The Call
17 Dec 2020RedivivusCrowd
A man with red hair and a beard to match in a wrinkled gabardine suit made his way through the docking bay and towards his ship which was currently being left alone on a small landing pad towards the rear of the docking bay. Cyberbird was an Imperial Courier, that had been fitted for speed and maneuverability as well as maximised jump distance.He punched in the code for the ship and made his way up the boarding ramp, closing it after him, he made his way to to his quarters at the rear of the ship, taking off his suit jacket and hanging his holster across the back of the chair beside his cot. He would have preferred a chieftain but the higher ups wanted him to present a certain image when on "Company Business."
Just as the man had changed into his sleepwear and was about to lay his head down for the night, he received a call, he looked down and saw that it was from an unrecognised number, he scowled and answered, holding it up to his ear, "Who is this and where did you get this number?"
The woman on the other end of the call wavered and hesitated, "I'm sorry, i-is this Commander McLaughlin? You asked me to call you back about my... my son Teddy and how he..." the woman's voice trailed off. McLaughlin mouthed "Fuck!" silently to himself and cringed, feeling overwhelming shame at having snapped at her.
"That's right Mrs Cruz, this is Commander McLaughlin, although you can call me Gerry if that would make you feel more comfortable. I'm terribly sorry, I didn't recognise your number and..." Gerry paused, rubbing his temples, "It's totally alright Gerry, I understand you must be very busy with the war and all." The woman paused seemingly at a loss as to how to proceed, "I was just hoping you would be able to shed some light on how Teddy died."
Gerry inhaled through his teeth, "I'm afraid that I cannot share the exact details of Teddy's death for the sake of classified information but what I can tell you is that he died quickly and painlessly." The woman on the other end of the call was silent for a moment before saying, "I understand, you just make sure... make sure you kill them all, until they're all dead or they never hurt anyone again."
Gerry had a cold look in his eyes as he responded, "Yes Ma'am." Mrs Cruz ended the call.
"Quickly and painlessly." Gerry thought to himself. "Classified information."
Lies.
Gerry opened his datapad and had a look at the after action reports he had been reading earlier. He simply hadn't wanted to tell her how Teddy had died screaming in agony as Thargoid acid had melted through his flesh and bones before finally burning through his vital organs and killing him.
Putting the pad down and laying it on the table, he held up his dog tags to inspect them, the Elite insignia and the golden decals of a triple elite glinting in the light. "I don't feel like a Triple Elite right now." Gerry closed his eyes and tried to think back on happier, more peaceful times.