One of the men raised his gun and shot at the man with long hair and brown skin. The latter easily adjusted himself and slapped the gun, moving the barrel that was pointing at his chest away from it.
His opponent was wearing a black bulletproof vest over a black military uniform and a black balaclava over his head. There were six others dressed similarly, each of them fighting some men in ragged clothes.
For the ruggedly dressed men, the plan was to defend themselves but for the men in the black military uniform, the plan wasn't to defend, they were the attackers after all. They had stormed the building in the dead of night so they could catch the ruggedly dressed men off guard.
They had a target: the brown-skinned man. So when one of the masked men successfully eliminated his opponent, he joined his partner in fighting the brown-skinned man, making it two-on-one.
The long-haired man looked around, his men were dropping en masse and the number against him soon increased from two to seven. He was now all alone against seven armed men with nothing but his speed to rely on as all seven of them pointed their guns at him.
He could avoid it though. He knew he could, so he readied for the first shot but it never came. One of the men - the first one to join the attack on him - stepped forward, hanging his rifle on the belt around his waist. He took out a dagger from a small pocket on his sleeve and swung it at the long-haired man who stepped back to avoid the blade.
The long-haired man looked at the seven men again. He knew if he were to create too much distance between himself and the dagger-wielding masked man the other six would open fire and shoot him. He had to take the fight to the dagger-wielding masked man. That way he can take him as a hostage and use him as his ticket out of the place.
The long-haired man stepped forward and behind the mask, the dagger-wielding man smiled; this was exactly what he wanted to happen. He threw the dagger to his left hand and feigned attacking but just as the brown-skinned man raised his hand to slap the former's hand away, he spun, throwing the dagger back to his right hand, and slicing the long-haired man's neck.
The long-haired man held his neck as blood spilled out, before falling to his knees and then face-first on the ground.
"Target down. Repeat: target is down."
There was a static noise before a response came through their comms. "Command to the Black Cloud, do you copy?"
"Positive."
"Mission status?"
"For peace and for all the realms. Erfolg, Erfolg, Erfolg."
"Good job boys. The local authorities are on their way to your location, we're bringing the extraction to you."
"Copy. Come on boys, let's get out of this hell hole," the masked man said wiping the blade of his dagger on the lifeless body of the long-haired man before returning it to the small pocket he had earlier taken it out from. He unhooked his gun from his waist belt and brought it up to his shoulder level, headed for the roof with the six others close to him.
The silence of the night is replaced by a loud noise as a chopper lowered to the roof to pick the seven men up. They all board the aircraft which took them up and away as police siren approached the scene.
"We are the Immortals! We are the Immortals! We will never die! We will never die!" They all sang in unison. It was like a ritual for them, they sang after every successful mission - and they had plenty of successful missions.
The group had been around for more than two decades and the seven original members were still in the group despite the difficulties of their missions. "We've got gold in our veins, we've got gold in our veins. We will never die! We will never die!"
"Command to Black Cloud, do you copy?"
They all stopped their singing and one of the masked men replied. "Loud and clear."
"We just received a message from the very top, we're changing your destination, you're headed to Stoneview Heights."
"Did something happen, sir?" The Black Cloud member asked.
"They have another mission for you guys."
.
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.
"How do you know this?" Hunter asked the cinnamon red-haired girl.
"I hacked the Laundry."
"You -- Why am I not surprised? I'm guessing you also hacked the HSS?"
"H - How do you know?"
"You mentioned something earlier ... So you also hacked the Public Safety and Demon Control agency?"
"Yes."
"And the Bureau?"
Aislinn shook her hands. "I'm not that crazy." Hunter laughs. "So what happened after that?" He asked.
"Everything after that was heavily classified. Summarily, The Black Cloud got agitated during the mission and ended up wiping out everyone in the town. When the Bureau found out what happened, they were declared terrorists and then hunted by a Bureau strike team. All of them were killed, except Baron."
"How come? There's no way he's been able to evade them especially given what he's been doing."
"Yeah ... He went off the radar for a few years but reappeared on the Laundry's list for the biggest threat to the mystical secret. He was number one and you were number two."
"Did you say I was number two?"
"Yes!" She smiled. "During your exorcism days and the fact that years have passed and you're still a nuisance to both The Bureau and The Laundry! I love y ... er ... it!" She exclaimed.
"I don't know if that's something I'm proud of ..."
"You should be! You're an icon to some and a problem to many!"
"By 'some' you mean just you and by many you mean almost every mystical organization. Am I correct?"
"Yes, you are."
"Yup, I definitely shouldn't be proud of that. How come Baron was never arrested?" The sprite asked.
"Because of his location."
"The Bureau doesn't have jurisdiction here?"
"No, the Bureau wants Baron and his Retribution to continue using this region as their base of operations."
"Why?"
"West of here is Zweite Winkle which is the land of some fairies and to the north is Erste Winkle where the Orcanes live. None of them have any diplomatic ties with the Bureau. Retribution being here offsets the other two's power and creates a power balance in Dreieck. The Bureau considers Baron and his Retribution girls as 'a terrible but necessary evil in the east."
[Hm. The Bureau is an interesting organization.]
Hunter uses his index finger to scratch the back of his ear. "And you used to be part of the Retribution?"
"Yes," she nods. "I left when I saw how he treated her and some of the other girls ..." Aislinn gaze shifts to Sasha who was lying on a couch - the only couch - in the shack. Hunter had cut himself in the hand and gave some of his blood to the unconscious ecru-haired girl to hasten her recovery.
"I imagine Baron wouldn't treat deserters nicely. How come they never came after you?" Hunter asked.
"That's because I was basically useless in the group. Unlike the other girls in Retribution, I have no mystical abilities and I only ended up with them because two irresponsible people left me in front of their dojo."
"And they let you in?"
"No. I was a baby, you know. This woman named Constance who was a senior trainer in the Retribution took me in."
"Baron has an assistant? Color me surprised."
"It's a group comprising of only female mystics, he needs a female assistant," said Aislinn. "Constance was the one who took me in," she continued. "For years she fooled Baron into thinking I had mystical ability but around four years ago, she had a disagreement with Baron and left the settlement, it was difficult to keep up the lie after that."
"I see ..."
"So? What are you doing here in Dreieck? " She asked.
"I --"
"I know!" The honey brown-eyed girl exclaimed. "You're on a secret mission!"
"What led you to that conclusion?"
"Well, the Public Safety and Demon Control agency put out an in memoriam for you but here you are so that must mean Jade is aware of the Retribution and the Bureau's backing of them and so she wants you to bring Baron in before Olivia interferes or anything like that. How close am I?"
"That ... Is an unbelievable reach."
[Is it? Swap the Demon Control Agency for the Alpha Sector and Baron for the Archaeons and she's correct.]
'She doesn't need to know that though.'
"Then tell me! What's happening? Why are you here?"
"Aren't you curious?"
"I am. I am very curious."
"Well, I'm here because you summoned me. Remember that one ritual you performed around the tree outside while holding a torch? That brought me back to life! You have three wishes, Miss Aislinn."
"Come on," she pouted. "I'm sure you want to tell someone. I could be that someone."
"No, I don't." Hunter rises to his feet. "I'm going to head out for a minute or two. Can you keep an eye on Sasha for me?"
"Sure can."
Hunter started for the door. He pulled it open but stopped and turned to the cinnamon red-haired girl. "Also I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have to say this but you wouldn't hack me, right?"
"Of course not. I'm a fan of what you do not who you are," Aislinn assured. "I might like following what you do but I find you as an uninteresting person."
"And for once, I'm glad to be boring." The sprite walked out of the door, making sure to close the door behind him.
Once Aislinn had the click, the cinnamon red-haired girl took out her laptop and began typing away. "Password is 'women123' ... That was way too easy to figure out."
Typing noise. Typing noise.
"Hm ... They are two different contacts here saved as 'my wife' and 'wifey' ... And they have different profile pictures too. Is he building a harem or something? ... Hm ... Who's this Sof? They seem close."
.
.
.
•Sector 5
Skylar was going through her personal computer in her office when Camille walked in. "So? How did it go?" Skylar asked, her eyes fixed on the PC.
"As expected ... Some newbie answered my call, made sure to remind me I'm no longer part of Hecate's coven to whom the ritual is reserved."
Skylar turns her sit so that she faces the dark-haired woman. "Did you mention the significance of the situation?"
"I did but she refused to call Hecate."
Skylar stares at Camille. "... But was kind enough to answer my question."
Skylar shakes her head. "So?"
"Opening a portal to or from Hel should be impossible thanks to Lilith's traveling ban but certain demons are capable of bypassing not without the ruler of Hel's knowledge and awareness though."
"Jason isn't a demon though," Skylar pointed out.
"Exactly what I thought too. So I asked her if Lilith could sense if someone from Nym'Roal were to open a portal," Camille stops for a beat.
"Stop with the dramatic pauses and just tell me what happened!" said Skylar.
"You don't appreciate my creativity," Camille shook her head. "According to the rookie, Lilith would know no matter where the person's from. She also mentioned that it should, however, be impossible for non-demons to successfully open a portal that leads there. She asked who I thought opened a portal so I left as fast as I could."
"Hm. You have to take everything she says with a grain of salt especially since she's only a rookie."
"That's exactly what I thought so that means I'll have to call an expert in everything demon and for the second time today I'll have to try to contact someone who hates me."
"Good luck!" said Skylar as the red-eyed woman walked out of the office, taking out her phone from her pocket. She dialed Jade's number and called, the vampire picked up after only one ring.
"Camille. I was just about to call you."
"You were? I always say we thought alike. So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Where's Hunter?"
"What?"
"It's a straightforward question, Camille; where is Hunter?" Jade asked again.
"H - He's dead," she replied.
"So you do know Hunter is dead?"
"Yes, the Bureau communicated the situation with us."
"You didn't offer me your condolences," said the vampire.
"I didn't think you two were that close."
"You're kidding."
"That came out wrong!" Camille said defensively. "I meant: I didn't think it was something you'd like. You're the type to --"
"Shut up, Camille," Jade cut her off.
"Ja --"
"Why did you call?" The dark brown-eyed woman asked.
"I ... er ... I wanted to ask you about opening portals here in Nym'Roal to Hel," said Camille.
"Lucky you. I'm investigating a case about that. How about you come down here so we can go through it together."
"I can't. We're doing a full dive right now."
"And yet we're having a call."
"That's a good point," Camille admitted. "I'll ... er ... let you know when I get there."
Beep.
"Crap!"
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