3I sat down in the cushioned armchair, turning towards the table in the briefing room. Nobody else had arrived yet, except for General Aston.
"Who else is coming?"
"Two people."
The door opened, and in walked the two people- one, a thin, tall blond woman, dressed in civilian clothes- mostly black, a skirt, a short thin jacket, some sort of undershirt, and a french-hat thingy. The other one was a midget, with a thin four inch long beard sprouting out of his chin. He was bald, and was wearing some sort of hide jacket and jeans.
I looked at my green HX uniform, and back at them. "What's this, casual Friday?"
"Quiet, you insolent brat," the blond woman spat, her accent as French as her hat.
The midget spoke up. "We're going on a mission with this twerp?" he spoke with a high Brooklyn accent.
Aston looked at them. "Quiet. If anything, he's probably wondering why he's going with a midget and a French woman. Luke, this is Erian Nightingale and Logan Michutti. Erian and Logan, this is Luke Saris."
"Russian, yes? I can tell by his face," Erian muttered.
"He is an Adrain."
Logan dropped his jaw. "A real one? Like Brian?"
"This is Brian's son. Luke, these were your father's teammates."
"These two? I see why my parent are divorced now..." I thought back to them. My mom was an uptight, nitpicking neat freak, who probably had August 24th, 2050 planned out from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep. My dad, on the other hand, was laid back, normally found with a beer and sports magazine. (he wasn't a drunk, though)
"Sit down," Aston said, and pulled a remote out of his pocket while the two of them sat down opposite of me. "Now, as you know this is a mission briefing. The mission is to find these people." He pressed one of the many buttons on the remote, and a holographic profile of three men appeared over the table in between us. A holo-tag appeared underneath them- a ring with their names floating around the profiles. One man, a white man with black hair, a goatee, and glasses, was tagged as Damei Keron, 24. The second, a bald black man with pierced ears, was tagged as Ugan Derroi, 36. The third was another white man, with black hair that was male-pattern-bald with goggles above his eyes, ready for use, was tagged Jordan Estedan Jr. "They are refugees from the Third War, leaders of a refugee faction in Europe."
I looked closely at them. "So what? Not our problem."
"Or so it seems."
Logan looked at Aston. "What, are the Refugees terrorists?"
"Nope."
"What, then?" I asked.
"They stole something of value."
"What?"
"The Shadow Crystal."
"What?!" I was in disbelief. They are the reason we came back empty handed?
"What is this 'Shadow Crystal' of which you speak?" Erian inquired.
"The Shadow crystal is an object of importance to the HX. We are hoping to trade it to the Anikazel breakoffs, the Cordain."
"Friendlies?" Logan wondered.
"Yes."
"What are we trading them for, boss?"
"Technology. Alien technology."
Erian revealed a problem- "What makes you so sure that they will give the technology, even if we offer this crystal? What is so important about it?"
"I am sure you are familiar with the legend of the Alteran Empire, right?"
"The Atlantean division? Yes."
"This is their supposed power source."
"How do you know it is not just a myth, like the Bermuda Triangle, Gog, and Magog?"
I stared at the two in their ignorance. "Hey! I nearly died tryin' to get that thing!"
She looked at my body. "And why is that so significant? I am surprised you survived basic training."
Aston butted in. "Luke never took the basic training course. He was trained as much as possible in five weeks, and left on the Shadow Crystal Retrieval mission. Now, back to our current mission. They contacted us three days after Luke came back from the wastelands with the Alpha Team. They are holding it ransom."
"Ransom?" I asked, "How much?"
"Too much."
"How much?" I demanded.
"1.5 Trillion Dollars."
"Holy son of a motherf-"
"Yes, it's a lot. Because of this, we are not going to pay. You will catch them and demand a trade- them for the Shadow Crystal."
"Alright, then, boss. What tech do we have for this mission?"
"Tech? Oh, right. Let's see..." He pressed another button on the remote. A table descended from the ceiling, lowering onto the table. On it were three debit cards, an ensemble of weapons like handguns, smack tazers, and extendable nightsticks/staffs.
He picked up a card. "These are HX account cards. The cards have about 500,000 in US dollars. It is territory-malleable, meaning it will automatically turn itself to yen in Japan, Euros in Britain, and Pesos in Mexico."
"Why would we need TM debit cards with so much on them for this mission?" Erian inquired.
"The Refugee faction is massive, and the three targets know we are going to go after them. They will go to great lengths to avoid you. You will also have your own identities," Aston said, pulling 3 Ids out of his pocket and tossing one to each of us. "Oh, and Luke, even though you're only 17, you are considered a full-fledged Adult with that card."
I looked down at my ID. My name was Egan Stolvic, 21. I had blond hair, blue eyes. I had an unshaven face, and was the same height.
"The attack plan is for you three to come up with. We have a 1pm flight to Britain set up for you guys, so be at the Denver Airport by then. Dismissed," Aston said and left the room.
I turned around to find Logan and Erian staring at me. "What?"
"So you're Brian's son, huh?"
"Yep."
"Can you Rift?"
"When I feel like it," I said, pocketing the Debit card and grabbing the nightstick. "So, what is our strategy going to be?"
Logan was the first to answer. "We split up and try and find those three. If one of us finds all three within a reasonable area, then we will all go there. If they split up, then we will try and either drive them to the same area or catch them individually. How about that?"
I stared at him. Well, he didn't look that smart.
"I'm in."
Erian glanced at Logan, and then at me. "Fine, then. I'm in, too."