Aegis Academy - Chapter 2

The so-called Principal continued asking questions that Jack had no way of answering. He felt completely helpless and exposed, Michael's barrage of inquiries only proved jack to be unknowing in this situation, which only added to Jack's anxiety.

Finally, the frequency of the questions seemed to die down, meaning Jack's fate was soon coming to two possible endings: they will either be both understanding of Jack's predicament and generous enough to let him go free, or dispose of him for knowing the secret location of the apparent Academy and erase any evidence of a leak from within. Jack had high hopes for the former. His life depended on the former.

"Johnson, hand me his belongings" said Michael with an authoritative tone and Johnson obeyed. Michael fiddled with the Plastic evidence bag and emptied its contents.

He spread the contents on the blood-stained table and inspected each item individually. He suddenly froze when his eyes fell on a lapel pin.

The pin looked completely ordinary, a pin one usually places on a collar or a necktie, and it had no distinctive features. That is how it looked to an ordinary person anyway.

To Michael, the pin's design was very familiar. Very nostalgic. It was simply a hand clutching a wild lightning bolt; though aesthetically pleasing, the design was not unique enough to warrant recognition by anyone, but Michael recognised it in a heartbeat. Michael bore witness to its power twenty-odd years ago in this very academy.

******

It was a dark, cold, and unforgiving night, like any other day in this wretched island. The stars gleamed in the sky above as natural light illuminated the deep, dark forest in the heart of the Lost Island.

Michael, as squadron leader, paved the way for his comrades through the thick, and mostly untouched by man, greens of the forest. He had earlier been given the order by the new Council members to venture into the forest and look for a cave. That was all. No explanation whatsoever, just co-ordinates and a map.

Michael wasn't about to take any chances with the lives of his long serving squad members for an unexplained order, so he and his men geared up to the hilt. Best Kevlar vests money can buy, automatic machine guns, high powered rifles, ample ammunition and even frag grenades. Michael was of the opinion that since they were going in blind, they should be ready for anything.

His squad was made up of five members: Dominic was the sharpshooter- best to graduate from the Academy in 10 years. Christian was the melee and close combat expert, Sean the weapons expert, and Singh the communications and navigation specialist. Then of course was Michael, the squad leader who is a specialist in many areas of combat. By military standards, they were a complete team and Michael was proud to be serving amongst them.

They moved silently though ground infested with potential position-revealing obstacles; twigs, leaves, and ancient looking traps that were surprisingly still active.

This was the Death Squad.

A title given to the most effective team available at that point in time, and this quad held the title for over three years, which, given the number of squads created each year, is quite an achievement. Bluntly put, this squad is the best of the absolute best, with virtually no competition.

This mission was to find the cave in the indicated co-ordinates and gather whatever was inside. They were given permission to use whatever force necessary to eliminate obstacles.

As they grew closer to the target, Michael saw camping equipment surrounding a fire. When he was given permission to get rid of complications, he did not realise some of these complications could take the form of a human being. He didn't have any quarrel with killing, but he didn't expect any human life so far into the forest. A place secluded from the Academy, which in turn is secluded from the world. Any unauthorised presence here was unusual to say the least.

They were camping in this place as if it were a picnic in the park. Whoever is here must be dangerous. The only reason he and his squad reached this point unchallenged was because of their training, and a little trial and error through which they learned what paths to take to avoid danger. Even with their training and experience they considered themselves extremely fortunate to not have run into the beasts living in this forest. Ferocious beasts that even his elite squad would have trouble dealing with had misfortune united them.

They must be cautious with their approach to the target. Everyone in the squad nodded silently indicating their collective understanding.

There was no movement in the campsite. An icy silence filled the air. It was dangerous, they must regroup and re-evaluate their position. Before Michael could relay his order to the squad, he felt a very familiar, very unsettling, sensation creeping up on them. Bloodlust

"Move back! Move back! Retreat!!" Michael shouted with every ounce of authority he could muster but it was too late. Battle ensued. An arrow flew towards them but their reaction was immediate, as should an elite squad's reaction be. Everyone opened fire at once towards the source of that arrow.

It was after the squad almost emptied their magazines on the target that Michael figured out it were a distraction.

Two people covered in black hoods dropped down in the middle of the standard combat formation and instantaneously, faster than any human Michael had ever seen, the pair turned their attention to the squad and knocked them unconscious with swift and accurate hits to the neck. His elite squad was taken down by merely two unarmed, average looking men. While Michael's body was frozen momentarily by disbelief, the shorter of the two quickly picked up a pistol from the ground and pointed it squarely at Michael's chest. Michael has never realised what helplessness was until that moment.

Men trained in a secret academy whose sole purpose is to produce the world's best soldiers were supposed to be the most suitable to handle such situations. They were supposed to protect the ones that couldn't handle it. They were the ones that protected the Academy's vision for a better world.

Michael was the best of those men: Graduating top of his class, winning the Olympia competitions, and actually having many successful real-life missions under his belt, yet here he was. In front of two unarmed men unable to do anything.

He was helpless.

Michael could do nothing but surrender his weapon and kneel. They didn't kill his comrades, meaning there was a chance no one will die tonight. At least for now.

"He appears to be their leader, what should we do with him?" said the man holding Michael's life in his palms.

"Let him go. I want to speak to him for a little while" replied the other man.

The first man swiftly dismantled the pistol he was holding and threw it to the side, then moved to the rest and did the same. He easily found hidden weapons on the squad's persons without even performing the standard elongated searches.

"Hello there, Mr. Leader. I hope my friend and I didn’t inconvenience you and your men in any way" said the other man sarcastically. "We were simply defending ourselves against what looked like intruders." Added in a more serious tone "I'm sure you understand"

"Who are you?" Michael tried his best to look as unthreatening as he could possibly be.

"Huh?! You came to murder us in cold blood while we camped and ate delicious marshmallows and you didn't even know who we were!!" Michael recognised the obvious sarcasm in the man's voice, though did not understand the reason behind it. "I'm joking of course. You and your men were more than likely never given any information on us, otherwise you would have brought a few dozen more men"

That was an extremely exaggerated statement if Michael ever heard one, however, the completely solemn and uncaring attitude of the man gave the impression that he didn't mean it to be a sarcastic comment.

This man was either a delusional sociopath, or a very formidable opponent. Either way, Michael was praying that the time to find out would never come.