• West Lionwell, United Republics.
"I'm Admiral Dallas, the chief of West Lionwell's Defense staff," the gray-haired woman introduced herself.
"I'm Olivia, director of the Bureau," the dark blonde woman said as she stepped forward to shake the admiral's hand. The blue-eyed woman smiled slightly before taking the director's hand. "I know," she said.
"I know who all of you are. She's Jade, the deputy director of the Public Safety and Demon Control agency," The blue-eyed woman said pointing to the dark brown-eyed vampire. She turned to the brown-skinned girl. "Leah." She shifted her gaze to the aqua-blue-haired woman. "And she's Skylar Salvador, deputy director of the Alpha Sector. It'll be pretty incompetent of me to not know top mystic agents entering the country."
"I see, you're a bit outdated though; Skylar and Jade are now directors of their respective agencies," Olivia corrected.
Dallas smiled. "Congratulations to the both of you," she said before turning to Olivia. "Care to explain how this happened?" She asked.
"I don't know more than you do. The Republic's Regional Guard have blocked us from accessing the store so the only thing we have to go by are videos floating online."
"We had no other choice. The president of West Lionwell was advised to activate the Regional Guard as we could not get a hold of the Bureau. We were here for nearly eight hours," she said.
"Can we access the store now?" Jade asked.
"I can try talking to the Guard but I doubt they'll listen to me; the Supreme Leader of the United Republics has taken an interest in the case. His special advisor was here a few hours ago to reiterate the Supreme Leader's orders that he would be appointing a team of special counselors to investigate the case. Maybe if you were here, you'd be able to convince him otherwise but right now, it is out of yours and West Lionwell's hands."
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ELSEWHERE
A man wearing a military uniform adorned with multiple insignias signifying his high rank watched with a wide smile plastered across his face as a group of military men and women performed a special drill.
A car pulled up next to him and the man raised an eyebrow. One of his men who was seated on a bench quickly walked to the car. "Ma'am, this a restricted area," he said.
"I'm aware," the woman replied stepping out of the car. She was very light-skinned and had blue eyes and a matching blue lipstick. "Special Agent Dallas, United Republics Secret Service," she handed her ID card that had the Secret Service seal along with her badge. The soldier examined it before turning to the older military man and shooting him a nod.
"Special Agent Dallas ..." He paused as his eyes scanned the grey-haired woman lecherously. "A pleasure."
"Likewise, General Elliott." Dallas turned to the soldiers performing the drill, they were armed with what looked like an XM7 rifle but when they pulled the trigger, a light blue wave was released. "It's that the new anti-mysticism weapons?" She asked.
"Yes." The smile returned to his face, "Finally got that bad boy in a portable firearm. This is going to level the playing field for us."
"Good for you. Have you heard about what happened at Semper Stones?"
"Yes, and just for the record, I want to say I'm deeply disappointed such an act occurred in the Republics' de facto capital."
"That's the Supreme Leader's line. The chief of West Lionwell's police force told me your special unit was informed this could be a Code Zero but they never showed up."
"It was at a local jewelry store," the General started. "I didn't think --"
"Let's keep this short, I have places to be," Dallas waved him off. "Your inaction here would be punished but in the meantime, there's a new mission the Supreme Leader wants you to supervise yourself." Dallas takes out a document from her car and hands it to the General. "The Bureau of Intelligence, Research, and Defense (BIRD) have been following this guy for a while," said Dallas.
The General looks at the picture on the side; a teenage boy with teal green eyes and dark hair. "Hunter Heffernan," he read the name on the file.
"Accompanied by three females, he entered The United Republics last night."
"What country?"
"Vrotland. This is going to be a huge and long mission but for now, you're to recruit whomever you think is capable of taking on Drumalak-level mystics and move to Vrotland, maximum squad size is eight not including yourself. You'll be communicated with further instructions; you have three days."
Without waiting for a response, Special Agent Dallas walked into her car and drove off.
General Elliott scoffed. "What a bitch!"
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• Leinheim
Karl waited impatiently in the warehouse, this had never happened before. Normally, he was the one to be fashionably late but even after waiting thirty minutes before he asked his driver to drive him to the location, he ended up being an hour early.
Karl was rarely involved in the transaction that was made but he had a few questions and since he had a close relationship with the buyer, he decided arriving after the sale was the best time for his queries.
Karl had instructed his men to keep the buyer at the warehouse until his arrival but even they got tired of waiting and played some games while they waited, they scrambled to get back into position when they saw their boss pulled up.
Karl looked at the time infuriated but just as he was about to make his way back home, a car drove into the warehouse. An attractive woman with long gray hair that she wears in two knotted rings with ribbons entwined in them and squared bangs that have cheek-length locks on either side got out of the car.
"Black keys are for red doors," said the blue-eyed woman.
The sentence quickly put the men's minds at ease, it was the code the buyer was supposed to say as some spoken word identification.
Karl raised an eyebrow. "You're with the United Republics? I was expecting the Deputy Director of BIRD," he said.
"He came down with illness, I was asked to jump in last minute, it's the reason for my tardiness, my sincerest apologies," she said. "I'm Dallas, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community within the Office of the Director of Transnational Intelligence, the Director of BIRD reports to us," she revealed.
Karl turned to his boys, three of them stepped forward, each carrying four duffel bags. "The rest of the package will be delivered to you in two weeks." Inspector General Dallas nods before taking an envelope and handing it to Karl. "As promised, the Supreme Leader will be opening three more bases in the UR for you and your experiments. 150 criminals who are held without the possibility of parole would be at your disposal and you'll have access to one of our facilities for paranormal beings."
"Everything looks fine," Karl said as he scanned the paper that was inside.
"Great. Can your guys help me put this in the car?"
Karl didn't have to say anything, the men stepped forward and began stuffing the bags in the car.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
"One more thing," said Karl stopping Dallas from entering her car. She turned back to the Archaeon with a raised eyebrow.
"I've heard some rumors floating around that the UR intends to pull out of the Meridional Accords, is there any truth in that?" Karl asked.
Dallas smiled slightly. "Let's just say the United Republics is moving past the need for The Bureau."
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• Bronzemark
Ibrahim Group Hideout
Ibrahim was flipping through pages of a scroll when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," he said, his eyes not shifting from the pages of the scroll.
"Sir, we found this one lurking around the old building, she claimed to know you."
Ibrahim placed the scroll on the table in front of him and looked up. Ibrahim was a tall, daunting-looking black man. His furrowed eyebrows relaxed when his brown eyes met with the blue ones of the gray-haired woman in front of him.
"Dallas," he said.
"Ibrahim."
The dark-skinned man turned to the two men that had accompanied the very light-skinned woman. "Leave us."
The men set down the duffel bags they were holding before leaving the room. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes," she nodded. "This is all I could get without raising suspicion."
"This is more than enough," Ibrahim stated.
"What happened to the old place?" Dallas asked.
"There was a raid by the Bronzemark army - that was the third one this month alone. We were able to repel the attack but I thought: why take further risks?"
Dallas looks around. "This place isn't too bad," she noted.
"It's not bad at all," said Ibrahim.
"I met our mutual friend today," she said.
"Karl? How come?"
"I led the transaction between the Transnational Security and his men. I've been promoted."
"Really?" He smiled. "What's your new title?"
"Executive Assistant Director of the United Republics Security Branch."
"Executive Assistant Director, huh? Not long until you're Director of TranSec," he said.
Dallas smiled. "I still have a long way to go before then," she said. "What about you? How's your research coming?" She asked.
"I've made what I believe is a very important discovery but I don't want to get your hopes up in case it's nothing." The gray-haired woman nods. She checked the time on her wristwatch. "I better get going, I hope this turns out to be what you're looking for."
She started for the door but stopped when Ibrahim called her name. "Thank you. None of this would have been possible without your help. I promise you, Karl and the other Archaeons would pay for their crimes against us and countless others."
Dallas smiled before walking out.
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• Brownvale
A car carrying Victor Reed, one of the top candidates for the upcoming Brownvale presidential election suddenly drives into an alley and stops.
"Why have you stopped?" The man asked already panicking. Just last week, the frontrunner in the election was gunned down in an alley just like this one and turned the election into a two-horse race, Victor feared he'd meet the same fate.
The vehicle's door was pulled open and an attractive, very light-skinned woman of average height entered the car. She had long gray hair that she wore in two knotted rings with ribbons entwined in them and squared bangs that had cheek-length locks on either side. Her eyes were blue and she had matching blue lipstick and blue painted nails, she was wearing a black blazer and a black pair of trousers. "W -- Who are you?" He stammered.
"Drive," the gray-haired woman said to the driver before to Victor. "Three days ago, a BIRD agent met with you to discuss the UR's conditions for helping the Action Party in the upcoming general election but you turned her away saying, quote: I'll talk business when your boss's boss comes here, end of quote."
Victor's eyes widen. "You're the Director of BIRD?" His voice stuttered as he spoke.
"Even better, I'm a member of the cabinet; the Advisor to the Supreme Leader on Foreign Affairs, you can look it up if you want, I'll wait."
Dallas looks out through the window so Victor knows she's serious about him searching for her title. With shaky hands, he took out his phone and searched who the UR's advisor to the Supreme Leader on foreign affairs was. An image of the woman sitting next to him appeared along with her name.
"Honorable Dallas, I wasn't trying to --"
"Relax Mr. Reed, I'm just here to talk business, like you wanted."
Victor nods and tries to calm himself down, his heart had been racing nonstop since his driver took him into that alley.
"Action Party is going to win the majority along with the seat of the president in the upcoming election, the UR would make sure of it. Now it's a case of whether or not you'll sign the agreement that'll bring Brownvale into the United Republics when you become president."
"Of course I will. It's just the White Flaggers are --"
"We'll handle the White Flaggers. You just focus on your speech after the election and make sure to keep your promise. We have people who are eager to be where you are if you don't."
The car came to a stop and Honorable Dallas got down from it and watched as it drove off.
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• Avex, United Republics.
Church of the Most High
"Mrs. Dallas, I wasn't expecting you."
"I was in the area so I thought I'd stop by," the gray-haired woman said. "The last time we spoke you told me your team's search would soon be coming to an end."
"Ah, that led to nothing but we've found a new lead we're very confident about," said the man. "Maybe you'd like to meet our lead researcher."
"I don't know," she said skeptically. "I'm needed elsewhere."
"I promise this won't take too much of your time."
The man led her to an office where the name 'Bruno Antunes, PhD' was written on the door. He knocked thrice before pushing the door open.
"Brother Bruno," the elderly man called.
"Father Paul," Bruno answered.
"This is Sister Dallas, she's been fighting the toughest battle of the Church for many, many years."
"Oh? What's that?" Bruno asked.
"Trying to convince the Supreme Leader to legalize all of the Church's activities," Father Paul stated.
"That must be some battle; I hear the Supreme Leader's pretty hard to get a hold of," said Bruno.
"Not for me, I'm the Supreme Leader's chief of staff," she revealed.
"Oh wow," Bruno said, genuinely surprised.
"Brother Bruno and his ancestors have been loyal servants of the Most High and have dedicated their lives to finding the missing pages," Father Paul stated.
"I'm starting to think there are no missing pages of the Darkforge and the story about it is nothing but a myth."
"It's real. Haven't you had the first vampire, Sirae, was h --"
"I've heard the story a million times now," Dallas dismissed. "But according to Father Paul, this search has been going on for generations and there's still no sign of the missing pages. Do you even know where the Darkforge is?"
Dallas's eyes shifted to the older man and her expression softened. "Apologies. I assume the task must be very stressful for you, I hope your source proves to be true this time."
Bruno raises an eyebrow. "What's with the sudden change?" He called her out.
Father Paul frowns. "Brother Bruno ..."
"It's fine. It's my fault anyway," she said to Paul before turning to Bruno. "For years I've been trying to convince the Supreme Leader to legalize the Church and the Church's activities. Lately, he's been asking me about the search but I have no response for him. Hearing you repeat the exact words I've heard from Father Paul countless times before caused my outburst. Regardless, that isn't reason enough. I let my emotions get the best of me and I'm very sorry." Dallas bowed her head.
"Won't you say something," Father Paul said when he noticed Dallas remained in the same position.
"Er ... It's no problem," said Bruno. "It happens to the best of us."
"Thank you. I should go now," she said. "Ah, before I forget ..." Dallas took out an envelope and handed it to the Father who collected it with the widest grin plastered across his face. "May the Most High bless you, my daughter."
As soon as she walked out, Father Paul tore the envelope and took out the paper inside. Once he saw the numbers on it, his smile grew even wider.
"What's that?" Bruno queried. "Is that a cheque? How much is it? Does this mean I can double the size of my team?"
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• Vrotland, United Republics.
Hunter looked around the area, by this time tomorrow, they'd have broken into a drug lord's house to try and get a gem of infinity.
According to Camille, the drug lord inherited the gem from his mother when she passed and wore it everywhere because he believed it brought him good luck.
Hunter was there to try and find shortcuts for their escape route as he had a feeling getting away after taking the gem was going to be difficult.
[Hunter, someone's recording you on their phone.]
The sprite turned and his eyes met with the person who immediately ran into their house.
'Weird.'
The sound of police siren fills the air and the teal-green-eyed boy turns to see three people in police uniform approaching him. "Sir, we'll need you to come with us," one of them said.
"Huh? What did I do?"
One of the police, a woman with dark magenta hair and indigo eyes grabbed the sprite and pushed him to the wall. "Easy, easy," said Hunter.
"You're resisting arrest," she said.
"No, I'm not," the dark-haired boy said calmly.
The policewoman pulled him backward before slamming him back into the wall. "Then resist arrest already." She said in a low tone.
'What the hell?!'
[I'll do anything you ask if you grant her her wish.]
'Please don't make me laugh right now.'
"Sorry," Hunter said.
[Just imagine the look on her face, if you turned and smacked her in the face with a yellow energy attack. Hell, you don't have to use any energy, a normal attack would do.]
'Stop!'
"What a coward!" The policewoman twisted the sprite's arm before taking out her handcuffs.
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Hunter looked around the room, this was not his first time in an interrogation room but it was the first time he was brought into one without any charges and kept in one for so long.
Just then, the door swung open and an attractive woman wearing a black blazer and a pair of black trousers walked in. She was very light-skinned and had long gray hair that she wore in two knotted rings with ribbons entwined in them and squared bangs that had cheek-length locks on either side. Her eyes were blue and she had matching blue lipstick and blue painted nails.
"You must be Hunter Heffernan," she said. "I'm Detective Dallas with the Vrotland police force."
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