Olympus: The Agency (Book One)

12. White Squad

In chess, many people will tell you that pawns exist to go in front of the main, important pieces, a sacrifice to ensure victory. How surprising it must be for those that fight White Squad, when the Rook rushes forward.

Despite Agent Aquarius being the best agent under Nevada's employ, White Squad was the best team, simply because they could work together.

Six individuals made up White Squad: King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Knight and Pawn. These agents are the best of the best, the absolute elite, reserved for those situations where not just anyone will do.

So why did they just go rogue?

Rook dropped her hammer on the ground, where it whined for three seconds before switching itself off. She walked over to the mirror and glanced at her face briefly. Her jaw and nose were covered by a custom-made re-breather mask, and today would not be a day she removed it.

'Rook, where are you?' came the concerned voice of King over Rook's comms.

'I'm on my way, just...'

Rook look at her reflection once more.

'Remembering.'

No reply came over the comms, but Rook took the meaning. She pushed herself away from the mirror, picked her hammer up again, and left the room.

As a vessel of the Agency's specialist fleet, the King's Gambit was probably the most powerful, barring the My Lady Elizabeth. Crewed by 90 men and women of various races, even a demon in Engineering. Armed with state-of-the-art weaponry built by the top Alliance Arms developers. Lined with nanoplate armour behind Vauxler Shielding. Not many could take on this ship and survive.

The ship shook violently.

'The hell?' Rook said under her breath. She started running down the corridor, heavy clunks on the metal. Crew members knew not to get in her way, so they quickly jumped aside or were shoved down lest they be too slow.

The door to the bridge opened and Rook barrelled inside. She skidded to a halt in front of her console at the C.I.C. 

Only Bishop was present, his dexterous fingers dancing over the holographic panels. 'Seven contacts, Wight frigates targeting our critical systems. Multiple shield points, can't compensate for all of them!'

The C.I.C exploded in a shower of sparks, setting the wires alight.

'Get the fire out!' Bishop cried.

Rook grabbed the air pressuriser and pointed the nozzle at the fire. Within seconds, the fire was extinguished as its oxygen was sucked away in the localized space.

'Why the hell are the Wights out here? This is Klisk space' Knight said, hurrying in and activating his station. 'All weapons are already firing, but I need King's go to fire the blink cannon.'

Pawn and Queen approached their stations and logged on.

'Engineering reporting a hull breach.' Pawn said.

'Power is out for Science.' Queen added.

There was another explosion below their feet, and the power flickered.

'Hull breach on Deck 12. No survivors.' Knight said promptly.

One more explosion, this one enveloping White Squad and the bridge. None of them reacted as the room disappeared and turned into the empty void of the holodeck. Agent King was standing by the entrance, looking disappointed.

Agent King, despite the name, was a tall woman with neatly cut, chestnut brown hair, eyes that glowed with a tangerine aura, and freckles on her face. However, she was in the commander's armour, and you don't get to wear that without proving yourself.