Post by tylatz on Dec 1, 2009 21:44:31 GMT -5
0079.09.21
A pair of firm hands pulled at the tails of the tan jacket and shoulders rolled to get just the right feel from the broad collar rolling around the back of his neck. He patted the black shoulders and fingered the red lining on the far ends. It felt almost awkward to be wearing the uniform after so long. A glance in a mirror told him he still looked damn sexy all dressed up even after almost a decade, but it did feel somewhat awkward. Nostalgia and anxiety mixed in the pit of his stomach telling him not to mix his past into his future, but he didn't have much of a choice. They needed the supplies if they were going to keep fighting and this was the only way the African Union was going to get what they needed. Ideas like this one is what gets men killed.
Des sighed and picked up the pistol Jane had given him a couple of days before as collateral. Foolish woman didn't understand that she was in his home. Her life was collateral and if she crossed them then no number of mobile weapons would keep her alive as long as she stayed in Africa. Her reckless actions were his gain. The weapon looked nice slipped into the holster mounted to his pistol belt. It gave an extra sense of authenticity that he might not have had otherwise. Perhaps things wont be as bad as he feared. Or they could be far worse.
The apprehension in his heart ate at him. This would be their first operation outside of the extensive network of suppliers and contacts they had built throughout Africa. For the first time they would be without their typical fall backs and in terrain that was foreign to all of them. Some might say a jungle is a jungle, but where a purple flower in Africa might be a medicinal herb it could be poison here. The differences were beyond Des and he'd rather not think about them.
Instead he focused on the mission. He had selected Fernando, Nu, and Vito to accompany him on this one as they most looked the part of Feddie troops and the others would be needed to extract them if things went South. Jess had arranged the allocation of EFGF uniforms ahead of time after Des sent the encrypted request once receiving the odd job offer. They commandeered a beat up jeep from some locals over a hundred-fifty kilometers from their objective. If everything went well they should be on their way home quite a bit richer in another 27 hours. If it went bad... He just hoped that it wouldn't come to that. There were so many things he did not want to think about that could come to pass in just a few short hours.
A knock on the door visibly shook him and made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He needed a vacation. This shit was getting to him.
“Des, Red is ready,” Ted called through the closed door.
Des took a deep breath and glanced at the mirror one last time, taking note of the mirrored name tag of Veos. As this new persona he stepped out the door into the fading light of a Friday evening. It was time to set things in motion. It was time to get his drink on.