First Contact

The piercing sound of wind battering through the open hatch filled Slater’s mind. Blitz and Charlotte stood on either side of him, looking out the hatch as well. The trio currently found themselves in a drop ship, poised directly above the ruins Slater had made his way through less than a week ago. After a couple days of preparation, the team had filed into the transport and had talked minimally during the flight. Their faces were obstructed with respiration masks, making communication difficult. Even worse, Slater hadn’t seen his coworkers in the past three days at all, being stuck training his sword skills and learning his blade’s properties with Director Lupus.

Blitz now stood dressed in a much more professional outfit, although not worn in a very professional manner. Replacing his tank top was a violet button down dress shirt, and the white jacket meant to be their unit’s uniform was tied around his waist above his jeans which he hadn’t changed at all. The shirt, the last remaining bastion of professionalism in his dress, lost even that from having half of it’s front untucked. To make matters worse, his headphones were still draped around his neck.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was still dressed in her outfit from when she and Slater had first met. The only change was she, too, now donned the white jacket. However, her appearance did stick out still, with the glowing sigils on her hands increasing the intensity of their green and blue lights respectively.

After minutes spent waiting, the two next to Slater leapt out of the back of the transport. He was taken aback by the sudden action, before realizing a light up display in the corner had turned on, very clearly communicating that he had to jump. Unfortunately, looking down at the ruined cityscape below, actually accomplishing that isn’t the easiest task. After many moments of hesitation, Slater eventually was able to lean off the edge of the opened hatch, plummeting down towards either a safe landing, or a swift demise.

With the upward force of the wind on his body, Slater was entirely unsure if he was screaming or not. If he was, it was entirely inaudible. Likely for the better.

He continued to fall, until he felt his body slowing down. Looking around, he saw some sort of engine had activated from his shoes, balancing his posture and letting him down on the ground safely. As his feet touched the ground, Blitz and Charlotte crowded around him.

“Took you long enough, were you really that scared?” Blitz scoffed behind his mask.

“I’m new to all of this!” He retorted back. Blitz did not return a response, letting his arms do the talking as they went up in a shrug.

“Focus, guys.” Charlotte waved to get their attention. “We have to get across the river to check the main city area, got it?”

Slater nodded. He hadn’t noticed, but they had been dropped on the side of the river he and Lillian had crossed over to before. Although, it was a different part of the city, so the various shops weren’t recognizable to him.

“If our target is the other side, why drop us here?”

“Because, Western States personnel aren’t technically allowed on the other side of the river for territory reasons.” Charlotte began her walk down to the bank of the river.

“Aren’t we called the ‘Secret Police’ anyways? Why is a Secret Police force crossing borders?” Slater’s endless supply of questions refused to exhaust itself.

“We’re not really a ‘Secret Police,’” Blitz chimed in. “it’s just some nickname Remiel came up with for us. To Ellis and the other higher ups, we’re just a small disposable force that can be used to infiltrate places and bend the rules with minimal risk.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take our job seriously.” Charlotte had reached the bank, and turned her head back to interject. “That being said, I’ve been training the past few days to get this right…”

Her hands went up, facing the water. The blue symbol on her hand began to grow in intensity until, at one point, small crystals began to form on top of and around her hand. Not just crystals, but a cold mist. With a sudden jump in light intensity, her hand let out a freezing discharge of ice that enveloped the entire area in a cold breeze. Although, more shockingly, an ice bridge had now been frozen over the river as well.

“This won’t hold long, let’s get moving.”

Charlotte led the charge across the river, with the two boys in the rear.

“Did she… But, how?” Slater’s confusion was voiced, whether intentional or not.

Blitz shot a small side-eye glance at the shorter boy. “You probably could’ve figured it out by now, but she’s one of those people who make that ‘Aether’ stuff inside of them.” He sighed and looked back at the girl striding confidently before them, as Slater joined him in doing so. “Back before she came here, she was in Canada. Some real assholes found out about what she could do, and wanting to see how far it went, dissected her and put two core systems inside her body. One on each side, with the output coming from her hands. So, she’s her own self-powered weapon.” He stopped himself before continuing, looking back at Slater sternly. “But, don’t call her that. She’d kill both me and you if she ever heard herself reduced to that. Forget I said anything.” He waved his hand, running ahead to strike up a conversation with Charlotte, mainly for his own personal redemption for his remark.

Slater sighed. She’s had some struggles of her own, huh? He thought back to when this mission had pitched to them, and Charlotte’s act of clemency back then. Was she really willing to go through all of that again, just to prevent me from doing the same? His gaze fell on the two taking the vanguard ahead of him. How long are people going to walk in the way of danger for me? Slater’s hands clapped against his cheeks, breaking into a sprint to catch up to his coworkers like a little brother spotting his siblings.

“What’s the plan for the mission, guys?” Slater butted in as he caught up and walked in pace with them. Their heads turned to him, processing the question. He had heard quiet conversation coming from the two as he had run to them, which explained their lag to reply. Figuring Blitz might’ve brought Charlotte’s past up to her, Slater thought it best to move the conversation somewhere else.

“Well…” Charlotte started to add. “We’re on the lookout for ‘suspicious movement.’”

“Whatever that means.” Blitz yawned and threw his arms back behind his head.

Slater’s finger stuck out, directing to Blitz’s shirt. “The only suspicious thing going on here is how you’re dressed.”

“Hey!” He snapped back. “It’s fashion! You wouldn’t get it!” Blitz jumped to his own defense.

“It’s tacky.” Charlotte’s voice lacked emotion as it pierced a spear through Blitz’s pride. “Irregardless, Lupus said if we do see anything substantial to ping him using this.” She took a small device out of her pocket. It had the appearance of a handle, with a miniature glass box on the top encasing a red button. “According to his estimates, he could be here in about ten to twenty minutes.”

“He could be here a lot sooner if he just came with us, you know?” Blitz made his thoughts known with an irritable pang.

“He had business to take care of while we did this.” Charlotte replied robotically.

“And I had business to take care of too! A new album just dropped and—“ Blitz stopped himself when he saw the smirks and side eyes of his two allies next to him. “Hey! I’m serious!”

“Like the time you were serious about starting a rap career?” Charlotte’s smirk had transformed into the condescending smile of a mafioso.

“That was years ago! That has nothing to do with this!” The boy’s face was flushed, as his hands had gone up to defend himself from the verbal assault.

“Oh really, can you drop a bar for us then?” Slater joined in on the dogpile, but his words also held a distinct sincerity.

“We have a recording of him during that phase I can show you back at home.” Charlotte leaned in close and said into Slater’s ear, but still loud enough to get on Blitz’s nerves.

“You demon!” Blitz yelled out as he jumped at Charlotte, not knowing what he was trying to accomplish, but just wanted to end the humiliation. Charlotte, being used to this treatment, effortlessly dodged.

The sight of the three getting to the end of the ice bridge and squabbling amicably was a sight to see from afar, especially from the top of one of the ruined buildings in the main city.

“What are they doing?” Maya chimed in, looking down at April who was holding a lens up to her eye.

“From the looks of it, fighting.” Her observational response didn’t thrill her company.

“No more details? Come on! If they’re fighting, can’t we at least go after them now while they’re off guard?” Droite was laying on the roof further back than his comrades, crossing his legs and staring at the darkening sky. Maya, meanwhile, was also fed up with the lack of information and had entered a bratty pout.

“We’ll find where they’re staying for the night and ambush them while they sleep, just wait until then.” April’s voice remained unenthused.

“God! All you ever tell us is to wait! We’ve been here for hours, when can we actually do anything?” Droite didn’t mince words.

“Patience is a virtue, Werewolf.” Axel’s voice cut in from the side. He also hadn’t been watching over the edge, but instead was sitting meditating with his legs crossed and his blood-blade in his hand.

“I told you guys not to call me that!” The beastly man protested, but didn’t actually move from his position. Axel, on the contrary, reveled in his ability to annoy the man he had gained from April. Maya also tried to suppress her own giggle. April, on the contrary, kept her eye on the group moving below them.

The opposing scenes continued deep into the afternoon, and before long, night had fallen and the trio from the East had decided to shift focus towards finding a temporary dwelling for the night.