye admitted, pleased that the newcomer was beginning to think of possible solutions to their endless list of insurmountable problems, "but Black Dawn also block their comms from being tracked. Ren's an expert hacker. If she could access their comms, she would've found them within minutes."

"That also means I can't track you," Ren added, "so try not to get yourself lost."

Roman frowned at the demeaning warning. "I've lived here my entire life. I'm not going to get lost."

"Shall we?" Tango asked, walking proudly into the room with Echo.

"No," Roman muttered to himself.

"Let's go," Sierra said, already standing by the front entrance. The sun outside had almost finished setting, casting a dark shadow over the beautiful island.

"Just wait!" Ren shouted, glaring at the impatient woman. She turned her attention back to the others. "Tango, Echo, before you go, I have something to say." She took a deep breath, attempting to add drama to her short speech. "I know you're both devastated by the loss of Foxtrot. He was like a brother to me too. But I'm asking you, as a friend, don't attack the Tianzu. If they're there, defend yourselves like last time, or run, but please don't provoke them. If we start a war now, we're all as good as dead."

Tango opened his mouth to protest. "Ren, the Tianzu attacked us first—"

"I know," she interrupted, "you're exactly right; they attacked us, unprovoked. And it causes me agony that they've gotten away with it. But the best thing we can do right now is let Charlie and Delta do their job. Let them find some information on the Tianzu. Maybe even Nikolai will share some with Skye." Skye frowned at the thought of another painful meeting at the cafe. "Just think about it, please," she said quickly, stopping Tango from starting another debate. "Think it over." She walked back to her desk without looking at them.

Tango and Echo exchanged glances. While part of them knew there was truth to their leader's words, neither of them knew how to suppress the fury they felt for the Tianzu after what they'd done to their group.

"Put this on," Skye said to Roman, handing him a large, padded vest. "It's bulletproof."

Roman cringed. "Bullets are the least of my worries."

"If the Presidential Guard are there, they won't hesitate to kill you. This might just save your life. Take this too." Skye revealed a grey mask not unlike his own to the young man, placing it in his hand.

"It's light," he stated. He ran his fingers around the perfectly crafted curves of the graphene mask. "I think a friend of mine has a mask like this hanging on his wall."

"I doubt that," Skye dismissed. "Very few people will ever see these masks and live."

Roman frowned with confusion. "Where did you get them?"

"Nowhere legal."

Roman studied both the vest and mask and noticed the letters 'DYM' engraved on both, which stood for the Xiayu words 'Dong Yue Meng'. Or, as it was referred to in Alexan, the 'East Yue Union'.

"DYM ... do these belong to the government?" Roman asked.

"More or less," Skye said. "They belong to the military. So does this," he held up his retractable sword, "and so does Sierra's crossbow."

"And this," Ren added, removing her pistol from her desk drawer.

Roman shook his head. "Are you trying to tell me that you stole these from the military?"

"No, not at all," Skye said. "We bought them."

Ren smirked. "... from someone who stole them first," she whispered.

Roman dropped the mask in panic. "You ... I can't believe—"

"We had to," Skye defended, not wanting to be lectured by the young man. "We didn't have a choice. We need to be armed if we're going to survive tonight."

Roman folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not comfortable with any of this."

Ren muttered something inaudible from her desk. Roman couldn't quite hear it, but he was certain it was something obscene.

"I trust you have a plan for tonight?" Tango asked Skye, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"My plan is to not let anyone die."

Juliet took in several deep breaths, trying to relax herself for the terrifying encounter before her.

"We should give him a code-name," Echo suggested, causing everyone to turn their attention to Roman.

"His code-name would be an obvious one," Ren said. "It wouldn't sound any different from his actual name."

Roman looked at the others, confused by the conversation taking place. "What code-name?" he asked innocently.

"R for Romeo," Skye explained.

"Let's go," Sierra said again from the doorway, still waiting for the rest of White Shadow.

"Yes, time to go," Skye agreed, grabbing Romeo's arm and helping him out of the chair.

"Wait, I'm not ready," he cried, the reality suddenly sinking back in. "I don't think I can do this."

Skye walked on, still holding his arm. Skye would usually have been happy to offer the support and encouragement Romeo may have needed. But he himself was uncertain of the night's outcome, and debated whether or not bringing the boy was the right decision. Regardless, he knew they had to press on. It was only a stroke of luck that Ren was able to hack into the president's itinerary, and it may be their only chance to kill him before he is sworn into office.

They all walked over to the door where Sierra stood waiting. She double-checked that her crossbow was securely fastened to her left wrist. Tango, Echo, Juliet, and Romeo stepped out into the night, each holding armour and masks.

Ren watched as they left. She looked at Skye and offered a hopeful smile. "Good luck," she said.

He weakly returned the smile, unable to hide his concerns over the impending mission. "Thanks."

Sierra stared back at Ren for a brief moment, maintaining her warrior-like expression. Her blank eyes showed neither hope nor fear. She closed the door noisily behind them.

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