Nova 141

Chapter 3

Alejandro made me ride in a separate truck, something about briefing with Soap and Ghost over the mission. He didn't believe I'd follow through with staying long enough to listen to the details, but I intended to prove him wrong. I intended to prove all of them wrong.

I followed in a truck behind Alejandro, Rodolfo, Soap, and Ghost, opting to be solo. My mind wandered to the skull mask, wondering what it symbolized. Wondering what hid underneath.

Flashbacks popped into my head, flashbacks I've managed to hide deep in the back of my mind. I've never fully dealt with those demons, I honestly wasn't sure if I ever could. Or if I wanted to. I didn't want to ever be that vulnerable and naive that I'd end up in that situation again.

I wasn't a fan of masks. Due to my past, I absolutely despised them. Masks left a negative impact on my life. They usually always symbolized something, whether it be good or bad. They made people hard to read, something I needed to do in order to make sure that I was safe with whoever was around me. And Ghost's demeanour made me believe I wasn't safe around him.

~~~

We arrived at the location, and I eagerly jumped out of the truck. The team walked walked made their way over to me as I grabbed my gun from the backseat. I turned around to Alejandro cautiously handing me a photo, and I took it slowly. " This is who we are looking for. Kill everyone else but take him alive, you'll be sweeping the buildings with us. Remember what I taught you, worst case scenario, shoot first, ask questions later. But if you opt for that, shoot in a non lethal area."

I shoved extra ammo cartridges into my vest, still eyeing up the picture in my opposite hand. " Who is it?"

" Since you're not officially on the mission, I can't tell you that."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance, and readjusted my vest, handing the picture back. " Of course you can't."

Ghost and Soap exchanged glances, before Ghost's glare landed back on me. His cold, emotionless eyes burned holes into my skin, and left me feeling on edge.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Missions like this can easily get a person killed if you're not fully alert. I've seen plenty of Alejandro's men leave alive, and come back in boxes. It broke my heart, but Alejandro assured me it's the lifestyle, and they died doing what they loved.

We split up into separate groups, ready to take separate positions in the village. Alejandro, Rodolfo, Soap, Ghost, and I were one team, the rest of the Los Vaqueros that joined us made up two other teams.

As we awaited in position for the rest of the groups to be ready, I was crouched between Alejandro and Ghost. Ghost kept throwing his glances over at me, obviously trying to intimidate me. However, I wasn't going to let someone I didn't know ruin my first chance at proving Alejandro and myself wrong.

" Here," Alejandro whispered, handing me an ear piece and radio, " I've got it set to a separate channel for just us, so you don't get overwhelmed with everyone talking, sometimes it can get a bit chaotic. You won't be far off from someone, so just stick close to whoever you can."

I attached it to my vest, and put the comm in my ear. My hands fell back down to my gun, and I gripped it tightly, my ears straining to hear any sort of movement.

It was quiet, almost deathly quiet. I almost thought Alejandro's intel was wrong, and the village was vacant. That is, until I heard the gunshots.

" Everyone move in!" Alejandro shouted into the radio, " Weapons hot, Vaqueros."

Our group made our way to the first building, a small shed on the edge of the property. Alejandro, Ghost, Rodolfo and I took opposite sides of the outbuilding. Soap cleared the inside in a second, his gun ringing out two gun shots as he did so.

The next building was a 3-story house, with an entrance on the bottom story, and a ladder leading to a window on the second. Alejandro and Rodolfo took the bottom, Soap was to get the top story, while Ghost and I got the second.

The sound of gun shots, grenades, and screams could be heard from every angle as the three of us climbed up the ladder. I spotted movement from my right, and I scanned the face of the soldier before firing a quick shot to his head. The sudden shot caused Ghost and Soap to halt, immediately looking down at me. I nodded to the body now laying on the ground, before the three of us continued up the ladder.

Ghost took no time clearing the hallway we landed in, as Soap ran up the stairs directly to our right. Ghost and I immediately split up, him making his way down the hallway and I clearing the rooms.

After clearing two rooms, finding nobody as I did so, I found myself in a child's bedroom. I scanned my surroundings, noticing the closet door in the far corner of the room was slightly ajar.

I quietly tiptoed up to it, and pushed it open fully with the tip of my gun. I was met with a face, an extremely familiar face. One I thought I'd never see again.

The middle aged Iranian stared back at me, his brown eyes concentrated. The tip of my gun was aimed at his heavily armoured chest, as the tip of his aimed at my forehead. " Vero?" I questioned, my finger not moving off the trigger, " What the fuck are you doing here?"

" You!" He exclaimed, immediately lowering his gun back to his hip, " I could ask you the same thing."

Heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, and Soap's loud " top floor clear" followed after. I turned my attention back to Vero, and motioned for the window beside the bed. " Go now before they kill you. They won't think twice."

" But, if you're working with them you should just kill-"

I raised my hand to shush him. " No, I owe you. Whether it means I'll be disowned by the end of the night or not. I owe you my life, you helped me so much and I can never fully repay you. Now go!"

I stepped back to offer room, and Vero gave me a sympathetic look. " I'm sorry."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at him, before he took his chance, and rushed out of the small closet. He dashed over the bed before jumping not so gracefully out the second story window. I silently prayed Alejandro and Rodolfo wouldn't spot him, but when I didn't hear the gunshot, relief rushed over me.

I sighed deeply, and felt a presence behind me. I immediately lifted my gun and swung around, the tip of my gun pressing into the tall figures vest. My eyes made contact with Ghost's, who's were black with rage. Embarrassment, guilt, and fear welled up inside me, as his gloved hand slowly pushed the tip of my gun towards the floor.

" You know it's dangerous to not be aware of your surroundings. Alejandro must've preached that to you."

His voice was low and cold, eyes piercing my own. I swallowed nervously, before replying, " Um... yes, of course he did. It was a first time and last time mistake."

Ghost narrowed his eyes, and took a step closer. " Your right, because your mistake just jumped out that window," He replied lowly, nodding towards the window, " You possibly just compromised a mission because you took pity."

" I didn't-"

" You can't take pity in this profession. Do you know why everyone classifies me as the most dangerous person?"

My muscles tensed up, and I stupidly shook my head. " I haven't heard of you before, but I can believe it."

Ghost's eyes flashed with emotion for a split second, but I still managed to catch it. It was Sadness, mixed with a tinge of guilt. However it was short lived as they turned their usual cold again. " I'm a cold blooded killer, Nova," He whispered, " I've got the blood of multiple, possibly hundreds, of people on my hands. I earned that reputation. All because I didn't take pity on people who didn't deserve it. And right now, I'm not sure if you fucking deserve it."

With that, he raised his pistol, and pointed it directly in between my eyes.