An easy assignment they said, a cakewalk they told me, Jasper thought to himself. Well their not the ones being shot at!
Indeed, at that moment the decrepit wall he was hiding behind shook as round after round slammed into it.
“Oh, shove off will ya?” Jasper shouted in irritation,

That only seemed to agitate them. Thunderous booms echoed in the distance and Jasper lit out off the shelter as fast as his legs could carry him. A heartbeat later the wall disintegrated as a squall of artillery rounds hammered into it. He stumbled from the shockwave and fell into a pile of soot covered snow and debris. Grill’s Gate had once been a thriving trading post, but the recent bouts of ‘animated disagreements’ had reduced it to rubble. It was certainly not to first area to fall to such a fate, and Jasper doubted it would be the last.

He picked himself up and dusted off his brown Courier uniform as if getting dogged by heavy artillery was something he did every day. Every week or so, but certainly not every day, that would have been ridiculous. Jasper made sure the package was securely strapped to his back before jogging over to what had once been a multi-stories trade office. The night sky was draped with dark clouds, the moon sending out an eerie ghost light. Each foot step crunched into the winter stillness, disturbing the sudden silence that had followed the attack.

Entering the lobby through a hole in the wall Jasper walked up to the secretary’s desk and nonchalantly tapped a pattern on the desk buzzer. Moments later the back wall seemed to tumble in on itself creating a short door way. The tired Courier ducked through the portal and continued on as a magnetic field rearranged the wall back to what it had been. The hallway was dark since most all of the personnel would be at the meeting. Five minutes later Jasper found his way to a small conference room packed with senior Courier’s of every branch.

Grant Harlot, the elderly head of the Couriers, smiled when he entered “Ah, we have been expecting you Jasper. I trust everything went well?”

“If by well you mean gun fire, artillery shells and a LOT of search lights, than yes, not a problem,”

Some of the senior officers shot him hostile glances for the way he had talked to their leader, but Harlot merely chuckled. Jasper unslung his carrying pack and drew out a large box, placing it in front of the elderly man, who carefully opened the box and inspected the contents.

“Not a crumb out of place. Well done Jasper, well done indeed!” Harlot murmured to him

Jasper stared at the open container “doughnuts? You had me risk my life for doughnuts?”

“Not just any doughnuts. Glazed,” The old man said with a grin

“Oh, don’t look so sour son, this wasn’t all for nothing. You see, we need a Courier for a particularly interesting mission, and you should fit the bill nicely,”

“So this was a test?” Jasper asked

“It was,” Harlot answered

Jasper thought for a moment before slipping a doughnut out of the box and taking a large bit “Let me guess, another cake walk?”

Harlot’s smile grew wider “Now you’re thinking like a Courier,”