Sequence 1
Michael suits up in the AVES and takes the elevator to the helicopter deck flanked by two guards.
Segun comes out of another elevator wearing the Phalanx, also flanked by four guards and Michael is surprised to see it, saying to himself "What the hell is that thing!?".
Amina projects herself onto Micheal's HUD and tells him "Join up with the squad in the first chopper, we will explain details along the way. Also, I equipped your suit with a prototype sword, hopefully you won't need to use it".
Michael replies, "Understood" and boards the helicopter as instructed, the position of the sword at his back makes sitting uncomfortable so he awkwardly slouches forward as all three helicopters take off.
20 minutes into the flight, Segun projects himself onto Michael's HUD and asks "Hey Michael, can you hear me?".
Michael replies, "Unfortunately".
Segun excitedly informs him, "I'm in the other helicopter wearing the black suit, pretty cool right?".
Overwatch interrupts their talk and explains;
"Enough chit chat, this one's a bit complicated so listen up.
24 hours ago, our sensors were alerted to extra dimensional activity. This isn't unusual, Okija is a hot zone but it was followed by a massive burst of electrical energy.
30 minutes ago, a patrol which was sent out to investigate made contact with the entity. It killed four men instantly, signs of severe electrical burns and what appears to be a puncture wound were found on the deceased.
Due to it's potential to cause damage, our job is to cut off it's approach before it reaches the river but I want us to capture it alive.
Red Eagle, you will engage and delay it for as much as possible, give the infantry time to land and set up.
Black Scorpion, you will provide covering fire with your high calibre guns, tire it out and we'll do the rest".
Both Michael and Segun reply "Roger" and their video feed cuts.
On their approach to the river Niger, they encounter a large storm and all three helicopters in the formation descend to an altitude of 1000 feet.
All personnel in the helicopter check their equipment and DIVA switches Michael's HUD to flight mode and counts down, "30 seconds until jump.... 20 seconds.... 10 seconds... 5 seconds.... 3... 2... 1".
Michael shouts, "Red Eagle, I'm taking off" then jumps out of the helicopter, spreading his wings and shooting off ahead of the formation.
He makes visual contact with the target and, brings out his sword from the scabbard built into the suit's spinal compartment.
The creature shoots lightning at Michael which barely clips his left wing as he dives down to attack it.
Hungry for blood, Michael shouts, "I'm going to kill that thing!" but Overwatch reminds him "Remember we need it alive!".
He groans, "Fine, I'll just take an arm instead!" and takes a mighty swing at his opponent but it's quickly blocked by a metal pole which seemingly came out of nowhere.
As lightning dances around them, Michael looks deeply into the eyes of his target for a brief moment and thinks "It's fast, but so am I!".
He backs off and attacks again but the creature's quick blocks and fast attacks prevent him from landing a decent hit.
The Black Scorpion dives down as well and starts shooting in their direction causing Michael to scream in anger, "Stay out of my way!".
This lapse of concentration allows his enemy to knock him off balance with it's weapon and take aim at his chest.
In a split second, Michael twists his wrist in preparation to set the creature alight but the constant barrage from The Black Scorpion's cannons forces it into the smouldering forest before he can do so.
Overwatch tells the two of them "The target is heading southbound, do not let it escape".
Michael replies affirmative and launches himself above the treeline to set the forest below ablaze, cutting off the target's escape.
Looking down from above, he sees the creature panic and let out a piercing scream. Half a second later DIVA alerts him, saying, "INCOMING, INCOMING" followed by a blinding streak of lighting coming down from the sky.
He looks down to see the creature is gone and tells Overwatch, "Something just happened, the target just vanished".
Before Overwatch can reply, he hears another voice on the radio tell him, "Red Eagle, this is SDF - 2598 of the Eastern Sector, what is the status of the target?".
Out of breath, Michael descends and replies "The target escaped".
SDF 2598 replies, "Understood, stand by for further instructions".
The Black Scorpion descends from a tree beside Michael, shocked to see his burning wings, and asks "Yo bro are you alright?".
Angered, Michael grabs Segun by the neck and forces him against a tree shouting, "What do you think you're doing!?".
The Phalanx arms defensively points it's arms at Michael's face as Segun replies, "Take it easy, I was just following the plan".
DIVA tries to calm the situation down by saying, "He's right, I adjusted his aim to ensure you were not harmed".
Overwatch tells the two of them "Stay alert! We are still on a mission so stop arguing like little kids and stand by for pickup!".
Michael lets go of Segun, saying, "Just watch where you shoot next time".
He glides to his sword and picks it off the floor as two helicopters descend to extract the two of them from the area.
Once inside he retracts his wings, drops his sword and reclines, exhausted, against the frame of the helicopter.
Cipher projects herself onto his HUD and says "You're overdoing it, I told you to rest".
Michael scoffs, "I was handling things just fine, you don't need to worry about me".
Cipher replies, "Worrying about you is my job".
After a brief moment of tense silence she sighs and tells Michael, "We'll go over your performance later, for now here's something to help with the fatigue".
He feels a straw creep into the side of his lower lip and thinks, "What unholy object is violating my mouth right now?".
His fears, and thirst, are quickly quenched by the flow of a mild lemon tasting beverage.
After sipping it all he pulls back his visor for some fresh air and to gaze at the city of Onitsha from above but finds himself unable to concentrate.
His eyes flash red, directing him to look at a particular building where he sees what looks like a person lying on the roof of a shopping complex.
Michael puts his visor back on to mark the building and alerts the rest of the team, "I've found the target, it's immobile and on the roof of that building".
Overwatch asks the other personnel "Can you confirm this?" and one of them looks down through his rifle scope to say, "Target acquired".
Overwatch directs the section, saying "Copy that. Team 1 will stay airborne and observe the target, Teams 2 and 3 will land and perform the extraction, be as discreet as possible.
If the target moves you have my permission to terminate through any means necessary".
Michael's helicopter circles the target while the other two land on a small peninsula north of their position to carry out the extraction.
After 10 minutes, the SDF team storms the building, they reach the roof in two minutes and assess the target.
Once they confirm that it isn't a threat, they restrain and carry the target down to the trucks below.
Overwatch tells Michael's team, "The target is secured and the extraction team is returning to the transports".
After another 10 minutes, the other teams get airborne and they all head straight to Lagos in a loose formation.
Once at Apapa, the section lands and wastes no time in moving their equipment down the entrance ramp. They take the tightly restrained target down a utility elevator across the hall while Michael enters his pod to remove the AVES components.
Glad to finally be out of the uncomfortable suit, Michael clenches his fist and thanks God for another successful mission. He shakes his head in disappointment upon seeing Segun, still wearing the Phalanx.
Dele walks over to address Michael and Segun, with Amina in tow saying, "Mission accomplished, you did well despite your earlier stupidity. A few more missions and we might have a decent team on our hands... ".
Just then Dele's phone rings, he glances at it for a second then calmly puts it back in his pocket saying, "If you could please take off the battlesuit so we can get on with the day it would be much appreciated".
Segun complains, "But it's so comfortable" as the Phalanx opens up, lets Segun out and puts itself back together.
As they all walk towards the personnel elevator, Dele beckons Segun to talk with him while Amina cozys up to Michael, asking "So... how did you find the sword?".
He rubs his neck and replies, "The performance was great, but it's kind of uncomfortable to carry around" causing Amina to sigh in disappointment, "Well I guess it's back to the drawing board".
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Michael changes the subject to ask Amina "Hey um, what was in that drink? I felt weird after I took it".
She smiles and playfully bumps his shoulder as they enter the elevator, saying, "That my friend, is classified".
Sequence 2
Dele leads the group to one of the testing labs where the captured target is being held.
As they enter, researcher Idirabo frantically walks up to Dele and tells him "Sir we have a serious problem, none of the implants are responding, only heavy sedation is working to keep just to keep it asleep".
Unbothered, Dele brings out his phone to send a text while telling him, "As long it's not trying to kill us we don't have a problem...".
He puts his phone in his pocket as he continues, "... worst case we kill it and learn whatever we can from it's corpse" which raises a few eyebrows from Amina and some other researchers in the room.
DIVA interrupts their discussion, saying, "Incoming emergency transmission from Agent Cecelia sir" and projects a rather angry looking woman who shouts at him in her cockney accent, "Agent Dele Bankole, why have you been avoiding my calls!?".
Dele leans back, folds his arms and replies, "You know this isn't the proper procedure..." but she tells him off, "Pish posh, running away with the target instead of handing it over as instructed wasn't proper either".
Amina interjects to defend her boss saying, "We weren't sure you had the facilities and time wasn't on our side".
Upon hearing this Cecelia laughs, "Oh Amina don't flatter yourself, because you get special treatment from headquarters doesn't mean you can do as you want".
As Prophet and Doctor Enotayo enter the room, Dele quickly ends the conversation, "Please accept my deepest apologies. If we are unable to tame this beast we won't hesitate to drop it at your doorstep first thing in the morning.
Thank you and goodnight".
As the video feed cuts Amina hisses loudly and Dele smirks in amusement then says "Okay people let's move this along, Psycho, do your thing".
Doctor Enotayo sighs and walks towards the captured entity, placing her hand against her temple to better concentrate her thoughts.
After a few seconds of trying she recoils in pain and turns around to tell the room, "I can't read her mind".
Dele's frustration grows as he turns to Prophet for answers, "Old man, do you have anything in mind?".
Prophet walks towards the captured entity and raises his staff to its face. The eye pulsates as Prophet remarks, "Ah, a Leonid. My Master has foretold of their coming, please allow me to speak with her".
Amina instructs the research team to stop supplying the sedatives and Michael, growing both bored and uneasy, walks towards the door saying, "Well it's been fun watching but I don't want to be around when you wake the beast".
Segun follows suit saying, "Yeah um, I've got... training to do" and both boys hastily make their exit.
They go to the common room to have their last meal of the day and Segun takes the opportunity to say, "Hey I'm sorry for what happened earlier" and Michael replies, "Forget it, let's just move on".
After finishing their meals, they go back to their rooms and happen to notice someone rummaging through one of the cells.
The occupant gets up and they are surprised to see the target from before staring at them from behind the wall.
Segun tells Michael, "It looks like a girl but different".
Michael staring in awe at her blue eyes and glowing blue hair knocks on the wall trying to communicate with her saying, "Hey, can you hear me?" but he only gets a confused stare in return.
Segun makes several hand signs which are ignored then moves to the control panel on the wall and tries to speak to her but gets no response.
Michael, feeling a bit mischievous, ignites his hand, momentarily startling the girl and laughing as she ducks in fear.
In response she sends a bolt of lightning at them which shakes the building and sends the two of them diving to the floor in panic.
The bolt is fortunately stopped by the wall separating them, leaving several marks which slowly fade.
Not wanting to escalate the situation, Segun suggests they leave it alone and Michael agrees so they enter their cells and retire for the night.
The End?