Chapter Text
Music Cap 1 https://youtu.be/SopAhl_mSAk
Update: I've upgraded the character images, and I'll be doing the same for the rest of the characters :)
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The end... A huge lake with waves crashing on the shore. A lost gaze. A weapon in my right hand and a neutralized target. A tear runs down my face. That same weapon is now pointed at my head. I pulled the trigger. (CLICK) BANG. Everything went blank, and I kept hearing voices screaming at me. Everything fell silent. Now everything was silent. Why? Why did you make me do this? Why?...
I woke up suddenly and calmly got out of my cot. Then, furious shouts from Colonel Tom interrupted my thoughts.
Tom: "Everybody up! We have a mission. You already know your objective and everything related to this mission. There's no turning back. It's just us, so since they haven't told anyone else yet, I trust you. Although you know they will be hunting us down to kill or capture us, the good thing is that you are an indispensable resource for this company and they will want you alive..."
There was a pause as Colonel Tom looked at everyone in the room with a glimmer of hope and a little fear about the consequences of this "special" mission.
Colonel Tom: "This is your last chance to reject this mission. It's everyone's decision."
Colonel Tom looked again at everyone inside the room and, seeing that no one retracted their decision, continued.
Colonel Tom: "Well, then so be it. Get ready, we'll meet in 20 minutes at the northeast exit, by the truck. Have all your gear prepared."
Then, Colonel Tom left the room.
Eva: "Hey Jack, thanks for staying."
I looked into Eva's eyes and nodded my head.
Jack: "Of course... I couldn't abandon you guys anyway..."
Eva nodded in confirmation and went to prepare for the mission, like the others.
I went to my room and grabbed the only thing I owned, the only important thing I got a long time ago: an old, used walkman I found in an abandoned house on one of my first missions as a child. Even with how old it was, the songs sounded incredible, so I put it in my backpack along with several wired headphones and an adapter to connect two sets. The good thing about this walkman is that it was full of all kinds of songs, so I couldn't get bored just listening to the same ones.
After putting it away, I changed and put on black pants and a black shirt. Everything was military style. No one wore casual civilian clothes here, which could attract the attention of other soldiers. But this mission is classified for us to blend in with civilians, so it was justifiable that we weren't wearing tactical gear.
I was walking towards the northeast exit where my squad was already gathered and ready. I stood next to Luna, and the Colonel began preparing the truck.
I looked around at the faces of Eva, Miller, Chris, Evelyn, Luna.
STORY AND CHARACTERs CONTEXT -----
We all come from experiments to create a supersoldier. I once heard one of the doctors say they wanted us to be like Captain America... I still don't understand who Captain America is, what a weird name! Our squad was raised from an early age as weapons... as soldiers... child soldiers. Trained since birth and scientifically enhanced with experiments to create the best soldiers, always together on missions: an inseparable squad.
All because of a world war in which humanity was losing, but only the part that resisted. Humans who do not resist are forced to adapt to the new society. But it's not as simple as just surrendering... The Anthros (beast-men) reintegrate humans, but the racism and contempt they hold for them are still present. So, I don't blame the reason for this war.
After everything I've lived through, I don't want to continue being the blind soldier of this organization, nor do I want to be a poor guy degraded by Anthros. That's why I'm on this one-way mission. And after learning that my mentor deserted the organization and then disappeared, well, I didn't have many reasons left to be the assassin weapon of Angel Wing... What a name for a terrorist organization!
My squadmates came up with the idea, and Colonel Tom wanted to do this too, which is why he helped us carry out this mission. A new life... Even a stubborn person like me, who only wants to end this war and the Anthros, understood that it would be better to leave. Even Miller and Chris accepted easily.
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I already had everything I needed to never return (just my walkman). The entire squad was already loading their gear into the truck.
Before I got into the truck, Colonel Tom spoke to me.
Colonel Tom: "Thank you, Jack, for being here. Even Miller and Chris agreed to come, but keep an eye on those two. You know what I think about them."
Jack: "Sure...", I said with a slight hint of doubt.
Then, Colonel Tom got into the front of the truck with the driver. I don't know him, but he's a friend of the Colonel's, so maybe he's also deserting with us.
PRESENTING THE characters of ANGEL SPIRITS SQUAD, BETTER KNOWN AS SPIRITS ------
Miller: It's true, Miller was the most "soldier-like" of us, with an unbreakable morale, following orders to the letter, and too stubborn and arrogant, even more so than me, but it was expected of the squad leader
Chris: He's someone who doesn't care how, but always achieves his objective at any price; nothing else matters to him. Sometimes I think he only works as a team because it's easier to complete the mission, although sometimes he can be a good partner.
Eva: The second-in-command of the squad, with a very explosive temper, and the one who worries the most about everyone. If a mistake doesn't get us killed, she'll surely kill us for making it. Oh, and her aim is perfect; she's Colonel Tom's daughter. she dosnt smoke
Evelyn: Literally an impenetrable walking tank. Even Miller and Chris are afraid of her, hahaha! If they only knew she's the kindest person in the whole squad. She has human features (normal ears, blue eyes), but she does have the scars.
Luna: The brains of the squad: the smart one, who always has a plan for everything, and mentally the strongest. It's impossible to break her or make her angry on purpose. Sometimes they confuse her because she looks like Evelyn, sometimes they even say they're sisters, but they're not (not by blood), although sometimes Luna plays the part of Evelyn as an immovable and strong tower.
Jack (Me): And finally... me. A lost person. I try to help my squad with everything. I don't want to lose anymore; losing myself is torture enough. I'm not very talkative, but I try to keep up with my squad. I was in another squad before, but everyone in that squad didn't survive the experiments, and they sent me to this squad when I was still a child, so the integration wasn't too bad. Either way, they taught me to follow rules, not to feel emotions for anyone.
EXTERNAL CHARACTERS BUT ALSO IMPORTATNS FOR THE STORY
Colonel Tom: Someone who doesn't give up, always keeps his promises, an old, tired, and thoughtful man.
THE BOSS: A woman who was more than a simple person; she was someone you could trust.
I was already sitting between Evelyn and Luna. I took out my walkman and the headphones. I felt eyes on the back of my neck: it was Evelyn and Luna. I took out my headphone splitter to connect two pairs; I put one pair on myself and gave the other pair of headphones to Evelyn for her left ear and to Luna for her right ear. They thanked me with a nod. Then, I got as comfortable as I could in my seat, closed my eyes, and tried to stop thinking before the mission started, as the truck drove away from the Angel Wings facilities.
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Colonel Tom interrupted my useless "rest," but I kept my eyes closed anyway.
Colonel Tom: "Alright, now that we're all ready and no one is listening, our mission, as you know, is to desert Angel Wings. The plan is to go to the private CSTAirlain airport, where a plane is waiting for us. No one at the base knows our intentions, so this should be easy. Just don't draw attention to yourselves from the people at the airport, and everything should go well...".
Colonel Tom: "We have approximately two and a half hours before they realize our intentions. The trip to the airport will take about an hour and a half, so we'll have one hour to board and get the hell out of here."
Colonel Tom: "And... thank you all six for doing this. Seriously... thank you very much. After what happened with THE BOSS, everyone realigned their thoughts... and I don't want to be like Angel Wings or like THE BOSS. We'll make our own path away from the terrorists and the Anthros," Tom said with a tired and hopeful tone, but when mentioning THE BOSS, he spoke with melancholy.
Story Context ------
My reason for deserting was because of THE BOSS. A woman so strong, so unyielding in her ideals, an immovable tower, but at the same time, someone to lean on. A mentor, a teacher, even a moth... Why did you leave BOSS?
Well... The same woman who made us win battles against so many Anthros IS NOW part of the Anthros. What a broken world, isn't it?!
The Colonel was THE BOSS's "non-husband husband"; they were in a relationship. It was expected that the Colonel would want to desert, and me too. But now THE BOSS is an enemy of the human resistance and a high-risk criminal for Angel Wings, so the Colonel just wanted to leave there with his best squad and start over as a family... I would like that: starting over, away from the war.
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After arriving at the airport, we all efficiently got out of the truck, wearing 'casual' clothes to avoid alerting the civilians—all human civilians. In this part of the planet there are no Anthros; it's very rare to see them here. It's a shame it's such a small part of the planet compared to all the Anthro territory that exists. We entered the airport, which is quite large, and there are few people compared to other days... Strange... it's as if... no, that couldn't happen...
After the Colonel met with an employee, the employee began to show us the way to the private jet area for important people, or people who want to escape from a terrorist organization, however you want to look at it. After reaching the plane, the Colonel said goodbye to the employee, and the same truck driver was going to pilot the plane. The plane wasn't big; it was quite small compared to tourist planes, but big enough for Evelyn to walk around normally inside.
The plane's pilot got in first, and then Colonel Tom followed... But not everything could be so easy, right? Today was going to be a miserable day.
A missile fell directly on one of the tourist planes that were far from us.
Colonel Tom: "SHIT! SQUAD, GET ON THE PLANE, NOW!"
The order was heard by everyone, and we quickly headed for the plane.
Colonel Tom: "DAMN IT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING, YOU BASTARD?"
The Colonel's rage was palpable in us too, as the pilot took off the plane and quickly left the airport. The screams of the people increased, as if some monster was there to kill them...
Eva: "Now what?"
We all looked inside the airport, each with weapons in hand and prepared to attack, although we were still exposed because we were wearing casual civilian clothes. And in the distance, we saw the worst thing that could have arrived... monsters!
Quickly, we all ran inside an empty airplane hangar. We took cover inside to prevent them from seeing us, but they were still distracted by the people inside the airport. They are not killing them, they are just gathering them. Anthros armed to the teeth.
Jack: <They look like they're from the FoxHound organization, the best of the best... But why? For simple civilians? Did they know about us? But how? And they haven't killed any civilians, and all the civilians are human... Why haven't they killed anyone? Do they want prisoners? Or will they forcibly integrate them like the other humans in the Anthrostate?>
Miller: <Damn it!> "Those Anthros are reinforced to the bone. We won't have a chance if we only defend, and we can't run away either. It looks like they're enclosing the area. Maybe if we attack from blind spots quickly we could... Ugh, damn it! Not even that, they're from FoxHound, those bastards are strong," Miller said with impotence upon seeing the superiority of the enemies: they were more numerous and better armed than us.
Chris: "We just have to run. We know we can't win by fighting. The problem is finding a way to leave."
Evelyn: "Chris, there's nowhere to run. Where are you going to go? It looks like we're surrounded!" she said with annoyance.
Colonel Tom: "They haven't reached the airplane takeoff area yet. It's an open zone, and we'll be more prone to an attack, but there's nowhere else to go."
Jack: "But why did a missile fall then? It doesn't seem like it came from the Anthros...", I said seriously and confused, thinking about the reason for a missile hitting the tourist plane.
Luna: "Maybe a target was inside the plane? If not, why else would it be? I can't figure out why. I know they're Anthros, but they prefer prisoners to mass killing."
Then, we saw a fighter jet fly by quickly, attacking the Anthros. That plane was from Angel Wings! Afterwards, armored Angel Wings trucks arrived from the area where the planes take off. Our only way out no longer exists...
Colonel Tom: "God damn it!", he whispered with contempt as the Angel Wings soldiers proceeded to open fire inside the airport at any target... even human civilians.....