Afterglow

Chapter 2 - Call Of Duty

I covered my ears in annoyance as Mr. Hawk, my pet companion continues to tease me with his irritate loud chattering sounds. "Fine! Fine! Stop! I'll give you food, you bird ass," I said before sighing. 

I stood up from lying on my bed before walking towards my luggage where I placed Mr. Hawk's treat. Damn it! I shouldn't have brought Mr. Hawk on this vacation. Mr. Hawk is always hungry anyway. Tsk!

After taking out Mr. Hawk's treat, I smiled as an idea popped into my mind before facing Mr. Hawk's direction. Maybe, teasing back Mr. Hawk is not a bad thing. My pet companion is enjoying the vacation so maybe, I'll just do the same. This vacation is meaningless anyway if I didn't help myself to enjoy it.

"You want this, right?" I said as I slowly walked toward Mr. Hawk's wooden perch platform, shaking the can of Mr. Hawk's treat in my left hand. "Who wants the food now? Who's the hungry bird now?" 

Mr. Hawk just answered me with his chattering talk while he was bobbing head, excited with the can of treats I'm holding in my hand. I stopped walking. I hold the can opener as I show it to Mr. Hawk, making him more excited. 

When I opened the can of treats, I was right when Mr. Hawk became more excited with his treat. He was trying to fly towards me but he's in a normal state so he couldn't fly himself while a string attached to his feet wasn't letting him fly. 

I grinned widely before taking out a piece of Mr. Hawk's treat, letting him see it in my fingers. "You, hungry, Mr. Hawks?" I said but Mr. Hawks just answered me with chattering chirps again, making me sighed. "This is nonsense," I muttered lowly before throwing the treats directly on Mr. Hawk's beak. 

Mr. Hawk effortlessly caught the chunk of meat in his beak before chomping on it that made me smile. When I turned around, I jumped in shock after seeing my father looking at me with his serious face with the help of holographic telepresence systems in my room. 

"What the heck, Dad? Don't you know how to knock?" I said, joking but it seems like my Father is really serious at the moment as he continues to stay on his grim expression. 

"I'm sorry, Son. But I'm afraid I need to cut you off from your vacation," General Dox Ar said that made my head knot in confusion. 

"Why? Is there something wrong? Has there been an attack? Do you want me to do something?" I said but Father only turned his back on me, facing the window in my cabin that is showing the closer look on Earth. 

"I need you to do something, Son. Something is off. The White Steorras is doing something suspicious behind our backs. The count of White Steorras entering the Earth without putting a fight has been increasing and I believe it will be you, the best man I can trust to go recon on Earth," my Father said that made me took a step backward. 

I'm actually feeling giddy because at last, I'm the one who has been given the privilege to come down to Earth but I don't know if I can trust myself with this mission the way my Dad chooses to trust me. I'm still a Colonel, unlike my Father who has skills with everything. 

"B-but Father, a-are you sure about this? Do you think I can accomplish this mission? It's Earth. No Black Steorra has been accepted to come down. Does the ESSO allowed us to conduct recon on Earth?" One thing for sure, if White Steorras really has a goal, the humans on Earth have no other choice but to allow us, or else they will be surprised once the White Steorras who already entered the Earth started an attack on Earth's ground. They will be defenseless once they did not let us enter. 

"They had no choice..." Just like I said. "But the ESSO's officials are still against it so---"

"What?! They aren't still allowing us? Those ungrateful fools," I said as I felt my heart racing in anger. I can feel the fire in my hands starting to ignite but I just fisted my knuckles, turning down the heat in my palm. 

"Calm down, Son. It's okay that it's their decision but we don't always need to follow them when we can just move on our own," he said that made my eyes widen. 

My Father breaking the rules? That's news to me. My Father has been the high-ranking General for so many years and this is the only time he initiated to break the rules between us, Black Steorras, and the ESSO. 

"Are you sure, Father? Am I the one who fits to go recon on Earth?" 

My Father just chuckled at me before answering. "Of course, Al Ixer. You can teleport. You can manipulate fire even lightnings so..." General Dox Ar's shrugs his arm before laughing at me. "You will survive, Son. I trust you as you excel in everything, the reason why you're a Colonel now. Only that don't let anything distract you there, you hear me? I heard female humans on Earth have a beauty incomparable to their planet," Father said that instantly made my face turned away from him. 

My Father is not wrong, actually. I already heard What Father said coming from the other Steorras that might get me really distracted if encountered one female human who has beauty while doing my mission Earth. But failing my mission on Earth is not on my to-do list. If my Father trusted me on this mission, then I wouldn't let him down.  

"So when am I going to go? I'm bored being here and Mr. Hawk can't even entertain me anyway," I said that earned an angry chirp coming from Mr. Hawk.

"Well, why don't you start your mission now, Son?" my Father said that made me grinned widely.