"First things first, while on mission, you all work under me. Dasher, doesn't give commands. You listen to what I say and do what I tell you to. I am your lord, I am your savoir, I am your god. Do you understand?"
The three on the couch were clearly opposed to the idea but Dasher answered before they could say anything.
"Understood." He replied before looking to the others. They nodded in agreement.
"Great. Now, there is something you should understand. This mission may take a day, or a month, or maybe a decade or two, but once we return, only sixty seconds will have passed. And it should be known that the only way to return is death. The place we are going to is an earth but in a parallel timeline. Everyone you know and care for will not have existed. It is important to blend in. You don't have to be a ghost, but it is imperative that none of the locals know that we come from a different world. We adhere to their culture to minimize our presence in their world."
"Death?" Charlie asked.
"Indeed. He is telling the truth. I have had the privilege of accompany Mr. Acers on a few occasions. Think of it as an opportunity. If you can finish the mission you will have the opportunity to live the rest of your life however you like. I was once able to find a wife, I married, had kids and even lived for another fifty years after the mission." Dasher said. "In the other world, if you use your time wisely, you will be able to come home with years of training, even though only sixty seconds will pass here."
Gerald and Dasher could both see the possibilities flashing through the eyes of the three on the couch.
Gerald shook his head. "If any of you can last through the entire mission, I will be thoroughly impressed, and you will have my respect."
Bravo nodded while Charlie contemplated and Alpha sneered.
"If you think that the time after the mission is a chance to better yourself, there are far better things. Depending on how many… 'anomalies' you remove while keeping your presence hidden you will be given access to a shop. You can buy skills and items and what not. Your best chance at getting good rewards are to follow orders and complete the mission as instructed."
"I see why you asked us to read his books General." Charlie said, she then turned towards Gerald. "Are we dealing with an alien invasion. Or are their hidden martial artists running amok, the kind that can cut a mountain in half with a wave of the hand."
"This is only a D-class mission. I don't expect to find anything that outrageous, but anything is possible." Gerald said while standing up from his desk. "What we are facing is beings that have moved from one parallel world to another. They need to be removed to ensure the stability of things."
Gerald twisted the handle on the drawer of his desk before opening it. Inside were four patches. He grabbed them and passed them to the others.
"Place these on your arms, put it on your skin. These will allow me to take you with me. These are not cheap, remember this favor."
Dasher only chuckled while he rolled up his sleeve and placed the patch on his arm. The three others did the same.
Gerald returned to his chair, placed both his arms on the arm rests and then closed his eyes.
[Activate]
Gerald opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar white space.
[Class S operative registered]
[Welcome operative Acers]
"Retrieve."
Four people appeared standing next to Gerald.
"What the hell!"
"…"
"Where is this?"
"Calm down." Dasher said to the others.
[Class D operative detected]
[Three class F operatives detected]
[Welcome operative Dasher, Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie]
"Do you see it?" Gerald asked.
The others nodded after receiving the message directly into their mind.
"Good. Briefing."
[Three Elder Vampirus Stalicous have inhabited Earth4714]
[Mission has been determined as Class-D]
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Gerald started cursing.
"Vampires? Is it that bad?" Dasher asked.
Gerald let his body collapse and a leather chair caught his fall while he sighed. "God damn elder vampires."
"Vampires? Like kill them with stakes and silver bullets?" Charlie asked.
Gerald sighed again.
"Silver bullets are for werewolves." Bravo answered.
"Are elder vampires really that hard to kill?" Dasher asked.
"No." Gerald answered. "Chop off their heads, burn them, blow them up, pump them with enough lead. There are plenty of ways to kill them."
"What is the problem then?" Dasher asked.
"An elder vampire can control up to ten thousand spawns each. Kill one and the elder will know. Kill the elder and the spawns will go wild. Elders can also communicate with each other with a mere thought. Vampire spawns are fast and vicious melee fighters. They are sensitive to light, but it isn't like the stories you heard, they won't burn up in daylight, at least this kind of vampire won't, they just have a hard time seeing and get pissed off.".
Dasher sat down in a chair appeared behind him. "And I am guessing, like the legends, vampires need fresh blood. Meaning they will be surrounded by local people."
"It will be hard to avoid a bloodbath." Alpha said.
Gerald nodded while lifting his glasses and massaging the bridge of his nose. "Continue."
[The three Elder Vampirus Stalicous have drawn attention to themselves and set up their home in Dawn city. The local authorities have taken notice. The military has taken action and quarantined Dawn city. Currently Dawn city has a population of over five million inhabitants.]
"At least they are not spread out across the globe." Gerald remarked. He then patted his thighs and stood up. "Alright, that is all we have to go on."
"Gear up."
[Class S operative has 15 points to gear up]
[Items, skills, and talents are restricted to Class D and below]
"Alright you should see a shop now. Since you three are class F operatives, you have five points while dasher has nine. Pick things that will be useful to you. Remember, if you do will, you will be able to take your reward points to purchase the skills take here and transfer them to your body back in our world, same goes for the gear that your buy. How much you can take back will depend on how well we complete our mission."
The others nodded seriously.
"Just focus on turning yourselves into becoming effective vampire killing machines, I will handle everything else." Gerald said before he leaned back in his chair and started to consider the menus seriously.
Dasher approached Gerald and gave him a meaningful look.
"Fine, help them out if you want. Vampires may be new for you, but you know how I work."
Dasher nodded and then headed to the others.
"Alright, gather round. Acers will purchase plenty of information on the locals and he already knows how enemies are operating. It may not sound pleasant but our role in this it to be tools. Since you all have read his books, you know that Mr. Acers has spent over a thousand years fighting and killing all sorts of beings. We will leave the planning to him; we just need to be responsible for putting down vampires when the time comes. Go with the normal division of labor."
"Sir, I look forward to going into the field beside you." Charlie said with a salute.
Bravo nodded while suppressing his eager smile.
"He, he, let's fuck some shit up." Alpha said with a big grin.
"Take your time and make your purchases. Consider everything carefully, time is unmoving here. No matter how long we take, we will enter this alternate earth at the same point whether we go now or in two hours."
The three nodded and then delved into their menus.
An hour later, Alpha stood decked in body armor while strapped with weapons and holding a rotary minigun with several boxes of ammo at his side.
Bravo was robed in a stab-proof cloak with several pistols, a rifle and keys to a combat vehicle.
Charlie had a few guns and a combat compound bow with a bottomless quiver of arrows.
Dasher was equipped with automatic rifle and nothing else.
The four turned to Gerald who was still sitting in his chair contemplating. They watched him as he remained motionless for nearly half an hour. Eventually, he looked up and turned his gaze towards them.
He frowned. "This won't do." He waved his hand and spent his last few points.
The four and Gerald were suddenly decked in black suits. Their large weapons disappeared as briefcases took their place.
"Don't worry, all your things are still there. They have just been reskinned to suit our cover. If anyone asks when I am not around, just play the role of government spooks. You are the type of people who work for a department that doesn't technically exist. All of you should be familiar what that."
Dasher chuckled. "We are very familiar with that."
Alpha clicked the latch of his briefcase and it almost instantly turned into his large minigun. With a flick of his wrist, it folded back down into a briefcase.
"Ha, ha, now this is legit."
Gerald turned to the mirror that appeared before him and straightened his tie. He took of his oval framed glasses and swapped them for a set of thick black rimmed glasses.
"There is one more thing we must talk about before we start." Gerald said as the others gathered around. "There is no cure for vampirism. If a local gets infected, kill them. If one of you gets bitten on a limb, chop it off within twenty seconds. If you get bitten in the torso or neck, kill yourself. Once the virus takes hold, the Elder that it is linked to can see and hear through your senses, they can see into your mind and determine our plans. Kill yourself quickly for the sake of the mission. And remember that just because your life isn't really in danger, this isn't fun and games. The Elders need to die, the spawn need to be killed, and those who have been infected… they need to be disposed of."
A solemn air hung between the group as the gravity of the mission began to weigh on them.
"Mission accepted. Launch."