Dein and Rhos gazed at the figures of the almost twenty people who stealthily approached their position at breakneck speed.
The two had drawn back a few kilometres from the isolated house in the woods in order to avoid the possibility of attracting attention because of the larger group that was joining them.
The figures that rushed toward them were adorned in dark, lean, tight-fitting armour that outlined their lean figures and as they reached Dein and Rhos, they slowed down.
Among them were six women and thirteen men carrying cases full of varying types of equipment; some bearing standard utility tools for all combatants involved, while others held individual parts which assembled something Rhos had specifically requested.
A young man with ginger-coloured hair done into a slicked-back pomp was the first to address the two leading agents, his eyes on Rhos. His tone and form of address were so casual, that one would think he was talking to a couple of friends about his night at the bar.
"Say boss, this wouldn't happen to be a suicide mission, would it? Some of us aren't ready to commit to Agavon like that. Give us a heads up, you know. Why would you call so few of us when we are clearly dealing with monsters that are probably at the Level 2, Level 1 Utility User range?"
The young man's eyes flashed blue. It might have sounded as though he was joking around, but he was serious. Rhos was the kind of man who would do anything he could for his country, and any kind of radical idea to purge a wanted terrorist was pretty much valid in his eyes.
"A suicide mission, in this case, would have called for bringing more than nineteen people to jump in mindlessly against these freaks, Julls. Relax. There's a tight plan in place," said Dein.
"I sure hope so," Julls said. The doubt never left his eyes, though.
"I called for you guys in particular because we need to be more strategic with the brand of opponents we have to deal with right now," Rhos said strictly.
"Sure, boss. What kind of strategy are we talking about?"
"Hold on," a fourth voice interjected. "Wouldn't it be better if I run around and survey the area or...I don't know, capture these guys before they even have the time to blink?"
It was a long-faced girl with apple-green eyes who spoke.
"You do know I could do that, right?"
The girl had waist-length dark hair with red fringes tied into a French braid and an athletic figure that exuded a devilish charm when paired and complemented by the dark combat suit that traced her body. Both these details appealed to both her quickly growing reputation and prowess.
"If every crime and criminal in this world could be solved using your speed, wouldn't we all be singing hymns about you, Jayne?" said Rhos with an annoyed tone.
"Look, you already told us what these guys are capable of, so how is my own judgement – which is based on fact, by the way – wrong? You and I both know that each Utility has limits. I happen to know the limits of mine very well and whoever these people are can't possibly react to supersonic speed, especially if they don't expect to see us coming," the girl, Jayne, stubbornly stressed.
She was thoroughly convinced that these older agents were too inflexible to see the easiest solution here. Surely, her Utility could save them a great deal of time.
…
The mechanics behind Utilities were rather straightforward at a glance, but only experienced combatants could understand how complex they got the deeper one delved into them.
The Fint in the air could be utilised for basic and advanced purposes.
However, Fint could also be stored in the body like many other forms of energy that existed in the natural world.
When one was familiar with the Fint coursing through their body to a certain degree, they could fuel the Spark – a supernatural micro-organ in their brain – with said Fint without harming themselves. The level of precision required to accomplish this was ridiculous, but more than a few were able to do so.
In time, the Spark would impress a Utility, an expression of unique power upon the brain which its user would quickly learn and adopt to their identity.
Utilities came in different shapes and forms dictated sternly by the colour of one's Spark. The colour of one's Spark was represented by the shade of an individual's eye – the iris specifically – took.
There were five known Spark types: Blue, Violet, Gold, Silver and Green.
The range of differences between abilities churned out by each kind of Spark was infinite.
A Violet Spark, the most common, expressed singular abilities tied to certain concepts or actions, like Bullet Creation or Flight.
A Green Spark, on the other hand, like Jayne's, imprinted abilities related to extraordinary physical qualities like Super Strength or Hyper Sight.
Different hues of the Green Spark represented the differences in the types of abilities between individuals within the category of Spark they shared. The same was true for all the other Sparks as well.
The combination of one's Utility and mastery of other advanced uses of Fint was what determined one's Threat Level, which was designated by the National Bureau of Defence; from Level 6 which was the weakest, to Level 0, which was the strongest.
With this ranking system in mind, Rhos was a Level 3 Utility User while Dein, Jayne and Julls were all Level 4.
Rhos looked up into the sky and breathed out his frustration at Jayne's ignorance.
The six moons around Epheria were particularly bright and mostly whole tonight. The gorgeous sight they made along with the canvas of stars behind them made him realise… he didn't have to debate about how this operation was going to go with a fresh Agent like Jayne. He could exercise the proverbial leashing right he had, but that would be too mentally taxing.
"We're doing things my way. We wait for morning, and then we strike. You'll be racing your little legs when I tell you to and only then, understood?" he said strictly.
Jayne shook her head.
"Aye aye, captain," she said in a soulless voice.
"Good. Now let's get to work," Rhos said as he breathed out another sigh.
He hoped the plan he had in mind would work. He already had a backup plan in case it failed, but still. It was better to get it right the first time. There was no room for mistakes. He was against attacking in the night because it was a standard approach that almost all criminals expected, especially after committing a crime as grand as squashing a great city.
A few of the other agents around brought over several large box-shaped cases, each a bit more than two meters tall.
Rhos gazed at the cases for a few seconds.
"It's the M-Flight Shuttle 0034, right?"
"Yes, sir. As you requested," answered one of the agents.
"How fast is the model? You verified, right?" Rhos asked.
"Yes, sir. Mach 131."
"Good," said Rhos. "Now. Let's hope we won't be decorating the ground with our guts by noon tomorrow."
"It's always motivating to hear your optimism, boss," said Julls with an absolutely 'cheerful' visage. His heart was thumping so loud and so fast that it seemed to be compensating for something.