Under SOLS

While things were getting out of control in Mozambique, Connor and team arrived where they took off from. Connor didn't wait a second after the jet landed, he immediately took off without even saying bye.

"Jesus, someone's in a hurry." Jane said while taking her bag out. "Well, everyone has their own problems and this guy now has a bit more." Reginald said with a smile and put on his bag over his shoulder. "Thank you for coming even though we wasted your time, we'll make it up to you." Reginald said as he walked out of the plane.

"No problem Reg, just make sure you guys don't go blow up heavily armed convoys again." Jane said while dragging her teammates out. Reginald didn't say anything and just rushed to catch up with Connor. ED followed him silently.

"Hey Connor! Wait up man! We're also coming!" Reginald caught up with him and grabbed his shoulder from behind. Connor's facial expression was definitely not a good one, he was hell of a lot pissed.

"Move it soldier, we are not wasting time anymore! Whoever's involved in this is gonna get the goddamn grim reaper coming up his sorry f*cking ass!" He said with a grim voice and shook off Reginald's hand and started walking to the airbase exit.

"And someone ticked off the walking time bomb, you better call the correct guy and defuse it or shit will hit World War 3." Ed said jokingly as he came up behind Reginald. "When you say it like that, it's not even funny anymore, he might do it actually, we gotta watch over his ass and make sure he doesn't start off a war with any country or shit will really hit World War 3." Reginald said worriedly.

"Wow, now I kinda hate when I'm right in these type of things, sometimes I just wonder why the f*ck did I join this unit?" Ed said. "Why? You don't like being with us anymore?" Reginald asked teasingly.

"Nothing like that but...." Ed seemed like he was troubled or something. Reginald put a hand on Ed's shoulder and looked at him with a calming smile. "Come on now bud, we don't keep our brothers in the dark, you know that right? If there's anything you are troubled with, just talk." Reginald said.

"It's just that, we did a lot of missions right? Like taking out rebels in Brazil which doesn't even involve us to but we did it anyway, we took out a captured military facility while saving the hostages at the same time in South Sudan and we took out that Russian convoy and the terrorists base in Iran and a heck lot others." Ed started listing it. "OK OK! I get your point! Why are you mentioning them?" Reginald asked.

"I don't really know what I'm getting at, maybe I'm going crazy? Or maybe I'm just worried or maybe.... I'm afraid." Ed said. "Huh? What the hell are you afraid off? Come on dude! We are the SSU! We rank among the top six in the world and you rank on top three among snipers! You're a f*cking hitman! What the hell are you afraid off?" Reginald asked as if he heard the weirdest things of the week.

"Being afraid is natural, if a human is not afraid of anything then he ain't a human, we are afraid of losing the ones we hold dear, leaving the things you care about and most importantly, afraid of dying." Ed said as they walked, quite a bit further from Connor. "Oh come on, don't tell me that you're afraid of death? I mean who are we kidding here? Seriously? You are like the grim reaper with a goddamn sniper rifle." Reginald said jokingly but Ed didn't joke about it at all.

"Look around you Reg, we are soldiers when we should be in high school, we are different from normal high school teenagers because we live around the edge unlike them who go enjoy whatever shit they're supposed to! Plus I have a sister who is my only family! My old man died a marine in the US army but I'm not like him, she only has me and I only have her to call someone as "blood relative"! I'm not saying I don't see you lot as family, you guys are important to me as well, it's just that I don't want her to be alone since I'm the big brother with responsibilities here." Ed said.

Reginald stopped walking, he was literally out of words and didn't know what to say in a situation like that. He can't really say "try your best to live" when they go find trouble themselves.

*sigh*

"I understand, do what now? Do you want to quit and go home? Is that what you're saying?" Reginald asked with a bit loud voice. "No, I ain't taking a step back after I put it in forward this far, it's just my worries, noting else." Ed said and followed Connor who was a bit far from the two.

"You are saying you live on the edge, but is that really the truth?" Reginald asked with a solid voice. Ed was taken back. He just saw this from a soldier point of view, not from a teammate point of view. "If you think you, a sniper who is supposed to be on the safest place during a mission, is living on the edge, then what about Flynn? He's just a techie but he's always on the field when shit hits the fan! Then what about Guido and Hiro? He and Hiro are our scout who always gets the first look at the danger before we push in, one wrong step and they're on his way to hell! What about Putok? Do you think he's safe? Do you know how many times he nearly died just to save the team?" Reginald said. Even the soldiers passing by heard their argument and stopped to have a look. Each one of his words were like hitting right in the mark. Ed felt guilty of having such thoughts.

"What about Connor? We all know he's smiley on the outside but in reality, he's the one really on the edge, each time we come back alive it's because of him! He is not afraid of dying, death is like a friend to this guy, he's always looking over our sorry ass like a goddamn guardian angel! And you say you're on the edge, you're on the edge of a meltdown, not death." Reginald said and walked away coolly. 'Fuck yea! Nailed it!' Reginald thought after leaving.

Ed thought about what he said for a bit. "You know what? Fuck you, I'm gonna go with him till I kick the bucket." Ed said and walked past him. Reginald smiled and they both caught up with Connor soon. The three of them got a lift to the living quarters from the airbase. Connor opened the door, everyone inside was shocked to see him, with an angry face nonetheless.

"Heya Connor! Welcome back! That was fast." Sam greeted him with a flashing smile. Everyone had a "glad that he's back" kind of expression on his face. Connor looked around and saw that Flynn was missing. "Where's Flynn?" he asked.

"Flynn? He's gone to Antananarivo because the higher ups called for him, something wrong?" Sam asked. "MGU is facing crisis so stay alert." Connor said as he just went in and tossed the bag. He didn't waste any second and changed to his formal uniform and put on a formal military officer cap then walked out. All under 2 mins. All eight of them looked at Reginald and Ed for explanation.

"He's upset due to the recent events, nothing big." Reginald said with a smile. "Still, that didn't really look like just "upset", he's ticked off isn't he?" Hiro asked. Reginald's face fell and he nodded. Everyone's face had gone pale by then.

Connor left the quarters and went to the airbase, again. Luckily for him, a chopper was about to leave for the capital and he got on it. One whole hour of chattery on the chopper but Connor didn't even open his mouth and just kept a grim face. The soldiers inside weren't U SOLS so they didn't really know what to talk with him. And he's is also a higher ranking official, so yea, the pressure is real.

After landing, Connor just asked the nearby soldier to take him to the HQ.

20 minutes later........

Arriving in front of the huge building with what seemed to have at least 30 floors, the soldier who gave Connor a ride was still in awe even after seeing it for many times. The MGU flag on the courtyard gave off a sense of pride majestic feel to the whole place. Since Connor holds a high level clearance, the entrance security didn't say anything else and just let him in. There was an army of soldiers, armored vehicles, Mechs and choppers and a lot more that can make intruder think ten times before making their move here. It's more accurate to call it a heavily armed military base than a HQ.

Connor didn't say any thanks to the soldier and just left. "Well, that guy's in a hurry." the soldier said before pulling off.

He walked right in. Since he wore the official cloths, the guards didn't stop him. He walked to the elevator and pushed the button. Everyone who's walking around took a look at him and continued with their own work.

The door opened. Connor walked in followed by a girl who seemed to be as the same age as him. She was carrying a mountain of paper on her hands.

"16th floor please." She said in her petite voice. She may not have a fully well endowed body, but she's still a looker. Connor presser the button for the 8th floor and 28th floor.

"Hi, I'm Shelly, what brings you here?" She asked with a smile. "Just business." Connor replied.

"Not a talker huh? That's fine, but you are really talented huh? That's what Majors wear right? Are you a Major?" Shelly asked with sparkling eyes. High ranking Under SOLS means that they are very talented and this guy is a Major, so he should've be. "No, I'm just a first lieutenant doing his job." Connor replied with his expressionless tone. He was not in mood to have a chat unless he hears some answers or solutions.

The door opened. He walked out. The hall was as tightly guarded as always. He just flashed his clearance pass and the guards didn't take a second look on him. He walked to the first door with was 20ft away from the elevator and opened it. The two guys inside almost had a heart attack after the sudden opening of the door. But what stood by the door was the embodiment of death itself.

"Explain." Is all he said. Eric pointed the sofa on the right. Connor shut the door and took a seat. Flynn put his gun away and sat back down on his chair. "From the start." Flynn said and continued whatever he was doing on his Weblink.

"Connor, I have men working on the Mozambique issue and even foreign countries like America, Russia, England, India, fuck even the goddamn world council is on his matter! We shouldn't have anything to worry but I still had our men get on it." Eric said as he sat on his seat.

"If it's information, I have sources we can use, but that's not what's troubling your mind is it?" Connor asked with his tone toned down. "Mozambique issue can be put aside for now, we have it covered, the problem now is something not only troubling but also a bit serious." Eric said.

"Ho? I would love to hear more about that." Connor said. He could more or less guess that this is gonna be a pain in the ass. "Connor, I want you and your team to go to a place no living being on this planet would want to go and retrieve something that is ours!" Eric strongly said.

"Interesting, where are we getting shipped to now?" Connor asked with a smirking face.

"Chernobyl."