Inside the Eastern Sector Headquarters, Michael and Segun stare each other down locked in a tense contest.
Raising his hand in the air Segun tells his opponent, "Pick two" with a cheeky grin.
Michael begrudgingly takes two cards from the deck and tucks them with the bundle of 8 cards he already has.
As Michael thinks of his next move, Amina walks into the room asking, "Do you boys mind if I join?".
Segun replies, "Well you can, although we might soon be done anyway" while shuffling the deck and handing her 5 cards.
"When is your boss coming back? These Eastern sector guys found Moise yesterday so what are we still doing here?" Michael asks as he plays a star.
Amina replies, "These negotiations take time... And he's your boss too" choosing to pick a card and skip her turn.
Segun drops circle, replying, "How can he be our boss when we aren't getting paid? Sounds a bit unfair".
Michael drops a 20 saying "Give me cross" before Amina replies "We value you in ways we can't express in money.... general market".
Realising the situation they are in, both boys silently team up to beat Amina. She drops a 3 cross, Segun drops a 3 circle, Michael drops a square 3 and another 2 square saying "Pick 2".
Amina counters with a triangle 2 and drops another general market on them.
She picks up a card from the deck and makes a curious sigh at the boys.
Undeterred they continue the uneasy team up, trying as much as possible not to stack each other with cards.
In the end it was all for nothing as Amina wins the game within the next 4 turns.
Relieved at finally catching some fun after weeks of nonstop work Amina excitedly asks "Can we go again!?".
The boys looks at each other saying, "Uhmmm" but are saved from answering by a message from DIVA who announces, "Will the Agents Amina Codename: Cypher, Michael: Codename Red Eagle and Segun Codename: Black Scorpion please assemble at conference room one, thank you".
Michael and Segun rush at the chance to leave the awkward situation, much to Amina's disappointment.
Concerned by Amina's constant sulking, Michael tries to distract her by asking, "Hey why does your robot sound more robotic than usual in this area?".
Amina smiles and tells him, "DIVA is decentralised, meaning she modifies her behaviour according to the needs and equipment of her users. It just so happens that the users in the Eastern sector are...".
By clasping her hands against her lips, Michael and Segun understand the message and refrain from asking any more questions until they reach their destination.
Inside they meet Dele and an angry Cecelia who coldly greets them, saying, "Sit down, quickly, you have delayed us enough".
Before they even have a chance to settle down Dele tells them, "We have decided that Moise will stay here for an inordinate amount of time...".
Amina stands up shouting, "But why!?" and Cecelia immediately shouts back, "Because through your stupidity, you allowed a level 4 extra dimensional to get one over on you and escape! How dare you ask why after the arrogant display you showed last time?".
With Amina lowering her head in defeat, Dele continues, "Since headquarters has ordered us to deal with this internally, we can't force their hand. We have, however, managed to come up with an agreement. Moise will stay here for 'reorientation' while we handle some outstanding targets pending her release".
Projecting their pictures Agent Cecelia explains, "Right now we are dealing with several threats and our manpower has been stretched to the limit, the arrival of this new entity has not helped things but we must push on. Our main target is a level 3 entity that started activities in November last year and has been on a rampage against oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta ever since".
Switching the projection she continues, "Attempts to study and capture the entity have proved abortive due to its ever changing abilities, the local population is also not cooperating out of fear. That is why we wish to incorporate your anomalous individuals into our defence framework".
Agent Cecelia's presentation is interrupted by Michael who asks, "Wait wait wait if you can't track or kill this thing how are we going to help?"
Dele takes the chance to answer, "What they need is something light and fast that's able to gain altitude quickly for recon purposes. They also wanted something with lots of firepower that could quickly navigate marshland so naturally, we offered your services".
Cecelia concludes by saying, "Now if you would let me finish... There's something important you need to know and it must only be among us. This creature can shape-shift so you think twice about who you consider your ally, that is all".
Before they leave Amina asks, "What about finding the EDR that brought Moise into this world?" and Cecelia replies, "We have patrols flying every day around Okija, if we see anything pertaining to this case you will be notified".
With the meeting over, Segun stretches his arms asking, "Hey Mike do you know where the training room is here?" and DIVA immediately answers, "Level B room 3 for firearms training, room 5 for physical combat".
Michael and Segun briefly shrug at DIVA's emotionless delivery before moving along to room 5 to warm up. Inside they meet Sensei Frank and bow to greet him.
He bows back before, walking up to them saying "There is no lesson today, I have done the best I could within this short time and my services are needed elsewhere".
Segun protests saying, "But Sensei there's still much we haven't learned!".
Putting his hands on their shoulders he embraces them saying, "Experience will be your teacher and each day alive will be a new lesson".
Michael and Segun give their teacher a farewell salute before he leaves the training room for the last time.
With their teacher gone the two boys decide to engage in some light sparring to pass the time. Not long after the alarm rings and they quickly run towards the exits to get ready but agent Cecelia remotely locks the door and tells them over the intercom, "You two will stay here, I need to be sure you can handle my sector before you can deploy".
A confused and angry Michael shouts "How long is is that going to take?" and she replies, "As long as you want it to" before shutting off the transmission.
Sequence 2
One month later, acting on intelligence from one of their field agents, a combined patrol of 2 SRRG and 3 Eastern sector squads stealthily take positions around a Royal Pearl Oil facility in Ekeremor Bayelsa and watch for signs of anomalous activity.
Not long after they reach the objective they hear sounds of an explosion and gunfire 200 metres from their present position. Overwatch orders Michael to stand by while directing Segun to provide support for the SRRG team "Avalanche".
Three minutes after the fighting started, the scene suddenly goes quiet aside from the faint sound of radio chatter.
An anxious Michael stands by until he hears the words "Target is on the move heading 270, fire team 'Bluesky' to interdict with RE providing close air support".
With his new orders understood Michael takes off under the cover of thick smoke, closely watching for signs of the target. Through the smoke he spots a man running out of the forest into a burnt field and rapidly dives down to stop him, sinking his lower claws into the man's back and forcing him to the ground.
Michael shouts, "Stay Down!" while holding a sword to his neck.
Full of confidence, the man looks back and replies, "If you say so" before sinking down into the earth.
Confused Michael quickly stabs the ground before stepping back saying, "He got away".
One second later he sees a warning notification from DIVA and immediately gets knocked to the ground by his unknown enemy.
Michael quickly recovers, sending back a fireball which misses as he tells Overwatch, "He's toying with me".
Overwatch replies, "Good, hold him there for just a little longer" as Michael picks up his sword, saying, "Not a problem" before changing towards the target.
Excited by the challenge, the man turns completely black and attacks several tentacles of oily protrusions which Michael easily slices and burns through.
One manages to sneak behind Michael but he forms a shield to deflect it just in time.
Still charging, he sets the ground in front of him ablaze to obscure his approach before surging forward to cut his enemy in half. Not giving him any rest, Michael pivots back and slices four more times before finally blasting his opponent into many small droplets.
With everything in place, Overwatch orders all teams to fall back before dropping several missiles on the area which explode and cover the target with a white and sticky foam.
Breathing a sigh of relief Segun asks, "Did you get it?".
"Not yet" Michael replies through the sound of a distant rumble which forces far away birds to fly from their trees.
The rumbling gets louder and louder culminating in the appearance of several thousand snakes emerging from the bush west of their position.
The snakes rapidly surround Michael, who quickly flies up to avoid being swarmed asking, "Cypher what is it doing!?" and she replies, "They are eating the foam, do not let it escape!".
Upon hearing this he channels a huge amount of ashe into a continuous burst of flame while Segun unloads his guns, killing some fleeing snakes but it is too late, the rest slither into the forest leaving nothing but ash tracks behind.
Michael tries to pursue but Overwatch orders him back saying, "It's no use, they have dispersed, head back for cleanup".
Once back with the main group he is hurriedly rushed into a cleaning unit disguised as a storage tanker to power wash the dirt and oil off his suit and wings.
As he cleans up Amina informs him of the new developments, "Don't rest yet, we have another mission in Abia".
Stepping out of the container Michael replies, "Segun's barrel is worn out and I'm almost out of energy, can't the police handle it?".
"Segun won't be joining us, these people are fortified, regular weapons won't work. Don't worry we will be in and out in no time", Amina replies.
Heaving a huge sigh, Michael leaves the cleaning unit and flies up to a waiting helicopter onto his next mission.
Sequence 3
10 minutes later the helicopter flies over the scene of an intense skirmish. From above DIVA highlights three army formations withdrawing from the area along with heat sources indicating potential gunfire.
Not wasting any time, Michael jumps out of the helicopter and begins the assault by dropping several fireballs around his enemies to sow confusion before diving unnoticed into the forest to sneak up behind them.
Before he kills an enemy however, Agent Bassey reminds him, "Remember we need intel so try to at least keep some alive".
"Roger that", Michael replies as he retracts his wings before going to work. He sneaks from tree to tree until he's directly behind a man who he drags into the bush and knocks unconscious.
Michael then tosses the man's unconscious body back into the open to attract the attention of other fighters in the area.
Sure enough, his allies eventually gather to help revive their fallen comrade and Michael uses the opportunity to attack, engulfing them all in a fiery explosion.
Those who weren't killed instantly don't get far before succumbing to their wounds.
On the ground to his right, Michael notices a lone survivor with flesh melting off his legs who moans out for help. Stepping over several charred corpses, Michael slowly paces to the man asking, "Who gave you these charms?".
He squeezes the groaning man's open wound with his claw, piercing down to the bone while telling him, "The sooner you talk, the sooner I can put you out of your misery".
Through the intense pain the man answers, "Omuma... it's one man from Omuma who gave us the charm. They call him Okafor but he no show face. Please abeg let me go abeg".
After hearing the confession, Overwatch tells him "Good work, prepare for exfil".
Michael lets go of the man's leg and stands up saying, "Understood" as the hears the sound of a helicopter flying nearby.
Moments before leaving, Michael turns to tell the man, "You can die now" then blasts him with fire until a burnt mass is all that remains.
The End?