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It was still dark gray steel everywhere. The windows placed high upon the warehouse walls so that no man, not even the tallest, could have reached them still hadn't moved from their bolted place on the walls. And the inch thick, solid steel cuff around her ankle attached to the floor with a 2 foot chain was still attached to the same spot on the floor, just like all the other prisoners. Well, all 5 of them now. They were all placed just far enough apart so they couldn't touch, and if they decided to talk amongst each other, they'd be forced to talk loud enough to let the two guards sitting on either side of the only entrance in and out of the warehouse could easily overhear, despite the sounds of waves outside.
Jayna's eyes strayed to the three new forms that had been brought into the warehouse, narrowing in contempt, the closest thing to an emotion she'd shown since she'd arrived here. They all seemed to be roughed up, wearing the same uniform, and all pleasantly unaware of their new ankle jewelry. Course, any kind of sympathy she might have had for them was obliterated as soon as she noticed the uniforms. Organized crime doesn't usually do uniforms past the dark colors theme, which meant they answered to the government. She didn't do government anymore.
Jayna shifted her legs under her as her eyes darted around again. She suspected Sol would have fun with this lot. Three members isn't a full squad, and Jayna didn't have to think too hard as to what might have happened to the rest of them. Not that she cared. Hell, it might be the second thing she needed to thank Sol for. If she was talking. To anyone. At all.
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He rubbed the many bruises he had from the beating by the guards. It wasn't too bad, considering what he'd been through during training. Looking up, he saw a window that could in theory be gotten to, if they formed a human pyramid, but only assuming they managed to get the chains off in the first place. It sickened him of how he ended up in a sitution like this, he should've gone for a desk job, not one of the respected ( and hated) SOOC members. Maybe wanting to go above average a bit was good.
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Nym, little Nym Valentine had probably suffered the worst out of any of them. Thabit could remember when the tiny young woman had first come on to his squad with fire in her eyes and determination that reminded him a little of himself when he had first joined...but it seemed like she was always too determined to make everybody happy. Thabit knew that she would probably have a hard time surviving the horrors she would most likely encounter with Sol's thugs. She was young and pretty, that was strike one against her.
Lance Corporal Taleth Cicero was another story: he was probably already planning his speech for the press after he dramatically broke the prisoners out and killed Sol. The man was a psycotic, attention-hungry, and seriously messed up individual who still perplexed Thabit as to how he had managed to stay as a SOOC field operative all this time without getting forced in to a desk job, or just out of the law enforcement field all together given his previous behavior. However, as a plus side it seemed that Taleth probably had a greater chance of fighting off the interrogation techniques of the criminals. He probably knew that the real questioning wasn't just your captors politely asking for your identification number, your name, and rank before giving you regular meals, plenty of sleep, and leaving you alone for a while before setting you free for a bribe from the police. However, he had an attitude and record that practically labeled him as a traitor from the get-go...so he worried about what Nym would think if she deduced betrayal.
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Her eyes wandered as far round the room as they could without having to move. From what she could see, the room was dimly lit and the only windows in the room were high above them - way too high for anyone to reach without alot of help. She could then hear the tinkle of metal hitting metal, which once again attracted her curiousity. She heaved herself up from the cold floor, a sudden wave of dizzyness hitting her enough to make her hold her head in on hand for a moment or too. Nym could already see the bruises that dotted her pale skin, she'd seen worse than them before, and so was pretty glad that she'd escaped with just that. She would've tried to stand, but as she moved her leg, she heard the tinkle of metal again, blinking a couple of times in bewilderment and looking to her ankle to find a hefty looking metal cuff holding her down to the ground. Looks like she was staying put then.
The situation was not looking good so far, in a cold massive dark room, chained to the floor. It seemed to feel like it was getting worse as she saw that she was not the only one here. The Ambush had also brought other captives, Lance Corporal Taleth and Sergeant Thabit were here too. What had happened to the others? If they were not here, then the only other explanation for the others was that they were dead. Death was always a risk that the SOOC took, and so Nym couldn't let herself get down upon the fact that her comrades were probably gone.
On the second look round, she noticed two other women - not from the squad. Why were they here then? Perhaps they were other plans that the organization were going through with alongside keeping herself, Thabit and Taleth.
Her gaze wandered back to the others that she knew, looking at her superiors with the look in her eyes that asked well now what?
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The guard came back out and nodded to his comrade and clapped him on the back and the two men dragged their prisoner into the room. As the men were readying to drop their captive the brown haired man shook his head.
Baellys opened his pale blue eyes that nearly seemed to glow,for a brief instant wondering what had happened,then he realized that he was being roughly held by two of the men that had attacked him. His whole body tensed,which took the men by surprise,for they were readying to simply throw him,before the could respond Baellys let out a savage roar and brought his left elbow up into one of his captors' throat.The man fell back gagging and struggling desperately for air as Baellys arced back with his left and hooked the other man in the jaw,a satisfying crack reverberating beneath his knuckles,he then pivoted on his left foot and went to roundhouse kick the man but staggered,he was still chained to the unyielding mount a few feet away.He turned back just in time to see a fist crash into his temple,he stumbled back,trying to regain his bearing,shaking his head he sighted his prey,only something caught him in the head.There was an explosion of pain,and it seemed as if light flashed before his eyes.He felt himself hit the ground with jarring force and lay there stunned for a few moments.
The guards quickly dragged their dead comrade,who had suffocated,out of the room and slammed and locked the doors shouting,"You're lucky the boss wants you alive!",as they retreated.
Baellys shook his head trying to clear the haze from his vision,he sat up,a bit shaky yet,and he spit a mouthful of blood on the ground,but his adrenaline was quickly soaking the shock up,looking around he noted his helmet sitting next to him.
"Bastards...with my own helmet...",he whispered as he grabbed the helmet and locked it back into place over his head.
His armor pulsed,filling the room with an eerie,blue light for a moment as it powered back up before going dark once more.
Finally he stood and took another look around the room,he noted Lance Corporal Taleth,whom he gave a dark look beneath his helmet, and Private Nym's presence first,She didn't look good and he wished that he could ease her mind as his eyes rested on the civilians,they mattered little too him.
Grimacing at the thought of having to pull them through this he finally sighted the Staff Sergeant.
He walked as close as he could and sketched a salute before crouching down into a kneel.
"Sir!",he said,glad to see at least a few others made it,"Are you all that survived and what the Hell happened Sir?!"
He was furious that things had gone so awry,and that he hadn't been where he would have been needed most,but most of all the sense,no the knowledge of betrayal gnawed at him.No one should have known where he had been going.
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"Four. Including the Sergeant." The man, almost twice Sol's width, bald with thick, piggish eyes, shuffled his feet.
"Really? That wasn't necessary. But four's enough," he said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth then throwing it to the floor. He ground the embers into the concrete with the heel of his boot then turned to open the door to the main part of the warehouse.
"Uh- Sol, one of them just took a chop at Taton's throat. Poor bastard's lying down in the carrier round the back; he might need to see a doctor..." said the thug, apologetically.
Sol arched one eyebrow then turned back to the door. He paused before he pulled it open, hand resting on the metal bolt.
"Take Taton down to the safe-house on E'Leth Street, then call Dr Gupta, say I've asked him to take a look." The other man nodded tentatively, as if waiting for something. "And don't worry, Monty. You can have a go at the SOOC officer once the time's right," added Sol with a smile.
Monty grinned slowly then reached out his hands in front of him, cracking his knuckles in satisfaction. Sol watched him with inward boredom but outward neutrality. "Thanks, boss," said Monty. "Wandrir's teeth are gonna be my bowling pins when I get my hands on him."
Once the other man had lumbered away, Sol threw back the bolt and walked into the main warehouse, the sound of his boots on the hard floor echoing across the empty space. It was dark in here, with only a solitary window high above them letting a little second-hand light shine into the dimness and illuminate the figures chained to the floor and the lines of Sol's face.
They were all here. The four SOOC members- fresh from their little ambush that morning. And then the two other prisoners; Berais and Mauro- both new acquisitions and, although Sol knew who they were, he hadn't yet seen them in the flesh. Still, they could wait until later.
"If you're clever," he said, his voice cutting through the hush that had fallen upon his entrance. "And I expect you to be, since you passed your SOOC training, you'll probably be wondering, how your crack squad managed to be ambushed by amateurs like us..."
Sol paused taking in the hatred and steely stares like an actor looking out over an audience from a stage in a theatre. They probably weren't used to this; the female SOOC officer shaking and bewildered in chains in the corner certainly wasn't. They had no idea of the fear that was practically used as a currency down in the world Sol in habited.
"Any suggestions?" he asked.
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"Did they mess with your head?" Thabit asked, obviously in sarcasm "I'm only a sergeant." He replied.
Thabit looked around once again to analyze his situation. Nym was practically shaking like a leaf since she had regained consciousness, as mentioned Taleth was totally unreadable, Baellys seemed to still be in good mental order with how he had immediately 'reported' to Thabit which showed his prisoner training was kicking in, and the two civilians in the room with them were simply a presence as far as Thabit was concerned right now. They had yet to introduce themselves, greet the four SOOC officers, or show any signs of emotion or feeling outside of fear or silence. As far as he was concerned, Thabit looked to the two civilians as total liabilities until they proved themselves otherwise. It wasn't like it mattered though because Thabit wouldn't need to break out.
"It's simple soldier: we went in, a bunch of us got shot, and now we've been captured." Thabit wasn't going to entertain their (correct) notion of betrayal...assuming they all were thinking the same thing, which they probably were.
Then the door came open to reveal the scum bag of scum bags, the king of crooks: Sol Bretton himself. The man seemed to be relishing in the harsh or fearful stares issued from the others...but he would receive none of it from Thabit. He had put on a perfect mask of indifference towards the man after having spent several years in cruel slavery before he had joined SOOC. He knew that captors often got a sick joy out of seeing fear or hatred in the eyes of those who they had imprisoned.
"Why don't you just shut up?" Thabit asked, just short of interrupting Sol's question.
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As she watched them, she folded her legs underneath her, tucking her skirt in around her again out of habit. Loraina had a bad habit of getting antsy and restless at some of the worst possible moments and this seemed to be one of them. Though obviously standing up and moving around was out of the question, she perked her ears and listened to the going-ons around her. Maybe they knew where they were at, not that it'd do her any real good, but it was a thought.
She'd been on the verge of speaking to the group as a man opened the door and entered the warehouse. She watched the man very closely and listened to what he said and then found her gaze moved around to the warriors around her, chained to the floor in the same fashion that she was. That would truly have to be one of the worst ways to end up a captive, she thought to herself, doing her best to keep her expression as neutral as possible. To be betrayed by some one who should be as close as family.
Loraina couldn't help but jump when one of the chained men spoke out harshly. She studied him for a moment before switching her gaze back to the 'man in charge'. Waiting silently to see where the line of conversation was to lead.
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"Well Sergeant...I'm used to addressing my superiors in such manner,and you are my commanding officer,so I call you Sir out of habit,I'm sorry..Sir.",he said sarcastically as he rummaged through one of his pockets and then another.
After a few moment he made a sound of anger and kicked the ground in a futile gesture.
"The the depths of Hell with the thrice damned gods that watch over us.",he exclaimed,as he paced back and forth in anger before stopping for a moment and taking a calming breath and returning to his silent,tact self.
He wasn't particularly happy with Thabit's response,though he couldn't blame the man for being short tempered,he wasn't happy himself,but he was also damn near dead inside,so it was easy to ignore most of his emotions.
His eyes drifted over the woman that seemed to be jumping and shivering alot and again he couldn't blame her,were he not as battle hardened he might be the same way,Hells,he'd seen full grown men piss themselves in similar situations so he had to applaud her somewhat at least.
Then his eyes fell on the other woman,was that a look of contempt,no she had no emotion in her face at all,just like he had,maybe he was getting suspicious,oh well. He shrugged once more and took another bored kick at the floor.
When the man they were after came into the room,his instinct was to leap at the man and break him by any means,but his logic told him that he was too far away,what with the chains about his feet,so he simply ignored everything his training and instinct told him to do and simply stood there,watching him warily.
"Good,glad you're still alive,wouldn't want to be denied the pleasure of just revenge."
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Then he looked at the civillians cowering, and one of them was especially creepy, she just stared at them. What, she had some special mind powers thanks to the government!? " Hey girlie, stop smirking. I've seen enough faces to know when one of them is a spoiled pampered brat who just got ransomed. I've also killed many who get in the way of the misson. Oh wait, I wasn't supposed to admit that. Who cares." Then he looked at Nym, and felt geniuinley sorry for her. it was one of her first missons and they just screwed it up to hell, but he felt the need to lecture her. " Nym, girl, soldier up. Your part of SOOC. You can't really break from just this." However, he was expecting her too. She was rather young and inexperienced and hadn't been through enough things to toughen her up mentally.
Then he glared at Sol, " Which reminds me you bastard. How did you know we were coming. I mean your information network isn't that extensive. And I highly doubt you could've stumbled upon it. What, did one of us turn traitor and stab each us in the back?" The last part was with sarcasm, but with a hint if nervouness. He had in fact told who was going to be in it, but he highly doubted there were any ties here. But if there were and Sol decided to tell who said that... no, it didn't matter. He didn't know when and where. He kicked him out and sent his men after him.
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She ignored Taleth's comment about soldiering up. How was she supposed to be a soldier when she was stuck here? Chained down like an animal. She was handling this perfectly well in her own mind - she could've been much worse. She did manage to pull her gaze up from the floor as Taleth mentioned something about one of them being a traitor. Would one of the SOOC do that? Was there really such corruption even in the peacekeeping society? She thought that this had been one of the best places to come if she was going to help the effort to end the organized crime. She'd been told that these people would be like family - and she knew for sure that family would not sell eachother out.
Her gaze wandered to the others that were supposed to be like family, who would do that? She couldn't imagine anyone here doing that, which made it all the more unbelievable that there would be a traitor among them.
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"Well done," Sol said to Taleth, with the air of a teacher congratulating a child. "But I won't spoil it for you. You can work out which one of you it was amongst yourselves."
This was such an anti-climax. The SOOC members were supposed to be some of the most highly trained on the planet; they'd killed enough of Sol's men and disrupted enough of his operations for anyone to think so. And yet here they were, three air-headed testosterone-pumped idiots and a girl, cowering on the floor. It was a shame- so much planning had gone into that ambush.
Pausing for a moment, as if deliberating whether it was worth his effort in staying, Sol suddenly turned around and moved towards Taleth with unexpected rapidity and grace of movement. Stepping well within Taleth's range, he seized front of the man's uniform, hauling him upwards violently to bring him close to his face.
"You're not special," he said, his voice like the edge of a knife. His dark eyes were turbulent and bored into Taleth's unflinchingly. "You think you're any different from that 'brat' over there? Why else would I bother keeping you alive if not for a ransom?"
Sol dropped the other man with the clank of chains hitting the concrete and stepped back, eyes calm again. It was as if some of the energy tightly wound within him had been suddenly expended, like the bounce of a spring, then just as quickly compressed, ready for when it was next needed. Walking back across the warehouse, he stopped in front of Jayna and, in an uncharacteristic gesture of semi-servitude, knelt down to unlock her chains.
"This way," he said, starting back towards the door through which he had came. Of course, there was no where else for Jayna to go; he hoped she wouldn't make things difficult. Monty was already savouring the prospect of violence and Sol didn't want to have to prevent him from doing any more harm to her than was necessary.
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At least the other one was more composed. Sort of. After seemingly searching every pocket on his person, he looked like he suddenly wanted to jump of the walls or something. She had no clue what on earth that was all about. But he eventually calmed down and didn't even mouth off at Sol overly much.
Smart man. Well, as smart as you can be and still get caught in the ambush, she thought, another amused look ghosting over her face. She always found it comical when people called her emotionless. She wasn't, most people just didn't pay attention enough to actually notice. Plus, if they did, they usually doubted themselves to the point where they convinced themselves otherwise. She sure didn't mind.
But Jayna could suppress a full out grin as she watched Sol grab the mouthy one and snarl in his face. Ah, how she wished she could do it herself. When Sol threw the man down, she realized the grin was still in place and instantly cleared her face of emotions.
When Sol made his way to her and unchained her, she almost lost hold on her mask completely. He undid her chains himself, then straightened and walked to the door without so much as a backwards glance. While she really had nowhere to go unless she wanted to stay where she was, but what was he playing at?
Jayna finally decided she didn't care. If possible, she wanted to know why she was here. What they wanted her for. She knew her appeal, but why did they think they could handle her? At the moment, she was feeling rather inclined towards Sol, no doubt having to do with the display towards the SOOC officer, so she stood and followed the man.
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Watching the man, she saw him move towards the woman who'd scarcely let any thoughts or emotions show on her expressions. Her instinct from helping her mother with the children, and looking after her (older) brother's to keep them out of trouble, her protective nature came through and she about spoke up in the woman's defense, though quickly silenced herself. That surely would not be the smartest idea that she'd ever had. But she watched closely as the other woman followed him out. Once the door was closed, she slouched slightly, almost in defeat.
Turning her gaze back to the rest of the captives, Loraina spoke up at last, "A-Aside from the obvious, is everyone alright?" she asked though her nervousness shined through her quiet voice. She didn't know any of these people, though she somehow new it was important to learn to trust these individuals, if ever the group was to escape. "Anyone know where we're at even? Surely we're not still on Yudea?"
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He looked around at all of them, then the room as he had several times already.
"Criminals, at least the smart ones, don't like to move high risk packages over too far a distance: they know that if they get us on a shuttle then SOOC officers could probably have them before they even touched down, assuming they reached orbit." Thabit said "They know that we're all probably really valuable to somebody, especially three highly trained officers, and they probably also know that every time we're not secure in a static location that they're at a greater risk of being raided."
Thabit was basically explaining the tactics of defense and hostage/prisoner management from a normal officer's handbook "If you're in a facility or building that you know then you can set up choke-points, firing positions, and traps that you know will work but if you're not in a static facility, such as a shuttle, then you need to rely more on snap-bushes or on-the-fly choke points that you can't even be sure that the enemy will use."
The flow, or rather the gush of information didn't seem to fit the build of the large tribesman. To make the clash of appearance and knowledge even worse, he had listed it all off in a seemingly dull monotone of sorts that didn't fit his physique or general appearance at all. Then Thabit locked eyes on Nym, who still seemed to be shaking like a leaf in a monsoon.
"Private, I need you to stay strong for me: just because you're chained up doesn't mean I'm going to give you anymore lee-way than I did when you first joined my squad." Thabit said, his normally glazed and piercing eyes seeming to maybe hold some sort of emotion for the younger squad member before the trace flickered away to be replaced by the same old gaze...that found itself locked on Taleth "You, however, are an idiot: I don't know why I let you on to this squad but right now I'm regretting it, because you have obviously forgotten protocol!" Thabit's voice began to rise "Not only are you just making a fool of yourself, but you're insulting other hostages!" Thabit's brow furrowed in something akin to a glare "If we weren't chained down..." Thabit simply left his threat as that.
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He stood there,watching the pair go,his eyes never leaving the girl until the door swung shut and the locks clicked back into place.
He muttered something beneath his breath and then turned to the others,his gaze sweeping over them in a brief instant.
Everything that both Thabit and Taleth had said was pointless information that any of them should have known to begin with,but at the way Taleth so quickly and openly suggested it all kick started Baellys' mind into it's natural suspicions and his eyes narrowed as he watched the man. He now desperately wished he had a gun,or even a knife,any kind of weapon on hand really.
After turning his gaze from Taleth he looked back at Nym and shook his head.
"There is no such thing as a peacekeeping society,human nature is greed and murder. All of us do evil things in the name of so called peace. You cannot fight and kill for peace,you can only do it so that those in power don't look bad and rein in those that are too weak and naive to see the truth.The only true difference between us and them,is that we're back by the law."
As he spoke,Baellys occasionally kicked with his chained leg,and pulled on the chain,testing the chain's strength and that of it's mount,even going so far as to try slipping his boot out of the ring,he wasn't going to resign himself to this fate,but after a few moments of fruitless effort he realized he had to look at it from a different angle,but something else was on his mind.
He straightened and turned back to Taleth,an angry glint appearing in his concealed eyes.
"So how much did they pay you Taleth,and why are you in here with us?"
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He held it open for her before going inside himself and taking a seat on one side of the table.
"Sit down," he said, simply, as he stretched his legs out in front of him.
His discovery of Jayna had been fortuitous. One of the contacts on their payroll worked as a low-level lab technician in a government facility and had stumbled across the files of a top-secret project apparently going-on within the bowels of the laboratory complex. With a reward in mind, the contact had dug deeper and had finally secured details of what was going on- a weapon. Nothing new, perhaps, except that this weapon was in the form of a woman.
Within weeks, Sol had variously paid, tortured and conned out the timing of her transfer to another facility from anyone he could get his hands on. One swift roadblock later, two of his men were dead but Jayna was his.
"Tell me about yourself," he said, with a smile. "Tell me about your life at the facility."
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She bristled inwardly at his command, but took the seat. As if she would have stood around like an idiot. She looked around the room briefly, noticing nothing significant or overly interesting about it. It was a run of the mill interrogation room set-up. It really wouldn't be hard to get out of the room or this entire facility if she actually tried. It's what she was made for. But she wasn't too keen on running back into the arms of the government. At least, not until she knew what these people wanted from her.
"You know what I know, most likely. I wasn't conscious most of the time. Something about being humane." Jayna kept her voice in a monotone. She'd hadn't spoken with actual feeling since the government had taken her. No reason to.
What she said was true, for the few portion of her stay at the facility. During the physical experimentation and the mental probing, prodding, and implanting, she was blissfully unaware. The last several years, she'd been at a new facility. The new facility had decided to test her limitations. See how well their programs stuck. They'd finally finished, which was why she was being transferred again.
Jayna wasn't overly against sharing information with Sol, but she didn't really want to get into the fluff, which was all she remembered. She didn't want to get into the torture sessions, endurance trials, or degrading situations. They didn't matter. She wouldn't let them. If Sol wanted information, he'd have to ask the right way, but she wasn't even entirely sure if that's what he wanted. It was entirely possible that only her abilities were wanted. It would probably be better that way as she wasn't even entirely sure if it was possible for her to give him information.
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She couldn't blame them though. Her own pride had been wounded simply from her inability to take care of herself and her home, evident in the fact that she found herself at the warehouse, chained to the floor. To be in the same position due to the possibility of betrayal or even simply from a surprise ambush, a trained military man would take that as a personal blow to pride. Shaking her head, Loraina mentally scolded herself. She felt ashamed to be analyzing the actions and reactions of these individuals whom she hardly knew.
"I feel like a simpleton in asking, but what do we do now?" She asked quietly. "I know there's not much we can do but even coming up with a far-fetched plan seems preferable to sitting in tense silence or looking for a direction to point the blame."
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Well, the others would plan, but Thabit would stay out of it. He had been promised that the survivors of his tribe would be waiting for him once Sol had decided he was imprisoned long enough. After that Thabit would have to force the thoughts of his squad to the back of his mind, but damn it all if that wasn't one of the hardest things he had ever thought of doing right now. He had fought and bled to get on to this force, pushing the thoughts of his butchered tribe to the back of his mind as an unchangeable evil, and he had instead set his sights on to the prospect of joining the SOOC so that he could make sure to reign in crime like what had destroyed his life before the team. He had risen up through the ranks, seeing faces come and go from the same old squad, and soon he found himself with the rank markings of a Sergeant on his uniform with fresh-face recruits all looking to him for guidance.
The first thing he did?
Lead them in to an ambush. It would be understandable that it would be hard for him to turn his back on these people fully, but when he had discovered that his people were still alive the tribal warrior couldn't have thought "logically" about anything as he heard that. However, Sol had made a mistake by giving Thabit time to think...what would his people say when they found out what he had done? He wouldn't lie to them, he couldn't lie to people he had been born along side before the raid that had ruined his life. Thabit knew deep inside that they wouldn't approve, as far as they would be concerned all he had done was betray family for family: like killing your sister for your brother. He didn't want to believe that though, he wanted to believe that they would approve of what he had done. They could be convinced, right?
Not likely.
"Right now we need to take stock, rest up, find out their routine, and act on that." Just because Thabit wouldn't actively help with the plan didn't mean he wouldn't provide guidance.
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