Heartbeats

Chapter 4: The Commander's heart

A new chapter of Gavril's life unfolded today as he greeted the light of the morning sun. Never did he expect that he would live long enough and be worthy enough to become a Commander.

This was the highest position for each operation inside the Community. Gavril's new responsibilities would be to organize all the squads, to assign missions and to analyze the results of the said missions. There would also be times that the Community would require further assistance from any of the recon squads, and during those times he would have authority of the final word.

Being a Commander Gavril would also automatically be a member of the Council, due to this. he would take office inside the Capitol located in the middle of the Community.

Gavril would be stepping inside a world he had never experienced before, and honestly he was anxious. In order to put himself at ease, he looked at it like any other mission. It may be different from what he usually did but the preparation was all the same; whether it was the dangerous outside world or the scandalous government, all Gavril needed in order to accomplish any mission was information. He thoroughly studied each and every member of the Council, including their families, businesses, and down to their assistants. He knew the venue, up to the blueprint and history. He had all his speeches memorized to the point that it sounded like a very well done impromptu.

Gavril might not be in the field but he was a soldier but instead of arming himself with a gun, he armed himself with words. Instead of his uniform he wore suits. Instead of Sasha and his squad, he had his small team composed of a secretary, an assistant, two bodyguards, and a chauffeur.

Sasha was now a real Captain, as her ceremony had already transpired a day before Gavril's. He had also attended Sasha's ceremony and somehow Gavril got a little bit envious of how simple it was. For new Captains, the announcement was straightforward and modest. After everyone assembled in the quadrangle, the new Captain would be called in the front of them all. Then the old Captain, or a representative of the squad in the case where the old Captain had died, would introduce the new Captain along with the squad he or she would be handling. The new Captain would then take an oath and make a speech. After that, the whole event would be over and everyone would get back to work.

Gavril could only wish his day would go like that. He had been itching to start studying the mission reports, but instead he was attending meetings, signing papers and giving speeches the whole day. He changed his outfit three times already, wearing different suits with the exact design. He had his new chauffeur drove him around the Community, as he needed to go around and visit all the major establishments. He also had a team of stylists that would always be there to fix him up in front of the camera while he shook the hands of the most important people in the Community.

And yet, through all these not even once did he take his mask off, much to everyone's disappointment.

By the end of the day Gavril was all ready to rest. He would have the day off tomorrow in preparation for the grand ball to be held that night. It was a large formal event where members of the Council and other important members of the Community would attend. It was also the only event that would be open to guests of the Council and all the Captains of the reconnaissance squads. It was the last event on Gavril's list before he would start office as the new Commander. Being the last event, Gavril expected it to be the grandest and to be the most crowded.

It would have been another walk in the park for Gavril, his suit was ready and so was his small conversation topics, however at the end of his day his assistant told him that the Council had specifically ordered him to remove his mask at the party.

As a new Commander that was still warming up to the Council, he had no other choice but to do what they had commanded.

However, he could not deny to himself that this had made him suddenly feel more anxious than ever before.