Columbia, City of Ironforge
Armatek main headquarters
The Manager's mansion
Silence fell as the three of them sat in the living room, although there was still the lingering side eye glance from Lee and Franziska. Hera, flustered by the sudden bold move Lee made to protect himself, yelled at the two of them to stand down as a sniper unit nearly fired a kill shot on Lee. They both complied in the end.
“*sigh*, let's start over shall we?” Hera pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled deeply, before exhaling as her body and mind relaxed.
“As I said, I'm the manager of Armatek. I'd like to formally apologize for the illegal kidnapping, property damage and bodily harm we did upon you and your friend. All of the hospital bills on yours and Jane's treatment are all good now. Also a construction team is already en route to County Hillock to repair and refurbish your damaged bakeshop, and you needn't pay.”
Hera explained as she fiddled on the holographic screen on the table, and Lee saw that she transferred a...ton of money from her bank account to the treasury department. In his eyes, he hasn't seen that much zeros in currency in here before, but he assumed it was around a million-something Columbian dollars.
“And I want to apologize on behalf of my trusted friend here...” She held an open palm towards the horned Sarkaz lady with a sheepish smile, before resuming her task.
“Franziska has been with Armatek ever since we were just a simple mercenary contracting firm. I basically consider her as my twin sister now, so sorry for her rough treatment.”
Lee glanced at Franziska, who had her eyes closed as she rested her back comfortably on the soft couch. The expression Hera wore seemed genuine enough to believe, which made him give them the benefit of the doubt.
“Is she your bodyguard? I don't see any guards or even butlers inside the place.” Lee said while looking around, hoping to spot any signs of life other than them.
“She's a field agent, and she just protects me unconditionally.” Hera responded with a hearty chuckle.
Lee just nodded slowly as he watched The Manager fiddle with whatever she was doing on the holographic screen. There was no doubt in his mind that this Franziska gal wasn't your normal, run-on-the-mill person.
She had the look of a killer, and an aura of authority surrounding her. She reminded him of those constructs in the Purifying Force, whose job was to deal with rogue and infected constructs back in Earth.
As he did a bombastic side eye towards Franziska, he noticed something that piqued his interest. He eyed the revolver-like pistol on the Sarkaz's underarm holster, since she removed her knee-length coat after the heated standoff.
“Curious about it?” Franziska asked suddenly and opened an eye. How she knew that he was eyeing her gun, he'll never know.
“It's a heavy caliber pistol. Though I prefer swords, I still like my guns big.” She took it out of her underarm holster and handed it to him, very slowly and carefully. Lee got the hint and handled it very safely, akin to a father holding his newborn child for the first time in his arms.
“Heh...it feels very light though?” Lee said with an audible astonishment present in his voice, expecting that the gun would have a bit of weight in it. The entire gun is made from carbon fiber and lightweight steel so it didn't feel like he was holding a weighted dumbbell.
"How big of a caliber is this?" Lee asked, taking one of the bullets in the revolving chamber and examining it. It was a long time since he's fired guns with conventional bullets before, as Babylonia fielded and equiped constructs with plasma based weaponry.
"That's bigger than most Originium based bullets like what the Sanktas use. It's a .60 caliber hannya special, only built and made in here." Franziska said rather proudly.
It was a powerful caliber, not just by name. The round itself is imposing to look at, with the brass casing being close to the size of a rifle round. It was the perfect intimidation weapon, and it's performance? Really on a whole new level.
“Is this a gun issued to everyone here?” Lee asked out of curiosity. If these were the type of guns that's being used by people like them, then shouldn't they be the most sought after company in terms of weapon manufacturing?
“No, it's only issued to special agents such as Franz here.” Hera answered the question. They both looked at her, and they saw that she was smiling.
“What?” Franziska asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
“Nothing, I just thought that... you look a lot like each other. Or maybe it's the horns, it's probably the horns, ain't it?”
Hera said and squinted her eyes as it darted back and forth between Lee and Franziska. When standing up, Lee stood almost 5 inches taller than her, but they technically could be mistaken as somewhat related because of the colour of their horns. The only difference was that Franz's left horn was chipped.
“It's...yeah, it's probably the horns. The hair don't match colors though.” Lee said, embarrassed mostly due to how casual the conversation changed. From aiming at each other with a gun point blank, to sitting across his kidnappers while discussing what type of caliber their bullets was, it all felt surreal.
“Hmm, hmm, at least you two have something in common now. People who have the same interests often get along pretty well.” Hera said, referring to their recent topic. She was true on some extent, but sometimes interests change.
"Oh well, time for business." Hera clapped her hands, and her expression also changed from that of a relaxed person to one that's determined to win over something.
Or someone.
"So Lee, here's the deal. I can see in your eyes that you don't even half trust us, so I'll answer all of your questions, and in return, you'll hear my offer out.” Hera offered as she stared at him intently, her emerald orbs making him feel like he's standing in the edge of a cliff.
Lee thought about it for a minute. From the very looks of it, she has immense power and charisma to win over people, and this Armatek organization sounds like the real deal. The view alone from the huge glass window to his left indicates they were quite high up. He also had to know just what made these guys interrupt his peaceful life with Jane, Nino and Alpha.
Wait a minute, speaking of Alpha...
When he defended their house from the armed group they sent, he knows he managed to kill one or two of them. However, what he wasn't sure about was how Alpha fared? Did she manage to wipe a squad out when they got separated? He needed to know.
“You guys... Did you also kidnap my friend? The one with Ashen hair? Her eyes are heterochromia, and she's a very skilled swordsmaster, even though shes annoying as f–”
“Actually,” Hera cut his sentence off. “She was our main target, however you were the one that Adelaide's team encountered, so they took you instead.”
Lee's mouth was left open as he thought about what she said. How the hell did Alpha involved herself into something this...deep? Are these guys the same organization they encountered almost 2 months before?
“What the... She's the target? Wait, wait, wait. Are you the same organization that we stumbled upon into before?” Lee asked warily, glancing back and forth at the two women around him.
“Oh, Babel? That's another... organization we're dealing with. You see, after you got tranquilized by our men, a field agent assigned on the mission discovered that one of our dispatched killteam got annihilated on the street behind your house.” Hera said and swiped upwards, causing the holographic screen to display some images.
“Alpha...did that?” Lee asked, seeing the almost sea of blood on the streets. There were deep cuts along the pavement, possibly from her using excessive force to tear the dispatched killteam apart.
Hera nodded her head. “Uh-uh, and she got herself dragged away by Babel, who you said you encountered before.”
Lee had a look on his face that is best described as fear and worried. He rakes his fingers on his dirty blonde hair, which has grown longer than before, as he thought what to do with the information he got just now. Jane is hospitalized, and Nino still doesn't know about what happened, since she's technically in Londinium right now.
Meanwhile, the person that got zucced in this world alongside him, the only one to ever truly relate to his being, got kidnapped by an organization who he still detests since they basically ruined his coat after that incident. There were so many variables at play here that he felt he was walking on very thin ice.
“Where...is Babel located?” He blurted out.
Hera had a genuine look of surprise on her face. “Pardon me, come again?”
“I said where the fuck is this Babel group located? Alpha is a ticking bomb, and if I don't get her back she may very well kill them all, including innocent civilians.” Lee expressed with a look of seriousness, his voice also laced with a low and serious tone.
Hera felt her mood sour after hearing that. First, there was no way in hell that she would let Babel get away with that swordsmaster. And second, there was also absolutely no way she would let someone kill the Doctor.
‘I'm the only one who should make him suffer, and I'll use him to destroy Babel from the inside out.’ she thought as she stared blankly on the center table.
“Hera?”
“...”
“Oi, Hera.” Franziska's voice made her snap back to reality. The Sarkaz was on one knee on the floor as she snapped a finger in front of Hera's eyes. Lee was watching her with a befuddled expression in the sidelines.
“Hey, are you good? You spaced out just now.” Franziska asked, her tone of voice sounding worried.
“Ahaha, yeah... probably tired. I, I'm sorry. Where were we again..?” Hera responded, brushing off what happened just now. Franziska took the hint and nodded, before walking towards the kitchen counter.
“Erm...about Babel's location?” Lee answered.
“Ah! Yes, that's classified information.” Hera gave him a sly smirk.
“Hah?” A tick mark appeared on his forehead. “I thought you said you was finna answer my questions dawg! The hell is you doing crossing me like that mah n#@**!?”
“Ayo, I said I had an offer didn't I? Here's where it comes to play.” Hera said and presented him a cheque with her name signed on it. His eyes were instantly drawn towards the part where there was a lot of zeroes in the money.
Lee gulped hard.
“I want to hire you as an agent in Armatek.”
“Aight, count me in then.”
“Great, that settles it! Welcome to Armatek, trainee Lee!” Hera smiled at him with her eyes closed, the set of full white teeth blinding him for a second. She then began typing a couple of codes so that his name was in the system already.
That's when he realized something very wrong had happened.
“...”
“......”
“Wha...hah!? Wait, Oi!” Lee stood up in a state of panic as Hera began walking towards the kitchen, humming like she just won the lottery. Beside the kitchen counter, Franziska was just finishing up a call.
“T-That wasn't real! I just let my intrusive thoughts slipped by!”
“Aw, too bad though. You're already registered in the system. Special Agent Peityr will be your test partner so we could ascertain which tier we'll place you.” Hera responded as she poured herself a drink.
‘Already in the system? How the fuck did that even happen!?’
“Wait a damn sec–”
“Sorry for the interruption...” The motion detector at the door beeped as a person entered the room.
“Hera, let me explain myse–”
“Madam Vy, you called for me?” A female voice came from behind, causing the angered Lee to shout and grab a side table. He was being interrupted, now of all times?
“Argh, I hate you!”
Adelaide's eyes widened in confusion as a dark shadow suddenly engulfed her entire vision. “What in the–”
*THUD!*
*CRASH!*
*Cicada noises*
*Silence*
“What the fuck?” Adelaide said as she massaged the top of her head, giving Lee a bewildered look.
“What?” he deadpanned, raising his eyebrow at her.
“What do you mean ‘what’? You just hit me with a fucking table dude!”
Lee snarked at her. “Are you actually mad at me right now?”
“Yes I'm mad! Why the fuck did you do that!?” she exclaimed, climbing up to her feet.
“It was a fucking accident, I don't understand why you're so upset right now.”
“How. Was that. An accident!? You literally held it up over your head and said ‘I hate you’.”
“I got angry okay? Am I fucking...forbidden to get angry right now? Is that... Is that what you're saying???” Lee retorted and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Just get angry! Just don't hit me with a fucking table next time!” the Ægir answered back, grabbing her pistol that clattered on the floor before holstering it.
“Oh my god, you always do this. You always fucking do this!” Lee pointed his index finger at her chest and poked at her.
“What the fuck is with you!? I don't even know you you are!” Adelaide glared at him, mentally controlling her balled fist to not connect at this man's jaw.
“HAHAHAHA! What the hell...what in the name of Kazimierz just happened!” Hera, who was watching the whole ordeal with Franziska in the sidelines, finally lost it.
She was laughing so hard that she was bent over, clinging unto Franziska's forearm as to not fall on the floor. They could swear they could hear her crying now, before coughing hard as her belly began cramping.
“Honestly...what in the [Higashian profanity] was that?” A male voice came from the door. Lee turned around and was scratching the back of his head embarrassingly.
“I got carried away.”
Still, Adelaide wasn't having it. “Who the hell throws tables at people! That shit hurts, y'know!?”
“That's a first.” Hera said and sighed, wiping the edges of her eyes with a handkerchief.
“...Yeah, it truly is.” Franziska uttered. In all honesty, she doesn't know who should she be more concerned at;
Lee, who just threw a goddamn table, of all things, at a woman. Or the woman who got hit in the head with a freaking wooden table and just casually asked ‘what the fuck?’
“Oi, that guy over there will be the one testing your skills. You two should get along nicely. Go on, introduce yourselves.” She added with a tone befitting of herself as a division handler.
“I'm special agent Peityr Nakamura, a Pythia hailing from Higashi. You are..?” The man says and adjusts his eyeglasses, creating a second long bright glint from that action alone. He has long black hair tied in a ponytail, and has bangs that fall sideways. He stood almost as tall as Lee, and wore an all black on what looks like a traditional kimono from Higashi.
“Lee. Just Lee.” He answers back, before shaking the man's hand. His grip is strong, and he could tell by the size of his forearm that this Peityr guy was fit. As expected of a special agent. He also noted the sheathed sword on his waist that was covered by the overcoat he was wearing.
“The one you hit the table with is tier 2 Agent Adelaide Schaefer. Hope you get along well.” Peityr jokingly added, which made Hera laugh again.
“Tch, didn't expect my day to be ruined this way.” The usually composed Adelaide muttered as she sat on the couch alongside Peityr. Lee plopped down across her while Franziska and Hera sat beside him.
“Hera... I told you I won't do it. You didn't even...*sigh*, look I just want to get Alpha back. Although she's annoying as fuck and has some sort of obsession over frogs, she's a friend I can't afford to lose.” He said with utter determination.
Alpha was truly the only person who could relate with him in this foreign world. No amount of camaraderie with others could change that fact. If she were to fall into some unknown organization's hands and get killed, he would probably lose his cool.
However, Hera was quick to find a hole in his totally valid argument.
“All by yourself? How do you intend on rescuing your dear Alpha all alone? As much as I hate to say this out loud, Babel has some powerful, and I say very powerful elite operators in their roster.” Hera said and pointed her index finger towards the Ægir in the room.
“Adelaide here was a previous tier 3 agent, and she and other agents of the same tier almost got massacred by a single elite operator from Babel some 9 months ago.”
Adelaide nodded. “I got this as a souvenir.” She pulled the neckline of her shirt to her shoulder, revealing an ugly gash just below her collarbone.
“What are you showing me that for? You think I can't handle myself out there?” Lee said and glared at them, though he said that partly because he saw the color of someone's bra.
“The Manager is saying this to help you, Lee. This is the best way to ensure your success in taking your friend back, and the safety of your other friends too.” Peityr commented as he raised his hand, before outlining an imaginary line on the table.
“See, let's say you were to go back to County Hillock. You don't want them yee yee ass Babel fuckers knocking down your doorstep again right?” The easterner said as he clasped both hands.
“In the first place, why the hell did you guys even set your eyes on us anyway? How different are you from Babel?” Lee asked, opening a new counterargument in the table.
“Babel is literally planning on using your friend as a tool with their civil war in Kazdel. Meanwhile we're hiring to protect you from the likes of them, as well as for you to have enough salary to accomplish your dreams.” Hera refuted, making Lee rethink his decisions at hand.
The thought of Jane being hospitalized already puts a strain in his mind, and now Alpha was in a dangerous situation. Even if the war is only within Kazdel, certain groups like those elite operators Babel fielded can and will recruit others for their cause. And although their cause might sound just, and noble, Lee wants more than nothing to do with them.
But this offer alone is enticing Lee. Not only can he have help from a powerful organization, he can have the benefits of being an agent added to his sleeve. The salary alone was enough to divert him away from life full of worries. He can also add some deals on the negotiation table to benefit them more.
“This world is full of uncertainty Lee. Wouldn't it be great to have somewhere to rely on? Armatek can be your safe haven.” Hera said as she stared at him intently. For a second, he thought that she was talking to him telepathically.
“If I do join Armatek, I want a solid assurance that you'll do everything, and I mean everything in your power to protect Jane and Nino. If you help me with retrieving Alpha from that Babel group, I'll join Armatek and follow your orders.” Lee solidly stated, giving The Manager a look full of determination.
Hera liked the burning fire in that eyes of his. He was a perfect reminder as to why she should set forth her plan. Although she has taken quite a liking towards this...human, she still has her goals to focus on. The last of the puzzle pieces of her decades long revenge is finally coming together.
All she needed now was to fully gain Lee's trust.
“You have my word, no harm will come on Jane and Nino. We'll also help you take your...Sarkaz friend back.” There was a slight pause in her sentence, which made Lee look towards her.
“–But only after you pass the field agent test.” Hera said with a smile.
«‹⟨ TO BE CONTINUED ⟩›»
Published: March 15, 2023
Words: 3461
A/n: (Here's chapter 3 y'all! Hope you guys enjoy it, kindly vote if you did!) ಥ‿ಥ