In the back of a military cargo truck, Reia and her future squad sat in the back happily talking away. The few other soldiers that also accompanied them sat in silence daring not to speak.
Reia sitting by the end looked out the back of the truck watching the military base get smaller and smaller. Her expression did not change at all keeping the same cold look no matter what however, a bit of sadness could be seen on her face.
Aoi sat next to Reia, curious about what she was thinking about.
"What's up Reia?" Aoi leaned forward to get a better look at Reia's face.
"Nothing, just reminiscing on the past as it's been so long since we have stepped outside of the military base." Reia looked around seeing everyday civilians looking on with curiosity, some with admiration and others with fear.
"Ehh, don't tell me you already miss Akira." Aoi had a smug grin, knowing that it would get a reaction out of Reia.
Reia faced Aoi with a blank face, knowing exactly what she was trying to do, however, because she mentioned Akira, Reia's thoughts wandered. Reia furrowed her brows and her mouth started to twitch.
"You damn tanuki go bother someone else before I throw you out of this truck." Reia kept her voice down but the annoyance in her voice was present.
"Oops hehe~" Aoi quickly got up from the seat and went over to where Echo and Jayde were.
'I swear everywhere I go, Akira is there to haunt me.' Reia's face was slightly red, breaking her cold aura. Luckily none of the other soldiers saw as they did not even dare to look at Reia in the first place.
Rumours had already spread that she defeated 2 soldiers in a second almost ruining their career in the military. This rumour alone was enough for people to stand clear from Reia as there were already 2 people that were not able to make it to the first mission.
Reia took a deep breath returning to her cold unapproachable self.
**
In a forest, an overgrown entrance to a bunker was hidden away in the depths of the forest. Near the entrance were parked 2 trucks and a line of soldiers all in their white uniforms representing the Alteryx military.
"So your objective for this mission is to investigate this old bunker that was in the possession of the neighbouring city, but there have been some reports of activity and movement indicating this bunker might be repurposed." The commander walked up and down the line of 23 soldiers explaining their mission.
From the mission explanation alone Reia was able to tell they were already going to get into a fight with a conflicting faction.
'They want to test us so no better way than to put us up against actual opponents.' Reia was not a fan of this method as people had different expertise and so plain fighting was always a challenge for the more technical-minded people.
'Should make sure Aoi tags along with Echo so at least then he won't die because he was too distracted.' Reia, knowing who would have the most trouble, wanted to make sure they were paired up with someone that had more fighting experience.
"Now I will split you up into 3 groups, and I want at least one of the specialised essence users in each one."
Reia did not like the sound of it, as Reia much preferred to work alone than have to worry about people she doesn't care about.
The commander as he explained the groups put down a metal box on the floor which then projected the screen showcasing who is in each group.
[Group 1]
Reia
[Group 2]
Lou
Kim
Jayde
[Group 3]
Aoi
Echo
Looking for specific names, Reia was happy to see that she was alone in the group, making it easier for her to ditch the squad and get the mission done quicker.
However, the faces of the soldiers were mixed, some were happy and had a grin while others were terrified.
"Now go grab your weapons and then I will explain further what you are doing." The commander briefly dismissed them to prepare their things so they could head straight in.
*
Reia went to the side of the truck she was in and opened a side compartment that held all their weapons. Finding the weapons that were marked as purple, Reia picked up a katana and a rifle.
Some of the soldiers were confused to see a sword as a weapon since it seemed completely impractical.
Reia testing to see if the sword was working and let her essence flow through the blade. The katana started to glow purple and a lightning effect appeared around the blade.
The other soldiers swallowed their saliva as getting hit by her blade even once would be deadly.
'Good, they didn't tamper with my weapons.' Reia was examining her sword and rifle looking for changes.
'Echo's gadgets are getting better at tricking the military.' Reia slightly smiled since Echo's device masked the modifications Reia got on her weapons that released the essence cap, essentially making the weapons seem less powerful.
Getting back into line everyone geared up with their own weapon of choice.
"Now I want group 1 to head in first and be the scout group." The commander did not waste any time and started listing the role of the groups. Group 2 will be the exploration group of the scouted areas and group 3 will bring back any information or items back up to the entrance to report back to me."
Lou had a disappointed look as she wanted to be the first to charge in and glanced at Reia hoping she would switch with her. Reia did not even bother to look at Lou and turned her head a bit further making sure Lou was not in Reia's peripheral vision.
"Tch." Lou crossed her arms not having much say, but it wouldn't stop her from running in any way once they could enter.
Aoi also shared the same disappointed expression and also considered just running ahead leaving her group behind.
"Without further ado, I would like Group 1 and 2 to enter the bunker." The commander turned and started to walk towards the entrance of the bunker.
Groups 1 and 2 followed and for a brief moment stood in front of the bunker they were just about to enter.
The bunker itself had a massive metal door that was partly open but was overgrown leaving vines to cover the gap in the door. The edges of the doors were completely covered in nature making them blend in with the surroundings and showing that the bunker was abandoned long ago.
"So Reia, what are the chances we find some soldiers to kill?" Lou stood beside Reia, hoping to get some action within the bunker.
"Only one way to find out." Reia walked up to the vines and used her katana to cut them down. Walking inside Reia pulled out her rifle and turned on the flashlight underneath the barrel.
The other soldiers started to walk in, all turning on their flashlights and examining the place.
Walking into the bunker, they found themselves in a sort of vehicle bay. However, what was surprising was that the bunker did not get affected by the outside and was relatively clean.
Reia moving to one of the walls found a door leading further into the bunker. Completely ignoring her squad, Reia went ahead annoying her other members but because they wanted to be quiet couldn't call out to her.
Reia found herself in a long dark hallway and saw at the end of the hallway was a light.
Instantly moving as silent as she could, approached the light seeing that it was coming from a room. As Reia got close to the room she heard voices coming from it.
'Just as expected.' coming up to the door, Reia peaked into the room.
"Once we report back, they should send more people to refurbish this place and get it up and running." A human soldier in a dark blue uniform was standing behind a desk that looked like a map of the bunker. 4 other soldiers of varying races were on the other side of the table all looking at the map.
The room itself was clean and looked like a sort of planning room with the only furniture being chairs and a massive table in the middle.
'Well that was easy, now we know what they plan to do.' Reia had already found the information that the commander was looking for.
Decided that it is probably best to kill the soldiers off seeing as none of them looked like they had any significant rank making their information rather limited.
However just as Reia was about to take out the soldiers one of her group members came into the hallway calling out for her.
"Reia!"
'What are they stupid, we are trying to be silent here.' Reia was instantly pissed off by the group member, almost tempted to shoot him alongside the other soldiers.
"Shit we have been found out, quickly report to the lieutenant." One of the soldiers quickly scrambled for the radio that was on the side of the table.
Reia, not allowing it to happen, rushed into the room and shot the soldier that reached for the radio. Continuing to get closer to the soldiers, Reia shot another one before she pulled out her sword.
Charging it with her essence the sword was covered in bolts of lightning shocking the soldiers since it was a specialised soldier.
The soldiers snapping out of the initial shock pulled out their pistols and went to shoot Reia.
However, Reia had jumped onto one of the soldiers making him fall onto the table and stabbed right into the soldier's heart releasing an electric shock from her sword. Small lightning bolts escaped the sword hitting the remaining 2 soldiers around the table forcing them to drop their pistols.
"Arggghhh!" The soldiers grit their teeth in pain while they fall to their knees recovering from the shock.
Reia did not waste any time and she pulled out her sword from the soldier's chest. She got off the table and as she landed decapitated one of the soldiers.
Walking around the table Reia leaned over and picked the soldier by the collar.
"P-please spare me, I surrender." The soldier pleaded for his life, but Reia could not care one bit and put her blade up to his neck.
As Reia was slicing the neck of the soldier one of her group members walked in.
"Reia, what's going on?" A blonde tiger had entered just as Reia sliced open the neck of the soldier and blood spewed all over Reia.
Reia dropped the soldier and glared at the tiger that walked in.
The tiger felt shivers as the look in Reia's eyes was filled with rage.
Reia walked up to the tiger with her sword in hand and grabbed him by the collar. Due to his height Reia was not able to pick him up, but she still pushed the tiger up against the wall.
"We are on a fucking mission, keep your voice down so we don't alert the enemy, next time I hear you speak I am cutting that throat of yours." Reia's eyes flashed purple as she put her blade up against the tiger's neck.
"And If you dare follow me, I won't hesitate to kill you, now be happy I am sparing you now." Reia slightly pushed her blade on his neck causing a small cut and it to slightly bleed.
The blonde tiger did not say a word and kept his mouth shut. Reia then threw the tiger to the ground and stomped on his stomach winding him. The tiger coughed in pain and held his stomach.
"Now stay here otherwise next time it won't be my foot hitting your stomach." Reia sheathed her sword and walked away leaving the tiger alone in the room.
'That bitch will get what she deserves once my family hears about this.'