LONE: The Journey Beyond

Everyone looked at Reven with questioning eyes.

Then, in their Seven-Links, they got the reply...

"It was me." The one who spoke was none other than Ronny. It was then that they realised what had happened.

When the Cyborg was going to self-destruct itself, Reven held it in position so that it didn't make any unnecessary movements, which made it easier for Ronny to lock onto its position. Then, with the help of Vera and Aleena, Ronny shot the weakest point of the Cyborg, thereby neutralising it.

Phew!

Sighs of relief came from everyone.

"For a second, I thought we were goners." Ken said.

"Well, all's well that ends well." Reven replied with a relieved face; clearly, he was also very tensed there, like everyone else. How can they not be? This was their first on-field mission, and they had to deal with a Cyborg on their very first mission.

Although the purpose of their creation was to beat the Cyborgs and the Super-Soldiers, but they were still quite inexperienced.

It was then that Aimee rushed to the battlefield and jumped on Reven with a tight hug.

"Thank God you are safe. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you." Aimee blurted without realising that others were here too.

The atmosphere turned awkward.

Cough! Cough!

Reven coughed and said, "Commander, I think this isn't the right time."

Aimee realised that she had unknowingly said something that she shouldn't have and blushed, but she quickly turned serious again and continued, "Apologies everyone, I lost myself for a bit there. You all have done a wonderful job.

Not only have we secured the target, but now we also have a full-fledged Cyborg in good condition, this will definitely be a big leap in ISC's research studies."

Talos then chimed in and said, "Let's have a party tonight, guys."

"Hell yeah, let's have one. What do you say, captain?" Jun agreed.

"Why not? Let's have one. It will really help us relax." Reven replied.

Aimee added, "You guys go. The regiment will handle the rest."

"Yes, commander."

With that, Reven and his group took the jeep, which had just arrived, and left the battlefield.

Looking at the back of the jeep, Aimee's smile turned into indifference, and her eyes turned cold as she gritted her teeth.

'These bastards... They sent 10-year-old kids to handle such missions. They are out of their minds.'

-----

Later that evening.

The group had already returned to ISC and was having a party.

"Damn, after becoming a Meta-Human, even the most concentrated alcohol gets digested like normal water." Aleena said while drinking a glass of wine.

"Well, you have to sacrifice something to get something else.

Plus, don't forget, at least we can drink wine at the age of 10 because we are Meta-Humans. There aren't any other 10 year olds who can drink wine, you know. " Ken responded.

"That's true. We are getting healing effects almost to the point of regeneration for nothing. Plus, our physical bodies are capable enough to be unaffected by most types of energy outputs. Even radiation can't destroy our bodies." Geena cited.

"Sigh, if only it also provided us with unlimited strength rather than just increasing the talent, capacity, and durability of our bodies." Parth muttered with a sigh.

"C'mon guys, we are already better than others in many ways, so be happy with what you have and don't sound so pessimistic." Talos chimed in.

"Talos is right, guys; we are already much better than the others, and at least we don't have chips implanted in our brains. That itself is good, isn't it?" Felix agreed, supporting Talos.

"You fu*kers, lemme enjoy some wine, will you? Stop spouting like some all-knowing bitches and enjoy for now, will ya?" Reven shouted, silencing the rest as they looked at Reven astonishingly.

"What? Don't think too much. For now, enjoy already."

Silence persevered…

Then…

Hahaha… Hahahaha…

"Well, he is right. There is no point in discussing those things right now. Let's just enjoy while we can."

At the same time, four people could be seen sitting on large chairs inside the ISC army base, watching two women below who were dressed in army uniforms and listening to the report they were giving.

The two women were none other than Aimee and Vera, while the report was about the mission they just completed.

After finishing the report, one of the four commented, "Marvellous! These kids really didn't let us down. The results were even better than expected."

"Meta-Human Squad has been a great success indeed. If only the government becomes ready to spend more money on them, we can literally change our position from avoiding the wars to finally making a stand for ourselves." Another officer added.

"The Seven-Links are a success too; they are much better than the current communication technology. Plus, we have a Cyborg now. It will be a great boost to the nanotech weapons that we are researching. What do you say, Dr. Vera?"

Vera looked slightly worried but still said, "Sir, you are absolutely correct. But, sir…"

Aimee cut off Vera and said coldly to the officer, "All this comes at a cost, sir. Those kids… We are taking their childhood from them without any justification, sir." This was what Vera was worried about.

"Major Solace, I think we have already talked about that."

"Yes, and we didn't reach any conclusions."

"That's what I am saying too. You know better than anyone else that we can't inject GEP if the age conditions aren't met. We simply do not have options right now.

This isn't the 21st century, so we have to take risks and paint our hands with sin for the sake of many, if needed. Do you think we want it to be that way? No, but do we have any other options?

Intelligence reports have said that the situation in Africa is getting even more serious if either the US or the Communist Federation (CF) takes total control of the world's only remaining resource land, then the ISC is doomed.

The US and CF are even ready to fight the 5th World War for the resources there. Right now, we don't know what's happening on the moon, even after spending billions.

We can't be idealists here; there is just too much at stake."

Silence filled the room.

After seemingly an eternity of silence passed, Aimee said, "After this mission, we can expect Australia and New Zealand to have good relations with ISC, even if not to the level of military support, but at least we should not worry about the resources for the time being.

So, I request that you at least give the MHS enough experience before fighting those abominations again."

"We also want that, but the government will not agree. The current government is supported by a coalition, and it is not stable to the point where they can take these decisions easily.

And without a clear decision from the government, Sir Rawanth won't issue the order." One of the officers answered.

"I will take responsibility for it. But for one year only, that's the most I can get you all." Another officer stated with a resolute expression. Clearly, this had a lot of problems on its own too.

The Army of ISC was not a dictating force, not yet at least; rather, they were more nationalists who worked for the national interest, which was one of the reasons there had been no coup in ISC till date.

"Thank you very much, sir. At least they can earn enough experience during this period of time." Aimee replied gratifyingly.

"Now, let's talk about the team, shall we?" The officer continued.

"Major, we have gone through the files of each one of them, and we are satisfied with all the results and their work.

But I think maybe we could make Talos Brightt the leader. I mean, Reven Greh is definitely the best if we talk about competency, but the MHS will soon be the face of the army, and I don't think the guy has that much charisma."

"I have pondered about it too, sir. Reven Greh is more analytical and practical, but he lacks the passion to go forward. He takes this as a pure job rather than a service."

"Well, most of them in the army are like that. I think the problem is that he lacks ambition."

"It is as you say, so we have decided that during operations, Reven Greh will lead the team, but the face will be Talos Brightt."

"It is what it is, then.

Also, commander, send them to different countries, from Australia to Japan. Use this time to nurture them as much as possible. We think the fight for Africa will start within a year or two."

"I understand, sir. They will be ready before that." Aimee said resolutely.

"You are dismissed."

"For ISC!" Aimee and Vera saluted and left.

-----

The day after.

Reven and Co. woke up with fresh minds.

After having their breakfast, they met up with Aimee to ask about their new missions or whether they were going back to the academy.

Honestly, they dreaded going back to the academy, as they already knew Earth's entire history from its beginning to the present, including the history of nations, politics, legends, and even science and math.

It was necessary, as their brains needed thousands of times more pressure to fully activate. This was a necessary nightmare for all of them except for Reven and Aleena. Reven always liked these things more than fighting anyway, while this was Aleena's field.

But what they were thinking didn't happen as Aimee assigned them their new mission. What surprised them, though, was that they were not in teams; rather, they were getting individual missions.

"Congratulations! All of you are promoted to Lieutenant rank as of today. You will be working with normal people, so it is necessary for you.

Now back to the main topic:

Talos and Jun will leave for the Western Command. Aleena and Geena will be transferred to the Central Command for R&D. Parth and Jun will go to Australia to deepen our ties with them. Ronny will be going to Antarctica.

Felix will go to London as a spy.

As for Reven, you will be going to Japan!"

…..

Author's Note:

>> I tried to add a bit more of a human element to the story through this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

*****