Imperium: Volume 1

"Hey Juniper! I saw the messenger bring this to your door, but I took the liberty of holding it for you while you were......busy.......and I went ahead and shut the door." She said with a grin gleeming from ear to ear.

I felt a sudden hotness on my face, as I grabbed the blueprint from her.

"Thank you Sarah." And returned the smile.

I made my way back into my unit, and placed the blueprint on the counter, rolling it out.

"Juniper?" I heard Raeve say over on the bed.

I looked at him. "Shut up." I said with a grin.

"Didn't I already do that?" He said with a cheeky smile.

I looked over the blueprint. This one was more detailed, showing irrigation systems, sewer systems, and even underground water systems. Raeve made his way over. I particularly focused on all the entry ways and possible exits to the prisoners bay.

"I think it's time I get dressed into something more appropriate." Said Raeve before he disappeared from my view.

I still didn't get all the details of the mission, but if they were holding my father here, I needed to know all the ins and outs of the building. It didn't take long before Raeve reappeared, and in his hand was a binder. I looked at it as he set it on the table. I looked up to him, as he was peering over the blueprints.

"What's this?" I asked pointing to the binder.

"If I can't stop you from going, I want you know every detail on what's going down tomorrow night." He said, and he made his way over to my side of the table, sliding the binder over to me.

He opened it and the first page had all but two words.

" Project Midnight "

He went over every detail of the plan, and I did nothing but take in every word.

The word of General Elias coming to the city, was one they had been waiting for a long time. Apparently, he was constantly on the move, which made him difficult to track, as The Dominion were on a global scale.

Tomorrow night he has a fleet of armored trucks making there way into the city. There main priority, is to transfer prisoners from the Prisoners Bay to other camps in locations, that were not yet known. Which meant that if I was going to find my dad there, now was the time to do it. The other reason, was General Elias was the one overseeing the transfer, so stage 2 of the mission was to cut the head off the snake. Kipskys's words.

"How are we going to accomplish this though? It's not like we can just walk in." I asked.

"We have a couple armoured trucks down in the hanger that we've been working on, that will get us in." Raeve said.

"But what about the inspection point. Won't they be looking in the back?" I questioned.

"Remember that pit stop in Trent?" He asked.

"How could I forget." I stated.

"I met with a man, and he was able to secure some Dom Squad uniforms. A few chests full of them. They showed up a few days ago, and will be going along with you. There in charge of setting up explosives in this main building here where they house the top officials. He said while pointing at a spot on the blueprint.

"And what about the prisoners?" I pressed.

"I'm not sure where Harry is going to have you but there will be 2 teams going in. One to detonate and one to complete a truck full of transfers, where they will make there way back here." He informed me.

From what I was understanding, there was no way we would be able to get all the prisoners in two of the trucks. He could tell I was thinking of it.

"June." He said. "We're not able to help everyone. Our main target is to get Elias. So you have to understand when your going in there, only a few can come back with you."

He turned to the back of the binder where I saw profiles of individuals photos.

"These are the people that need to make it out. They have family working in the resistance." He said.

As he flipped through the photos, I recognised one of the woman as Kipsky's wife. I looked away before shutting the binder. Either way I had to make sure my father was there. One way or another, he was going on one of those trucks.

"June." Raeve turned me to him. "I already know what your going to do. I can see the others turning a blind eye, so you do what you need to do, but please do me this one thing." He said.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Just......come back to me." He said as he held his head down.

I grabbed his dogs tags, and played with them in my hand before I pulled him down to where his mouth met mine.

Knock Knock.

We pulled away, as we heard a knock on the door. It was Jay.

"Oh Raeve. Well that's convenient, I was going to head to your unit after. Harry needs to see you both in the mission control room." He said, taking his leave shortly after.

Raeve had a look on his face, that told me he didn't like where this was going. He looked at me taking my hand, and he led me to the mission control room.

As we walked in, the room was jammed packed with what looked liked to be everyone who was part of the detail. I looked around and recognised a few faces as we walked over to the other side of the room. I saw Kipsky at the back of the room with his brows furrowed and his arms crossing over his chest. He certainly looked intimidating and towered over many of the others. We made our way over to him.

"What's going on?" I asked him as I took a spot beside him with Raeve.

"Not sure, I think we are going over the final details for tomorrow. How are you feeling about this?" He asked me.

I took a deep breath. "I'm not sure yet. You?"

He looked at me and patted the spot on his jacket that held the photo of Anja. I gave him a grin, and looked back to Raeve who had the most confused look on his face. He leaned over to me and whispered in my ear.

"How do you know Kipsky?" He asked.

"We share something in common." I told him.

He looked over at Kipsky, who turned and shared a glare with him. Raeve just looked away.

"Okay." He murmured under his breath.

"Okay everybody listen up!" Harry yelled. "We are going to run through this one last time. We have been going over this scenario for some time now, and with word of Elias making his way here it's now or never. You will be joining the fleet to the rear, as they drive to the Capital. Team One! you know who you are. You are in charge of the detonation. You break off at this building." He said while pointing to a projected map, "and will make your way through the underground sewage system where you will place your charges directly under our target. Team 2. You will be assisting the prison transfer. We have an inside man who has already secured the prisoners as your cargo. Your main objective is to get them past the inspection point. You will be the first truck in the fleet on the way back, where you will have to render the vehicle useless. We set a spike bomb in the tire which you will set off at the specified time. Jay?"

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Make sure you share the same channel as our inside man, for he will be sending another truck to pick you up along with the refugees. That truck will consist of team 1. That should give you enough time for the fleet to continue on their route and will leave you as the last remaining vehicle on the road. And if everything goes as planned our inside man, will detonate the Capital building, while we slip out and make our way back here."

"Is that understood?" He asked.

Everyone in the room answered in unison. "Understood!"

Someone spoke up, and asked the dreaded question that I had pondered myself.

"What about the other prisoners?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, but there is no room to change the details. We go in and get out as fast as possible. Any changes could compromise the mission." Harry answered.

I thought that was absolute bullshit. And apparently I wasn't the only one. I can see maybe one or two more, but from the sound of it, there were others who had the same idea as me. I could feel my heartbeat jumping through my chest, and my eyes began to glow.

Raeve quickly stood in front of me to block from anyone seeing me and took my hand in his.

"Breathe." He whispered to me.

I took deep breathes, to try and calm myself. The next thing I saw was Kipsky standing next to Raeve to help further block me.

"Don't worry June, I'll make sure we get him on that truck." He also whispered to me.

And with that I was able to calm down. I squeezed Raeves hand to let him know I was ok, and then he moved back beside me. I could see him looking at me, but my sight was fixed on someone else.

Harry.

"That's a wrap! everyone please get a good night's rest and say your goodbyes to your friends and family. Tomorrow we make our move." Harry finished.

Everyone started making their way out before Harry called me over.

"June, I need talk to you." He said. "Alone."

Raeve looked at me, and I nodded to let him know I'll be alright. He shared a distasteful look to Harry before leaving. Harry waited for everyone to leave, before he continued to talk.

"June, you must be wondering where I'll need you." He paused. "You'll be escorting Team 1 into the main capitals building. Our number one priority is that this team can securely set up the detonation devices. Did you look over the blue prints?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes." I answered.

"Sir the prisoners bay." I said.

"Don't worry about that, team 2 will have that handled. You just focus on your task at hand, and if anything goes wrong, you know the layout of the place." He told me.

"Sir, you have a call." Someone said from the door.

"I have to go June, but you understand what you have to do?" He asked one last time.

"To protect the detonation team." I replied.

"Good." He said before he walked away.

I stood there for a moment longer before making my way out in search of Kipsky. I understood he was part of team 2, and I needed to ask him something. I found him with his men having some final drinks.

"Kipsky!" I yelled over to him.

I walked over to him and pulled him aside.

"Everything ok June?" He asked warmly. Even though his men were the ones setting up the detonation, he was accompanying team 2. That was his part of the bargain.

"No, Harry put me on detail 1. M......my dad." He cut me off before I could say another word.

"Whats his name?" He asked.

"He won't answer to it. He'll know what's going on if you use my name." I told him.

He pondered over it, but agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll get him out of there." He reassured me.

"It's Juniper." I told him. "You say my name, he'll know it's me." I looked at him sternly.

He nodded. I gave him a hug thanking him. "I hope you find your Anja."

And with that I left. Raeve found me walking back to my unit. I looked at him and grabbed his hand.

"Stay with me tonight?"