Chapter 26 - Apollo Bradley - Hindsight
November 17, 3040 3:25 AM
The last twenty minutes have been hell for Commander Trevor and I. We last heard from Fenrir and his company a little under half an hour ago. He had Curtis Lawton cornered, but after a short conversation and a bang it's been nothing but silence from their end.
My head had been hurting like hell up to that point. The halfkinds whacked me pretty hard. It felt like an anvil landed on me. I must've been out cold for ten or fifteen minutes before Simon found me in the sewers. He was able to wake me up, but I still felt really groggy. My head was throbbing and my body was sore. I wanted to vomit all the time, but I could only dry heave.
Simon eventually led me back to the Spades and Diamond Casino where the bodies of Borton, Maddie, and Oscar Lawton lied, covered with blankets. From his arms to his feet, the Commander's uniform was stained with blood. When Borton got speared, it was a mess. Blood squirted everywhere. Since I wasn't there, I wonder how long it took for him to finally bleed out, or maybe the Commander performed a mercy killing. He didn't say one word about what went down, but that might have been the case.
Losing teammates is something that always brings the Commander down. Even though Borton was a scumbag, he was a colleague, a pig that Simon was responsible for. It's never easy to have a squad member die on you. I think Simon sees Borton's death as a reflection of his failure. He didn't just let Borton down, he let himself down.
I took some time to rest while Simon debriefed Fenrir about what happened. They discussed their upcoming task at the Gonzalez station. My head was still throbbing. I had taken some meds that eased the pain. It was stuff that Simon gave me, high grade human pharmaceuticals. Still, it wasn't strong enough to keep me on my feet for more than a few minutes. I needed at least an hour or so until I was ready for action.
That's the real reason why we didn't join up with Fenrir. Commander Trevor wanted to assist. He was aching for an opportunity to redeem himself. But then he saw my condition and realized I was not combat ready. It was a tough decision for him, but it's situations like these where his integrity shines.
That didn't mean he was taking it easy here. Once Fenrir, Colbo, and Erawan started, he was glued to his communicator. He trusted them with their duties, but he also wanted to make sure they were safe.
After the mines were disabled and Fenrir went to pursue Curtis Lawton on his own, Commander Trevor's concern grew greater. We had seen pictures of Curtis. We knew how big he was and during their skirmish he had the upper hand. When Fenrir was getting strangled, Simon frantically demanded to know what was going on. Fenrir was probably too choked up to respond or even hear Commander Trevor, but Colbo gave the play by play. With Fenrir's life on the line, Simon barked for someone to take action. Fire a shot, throw a bomb, whatever, just intervene. Fortunately, Erawan was there to make the save.
I had never seen Simon so intense. Not during our first mission, not during our many meet-ups and outings. He's usually a professional guy with a cool exterior. But perhaps the pressure was getting to him, especially after Borton's death. He didn't want anyone else to die on his watch.
Once Curtis had been subdued and Fenrir had him at gunpoint, that's when things went into chaos. We heard Fenrir have a conversation with Curtis, but it was hard to make out what they were saying exactly. There was too much interference, probably from some kind of transmitting device. Then, without warning, a large boom echoed through my communicator. It blared into our ears like a fireball. Commander Trevor and I looked at each other confused, but we were thinking the same thing - a bomb must've gone off.
After that, it was static and the sound of silence. Commander Trevor immediately looked at me and said, "Apollo, how are you feeling now?"
"I'm better," I responded.
"Good, because we're going to the Gonzalez station on the double."
Both of us quickly assembled our gear and high tailed it out of there. There was no time to do anything about the bodies, we had to leave them. Our transport wasn't parked nearby, since we entered on foot, so we rushed over as fast as we could. I've never seen a human run so fast, even I could barely keep up with him.
When we got to his vehicle, Commander Trevor powered up his hovercar and in seconds we were in the air, charging to the Gonzalez station.
I'm now sitting in his transport in silence. I look at the Commander and I see him doubting himself. It's something I never expected to see.
His eyes are slanted and his mouth is quaking. He wraps his hands tightly, too tightly, on his controls, and under his breath I can hear him mumbling out curses.
Ever since I met him as a young, na?ve operative of the Dog Alliance, I've admired him. He was my role model, what I wanted be like in all facets of life. His career, his honor, his ability to make his team members feel welcome, inspired me. But to see your idol on the brink is disheartening. You realize he's not perfect, not indestructible.
His shoulders were carrying an amount of guilt I had never experienced and I could tell his head was filled with questions. What if I had done this? What if I hadn't? So many choices were being evaluated in a matter of seconds.
"Damnit!" Simon yells in frustration.
"Commander?" I ask him in a concerned tone.
"What the hell was I thinking? Why didn't I see it earlier. Fenrir pointed out the obvious and I still ignored the signs."
"Commander, what are you talking about?"
"It was a trap, Apollo. From the beginning, Fenrir said it was a trap and I didn't listen to him. Now he might be dead because I made the wrong call."
"No, don't think that. Your judgment was right. It was the smartest move to make at the time. I mean, they couldn't hide forever, they had to act. The transportation station was the only way out and we all knew that."
Commander Trevor appears a little calmer, but the frustration on his face still shows.
"But I should've been more careful," he says, his head leaned to the side, his elbow pressed against the window. "I shouldn't have split us up. If Colbo, Erawan, and Fenrir had more reinforcements?"
"Then we all might have been dead," I say. "Splitting up the team was right. We had no other option, especially since we were on our own mission to the casino."
"And that turned out to be a red herring, one I should've seen a mile away! But I didn't!"
He punches the side door in frustration and it startles me a bit.
"What the fuck was I thinking?!" he yells. "There's so much I did wrong! I bit on the wild goose chase, I lead my other team into an ambush. Years of experience and I walked into it like a dope."
"Commander?"
I don't know how to respond. He glances over and sees me blanked with a half confused, half scared expression.
"I'm sorry, Apollo," he says. "I shouldn't lose my composure like that, especially as a leader."
"It's okay, Simon," I respond.
"It's just, I don't know. We've known each other for a long time, right, Apollo?"
"Yes, of course."
"Can I ask you something then and get your honest opinion?"
"Sure."
"After what's happened tonight, do you still have confidence in me?"
I've never seen the Commander as vulnerable as this. The mere notion that he's coming to me with uncertainties in himself is crazy. And the fact that he's asking me for advice is nuts.
Any of these actions would be preposterous on any other night. But then again, it's not any night, it's a night where the mission has gone awry and over half the team could be dead. Even the greatest of men are only human.
"Of course, I do," I respond instinctively.
"Apollo, this isn't some kind of test, you can be honest with me."
I hesitate to say what's on my mind because I don't want to distress him any more in this fragile state, but I know he wants a real opinion.
"There's one thing I thi
nk Fenrir was right about, ever since we started this mission," I say.
"And what's that?" he asks. His voice is accepting, so I know there won't be any hard feelings if I speak my mind.
"We've underestimated these halfkinds greatly," I say bluntly.
"I see."
"We came into this situation headstrong, with little time to prepare. The strategy you made was fine, but our attitude towards it, Coblo's, Borton's, hell even you and me were arrogant. After we first killed Lombardi Lawton, we were handfed all these leads in a matter of hours. Sure we were cautious, sure we considered that it might be a ruse, but we overlooked it. Why? Because we didn't think our enemy to be capable of such ingenuity. You thought it, I thought it, the only creature who didn't was Fenrir. We saw how easy it was to kill the birdman and thought it'd be the same for the rest. But these halfkinds have proven to be much more dangerous than we thought. Their planning has been meticulous and they've been able to figure out our moves. Us, a highly trained group of soldiers, and we've been played so easily. It's because we let them play us."
He doesn't look angry or sad. He simply processes what I've told him.
"After our encounter with them at the casino," I say, "I've learned not to underestimate them. I mean, when we came in, we had them captured, the mission should've been over."
"But it was Borton's fault, he charged in and caused the chaos," he says. "He disobeyed me."
"True, but even after all that, you chose to take on Oscar one on one, without a firearm. It was reckless. If you saw him as a bigger threat, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have tried to be a hero."
"So you're saying I should've killed him, like a murderer? Like Borton did, in cold blood?"
"No. What you should've done was treated him like any other hostile and not like some scared civilian."
"I see your point."
He doesn't seem disappointed by my words, but rather regretful of his actions.
"I'm guilty of this, too," I say. "I chased after those twins like a rabid dog chasing frightened kittens. But I could've very well been killed."
"But they did spare you."
"True, which shows you the power they possess. They made the decision not to kill me, like a god over a mortal. And it shouldn't have happened in the first place, but my carelessness allowed it to happen. All I'm saying is we have to start realizing that these halfkinds are a lot more cunning than we anticipated. We can't let our guard down anymore."
He is about to say something, but pauses first. He then speaks. "Looking back on things now, would you have done everything the way I did?"
"I probably wouldn't have and I'm not just saying that to be kind. As I said, I had the same cocky attitude as the rest of us and we really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. But looking at it now in hindsight, we made the wrong moves. The important thing is we learn from them and move on."
Commander Trevor turns his face to mine. "Apollo, I appreciate your honesty. As always, you're someone I can rely on. And I'm not saying that to be cordial, it's from the heart. I'm glad you're on this mission with me."
In the beginning, I was fearful that my words would have strained our partnership, but it looks like they strengthened it.
"Unbelievable," Commander Trevor says while looking at the view ahead.
In the distance we see a partially destroyed building, smoldering, smoke leaking from its wreckage and rising to the sky. Debris is scattered about everywhere. It's a sea of metal, wood, electronics, and death. We've arrived at the Gonzalez teleportation station.
Commander Trevor lands his car immediately and I jump out to survey the damage. Whatever explosive they used was powerful enough to take down the whole station. There are so many things crackling in flames that it makes it hard to identify a source. There's a glow coming from the edge of the wreckage, the remnants of the power generator. It smells like sweltering metal and the wind blows ashes into our faces.
The Commander puts on some goggles and assesses the damage while I continue to survey the area.
"Apollo, use your skills to see if you can locate the others," he says.
I equip my scent booster and get to work. There's so much wreckage, it'll be hard to sort through everything. Luckily for me, I'm able to catch a scent right from the get go. It's Colbo.
I press my nose on the ground and sniff furiously. I breathe in deeply and walk up and down until I home in on a trail. From there on, I tread steadily, examining every inch and crevice until I can locate Colbo.
Sure enough, I find him and he's dead. His body is smoking, the hair on his back charred to a crisp. I see dried blood and slightly torn pieces of flesh. Half of his face is scared, small chunks seem to have disappeared from it. His mouth still flashes his trademark frown, but some of his lip has been ripped apart, making his teeth very visible. There's a small cavity in his chest, but it's blackened and burnt. Most of him remains intact, nothing seems to be dismembered, but he didn't go peacefully. When the blast happened, he must have been engulfed in the flames, as his weight was too large for force to fling him.
"Commander!" I yell. "Colbo is over here and he's gone."
Simon sprints to my location and sees his remains. He doesn't say a word, he just kicks a nearby piece of debris across the carnage.
"We'll find something to cover him with," he says sternly. "For now, see if you can locate Fenrir or Erawan."
I once again sniff the ground to see if I can catch a trail. I walk toward the perimeter, past a bent and scorched teleporter until I'm able to pick up Erawan's familiar odor.
I don't have to do much digging for him because I already see part of his body sticking out from the ground. His head seems to be buried beneath the piles of rubble. The rest of his him is turned over on one side and is under some scattered metal and wood. I swipe the ruins away with my paws.
His body isn't charred like Colbo's. It's actually relatively clean and as I scan it with my eyes, I find it hard to figure out what happened to him.
"I found Erawan!" I yell to Simon. He runs over and sees what happened.
"He doesn't look as bad as Colbo," Simon says to me.
"Yeah, but something doesn't look right."
Commander Trevor looks closely at him, eyeing every inch available.
"You're right, Apollo," Commander Trevor says, "something looks off. Help me lift his body out from the wreckage."
He goes over to lift one leg and suddenly jumps back. I don't understand why he does it until I sniff under the corpse. It smells like embers. His body isn't turned over on one side, it's the only side. The other half of his body is completely black. And his head isn't covered beneath the piles of rubble, it simply isn't there. Erawan's body had been disfigured beyond recognition. He didn't deserve this.
Commander's reaction to Erawan's death is different from his reaction to Colbo's. He looks utterly disgusted by the sight in front of him. It is the kind of mutilation you wouldn't wish up on your worst enemies, the kind that stays with you forever. He was a member of the highest guard in his society and there he lies before us, a barely recognizable corpse of his former self. You never think such warriors can go out this way, but he did. Simon gets on one knee and lowers his head in respect. I lower mine as well.
"I'm sorry that things ended this way, my friend," Simon says, "but don't worry, your death will not be in vain."
We stay there in silence for a few minutes. Commander Trevor then gets back to his feet and looks around.
"Were you able to pick up the scent of the halfkind responsible for this? Curtis Lawton?" he asks me.
"No," I reply. "He probably was vaporized since the bomb was in his possession when it went off."
"Good," he says.
Commander Trevor drops his gun and puts his hands on top of his head.
"I can't believe this happened," he says to himself. "All this destruction, it's my fault."
I want
to console him, but I feel that silence is the only appropriate response.
After a few moments, he turns to me and asks, "Did you find Fenrir?"
I shake my head no. "There hasn't been a single trace of him. If he died, I would've found his scent or something."
"Lucky for you, he didn't," a familiar voice says. It's Fenrir and he looks like he's been through hell.