They continued along the tunnel until they reached another trapdoor where Yinn had taken the initiative to climb up the ladder. She purposefully knocked twice and waited for a response knock.
What they heard in return was some sort of morse code. While Jin knew the basis of morse code, he needed time to decipher it and it was even harder without the System to identify it for him. And yet, the former astral cultivator also believed that it was useless to even think that morse code could be replicated the same way as what he had on Earth. So, he stood at the side waiting for Yinn to give the affirmation morse code. (Author’s note: Nope, no peeking up!)
Yinn replied in response and soon the trapdoor opened, beaming in stronger rays of light into the tunnel with words of relief being thrown towards Yinn as she reunited with the group on the surface. Jin climbed up slowly and noticed that the chattering ceased slowly with Yinn leading the squad to be at attention.
Without any words, they stood upright in a synchronous manner and subsequently saluted Jin as he emerged out of the tunnel.
“At ease, please,” Jin said, feeling a little uncomfortable when he noticed how the trapdoor only led him to yet another derelict looking house. All he could assume was that they were in some safehouse of sorts and hoped that it was their main headquarters. Even when Jin told them to be at ease, the other three asked Yinn for the latest updates as if she was a reliable older sister.
“He lost his memories and he even blurted the word sorry. It’s your choice if you want to give him a second chance.” Yinn said and the rest eyed Jin silently.
“But we gave him lots of chances before, how can we prove that he is not bluffing this time around?” Another female with a cap on to hold her ponytail up queried Yinn.
“He grabbed his own gun away from me and tried to shoot me, assuming that I am the enemy. Even the past Jin would have been a pussy to even fire a shot at us despite his crappy attitude.” Yinn said and the rest were surprised.
“PTE Tellie.” The girl with the cap on announced her name and the other two reluctantly gave their names too.
“PTE Diaz” The War Maiden with bun up blond hair saluted momentarily.
“PTE Click” The War Maiden removed her full face helmet and revealed her entire face to Jin. Short Brown hair but she seemed to be the toughest one among the group.
“Oh yea, I did not tell my designation. Corporal (CPL) Yinn. We are under your squad, the Grey Bears. Commander Jin. Oh and if you have really lost my memories then you are of the 2nd lieutenant(LT) rank.” Yinn said as she casually saluted Jin once more.
“Grey Bears…” Jin could not help but wonder whether even with this force teleportation to another multiverse world, he still could not move away from his destiny of Pandas.
“But before we explain anything to this clueless commander, is it wise we carry on with the mission?” Tellie asked and Jin understood where she is coming from. If the leader had been compromised and been of dead weight, he would not want him to lead as well.
“Do we even have a choice? We cannot do this autonomously, and orders from LT are needed to ensure that the mission proceeded smoothly. If we abandoned him, we do not get paid as well. Not to mention we are still raking in interest rates and debts from previous repairs.” Yinn explained and Tellie sighed.
“Even with a command such as do as you wish?” Jin asked and the four of them eyed him momentarily as if it was a hated command. “…Understood. I shall not suggest that ever again.” Upon hearing the last sentence, the Grey Bears stared at each other as if they did not expect such a response from him.
“Erm… Can someone who lost their memory, change their attitude that much as well?” Diaz asked in such an upfront manner that it made the rest chuckle a little.<.com>
“Fine, let’s trust this new commander and if it is not feasible… we shall do ‘whatever we want. Alright?” Tellie asked and everyone else nodded in agreement.
“So, what’s the current situation and mission status?” Jin asked and Tellie stepped forward while touching her right eye. Soon, a holographic image came out from her eye and it projected a map. Yinn then took the initiative to explain the current objective.
“Grey Bears had taken the mission to recon and clear out the Village Artridge of possible rebels for the Empire. But as all of you aside from the new LT had known, Artridge was not just filled with rebels but they had built quite a fortification as well. The only thing we can do is to perform as much damage as possible and report back. That way, we might be able to get some partial reward.”
“Partial reward?” Jin asked and Tellie touched the side of her eye once again, revealing an extended screen showing Jin the mission requirements.
“Basic Objective: Recon and find any rebels If any, clear the village.
Bonus Objective: Kill at least 15 Rebels.
Bonus Objective: Kill at least 30 Rebels
Bonus Objective: Kill a Known Rebel Leader.”
“Those bonus objectives are there as bonus cash either in the event the mission got out of hand, or we got lucky. That way, we won’t return to report the mission empty handed.” Yinn said while Diaz mumbled stating along the lines that sometimes, it is just impossible to do so.
“Don’t you feel that this is one of them as well? The Commander even decided to recon by himself despite our protests and see what he got into. Got hit by a side explosion and poof! Memory loss.”
“We should be glad that he did not lose any hands or legs and is still able to command the squad,” Yinn commented but the rest merely shrugged their shoulders.
“Any backup? Is this the size of our squad?” Jin asked and they nodded their heads in unison.
“You told everyone back at the mission cafe that you will be doing this alone and it sounded simple. People were making bets that you will lose.” Click responded and Diaz added that the previous ‘Jin’ also place bets that he would win, saying that this was their one chance to go big or go home.
“And nobody erm stopped me?” Jin asked and they all gave the annoyed sigh. The entire Grey Bear Squad had already resigned to the fact that Jin would lose the bet money, earn more ‘reputation’ from his great bluff and get some petty cash to cover the interest rates before proceeding to their next mission if they were lucky to get another one.
Jin could not shake his head at the incompetency of his previous ‘self’ and take a look at the map that Tellie was projecting. If he wished to redeem himself from this squad, he had to prove himself… sensibly.
