This closes, another one opens

Ranger Citadel

Outer Area

Makeshift Tent

Houmin happily dozed off for a few seconds when he felt a gentle smack from his side. Startling him awake from a half-asleep state. "What? What? I'm here, I'm here."

He heard a scornful tick in front of him, a giggle to his right that he suspected aimed at him, and a whisper to his left. It took him a few seconds to get himself to be sober again. No, he wasn't drunk. Ranger Citadel was stingy for anything drinking-on-the-base related. Having the time for himself to think has been taking a toll on his mind and body, from what Viñia called Psychosomatic symptoms. To know that he can see his family again.

"Houmin,"

He lifts his head to see who's calling him, realizing it was Joe. "Uh, Yeah-- No. Please, continue." A second thought made him remember he almost or actually fall asleep in the briefing, even if it was for a moment.

"Pfft!"

Houmin looks to his right to see Skylar with her usual diva self. Sitting beside him with her legs crossed, flowing red hair, one hand on her chin, and the other handwriting on the notepad that is placed on her thigh. She gave him a look that arched her eyebrow and followed it by putting her fingers to his face and pushing it away.

His head turns left, and he saw a nearby table with three of Joe's teammates and some division agents were eating some MREs. Hours ago, someone questioned the idea of eating something that was made a century ago. Even Viñia wasn't able to cover something like that. But they got saved when Castle read out the description on the MREs, and it says, "Designed to last for about 150 years, just put water to rehydrate food." A quick save that one.

Bear waved with his food as he invited Houmin for some chow. Houmin turned the offer down politely and squinted his eyes to see what's written on the food package that Bear is holding, 'Beef Ravioli with Pan Pizza.' He noted that he'll definitely try that pizza out someday.

Skylar pulled her hand back and poured her attention to the briefing. Houmin gave the setup a look,

'Right, it's about a hit group in the northwest.'

Joe gave a slight sigh as he looked at Houmin. "Let's go again, point out if I miss anything." Joe went over the briefing another time. Standing across the table were Houmin, Skylar, Delta Team except for Dallas, Able Team, Ace, and Angela. "A few hours ago, perimeter security discovered a gathering of about 30 -45 individuals not too far from the Ranger Citadel. With the help of our drone, we figured out that these were Jaberon's Waste Water Gang--or mercenaries. Then again, there's no actual difference between the two."

Earlier, General Vargas made a call for a yellow condition security status. Hearing the news about a group that wanted some payback made the rangers too excited. So excited, in fact, they planned to gear up for the fight by almost running away with all the weapons from the trucks, but not before Mercaptain put a stop to it and warned them away. They ran off with grabbing nothing but found some humor to it as they ran.

"How about some 'Show and Tell'? Let the rangers try the equipment out?" He wasn't sure if he was still half-asleep or not. Whatever it is, he let his mouth ran off again. This, however, made Viñia and Joe looked at each other and can't help but smile at an eager idiot in front of them.

Not for Skylar, though. Knowing full well the implication of what the idiot had just said. She'll definitely get dragged to nowhere again to fight for something without her understanding the real cause for it.

She puts her leg down and sits up straight. When she felt comfortable in her posture, she then tucked the notepad and pen close... Then she smacks the doofus in the back of the head!

"Asshole, you're doing this thing again!" She whispered angrily next to his ear.

What she did was in vain as Joe and Viñia decided they're gonna be the guinea pig on this one.

All feelings of being asleep got literally smack out of Houmin, forcing him awake and hissing at the pain on his head. He didn't get a single word out when Ace and Angela volunteered for this 'Show & Tell' idea that Houmin said. Which made the General liked the idea so much, making him gave the tactical command to Joe for both Delta and Able in this idea.

He's way too deep in this shit now, Houmin thought. He kept his mouth shut as he can hear Skylar whispering death threats from his side.

Joe, in the meantime, messes with his MRT for a minute before changing the picture on the projection screen. "Based on combat information and drone footages, Jaberon's Waste Water Gang are a bonafide drugged out thugs than proper combatants. Careful though one lucky shot can rough you up. Here's when things get interesting..." He maximized the image of a group of people with different gear and weapons. "These 10 are something to watch out for."

Viñia spoke up, shuffling images on the screen. "Cross-referencing with what Rangers have, this is an unknown faction. However, based on Jaberon's own testimony and reaction, he's willing to discuss what he knew about this group if we bagged two or three of them. For now, we believe that this is a mercenary unit embedded in the gang for a different purpose."

"High chances are that this new group will try to infiltrate the base by ambushing the responding team and using the junkheads as bait or around that ballpark. This guess is supported by the images of specialized pieces of equipment and suppressed weapons they have on hand."

"Except we will be the ones doing the ambush." Joe chimed in and messed with his MRT for a minute before changing the picture on the projection screen. "going for a counter-ambush route, we'll have Hunter's Delta infill from the west," Representing Delta with the yellow line. "Able will head in the front, by the southeast." a blue line for Able. "Ace and Angela by the northwest," a red line for these two. "Then Voiders will head by the northeast." Violet for Houmin and Skylar.

"Another point we have," Joe added, "Is to let them try on whatever they wanted to try. Let them come to us and see what they got. We have the protection, food, water, and resources while they got about 2 days to last."

"You go in, you do it quietly, and you go back home." Castle said while munching on some chow. "Easy and quick, like this cup noodle here. Can't believe you can still have a Nissin for a quick snack."

"Letting them starve or get dehydrated is much easier. The red sky's searing heat will do the job for us." Bear gave some of his thoughts, "Otherwise, we can wait here for them to come to us, pick them off at a distance rather than have a complicated direct action plan."

Even so, everyone's ears perked up. Sneering as they look at each other, imagining the sorry state of the punks who had the balls to attack them in their own home. Some even rubbed their hands together in excitement.

"Rangers," General Vargas gave a visible smile even with the beard and glasses on. "I don't know what to tell you. For a time, we were shadowed by bleakness for a future but, today, with ample supplies, new people, and opportunities. We've just now stepped into a brighter future... Let's show these sheep pretending to be wolves on our doorsteps what it means to underestimate us when we are on our knees. Make them pay, rangers."

"We'll call everyone here if we see some movements from these upstarts. Dismiss!"

Everyone stood and answered, "Sir, Yes, sir!"

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Meanwhile, in the Makeshift Range

Houmin stared absentmindedly on the workbench in front of him as he got an earful of words from Skylar.

"Dumbass! Dragging me to this bullshit of yours when I could've got myself some good sleep. The desert heat is killing my lips!" She pointed at her lips while giving him a hateful glare. "Look, Doofus! Look! See this? See these chappy lips? If I peel this off, it's gonna bleed!"

Houmin answered with a sarcastic smile. "Then bring some Vaseline with you."

Skylar stopped and placed the AR-15 and the Low Variable Powered Optic on the table. She gave him another glaring look, only it's much scarier. She knew that the guy was ignoring her feelings about volunteering.

Houmin is indeed ignoring it. He took a second to mind about it before shrugging his shoulders. Recognizing the look that she's giving him, telling him to be serious about this. "Well, what do you need? Partners need to communicate with each other."

"A shower."

"I-uh, hmm. Well, shit. I didn't expect that."

"You said we're partners, right? THEN why do I feel like I'm the slave here? You see, you've been dragging me around to your crap without even asking my opinion! You said partners need to communicate with each other? Then why not look to a mirror and preach it to yourself!"

Houmin gawk with his mouth open. He wasn't able to say a word back and just gave Skylar a nod as a reply.

"I won't be making this too hard for you," Skylar declared. "Just please, starting from now, before you decide on something like this, just tell me first, okay? Tell me. It's hard when I got left alone with what you and everyone are doing. I have to struggle some effort just so I can keep up with all of you."

"Ohh~." Viñia suddenly appeared in the tent. It didn't take too much for her to know what's going on. She showed a smile to poke some fun at them. "A little lover's quarrel. How cute."

"Why not add some more fun while you two are at it?" Viñia gave a pat on the against Houmin's shoulder. "Checking on each other's good morning? How are you? How'd you sleep? The weather is hot today~." She was fond of poking some fun with these two.

"With her?" Houmin blew air from his nose. "I'll probably be dead by now--not by a bullet, by having my head rattle all the time she's nagging at me."

"You shouldn't be talking like that. It ruins the whole hero image." Viñia humored him while on a corner of her eye, taking notes of the gestures and reactions Skylar made.

Houmin took offense to that and joke back. "Ahh, yes. The toaster-fixing-hero. I get a toaster, fix it, then everyone had another trip in the magical space. Fun stuff, really."

"...Stop being tense!" Viñia slapped his shoulder, "So serious, baby blue eyes. We'll help you find those toasters, though." giving him a warm smile. This was her way of establishing a rapport with Houmin. She'd hope to at least see him try to talk with Skylar about what happened with God and meeting his family. For her, as the resident psychological professional for this whole group to keep track of everyone's mental health, especially the VIP for this shitshow.

"Can I ask you a question, ma'am?" Houmin said without glancing at her. He felt a shot of anxiety, and it is showing as he hastily arranges the modification on his AK and body armor. "That is if you have the time..."

"Happy to help," Viñia replied without a second thought. "Ask away."

Houmin then paused as he took a deep breath, "The implications of knowing the future... How can I help myself to cope with that?"

Viñia smiled at him as she made sense of what he asked of her. Clairvoyance? Future? Established knowledge? A lot of thoughts crossed her mind before settling into one idea, His awareness of future events in this world.

"Future huh," She spoke in a roundabout way even though she had already figured him out. "Experiences of the scientific community when it comes to knowing the future is limited to a hypothesis based on congruent data. But in your case, knowing the future... I'm gonna assume it's about this world, and that means a lot to your conscience. For yearning for a "Hero Future" where you want to save everyone. Since you have been given the knowledge of a future and a purpose."

"The best question that will be is, what are you going to do?" She explains, "The advice I can give is that this your future that you will need to grasp. There's a saying that when one door closes, another opens... A concept of opportunity, and since you knew of the future that will or may happen... it's still up to you to actualize those opportunities."

Houmin, though unsure, started to feel a prickly thorn inside of him as been pulled out. "Then what if I made a mistake and messed up the whole timeline?"

"Hmm," Viñia thought hard on that, "Then be prepared for the consequences. There's no perfect plan. It's how you pick yourself up from those mistakes is what counts. It's not like you tripped on something then, next thing you know, the whole robot army came barreling down on us."

On the other hand, Skylar had no idea what's going on in this conversation. Future, robots, consequences, and shit. This is the same shit she just told Houmin about. It's not even past 5 minutes before an uneasy feeling swelled up inside her.

Viñia caught Skylar's expression and clapped her hands, cutting the counseling session with Houmin. "Why not head to where Bear and Castle are at? Help out with teaching the Rangers about their new stuff? A new pace from a new environment tends to help a healthy mind, You know."

Houmin grabbed a rag from his table to clean his hand from grease. He was about to agree to Viñia's offer but remember what he and Skylar talked about. "Wanna do something else? I'm not sure if it keeps us company, but it'll help us get close with the rangers."

He was waiting for her to decide, and Skylar appreciated it. Although she wanted this kind of question to be used in a different context. Like going on a suicidal mission or in a dynamic firefight. Still, she appreciated it.

"Alright," Skylar tied her hair to a ponytail before she answered. "Lead on, Toastie. Let's try to have some fun--Oh! Don't forget my shower!"

"Shower?" Viñia was caught off guard by that, "We're under strict water rationing, we won't be able to take any shower for months..."

!!!

Skylar snapped her head to Houmin. The latter looks at her with a grinning smile while she madly grinds her teeth... Realizing that even though she demanded to have him gave her much due shower, she forgot the fact that the moron actually agreed so easily to it! Cause if even he promised that shower, he won't be able to give her a chance to do so. Furthermore, he might use the excuse line of 'I'm sorry since the rangers said we can't have any shower blah blah blah.' In short, there's no shower!

With this in mind, and her eyes flared in anger. She squeezed her fist and then took a dash forward and gave Houmin a Mishima style lightning hook!

"Ohh, look..." Viñia pouted, "They're back to normal... Hurry up, you two."

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Author's ramblings

First of all, thank you so much for Gaming_Mask for providing pics of the weapons! An idea popped into my mind about that kind of representation in the future chapters. So thank you THANK YOU! very much!

Please point out the typos, wrong tempos, and other improvement suggestions! Small stuff will help in the long run!

♪ Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles ♪