Chapter 3 Part One

     They all stood in a small circle, looking like a small, and at the very least odd, group meeting together. The look of irritation showed well on Damian's face, he chose to not hide it in front of his team, perhaps they could take a hint. As Damian took a quick scan at the faces of everyone, he saw that these faces were all of a different breed. He felt a brief pang of longing towards the team he used to have working for Revenant. They were precise, always loyal, and quick to do what was necessary. He had left all that for this.
     An ice queen. A girl making bright eyes towards the textbook example of a slacker. A scared little kid. Then himself. The only positive was that they were the best at what they did. The only reason why they were picked in the first place. That, and with no ego whatsoever, Damian was one of the best leaders Revenant had. They may have their own quirks, but somehow, Damian knew that that was what made them the best at what they did. He would have to overlook their annoyances on him at least this once.
     Damian opened up his mouth to speak and tried to restrain anything negative from coming out, "Well, I am very glad to see everyone made it alright...and on time", he made a slight glance to Xephyr, "Before we continue on in, are there any questions? Any last minute things you may have pondered on the way here or forgotten to bring up at the debriefing?"
     "Yes."
      That cold voice spoke and made everything tense.
     "How far shall we be before we set it off?", she cut straight to the point. Damian enjoyed that about her.
      "You're the demolitions expert. Why are you asking me? We must be sure to be safe. I expect us all coming back safe and in one piece", this time he gave a small glance to Jack.
     "Yes, I understand this sir, but are we going to stand-by afterwards and watch how things unfold or get away as fast as we can to somewhere remote?"
     "What do you think we should do?"
     Skylar could feel the eyes press against her. Damian was leaving the decision up to her, but even so, she felt it should be something left up to them. Group dynamics weren't really her thing. However, she felt a bit similarly to the way they did, deep down, she knew that she did.
     "I think we should try and be as far and away as possible so as not to get caught. With this computer, I can make a detonation from up to 500 km, but it would be best if were were within at least 350 km."
     "Good, sounds excellent. Any other details?", Damian wanted to know how everything was going to happen and when. No details could be spared.
     "With the blueprints I was able to create a plan that would be able to implode rather than explode the area. It will minimize the amount of civilian casualties as well as minimum damage to the immediate surroundings while providing maximum damage to the structure itself."
      "Excellent. Do you have an estimation of how long this will take?"
      "I cannot give an accurate explanation, it depends on a variety of factors with stealth being the most crucial. An implosion is a very elegant and very precise practice", she smiled with a bit of pride at that comment, "we cannot just hide explosives wherever we feel. They can only be placed at exact locations. If there are civilians around, we're going to have to have someway to divert them somewhere else."
     Even if she didn't support this plan one hundred percent, Skylar did enjoy being challenged. This was a bit harder to figure out being it is an ancient tomb after all. However, she was a master at her craft, and this was her art. The canvas would listen to the artisan and she would make this scene what she wanted it to be.
      "Great work Skylar, I am very glad to have you hear with us. Now, are there any other questions? In order for this to work smoothly, we all must be on the same page here."
     Yeah, like why here? Why are we actually acting like the terrorists Revenant will make us out to be instead of the other way around? Why do we have to kill innocent humans?! All these thoughts raced around in Jack's head, but he knew better than to voice them. It would just cause unnecessary tension in the group; put everyone on edge. Damian and at the very least Skylar knew what they were doing. He just had to stay along for the ride and help out where he could. He felt his hands start sweat and so he just adjusted his hat out of nervousness and put his hands in his pockets.
     Anya looked up at X trying to look through his sunglasses and into his eyes to see if he had any questions. She had no questions of her own and although X had the same basic support role as she did, he might have had some questions. Anya tried not to think about this mission too much. She felt more like a bit part in this mission. She looked at her female companion who had a much larger role, if not the most important and for a moment was a bit envious. Anya hated feeling useless, but she knew that Skylar, underneath the colder exterior must have been underneath quite a lot of pressure. She was direct and sharp with people but by no means heartless. Anya took once last look at X, he smiled back at her, but that didn't help her see anything past those dark indigo shades, pushed some hair behind her ear and looked back at Damian.
     Xephyr had no immediate questions that he could ask aloud. He was already trying to formulate some kind of plan of action to get as many innocents out of here. Out of his peripherals he saw Anya glance at him. Xephyr's face warmed up a bit, he could tell she was trying to probe behind his glasses, and it made him feel a bit nervous. He looked down and gave her a reassuring glance, a smile, to try and make her believe that everything was fine in his head. She didn't want him knowing how much he dreaded this mission.
      "Well, if that's all, you all know your roles, let's move", Damian was at least this happy that there were no problems, but that was highly subject to change.






(Sorry that it's taken so long to update. I didn't think I was going to be able to make an adequate entry this time around since it's been so long, but I'm quite satisfied. Thanks to whoever reads this! Comments, compliments, criticisms, etc. are always appreciated)