September 14th, 2222. In the morning in Brazil, Silas, Dana, Carl and Garcia have secretly taken all of the bombs they could find and relocated them in an abandoned construction site. "Using this place to set off the bombs would look like a planned demolition." Silas says. "So long as we can cover up the fact that explosives existed here at all, we can dispose of them easily."
"That's smart and all, but I still think it would be easier to just throw them back at the cartel and kill them all." Garcia says. "Two birds with one stone."
"I will not kill nor be responsible for the death of another person again." Silas says firmly.
"You're in the wrong business for that, kid..." Garcia replies.
"Think what you may, but Silas is the best at what he does." Carl adds. "Sure, it takes extra steps to keep from killing anyone, but he has the abilities to match it."
"Strength and arrogance often go hand and hand..." Garcia mumbles.
"What?" Silas asks.
"I said you're stupid." Garcia says as she stands up. "Now, we gotta have these set for later tonight. That way when we round up and arrest the rogue Hunters, it can also act as a distraction for the cartel to keep the two forces from meeting. Keeping numbers... less against us."
"Drawing the attention of the cartel away from us is the fastest way to secure the next objective." Dana says. "Securing the rogue Hunters or dismantling rogue Hunter activity. Even if we don't round them all up, we can remove them from the equation if the danger for them outweighs the costs. Then all that's left is taking down the heads of the cartel or leaving them open to arrest. Should be simple once they've lost their backup forces."
"Even better, the distraction may even leave some of the heads on high alert." Garcia adds. "This will put them in a position where they're guarded by their most trusted soldiers rather than a whole army. That means, less people to stop us from detaining the top brass."
"I like the positivity." Silas says. "Almost makes me forget you mumbled about me being arrogant earlier."
"Tsk." Garcia scoffs.
A knock was heard on the door leading to the military conference room in HQ of Pilloa, Omnia. When the door opened, several military officers led Jade into the conference room to face Holly. "You called me here and brought me directly to your military conference room?" Jade asks skeptically. "That doesn't come off as a... security risk to you?"
"Do I have a reason to suspect you of being a risk to my security, Jade Haskell?" Holly asks. Jade was silent, then Holly continues. "I've seen your records. I've also seen your test scores, physical evaluations, so on. You really seem like the best America has to offer. Which makes me curious. Why are you only a Sergeant Major? Someone of your aptitude and accomplishments should've easily been made Lieutenant in your time."
"Just gotta do better to get the right marks, I guess." Jade answers, unfazed.
"Remarkable." Holly says, sounding impressed. "Now, I understand you've met Silas Mahina? He's how we got contact about this joint task force."
"We've met." Jade says.
"Good, I hope you've met on good terms." Holly adds. "Because he's going to be your new captain."
"What!? Him!?" Jade asks.
"Is there a problem, Sargeant Haskell?" Holly asks.
Jade sighs, then says "No, not at all. Just, a slight allergic reaction to bullshit."
Holly pauses for a bit, as if impressed from her firm stance. "Hm." Holly says. "Well, in all fairness, we wanted to use this joint task force in cooperation with America in order to start repairing the bad blood between our two countries and patch things up. Leave the war behind us, and finally move on. With that being said, it's not exactly like we'd trust America to send us a leader, by any chance. No, we want one of our own to lead this force. As much as that won't come as any real surprise here, I'm sure. This joint task force is to be named Gumiho Unit."
"Why Gumiho?" Jade asks.
"It's Korean..." Holly replies. "It's the Korean word for a nine-tailed fox. Shapeshifters. I'm sure you've heard the rumors about the new laibah race?"
"I've heard... a little?" Jade says without much certainty.
"Ah, well..." Holly says as she thinks. "The name is my idea of a... joke."
"A joke?" Jade asks. "You know, I could be heading home on a plane right now to see my family until your bumbling fools returned home. Is there any real reason I need to be here?"
"You were already in our country." Holly says. "Since yesterday. I decided some hospitality may help you warm up to your new team. I figured you'd appreciate some extension of formality."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Jade replies. "I have my own family to worry about back home. I don't need this... joke and these laibah rumors getting in my way."
"Don't you want to know if it's real?" Holly asks.
"Holly, is that a good idea?" Haru asks.
"What?" Jade asks.
"The laibah." Holly says. "Do you want to know if they're real?"
"W-what are you..." Jade asks.
"Holly!" Haru objects.
"This is on a need-to-know basis, and she just may need to know." Holly says.
"Wait, you can't mean they're... real?" Jade asks.
"After all..." Holly says without taking her eyes off of Jade "Her new squad captain is one. She'll need time to adjust."
"Silas!? A laibah!?" Jade panics.
"Great." Haru says with a disappointed tone. "Ryan, get a med team on standby. We may need someone on the floor in case she faints, panics or goes into shock."
"W-w-w-wait... those shapeshifting humans they constantly mumbled about for the past like 6 years? That's real?" Jade asks.
"Haven't you ever noticed Silas casts magic without a charm?" Holly asks. "Even us Mages can't do that."
"My soon-to-be captain isn't even human!?" Jade asks.
"To be fair, you work for the FBI." Haru answers. "You should be used to your bosses not being human."
"What does that mean!?" Jade asks in a panic.
"Now you're just confusing her." Holly replies. "Look, Jade. Your bosses are human. They just have no souls. That's what Haru here meant. You're in shock. Take a deep breath. Sit down. I don't want you to collapse and injure yourself on the floor. On my floor. This place is kept very clean..."
"Ughhh." Jade utters as she sits down and rubs her forehead. "I wanna go home..."
"They gave me the order..." Mathias say as he looks at his government issued phone. "Somehow I'm disappointed but not surprised. I guess this means their agent they spoke of is learning more than she should. But, to kill her whole family?" Mathias thinks hard about what to do as he closes in on the location Jade's family lives at. "On one hand, I can do this and move on with living. But I don't kill humans. Just these monsters with no souls. But a loving family? I don't want to live on knowing I brought a family to an end. Family was why I started... But on the other hand, if I don't, they'll have me turned in and killed in no time at all. Maybe even send another assassin." As Mathias takes a lot of time observing this family he was supposed to kill, he saw a family that was close and actively spoke and cared for each other. There looked like a younger sibling to Jade who was still in school, uncles and aunts. People living in the moment and enjoying quality time with loved ones. "No." Mathias thought to himself. "Not only can I not do it, I gotta make sure there isn't anyone else around to do the job for me. One check around the whole town. I'll check until nightfall if I have to. I'm not going to be responsible for their deaths."
Mathias thoroughly searched and searched all day and never found a single suspicious person who looked like they were part of this team of assassins working for the CIA. These people were known as Gladio. Mathias Rudiger, or Skell as he's better known by was part of this force of terrorists and militias funded by and operated by the CIA inside of America. Most of their funding came from the gangs they've funded or partnered with that peddle drugs across borders and cities in insane amounts. Gladio was an old operation that was redeployed by the CIA after reinstating the agency during the restoration period for security reasons related to the government. Mathias knew there were other assassins. But as he searched and searched, he found nobody. To his relief by midnight of this day, he saw the lights turn off at their house as everyone went to bed finally, on this Saturday night. Mathias took one deep breath of relief, then started planning his way out of the country. His only option now after defying Gladio was to run and hope they could never find him. The CIA was now after him.