1 month ago..
A siren wailed. Its sound alerted all the residents of the building just what exactly this day was. Assessment training. Every six months, the Grey Leagues held assessments to see how far the rookie assassins had progressed. Their leadership structure was simple and a ranking system determined the position and responsibility of everyone. Everyone was basically assigned a specific code and if you cleared the assessment training, your ranking increased.
The ranking system was like this:
·RF#00 (Red-Feather which was the highest ranking). In order to obtain this ranking, you had to have successfully cleared twenty-five solo missions and reached Level 5 in all training segments. The segments were Weaponry (this included both guns as well any weapon used in any martial art), Hand-to-hand combat, Knowledge (this was basically understanding and applying everything they had to learn) and Reconnaissance.
· BF#10 (Blue-Feather). Clearing a minimum of fifteen missions successfully and obtaining Level 3 in all segments.
· GF#20 (Green-Feather). Clearing a minimum of five missions successfully and obtaining Level 1 in all segments.
·WF#50 (White-Feather). This was a special ranking granted to assassins who had not mastered a Level in any segment but had enough skill to go on missions. Very few people were given this ranking but to keep order, their codes remained the same as everyone else's. One prime example was Anastasia's mother who was skilled enough to rank in BF#10 but because she failed to eliminate a target, she was given the WF#50 ranking.
Failing to complete a mission also affected one's ranking including overall performance. Which was why they made sure the training regimes were balanced as well as compact.
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"Come on Cree!! You can do this!", shouted Chucky. Cree Davis was a fiery petite girl standing at 5 ft 8. She was clad in the trainee uniform which was a form-fitting grey body suit. Her wild orange hair was in a bun and she held two wooden batons in her hands. Sweat poured from her forehead and she panted slightly. Chucky's favourite feature on Cree are her baby blue eyes. Her opponent was of a similar build. Of Chinese descent, Fei Hong had a mysterious and alluring charm about her. Her eyes were dark like treacle and her black hair was cropped to her shoulders. She was spinning a pair of black wooden nunchucks and like Cree, was breathing heavily.
The girl cheering Cree was Chucky Bunt. Cree's secret girlfriend. Well secret considering only Fei, Freddie (who was Chucky's older sister) and of course Cree knew about it. At least that's what they knew but all their other friends knew. While it was every girl for herself, there was a non-verbal mutual interest of keeping things from their superiors.
'Oh my god Chucky shut up!!', Cree thought. Freddie merely grabbed her sister and clamped her hand over her mouth. She stared at Fei as they began to circle each other on the fighting mat. The space they were fighting on was a slightly higher platform from the ground like a small boxing ring. The other trainees stood around it and their superiors were overseeing their fight. They were of BF#10 and GF#20 rank.
Cree was thinking of how best to attack Fei. On missions, their coordination as a team was always on point. With Fei, all you had to do was tell her what she needed to do and everything would run smoothly. Even in times where they were in life or death situations, Fei was cool as cucumber. Despite being friends for over three years, Cree could never tell what Fei was thinking. Even when she, Chucky and Freddie managed to sneak in a cake to celebrate Fei's sixteenth birthday. All Fei did when they gave her the cake was stare and say, "I didn't know you guys knew I liked coconut."
'Come on Cree! Focus on any openings!' Fei could practically see the wheels turning in her friend's head. Suddenly the door burst open and in walked Agatha Barden. She was the founder of the Grey Leagues.
The sound distracted Cree if only for a second and Fei immediately pounced. She ran towards her and aimed for Cree's face. Cree ducked thinking she could avoid her, only to feel sharp kicks on her shin.
She fell to one knee and rolled away as Fei hit the space she left with her nunchucks. Not willing to back down, Cree stood up and began to attack Fei, forcing her to go on the defensive. By now murmuring could be heard as the trainees saw Agatha stand near one of the superiors to watch. Loud cracks punctuated the air as the batons struck the nunchucks. Cree put everything she could into attacking Fei but for some reason, she felt that she was losing the momentum of her attacks.
Fei had timed Cree's movements so when Cree stepped in to hit with the baton in her right hand, she launched herself towards her and using the chain from the nunchucks, wrapped Cree's wrist and turned her arm behind her. Cree felt pain shoot up her arm at the speed and unnatural angle. By now she was panicking under Agatha's steely gaze and before she could blink, she was on the ground with her arm in a painful lock.
Pinning down your opponent usually meant the fight was over but Cree didn't want to give up. 'Miss Barden is watching so I can't back down like this!'. For a minute she struggled to get out of the hold but Fei held her firmly. Her heart was pounding, sweat dripped from her forehead and her arm felt like it was on fire. She panted heavily as she desperately tried to think of how to get out.
The decision was made for her when Agatha Barden cleared her throat and Fei immediately tightened her hold. Cree cried out and tapped the ground in surrender. Fei stood up and helped her to her feet as a short applause rang out from the trainees. Some of the superiors took notes while another called out the next pair to fight.
Fei held Cree gently as they walked towards Chucky and Freddie. If it wasn't for the bun that was Freddie's hair, you would have assumed they were carbon copies of each other. Both were tall and muscular with matching blonde hair and green eyes. "Geez Cree that was awesome how you held on! You nearly had her, I could tell!", said Chucky. "Nice try but I was beat well and proper.", said a dejected Cree. "No, I mean it! Come on Freddie tell her!" Freddie shrugged.
Chucky groaned at the lack of support and led Cree to a chair. Freddie stood next to Fei as they watched. "She wasn't exaggerating. I might have lost the fight if Cree kept her cool.", said Fei. Freddie's eyebrows nearly disappeared in her hairline. For Fei to admit to almost losing, it was just incomprehensible. They huddled together as they watched the next pair fight. Suddenly one of the superiors came up to them with a piece of paper. "You four are to come to this office when your assessment is over."
When she left, they all looked at each other and the note directing them to one of the classrooms located outside their dorms. Freddie then spoke. "I wonder what we're being called for." "Maybe we're being promoted!", said Chucky excitedly. Cree rolled her eyes. "If we were, they would have called us after the assessments. They never call before dumbass." "I knew that!", huffed Chucky while folding her long arms.
Assessments usually took half a day so when they were done, they left for the office. By now it was 02:00 pm. The Grey Leagues was sectioned into three main buildings. One for the board members and founder. One for the assessment training which also comprised of various classrooms and offices for superiors and the other building was for the dormitories and dining area. Currently the number of agents and trainees at the Grey Leagues stood at five hundred. They never exceeded that number because the board agreed that a smaller and efficient force would be more effective.
The white corridor was quiet as they walked down to their destination. Finally, they reached the door of the classroom. The door had a glass pane so Chucky peered through the glass only to see an envelope on one of the desks.
Cree turned the handle and entered with the girls filing behind her. Fei stood at the door while Freddie went to the desk and picked up the envelope. "Where is the superior who told us to come here?", asked Chucky as she sat on the desk.
"Obviously not here.", answered Cree as she stood next to Freddie. Freddie opened the file. There was a photo on the side and a few papers held by a paper clip. After a few minutes Cree spoke up. "We've been assigned a target." Chucky snorted. "Figures. Do we know who it is?" Freddie then closed the file and threw it to Chucky.
She caught and opened it as Fei came to stand by her desk. "Oh, wait I know this chick!", said Chucky. "Duh. We all know her. Let's go. We only have about a month to get this done.", said Cree as walked up to her and grabbed her hand.
Fei was the first to leave with Freddie on her tail. It was a simple routine. Once Cree would stop arguing with Chucky, it was their cue to leave them alone. Staying with them meant third-wheeling and while it was impossible to feel uncomfortable around them, Freddie and Fei knew they needed some space at times.
Chucky and Cree bumped shoulders as they walked hand in hand, watching their friends go. Chucky then asked. "Why is she a target anyway?" "I don't know but shut up. You're making me tired.", answered Cree. Chucky stopped and gave a devilish smile. "Oh, come on not now...", said Cree. A minute passed. Suddenly Cree sprinted off running with Chucky chasing after her. Laughs rang out in the corridor as they ran.
Chucky asked a very valid question but like most times it was safe to ignore. After all they never really needed to know who or how targets were picked. But still. Why was the target a fellow agent? Why did they need to eliminate Anastasia?
A/N: Yeah there's literally no excuse for how overdue this is but I hope the next chapters make up for the wait.
If you're reading this story anywhere else apart from Wattpad, it has likely been stolen. I have not give any permission for anyone to use my story in any way or form.
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