Unexpected Encounter 5
06 Apr 2016Rebecca Hail
Rebecca removed the leather cuffs from Rias feet and she was finally able to stand up, just to feel her legs break away under her weight. Rebecca grabbed her arm and supported her until she was able to stand, Ria walked in pain towards the chair in front of the countertop."Not so fast. Your ribcage is still injured. Give me a moment to get some painkillers."
Rebecca turned around and opened a medicine cabinet behind her. Ria immediately noticed the massive pistol holstered under her shoulder. Rebecca grabbed into the cabinet and turned to Ria with a shrink wrapped syringe. Then she grabbed Rias arm, pressed the syringe quickly into her elbow veins and the painkillers kicked in in an instant.
"Just stay here, I'll get a pilot suit for you. You shouldn't walk around in underwear for too long."
Rebecca left the medical station again and Ria sat down onto the chair next to the countertop.
The terminal on the countertop activated when she touched its screen and was unlocked, much to Rias surprise, then her nosiness took over.
She swiped over the keyboard and the terminal greeted her with a warm: "Welcome back, Commander Hail.".
Ria took the mental note: "Surname is Hail.", then she proceeded to nose around on the desktop.
The first thing she noticed was the grey symbol on the black background. A sword framed by two curved wings with three stars above the handle, beneath it was written in big white letters: "Ares Company. Fire with fire. War with war. Blood with blood."
Ria saw several files on the desktop and tried to open them.
"Mission reports."
"Please enter the password: _", the warm voice immediately answered.
"Contract Details."
"Please enter the password: _"
"Communication."
"Please enter the password: _"
"Active list."
"Please enter the password: _"
"On-going contracts."
"Please enter the password: _"
"Medical reports."
"Accessing medical reports."
The list of medical reports was extremely long and started in 3260. The last entry was in November 3295.
She looked over the entry names and one from 3293 catched her attention.
"Access: 3293/7/16:Turook/Hail."
A vast wall of text filled the screen written in medical jargon. Ria didn't understand a single word so she scrolled down the wall. Another link catched her attention.
"Access: Attached Pictures."
The first picture showed a completely naked, horribly injured man on the metal table she laid on. His right leg was completely torn off and he missed half of his left. A bloody something hang between his legs and he had horrible burns all over his belly and chest. Several deep holes where in his chest and he had only a stump where his left arm should be. The worst sight was his missing underjaw and the number of tubes leading into his trachea.
Ria had to use all her willpower to avoid puking out the pasta she ate earlier.
The next picture was not as horrible as the previous but still bad.
It undoubtedly showed Rebecca, but in a terrible condition. She missed her right hand and three fingers on her left. She still had all her limbs, but her right leg looked twisted and horribly broken. Her chest was horribly burned and she had a deep wound near her belly button. The worst injury was undoubtedly the deep bloody hole where her right eye once was.
She skipped the remaining pictures and opened "Report to Colonel Ares." link. Another wall of text blinked up in front of her.
"Yesterday, on the 16 July Recruits Turook and Hail patrolled sector seven of the DMZ when they were approached by 8 - 10 children aged between 4-10 years. Although they were ordered to shoot every person ignoring the verbal warnings, they only made warning shots. Soon Turook was surrounded by begging kids while Hail moved slowly back to avoid being encircled. Apparently one or more of the children wore a larger amount of explosives spicked with improvised shrapnel, like iron bolts or nuts. Due to the backup request made by Hail earlier, Reinforcements arrived shortly after the explosion occurred. In cooperation with the GSAR and due to the medical emergency measures accomplished by the field medics, Hail was stabilized on site, while Turook died because of his severe injuries during a 19-hour long emergency surgery. Hail makes most likely a full recovery, if we replace her lost eye and body parts with artificial ones. I highly advise these measures with reference to her performance evaluation. Turooks funeral ceremony will be held on the ..."
Ria sat back into the seat and exhaled.
"Who the hell is she?" Ria thought for herself.
"Have you seen enough or do you want to spy around a bit more?" a cold voice behind her asked.