<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Growing Pains <del>   </del> Part 1</strong></span></div><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/tia89xp.png)</div><br/><strong>NAME:</strong>Leasick Valshanner<br/><strong>DAY:</strong>January 1st, 2014, 01:14/1:14AM<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>Black District Warehouse<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>Standard Issue Combat Gear (https://i.imgur.com/kTWcnvz.jpg)<br/><br/><hr/><br/>It felt claustrophobic wearing the helmet, now more than ever. He couldn’t keep himself from displaying nervous ticks; the tapping of a foot and fidgety behavior. Didn’t help he was the only one packed into the back of the armored transport vehicle to display that sort of behavior. The rest were looking fairly stoic. Even if he couldn’t see their faces with the helmets on, the body language made it clear who was the experienced one and who was a rookie on their first actual mission.<br/><br/><strong>”Oof…”</strong>The soft grunt was uttered more in surprise than anything else as Leasick felt an elbow prod into his side. It was Thall, one of three actual demons on the squad of a dozen being deployed. A disciple of war, he was relatively young for his species at about a hundred and twenty, if he recalled correctly. By comparison, he was just an infant, being just eighteen. But Thall was kind of like an older brother that Leasick had never had, providing a guiding hand to help him settle in the squad, which the young artificial hybrid had joined just a few weeks ago.<br/><br/>Truth be told, Leasick was an outcast, even in a group of trained professionals such as this. He was considered no longer human, but not a demon, or even a hybrid, either. Though nobody had ever said it to his face before, he knew he was thought of by many as a freak or even an abomination. The only thing that kept people in check was the fear of what big sis Oei might do to them if they crossed the line.<br/><br/><strong>”I know you don’t like being cooped in a car, but just keep yourself in check, son,”</strong>the older man whispered, his voice masked by the roaring of the engine and the heavy rain bombarding the reinforced metal roof above their heads. The helmet on Leasick’s head shifted forward slightly, looking like a nod.<br/><br/><strong>”Yeah… Yeah, okay…”</strong><br/><br/>Come on, remember the lessons from master Azmodiel.<br/><br/>Breath in.<br/><br/>And out.<br/><br/>Repeat.<br/><br/>And again.<br/><br/>There we go.<br/><br/>Just as he’d gotten himself under control a little, the vehicle began to slow down, the brakes causing everyone to shift in their seats a bit. A few moments after it had halted completely the double doors at the back sprang open.<br/><br/><strong>”Out,”</strong>the gruff voice of squad leader Honda barked, and as well trained combat dogs, they obeyed immediately and filed out of the car and into the pouring rain and the cover of night. Dozens of droplets bombarded his helmet like tiny knocking hands as his boots landed in a puddle, causing water to splash up. Placing two gloved fingertips against the side of his visor, the darkness was basked in greenish light as the night vision mode was activated, allowing him to see further into the darkness than just a few feet.<br/><br/>The vehicle had been parked at the entrance of a narrow alleyway that was nestled between large warehouses. This was the small part of the Black District that covered some of the old shipment docks, so there were a lot of old warehouses that were ideal for the homeless to take refuge in or for crooks to do their shady business relatively undisturbed and in secrecy. It was hard for SOPHE to keep tabs on what was going on in all corners of the district, but informants had tipped them to something big going down that night. Their mission was to infiltrate and apprehend anyone and confiscate anything suspicious. Normally a raid like this required a warrant, but this was a black ops type of affair. All off the record and such. High risk, high reward scenario.<br/><br/>It made him question a little why he, as a rookie, was sent out along with the rest of them, then…<br/><br/>No. Now was not the time to doubt himself. Master Azmodiel hadn’t put him through the wringer just to make him question his abilities. Inexperienced or not, Leasick was, at this point, highly trained and capable. He wasn’t<em>given</em>this position on Theta Squad, he had<em>earned</em>it!<br/><br/>Raising his assault rifle, he flipped the safety off and kept his finger beside the trigger, falling in line with the rest as they slowly crept forward through the alley, keeping close to the walls and checking their flanks at all times as they progressed. At the end was a heavy, metal sliding door that was supposed to lead them into the back area of a third warehouse. Silently, the commander ordered Thall and another forward. Doing so, they positioned themselves at the large handle of the door. Then, with a nod of their leader, they pulled in unison.<br/><br/>With a heavy groan, the metal door slid open and another against moved forward, checking the immediate area inside. Giving the all-clear hand sign, they all began to file into the building quickly but quietly. Taking a deep breath, Leasick brought up the rear.<br/><br/>Here we go.<br/><br/><strong>End of Part 1</strong>