"[color=39b54a][i]Holy shit, what the hell was that?[/i][/color]"

Teller awoke from the dream with a start, unsure of what meaning, if any, he should extrapolate from it. Was it just a dream brought by this place, with nothing more to take from it? Or was it part of this damn game, getting a little more invasive than he'd like? No...no his instincts told him otherwise. This was the real deal, but the question was what did the 'real deal' even mean? It was alright...it didn't matter, not right now, after all he was a trigger puller on the ground, not an egghead. A grunt, a Marine, not some intel guy, just a warrior. That was who he was, who he'd always been, but...maybe, if he won, not who he'd always be. That semi-reassuring thought processed, the Captain finally took a moment to get into his SQUADCOM messaging system, to take a look at whatever Yukiko had the time to write. Upon closer examination, she too had forwarded him a library of audio files with a short text message that read

[i][color=0072bc]Captain,
Not much time to dictate this. I do not know why you trust that woman, but our trust goes with you. Take these, may they inspire you as they do me.[/color][/i]

Teller couldn't help but chuckle as he looked through the library, thinking "[color=39b54a][i]Heh, I'm lucky the armor comes with a translator for languages from back home, half of this is in Japanese after all. 'Shiawase no Iro', 'Koibito Doushi', without my armor I wouldn't understand any of this shit.[/i][/color]" A fond memory of one of his squadmates brought a small smile to the old soldier's face for a moment before [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Jt4v6bZcU]turning on one of the songs from Yukiko.[/url] It was a hopeful little tune, speaking of 'destined ones' and happiness, not usually James's speed but maybe he could use a bit of positivity. Better than his own drinking songs, combat songs and a mixture of the two. However, he had little choice but to pack up and get rolling, after all it didn't seem like anymore sleep was going to come his way.

Closing his armor's faceplate and ensuring his ruck was sealed, muttering a small thank you to supply for making sure the rucks were water-proofed, Teller stepped out into the pouring rain. The din of it slamming down onto the armor's face plate and pauldrons was loud and obnoxious before his armor auto-tuned it down to keep his hearing sharp. This...this was way worse than any mission Teller had been on, well, ever. Walking this empty street, looking around at the structures, any one of which could house a hostile, Teller came to realize why it was he felt so incredibly uneasy. He'd never been on mission alone before, not as a Marine, not in the Rangers as an infantryman, and certainly never in UASD. Walking around with nobody to watch his back made him realize how bad it felt to be alone, and that he'd never been alone before. A bittersweet feeling, to be sure, but he had little he could do about it other than keep watchful, look at his surroundings. A playground stretched to his left, a sad reminder that once upon a time children lived here, to his right yet another house, its inhabitants long dead. This place...it was like one of the pre-war cities that was still declared a red zone, devoid of life, just a sad graveyard. Teller continued his progress deeper into the city proper, trying to make his way out of the Neighborhood, and see what else waited in this city of Echoes.