Ch 12 - Destruction Incarnate: Jesse

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Michelle cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention again. “Ok, so now that that’s out of the way, we plan for the squad games, at least… the overview, so Allison has some idea of what’s going on”.

“For once, I actually am feeling some love here…” Allison muttered.

“You damn well better…” Michelle muttered back with a grin. Raising her voice back to its normal level, she continued. “Ok, the safest event for us is the cyber security event. Mark will be representing us for those. I will assist him. Emilia, you stay out of it, actually, I don’t even want you to be on site for that. I have no idea what will happen and am not taking any chances on your weaponry going berserk” Michelle ordered.

“Couldn’t I just show up and not have one of the basic variants of my equipment”? Emilia suggested.

“No. Enough dumb shit has been going on recently. Keep yourself armed, no pun intended. Also, have Mark resupply you with nanobots. I’m pretty sure you have going without them for like a few days already. Though not exactly essential for your interaction with the equipment, they do still help”.

“True, I was actually planning on doing that today”.

“Good. I’ll come along with you. There’s some things I want to discuss. Bring Allison and Jesse along too cuz… reasons. Just a brief rundown of everything, Jessica, David, Javon, the 3 of you are going to be taking part in infiltration and sabotage.

Jessica, David, Allison, and Emilia will be taking part in objective capture as well as close quarters combat.

Jesse, you can handle the demolition event with just Javon, right?”

Jesse nodded to Michelle’s question, and followed up “well, shouldn’t be too rough. Extra help would be appreciated though. I just need some light artillery”.

Emilia nodded “Fine, I’ll help. It’ll go faster that way anyways”.

Michelle turned to Allison and pointed “I want you on that event too. Just a feeling I have. I’ll give you the details on what to do later…”

Allison gulped, “aren’t we spreading the team a bit thin, taking part in so many events”?

Michelle sighed “yeah actually, but we are one of the smaller teams overall. We are however, the most diverse team with a standard roster. Team gamma doesn’t actually exist during this event, since it’s made up of people from everywhere. Our strength is in the diversity, the weakness is the team size and how well we actually work together”.

“Oh” Allison muttered, getting the answer she was after.

“Alright, aside from the main event, all that’s left is the evacuation event. Allison, you are required for that. As for who else will be participating, it’ll be determined by everyone else’s conditions. Mark will be supporting you for this event. Actually, Mark and Aaron will be supporting for every event. Should we happen to make it into the final event, the entire team will be involved. We’ll worry about trying not to kill each other if we get that far”.

You’re all dismissed”. Michelle headed to Mark’s lab with those words. Mark, as well as the other requested people, followed.

They entered Mark’s lab and Mark began some preparations while Allison stared blankly “What’s going on again”? she questioned.

Emilia replied as she casually removed her arms and took a seat on what appeared to be a padded table. “Well, I’m here to get the nanomachines changed since a couple of rounds of EMPs left them completely non-functional. I’ll also have to get these parts replaced since I’m no longer jailed. I can have my guns again”!

“Does it hurt whenever you switch parts or anything” Allison questioned.

“Nah, not at all, though it probably would hurt if they were torn off forcefully. In any case, I’ll probably take a nap of the hour or so it should take to completely switch the nanobots, but before I pass out, I’ll listen to what Michelle has to say I suppose” Emilia grinned.

“Oh, right. So, about the squad games. We have a basic plan, and that’s all fine and dandy, but what I’m concerned about is actually everything outside of that. I was wondering if we could turn some of Jesse’s items into usable non-lethal and/or tactical ammo”. Michelle glanced over at Mark and Jesse, then at Emilia “Preferably something that Emilia can shoot as well.

Mark nodded “So, you basically want tactical ammo, that won’t kill people outright? Sounds doable, but I’d need to analyze Jesse’s weaponry and such. It’s something he doesn’t seem to like to share, so it’s up to him”.

“I’ll be back in a bit, I’m going to get the rest of them. Since we’re supposed to be moving with the buddy system, I’ll be pairing up with Michelle” Jesse said with a grin.

“Ha! As if! Take Allison. Report in at the first sign of trouble, got it?” Michelle swiftly shot down Jesse’s suggestion and issued her own orders.

“Fine, let’s go” Jesse groaned as he exited the lab with Allison in tow.

The pair walked silently for several minutes before Allison finally broke the silence.

“You are an interesting, and weird person. One minute you’re crazy and happy-go-lucky, the next you’re all dark and mysterious, and …often scary.”

Jesse glanced back over his shoulder. “Well, that’s a wide range of faces for a person isn’t it, or would it just be accurate to say that it’s human nature”?

“Holy shit, that was unexpectedly deep…” Allison gasped.

“That’s what she said” Jesse snickered.

“…And that right there is why I can’t figure you out. I think I just about have everyone else figured out at least at a basic level. Arron is just an ass, Michelle is kinda bossy, mean, and yet, sweet. Emilia is generally happy and energetic, rather helpful. Mark is nice and calm. Javon… well, I don’t quite have him and Jessica figured out yet. David either, but I don’t see much of them anyways. Aside from that, I spend a disgustingly large amount of time with you, and don’t know much of anything about you aside from the fact that you are apparently quite dangerous. Why are you said to be so disastrous”?

Jesse sighed. “Did you ever stop and think that there are some puzzles that aren’t meant to be solved? I warned you before, it’s best not to pry…”

“I get that, but I thought I should at least know something about you… since we’re on the same team and in this absurd situation together. I’m not trying to pry, I just want to be able to somewhat figure out what to expect…that’s all” Allison answered.

“Expecting anything out of this team is your first mistake. We have the best performance for a mission ever to be recorded, we also hold 3rd and 6th as well. We hold the 4 worst mission performances in the history of the agency as well. The one where we picked you up was one of them. Honestly, we should’ve executed you” Jesse replied with a cold tone of voice.

“I’m… sorry… I guess? So, why didn’t you… ya know…? What went so wrong, aside from the being captured thing”?

“We don’t exactly follow the rules. I wasn’t supposed to be at that front gate, and it felt wrong having to kill someone else because I decided to do my own thing. I just canceled one rule with another. Agency policy states that you shoulda been killed cuz you ‘knew too much, saw too much’. The whole reason you even knew we existed was cuz of me being a dumbass. I’m not killing a cute girl cuz of my own dumbassery”.

Allison blushed “thanks… for not killing me… and saying I’m cute...”

“That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve said something like that ya know. I said that the night we met too, as I unlocked the cell door”.

“Oh yeah! How the fuck did you do that? I still don’t quite understand”.

“I’ll show you later today most likely. I have to take a few things to the firing range. You’re welcome to tag along I suppose. So, we’re at my room/lab. Watch your step”. Jesse warned as he opened the door to his room. The room was littered with boxes and marble sized objects of varying colors. The bed was unmade and covered with clothes. There was no natural light as there were no windows in his room. The overall impression Allison got was that it was a dark and lonely place as she involuntarily let out a quiet gasp.

“I cant say I’m surprised by that reaction. I was working on some stuff and it just became a mess. I haven’t bothered to clean it up yet. I wasn’t expecting visitors either”.

“You could’ve asked me to wait outside”

“I’m not a fan of leaving a woman waiting either. Besides, you said you wanted to know more about me. That’s open-ended as fuck, so I figured letting you see my room would count towards that. You can form your own opinion instead of me telling you things I think I want you to hear”.

“You… are full of surprises…” Allison stood in astonishment. She added “… and don’t you dare say ‘that’s what she said’”.

“But what if I’m not lying”?

Allison facepalmed at the questioning retort. “I get the feeling people either love you, or hate you. I’m not sensing an in between with you”.

“You’re absolutely right. And in this agency, it’s even more extreme. I’ll tell you this much before you have the chance to question it. There are some who love me and would die for me, and those that feel indebted to me for… reasons. If you ask, I’ll shoot you. I’ll either explain when I’m ready, if that ever happens, or you’ll figure it out on your own. On the other side of the coin, I am blamed and hated, an object of scorn, seen as a stain upon human existence”.

“I kinda got the feeling you were an important person around here, in one way or another. I haven’t figured it out yet, and even if I do, I’m not going to ask… I’ll just write a letter and drop it at your door or something. In any case, I’ll be good and far as fuck from you at the time”.

Jesse chuckled “That works”. He’d finished gathering a few handfuls of items and placed them into a backpack. He loaded a gym bag with more items and the pair were off to Mark’s lab again.

On the way back Allison asked what she thought was a safe question. “I heard you were on team Omega, which is where Conrad was from. I also hear that one of the requirements for being on this team was usually being bad at one thing or another, but being insanely good at what you were in the agency for. What exactly does team Omega do”?

Jesse sighed again and changed direction away from Mark’s lab, heading instead towards the firing range. He activated the comm-link “Bubba, she asked what team Omega does. You know what to do”.

 

We’ll be there in about 4 minutes”.

“I suppose you’re going to show me rather than tell me. That’s fine too I suppose…”

They arrived as expected. Upon entry, Jesse led Allison down to the very end of the firing range… outside of the firing range, or so she thought. Bubba’s voice could be heard over the comm-link “This is the firing range extension: the ‘blast range’. Heavy weapon, untested weapons, and other things that go boom… get tested here. You should be in for a treat if Jesse’s showin’ ya personally”.

Allison looked at what was a mostly empty courtyard. There was a small, sturdy looking building sitting in the middle of it. “Looks like a small shelter…” she muttered.

“Exactly. Think you could get in it or blow it up…”

“It’d take me a while. Probably some minutes at the very least”.

Jesse continued, completely expecting the interruption “… in 14 seconds or less”

“That’s fucking crazy”!

“So, you’re saying that I can’t”? Jesse confirmed.

“I’m saying that a structure with that kind of reinforcement would be impossible to blow up that quickly without an air or mortar strike”.

“I bet lunch the next time we’re all off base that it can be done” Jesse calmly proposed.

“Ha, free food! Got yourself a deal”! Allison reached out her hand and offered a handshake, which Jesse accepted.

“Ok, I just need about 40 seconds to prepare, unless you wanna help me. Load this gun with all of the light green rounds you can find. I only actually need 9, but fill up the magazine anyways please”. While he spoke, he loaded his other pistol with almost entirely red rounds, except 1 orange one.

“Oh, I’ll show you how I got us out of that jail too, if you give me an extra 3 seconds”.

“Wait, so you’re gonna do all of that… in 17 seconds? Fine, I’ll bet 2 meals then”! Allison grinned.

Jesse nodded. “fine by me, hell, we’ll even split it. If I can’t do one of them, I’ll pay for a meal of yours. If we’re tied, I’ll still pay for a meal and it counts as your win”.

Allison gulped as she watched Jesse load to small pouches on his belt with some marble shaped objects. She pulled out her phone and pulled up a stopwatch. “Ok, just lemme know when to start”.

“Go” Jesse spoke quietly as he took off. Allison hit the button that instant. Jesse charged forward and yelled back “don’t blink” as he fired the first round of his right pistol at where a doorknob would be on the armored structure. Upon impact, a small explosion was noticed and the door swung open slowly. Allison gasped as she watched this spectacle unfold before her, but Jesse never stopped moving, firing 1 round from each pistol at every corner and angle of the structure. He made his way around the building and pulled out a small device as he finished his run. At 15 seconds, he casually turned his back and pressed a button. An explosion and flames engulfed the building as he walked away from the explosion holding up 2 fingers.

“What… the… fuck” Allison muttered. As the smoke cleared there was nothing left of the structure but a charred and twisted pile of building materials. The explosion happened at 15 seconds, and the building was obviously clearly destroyed. The only reason it would’ve been unclear was because of smoke and the explosion itself. As Allison stared at the display of destruction, she had no will to question or argue her win or loss. “…why… how… what”?

Jesse approached Allison, who was still in shock and calmly “answered” the nonexistent questions “Well, the 2 finger pose is cuz I was done and cuz I knew I just won 2 meals. The walking off without looking back is cuz badasses don’t look at explosions. And as for how… I’m gonna say that would be ‘how long’ and guess 16.47 seconds”.

Allison looked at her phone’s stopwatch feature. Her jaw dropped when she looked at the screen which read 16.47 seconds. Her mouth still agape, she brought her gaze back up to Jesse.

“Now, to answer the original question, team omega’s job, and my event in the squad games, is demolition. We destroy the evidence, by any means necessary. When we’re called it, it’s to make things disappear: ‘no traces, no corpses, no questions.’ Well, I guess by that token, I did lose… there’s still a building there… oh well”. Jesse released the magazines from his pistols and loaded 2 others that were mounted on his belt. He calmly took aim and fired 4 shots, 2 from each pistol. He then turned quickly and grabbed Allison, whispering “cover your ears”.

Allison did as she was told as he pulled her towards him and turned away from the ruined structure. Again, Jesse pressed a button on some device and a deafening explosion followed. After the shockwave passed, he released Allison and turned towards the… gaping hole on the ground. There was no longer any trace of a structure at all. He pulled out his earplugs and spoke. “Well, I suppose I won until I told you the motto of team omega. You win. Anyways, you see what I do now”?

Allison nodded blankly, unable to comprehend the catastrophe that just occurred right in front of her. “Why… am I needed for the squad games again”?

“Well, I’m gonna make that happen, on a larger scale, and we need something powerful and far away to fire it… like a helicopter. From what I hear, Michelle thinks highly of your piloting skills. It’ll take a skilled pilot to keep stable after the shockwave from that passes”.

Allison gulped “I think I understand what Ems said about the destroying the half of base…”

Jesse turned to her and replied “actually, it was the entire above ground portion of the base. We should get back to the lab already. Michelle will think something happened to us if we take too long”.

Allison slowly turned and looked in Jesse’s direction, slowly absorbing what he had just said. She muttered “the entire above ground…”

Completely at a loss of reaction, she just stood there. Jesse grabbed her hand and led her back to the lab.

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