Inside the helicopter, Michael lays back removes his helmet while heaving a deep sigh, his strength almost depleted from overexertion, thinking, "That thing, whatever it was, did not fight like its life was in danger. It was almost like it wanted to die. I wish I could just put it out of its misery so I can move on from this place".
He sits in silence until they return to base under the mild glow of the setting sun and stealthily move their equipment into the dark depths of the underground facility.
As he takes off the AVES, Amina informs Michael of a debrief by six and he moans, "Can't I at least get a drink first?".
As Michael out of the container Segun has affectionately nicknamed "Egg", Amina tosses a sports drink at him which he casually catches from behind.
As he turns around, Amina gestures at Michael to come over and he obliges, sipping his drink all the way to the meeting room where they find Segun already seated with his right elbow wrapped up in bandages.
Giving Segun a playful tap on the head Michael asks, "You didn't get hit, why are you wrapped up?".
Rubbing the back of his head Segun tries to mask his embarrassment, "Well... Um...", until Amina chips in saying, "He hurt himself from the canon's recoil".
"Damn!" Michael remarks before laughing, "Who gets hurt by their own weapon?".
"We made some firmware updates and I'm still sorting out the bugs", Segun tells them.
"Are they always this chatty?" Cecelila asks as she walks in with Dele and several SDF guards in tow.
Segun and Amina get up to greet them while Michael stays seated with an obnoxious grin on his face.
Cecelia asks, "Is there a problem Mr..." and Michael interrupts her saying, "Yes there is a problem, a really big problem".
With a raised eyebrow Cecelia tells him, "Go on.." and Michael replies, "We've been on the sidelines for a month and when we do get to fight its random snake monsters and small time terrorists when we should be going after the Dark Wizard".
Stepping up to Michael's face, CC asks, "And how do you know those aren't related?" and Michael stands up to tell her, "The Dark Wizard turns people into mindless monsters and that monster as ugly as it was, it wasn't mindless. The more time we spend on the sidelines or chasing after small targets the more people die".
Stepping away, Cecelia says, "Oh Eagle, you fly so high yet can't see the bigger picture, I guess I will have to show you then...".
She opens a map of the Eastern sector riddled with red dots saying, "Each dot is a casualty, each casualty is somebody who will never see their family again".
Realising his mistake, Michael tries to save face by saying, "Alright, alright I get it..." but CC presses on saying, "No, you don't. Maybe your mother resented you or you just hate the world or maybe its the organisation you hate. Whatever the case I can not allow your impatience and disregard for authority to undermine my work, are we clear?".
Michael silently nods and tension still in the air Cecelia explains, "All things considered performed well, I have already sent an extraction team to Omuma but this snake thing will be a lot harder to track".
"Might I offer a suggestion?" Amina asks and Cecelia immediately replies, "No, your job here is to fix equipment, if I need your input I will ask" before continuing, "This creature has been attacking oil assets in the Eastern region so we are intensifying our surveillance in those areas. All teams are to maintain combat readiness at all times, that is all".
As Cecelia steps out, Micheal asks Dele "What is her problem?" and Amina angrily tells them, "That's how she's always been" before storming out of the room.
Sequence 2
With Amina gone, Dele grabs Michael and Segun saying, "Come on, let's go get a drink".
"But what about..." Segun asks but Dele hushes him saying, "Trust me she won't want to come where we're going".
Reluctantly they change into civilian clothes and head out of the Onne port complex with Dele in a black jeep.
After driving north for over an hour, they finally stop at a run down looking bar by the side of the road.
Stepping inside they are greeted by several patrons and bar staff who hail Dele as he walks through the beaded curtain. He waves back and heads straight to the counter to order, "Palmwine and fish for me and the boys".
As the bartender leaves to attend to the order Segun nervously sits down asking, "Won't this affect our combat readiness?" and Dele replies "Not as much as being around that flaming ball of negativity".
Moments later the bartender returns with the drinks and Dele passes the cups to to his crew saying, "I am ordering you to have some fun, don't let several months of team building go down the drain".
Michael grabs one saying, "I'll drink... If you tell us the deal with this Cecelia woman".
He laughs takes a massive gulp before replying, "She's just holding on to a grudge from a while back".
"I guess Amina caused it seeing as she's the lightning rod for her rage all the time" Michael says before also taking a sip.
Not wanting to divulge more information Dele tells them, "When we are in a more secure environment I'll tell you what happened, for now let's talk about something less depressing".
While they talk about other things, Michael feels a sharp headache as his eyes start glowing red.
Segun notices this and asks, "Are you good?" and Michael replies "Yeah it's nothing".
Just then a young woman walks in and orders a stout, she shares a brief glance with Michael before taking her seat in a corner of the bar.
Dele tells Michael to keep his eyes straight and hands on the table is they continue to sip innocuously.
A several minutes and 3 beers later, a man walks in and takes a seat in front of her. They exchange pleasantries before the man goes on to say, "Thank you for your assistance the other time".
The woman takes a sip of her drink and replies, "Assistance is not free, remember, I need your people to keep them off my neck and you have been lacking. How will I deliver this package if I am running errands up and down?".
"Ah you are not fair, they have been seriously on our neck too! In fact they just carried some of my boys not quite long ago, we are short of men these days" the man moans.
"I don't care, get some more men or I cancel the job" she angrily tells him.
Just as the man stands up to leave, a squad of plain clothes policemen storm the bar and demand everyone lie on the ground.
Michael jumps up, baring his claws to strike but Dele grabs his wrist from under the table whispering, "Play along".
Immediately, the policemen slap Michael, and drag Dele down to the floor with Segun, putting them all in handcuffs and dragging them outside.
Sitting them down beside their trucks, they move to Dele first and ask, "You, what your name and your business here?".
Dele looks up and sarcastically replies, "I came to relax and have a drink with my sons, officer don't you visit here from time to time?".
One of the policemen hits him with the butt of his gun shouting, "Fool! That thing wey you yarn you go repeat am for station!" before taking his and Michael's watches. He then moves on to the other four, taking their valuables as well.
As the men begin loading the bar patrons onto trucks, one of them pulls the woman aside saying, "This one will go in the other car".
Sensing a chance, the strange woman quickly knocks the policeman down on one knee and elegantly twists to break his neck in one swift motion before seizing his side arm to shoot her acquentance square in the head.
The other policemen don't even have a chance to react before they are struck down by a hail of oncoming bullets, allowing the captured lady to escape into the bushes.
Dele shouts "Go after her!" and Michael wastes no time in breaking out of the handcuffs in pursuit of the woman.
He weaves through the tress in pursuit but can not keep up with the strange woman who jumps into a nearby river and disappears under the bubbling water.
Frustrated, Michael runs back to the bar to find Dele and Segun free of their cuffs and tending to the injured policemen.
"She got away" he mutters under his breath and Dele replies, "That goes without saying, anyway I need some heat over here".
Michael bends down and helps seal a gash left behind by a grazing bullet asking, "Why are we even helping them?".
"Because it's less work for us in the long run" Dele replies as he ties a makeshift bandage over the groaning man's arm.
With the policemen all patched up, Dele lines them up against their car asking, "Why were you chasing that woman?" and one replies "That is police business".
Dele brings out a DSS identification badge from his pocket and they become more cooperative with one saying, "Ah oga we are sorry, that guy, the one that just died, was one of Kalu's boys we traced here, abeg oga no vex".
"What of the woman?" he asks and another policeman replies, "That one we don't know her at all, please oga no vex abeg" while prostrating with his face to the floor.
Satisfied, Dele sighs, reaches in to the man's pocket to grab the items he stole before kicking him in the temple, knocking him out immediately.
As they walk away from the scene Segun asks, "Wasn't that a bit excessive?" and Dele replies, "Do you know how much these watches cost!?" as their car drives over to pick them up.
Sequence 3
The woman washes up 300 metres down stream and jumps out gasping for air.
After catching her breath, she sits up and uses all her strength to jam the handcuffs into one another and break them apart. Finally free she moans, "These people are becoming more trouble than they are worth".
"What about working for me, Mercy?" she hears a woman say before immediately jumping up and pointing the stolen pistol in her direction.
The woman comes out of the shadows saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you" as two large snakes slowly erupt from the murky water behind her.
Recognising her voice, Mercy throws away the gun and runs to embrace the woman crying, "Ada! Where have you been all these years!?".
Ada holds on to her tightly saying, "I am here now child, cry no more for soon the sun will smile on us again".
The End?