Codename Vestia - Chapter 1

“My name is Doyeong Defert.”

 

Click. Click. A mechanical noise was repeatedly produced by the rusted old tape recorder.

 

Being old enough to be seen in museums, the recorder was quite difficult to get to work. Despite the sticky situation, Doyeong didn’t complain.

 

“Part of MCTC TF-Pacific Team 1. Rank public code OF-0. Call sign Eagle Seven. Nationality of France. The current date is May 12th, estimated time at 19.00.”

 

He had been recording the same content for the third time, each with a different language. He didn’t know if the recordings would be passed on to anyone, but he still had to try.

 

“Current location, unknown.”

 

Click… The recording continued for a long time.

 

Perhaps all of his efforts would turn out useless, but still, he gave strength to the hand holding the tape recorder, putting his hopes on it.

 

I am still alive.

 

It was dark all around.

 

Creak.

 

The door creaked as it opened and light penetrated through the gap. A black silhouette hovered in the middle. It stretched long as if the shadow itself engulfed Doyeong.

 

Doyeong whispered with his mouth close to the tape recorder.

 

“I’ve been caught.”

 

By that beast.

 

***

 

Gleaming red eyes looked straight at Doyeong. They were large and clear, even in the darkness under the rockery, they shone brightly like well-polished glass reflected by sunlight.

 

The woman pushed Doyeong further against the rock, all the while applying strength to her arms that were holding his arm and forearm. The rock that touched his bareback was slick with moss.

 

Fshwaaa… .

 

The waterfall they had passed through made a roaring sound, crashing down and splashing in all directions, enveloping them in white.

 

It seemed that the times that they met eyes were countless. Doyeong couldn’t help but recollect his thoughts about how he ended up in this situation.

 

***

 

30 hours ago.

 

“Lieutenant.”

 

At the sound of the call, Doyeong looked up from the book he was reading. Standing at the entrance, Sergeant Han shook his head.

 

“We will arrive soon.”

 

The plane shook slightly due to turbulence. Soldiers, each in their combat uniforms, sat on chairs attached to the wall.

 

Some were reading a book like Doyeong, while others were either checking their equipment or crossing their arms and shutting their eyes for a moment of rest. One person was quenching his thirst, drinking from a transparent pouch that seemed to be a water bag for climbing.

 

Sergeant Han saw it and asked with his arms crossed.

 

“Sergeant McCoy, we’re about to land soon. Are you not full?”

 

“The good thing about this stuff is that no matter how much I take, I’m never overeating.” Replied Sergeant McCoy while looking his way.

 

He was still too young for his eyes to turn red, and his blue, human-like pupils seemed to have enlarged.

 

“Rather, it makes me feel energized for a moment.”

 

Sergeant Han shrugged one shoulder.

 

“I wish we had something like that.”

“You have steroids.”

 

As another crew member spoke, Sergeant Han shook his head.

 

“You may not be able to stand the effect. My junior is way too precious for that.”

 

With such a playful banter, it was difficult to imagine that it was coming from a special force team about to run an operation.

 

Doyeong got up with the book tucked in the pocket of his jacket, walked over to Sergeant Han to retrieve his gloves that were made out of unique material, and looked out. After passing the sea, the land finally appeared.

 

At present, humans and vampires coexist and live together.

 

On one fateful day, it was revealed that vampires existed in the wake of an accidental incident, and humanity signed a peace treaty on the condition that they, who possessed strong physical abilities to serve in the human army.

 

Thus, the ‘Multilateral Counter-Terror Coalition’ (MCTC) was formed.

 

That was where Doyeong’s team belonged.

 

“Let me see.”

 

Sergeant Han said while reaching out to Sergeant McCoy, the vampire, whose kind was also known as ‘luas’.

 

“I’ve always been curious about what the luas always drink instead of blood, so might as well try it.”

 

Perhaps Sergeant Han developed this useless curiosity out of boredom.

 

There was nothing to do before entering the operation. He had memorized all the operational plans and could even write them down while he was sleeping. Moreover, thinking about the operation would only make him nervous, so it was better to divert his attention elsewhere.

 

Sergeant Han took a sip of the said drink that was handed over by Sergeant McCoy, soon enough he opened his mouth in a hurry as if his tongue had caught fire.

 

“What kind of taste is this?”

“Delicious, right?”

 

Sergeant McCoy laughed while Sergeant Han shook his hand.

 

“It felt like swallowing melted ice and tasted like cold mojito mixed with saccharin.”

 

Sergeant McCoy burst out laughing.

 

“Is the taste too much for you to handle?”

 

Then he smiled and said this.

 

“Humans won’t know the taste of raw meat.”

“Do you even know the taste of raw meat?”

 

Sergeant Han did not back down.

 

“It’s just a metaphor, okay? A metaphor.”

 

Doyeong wore a helmet while listening to the conversation and pressed the button on the back of his ear. Then, a glass-like lens similar to a motorcycle helmet but equipped with the NVG (Night Vision) function, came down.

 

“Alright, let’s go. It’s time to pay for the meal.”

 

***

 

The camp guards were easily identified in the NVG’s field of view, visible in green.

 

Two on the front and one on the side. They were as heavily armed as regular soldiers, but they seemed bored as to the lack of action.

 

Doyeong sent a signal, and the team moved swiftly in the dark.

 

“What…!”

 

The guards were overpowered in an instant. Even though a luas had been standing near them since before the attack, he had made almost no sound, so no one had noticed.

 

And so, the team quickly moved inside.

 

Inside, it looked like they had packed up and left in a hurry not long ago. There were some discarded items, but they were only trash that could not be used as evidence.

 

However, they noticed that there was white powder poured over on one side of the desk after looking through the room.

 

Doyeong dusted a bit of the powder and smelled it. Although it was crushed, the crystal-like powder looked like methamphetamine.

[Methamphetamine: a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Also known as meth, blue, ice, and crystal. Basically, a drug]

 

Sergeant Han asked without lowering his vigilance on his surroundings.

 

“Is it ice (another name for methamphetamin)?”

 

Doyeong brushed off the powder on his gloves.

 

“It’s not.”

 

Sergeant Han looked back with an astonished expression.

 

“It’s not?”

 

“I took the thing and tested it, it’s not a drug.”

 

As Doyeong moved sideways, Sergeant Han dipped a finger in the powder and took a look at it.

 

“It’s true. What is this thing?”

 

It could be a new kind of drug, but nobody would spend an effort to do such an impractical thing.

 

The drugs used by humans do not work for luas, so the only use of drugs for luas was for sale to humans. However, even though they born into a body that resembled gods more than humans, luas also lacked the ambition to live only as drug dealers.

 

Of course, there were gangsters who wanted to make money as easily as they were humans, but having such a place and running drug sales systematically was costly.

 

As Sergeant McCoy, the only luas of the group, entered the room, Sergeant Han called.

 

“Nine, taste this.”

 

Sergeant McCoy pinched the powder and tasted it with the tip of his tongue. Everyone stared at him to see what kind of reaction would come out. Sergeant McCoy wondered how to describe the taste.

 

“It tastes weird.”

 

It certainly wasn’t a drug.

 

“Let’s look around more.”

 

Beckoned Doyeong and the team went further inside.

 

Crisp.

 

There was a sound of small debris being stepped on by one of the crew. Doyeong shouted almost instantly.

 

“Eight!”

 

However, Sergeant Han had not noticed what was going on. Doyeong instinctively threw himself at Sergeant Han and pushed him away.

 

Bang!

 

A bomb exploded inside a cabinet next to Sergeant Han.

 

Faced with the explosive energy, Doyeong was thrown back and hit the wall. The wall cracked in the shape of a spider web. He suspected that some part of his body had been broken somewhere, and like a confirmation, the pain soon arrived.

 

Ta-da-dang.

 

Suddenly, gunshots rang in succession, and enemies appeared from all directions. Nobody knew where they came from.

 

‘It’s a trap.’

 

Doyeong realized.

 

In the flickering sight, he could see the crew covering each other and shooting at the opposers. Doyeong struggled to wake up. However, he could not stand properly due to the severe tinnitus in his ears.

[Tinnitus: is when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears.]

 

No matter how trained soldiers were, as long as they were humans, there was no way to deal with such shocks.

 

Sergeant Han shouted and pulled Doyeong. Doyeong, who was pulled by force, took a step forward before he fell.

 

Thud.

 

The moment Doyeong touched the floor, he lost consciousness.

 

***

 

There was a peculiar smell. It was a sign that something was wrong. The odor was unfamiliar, like that of medicine.

 

Doyeong opened his eyes in a haze. With his head down, he could see his legs in combat uniform. His legs were tied to the legs of the chair on which he was sitting, and his hands tied behind him.

 

He had never thought that he was in the hospital even if he didn’t look up and look around. All armaments were disarmed, and only a black military T-shirt worn under combat uniform remained. He had no memories of taking it off himself, so someone must have taken it off.

 

Creak. Thud.

 

The sound of an iron door opening was heard, and a whistle sounded throughout the room. Doyeong raised his still-stiff head.

 

A woman followed by men in black came in.

 

She was wearing a two-piece red suit with a slit on the side of the leg that extended to the ankle. Her hair was a gorgeous bright platinum blonde, and her eyes and lips were the same shade of red as her clothing.

 

Doyeong knew at a glance. The woman before him is a vampire.

 

He had looked at the vampire and knew it almost intuitively. Snake-like eyes were looking at him as if looking at prey, giving out a predatory aura.

 

Contrary to the color that looked afire, the eyes felt very cold and heartless.

 

A man who came up from behind the woman lit a light in front of Doyeong’s face, and said.

 

“It’s not luas.”

 

The woman laughed.

 

“I know just by smelling it. Sweet smells like this don’t come from men of my kind.”

 

The woman walked forward and looked down at Doyeong.

 

“You’re handsome.”

 

Doyeong smiled faintly.

 

“Thanks.”

 

In fact, Doyeong knew who the woman was.

 

Rachel.

 

She was one of the fragmented forces of the vampire terrorist group ‘SN’, which was almost destroyed three years ago in a massacre, and was a high-ranking executive who got recruited into ‘Legion’, which had been classified as the most threatening group in recent years.

 

He had lost his consciousness and was not aware of what had unfolded, but this whole operation seemed to have been the Legion’s trap. He was worried whether the crews were safe.

 

First of all, he had to worry about how he’d survive.

 

“Bring them over.”

 

When Rachel turned her head, the men began to put things down on the table next to her.

 

They were Doyeong’s items. Rachel glanced over them like a woman who came to Tiffany’s store to buy a ring. She then turned the inside of a wristband, which she had straightened, up. It was an engraved dog tag.

[Tiffany’s store: or Tiffany & Co., an American luxury jewelry and especially retailer headquartered in NYC. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watches, personal accessories, and leather goods.]

(an example of wristband military dog tag)

 

“Lieutenant Commander Doyeong Defert… .”

 

Rachel threw the wristband.

 

“How old are you? Twenty-seven?”

 

Rachel thought Doyeong would answer and did not ask further, however, Doyeong simply shrugged.

 

He wondered if he would have been saved for having youthful skin, for doing such an impractical thing as doing skincare, if he was seen as twenty-seven at the age of thirty-one.

 

“No, a lieutenant should be a little older.”

 

Rachel put her hand on Deyoeng’s shoulder.

 

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you say nothing.”

 

Then she went behind him, sweeping the nape of his neck with her fingertip.