Just as Sam Hy—Master Kenchiro prepared to continue on with stories, the CH-47D Chinook military aircraft they were in started to sway back and forth.
Mandrew nearly lost his footing before moving in an agile motion, dodging several supply crates that slid in his direction.
He managed to support himself against the wall, looking out of a reinforced window and down at the ground. They were approximately 43,000–45,000 feet above the ground.
'Hopefully there's no accidents,' he muttered under his breath.
As he was looking out the window, a group of eleven soldiers all dressed in a high-grade, futuristic set of black gear slowly approached them. They stood out from the average soldier, especially with their reinforced black tactical vests, gas masks, gloves, and helmets.
The man leading the group ridiculed Mandrew, "It's just a bit of turbulence. Is that really too much for you to handle, 'Ghost'?"
Master Kenchiro stood up in anger, unsheathing a long katana blade from its sheath in one hand, while holding a gallon in the other.
He shouted, "Scorpion, if you have a problem with my men, you take it up with me!"
"Tch. I have a problem overseeing useless trash. You're nothing but washed-up garbage! I mean, look, you're still spiking yourself on drugs!"
"What the fuck did you just say..." Master Kenchiro's eyes glowed red as a suffocating atmosphere descended.
Scorpion stood his ground. Despite not being comparable to Master Kenchiro, he wasn't any pushover either.
"What did I say? Look in the mirror you fucking lunatic! You're an overgrown monster! And even now, you're holding your sword with one hand, and that damn drug in the other! Fuck! You can't even realize you're addicted!"
A fight was nearly about to break out between Master Kenchiro and Scorpion, both of which had plentiful field experience.
"Hold up you two!" one of the soldiers behind Scorpion called out, "The aircraft has enough turbulence to deal with right now, let's not cause any more trouble! The two of you are more than enough to bring it down...."
Scorpion shot him a venomous glare, "Shut the hell up, Night Owl. You're the newest member of my squad, and merely a rookie to boot. You're under my command now, so know you're place."
Night Owl quietly stepped back, not daring to utter another word. Scorpion was in charge of him after all, and it was best not to irk him unless necessary.
Despite his harsh words, Scorpion silently retreated with a look of annoyance. If this were anywhere else, he'd gladly teach the drugged-up beast a lesson.
"So, where's our gear? Your men should be bringing it to us." Master Kenchiro pressed on, a cocky smile drawn on his lips.
Scorpion quickly ordered the men under his command to retrieve Ghost's unit's gear, still unresigned with anger.
Shortly after, a set of gear that was even better than Scorpion's was brought forth.
Mandrew and the others immediately equipped the gear under Master Kenchiro's pressuring commands. After all, they never knew when they might need to be prepped and ready for combat.
He examined himself, looking at his new smoky grey uniform, including a gas mask and helmet. Marked on numerous locations, such as the back of his tactical vest and top right of his chest, were small insignias of ghosts.
Each of the members of the Ghost Unit had the same insignias.
Looking over, he noted that Scorpion and his squad had an insignia of a cactus....
Master Kenchiro noticed his look, muttering, "They're a bunch of pricks, don't mind them."
"What did you just call us? Pricks? We're known as Peyote Squad. You really want to start something right now?"
The errant Scorpion burst into anger, though everyone was far too exhausted to waste their breath on him.
BUMM! BUMM!
Once again, the aircraft shook heavily; several soldiers lost their footing as they tumbled onto the floor.
Mandrew pressed up against the side of the carrier to catch himself, asking hurriedly, "Is this normal turbulence?"
Aghast, Scorpion immediately grabbed for his walkie-talkie, "Oracle, Pall, what the fuck is going on out there?"
A voice played through the other end with sudden interruptions of static, "We're losing signal, I repeat, we've lost touch with main headquarters. There's some sort of signal jamming going on."
"Signal jamming? Well, what's with this fucking turbulence, Oracle?! We're 43,000 feet in the fucking sky!"
The voice continued with much more static, "Air space is devoid of abnormalities. There shouldn't be anything—"
BOOM!
An explosion sounded out, and out the windows, Mandrew saw a cloud of smoke and fire.
The other pilot, Pall, cried out, "—Fuck! The engines have taken serious damage, the cause unknown. Engines have taken damage! All attempts to regain control have failed!"
Night Owl was off to the side by one of the windows, calling out in a panic, "Guys! There's something out there!"
Everyone looked in his direction, seeing what looked to be an invisible outline just behind the now-inflamed engine.
In front of their very eyes, the outline quickly revealed itself to be a highly advanced jet.
"FUCK!" Scorpion shouted out, "They had a cloaking device on their jet, the engine's already on the verge of bursting!"
The jet's cockpit opened up, and a lithe figure in black leapt out and onto their carrier. In the figure's hands were two short blades as it ran alongside the jet, slashing at the hub of the propellers.
At the figure's feet were a special type of shoes, one which allowed them to stay connected to the aircraft, and the suit they wore kept them safe despite being in the open at 43,000 feet.
Master Kenchiro readied himself, but there was naturally no way he was going out there to fight. How would he even get out there to begin with?
After several slashes, the lithe figure leapt back into the jet, flying away as it once again cloaked itself.
Their mission was complete, and to Scorpion's annoyance, they had much more to worry about.
Outside, the rotations of the propellers slowed to a halt, and the burning engine exploded into a fiery mess of rubble.
"Oh shit—" One of the soldiers' mouths dropped in fear.
"Mayday! Mayday! We're going down! We're going down!" Oracle yelled out over the walkie-talkie as the aircraft started to call, rapidly losing altitude.
Master Kenchiro sat down on a nearby crate, speaking softly, "Hold on tight everyone, it's gonna be a tough one."
He was calm... oddly calm... uncomfortably calm....
"You bastard!" Scorpion yelled out, "Your entire squad is running on enhanced drugs, of course all of you will be fine! But my squad? We're all going to fucking die because of this worthless mission!"
Master Kenchiro shook his head, choosing not to respond.
Scorpion almost bit his tongue in anger, continuing with gritted teeth, "If I die, you better pay my family what you owe."
"Hmmm? Whatever could you be talking about?" Master Kenchiro looked at him skeptically.
"Don't play stupid! Remember the last time we were on a mission together? Our high-stakes poker match? I won, yet you never paid the money you owe me! You owe me fifty grand!"
"Fifty grand, ah, I seem to remember something of the sort. The problem is: I don't have any money."
"Stingy bastard! Sell a gallon of your drug, you can use that to pay it back!"
Sam Hyde clenched his fists in irritation, "FINE! I'll pay your family seven cents a month, but they have to send me the check."
"Seven cents? My family will have to pay more for the stamp than what you'll send them!"
The fight continued, dumbfounding everyone on board.
Just then, the walkie-talkie sounded, "COLLISION! BRACE YOURSELF!"