[Story/Chapter Tester]

No Rest For the Weary

Operation Gold Obelisk

Griffon Capital, Talos

2100 Hours

Overcast, heavy rain

It is suspected that there will be a high-ranking general in the Claw skyscraper tonight. He is thought to have intelligence about a secret Griffon mission that command would like to know about. Specter team will provide overwatch fire for Arrowhead team, who will drop from rooftop to the fortieth story of skyscraper to capture VIP griffon, or if he is not required, to dispose of him. Enemies have not been alerted to presence, but weapons are free. How you execute is entirely up to you, Innocence and Command will not be able to send support or even be contacted during ops. Don’t get caught.

The rain battered down from the gloomy skies, reducing visibility to a short thirty meters. The droplets battered down on a certain fire-red mare as she crept along the outside of the ventilation shaft, keeping it between her and the Griffon patrol on the roof.

“I tally four. Two on the rocks, one near the lip and the other coming for us.”

“No noises,” Orion whispered. “Knives only.”

The non-reflective blades slid silently out of their sheaths, clutched in pairs of very capable hooves.

“Yelena, take the lip, make sure he doesn’t fall over and alert the ground. Lynx, closest one.” Green lights lit up in her HUD. “Wait for next flare...”

Lightning flashed. In the bright light, the three leapt from behind cover, racing towards their targets with silent flaps of their wings.

Orion saw her Griffon detect them. The stages were always the same, first uncertainty, then realisation, bewilderment and finally fear. He reached for his radio to squawk, when Orion’s blade landed with a ‘thud’ right in his throat. The mare spun, ripping the blade out in a gory spray and embedding it in his friend’s sternum.

Orion straightened.

The thunder roared.

“Check in?”

“Clean.”

“Clean. On me.”

Lynx had one hoof holding a vent open, another on her Vector sweeping the area. Orion hefted the bodies and dumped them in.

“Figure a week?” She closed the cover, locking it with zip-ties.

“We’ll be long gone ‘fore they start to smell,” Lynx smirked.

The duo trotted over to Yelena, who had already set up the sniper’s nest. A small tarp covered the area, keeping it relatively dry for the two high powered rifles. A XM500 and a L115A5, along with a spotter’s telescope.

Orion settled in behind the XM500. Lynx took the L115A5.

“Distance?”

Yelena scanned the glass building in the valley below. “Adjust for a kilometer. Engagement between the fortieth floor to the top.”

The scope clicked, and Orion hugged the rifle. “Give the infiltration team the go. Specter has set up overwatch.” She sighted in on the roof, seeing the blue dots.

“Heads up, mission is go. We’ll cover you, but you gotta light up targets for us...”

:::::

"Alright, Arrowhead, that's our signal. We are go."

Four pegasi stood atop the roof of a skyscraper. Through the optic over their left eye, they found friendly markers over on another rooftop far away.

"I still don't know why they had to get a separate sniper team," a white pegasus remarked.

"Buck up, Sharpie, they're just promoting interservice cooperation," a grey pegasus answered. "Match, ready?"

"Ready when you are, Stardust," a darker gray pegasus replied. "Let's go hunting."

"Comet, Sharp, ready on those grippers," Stardust said as he looked down the side of the building. "We don't want any noise on entry."

"Ready, Cap," a dull blue pegasus answered.

"Weapons ready?"

"Since when aren't they?" Match said with a hint of a smile.

"Exactly," Stardust agreed. He turned his gaze back to the blue markers through the rain. "Specter, Arrowhead ready for insertion. Confirm synced data feed."

"Confirmed."

Stardust addressed his team. "We drop under the fortieth floor, let them take out any targets, then infiltrate."

"Copy."

"Let's rock."

The four pegasi leapt off the roof, disappearing into the mist, falling with the raindrops around them.

"Target ahead."

On cue, they flared their wings and stopped right under the large glass windows of the floor.

Match signaled to his squad. "I'll take a look." Cautiously, he peered up into the windows. Two griffons were on guard in the hall a little ways to the side. "Specter, targets marked. Take 'em out."

"Copy. Stand by."

Bullets piercing glass were barely heard amidst the weather. Peering into the glass, he found both dead.

"We're clear. Dust, let's go."

The two grey pegasi moved up the window and brandished knives. On mental command, the edges glowed with magic.

"Comet, Sharp, ready."

The other two moved up and attached grippers to the window. On signal, the other two plunged their knives into the glass, Match above and Stardust below, each moving around in a semicircle until a clean cut was made. Stardust motioned for Match to give the glass a tap.

Complying, the pegasus used his weight to pop circle of glass into the building, carefully supported by Comet and Sharp. Gently as possible, they laid it on the floor.

"Arrowhead, weapons check."

"Locked and loaded."

"All clear."

"Clear, Captain."

"Specter, we are in."

:::::

“Roger, confirm clean insertion,” Orion murmured as the four dots entered the building. “Target was last spotted on that level, south-western side, about five minutes ago.”

A small PDA sat in front of the trio, displaying a blueprint feed of the building. Targets would show up, and either Lynx or Orion would sight in, depending on their location.

“Arrowhead, hold. Elevator has two hostiles.” The four dots stacked up at the corner of their corridor and the elevator lobby. “Lynx?”

“Bad shot," Lynx said. "Needs to penetrate walls twice. Can’t confirm will penetrate and still hit with the 115. Both are yours.”

Orion scoped in. The integrated HUD synced, showing the Griffons as light red shadows past the concrete.

“Favor, Arrowhead. Lead, could you duck your head for a second.” The blue outline looked around, before quickly dropping. The twin high speed shells struck the concrete where the pegasus’ head was a second before, overpenetrating the wall and making quick work of the heads of the guards.

“General is through that door," Yelena said. "Be warned, when we were here earlier this morning, we spotted him moving with no fewer than four elite Shockers.” She was referring to the heavily armed Griffon infantry, the best choice for protection. “Sniper Fire will also be marginal, the wall is reinforced with rebar, no telling where the shots will go if they penetrate and bounce.”

“They could blow the wall,” Orion idly suggested, adjusting her sights.

:::::

"Hey, Captain, still happy working with them?" Sharp quipped.

"You kiddin'?" Stardust answered. "I'd go down for any lady," he grinned, eliciting rolling eyes from his comrades.

"Yeah, until your wife finds out, I bet."

Stardust gave Sharp a light punch. "Copy, Specter, we can handle ourselves."

"Ready to go hot, Dust?" Match asked his friend in a whisper. He checked his rifle, a Mark 14 EBR.

"You going auto?" Stardust asked as he checked his own weapon, identical to Match's.

"Nope."

"Alright. Sharpie, Comet, you two got the target."

"Fantastic," Sharpie grinned. His hooves rested on his SCAR-L, but they all knew he'd much rather get in the faces of the enemy. He was quick to pounce like that.

"Hey Cap," Comet spoke as he checked his L85A2 and a revolver, "Specter suggests we blow the wall if we want sniper support."

"No, let's not," Match answered. "Stay as quiet as we can."

"Negative, Specter, we'll handle it on our own," Stardust radioed. "Optics to magnetics, let's see what's inside," Stardust ordered.

"Just like they said," Comet noted. "Rebar in the walls, four Shockers standing guard in this small room. Door to the target is right past them. Breach?"

Stardust nodded and Sharp and Comet got to work placing special breaching devices. Instead of explosives, it used a pulse of magic to knock the door right out from under it. Relatively silent and efficient.

"Floor's awfully quiet for a general here," Sharp remarked.

"Likes his privacy," Stardust said as he positioned himself by the door. "This floor's sparse with guards, but floors above and below are crawling with them. Over this city block, an entire regiment. Don't want to wake that up."

"Because infiltrating the capital city is a good way to avoid that."

"Well, that regiment would be inside an entire building if we weren't in the capital, so take your pick."

"Okay, Cap, ready for breaching."

"Line up around the door. Mark your targets. Aim for headshots," Match told them. "Our subsonics might not pierce their body armor."

They all gave affirmatives and stacked around the door. In their optics, they marked their targets.

"Cap, on your call," Comet said, one hoof resting on a detonator.

"3... 2... 1... Blow it."

There was a solid thud as magic pulsed from the devices placed on the door. A split second later, the four pegasi peeked around the doorframe, quickly taking their shots.

Multiple shots hissed from their suppressed rifles, not taking chances with leaving any of the heavily armored griffons alive.

They rushed in, going up to the fallen griffons, and confirmed their kills.

"Nice and smooth, Arrowhead," Stardust said. "Specter, we're outside the suspected location of the target. Keep our backs clear."

:::::

“Ayeffirmative.” Orion watched the building. She quickly swapped the magazine for a fresh one, leaving not much to chance.

“Hey, Ri. Check out the ground,” Yelena whispered.

Orion looked over the lip of the building. This far away, even she could spot the problem immediately. “Who kicked the nest?”

The ground floor was swarming. Well, not really swarming, but four troop carriers was nothing to scoff at. The unit was disciplined, proceeding up the steps orderly but with intent.

“Stay quiet, they might just be here for something else.”

Lynx and Yelena stared at her.

“What? It’s possible!”

A heavily armed helicopter flew overhead, close enough to make their cover shiver.

“... Yeah you’re right. Call it in, I think we’ve been compromised. Ask them what they’ll have us do.”

:::::

“Arrowhead, accelerate the schedule. We have forty, count forty enemy troops headed possibly your way, and one armed helicopter. How engage?”

“Just leave us an exit.” Stardust kept watch over Comet as the other pegasus worked. “You heard the lady, get crackin’.”

“On it, Cap.”

“Are we still taking a prisoner?” Sharp asked.

“Well take care of that when we get there,” Stardust answered. “Right now, we go according to plan.”

“Breaching device set, Captain,” Comet notified them.

“You two are up. Me and Match are right behind you.” The four assembled around the door once more. “Do it.”

The door was kicked from its hinges and Sharp scrambled in first. As expected, the lone griffon inside didn’t even see it coming. The first strike was to his chest, the second to his head. The griffon was dazed, allowing Sharp to grab a hold of him. “Comet!”

The second pegasus, who had followed behind closely, drew his revolver and fired at the griffon. There was no report of a gunshot—it was loaded with special non-lethal rounds. Instead, on contact, the griffon fell limp, but remained conscious.

Stardust walked up to him. “Good evening, general. I think you have an idea what we’re here for.” The pegasus walked past the griffon, hearing a mumbled reply. “Match, you deal with this guy. Sharpie, Comet, sweep the room. We’re short on time.”

The room contained scattered files, maps, and all sorts of items that were definitely not for Equestrian eyes. “Specter, by any chance, is there anything in particular you want from this goon? Because it’s a gold mine, and we only have enough time for a few nuggets.”

:::::

“Negative, no particular.” Orion grunted as the heavy bolt cycled. Both her and Lynx had be pilling bullets into targets. Already, two of the four transports were on fire, shots from the XM500 igniting their engine blocks. “Suggest take photos of everything and let intel sieve later.”

“Disable the lifts!”

“Gotcha.” Orion lifted her rifle, sighting in on the motor winches at the top of the building, highlighted by Yelena. Her rounds punched straight through, destroying them.

“Lift lobby, 38th floor,” Lynx reported calmly as her L115A5 chuffed, making another bloody spray. “They’re proceeding on claw, some have taken flight.”

“Check the chopper?”

Yelena swiveled. “Circling. I don’t think it can open fire without causing collateral damage.”

“Yet. They won’t take this lying down...”

:::::

“Already on it,” Comet said. He was already busy with a camera scanning through documents even before the suggestion came through.

“Match?” Stardust called.

“Griffon won’t talk,” his friend replied. “We don’t have time for him.”

“Let’s look through the room. Go through drawers. Filing cabinets. Just take something that looks important.”

“I love working without any prior intelligence…” Sharp remarked.

Stardust went over to the desk over to the side. Lavishly furnished, he noted. Rummaging through the drawers, he didn’t find much, but he did find a metal box that might have been of interest. He took that with him.

There was a cabinet drawer on the bottom of the desk. Locked. Deciding there was no time for any fanciful unlocking, he took his rifle and shot through the hinges.

“Cap, they’re getting close,” Comet said. “Think they’ll find that hole in the window we cut?”

“Let’s not take chances.” Stardust grabbed whatever was in the locked drawer and ran back to his team. “Pick this guy up.”

Sharp tried to make an objection, but could think of nothing to say. So he just did as ordered and slumped the angry yet motionless griffon on his back.

“You doing what I think you’re doing?” Match asked.

“Probably,” Stardust answered.

“Why don’t we just do it ourselves?”

“Ah, he deserves more than that. We ready to make an exit?”

The others gave affirmatives.

“Specter, is our exit clear? Is our entrance compromised or is it still viable for exit?”

:::::

“Affirmative, they’re coming up the stairs though.” Orion reloaded. “Your concern will be the chopper, he’s patrolling your airspace. Recommend using elevator shaft to cover escape to roof, then fly vertically upwards into the clouds. Rendezvous at exfil location Echo.”

“The midair one?”

“Why not, we are all pegasi, aren’t we?” Orion disengaged her rifle. “Pack up the non-essentials, let’s prep to move.”

Yelena snapped the recovery beacon, setting it to Echo. It sent a ultra-low frequency burst back to the Innocence.

:::::

“Hold up a bit, Specter, we got one more request from you.”

The four were scrambling back towards their exit, griffon general with them. They could hear the wind and rain from outside—they were getting close. One more turn of a corner and it was a straight run.

Stardust signaled for them to halt, then motioned for Sharp to drop the general on the hard surface of the cut out circle of glass.

With an audible grunt, the general was unceremoniously dropped. Stardust leaned down to him. “See this, general? This was our entrance. It’ll be your exit as well unless you decide to tell us something important.”

“I will die loyal to my country, with no regret,” the griffon muttered.

Stardust shrugged. “Well, it was worth a try. Prop him up against the hole.”

“With pleasure,” Match grinned, knowing exactly what was coming. “Come on, you fat fuck.”

They caught a glimpse of the griffon’s eyes going wide from surprise, but he kept his beak shut. His expression turned to pain as his neck was dropped onto the bottom of the circular hole. He gave more sounds of discomfort as he was still paralyzed.

“Specter, if you’re still there, target marked. Arrowhead, let’s make our exit.”

They ran off towards the elevator shafts, leaving the griffon to fate.

“That was your plan, Captain?” Sharp asked.

“That’s right, Lieutenant,” Stardust answered. “We’ll let him live in fear, confusion, and uncertainty for the last few moments of his life.”

“Specter was packing up. You sure we should’ve done that?”

“Come on, Sharpie, I don’t think you’re giving other services enough credit. We all want these fuckin’ griffons dead. They’ll make it happen.”

They reached the elevators. Stardust and Match pried one of the doors open and the team promptly flew in. “Think we’ll encounter any resistance, Cap?” Comet asked.

“I’d like to ask you your gut feeling on that, 2nd Lieutenant Crosser. We’re all Scouts here; you tell me.”

“You two Captains are the vets,” Comet said. “Experience to make that judgment.”

“Well here’s something. This is the griffon capital. Let’s not underestimate them. Always expect the worst.”

:::::

“Lynx. Execute.” The L115A5 chuffed once. Once was enough.

“Specter is disengaging and exfiltrating.” Orion hefted the XM500, taking flight.

:::::

The four pegasi broke through to the roof. “Clear shot up. Let’s gain some distance from this place.”

However, as they looked up, they knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

:::::

“How’s the skies look like?” Orion asked over the heavy rain. The three had began a steady and slow climb upwards.

“We’re in the clear.” Yelena scanned the clouds. “Arrowhead...”

Orion looked over.

A squadron of Griffon was descending from the cloud cover to engage the ponies. Below them, the chopper was alerted, heading upwards quickly.

“Specter, set up.” Orion hovered midair.

“You sure? The recoil...”

Orion hugged the XM500. “We’ll have to deal with it. They aren’t going to make it with a squadron on top and a chopper below.”

:::::

“Switch to aerial. We’re engaging.”

Their optics switched overlay modes to aerial, ready to assist them in combat.

“Cap, we got a helo on our ass,” Comet remarked.

“No shit,” Match replied.

“Let’s make quick work of these griffons,” Stardust ordered. “Sidearms out, weapons free.”

“Captain,” Sharp said, “Do these griffons have flight equipment?”

“Magnetics say they do,” Stardust replied. As he did, bullets whistled past him. “They’re engaging!”

One was headed straight for him, visible only through the optic. Timing it perfectly, he flipped himself as the griffon came upon him, drew his knife, and expertly slashed at his assailant. The griffon made no effort to recover.

“Okay, splash one.”

The four pegasi kept up the twisting fight, both against each other and the weather. It was a dogfight, fought by pegasi and griffons in the midst of a storm. Three-dimensional fighting was an art to be mastered, and the pegasi were trained in said art much better than the griffons. With an effective combination of both ground tactics and aerial combat tactics, the four pegasi held off the more numerous griffons.

Over the course of barely two minutes, the Equestrians turned the fight in their favor.

“Arrowhead, ammo check,” Stardust radioed.

“Three mags left,” Match answered.

“Two full,” Sharp said.

“Hell, I’ve got one in my gun and one in reserve before I’m winchester, Cap,” Comet said.

“I see you coming below me,” Match said. “Catch.”

A single magazine for their pistol was dropped through the cloud, right where Comet was flying towards. “Thanks Captain. Griffons regrouping?”

“We should too,” Stardust said. “Helo’s nearly here. We can’t run—guns will cut us down.”

“So we stand and fight off at least six griffons and a helo?”

“Yeah,” Match said. “It’ll be fun. We brought grenades, right?”

:::::

“Six Griffons, one helo,” Yelena confirmed.

Orion pulled the trigger. The XM500 recoiled, knocking her back a distance. She recovered in time to see a dead Griffon spiral down.

Lynx’s L115A5 had less recoil, and she stayed roughly in position as the rifle chuffed. However, less recoil meant less power. “Damn it, missed the target.”

“Lynx, you got the Griffons.” Orion spun upside down, pointing downwards. “Yelena, scan the helo, give me things to shoot!”

Immediately the outline lit up. Orion wasted no time as she sighted in and pulled the trigger. The first shell pinged off the armored hull of the helo. Readjusting, the second burst through the canopy, embedding itself in between the legs of the pilot.

“Last bullet,” Orion grunted, keeping the rifle steady.

The trigger clicked, launching the round. It spiraled through the air, on course…

The bullet slammed into the rotor mast, ricocheting and entering the engine on its way out. immediately, the helo started whining. Not a kill, but it’ll buy some time.

“Keep heading upwards,” Orion ordered. The trio restarted their steady climb upwards, disappearing into the clouds not long after.

:::::

“Looks like Specter’s just given us some last support.”

“Come on,” Stardust told his team, “Let’s clean this up. Griffons first, then the helo.”

They tracked the griffons as they flew around, making themselves hard targets. “Match, if you don’t mind, now would be a good time to do your stuff.”

“Keep ‘em occupied,” Match said. “And off me would be nice.” He split off from the group, presumably to perch himself on a cloud.

“You heard him—we’re playing bait.”

They flew off in a different direction, and quickly, the griffons latched on.

Stardust was the lucky one to get two on his tail. As he flew, gunfire pierced the air. He knew they were both shooting at him. But he did wish they had tracers to make it easier to tell. “Match…”

“One down.”

Stardust looked back to find one griffon gone. Taking matters into his own hooves, he spun fully and closed his wings, dropping. It was slightly awkward to pull out the rifle into firing position, but when the sights were trained onto the target, he pulled the trigger.

A burst of fire erupted as the marker in the optics passed through the gunsight. The griffon began losing altitude. “Alright, splash one. Comet, Sharpie, how are you two?”

“Captain Grade’s already done.”

“Nice work, Match.” He waited for a response. “Match?”

“Yeah, one big problem here!”

In his friend’s direction was the chopper.

“Hold on, we’re coming!” Stardust barely reached their position when one of its engines burst into flames and shrapnel. ”Shit!”

Match flew up next to him. “Damn. Too fucking close. The hell happened tho—wait—is that—“

“Dammit, dammit, dammit, fffuuuuu—“

“Comet!”

They sped towards the falling marker. But again, they were beaten by someone else. Sharp flew back up to them, carrying a pained Comet.

“2nd Lieutenant, what happened?” Stardust asked the blue pegasus.

Comet winced in pain. “Well, it turns out trying to surprise attack a helo while it’s shooting isn’t smart. Least it sucked in the grenade.”

“Wounds?”

“I’m a lucky stallion, Cap. 20 millimeter hole in my wing, couple of shrapnel. ‘Bout it. Can’t fly, as you might’ve saw. Nerves must be shocked.

“Alright, soldier, let’s get out of here.”

:::::

The clouds lit up periodically, as lightning flashed. Within that white light, a set of red and green flashed and two white circles hovered in the air.

Orion crouched at the ramp of the hovering V-22 Osprey, keeping a trained eye out for Arrowhead. Inside the craft, Yelena and Lynx were repacking and cleaning the rifles.

“Captain, we can’t hang around much longer. The weather is clearing up, and we need to keep inside cloud cover.”

“Give Arrowhead a couple more minutes," Orion answered the pilot, who shrugged and waited. “They’re either coming, or dead.”

:::::

“Extraction, 2 klicks out,” Sharp noted.

“They’re waiting on us,” Stardust said. “Comet, you still awake?”

“Not dead, Cap,” the pegasus in question replied.

“Don’t be lying about what your ARCANE diagnosis says.”

“Hole in my wing, and a couple of shrapnel. Promise I’m not dying.”

“We’re almost there. Match, how about you get over there and tell them our situation.”

“On it.” Match sped ahead and headed for the V-22.

:::::

“There.” Orion watched the blue dot resolve itself.

The stallion alighted cleanly on the ramp, “We’ve got one wounded. Should be about 1 klick out.”

“Then we better get moving,” Orion answered, watching the remaining dots come out through the clouds.

Stardust landed on the open ramp first. After quickly shaking the rain from his mane and wings, he turned to assist getting Comet down. “Someone get us a medkit. Sharp, check up on his wounds, see that they’re really not critical.”

“Yes, sir.”

Meanwhile, he walked up to Match. “Thanks for getting over here.”

Match shrugged. “Wasn’t much. You want me to deal with Comet while you go and debrief with Specter?”

Stardust mulled it over. “Alright. Get me all the things we looted.”

:::::

The half-hour ride back out to sea was uneventful. Orion leaned out the door, looking for the landing lights on the pitch-black ocean.

“1 o’clock. Put us down, pilot.”

The Osprey came in, landing on the dark rear deck of the ship. Immediately, the floor began lowering itself, dropping the helo into the cavernous hangar bay of the Innocence Eternal. A roof slid into place, sealing the ship up once again.

Orion grabbed her rifle kit and left the Osprey, sliding past a bunch of medical personnel. The three of them disappeared into one of the many doorways leading to the hanger, entering the warship proper.

They moved in the general direction of their bunks. It wasn’t very far, but with the ponies moving around the tight confines, a five minute stroll became a fifteen minutes hassle. Finally, they reached their individual bunks.

Orion was closing the door when a cyan hoof stopped her.

“Yes, Yelena?”

“The eggheads will be looking at the intel, so debrief at 0800 hours tomorrow. Conference room C. Don’t be late," the cyan mare grinned, bringing up an old incident. Orion smiled back, show a bit more teeth than usual, before closing her door fully.

“Another day, another mission.” The XM500 went into the small armory cupboard, joining a small arsenal of other weapons. Orion quickly stripped down out of her fatigues, tossing the wet uniform onto the floor. Decorum suggested putting something simple on, but she couldn’t be bothered. Orion sprawled out on the small bed, closing her eyes.

The subsonic thrum of the ship’s engines quickly lulled her to sleep.

:::::

Stardust and Match left the hangar deck. Sharp had offered to accompany Comet on the way to the medical center, reasoning that the captains needed the rest more than him.

"Hey Match, you know what we forgot this time?" Stardust said, wearily.

"What?"

Stardust ran a hoof through his dark grey spiked back mane. "Our hats. We fuckin' forgot our hats."

Match just smiled. "Dammit, we did forget our boonies. The rain didn't forget to come though."

"Always the damn rain."

The two tired stallions walked down the corridors to the section reserved for their unit. "Notices for mission debriefs will be posted."

"Yeah. Get up early and get to where we need to be."

The two neared their rooms. Somehow, the ship had enough space for the luxury of separate accommodations. Small ones, but personal nonetheless and with just enough space to work.

Stardust sluggishly opened the door to his, the metal door creaking on its hinges. "'Night, Match," he told his gunmetal gray friend entering the room besides his.

"'Night, buddy."

With a tired sigh, Stardust stepped into his and closed the door. There was the bunk off in the back, a few drawers and cabinets to the left side, and a sizable desk to the right. The grey pegasus dropped into the seat by the desk.

The Mk14 EBR was the first to go on the desk. It clattered down, and he made quick work of inspecting it and prepping it for storage in the locker across the desk behind him. Sidearm was next. He threw off his combat gear and left it out on the ground to dry.

Finally, he was left with his pack. Although he was incredibly tired, he was still curious as to what he might have found.

The first was the metal box from the desk. He cracked it open, finding three memory cards inside; however, there were slots for four. He dumped the contents, searching the inside of the box more. Underneath the foam padding that protected the cards were a few notes. Preferring not to process any of it, he put it all back in and left it for tomorrow.

Still curious, he checked to see what else he got, much of it from the locked cabinet. Among the various items, there was another metal tin, larger in size. Opening it, he found cigars.

"You know what? I'll end my day on that." Closing the tin, he went over to his bunk and rolled on.