Altered Cosmos

Chapter 21; Gifted

After an hour of driving around, the squad finds themselves in a calmer and less populated area in Lagos. Nina turns around before speaking.

“I’m going to go get info on our target. I don’t know how long it’ll be but those should keep you covered for now.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Veronica asked and Nina asked.

“I don’t know. Go out, see a movie, just get to know the area. If you see something relating to the case, follow but don’t act. If you need me, you have my contacts and don’t forget, no powers…”

“What if we need to?” Jake asked and Nina chuckles as she turns away.

“Just pray you don’t have to yet. Later, kids.” She said with a wave as she struts away without a single glance back. After an awkward moment of silence……

“Levi?” MJ asked as she looked around but Levi was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s right there.” Veronica said, gesturing to a retail stand where a familiar figure was purchasing something.

A moment later, Levi comes back with two long snacks in his arm and a bottle of coke in the other.

The others gave him judging stares as he takes a gulp. “What? I was hungry.” He said as he takes a bite and Veronica takes one of the snacks from him, peering at its label.

“Gala? I think I’ve heard about it.”

“Yeah. It’s a trademark snack here.” He said as he takes another bite and MJ comes over to get a look just as Jake speaks up.

“Ahem…” They all turned to Jake who was staring at them with a serious expression. “We have a mission to do, remember?”

Veronica rolls her eyes as she hands Levi back his snack. “Who made you our leader?” Jake’s eyes twitch and Veronica lets out a little laugh. “And in case you forgot, our mission ‘is’ to look normal.”

Jake bites back his comment and takes in a calming breath while Levi and MJ gave each other awkward looks. “Fine. Let’s split up to cover more ground.”

“I’m going with Levi, then.” Veronica said as she grabs Levi’s arm and Jake shrugs.

“It will look more natural that way. Let’s go, MJ.” Jake said as he walks away and MJ waves at them before following Jake away.

About an hour later, Levi and Veronica were walking down a quiet street while gazing at the different building and structures around them.

Veronica takes a sip from her fruit juice and glances at Levi who responds to a child who greets him in a strange language before running off to his mother.

“Have you been here before?” Levi turns to her with a perplexed look. “I mean; you seem like you’re right at home.”

Levi lets out an embarrassed laugh and rubs his head. “Not exactly. I used to travel here a lot with my dad…before I got my powers.” He chuckled as he downs the last of his coke drink.

“Right. You got your powers when you were 13, right?” 

Levi nods as he closes his now empty coke bottle and turns to Veronica. “What about you?”

Veronica takes a bite of her baked snack and sighs as she recalls. “Viv and I got our powers when we were four.” Levi gives her a shocked look and she chuckles.

“Relax. Our dad is a pro Index agent so we didn’t get taken away. He trained us on how to control our beast abilities before letting us go to the academy.”

“Yeah. I heard beast-related Mastron abilities are usually dangerous and difficult to control.” Levi said as he tosses the empty bottle in the trash can they walked pass.

“You have no idea.” Veronica sighed as they approached a beautiful park with different races of people relaxing and playing. 

“Wait a minute…” Levi paused and Veronica raised a brow at him. “The Night of the Beasts…” Her body stops at the sound of those words and Levi stops to face her. “… was that you and Viv?”

“You know about it, huh…” Veronica sighed with a hand on her face. “Yeah. That was us. We both awakened and instantly lost control.”

Levi frowns at Veronica’s saddened face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” He stops once she raises a hand to him.

“Let’s just… change the subject.” She said as she moves past him and Levi nods before following.

As they continue to stroll across the stoned path, Levi notices two people arguing with each other and a question popped in his head. “I wonder. Why do you and Jake always…you know…”

“Butt heads?” Veronica mumbled and Levi nods. She chuckles slightly as she takes a seat on an empty park bench with Levi sitting beside her. “We were in the same class in the academy. And I guess I always saw him as a competition.”

“So ‘smartest guy against smartest girl’ kind of thing?” Levi asked and Veronica laughs as she leans into the seat.

“Something like that. Plus, he’s fun to tease.” She chuckled as she finishes her drink and Levi looks up as some kids ran past them laughing and playing.

“What about Viv?” Levi asked.

Veronica sighs as she closes her now empty bottle. “My sister has a tendency to not take anything seriously.” She wipes her mouth with a napkin and smiles as she continues. “If she did… I’d never stand a chance.”

Levi reaches for her empty bottle and tosses it towards the trash with a stroke of luck. “Nice shot.”

“Thanks.” Levi chuckled before turning back to her. “You really respect your sister, huh…”

Veronica chuckles softly and crosses her legs. “If I don’t, who will?”

Levi looks to the partly clouded sky with a smile on his face. <I wish I had a sister or brother.> The two remain in silence for a moment, letting the luckily cool wind to pass over them

A sudden beeping sound attracts his attention and he opens his eyes to see a message. He clicks on it with his mind and reads it……. 

*Got something. Rendezvous at the hotel.*

Levi glances at Veronica who also seemed to have seen the message. They gave each other knowing nods and headed for the hotel where they reunite with Jake and MJ.

After almost 2 hours of waiting, Nina finally arrives with her usual calm expression and another lollipop in her mouth. “Hey, squad. Had fun?”

MJ nods with a grin on her face and Jake rolled his eyes with a sigh. “You said, you found something?”

“I did.” Nina reveals her band and opens up her interface where after a few taps, she swipes the interface to the centre table in the boy’s room for all of them to see a holographic imagining of a simple duplex-like structure.

“This is our target. It’s hidden in a rural area. Two gates at the front and back. Security cameras are crap, old-tech.” She then glances at Jake who seemed to be completely in thought with eyes completely focused on the hologram.

“So Jake… What’s the plan to bust this place up?”

Jake looks up in shock and speaks. “Me?”

“Yeah. Who else would I pick?” Nina said with a little shrug and Levi speaks up with a curious expression on his face.

“Is there a reason why Jake has to come up with a plan?”

Nina pulls out her lollipop and licks her lips with a smile on her face. “Because this guy is a recorded strategist with an IQ of over 190.”

Levi’s eyes widened in shock and he glances at Veronica who shrugs before speaking. “So what’s the plan?” She said, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

Jake lets out a weary sigh and turns the hologram around, so that the back of the building faces him.

“I say, we go in through the back gate. Take down the guards there quick and silent to not alert the others and cut off their transport in case they find out. Then two of us will go round the building to eliminate any other guards before converging to attack the front gate…”

“Meanwhile, the remaining three will go into the building and apprehend those inside.” Veronica added and Jake nods.

Nina nods before looking up to them. “Sounds easy enough.” Nina pulls the hologram back to her band and looks at MJ. “MJ and I will handle the guards outside.” MJ gives Nina a respectful nod and Nina turns to the others. “The rest will attack the building. Any questions?”

MJ raises a hand and gets Nina’s attention. “When do we start?” She said with a crack of her knuckles and Nina smiles at them.

“Tonight.”

Hours fly by as Squad Target prepares for their capture mission. The time draws near and the squad were taken to the location of the objective.

About 250 metres to the enemy base, the squad sets up a camp under the now raining sky, where each of them were given specialized white-black body-tight battle armour with the outer margins grey in colour and the Index symbol boldly imprinted on the back of the suit.

“Aren’t we going to be seen in these?” Levi asked and Nina in her own battle suit hits some commands on her band causing all their suits to change from white to complete jet black.

“Dope…” He mumbled as he touched the tight suit when Nina speaks up.

“You’re looking at the Index’s new Kevlar body armour. Bullet and fire resistance, extremely durable and it has a special feature for us trons.”

“Special feature?” Veronica asked as she stared at her armour which allowed opened space for her tail and claws.

Nina chuckles with a hand on her hip. “Try releasing some energy.” She said with a hand gesture. 

The squad all released a bit of their Photron energy which made the grey outlines on their armour to glow with their different coloured energy and a faint whirring sound.

“It helps to channel photron energy and gives a physical boost to your body.” Nina said.

“Boosts our strength. Isn’t that a little unfair?” Levi asked with occasional glances at MJ who smacks his arm with a laugh.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” MJ said, gesturing to her eyes and Levi notices that he still has his contact lens on. He takes them off as Nina speaks up.

“Boost or not. We’re capable of taking this base down. We’re in mission mode now so no using of real names.” The squad gives her a determined look and she turns one of the agents working there. “Are we good to go?”

The guard gives the thumb-up sign and Nina nods at him before turning back to the others. She quickly keys a command into her band, connecting their bands to their ears directly as coms.

“Let’s do this.” 

It’s almost midnight with the moon hidden among the now dark clouds which rumbled as lightning strikes, temporarily illuminating an old building in the midst of the deep forest.

Three men in rain-coats chat causally outside the slightly opened gate unaware of the figures watching from the wet bushes.

Nina or more accurately, Target signals Brute to flank the men while the others stayed behind. Target moves slowly and completely silent until… a stone suddenly collides into the side of the wooden outpost getting the men’s attention.

As they moved out to investigate, Target’s voice rings through the squads’ ears. 

“Now, Brute.” Suddenly, two figures burst out of the bushes and quickly attacked the men.

Target swiftly punches a guard before stunning another with a double chop to the neck just as Brute flings the other guard into the stunned one, knocking them both out.

“Nice work.” She said and the rest of the squad approaches. They quickly tie up the guards and quietly sneak into the compound of the base which was completely empty. 

“It’s still weird that humans would work with the things trying to kill them.” Brute mumbled into the coms and Target chuckled a little.

“If you can’t beat them, join them.” They quickly reached the back door of the building and Target peers through the door before turning to the squad. “Alright. This is where we split.”

Wolf lets out a sigh with her claws already stretched out. “Any idea on their number?”

Target shrugs. “No clue but excluding those we just caught, they should be around 15 based on the size of this place.”

“18.” They all turned to Silva who was crouching on the ground with closed eyes. He continues to focus, a holographic imaging of the base projected in his mind. “6 outside the building. 12 inside. 7 on the ground floor and 5 on the top floor.”

Silva opens his eyes to see his teammates giving him confused stares. “What?”

“How do you know all that?” Rubik asked and Silva stands up with a perplexed expression.

“I sensed them.”

Wolf sniffs the air a few times and turns back to Silva. “You’re right.” Wolf said with a raised brow and Silva rubs his head with an embarrassed smile.

“I have this thing where I create a kind of picture of my environment to find objects and creatures.” The others gave each other confused stares while Target rubs her chin in thought. “I thought everyone could do it.”

“Interesting.” Target said with a little chuckle as she turns to Silva. “So you do have an Area Scope.” 

“Area scope?” Silva asked and Target smiles at him.

“It’s a rare level of the sensory ability of a tron. Thermal vison, night vision, acute hearing, photron probe… It essentially combines all these sensations into a single gear, creating a picture of the environment in your head.”

Target grins at Silva with her lollipop stick still in her mouth. “You continue to impress me, kid.”

“Do you have this gear?” Brute asked and Target shakes her head.

“I’ve tried but I just don’t have the talent for it. I’ve only known one tron with that gear. But… gear or not, the plan doesn’t change. We need to move.”

Target said, as her aura rises from her hands, creating two silver-coloured handguns and reaffirming their resolve.

“Brute and Rubik will take the ground floor. Silva, the top floor’s all yours.” Silva hesitates for a moment before nodding in agreement. “I’ll take the right. Brute, you take the left.”

Brute smiles while cracking her knuckles. “Let’s do this.” She chuckled as she moved around the building with Target moving in the opposite direction, using the sound of rain as cover while the rest moves into the barely lit building.

“Got one.” Brute mumbled into her coms after quickly taking out a guard while Silva moves with Rubik and Wolf……just as a guard passes by them.

Rubik quickly sweeps the guard’s leg and Wolf knocks him out with a punch. “We just got one.” Rubik whispered into his coms and Target’s voice was heard.

“Just took out two more. Proceed and quickly restrain them.” Rubik nods and turns to Silva who helping Wolf restrain the guard. Silva then gives Rubik a knowing look and stands up with blue-energy radiating from his eyes.

“I’ll leave this floor to you.” He whispered with a little smile just as his Static shell activates, coating his body in electricity before suddenly zipping forward and up the stairs.

While Wolf and Rubik moved to get the guards still remaining on the ground floor.

On the top floor, two guards were chatting in the room next to the stairs while the other 3 were playing games in the next room……

“What the- Ah!” A set of gun shots go off in the first room with the sound of two bodies hitting the ground shortly after. 

The three guards in the next room jumped to their feet, two with ordinary guns while one held an advanced energy gun, all pointed at the closed door.

One of the guards give the others a nod and quietly heads towards the door…which he suddenly opened, gun pointing out but he sees no one.

He then heads over to the next room, his figure disappearing into the dark hallway……just as his body flies back, slamming into the door-frame with a crunch.

The others fired blasts and bullets at the door, hoping to get the target…but a sudden force hits the back of guard with a gun, instantly knocking him out and revealing a white-haired figure beside his body.

“No…” Silva turns to the female guard who was shaking with the plasma gun in one hand and a communicator in the other. “A lightning tron? They never said anything about this!”

She then tries to call for backup when a sudden force hits her head, knocking her out cold.

Silva lets out a sigh as he stares at her motionless body beside him. “I got all five of them. Top floor’s clean.” He whispered as his Static shell wears off and Target’s voice rings in his ear.

“Good work, Silva.”

“Damn, you’re fast.” Wolf said and Brute chuckles into her com with the sound of a struggling figure next to her.

Almost 6 minutes pass and after Silva completely restrained the guards, he brought them all downstairs in the living room where he regroups with his squad with all 18 guards restrained.

They wait an additional few minutes before turning to see Target walking out of a room with an unreadable look on her face. “Illegal weapons… check. Looks like we were right on the money.” She folds her arms and smiles at them. “Nice work, squad. This was a clean win.”

“Thank God.” Brute sighed with a wide smile and Levi chuckles a little.

“The clean-up crews’ on their way. We’re going to hold down the fort before then. Do what you want for now.” Target said as she plops down on a couch with a relieved sigh while the others spread out to relax in the living room.

Silva decides to go back to the top floor where he sat on the window, enjoying the nice cool breeze and night sky………. 

Barely a minute later, he suddenly senses several presences appearing around the structure, followed by an explosion below that shook the building.

“What the?” He said just as Target’s voice comes through.

“Those bastards. They called for back-up.” Some blasts were heard in the background before she speaks again. “Take them all down.”

“Damn it.” Rubik grumbled into his com and a loud crash was heard beside him.

Silva grunts as he swings back into the room and runs into the hallway as he senses more figures in the building below. “They’re everywhere!” Brute grunted into the com and Silva jumps over the railing.

“I’m on my way!” Silva mumbled as he falls back to the ground floor but the moment just before his feet hits the ground……

An eerie yet strangely familiar presence appears behind him but before he could turn to see who it was……a force hits his head and everything goes black……………