- Praetor Enterprises Headquarters, Chernobog, 0700 hours \ Cloudy | 1 year ago... -
It was a cloudy morning in Chernobog. There was a fragile peace in the mobile city between the infected and the Ursus Empire -- a peace that is slowly eroding. The private security contractor, Praetor Enterprises, has already begun drafting plans in the event that peace shatters and war begins between the oppressed and the oppressor. However, profit must continue.
(Lancel) who had left the Pontifica Cohors in Laterano some time ago had just joined the security contractor after hearing of their extensive intelligence network. It was a chance for him to find Mostima, even if it is slim.
There, he took on even more training. He received an Arts sword that he named Chainbreaker and the code name that he will use as a permanent part of his image; 'Torrent'.
Life in Praetor Enterprises wasn't easy, but it wasn't something he can't complain about. The food is decent, the pay is good, and most importantly, he succeeded in making connections. One of which is his own organized unit, Praetor Squad.
He and eleven others are a part of the first permanent task force of the security contractor. Two of which is a Sarkaz caster whose real name is Ulfric and code named Splinter, and the other is a Kuranta named Odpis who received training and education in Rhine Labs in Columbia.
Together with his squad, Torrent had undertaken contracted missions. Some are quite easy and simple. Others were dangerous enough that his life was endangered several times. However, he went through it all with the help of his friends.
This cloudy morning will just be like any other; breakfast, contract, lunch on the way, and come back alive. Torrent and his squad along with other squads have been debriefed for a large contract involving escorting classified material out of Chernobog.
Praetor Squad along with Equites Squad are tasked with forward reconnaissance, and both squads are now gearing up for the mission.
"Two hours, folks!" The squad leader of Equites Squad tells the members of both squads as they finish preparations in the armory.
"How big do you think this will be? I have a feeling that this won't be any different than last time." Splinter, bearing the call sign Praetor 4 says to Torrent.
"Oh come on, don't jinx it. The last time you did that, we got swarmed by slugs. On all sides." Torrent, bearing the call sign Praetor 5 replies to the Sarkaz.
"Hey, we got out just fine, right? Besides, Praetor 8's drones got us covered." Splinter says back.
"Speaking of which, where is she?" Torrent asks as he looks around trying to look for the aforementioned person.
"Oh, uhh... Right... there." Splinter points to a direction. They see the silver-haired Kuranta sitting on a bench typing away on her laptop with a deactivated drone beside her.
Odpis, bearing the call sign Praetor 8 is still a relatively new member at this time. She was a replacement for someone who once bore the same call sign but now retired. Truth be told, she wasn't comfortable with such a colorful cast of people.
Torrent and Splinter walk up to the Kuranta to see if she's just fine.
"Hey, Odpis. You alright?" Splinter says to her, which startled her.
"Huh?! O- oh, uhh, yeah... I- I'm fine. Thank you." The silver-haired Kuranta replies.
Odpis, a skilled hacker but also a meek character. Neither Torrent nor Splinter know much of her background other than she received education in Rhine Labs. Either way, she's their squadmate and befriending her is important.
"So... what are you doing right now?" Torrent asks her. Hearing that, she lights up.
"Oh! I'm just recalibrating some lines of codes for this drone. I'm trying to see if I can expand their range modifying the internal components and transfer the finished codes using one or two network tunnels..." Odpis says and she continues to speak in a language only she understands. Noticing that the two are just staring at her in bewilderment, she stops. "Oh... Was I talking to myself...?" She asks.
"No no! It's fine, really. It's just that... well, we don't really understand much." Splinter replies.
"Oh, yeah... Ahah, that's right..." Odpis trails off.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, you're the only one who can do stuff like you do." Torrent tells her.
"Really?"
"In fact, I think you're the very first in PE to take on drones and hacking, and technology in general." Torrent continues as Splinter hums in agreement.
"I- I'm the first?! T- then that means everyone will be expecting a lot from me!" Odpis exclaims, slightly panicking.
"Woah, woah, hey there. It's your first contract. You'll be fine." Splinter tells her. "Besides, we're a family here. We all got each other's backs." He finishes. Odpis smiles and nods
"Ah... Of course."
Their squad leader soon called for the members and they set out to begin the mission.
- Classified route to Columbia, 0920 hours \ Dusty -
Praetor Squad has taken the initiative and went further ahead of the convoy to secure the path that they will be taking. Each of the twelve agents took positions based on their specializations.
Guards like Torrent patrolled the area while Odpis, the only supporter of the squad, stayed far behind and assisted with her drones.
A dust storm is brewing up and it's making reconnaissance more difficult for the squad. Radios started to mysteriously malfunction, and messages had to be brought personally by each member.
Torrent walks towards the squad leader with a message and he finds him with Strife who is looking out to the distance with his binoculars.
"SL, Praetor 3 and 7 have secured the western flank." Torrent tells the squad leader.
"Understood. Strife, you see anything?" The squad leader asks Strife.
"Nope. All clear ahead." The feline operator replies.
"Alright. Praetor 5, keep moving by each flank and grab any news you can from them." The squad leader tells Torrent.
Torrent nods and he left his two squadmates. He went around on each sector occupied by his squad, relaying messages by word.
This continued for some time and it's starting to concern him. The squad is stretched out and there's minimal cover for them to use. Eventually, his earpiece sounded, indicating that communications have somehow restored itself.
"Praetor Squad, this is Praetor 1. Comms are back up. Report your positions. Over." The squad leader tells the squad.
"Praetor 3 and 7, securing the western side."
"Praetor 11 and 12, securing center."
"Praetor 4, on roving patrol."
"Praetor 5, on roving patrol."
"Praetor 2 and 9, securing eastern flank."
"Praetor 10, on roving patrol."
...
...
"Praetor 8?" The squad leader calls out to Odpis who hasn't reported. "Praetor 8, respond." He calls out again with the same result.
"SL, this is Praetor 4. Her comms device might still be disabled. Permission to check it out. Over." Splinter says to the squad leader.
"Permission granted. Praetor 5, go with Praetor 4 and find out what's keeping Praetor 8 from reporting. Praetor 1, out."
Not only that it's their new member's first mission, she's also failing to report her current status for whatever reason. Knowing how much of a nervous wreck Odpis is, Torrent couldn't help but be worried for their new member.
Things got worse when the dust storm became fiercer and vision became blurred. The goggles that they are supplied with can only do so much.
"Praetor 8, this is Praetor 5. What's your status?" Torrent attempts to contact her, but there was no answer.
Just as he is walking, one of his feet hit something and he would've fallen over if it weren't for his reflexes. He breathed a sigh of relief and turns around to see what is was.
To his shock, he finds one of Odpis' drones wrecked on the ground. He inspects it and finds four arrows that had lodged themselves in the chassis of the drone, likely the cause of its destruction.
Wasting no time, Torrent stands up and started to jog towards her last known location.
"Praetor 4, this is Praetor 5. Do you hear?" He calls out to Splinter via his earpiece.
"Praetor 4 hears you. What's up?" Splinter asks.
"Let's pick up the pace. Praetor 8 is in trouble." He tells the Sarkaz before turning his earpiece off to focus on the situation.
He passed by some vehicle wrecks just as another drone crashed nearby. Following the smoke trail, he unsheathed Chainbreaker and rushed towards the source despite the thickening dust storm.
Just as he ran forward, he came face to face with masked individuals armed with machetes. Wasting no time, he struck at the hostiles with lightning speed, giving them no chance to react.
After dispatching the small group, he continued on and finally found Odpis manually controlling one of her drones as she tries to get away from the masked individuals. Just as Odpis accidentally tripped, Torrent unleashed his Arts and quickly decimated the rest.
"T- they came out of the dust storm! And I lost my earpiece when they ambushed me!" Odpis exclaims in panic as she sits up while holding her drone.
Just as Torrent is walking towards her, they hear Arts being charged and released. Bolts of dark energy impacted several time nearby, and they turn their heads to look only to see more of the masked individuals being picked off at a rapid pace.
"Stay vigilant! It ain't over yet!" A familiar voice belonging to Splinter tells the two as he continues to use his Originium Arts to defeat the increasing numbers of their attackers.
Torrent soon joins Splinter as Odpis scrambles to find her laptop that she dropped somewhere. Soon, the combined might of Torrent's swordsmanship, Splinter's powerful Arts, and Odpis' autonomous drones clear the immediate vicinity.
Splinter rushes towards Odpis with Torrent following suit.
"Hey, you alright?" Splinter asks the Kuranta. She hesitated to answer. Her eyes suddenly widened as she frantically grabbed her inactive drone and aimed its weapon at Splinter.
"Look out!" Odpis shouts as the drone fired an Originium-powered bolt, going past the Sarkaz and directly hitting another masked person who managed to sneak behind the two.
"Ach... thanks, Odpis." Splinter thanks her as Torrent inspects the body of the masked person.
"Y- you're welcome, Praetor 4." Odpis shyly replies.
"Just Splinter is fine." Splinter reassures Odpis with a smile that she returned.
"What in Terra..." Torrent thinks out loud, gaining him the attention of the two.
"What is it, brother?" Splinter asks Torrent.
"It's Reunion! Look!" Torrent exclaims. Upon closer look, they see that the masked person is indeed from the Reunion Movement.
"Reunion? What are they doing here?" Splinter questions.
"This isn't them. Why would they attack a convoy out of the blue? They weren't this violent." Torrent mutters, confused.
"You think this is to send a message to Ursus?" Splinter asks.
"M- maybe they're arming themselves?" This time, Odpis suggests. Torrent and Splinter look at her. "What? D- did I say s- something wrong?" Odpis asks, stuttering even more.
"No. That's... a possibility." Torrent says.
"It would make sense. From what I heard from our intelligence agents, they're starting to radicalize more." Splinter says.
"E- even so, I don't think they will just send out death squads to hunt down convoys." Odpis says, earning her a hum from Splinter.
"Let's think about this later. We need to alert the rest of the-" Torrent says but he is cut off by his as well as Splinter's earpieces. They activate it to hear whatever message there is.
"They're everywhere!" One of the squadmates shouts.
"No good! Praetor 2 and 9 are falling back to the secondary positions! Over!"
"Understood! All Praetor callsigns, fall back to the secondary positions and dig in!"
There were no other words exchanged. Odpis, Splinter, and Torrent rushed back towards their squadmates. They can hear Originium explosions as well as steel clashing from the distance as more Reunion members pursue them to no avail. They reunite with their squad leader just as the rest arrive.
"Praetor 1, they're Reunion troops! We need to call Equites Squad ASAP!" Torrent tells the squad leader as Splinter joins the frontline and started counterattacking as Odpis revs up her remaining drones and sends them to assist.
"One step ahead of you. Equites Squad is already on the way, ETA five minutes." The squad leader says.
Praetor Squad digs in for a while, repelling each wave of the inferior but numerous Reunion troops. The other recon squad as well as a few of the convoy security members soon joined them and they pushed back the assault just as the dust storm is settling down.
Arts fire picked off the Reunion soldiers as they try to close the distance between them. It increased in intensity and at one point, the Reunion soldiers suddenly stopped in their tracks, unable to move as if time had stopped for them.
The agents were more than glad to eliminate the easy targets, but the casters of the squad were confused as no one among them has that kind of Arts mastery.
There is someone else among them.
Hearing of the sudden attack by Reunion, Praetor Enterprises finally sent in a helicopter that dropped in another squad of agents and served as aerial reconnaissance for the duration of the escort mission. From then on, there were no more attacks aside from the wild Originium slugs.
It was certainly one of the most intense battles they've been in, not to mention Odpis' first mission. However, that same day also brought their friendship closer.
From a distance, a blue-haired Sankta watched as the skirmish between Praetor Enterprises and the Reunion Movement ended with a sound victory for the former. She eyed one particular swordsman among them as she sheathed of one her staves that she used to assist them.
With a small smile, she stood up and went back to her van, having done her part.
- Praetor Enterprises Headquarters, 1530 hours \ Clear -
After more than six hours of the mission, they went back to the headquarters after another security contractor took over. Odpis, Splinter, and Torrent as well as a few other members of Praetor Squad are chatting about the events that transpired earlier as they make their way towards the cafeteria.
"That's certainly a very odd thing for Reunion to do." Herald, a Vulpo (foxes) and one of the squad's two casters mutters.
"I know, right? They still claim that they're a peaceful group of infected peacefully protesting. Next thing you know, they destroy an entire mobile city." Splinter says.
"I swear, almost everything you predict comes true, so please stop saying things like that." Another squadmate, Targe, a female Perro (dogs) and one of the squad's defenders deadpans Splinter who just shrugs.
"By the way, Odpis, I've never seen someone control drones so well like that. I must say that I'm impressed." Yet another squadmate, this time, Strife tells her.
"W- wait, really?" Odpis shyly asks.
"I agree with him." Herald says. "You need to have more confidence, Odpis. You did great for your first mission." Herald says, noticing how shy the Kuranta is.
"You have all the skills, that's for sure." Torrent adds up.
"Wow... I- I don't know what to say..." Odpis trails off.
"Like I said, you build up your self-confidence and you'll become someone else before you know it." Herald tells her. Odpis just nodded.
They soon arrive at the cafeteria, finding a small crowd of familiar faces inside. Herald, Strife, and Targe went ahead and started to pick their orders.
"Hey... guys?" Odpis calls to Splinter and Torrent. "I... I'm sorry." She apologized, confusing the two.
"What for?" Torrent asks.
"For what happened earlier." Odpis says. "I- I swear, it was an accident! I was so careless and-" She starts to ramble but Splinter stops her.
"Woah hey there. You don't have to be fed up about it." Splinter tells her. "If it was an accident, you don't have to blame yourself."
"I- I guess so... but-" Odpis speaks again, but. Splinter cuts her off.
"No buts. It all already happened. We'll just have to keep marching on." He tells her.
"Odpis, you did great earlier. Everyone in the squad thinks so." Torrent says to her. "Remember, we're in this together." Hearing that, Odpis nods.
Just then, a group of fellow agents came up to Odpis started talking to her. They continually praised her for her actions in the mission earlier, much to her embarrassment.
The group brought her to their table and they continued chatting, with Odpis occasionally lighting up at certain topics.
"She's cute." Splinter mutters, which was heard by the nearby Torrent.
"Hah. I don't deny that." Torrent responds as he smirks, knowing the tone of Splinter's voice very well.
"Anyways, you still up for looking for this Mostima person?" Splinter questions Torrent after snaking out of his brief trance.
"That will not change any time soon, brother. She left us in Laterano for whatever reason." He replies. "I don't know why, but she just... disappeared."
"Well, maybe we'll bump into her at some point in the future." Splinter says as he gestures for Torrent as they head towards the food stalls.
"Maybe, but I have a feeling that it won't happen here." Torrent muses. "But let's not think about that for now. I'm starving right here." He says, causing Splinter to laugh.
"Haha! I thought you were gonna forget. Come on. I still want to try those wild mutton chops."