Pax Septimus roughly translates to “Peaceful Seventh.” Originally the city might have been named after the seventh heaven referenced in the Talmud: the place where the throne of god resides. Regardless of the case, god certainly isn’t in Pax Septimus now.

The terror of the local populace was hidden from view. Anyone driving by would think the city was fine, but everything was run by one group of criminals or another. Most of the wealthier establishments paid tribute to the local mafia, cultists abducted fresh victims from their homes, and criminals plundered what they could at every opportunity. The underpaid police force was barely a match, and few of them valued the law over any bribe they could be paid.

Worse still were the unseen horrors lurking in the shadows. Otherworldly monsters loomed at every corner. They discreetly manipulated the populace through fear. The more fear they created, the more they could consume. And as they made more fear, more creatures would show up to expedite the process.

But with all the misery happening in Pax Septimus, there was one pocket of comfort. Beneath an unassuming warehouse was a massive underground dwelling called Bastion. It had taken a long time to construct, but the mastermind behind its construction had found it worthwhile. Regardless of what happened outside, they would be able to continue living in comfort.

The queen of Pax Septimus stood in a concrete room with a pool filled with a chromatic liquid. Like most espers, Penny wasn’t quite normal. Her maid suit was your typical anime convention fan fair, but her hulking gauntlets were not. Every once and a while, a bolt of electricity would leap off of her gauntlets and into the concrete floor. While her face was normal, a hard look at her eyes would reveal cameras hidden behind her pretty blue irises. A closer inspection of her head dress would also reveal rows of metal pegs that were embedded directly in her head. The sound of servos filled the air as her eyes shifted from one side of her room to the other. A typical ritual for the paranoid queen of Pax.

She had done everything in her power to ensure Bastion was as safe as possible. Bastion was a fortress, but she had also bought out anyone who could possibly oppose her operation. The mafia, the cults, even the police force. They were all in her back pocket. Not only did she pay them well, but she occasionally left Bastion to help crush resistances before they could fight back. It was their lives or her safety, and that was hardly a choice worth wasting her processors on.

Queen Penny did not like to return to her normal form, but the queen discovered that she could restore her mana reserves by soaking in a pool of mercury. It was also one of the few times she could enjoy swimming, as her metal chassis was too heavy to do so normally. She reached behind her waist to untie her corset top when one of her henchmen came to the door.

“My queen!” An oni called out to her. “You must-”

”Imbecile!” The flustered queen shouted. ”Entering these chambers is punishable by death!”

The henchman did not get a chance to respond before a black blade popped out of her chest. She had just opened her mouth to scream when the light left her eyes.

”…I guess she got exactly what she deserved!” With a swing of her blade, the oni’s corpse was cast off the onyx katana. Standing in the doorway was a woman in a black miko outfit with a mane of pink hair billowing out of her head. ”Hello, robo-slut!”

”Oros the mad.” Penny growled the name through her teeth. She didn’t really know why a depraved esper like herself had decided to attack Bastion, or how she had even discovered it existed. Though she didn’t really care. Regardless, it wasn’t an outcome she hadn’t prepared for. Oros probably had to fight her way through some of her henchmen, and likely expended some mana in the process. Meanwhile, Penny had a vat of mercury that would raise her mana levels as soon as she touched it. She also had no reason to believe Oros was stronger than herself. What footage she was able to recover was impressive, but impressive compared to her? Not a chance. ”What do you want?” Penny folded her arms. ”I don’t feel like killing you, so if you swear fealty to me, I’ll overlook this little incident and maybe even help you with whatever you came here for.”

”Alright, I’m all for trying the diplomacy option.” Oros cleared her throat, not bothering to wipe the oni’s blood off of herself. ”I, Oros the mad, do swear fealty to Penny, queen of Pax! My servitude is contingent upon her cutting off her own head, and to cease living entirely!”

”Do not mock my gifts!” Her fists arced with electricity. ”Whatever you’re being paid, I can triple it. If you want a Bastion of your own, I can help you build it. But if you keep pretending that my death is what you seek, you’ll only find your own!”

Oros chuckled darkly. ”Right, of course. Because who in Pax Septimus wants to kill the queen? A coward who hides in a concrete bunker, refusing to ever show a single moment of weakness, refusing to stand up to monsters that even the Mavericks would gladly slay?”

Penny scoffed. ”You’re not pretending you care about those fools, are you? So long as we’re safe, does anything else matter.”

”Mmmm.” Oros got a crick out of her neck. ”Anyone I could get mad about you hurting is already dead, or has been driven away.” She gripped her sword with both hands. The grin on her face vanished. ”I’m not here for any noble cause. I just want revenge. I demand satisfaction, and you’re going to give it to me!”

”If you insist!”

”Yea, just after my patron finishes our sheets and my commission is completed. Then we’ll fight!”

---

Days Later…

Pax Septimus had 15 precincts, each one covering a fair swath of the city and needing its own Police station. Out of all of them, none were more corrupt than PSPD #11, and for good reason. The station used to be home to some of the bravest officers in the city, but a local crime syndicate came down on it with everything they had and overwhelmed the small police force. Those that weren’t slain were driven from the area, and they quickly moved in to help themselves to everything available to them. That included weapons and confiscated narcotics.

Naturally, the government had to get involved.

An armored transport vehicle was parked just out of view of the 4 story building. Standing at attention was Su Fang, or Breacher as she preferred to be called during missions. Her real identity wasn’t something she liked to share with others.

Anyone dressed head to toe in ballistic armor with a steel riot shield was bound to be an impressive sight. Though her height certainly didn’t detract from that image any. A soft breeze rustled her short blue hair, but couldn’t do anything to her horns. She was standing at attention, waiting for the mission to begin.

”We start soon?”

A woman will green hair had just stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle. Su knew her as “Binky,” and had no idea what her real name was. What Su did know was that she was one of Su’s most trusted espers, and her being out here only meant that their mission was going to be an important one. ”Um, hopefully!” She folded her arms and leaned up against the side of the van. ”It’s probably not necessary, but I put a hit out on Shimr. I’m hoping a few freelancers join us. It will be good to see who stands with us. Once everyone’s shown up, Veronica will begin the briefing.”

”It good to have police back.”

”That’s not all!” Binky smiled. ”Without going into confidential territory, the station will give us access to our outpost. From there, we can continue to run operations inside the city.”

Su pushed herself off the van and turned to face Binky. ”You come with us? Or you just operator?”

”Not an operator, more like a trump card.” Binky sighed. ”My esper form is great, but I can only maintain it for 30 seconds tops. I’m just here in case something goes horribly wrong.”

”I see.” She looked around to make sure they were still alone. ”My daughter still safe?”

”Mika, right?” Su nodded. ”Yea, she’s at the forward base just outside of Pax Septimus. You should be able to see her after the mission.”

”Good.” She holstered her pistol and extended her hand towards Binky. ”To a successful operation!”
.
Binky smirked and accepted her hand. ”To a safe one.”

---

The Bastion was formerly a strong hold for the queen of Pax Septimus. Mysterious events caused the queen to flee her bunker, which made the area ripe for cultist takeover. Now they use the local tunnel complex to prey on civilians with impunity, sacrificing everyone they find to appease their dark lords.

But only for the moment.

A lone motorcycle rolled through the streets of Pax Septimus. Some old thing that the owner gave a quick coat of paint to slow the rust. Though onlookers were likely looking at the rider instead of her rusting motorcycle. She looked like a jester, only she appeared to be wearing a black leather leotard over a colorful outfit. A solid black helmet concealed her face, but her jet black hair spilled out of the back of the helmet. It was accompanied by neon colored braids that flapped in the wind.

She didn’t have far to drive. Parked just a few blocks away from an old warehouse was a black Cadillac. Not a new one either, this was a muscle car that had been kept in pristine condition since it’s debut in the late 50s. Though it had been modified. Instead of having five seats, it had just one to accommodate its large driver. A giant with white skin and a gas mask waited for Luna’s arrival. One of his arms hanging out the side of the vehicle.

The woman parked her bike in front of the Cadillac before dismounting. She pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair so that it would lay flat on her back. Once she was done, she fixed her eyes on the giant. ”Good evening, Billy!”

The giant straightened out his posture before puffing out his chest. It was covered in scars, but they seemed to disappear between his well defined muscles. ”I-say I-say, it is a fiiiiiine evenin’, ain’t it Tetrad?”

”You can call me Luna when nobody’s around, I don’t mind.” She tucked her helmet under her arm and looked around. ”I’m here first?”

”The old HQ got hit pretty hard. Trixy and Jez are gettin’ things in order while we clear out the new one. Unsure if we have the manpower to spare anyone right now.” Billy snorted.

”Are you saying it might just be us?” Luna pointed at the warehouse as her eyes grew into saucers. ”Just the two of us breaking into the Bastion!? That place is over run with cultists now, isn’t it?”

”I’m fixin to make sure there are no complications out here. But ya ain’t gunna be by yourself.”Billy’s large hands presented Luna with a comparatively tiny phone. ”So relax, girl. I put out a call on Shimr. Gunna have some freelancers join us if nothin’ else. Would be a big help to find people who believe in us.”

”Mmmm, Well, I’m not too hot on fighting along side randos.” A smile crept across Luna’s face. ”Buuuut, maybe we’ll have some guys join us. That’s always fun.”

Billy reached behind his head and scratched his neck. ”Accordin’ to Shimr, most of the local espers are woman. So uh.” He averted his gaze. ”Ya might get disappointed, is all I’m sayin’.”

”Huh? Really now?” Luna lowered her shoulders, but she kept her smile up. ”Guess I’ll be fine if they aren’t turbo lesbians. I get enough of that from Trixy.”

---

With G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick Alternative moving into Pax Septimus, it did not take long for the freelancers to move in as well. Pax Septimus was due for a good cleaning, and with two large factions moving in, there should be more than enough work to go around. The night before, a swath of freelancers wiped out every monster in a 5 block radius around a vintage diner. The owner of “The Great Escape” was entirely unaware of the menace, and even what espers were. Regardless, he welcomed any patron that was willing to spend money at his establishment. And so it quickly became a hot spot for freelancer activity. A place where they could have a coffee and bagel before beating down some occult menace.

The Great Escape held no surprises on the inside. The big red seats, the checkerboard floors, complete with a vintage soda fountain. The only modern addition was a little stage where performers could entertain patrons. In fact, there was someone performing right now!

Standing up on stage was a young, delicate looking girl. There was a distinct lack of color in all of her features. Her hair was white, as was her dress, and her skin was on the pale side too. But her eyes were a brilliant emerald green, and drew in whoever she looked at. Everyone wondered if she could play.

She moved across the stage gracefully. Everyone looked at her at least once. Pretty things are fleeting and an esper needs to treat their eyes every once in a while. Her flowing dress was more appealing than the mangled teeth of a cultist, or the layers of skin on a flesh melder. Though beauty could only remain interesting for so long. The next question was could she play?

The pale girl opened up a velvet case and pulled out a violin. None of the espers present were familiar with wood working, but they could tell a fine instrument when they saw one. It had been polished to a mirror sheen, and was just as captivating as the girl who held it. But could she play?

They were about to find out.

She rested the violin on her shoulder and brought the bow across the strings. And she played. And it made sound. She was playing a song, but it wasn’t anything that commanded everyone’s attention. The espers present were here on bushiness anyway. GEMINI wanted to reclaim a police station from some criminals, and Maverick wanted to clean some cultists out of a depraved esper’s hide out. The pay was about the same for both jobs, so it just depended on what they were feeling up for or who they wanted to appeal to. It wasn’t every day freelancers got choices.

Regardless of the reactions, the girl continued to play.

"Damnit, Bets. Couldn't even wait to say goodbye...?"

”Mph...“ Betty did her best to ignore the voices. They weren’t here, it was all in her head. She was able to keep playing, but the voices were getting more intense.

"Okay? OKAY?! No shit everything isn't okay, everything is fabulously fucked in fact, and it has been for awhile, AND NOBODY DID JACKSHIT ABOUT IT!"

”Calm down, please.“ Betty whispered. She tried to keep calm herself, but it was like she could hear this man screaming into her ear. Her heart beat faster, and she struggled to keep playing without incident.

"Just say the word. I can end this, here and now!"

”Don’t!“ Betty cast her eyes at the floor in a vein attempt to hide her expression. But these feelings would pass. All she had to do was-

"Do it."

Her hand froze in place. The music had stopped, and her arms were visibly trembling. Someone called out to ask if she was alright, but she couldn’t speak. Her vision was blurring over with tears, and her throat was too tight to speak words.

”Hey, hey!” A handsome man with remarkable red hair hopped up onto the stage with Betty. He pulled out a wooden stool from the back of the stage and pushed it up behind her. ”Sit down, violin girl!”

With a sigh, Betty sat down in the chair. She tried to avoid eye contact with everyone who was presently looking at her. How embarrassing to have a break down in front of so many people. She didn’t even finish the first song in her set. Though she could feel her neck loosen up just from resting. ”T-thank you, mister…?“

”Just call me Elroy!” He extended her hand towards her. ”America’s top freelance esper!”

After she wiped the tears off of her cheek, she tipped her head in Elroy’s direction. ”Esper? What’s that? Is it a fancy name for a…“ She examined his outfit. ”Costume designer?“

Elroy binked, curled his hand closed, and continued to smile. ”Espers are friends, violin girl!” He folded his arms. ”What happened?”

”I’m not sure.“ Betty didn’t take her eyes off of Elroy. ”I just had a dream a few days ago. I was on a beach, and I left without telling a friend goodbye. And even though I wasn’t there, I could see how upset it made them. But I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen them before. I don’t even know if we were ever friends. And it makes me really sad because-“ She brought her hand up to her mouth. ”It’s all really strange and doesn’t make sense when I put it into words. But I woke up crying, and occasionally it just works its way into my head. I haven’t been sleeping well.“

Elroy laughed. ”Yet you’re performing a late night set? Silly violin girl!”

A portly man approached the stage. Anyone familiar with the The Great Escape knew this man was the owner. Perfectly bald, but they had an outstanding mustache. ”It’s been hard times for all of us.” He groaned. ”I paid good money for a full performance. So unless either of you are going to perform, please move off the stage so that someone else can.”

Betty might have been a bit humiliated, but she wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to pay her if she didn’t keep playing. ”I should be fine now. Sorry sir!“ She was prepared to stand up when Elroy’s arm stopped her.

”What did I say, violin girl?” Elroy cast out his arms. ”Espers are friends, I work freelance, and I’m the best in America!” He extended his arm towards the crowd. ”Trisha! My axe!”

”On it!”

A Gibson guitar flew out of the crowd and landed in Elroy’s outstretched hand. It was a classic design: a Less Paul with a sunburst color scheme. It had been beaten to shit from years of shredding, but that only primed the few people who didn’t know about Elroy for what they were in for. It had already been plugged into an amp, and a kick plate had been shoved over to Elroy’s position.

”Who’s up for some Van Halen?” Elroy didn’t wait for a response. He ran his fingers over the strings of his guitar and started to play the definitive version of You Really Got Me.

"And here. We. Go."
Current Location: The Great Escape

On the roof of the Great Escape sat a young boy. Once again he had snuck away from his family, and once again he wandered the city on his own. It felt like a week had passed since Fable found his grimore, his reason to explore farther without fear. As it turns out the owner of the abandoned clock shop the boy stumbled upon was murdered. By who or what, he'd have to look into it further, but something told him the shade that attempted to kill him had a hand in it.

He'll admit, practicing his powers was a bit hard. The more brutal monsters tend to be out of sight if he couldn't makeshift a training dummy on the spot, then there's the risk of overexertion, area damage and unnecessary casualties. But it was really interesting. The little aspects fueled his curiosity. He wanted to know more, about the big leads of the esper community, about monsters, about everything!

So, why did Fable feel so sluggish today? The boy laid back to think. He made sure to go home before curfew, sure he sometimes stayed up late, but he woke up around the same time regardless. He wasn't sure if his Esper form had anything to do with it, maybe he was burnt out?

"Hmm....coffee." He came to a conclusion. He hadn't had his coffee yet. Fable climbed down from the roof and went inside.

Huh. Kinda loud in here. He slightly wished he had brought his own music player to drown out the current performance. Not meaning to offend anyone, he just doesn't like loud noises in general. Adjusting his hoodie, Fable walked up to the counter to order his drink.

Pax Septimus... the city of blood. It seemed this metropolis couldn't really wash off its violent legacy. Decades after decades, these lands saw many atrocities that would squirm anyone who wasn't a sociopath. Colonization, slavery, gang wars, corruption, Septimus had seen them all and now, motherfucking aliens from an alternate dimension. Sure these xeno incursions were spotted globally nowadays, but this city seemed to have it the worst. The prevailing theory was that it's not a mere coincidence as according to what's already known about mana and its relation to human suffering and death, Pax Septimus must be a gold mine for these monsters, inviting many opportunistic beasts to come akin to the West Coast during the gold rush era.

And to think she used to believe that Detroit was the most violent city in the States...

Well, it didn't matter what the monsters' motivations are, each and every one of those abominations deserved swift extermination, like the pests they are. As flawed as the US Government was, at least they were sensible enough to recognize this threat and respond accordingly. She was more than ready to risk life and limb if she could make sure that no one else would share the fate of her father and sister.

"..." As the APC arrived just outside a certain building, Silmeria opened her reddish-orange eyes, concluding her little meditation. Clutching the strange coiled firearm in her hands, she disembarked shortly after Binky did. Even as her right shoe was in the process of descending to the gravel below, her eyes were already scanning the perimeter for any funny business, her fingers maintaining trigger discipline yet also ready to engage as soon as possible. Breacher was already there - as coordinated via comms - and judging by her pose, there were no immediate hostiles in the vicinity.

Silmeria, or Valkyrie as she's often referred to by fellow GEMINI operatives, followed after the green-haired esper, content to just listen to the impromptu pre-briefing between her superiors. Well, Binky was definitely higher in the hierarchy being Dr. Veronica's personal assistant, but technically, she and Breacher were equals. Although in practice, the Chinese woman had been in the business for longer and had more life experience than she so it's only prudent to show her senior due respect.

Freelancers, huh? It's always a gamble with them, the Shimr app kind of thinned the herd a bit, but there was still no guarantee. If Sil was in charge, she'd have preferred to keep things in-house, but she wasn't in charge so... yeah. With Su, Jacqueline, and herself, there were at least three active official agents here, plus they had Binky as contingency. Dr. Veronica might not exactly be likable, but the woman knew what she was doing... most of the time.

Although Sil heard it, she deigned it'd be in poor taste to comment about Su's daughter, the horned woman was incredibly protective when it came to her family after all.

When the two initiated a little handshake, Sil debated whether she should join or not... ah, well, considering their survival depended on cohesive teamwork... "To a successful operation." She didn't offer a handshake, but fortunately, the presence of her rifle provided her with an excuse to keep her hands busy. Here right in this veritable urban warzone, even a second of slack posed risks.

---

@BrokenPromise


“That was a loud entrance. I thought we were going to be stealthier."

A blonde woman appeared from the shadows. She was, in many ways, the complete opposite of the two espers. Her outfit was far less flashy, consisting only of a white sleeveless t-shirt under a green faded jacket and a simple black skirt that reached down her upper thighs.

"Name's the Huntress. I'm here as a Freelancer."

She didn't bother offering her hand. No sense in being all friendly to espers from the Maverick. Ideologically speaking, she was closer to GEMINI, believing that all monsters should die and disappear from this earth.

And besides, the outrageous way these two dressed… it didn't help her prejudice in the slightest.

To be honest, she only took this job over the GEMINI one because she was uncomfortable working with an organization so close to the authorities. She was technically a criminal as she used to be a hunter of protected animals before joining the Freelancers.

"I am an expert at stealth and long-range combat. So if you would accommodate that fact to your entry plan, I would be most obliged."

She shifted her glance to the abandoned warehouse. "The cultists are in there, right? Do you have any info on their numbers?" She glanced back at the two.

---

She was being driven to the precinct in what was basically a giant metal cage, and it was utterly silent. Jacqueline didn’t show it, but she was bored. The only silver lining was that her esper outfit didn’t make her all the more uncomfortable, despite logic dictating that wearing full plate should.

Jay was glad to arrive at the location, because at least it got her out of the awkward, suffocating enclosed space. She surveyed the surroundings, hoping to catch signs of trouble – but there was nothing on the outside.

She stood guard while she waited, gaze perfunctorily wandering here and there, just in case someone or something dangerous showed up. Jacqueline noted one of her co-workers, Valkyrie was as serious as ever. Not that she herself was lax, but Jay had recognized from working alongside her that the other woman took their duty very personally. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could keep up being so stiff and inflexible even several years down the line. Should just worry about myself.

Jacqueline let out a slightly longer exhale, then moved closer to where conversation between Breacher and Blinky ensued. “A few freelancers, huh. Don’t have nothing against them, but it’s annoying how we’ve no clue how many’ll show up till they do. Oh, well.”

She ignored the part about Breacher’s daughter, as she wasn’t really interested. But she did pitch in at the end. “To a good one,” she said simply. She shifted her war pick to her left, and offered her right to Blinky and Breacher. She didn’t bother with Valkyrie, since she either wasn’t interested or that weapon really was too cumbersome.

A moment passed, and all was quiet again. “So, chance of monster involvement?” she asked idly. However, her tone indicated she didn’t expect anything non-human this time.

It wasn’t long till their first Freelancer helper arrived. They were a giant suited-up soldier, and drew attention from far away. “Evenin’. Just call me Leroux. Pleasure to meet you,” Jay introduced herself with a nod.

The roar of six cylinders echoed against the concrete buildings. It certainly wasn't sneaky, but someone driving a car for assholes like an asshole was considerably less conspicuous than the government armoured vehicles that crept through the streets. Apollo certainly wasn't planning to work today. He was just out for a rip. However, a job on Shimr and government vehicles entering was at least interesting enough to show up.

The aggressive car came to a stop some distance away as the engine's roar was replaced by equally aggressive music muffled by closed windows. As the music went silent alongside the engine, a large figure left the poorly parked car. With a shirt that was a size too small, aviators, and a golden necklace, he certainly didn't like a government stooge. In fact, he looked closer to one of the people who would have chosen to occupy a police station. Quickly, his aviators were removed and placed on the collar of his shirt. A second skin began to grow and cover his personal features. Though, his clothing was unaffected by this.

There were already a couple of people there. It was pretty easy to tell which ones were freelancers and which ones were agents, even if he had never worked with or seen them before. Agents usually ended up looking the same. Though this time, it appeared there were two armoured persons. Well, it wasn't like like the armour actually did anything. The armour from the 8" giant did look sturdier than the other woman's, though.

He approached the group with his phone in hand and the screen showing the Shimr job open and visible. His appearance as a faceless Adonis tended to get him questioned more than anything else. Letting others see that he was a freelancer was the best way to expedite the process of not getting questioned or tackled.

Still, he introduced himself to the group. "I'm Apollo," he succinctly stated. "You can think of me as a healer, more or less."

With it being a mystery of if that was his nickname or his actual name, he held out a fist for the giant to bump. Tall people had to stick together, even if the Protector undoubtedly got a few feet from their esper form.

With his fist still extended, he glanced over to his right. Without missing a beat, his head quickly recoiled as a girl with a gun seemed to suddenly appear. Or was always there? Still shocked him.

---

The roar of the muscle car, six cylinders blasting with dramatic aplomb, masked the sound of the rattling of a bike chain through its gears. In the aural shadow cast by Apollo’s Douchecruiser, Klava cycled down the streets of Pax Septimus on her secondhand bike, dressed in a jumpsuit with an old toque keeping her head warm. City of Blood it may be, drenched in the misery of all its residents, but it was her home as well. Even before she became an Esper, Klava had cycled down these streets, had played in these parks, had studied in these schools and shopped in these stores. She knew how to live here, just as how so many others did.

After all, Pax Septimus still had a population of citizens, no matter the sheer amount of villainy present within alleys, sewers, and basements. Pockets of comfort and safety existed, even if only psychologically, and though threads on Shimr had been blowing up recently about the disappearance of Bastion’s leader and the massacre uncovered there, life aboveground remained the same it always has been…disregarding the power vacuum that was drawing the government back into this bloody city. Outsiders in fancy suits and shiny trucks, having sat on their hands for decades and only moving now that there was a chance to claim this miserable city for themselves. Klava certainly couldn’t say that she was a fan of such opportunistic decision-making.

But that was why she was working for them this time around, wasn’t it?

The squeaking of her brakes sounded in unison to the hiss of Apollo’s engine. The musclefreak was well-known enough for being the only competent healer amongst Pax Septimus’s freelancer community, while the sci-fi juggernaut known as the Protector had a reputation as well, one primarily based off jokes online of her armor being made out of paper. And as for the rest…well, of course Klava’d know nothing about them. They weren’t even a thing in Pax Septimus a year ago, after all.

“Hey,” she waved, mimicking Apollo’s moves with the whole ‘flipping out Shimr app like a police badge’ deal. “I’m not with stupid here, but I took the job too. Klava. Nice to meetcha. Got any complimentary snacks or a coffee machine somewhere? And where can I lock my bike?”

Her eyes bounced from one of the government espers to another and one corner of her lips twitched into a smile. Two of them looked like girls from the university’s anime club, while the third looked like someone who stepped out of a dark fantasy movie set.

“A map of the precinct would be pretty cash too. I specc in traps and restraints.”

@BrokenPromise@Hammerman


Marrie had had a stressful week, and she hadn't even fought any monsters yet! She'd just finished moving into a small apartment in Pax Septimus, sorting out the legalese and logistics of the move and the rent. It was her first time out on her own, and she was both excited and scared, not to mention the prospect of her new "job" as an esper. Worn out from moving, she didn't wake up until noon, when she showered and ate breakfast. She skipped her workout routine thanks to the heavy lifting she'd been doing the day before, and got on Shimr to search for jobs. There didn't seem to be anything worthwhile in terms of cost-benefit, until around 6pm when two new jobs came up.

Two near-equal paying jobs, one from G.E.M.I.N.I. and one from Maverick Alternative, though a quick look made it obvious that the former was far more dangerous, considering they'd be going against people who were definitely armed instead of only likely armed. There didn't seem to be any other comparable jobs listed, and if she was going to be eating for the next week or two, she'd have to take one of them. So she sent a message to the poster of the Maverick job and soon was on her way, riding her good-condition but somewhat old bicycle towards The Bastion.

Until she got lost, taking a wrong turn that led her down a wild goose chase for 20 minutes before she could course correct, making her not arrive at her destination until 6:58pm, almost certainly the last to arrive among the Freelancers who would be taking the job.

Looking at the former kingdom, finally there, to sit down and rest from the biking until further instructions were given. She was a bit taken aback by the giant albino, to be honest, but she knew the Mavericks had a reputation for being strange looking. So she waved at him, and stayed seated on her bike, pulling out her phone to get on Shimr in case she was questioned.

---

The first espers to arrive were all of the Gemini Agents. Jacqueline remarked on how annoying it was to receive an unknown number of freelancers for a mission, which got Binky’s attention.

”I could probably notify you of how many we are getting, though Veronica had me use her account when I put up the hit on Shimr. They give priority to high ranking government officials and qualifying faction leaders. Though I can’t log in and find out who’s coming, as I don’t presently have access to her computer.”

After Binky and Su shook hands, They shook Jacqueline’s hand too. While Silmeria had her hands full, that didn’t stop Su from giving her fellow agent a thumbs up and a huge smile.

Jacqueline asked about possible monster activity, and Binky looked in their direction. ”As soon as Veronica arrives, we’re going to get one of her world famous rundowns. B-but if you must know, we aren’t expecting monster activity. Agent Silhouette and a few others were dispatched earlier to ensure there weren’t any monsters nearby.” Not long after Binky finished speaking, the Freelancers started to show up. The first was “Protector,” who asked everyone for their names. ”I’m Binky, one of the mission organizers. Well, until Veronica gets here!” Binky raised an eyebrow at Leroux. While far from unheard of, it wasn’t common for an agent to use any part of their real name as a code name. Though each agent was free to do as they pleased.

”I am Breacher.” Su eyed the metal giant up and down. ”You look impressive, Protector. I know someone who love to see you! May I take picture later?”

The playful banter came to an end with the roar of an obnoxiously loud engine. Everyone watched Apollo as he sauntered over to the group, showed them the job, and declared his name and role on a team.

”A healer? You mean a medic? Noted.” With a curt twist of her head, she looked to the newly arrived. Klava’s arrival was practically silent. Though her quip about Appolo’s intelligence did get Binky to almost smile. ”Afraid the coffee machine and snacks were left in another van, along with the ice cream machine.” Binky pointed at the vehicle behind herself. ”As for your bike, safest place is probably inside one of the APCs. And the maps…” Binky pulled out a tablet and started tapping her fingers across its surface. ”I should have something shortly. I saved it somewhere for the briefing.”

Then another person showed up. A purple-haired woman in a lab coat seemed to fade into reality right beside Binky. The sudden appearance may have been jarring to some, but everyone in Gemini was aware of Dr. Fritzi Moller’s antics. It would have been stranger for her to just show up like a normal person. While she had a reputation for being “scary,” the agents had never seen her that way. If anything, she was a bit goofy. She smiled way too much for a government official, and anyone who colored their hair purple had to be a little odd. There was a rumor that all the researchers who worked under her had to color their hair at her behest, and was the primary reason Binky’s head looked like a cabbage patch.

”Good afternoon, agents!” Her eyes scanned everyone before coming to rest on the freelancers. At which point her smile receded. ”Binky?”

”Y-yes?” She looked up from her tablet.

”Who are these people?”

”They are the freelancers!” Binky smiled. ”You wanted to hire 1, right?”

”I did, but that’s-” Fritzi waved the tip of her finger between them all. ”That’s at least 3.”

Binky blushed. She might look like a Christmas elf if she got flustered enough. ”I put a hit out on Shimr. I can’t really decide how many people take the job.”

”Yes you can!” Fritzi said with a chuckle. ”Have you never used it before?”

”Um...”

With a sigh, Fritzi walked closer to Binky’s side and leaned over her so that they could both look at Fritzi’s tablet. ”Do you see that little box over there?”

”Yes.”

”You want to check that box when you host a job, and then you see this box here?”

”Uh-huh.”

”You’re going to scroll down to limited and then this second box appears, and you’re going to select ‘MAX ESP’.”

”Okay.”

”And then you select the maximum number of espers you want. It won’t let you go less than 3 because they already accepted.”

”Alright.” Binky sighed. ”Sorry everyone, I don’t use the app that much.”

”There’s no need to be sorry, Binky. I’m sure the freelancers love to get paid.” With a wink, she addressed the freelancers. ”I’m Veronica, I’m the primary overseer of this operation.” Vermillion Veronica was her full code name, which allegedly made more sense if you were looking at her esper form. But no one in the unit save maybe Binky had ever seen it before, so she usually just ended up shortening it to Veronica. ”Time is urgent, so let’s make every second count. Your primary objective is to retake PSPD #11 from Cobra Gang, ideally without leveling the place. The government is dispatching an organization that doesn’t exist instead of the army for a good reason. ”

Binky plugged a dongle into her tablet, and a drone flew overhead. Once the drone was flying between everyone, it projected an image onto the ground. It seemed that Binky had located the blueprints to the PSPD #11. ”The blueprints are a little dated, but the general layout should be the same. There haven’t been any major revisions to the building, aside from whatever the targets did after their arrival.”

The first image on display was the first floor. The rectangular building’s north and south walls were the longest, with the east and west walls being roughly half the size. Each wall had 2 and 6 windows respectively, with a large pair of double doors allowing people into the front (west) entrance and the back (east) entrance. The rooms themselves weren’t marked, but there was a large corridor that ran the length of the building and allowed access to all the side rooms. Near the front entrance was a staircase that went to the basement, while the back entrance had a staircase leading to the second floor. There was also an elevator not far from it.

”What makes this mission a little more interesting is that the basement floor contains a prison. We estimated Cobra Gang to be 30 men strong, but they may have recruited some extra muscle from the prison. Worse still is that not everyone in jail is a murderous scum bag. Aside from petty criminals, it’s possible they rounded up some innocent people as a deterrent from future attacks. This wouldn’t be the first time they did something like that. Things could quickly turn into a hostage situation if handled poorly.”

The next floors were more of the same. It seemed like each floor was essentially a giant corridor that fed off into the smaller rooms and offices. Only the entrance ways were replaced by a 3rd window, and the front door staircase was non-existent. It seemed the one staircase was the only way up or down. The 4th floor had a small change. The corridor terminated into the commissioner’s office by the west wall, and there was a clearly marked kitchen area right beside it.

”Looks like the commissioner knows how to party.” Veronica looked to Binky. ”Maybe we can have some coffee and snacks when this is all over?”

Binky didn’t sigh, but a single look at her and anyone could tell she wanted to. ”We have some people of interest too.”

”Of course.” Veronica addressed everyone again. ”The big bad that really needs to be taken out is a man who goes by the moniker ‘King Cobra.’ As you likely guessed, he’s in charge of Cobra Gang. He likes to play with explosives, so be ready for that. Killing him should seriously demoralize the gang. We don’t really know who he is though, so it would be preferable if you didn’t totally vaporize him. The second target is Jean Wagner, better known as ‘Rottweiler.’ During the police station takeover, he decided it would be better to serve his new friends, which he is still doing to this day. His capture would be ideal, but is not necessary. It should also be noted that he was trained in military Krav Maga, Tae-Kwon-Do, Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai. Basically, do not engage him in striking distance unless you know what you’re doing, and don’t let him grab you unless you want to have every bone in your body broken.” She pushed her hands into her pockets. ”Beyond that, there are your usual seasoned killers in the gang, but most are your average garden variety thugs. They shouldn’t know what melodies are, so use their ignorance to your advantage. Just remember that guns kill more espers than anything else, so don’t get cocky.”

”Plan?” Su rubbed her chin.

Veronica hardly needed time to consider her orders. ”I was going to go for a stealth approach, but with so many espers, why not go for a spit roast?” Veronica pointed in the direction of the police department. ”Breacher, go knock on the front door. Leroux, you might as well go with her. Valkyrie, there’s a vacant apartment complex right across the street. You can offer them supporting fire from there. Just be ready to move, as they will see you firing from a building across the street.” She pointed at Binky, then the freelancers. ”Binky, you’re going to take the freelancers around back. With everything hitting the front, you should be free to enter. Fight your way to the upper floors, I’m sure that’s where their boss is hiding.”

Binky raised an eyebrow. ”Just the freelancers?”

”No no, Silhouette will be with you shortly.”

This seemed to put Binky at ease. ”Sounds good.” She said after taking a breath.

”Once the freelancers are on the second floor, The Gemini squad will attempt to secure the jail and the first floor. Meanwhile, the freelancers and Silhouette will work their way up the floors. If the enemy is fully distracted, there shouldn’t be much resistance on the eastern stairwell, as most of them will be shooting through the windows at the Gemini unit if you hurry. You may be able to climb to the top floor, but use your own discretion and don’t get surrounded. If the Gemini squad gets pinned down, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you clearing out a floor or two.”

”I’ll try to relay information to you from Veronica and update you as the situation changes.” Binky huffed. ”Don’t expect much fire support from me. I’m strictly here for support, regrettably.”

”Get into positions everyone. Daylight is about to fade.”

---

Once the freelance squad was in position, Su walked out into the street before the west entrance. It was getting dark out, but it was still possible to see outside thanks to the orange light washing over the city. She could see a few of the gang members by the windows. Some were resting, others were on guard, but they were all armed and dressed in fancy suits. She could spot the familiar curved magazine of an AK-47 on one, while another held a small black pistol. The make wasn’t familiar to her, but it did look like something the local police used. They must have raided the gun lockers, if they didn’t loot them off of fallen officers directly.

But woman dressed up like SWAT members are not something that most gang members would be happy to see, and their reaction to her appearance was about what she expected. Someone on the first floor looked up from their shot glass and nearly jumped out of their seat. While he was reaching for his pistol, Su already had hers drawn, and she didn’t hesitate to shoot. His head kicked back, and he fell out of view. All that remained of him was a bit of blood on the opposing wall.

The sound of gunfire drew several armed men to the windows. ”The fuck is she suppose to be? That’s no pig!”

”Who gives a shit? Unload on her!”

Su was able to fall onto one knee and raise her shield, which covered herbody from fire. But with so many people shooting at her, it wouldn’t be possible to return fire. This was hardly the distraction her team needed, she would need to do a bit better.

Dust from the street surged to Su’s position. The effect was plainly noticeable to an esper, but not to those who had never seen magic before. But the effect would become apparent as soon as Su attempted to jump. She didn’t soar just a few inches off the ground, she flew. The thugs were initially startled by this, and weren’t able to track their target as she flew into the air.

”I gotta stop drinking.”

The gang members weren’t going to stay stunned for long, but Su was able to gun down two more of them before raising her shield again. She tucked her knees under her shield and and started to glide to the ground before her melody wore off. Hopefully that was enough to give her fellow agents the opening they needed.

---

Meanwhile at the back entrance, things were pretty quiet. The espers could hear shots being fired, but that was at the front of the building. There was some movement in the windows, but it was thugs in suits rushing to the front of the building rather than a diligent patrol keeping watch for them.

”I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but the attack started.” Binky pulled the APC out of the allyway and into the street. ”This isn’t exactly an inconspicuous vehicle, so the sooner you get out there, the better.”

And there were ample opportunities for the freelance squad. Veronica had instructed them to go through the back door and up the staircase, but there was no reason things had to be just like that. There were plenty of windows that could be used to enter the building, and some of them even had those gang members in them. It was also possible to see the staircase, and it did seem like some people were moving up and down the floors. But if they wanted to prevent the Gemini squad from being overwhelmed, they didn’t have time to talk about it. They needed to move now.

---

”Hey Huntress, I’m Tetrad!” She waved enthusiastically at the totally-not-ominous girl leaving the shadows. ”I don’t know about having a plan though. Most of our group is still out of city, so we don’t really know what we’ve got to work with.”

Billy turned to look at the other girl who arrived and smiled. It was hard to see his mouth, but his cheeks puffed up like any normal person’s would when they smiled. He even raised his hand and waved back to her, flexing his fingers individually as he returned her kind gesture. With his other hand, he brought up a comparably tiny phone to his face. ”Guess y’all are the freelancers we’re gunna get.”

”Oh well.” Tetrad forced a smile. She would have really liked it if a guy joined them, but she was fine with these two. Huntress and the other girl didn’t look like the type to try and smother her face in their cleavage like someone else she knew. ”So what’s the plan, Billy?”

The giant stepped out of his fancy car and brandished a sword with a serrated edge. People told stoeries about the larger than life man, but seeing him in the flesh was the only thing that did his size justice, ”We’re gunna clean Bastion of every last cultist. I say every last one!” He hoisted his blade over his shoulder and paced in front of the espers present. ”The Queen O’ Bees has decided to take Bastion for herself, and has her whole ‘Church of the Hive’ along with ‘er. Don’t know nothin’ other than that. Just that they hoard honey and kidnap people as quick as a hiccup. Even woman!” The last word he spoke caused his fist to tighten until his entire arm quivered. ”Taking the queen out is a must, but I want the rest of those honey suckin’ cultists outa Bastion too!”

”So you have a plan?”

Billy nodded. ”Why don’t y’all try sneakin’ in? I’ll make sure the exit stays clear. Not sure how useful I’ll be inside Bastion. Barely enough room to swing my blade in them corridors. Not to mention I ain’t exactly easy to spot. I-say I-say I’d be better suited makin’ sure nobody goes in after ya.” Billy walked towards the warehouse entrance. He took hold of one of the garage doors and pulled it open with ease. Sure enough, the warehouse was empty. Aside from a few empty crates put in place to disguise the Bastion’s entrance, it looked like it was abandoned. ”Y’all watch yourselves. Just don’t overextend and get surrounded.”

---

And with varying levels of hesitation, three Espers entered, their steps echoing against hard concrete and past the pale line of dust that had gathered at the edge of the warehouse’s heavy doors. In that instant, however, an electric shock, a realization of magic, shot up their spine. At a distance, viewing from the outside, the warehouse was totally empty, devoid of anything of note. But now that they were inside, the illusion cast over the mundane environment was pulled off, like a bystander walking past the curtains into the backstage.

The heavy crates, shipping containers more like, had been pushed off to the side in various manners of disarray, while the manhole that lead to the depths of Bastion was currently being occupied by…gorillas? No, Regina had experience in animal physiology, understood instinctually that these were not actually gorillas in jumpsuits, but rather furries. Seven furries with various weapons that looked like approximations of Rainbow Six Siege melee equipment, from riot shields to sledgehammers to…was that a fucking katana?

“Grugh?!” One of them let out, obviously surprised that anyone else planned on entering, before the seven of them all beating their fists against their chests and rolling their shoulders back to expose the size of their (costume’s) pecs. “RETURN TO MONKE! RETURN TO MONKE!” was the warcry they chose…and yet, as none of them carried guns, there was no real attack made yet.

---

The Great Escape was still rocking to Elroy’s fantastic covers of Van Halen’s music. It didn’t quite sit right with Betty to let Elroy do all the work, so once the first song was over, she stopped him to talk.

”I think, um.“ She sighed. ”Thank you, Elroy. I do want to finish my set though. So if you’d like to play a few more songs, I’ll get something to drink and hop back over here.“

”Take your time, Violin girl!”

”You can call me Betty if you like.“

”I prefer Violin girl!”

”Well okay then!“

Elroy was an odd duck, but Betty couldn’t argue that she owed him big for this. She hopped off the stage and moved away from the amp before he started playing his next song.

On her way past the stage, she caught a glimpse of “Trisha,” the girl who had fetched Elroy’s amp and guitar. She was wearing a retro game inspired outfit covered in little Pac Man ghosts and other videogame sprites she didn’t know the name of. While many were captivated by Elroy’s playing, no one seemed as into it as her. She stood at the corner of the stage, propping up her head with both hands. ”Knock ‘em dead, Elroy!” Betty was sure there was a story there, but if she didn’t do something about her daydreaming, she wouldn’t be able to finish her set!

By the time she got to the counter, the owner was just finishing his transaction with Fable. ”If the current performance is too loud for you, we have some seating in the back. Should make for a quieter atmosphere, if that’s what you’re looking for.” Once Fable departed, he turned to Betty. ”Suppose you want coffee too?” Betty nodded as her eyes tracked Fable. ”I’m pretty sure you kids would have the energy to get through the day if you did’t stay up so late. Not to say I don’t understand why you do it. I loved doing stuff after my parents went to bed at your age. Just don’t get use to it, I couldn’t stay up past 11 if I wanted to.” He passed her a cup of coffee. ”Anything else? I’ll just take it out of your payment if you’d like.”

”That works.“

Betty was only half listening to the owner as she walked after the hooded boy. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever brought everyone else here had brought him here too. They had to be one of those “esper friends” like Elroy. But what surprised Betty was how young he was compared to everyone else. Everyone present had to be at least an adult, but here was this boy who might not even be a teenager.Betty didn’t like to drink by herself. It looked like he had a coffee too, so that was something they had in common, right? She didn’t want to bother him, but…

Regardless of where Fable sat down, Betty would stare at the back of his head for approximately 5 seconds as she contemplated what to do next. After giving herself a moment to breathe, she took a seat opposite to Fable and put on a warm smile.

”Well hey! A fellow evening coffee drinker!“ She picked up her cup and gently shook it. ”I’m Betty, maybe you saw me up on stage? I need a pick me up before I go out there again.“ With a chuckle, she popped the lid off of her coffee. A puff of white steam whiffed into the air, making the area smell like ground coffee beans and caramel. She never understood why coffee was so hot. Yea, you had to brew it, but nobody actually drank it at that temperature. They even put a lid on it to help keep all that heat in. ”So, why are you drinking at this hour?“

"Wait, what time is it? ....Oh."
Current Location: The Great Escape

Looks like the owner noticed his discomfort with the loud noise. Fable had reached over to carefully grab his drink with both hands when the man suggested he'd sit in the back. He thought for a second. Didn't seem like anyone was back there, atleast to him. Maybe he wouldn't need to hide his face after all. The boy looked back to the owner and nodded with a faint smile. "That'd be perfect, thank you." He said, then stepped away to look for a seat. As much as he didn't want to draw attention to himself, he wasn't aware that someone had followed him. Atleast not yet.

With a huff, Fable sat down and pulled his hood down. He didn't want to sit too far back, just far enough. Maybe he could've been on stage himself if he thought to have brought an instrument with him. Ah well, maybe next time when he wasn't feeling off. Before he could take a sip of his coffee though, someone had sat down next to him. The boy quietly flinched in surprise. Maybe he should've expected it. Atleast the lady seemed nice. He relaxed slightly as Betty introduced herself. "U-Um, I was outside for the most part. The roof." Fable explained with a shrug, then tilted his head. "Though I swear I heard violin music, but it stopped abruptly. I'm guessing that was you...?" The quiet boy asked.

When Betty took the lid off her coffee cup, he caught a whiff of it's scent. Caramel huh? He was more of a mocha person himself. Speaking of, Fable finally took a sip of his drink when the girl asked him why he was drinking so late. He didn't answer outright, moreso figuring out what she meant. Then something dawned to him.

"This hour? What do you- W-Wait, did you say evening??" Fable's eyes widened. He searched his pockets for his phone and checked the time. It was a little past 7 PM by now. "...Oh crap." Okay, maybe he shouldn't be taking in caffeine so late in the day. He looked back over to Betty, slightly frustrated. "I guess my internal clock's that screwed up. I mean, I know I've been sluggish all day, but to loose track of time? No wonder I forgot to get coffee earlier!" He ranted, pinching the bridge of his nose. Wait, he was ranting to a stranger. What was he thinking?? Fable straightened himself back up, and glanced away sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to vent to you like that. We just met." He glanced back to introduce himself. "C-Call me Fable."

Hearing Tetrad's answer, Regina's firm expression quickly turned into a frown. "No plan? A hunter who goes after her prey without a plan is a dead hunter."

Her judgment of the woman had soured significantly. Not only was she dressed provocatively, prancing around in a jester outfit like that, her brain was that of a clown as well.

Maybe it was a mistake, picking this job.

Another girl soon arrived at the scene, and, to her surprise, on a bicycle no less.

She actually thought of buying a bicycle to get around the city better. But she decided against it, with the argument that she could just take the train, knowing that its network pretty much covered the entire city. And for sensitive missions like this, she preferred walking to her destination instead. She would gather less attention that way.

All in all, she approved of her. Especially since she actually dressed normally unlike these two oddballs.

“The name’s Regina. A Freelancer. Expert at ranged combat and stealth.”

There. That should be enough introduction. No need for handshakes or anything. As a Freelancer, she was used to working solo, so there was no reason to “network” or “make connections” or whatever those buzzwords people liked to use.

She wasn't being rude. She was just being honest.

Her attention was soon diverted to the large masked man, who seemed to be the leader of the group. He pretty much towered over her, with her head only reaching up to his waist.

Inadvertently, she took a step backwards. Ever since her unfortunate encounter with the bear, she always had an aversion to large men like him.

He announced their objective — to kill every cultist and take over the place. Exactly like the job description said.

She liked that. Oh how she despised clients who lied on their postings.

And the place was apparently named Bastion? What an odd name for a warehouse.

The details of the cultists' identity didn't matter. This was the first time she had heard of their name so she had no info of her own that she could share with them. Their wrongdoings didn't matter either. She knew just how many scum there were in this city.

The big guy then gave his plan. And by that, he meant telling them to sneak in while he stayed outside.

She took a deep sigh. With this lot, that was the best plan she could expect.

"Very well. We can go with that. I'll try sniping the cultists from a distance. Silently. I would appreciate it if none of you got in my way."

It was time to activate her glamour.

A strong wind jetted up from under her feet, lifting her hair, jacket, and skirt upward. It was followed by a green light that enveloped her entire body. The breeze spread to the two girls (and one guy) near her, forcing the scent of fresh grass into their nostrils.

It only lasted for a few seconds, and when it did…

Her outfit didn't change in the slightest. Only now she wielded a bow with a quiver slung over her back.

"Let's go." She glanced at the two girls.

---

They then entered the warehouse, where they were immediately greeted by a complete shift in their atmosphere. The containers, used to be stacked precisely on top of one another, were now set aside in a haphazard manner, revealing a bunch of gorillas guarding a manhole that was sure to lead to their destination.

...Wait, they weren’t gorillas.

They were humans! In gorilla suits!

And they were all well-armed, wielding various melee weapons in their hands.

That was it. Whatever they were, she didn’t want to see them anymore.

Ignoring their dumb battle cry and their chest thumping, Regina immediately drew her bow. She had the range advantage. She could kill one or two before any of them could close the distance.

Her arrow flew, carrying with it her greenish esper energy. Before it could land on any of the gorillas, it split apart mid-air into dozens or more arrows.

It rained down on them without mercy.

---

The big guy seemed nice, if a bit too Foghorn Leghorn for her taste in his speech. Meanwhile, Tetrad didn't make enough of an impression for her to know what she was like. And the other Freelancer seemed... high strung, maybe? It was hard to tell when first meeting someone. Soon though they were told the plan and the other girls walked inside the warehouse. Marrie quickly donned her Style, a small whirlwind forming around her and obscuring her body for a moment, dissipating to show her in her transformed state.

Marrie followed the other two inside only to find... gorillas? It took only a second for them to notice the three girls and begin... doing something. Something dumb. In an instant Regina prepared to shoot them down, causing Marrie to blanch. Sure, they were cultists, and the job was to get rid of them, but to just kill them? It didn't sit right with her. Nothing deserved to just be killed, especially painfully, except insects and spiders. Kill them as quickly as possible, but things that can think? That was the whole reason she had a problem with G.E.M.I.N.I., because they slaughtered thinking entities. She went in hoping to simply remove the targets rather than kill them, but...

Marrie looked at her knife just as the arrows were fired. It was definitely a tool for killing, no question about that. But she'd do her best to just incapacitate, she decided. If the others had to kill the cultists, at least she'd have less of a burden on her mind than they would. She prepared to follow the other two further in.

---

In response to Jacqueline's inquiry, Binky mentioned that monsters shouldn't be involved, however, every GEMINI agent worth their salt would know that one must always expect the unexpected with those alien scum. They could show up anywhere, anytime, especially in mana hotspots... and this whole goddamn city is a mana hotspot. So yes, sending out Silhouette to scout ahead was wise.

When her ears caught the heavy thumps of heavy metal boots streaking toward her group, Silmeria frowned her brows ever so slightly as she turned to face the source, only for her eyes to widen as those orange irises reflected an eight feet tall iron golem. For a split second, her trigger finger twitched, but judging from the lack of adverse reactions from her fellow agents, this... metallic giant was friendly. Not only friendly, apparently sapient too, so... what was inside this thing is an esper, right? One of the freelancers by the looks of things.

"Evening, Protector..." Sil's voice trailed off a bit at the end, a part of her mind still in conflict between knowing that some espers had radical transformations yet this Protector fellow managed to push it even further. She wondered if that exoskeletal armor is as tough as it looks, she might be an even better at soaking up enemy fire than Breacher.

After Protector, nothing afterwards could really top its dynamic entrance, not even Apollo with his scumbag muscle car. No matter how many cylinders did those environmentally-disastrous engine have, they couldn't evoke as much as a reaction as a literal 8 feet tall mech suit. However, mundane as the car might be, its owner was less so. At first, Sil just half-closed her eyes when a figurative douchebag stepped out of the vehicle, but when he was suddenly covered in a skin-colored skintight suit - literally a second layer of skin - he too managed to cause the riflewoman to twitch her trigger finger. Right, of course, he was a freelancer too. Guess this was another reason why she preferred to work with in-house operatives.

She didn't deign Apollo with a response, but even with her silence - or perhaps precisely because of it - the skinsuited esper looked a tad bit spooked by her presence. Was there something on her face? Couldn't be, she had a pretty forgettable face. Oh, perhaps it's the gun? Well, whatever the case, she didn't feel like it's worth her time to ask.

The little commotion caused by Apollo and his douchecruiser were enough to cover the Ruski girl's arrival like a military-grade smokescreen. Sil felt a bit embarrassed that she didn't consciously notice Klava before the white-haired esper flashed her shimr app to the government agents. If she had to guess, the first inquiry would be a joke, but the rest were serious. Still, snacks and coffee, huh? Sil couldn't say that she'd disapprove if those are actually here. As for the map, she knew it would be shared in the briefing.

The gun-toting brunette noticed that little cheeky smirk from the blue-eyed girl to which she replied with a quirked eyebrow. Combined with Apollo's little head whip from before, she wondered if there really was something on her face.

Regardless, she addressed all of the new arrivals at once, "Valkyrie, designated marksman and fire support. Pleasure to be working with you." She introduced herself with the same level of enthusiasm as a call center operator, by the books with absolutely nothing between the lines.



Shortly afterwards, the head honcho of this whole operation made herself known. As someone who had been with GEMINI for more than a year now, she had gotten used to hearing stories about Dr. Moller's antics and after being stationed in Pax Septimus, bear witness to them herself. Believe her when she said that fading into existence like a wannabe shinobi was the least of her shenanigans. Regardless, the scientist's prestigious doctorate title actually meant something, she was undoubtedly good at what she does.

Although Silmeria never really understood Veronica's fixation with anime hair colors...

"Afternoon, Doctor." The brunette - no doubt an incredibly boring hair color for Veronica - gave her direct superior a nod, just for the courtesy if nothing else.

Then instead of beginning the briefing proper, the good doctor decided it was more prudent to give Mobile Apps 101 to Binky instead. She'd say that they had little time to waste, but Sil didn't feel the situation was dire enough to bother. Fortunately, the impromptu class ended sooner than later and the briefing could begin. Oh now it's urgent and every second count, ja?!

Despite Apollo's leitmotif, Veronica's head looked like a far more enticing target to smack right about now...

Is i magen, Silmeria, bare svelg kamelene... A few quiet deep breaths later, she was back to neutral. Just zen out and do your job, how hard could it be?

Right, restore order to PSPD#11 by eliminating these lowlife scums, the kind of people that's little better than monsters. As soon as the projector drone displayed the map on the ground, Sil walked over to examine it, light reflecting off her irises as she studied the blueprint. A closed-quarters combat zone, just perfect, those gangbangers would be thinking they're safe behind these concrete walls... sitting like ducks right where she'd want them to be.

"Troubling...” The possible presence of hostages made things a bit complicated, this meant she had to make sure they weren't in the line of fire. She hoped they wouldn't be used as meat covers either, but she didn't expect these criminals to have any decency. "Since we have the element of surprise, I think it's best that we take them all out in one sweep.” Sil chimed in, the prospect of losing innocent lives roused her enough to make her stance clear on the matter.

She personally wouldn't consume any food or drinks previously touched by those brigands, but hey, maybe Klava would have her snacks and coffee after all.

"King Cobra, Rottweiler, better alive than dead, noted." No headshots or vital organ perforations for these two, but no one said anything about putting their limbs out of commission. As for Rottweiler's Bruce-Lee-Wannabe hobby... "Just get me a clear shot at him and I'll make sure he won't be using those arms for anything again." Finally something sensible out of Veronica's mouth, yep, esper or no, a human body's greatest weakness was still the same ol' thing, bullets.

"Understood, ma'am." Silmeria - Valkyrie - accepted her order of engagement with nary a fuss. She agreed, the second-story window of said apartment building would be the best vantage point to start, then she could just ascend to higher floors or join the fray when needed. She spared Binky a condoling look at her orders, having a similar sentiment to the freelancers. Well, the Protector iron golem fellow seemed fine, but the other two... the Ruski's cheeky smugness rubbed her off the wrong way and Skinsuit douchebag didn't need further elaboration. Best of luck, cabbage head, but at least Silhouette would join her.

"..." Right, you're the last person justified to mention the time, Veronica... "Moving."



Supernatural rifle in hand, Valkyrie's sneakers thumped against the asphalt as she crossed the street with the prowess of an olympic champion athlete. Once she was a few steps from the wall of the vacant apartment, orange sparks surged downward along her legs onto her feet much like veins. The esper's self-cast Melody enabled her to dash forward and literally climb the walls by walking on them, it's as if her soles were magnets and the concrete walls were metal slabs. The maneuver allowed Valkyrie to reach the 2nd floor window and vaulted inside, gaining position without going through the fuss of entering the building first, bypassing potential hassles such as locked doors and broken stairways.

"Valkyrie here, I'm in position, over." She communicated to the whole squad via her earpiece, then set her sights on the 1st floor windows of the target building. "I see gangsters... armed, assault weapons, sidearms. Ready to engage when you are, Breacher."

Then Breacher breached the door and opened fire, that was her cue. Disenganging trigger discipline, Valkyrie's right index finger pulled the trigger after she picked a target. As soon as it happened, Teslic Gauss' coils light up a dim reddish-orange glow as sparks of the same color sputtered off the oddly-shaped 'barrel'. Unlike conventional firearms, the supernatural weapon emitted a distinctive ’BZZZT!!’ noise instead of the explosive bang of gunpowder. Ferromagnetic sabots were accelerated along the coiled barrel then launched off at a velocity that outclassed even modern anti-materiel rifles. However, the end result was similar.

The charged projectile crossed the street, pierced through a window, smashed through a wooden chair, then homed into a gangster's temple, turning his head into chunky salsa. Even then, it was still going, this time puncturing another gangster's right waist, giving him an on-field "hip replacement" procedure, before finally landing on the floor, creating a small hole there. All of these happened faster than the blink of an eye.

"Two down." But she was just getting started, there were a lot more scumbags to clean up! Scanning the first floor, she'd look for more targets and once she had a clear shot, she'd take them, blasting off gangster after gangster in a cold, calculated manner. At this distance, Teslic Gauss didn't need to worry about pesky stuff such as bullet ballistics. The sheer force and velocity of the sabots pretty much guaranteed a nigh-zero distortion to the projectile's intended path.

---

After Protector, two more freelancers arrived. One in a loud spiffy car – a guy who was obviously going for the cool factor. “Nice ride,” Jacqueline offered instead of a greeting. She’d personally not go for club-levels of noise, but to each their own. She appreciated the view none-the-less, the tight shirt more-so than the machine.

Still, she couldn’t do too much ogling while on the job, so turned her attention to the other esper. Snarky gal, huh? Jacqueline eyed her hobo look with just the teeniest tiniest amount of judgement, but smirked at Klava’s comment about Apollo. “Yeah, no mistaking that,” she retorted with a hint of condescension. Despite her tone, she didn’t dislike the other woman, but making assumptions based on appearances given her outfit was kinda hypocritical in Jay’s mind.

After their brief introductions, Blinky answered some questions, after which the boss herself appeared out of nowhere. Jacqueline took note of the important parts of Veronica’s instructions; don’t destroy the building (obvious), protect the hostages (yeah, yeah, she’d try), kill all others. Well, technically, they were supposed to try and identify who exactly the leader was and the martial arts guy would be better off alive, but since Veronica said it wasn’t necessary, Jacqueline didn’t intend to try. He’d be fine just dead as far as she was concerned.

“Will do, doctor,” she saluted when she got her instructions, and departed with Breacher.The moment she saw how many enemies there were, Jacqueline decided to wait outside. They were all armed, after all, and at least the building’s wall would serve as the cover.

She wasn’t idle either, and readied a melody. On the floor, in the middle of the room surrounded by multiple criminals, cracks began to form, and there was some loud creaking. Given al lthat was going on, though, Jacqueline didn’t imagine the enemies would notice. As this melody was fairly slow, both Breacher and Valkyrie had shot several men by the time it activated. Thankfully, though, the effect went off while Breacher was still up in the air, so it likely wouldn’t affect her.

In an instant, every gang member withing fifteen feet of the origin point felt a violent rumble. Some fell, others were merely unbalanced. The flooring cracked further, and some drinking glasses and a nearby window cracked. And as soon as it started, it was over. Jacqueline didn’t wait for the surely confused gangers to figure it out, and rushed in. She swung the hammer side of her weapon at every criminal she encountered, cracking hands, heads, and other bones. Those that recovered faster, she just tried disarming first, since like Veronica said, guns were her biggest worry right then.

---

---

In another universe, Klava would’ve suggested that they did some parkour hijinks to sneak up the outer walls of the building, avoiding trouble while they ascend to perform a decapitation strike upon the leadership of the Cobra Gang. In that other universe, however, the Protector didn’t exist.

A flash of light shone out from the cracks of the APC, before the back door was pushed open and Klava, freshly transformed, strode out to chaos that was human conflict, staccato beats of gunfire guiding her eyes to the mafiosos who either found themselves glued to the Protector or shooting at the Protector. That eight-foot-tall titan would hold for now, but that action meant there was no room for strategy beyond a run-and-gun through the interior of the precinct. She narrowed her eyes, looking up at the windows once more, before letting out a sigh. Certainly, it’d be worse to be caught outside now and gunned down by assault rifles. Gripping her dagger in one hand and draining the cup of coffee in her other hand, Klava tossed the empty cup down the alleyway, focused the mana in the atmosphere until it crystallized in a needle of ice, and breathed out.

The tempo of battle continued, but her eyes focused upon a target beyond the Protector’s melee. Veronica had stated there was only one staircase that lead upwards, which also meant there was only one staircase that allowed others to head downwards.

“Frostblade Grave!”

Threading through the melee, Klava’s needle struck a mafioso right as he stood right between the first floor and the staircase, glacial ice exploding over his body and locking him in place. His allies behind him found themselves blocked off by that frozen body as well, a mixture of confused shouts sounding out. Undoubtedly, they’d be able to break him free if they used their guns, but…will they?

Klava really didn’t care. Still standing behind the relative safety of the APC, she cheered, “C’mon Apollo, your time to shine!”

After all, the man had two clusters of targets to AoE now. What a bargain!

While being distracted by the sudden appearance of the gun toting girl, Apollo was immediately jumpscared by the appearance of a scientist as he looked back. Still, after briefly being unbalanced, he collected himself and listened to the explanation. He got all of the important bits. 30 gang members and maybe a few criminals. Crazy how such few people could completely smoke a precinct. Either they had something big or the good ol' PSPD were useless. Either way, kind of shitty. They had guns, so don't get shot. Great advice for the modern man.

With a plan that could be boiled down to entering in two points, kick ass, and don't get shot, Apollo stood outside alongside the rest of their team. Without pause, the titan of metal and man burst through a window. Alongside this, the resident frost bitch decided to safely restrain a man. Well, that was a good way to quickly clear out the few gangsters that would have been guarding the back exit.

"Don't tell me what to do." He responded as he did exactly what she told him to do. A brilliant light engulfed his open hand as a small shining orb was formed. Quickly, he launched it at the man restrained by Klava. With a blinding flash, the orb shattered on impact. As if a microscopic star collapsed, a burst of radiant energy expanded from the origin. An eruption of frozen shrapnel from the outermost layer of the restraint struck those around the first man alongside the radiant energy blast. Would it knock some of the gangsters down the stairs? Probably. Who knew, though. Maybe they had iron wills and could tough out getting blasted like that.

After that, Apollo followed the protector in. He wasn't about to hide behind an armoured APC like a bitch. Still though, a mancatcher wasn't exactly a strong tool to deal with armed gangsters. From the impaled gangster that stood too close to an open window, Apollo yoinked his gun and began blasting in the general direction of the remaining gangsters. Even if they wouldn't hit, a few seconds of covering fire would buy him some time to get to cover and maybe pick up another gun to repeat the process. Plus, he was firing the thing one handed. What he lacked in accuracy, he made up for in sheer badass.

Which was probably not good because accuracy was probably more important.

---

Luna was not a huge fan of freelancers. At their best, they were eccentric and motivated by money. At their worst, they were that and a pain in the ass to deal with. Regina was certainly the latter, seemingly looking down her nose at everyone around her. “Uhhhhhh, a hunter without a hunter is a dead hunter, uhhhhhhh!” Like seriously, how chuuni do you need to be to say something so cringe? The fact that she was pretending to be the leader was also somewhat irksome, and totally uncalled for. If anyone was in charge, it would be Billy or herself. Claiming expert skills to a group of strangers was a huge red flag too. At least the quiet girl wasn’t going out of her way to be obnoxious. It was actually kind of cute how she interacted with Billy. Regardless of how much she liked or disliked her present company, or her reservations about freelancers, it didn’t change the fact that she was going to need to rely on them. So Luna decided to keep her chin up and be as pleasant as she could.

”I’m Tetrad, by the way. As for what I do, mmmm, a little bit of everything with a little bit of luck.”

Hopefully that would be enough.

---

The magic veil was unexpected, as was the group of gorillas. Only Luna lacked the animal knowledge to realize they were people in suits, and also the clarity of vision to realize they were suppose to be gorillas.

”This is like that time I got jumped in the Bronx!” _{Apologies to anyone that might have offended. Don't hurt me, tis just a meme.}

Whatever they were, they barely had time to charge before super stealth Regina used a very big attack on them. That was a lot of arrows.

But Luna didn’t feel safe standing out in the open like this. While the “great and powerful hunter Regina” might have been content to just stand there and hose everyone down with arrows, Luna decided to move to higher ground should they close the distance.

She ran for one of the shipping containers and jumped. To get a bit more oomph, she conjured a melody to shove her higher into the air, where she would be high enough to climb onto the shipping container. This felt a bit more safe, provided nothing was hiding inside.

She drew Pit Boss, her hoola-hoop shaped weapon, and pointed it at the incoming apes. The middle of the loop started to surge with energy before it launched a barrage of playing cards. Each card that hit something burst into confetti. Despite how colorful the projectiles were, the confetti was no joke. It cut like shrapnel on contact. Luna focused her fire on the gorillas headed towards the quiet girl. She never gave her name, did she?

”H-hey!” Luna called to her. ”Watch where you’re going!”

She would have shouted a warning to Regina too if she could, but she probably had things under control. That smug little-

As far as the weather was concerned, there was nothing particularly strange about it. An average evening in Pax Septimus, non too hot nor particularly cold, at least until now. For the few who remained outside of the building, the temperature would drop abnormally fast. It was enough to make their hairs stand up, and perhaps even coax a shiver out of them. But if that didn't, surely the onset of anxiety would. These girls would sense that not all was right, and it wasn't the building before them that gave them this impression. A storm of dread must be approaching and it initially felt as though they would be hopeless to stop it.

Of course, Betty and Veronica ultimately knew this was no cause for concern. After all, it would not be their first time being subject to this spontaneous fear. They could easily pull through, as well as Klava were she to attempt to put it behind her. This was, more than anything, an announcement:

Samuel had finally arrived.

"Pardon the delay," a thousand voices seemed to assail the women, as a humanoid figure composed of all the wrongs in the world appeared beside them as if from nowhere. In reality, they had simply been, understandably, paying much more attention to the building and the fight taking place within which made it easy for him to get there before they noticed. "I read the summarized briefing on the way over, so I won't waste any more time." those that had turned to face Samuel found his voice a lot less echoey as he made this statement before taking off.

With some of their squad already inside the building, it made a lot of sense that most of the gangsters' focus would be on those individuals there rather than the ones outside. Still, there was one man on the second story who, thankfully, Samuel spotted before leaving the safety of the APC. The thug, firearm ready and leaning over the window cill, was prepared to fire upon the next person to show themself with a hail of bullets. He would need to be dealt with.

Samuel's arm absorbed the dimmed light around it starting from the elbow and moving up. As it reached his hand, he quickly appeared from behind the APC, pointing Slash, his sword, at the thug and letting loose a dark bolt of energy at the thug who, unfamiliar with the magical side of the world, was momentarily startled by his demonic visage. This mistake was fatal, but the bolt that struck him square in the chest was not. In fact, it didn't hurt at all. Instead, the man felt a unique sensation as his body turned transparent and he suddenly found himself falling forward through the window cill he had been leaning on, plummeting a couple of stories to the ground with a loud thud as the spell ended. He groaned in obvious pain, but the fall did not succeed in killing him.

But that was what Sam's blades were for.

The gangster was unable to recover before the Esper closed the distance and plunged his blade straight through his throat, a spray of blood hitting his chest. The dying man let out a sickening gurgle and passed away not long after, but Sam didn't stay to watch, entering the building before any more men might try to gun him down from above.

If there was one thing Samuel was worried about, it was friendly fire. Since he had not personally met the freelancers who joined the op, he couldn't exactly know what they might look like. Some people, Valkyrie as an example, had a rather unassuming and basic Esper form. And if their choice of clothing just happened to resemble one of these goons, then that could lead to an unfortunate happening. However, when Samuel entered the building, he found such fears weren't relevant to this group.

A giant suit of armor and skinwalker auditioning for a new Rambo movie, alongside Jacquline. Well, at least they seemed to be holding their own. Or technically not -- that gun was the same kind as the gangers were using, so Sam imagined it must've been stolen. Either way, as long as it was turned on them and not him, a bit of theft could be overlooked.

"G.E.M.I.N.I Agent Silhouette has arrived," both Protector and Apollo would be subject to the same onslaught of voices as had happened before at the APC, but between the cacophony of gunfire and the severity of the situation, it was a minor nuisance at best. "I will make use of the opportunities you provide me with to the best of my ability."

Despite his intimidating appearance, Samuel didn't seem to be a priority target to the gangsters, though this was largely due to the big armored soldier making kebabs out of anyone close to them, or the man shooting hot lead in their general direction (as 'at them' seemed a bit too strong for the inaccurate spray he was subjecting them to). Heck, even the smaller knight bashing heads in was probably helping in this regard. Intending on keeping his word, Samuel focused his efforts on those that could still yet retaliate as Jacquline already seemed to be having the time of her life while taking out those who were disoriented.

His attacks would seem brutal, but efficient. A gangster attempting to aim his weapon at Jacquline while she made pulp out of another man's head would find his leg slashed and, as it gave away, his throat fell upon a dagger that was waiting for it. Another attempted to attack with an empty gun butt to the back of Sam's head, but lost his raised hand to a single swing and then was impaled through the chest on the next.