Operation: Healing Shadows

First encounter

Mason's POV
      "What do you think we'll find?" Luna looked up from her book, the book that gave me PTSD with a single paragraph, "Probably some manifests, maybe an email? Who knows we could get our answer and find the person that started this" I looked out the window and spoke "If only we could be that lucky" Luna tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear with her free hand before replying "We make our own luck" I snorted but continued staring out the window. I checked my watch before leaning back and stretching "you're comfortable, have you ever thought about getting a job as a living pillow?" She chuckled before replying "nej(no), not really" I nodded before falling silent, she must've picked up on the change in demeanor since she asked "you okay?" I shrugged before replying "I guess" she propped herself up with one arm before asking "What's bothering you? hmm?" I replied as a new knife of sorrow stabbed at my soul "How could it have gone this wrong? I was a good soldier, I did my job, I followed orders and now I'm used up and tossed away by my government. The government is sacrificed brothers and limbs to protect just discarded me like a broken toy, how could that happen? What did I do wrong?" She sighed before replying softly "Nothing, we didn't do anything wrong. Someone wants us gone, we're in their way to something. We swore we'd protect the people who can't protect themselves, we have to keep going to stay in their way, we can't let them get the initiative" I looked over at her before whispering "What if we can't?" She replied after a second "then I'm glad you're falling with me"
      I nodded before looking at her "I love you, I want to make sure you know that in case I don't make it at the end of this" she smiled at the first part of the sentence only to go to an angered glare as she spoke "you're going to make it through this, we both are. Stop saying otherwise or I'm gonna hit you" I sighed but sat up and grabbed my bag, shifting through the contents before I found what I was searching for: a picture of myself and my family after I was injured. I spoke to no one "Life was so much simpler then, now I've got someone on my team trying to kill me" Luna rested her chin on my shoulder "It'll be that simple again, we just need to survive this" I sighed before checking the clock "We need to start getting ready to head to Tsavo" she sighed but stood and pulled her bags and gear out from under the bed and started disassembling her FMG to clean it "I'm starting to get low on ammo, I've only got 120 rounds left" I replied as I looked through my ammo "I've got 160 left for my R5 and 180 for my L115" She asked dreadfully "We're gonna have to raid their base for ammo, aren't we?" I looked at her before sighing "I think so, I don't know how many missions I'll be able to do with my ammo"
She nodded before standing and shoving the rest of her gear into her bag as she spoke "I guess we should get a move on, scout the target and see where their ammo is kept" I looked at her "I'll give you my R5 and take overwatch, you're better at stealth than I am so you can grab ammo and sneak out to me before we move with the main target" she nodded as her eyes sharpened "Ja, sounds good." I lifted my bag on to my shoulder and followed her through the halls, I whistled a tune I'd heard my sergeant whistled every time he had a bad feeling about a mission. Luna looked back at me "That's new" I grew confused "what? What are you talking about?" She pointed out "Is that a specific song? Got one stuck in your head?" I shook my head no as I replied "Not really, I kinda have a song in my head but the one I'm whistling is one my sergeant used to whistle when he had a bad feeling." She nodded before speaking "it's gonna go smoothly, come on let's get to the car" We jogged across the parking lot trying to get out of the rain before reaching the car and quickly sliding our gear and subsequently ourselves into the car. I took several shaky breaths as the cold rain seeped into my bones, I looked at Luna and saw her golden eyes scouring the city around us "something bothering you?" She shook her head no "Just taking everything in, I haven't had a chance to actually look at the city" I nodded before shifting into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.
I took a look around as the African bush seemed to suffocate any view as I parked and reached into the backseat pulling my gear forward, I stepped out of the car and slowly started pulling off my clothes replacing them with my black shirt and Khaki pants before pulling on my balaclava and sunglasses, I looked across the roof at Luna as she pulled on her shirt "My rifle's in the backseat when you're ready" she nodded as she pulled on her tacvest. I sighted down the scope of my L115 and reached into my bag pulling out a mask and putting it on the back of my head Luna looked at me oddly and asked "what's that supposed to do? Give the mask's nightmares?" I replied with a small laugh "no, it's for the lions and Leopards, they like to attack from the back unseen. If they see eyes, even fake ones, they won't attack" she started looking around before asking "Are there many animals around here?" I asked with interest "ever hear of the Maneaters of Tsavo?" She replied with a simple "Nej" as I explained "back when Britain was trying to develop all this, they brought in hundreds of Indian workers. The men had no experience with lions so when the two lions started attacking they didn't know what to do. A British officer started hunting the lions and it took him a year to bag the two, they were named the ghost and the darkness and killed nearly 300 men" she shivered before I spoke joyfully "there's a great movie about it, we should watch it sometime" her veil tilted forward as I felt the stare of disbelief "did you really just freak me out like that and then ask me to watch a movie with you?" I shrugged before asking "What? Is that illegal?" She sighed before opening the door and grabbing my R5 and ammo.
I pointed to my gun "take care of her, she's my baby and I will know if there's a new scratch" she replied "Well then, let's see if this rifle's worth it" i hissed at the treachery "How dare you?!" She chuckled at my antics before speaking as she looked off in the distance in the direction of the target "we should get moving, this place gives me the creeps" I clipped my strap to the underside of the rifle and sling it across my back before lifting my p99 and following Luna through the bush, we moved silently not saying a word and carefully selecting each foot placement. Half an hour later I reached the hill I would be using to provide overwatch just as Luna reached her position "Ozone, I'm in position. How's your progress over there?" I replied quickly "almost set, just need 20 seconds" she shot back "holding" while I laid down and tossed a Camo net over my rifle before lifting the stock placing my left hand under it so it rests under my cheek "in position"
I shifted the sight from building to building looking for any masks out and about so I could call them out for Luna but I didn't see anything until I looked at one of the second floor windows of the main building. "Nøkk, we got a suit on the second floor of the eastern side of the main building." She asked "Ozone, what do you mean by suit?" I spoke as my eyes drilled into the man "About mid 40s balding, he's white, got glasses and NCIS on the sleeve of his suit" Luna spoke hurriedly "I'm breaching now, let's get the ammo and get out of here. Take a picture of the guy, we need proof" I was halfway through pulling out the camera when she said that garnering a chuckle and an "already on it" in return. I lifted the camera and zoomed in until I could clearly see the man's face before hearing the clicking of the camera shudder. I sighted down the rifle again as a mask turned the corner about to enter the armory, I sighed but squeezed the trigger causing the man to drop in a pile while the ringing of my rifle echoed.
The base alarm went off as Luna came over the radio "I've got the ammo, let's go!" I stayed in place and shot mask after mask covering Luna's egress until a round deflected off the barrel and took a chunk of it out, I stared at the barrel in hatred before I ripped my P99 up and fired the entire magazine at the masks, I knew the rounds would be ineffective but the anger released was colossal. I picked up my now destroyed rifle and chucked it into a tree as I ran towards the rally point, when I arrived Luna was crouched in the darkness of a tree, I almost didn't see her. She asked "where's your sniper?" I looked at her sadly "rifle's fucked, I'm just down to my pistol for now" she went to hand me my R5 but I waved her off "keep it, it'll do you more good than me. Let's get out of here, only a matter of time before they get dogs out here." She nodded and stood before I followed spinning 180 every now and again searching for any sign of the masks.