Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, White corp. warehouse ~

7:59 PM

Haru, Nala, Allen and Julius arrived at the warehouse located at the outskirts of Los Angeles, in two customized Mercedes-Benz passenger vans. Each van carries 15 passengers (before customization), but now three seats are removed out of the original configuration, allowing for 12 passengers in addition to an extendable table which can be used as a work surface, or for transport of an injured person which needs to lay down.

When they arrived, they stopped at the entry point.

"Boss sends us…", one of the members of the army of Chaos who was behind the wheel of the first van said to the security guard who is employed by White corp.

Haru, Nala, Julius and Allen were in the back of the van. If regular people see them with masks, they will suspect that something is off.

The security guard greeted them with a toothy smile. "Yes. We know. You are the newbies who want to experience the night-shift. Well, we are not going to complain about getting a paid night-shift off!"

Before leaving, the main security guard reminded them that the warehouse has volatile materials: "No smoking or starting a fire. Those lights on the other side of the highway are residential homes. Don't risk blowing up the area, OK?"

They watched ten security guards leave the warehouse location in good spirits before everyone got out of the vans.

8:13 PM

Haru and Nala are with Julius and Allen in the van on the parking lot of the warehouse. They are discussing possible strategies based on the information they have about the mission and the surroundings which they scouted.

Ten members of the army of Chaos are nearby, waiting for orders.

It is called a warehouse, but it's actually four massive buildings and two smaller ones with a large 'U' shaped parking lot which is enveloping the buildings from the East. Most of the warehouse parking area is cleared and paved, but there are few landscape spots. Nothing too fancy, mostly bushes and few trees, but that is perfect for hiding units.

Allen and Julius are brimming from excitement mixed with anxiousness. This is their first real mission and they get to be part of planning. And the lenses they got to wear came straight from a sci-fi movie! As a bonus, both of them are dashing in dark uniforms and black masks on their faces. This will be awesome!

"We don't have an information from where they will come, but I believe that this highway on the East side is the most probable direction they will arrive from.", Nala said while pointing at the map.

"We can't dismiss the possibility of them coming from this back road.", Haru added.

Nala agreed and continued: "Info we received does not say how many of them will come, but we know that one mission was completed successfully earlier this afternoon. Masika and Imani were there as sniping support and they dealt with thirty seven armed attackers who tried to ambush a convoy of trucks."

"Thirty seven?", Allen could not hide his anxiousness while thinking that there is only fourteen of them. "That is almost three on one…"

"We had worse.", Haru said flatly. "Try not to focus on the numbers. We don't know about their skill level, but everyone here is an expert. Also, we have drones and the element of surprise, they don't know we are waiting for them."

"Are you sure?", Julius asked. "One of their attacks was intercepted. Isn't it normal to think that they will be more cautious?"

Haru and Nala agreed that this makes sense.

"They might give up and not show up at all.", Nala said lightly. "There are many uncertainties, but we need to focus on what we know… My biggest concern is that we don't know the purpose of them coming here. Are they coming to destroy or to steal? That will determine if we should expect large trucks or maybe one compact car with few guys full of explosives…"

Allen and Julius exchanged concerned glances and Haru noticed.

"Don't freak out. The most important thing is to keep your cool. Panicking will not help anyone.", Haru warned Allen and Julius. "That is why we are here early, to observe the terrain, conditions and come up with plans in any of the cases. With the help of the drones we will see the enemy approach and adjust swiftly to the corresponding plan."

"Ideas?", Nala asked Julius and Allen and they understood that this is the mentoring part.

Julius and Allen stared at the map and both of them felt anxiousness rush through them. This is so much different than the simulation games they play on the computer, because this is real!

"If they come with trucks to steal, we will have more time to act because of volatile materials they will be careful and move slowly.", Allen started analyzing the possibilities. "It will make sense to have units here and here… But if they are coming just to destroy, they will be in and out swiftly and we should cut them off before they get inside the buildings to avoid searching for the explosives…"

…

Later that evening, all units got into their places.

Allen is shadowing Haru and Julius is next to Nala who are on opposite sides of a large parking lot.

They planned for several different possibilities and are in positions and… now they wait.

The information says that the attack will happen after 10 PM, and it's 10:07 PM so… any minute now. Or maybe it will be in few hours, they are not sure.

Allen was excited about the mission, but now that everything is quiet, and Julius is far away from him, he is nervous. It will be better if Julius is by his side, Allen thought. Or maybe it will make him more anxious. He is not sure, but he knows that the silence is pressing on his eardrums harder by the second.

"Haru?", Allen called softly. "Are you worried about Nala's safety?"

Haru glanced at Allen. "Of course, I am. But I know that she is capable to take care of herself."

"What if she gets in trouble?"

Haru realized that Allen wants to talk. Probably as a distraction because he is visibly nervous. "That is a tough one because my instinct is to rush and help her out. But in reality, if I rush recklessly I will expose myself to danger and then Nala will worry about me instead of taking care of herself… Are you worried about Julius?", Haru guessed.

"Yes.", Allen admitted.

"That is normal. As long as it does not put you into jeopardy, you should embrace it because it is a good trait to care about safety of your teammates. I know that it's hard to stay calm when your partner is in danger. When I look at Nala during a mission and I feel anxiety take over, I switch roles and imagine that she is concerned with my safety to the point of neglecting hers. That reminds me to stay cool."

Allen thought about Haru's words. It made sense. But for some reason, his mind was circling around the fact that Haru said how Julius is his partner and Haru said it so smoothly like it's a normal thing. Allen reminded himself that Haru probably spoke with a meaning of partners in a mission, and he should not overthink it… but it still sounded nice.

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